The Old School or New School Of FF?

[Secret Weapon]

Definitely old school. What I mean is the way FF "was" in terms of play style. So basically you being with the new school of FF is favoring X and up with those series differing from I-IX's play styles.

To me, the FF games were more memorable & heartfelt being played through in the basic turn based battle system. Winning exp, ap, and items were more a pain in the ass but made you feel this an accomplished sense where only you could've done. I can't explain the luster that most off the old school FF give off.

Anywho, which side are you guys on?

[IcyJJ]

I am easily an old school RPGer, so the classic FFs are my favorites. I have felt that the stories involved with old games were touched on more and were very important to the game itself. Now, I feel that the games are steering more towards visuals and how well the game looks than the game itself.

I grew up playing NES, SNES, and PS1 RPGs. To me, an action RPG is Secret of Mana and Little Ninja Brothers (gold star to those who have played this game). Breath of Fire, Final Fantasy, and Shin Megami Tensei have made RPGs that I will never forget and never stop playing.

I like the new school of RPGs and I won't turn down playing games like Elder Scrolls, but I also long for the days of turn-based and strategy RPGs.

[Crescent]

lol..OLD SCHOOL FF NO QUESTION. Im all for change but the latest FF's (xcludingXII4me) were not AT ALL mentally engaging or stimulating like the old FFs were. The visuals on the other hand completely different story. Compelling storyline and characters are what used to immerse me into the worlds of Final Fantasy not fkn shallow petty graphics. If I wanna look at something pretty Ill stare at pics of Sephiroth..GRR I still play tetris on my gameboy ffs

[Katpuss]

I am a bit of both to be honest

I love VII because of it's amazing storyline and characters, the DS remake of III where the graphics were much better, VI because Kefka was an awesome villain, IV because of Cecil's ongoing battle with his conscience due to fighting against his friend Kain and Tactics because it was different.

I also love XIII because of the awesome graphics, the characters than grow on you, the final battle with Orphan and the open world that is the Archlyte Steppe. XIII-2 is better with much more open game play, loads of side quests and chocobos!

Why can't we just love both eras?

Katpuss xx

[saio]

i am a gamer who likes to see the good side to every thing
but even i must agree that old school is overall more enjoyable then the next gen
i mean sure good graphics are nice and all
but when it comes down to it if the story and gameplay aren't up to snuff all those graphics are just wasted

[Cyanist]

I'm torn. I like old school, but I enjoy the smoother controls of now, also. If only function, story and graphics could all come together, I wouldn't have to choose. Arghhh!

[Bubblegum]

I'm a fan of the middle between the older and newer I guess. I don't really enjoy FF 1-3 that much, but FF4- FF9 is what I'm really fond of when it comes to the FF series.

[Rowan]

Old school ff7, 8, and 9. Ffx was the last great installment.

[the_savior21]

Middle school VII - X

[Cain Highwind]

Old school ff7, 8, and 9. Ffx was the last great installment.

This seems so weird to me. Old school will always mean everything before VII to me, even though FFVII really isn't THAT much different than VI, it really started the whole Newage JPop Anime RPG trend.

[Rowan]

This seems so weird to me. Old school will always mean everything before VII to me, even though FFVII really isn't THAT much different than VI, it really started the whole Newage JPop Anime RPG trend.

I think 1 - 6 suck. Maybe its a pokemon style graphics, maybe its the endless random encounters, maybe its the same mundane storyline one after the other and the complete lack of character personality, but to me they will serve nothing other than a mark of their time. I've played them all and completed them all and didn't enjoy them that much. If you wanna include those then I guess id be 'middle-school' but I dont count them for my reasons stated above.

edit: ill be 22 this year. I was 8 or 9 when I played Final Fantasy for the first time (it was 1998 I think) so that makes me part of the generation that would say ff7 was oldschool style homeboy

[Xanatos]

All three eras had that one game I enjoyed immensely... Final Fantasy VI, IX & XII respectively... along with one or two decent games in between.

[KainsBro]

Old School... I still play IV,V, and VI... If I play a PS1 FF, its usually IX, because I think its the best out of the 3, as in best story, characters, ability system, plus I loved Chocobo Hot and Cold, the side quests, mini-games, except the card game, I never really took the time to figure out what the numbers meant on the cards, it seemed random if I'd win or not... I got tired of losing after a while, even though my cards had bigger numbers on them...

[+ Revenant +]

Honestly, I would say mid-school. I found VII and VIII fairly enjoyable, and I loved IX and X. I didn't play much of any FF before that, and I didn't like the ones that came after. Square kind of lost me when they let all their best executives go, started making unnecessary sequels, and kept beating the dead horse of FF7. They're not the same company they were in the 90's, and it looks like they never will be.

[do re mi ti la]

I like easy games cuz life is challenging enough, I play for fun and story, I like 7,8 and 10
Are the ne ffs easier or harder?

[Taco-Calamitous]

I think 1 - 6 suck. Maybe its a pokemon style graphics, maybe its the endless random encounters, maybe its the same mundane storyline one after the other and the complete lack of character personality, but to me they will serve nothing other than a mark of their time. I've played them all and completed them all and didn't enjoy them that much. If you wanna include those then I guess id be 'middle-school' but I dont count them for my reasons stated above.

....wow. That's all I can say. I couldn't disagree with you more-at least as far as FF4 and FF6 go on the "mundane story lines" or "lack of personalities" go... Guess that wasn't all I could say.

FF6 is my fav. Final Fantasy. Has my favorite protagonist (Locke Cole) my favorite villain (Kefka) my favorite story... So I'd say Old School is my school. Although FF9 is probably my second favorite numbered FF, and then FFXII is my third favorite, so... I kinda jump around from school to school. What would FF Tactics be qualified as? Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Cain Highwind]

I think 1 - 6 suck. Maybe its a pokemon style graphics, maybe its the endless random encounters, maybe its the same mundane storyline one after the other and the complete lack of character personality, but to me they will serve nothing other than a mark of their time. I've played them all and completed them all and didn't enjoy them that much. If you wanna include those then I guess id be 'middle-school' but I dont count them for my reasons stated above.

edit: ill be 22 this year. I was 8 or 9 when I played Final Fantasy for the first time (it was 1998 I think) so that makes me part of the generation that would say ff7 was oldschool style homeboy

Meh, I hate you. I do agree the idea of constant random encounters of older titles (especially in IV) can be done without though. Even playing the DQ games aren't as obnoxious about encounter rate. VII's 3D has aged a LOT more horribly than FFVI's 2D visuals.

Thinking about it, even though back in this forum's heyday it was either Old School or New School, I think using comic book "ages" would be far more appropriate to this series now.

Golden Age
FFI-VI

-aka the Nintendo Era
-Original Staff
-Really laid the groundwork for the series' mythos
-"hardcore" gameplay with Dragon Quest roots


Silver Age
FFVII-IX

-aka the Playstation Era
-The jump to 3D; cinematic visuals help massive expansion of fanbase.
-Brought in Nomura to make flashy, more Anime-like designs.
-Cuts ties with Dragon Quest roots and forgoes medieval fantasy setting for a more modern sci-fi feel (except for IX being a bit of a throwback)

Modern Age
FFX-XIII and onward

-aka the Sakaguchi's-gone-and-we-don't-know-what-to-do-with-the-series-anymore era
-In my mind, doesn't really include XI and XIV, those are online spinoffs or XII as that is in the same spinoff series as Tactics and Vagrant Story.
-More emphasis on cinematic flair with more casual-friendly gameplay

I think you get the idea.

[Rowan]

Hate on me all you want, I have the utmost respect for the original staff I just dont feel I need to be a slave to the original titles since I genuinely didn't like them. You could disagree with me more, that's fine but as I said, I've played them all start to finish including the new editions (ff1 with new dungeons etc) but I don't feel the need to bend my knee to them. I hear hironobu and nobuo are working together again making games for nintendo wii, The Last Story (synonym of final fantasy)
and dont give me this bull about Tetsuya Nomura and his anime style characters making things popular blah blah. Yoshitaka amanos original character art never resembled the actual characters in the games anyway, nor was it possible until the remastered versions with cgi came out. why would he design characters in such elegant detail that are portrayed with as many as 20 pixels. I guess you have every right to be sentimental , you grew up with them and it probably hurts to hear someone disliking what you find so remarkable. I guess I should apologize?

Im sorry, Elders of Final Fantasy.


edit: hey tele, I didnt realize defending your opinions meant quoting what I had already stated... unless that is actually "all you could say?"
I'd love to argue about this

[Taco-Calamitous]

Um, I didn't know saying "I couldn't disagree with you more" and then going into why classified as only quoting what you already said. And I don't really need to argue with you about this. I was surprised by your opinion, but I don't really give a damn what you think. You can be wrong Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[the_savior21]

well im only 19 and the first final fantasy i played was VIII and i loved it immidiatly got VII beat it then IX beat it and then as soon as X came out i did the same and i dont think X is quite "new school" or "modern age" i think it was the transition game with the voiceovers and what not but to each his own its been awhile since my signature has been updated but since the last time iv since played and completed every mainstream game I-XIII (not including XI obviously) but i still am a sucker for VII-X and ill choose them over any other title any day of the week

[Cereal~Killer]

Old school, easily.

The old style of turn-based random battles just felt...better, for lack of better word. You actually control all your characters and what they do in battle, unlike later games, where you really only control one. Spell animations were cool-looking and creative with the older style. I noticed as I played through FFXII and XIII, you didn't really get to notice when spells were being cast as much and I think it kind of takes away from that classic Final Fantasy feel. Not to mention, the stories of earlier FF games (IX and earlier) had alot more heart put into them, I felt. FFXIII, while MAYBE a decent story in terms of games in general today, still doesn't even compare to other FF stories. Oh, and the whole summon system is just almost so useless now, it's laughable.

[Firefly]

I guess I am a mix between old school and mid-school.

.. I absolutely adored FF8 and FF9,but I also really liked FF3 and FF4. Anyways,the older ones(before 12) had a compelling story to them,decent characters,etc. I mean beautiful graphics are nice,but they aren't everything.
-( I am also a big fan of the old and mid-school menu style fighting )

[Zargabaath]

Thinking about it, even though back in this forum's heyday it was either Old School or New School, I think using comic book "ages" would be far more appropriate to this series now.

Golden Age
FFI-VI

-aka the Nintendo Era
-Original Staff
-Really laid the groundwork for the series' mythos
-"hardcore" gameplay with Dragon Quest roots


Silver Age
FFVII-IX

-aka the Playstation Era
-The jump to 3D; cinematic visuals help massive expansion of fanbase.
-Brought in Nomura to make flashy, more Anime-like designs.
-Cuts ties with Dragon Quest roots and forgoes medieval fantasy setting for a more modern sci-fi feel (except for IX being a bit of a throwback)

Modern Age
FFX-XIII and onward

-aka the Sakaguchi's-gone-and-we-don't-know-what-to-do-with-the-series-anymore era
-In my mind, doesn't really include XI and XIV, those are online spinoffs or XII as that is in the same spinoff series as Tactics and Vagrant Story.
-More emphasis on cinematic flair with more casual-friendly gameplay

I think you get the idea.

I would agree that using comic book ages would be far more appropriate with the age/length of the series. I would put FFX in the Silver Age cause during that time games were being released pretty frequently and I tend to regard FFX in that era. Even though it went to a fully 3-D and voice-acting which was the next big step in the series I feel it belongs with the Silver Age. Also, Sakaguchi was an executive producer of the game - along with FFX-2 - so the it wasn't until FFXI where he was truly gone.

Which is where I would start the Modern Age. FFXI was released relatively shortly after FFX where it could be lumped in to the Silver Age. FFXI is where the next age began with FF entering the MMO scene. XII taking that experience and putting it into a single player game. And XIV being the second MMO in the series. I find it funny for your Modern Age XI, XII, & XIV are not included making the current age pretty bare with X/-2 & XIII/-2. At least not as diverse.







As for me I would go with the Silver Age. Though I would lump X in that age as well. The Silver Age has most of the game that are in my elite level of FFs.

[Katpuss]

I think we can all agree that everyone has their own favourites and preferences when it comes to Final Fantasy games. Just because someone doesn't like VII doesn't mean that they are abnormal, just the same as someone who may like XIII/XIII-2.

We are all different and we all love FF don't we?

[XxTidus93Xx]

I wont even play ff xii or xiii I started to but it was a huge disapointment they need to make another traditional game like x and under if not....I wont even touch another final fantasy game square comes out with.

[Pete]

You know, I'm just gonna throw this out there. If FFX-XII were the first FF games in the series, I'd never play the rest of them. That being said, the old school era is by far the best. And by that, I mean the Nintendo generation. The games were funny, campy and were able to poke fun of themselves in a fun little fourth dimension manner. I dunno, perhaps it was the innocence of childhood combined with nostalgia, but I think these games have some of the strongest stories and most unique characters. There was none of that typical 90s angst that was so prevalent in FFVII and VIII, or the weird sense of impending doom and trying too hard that X and XII brought about.

IX is an excellent example of this fun, style of game brought to a more modern platform.

And, I'd have to say there are 3 distinct generations, as it's been pointed out, unfortunately, they show Square and Squeenix's downward spiral, trading in strong stories and fun, engaging gameplay for flashy graphics and extended cinematics.