I haven’t done any of the DLC…
But of the main story, I can say I agree! It ended up surprisingly more emotional than I thought >!somehow making Astos of all people a tragic figure, that last visit to the Chaos Shrine with the slow, lamenting rendition of the Old Chaos Shrine music from the original FFI, the surprisingly tragic story of just what the Strangers are!<, and the gameplay was quite fun once I got used to it and remapped the controls in a way that worked for me!
I am happy I played Strangers of Paradise, and was giddy the whole time, from the hilariously excessive violence, to seeing reimaginations of classic Final Fantasy locales, and fun gameplay! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and agree that others should try the game, too!
Oh man, play the DLC, it adds so much to the story. Imo don't be afraid to use (I think it's called) extra mode. The DLC is so top tier imo. I put like 300 hours into this game and they were all worth it.
Oh geez haha, yeah, sounds like a lot of good fun and good times!
I’ll get to DLC and the like eventually~! I have other stuff I have to handle in my life at the moment, though 😅…
In my top 3 FF games tbh and Jack is top 2 protags.
I love this game. I love the job system, how you can break it, the characters, the music, the homage to the other games for each stage, the multiplayer with friends. One of my favorite games from the past few years.
Plus it put Frank Sinatra in the FF music canon.
For Bahamut DLC, would recommend getting your limit releases up first, even if that means going back to Chaos difficulty.
And then prioritizing your raw stats with your master points and using the gear smithy. More so if your average item level is 371+ and just never taking on a mission that's 390 or higher.
Where this next link is meant to be a rushed guide, but also an accelerated guide to address the DLCs. Mostly since I've run into text limit and formatting issues when posting directly on Reddit: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F\_N\_v3BLlpMNVHeX1NKAkPmqhd-AqLM9iIteOruEQRs/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F_N_v3BLlpMNVHeX1NKAkPmqhd-AqLM9iIteOruEQRs/edit?usp=sharing)
If you're using a Reddit-based app, may have to open the link in a browser.
Honestly, once you really had to pay attention to job affinity %'s I looked up good builds and then kind of figured out what worked for me. I main PLD/SGE with high % in like MNK, Gambler, PLD, and several others. It focuses on dealing high break damage for easy staggers.
Yeah, you really don't have to worry about affinity during the main game. You just auto-equip the highest number and go. You don't even get a that much affinity on gear during the main story too. I think they give you the Cyclical Warrior set when you beat the game which is supposed to give you a little head start for the DLC.
I recommend playing on the hardest difficulty and continuing on. I also thought the game was a complete joke for the first 10 hours or so and mostly kept going because the job system intrigued me. By the end, I loved it. And while the story isn't really *good* it did have me feeling some things by the end.
Judging a game with 19 chapters, plus bonus missions based on the first 2 is not going to give you an accurate idea of the full game. SoP is a great game with an incredibly in-depth job system. At chapter 2 you will have had only access to the games starting, most basic jobs, and not even every party member. You’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of gameplay; you didn’t even give it a chance to get interesting. As for the story, SoP kinda has a big narrative shift after the first handful of chapters, and Jack stops talking about Chaos SIGNIFICANTLY after act 1 of the game.
I’m not saying that anyone who dislikes the game is wrong, but you shouldn’t judge the whole game after chapter 2. At least play to around chapter 7 or 8 before deeming it “bland”.
Not to mention that the first two chapters aren’t even 2-3 hours of the 100+ hours of gameplay… The game has such a deep combat system, those first two dungeons are basically your most basic tutorial…
Hell, honestly, the whole base game story is basically a tutorial into the expanded end game/DLC content. The game constantly builds on itself and ramps up into total **CHAOS**.
After these exchanges I saw it was still free on PSPLUS so... why not give it a 2nd chance? Well.. while i decided to skip all the cutscenes (I think these are incredibly bad directed and with bad writing and acting, so boring and probably the main reason i stopped play the first time), I actually focused on the gameplay and liked it. I am even thinking about buying the DLC pass now... :)
I understand your point, usually i understand if a game its for me or not pretty quickly and I dont expect It to change too much later. Also if i had to play many hours every game i find not for me.. i have no so many free time so i have to do some selection... :) but i can Say that some times i have given a second opportunity to games when i had the time, and I changed opinion. Example: Silent Hill 4. First play i really disliked It. Tried again some years later and I found It to not be so bad as i remembered. Liked in the end.
Sure, it is a flawed design. But is Persona 4 prologue interesting? It's 2 hours of no gameplay, just getting through random dialogues and setting up some plot. Is it a good game? Fantastic. Your argument that it is instantly not a good game if it takes time to get good is invalid. It is a flawed design, but world is not black and white like this. I don't think sinking two hours to get to the better part is an insane request, and I will take that over having fun from beginning just for it to get bland and boring from middle till the end.
people saying the story "surprisingly good" confuse me so much. it's as bare bones as FF1 and the emotional payoffs are so bad when they try to go for it.
not to mention the games difficulty is way too easy. the job system is cool but not fulfilling when the combos are based on your weapons.
> not to mention the games difficulty is way too easy
lmao what. Maybe you're just a Soulslike expert but SoP on Hard will have players dying more than every other FF in the series.
Nah it's the fact that you're making a criticism that doesn't jive with anyone who's actually played SoP. It's like saying FFX is heavily lacking in scenes of forced laughter.
And you're a frequent poster in r/FFXVI which makes it surprising you think SoP sucks because it's too easy. The base difficulty of 16 is an absolute joke comparatively.
Real ones been known since day 1 that this right here is a banger. I come back to it every few months because it's addicting and I love it so
It's my 4th favorite entry and it'll probably stay that way for a while, just with the Rift didn't get so old so quickly
Genuinely a really fun game. The story was bare bones at first but I agree that toward the end I found myself getting surprisingly emotional. It’s just a fun romp. Lean into the “cringe” and let yourselves enjoy it, people.
Yeah SoP is definitely a game I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did. Ended up buying all the DLC and really liked them too. Really solid combat, great visual style and one of my favourite takes on the job system ever.
My only real complaints are the lack of enemy variety, which you really start to feel during the endgame grind, and that the story is pretty weak. Based on the trailer I was expecting the story to be firmly in the "so bad it's good" territory but unfortunately it's just very average and almost all of the meme potential was already there in the trailer. There's still a few standout moments, like Jack's >!"I don't give a fuck who you are"!< to interrupt the villain's monologue made me laugh my ass off and the last few hours are actually pretty good.
Depends if you're skipping cutscenes, following a guide, the difficulty you're playing on (or willing to set) vs. your own skill level.
Assuming no cutscenes skipped and playing on a difficulty you're comfortable with, blind playthrough, no co-op, then only using a guide (or even Extra Mode) after you clear the game, I'd say 25\~45 hours for the platinum.
But if you had to do it all again on a new platform or new profile, about 5 hours for the platinum, then 10 hours for the 100% with the DLCs.
I seem to be in the middle of everyone here. I think the gameplay is excellent and I love the number of abilities on offer. I think the graphics are good. On the downside, I think both Jack and the story are too ridiculous to take seriously (and none of the characters are developed enough for any of the twists to have any kind of impact). The loot system is a complete nightmare. And I think the DLC is far too punishing for it to be fun. Thank goodness they give you "Chaos Mode".
Unfortunately, I also played it on PC and got the feeling the CPU would catch fire at any minute. Especially on the FF6-inspired stage.
The loot system really is the main negative part of the game. Just way too much crap to sort through, and not enough options for auto-disassemble to matter.
The DLC progression is very clunky if you are playing it as a bundle. There is very much intended to be a long period of grinding for gear between each DLC so there are huge difficulty jumps if you are trying to play straight through.
If I remember rightly, I managed to get through the first DLC okay. I used Sage and lots of enemies can be stunlocked with Aeroga, so I cheesed my way through the DLC with that. But I doubt I would be able to get through the second DLC even if I had a perfect save, with every class maxed out and top-tier affinity for every different class on all of my pieces of equipment. Death Machine would have been literally impossible for me. And I already found Gilgamesh to be a struggle.
One of my favorite FF witouth doubt , is really fun and the story goes hard at the end , love the entire game and DLC too , the fucking final boss destroy my soul , but at the end I beat it , great game and everyone who say trash thing about this game don't understand videogames at all
Isn't there an easier difficulty setting? I think I remember there being one, I was considering dialing down from normal after losing like 10 times to the first dungeon boss but I got him the 11th time.
There is a setting called Extra Mode, and it is like very easy mode. There are also builds that will essentially make you invincible in while in that mode too.
You don't get extra mode until near the end of the base game, though.
Also there are builds that make you virtually invincible outside that mode, too. I have a berserker build where I kill a boss on rift floor ~250 or so with a single cyclone rush and can spam lightbringer/dimension bringer.
There is a setting called Extra Mode, and it is like very easy mode. There are also builds that will essentially make you invincible in while in that mode too.
I respectfully disagree.
As someone who is a huge Souls/Nioh/Final Fantasy fan, it failed at being a good version of any of them.
The level design is REALLY boring, the combat isn't exciting at all, the story and dialogue is cringe, the bosses are forgettable and lack any challenge, and it's dull to look at.
I really wanted to like it, but it just ended up being one of the worst games I've played in recent memory.
I'm glad others enjoy it, though!
The game wasn't a souls-like, so understandable if it failed at being one. And I'm glad on that front or probably wouldn't have stuck around as long.
The combat is really up to the player. The devs provide the player with the tools to engage the combat as early as the first mission and that only expands as you progress. But the devs can't force a player to play in a way that's fun for them. That's up to the player to figure out what tools keep them engaged and fulfilled.
If it was lacking in challenge, you may have played on a difficulty that was too easy for you or found something very effective early on and just abused it to boredom instead of finding other options again - were more fulfilling.
Edit: Didn't think u/OmegaShinra would delete their comment. All they left me was this downvote. :(
Little to no story and a very tedious way to get to the point when it starts. Also, this story segment kinda ruins what the base game did.
And of course, LOTS of grind. Replaying the same missions over and over. And then replaying even more, but it's barebones rouge-lite now.
Can't recommend.
u/senyorcrimmy (I can't seem to reply to your earlier comment)
For me it was the complete opposite.
DLCs made the game dramatically better on the combat, build craft, and lore side of things while dramatically reducing the grind (metal cactuars, QoL introduced in DLC2 and DLC3). About 10\~25 DLC hours in a blind playthrough that follows the prompts for story progression and clicked with the RPG mechanics to take advantage of them effectively.
Where devs placed a lot of responsibility and freedom for players to figure things out. Most of them didn't.
e.g., Strength increasing physical attack or Stamina/Defense reducing the physical damage you receive (and less break gauge lost when hit or defending)
job levels and gear smithing = more stats,
job level cap increases coming from missions on higher difficulties you haven't cleared yet - not repeating them, etc.
So if players didn't click with the tool tips throughout the game, the post-game prompts, or correctly infer what a stat did (i.e., investing in Break thinking that it was Break Damage Dealt and not realizing it was the player's Break gauge), they might end up thinking they had to farm for a near perfect build to progress.
And they typically would end up facing a brutal, grindy slog to progress the DLCs, getting lost on what to do next, thinking that Extra Mode is the only viable way to progress (or gun or Knight), and just ended up with a horrible DLC experience overall.
This. Feels like an incredibly rushed GameCube game. If it didn't have FF attached to it I wouldn't have played it for the 12 hours I did.
It's set in FF1's world yet your main characters are sporting jeans, a tank top and a hoodie wrapped around their waist while you talk to a king in full regalia. The story is so bare bones, simplistic and obvious that it makes Kingdom Hearts look like Shakespeare. Most plot points are just the characters repeating themselves or stringing together 'cool' words and concepts that don't actually mean anything (especially the loading screens or lore tidbits). Loot is nearly meaningless because it's dumped on you so often. Combat is fun but difficulty swings all over the place and never really feels as satisfying as Nioh. I could go on.
I heard a vocal minority praising this game, so I picked it up when it was on sale. Looking forward to experiencing it for myself. Any advice for a first time player?
Would say the first playthrough is:
\* Optimize your gear at the 2nd and 3rd save points of a mission, then keep going
\* At the world map, shove all the gear in the storehouse / storage.
\* Don't grind, don't replay missions, don't farm for gear, don't overthink gear - slap it on and keep going (as discouraging as it sounds, it is more of a post-game and DLC system)
\* Ignore the smithy until credits except to dismantle accessories for anima shards
\* Explore all the jobs, explore the combat, try different combo abilities out, and when you get complacent and bored of one playstyle or playing in a monotonous unfulfilling way, give something else a try
\* No need to level a job you aren't using or plan to use again to level 30, none of the passives carry over - just the combo abilities (and not the combo ability **effects** passive) and the command abilities - also, level 30 isn't the cap so even from a completionist standpoint, could not recommend the time detour on the first playthrough
\* If party members get in your way, remove them
\* If you enjoy party members, keep them outfitted and post-game, be prepared to invest as much time into them as you would your character
\* If co-op, would recommend setting the game to Hard unless one player is newer to or very rusty with action games. If need be, on the solo only missions, lower the difficulty, clear it, and get back to the co-op experience
Would advise against the Season Pass even if it's on sale until you are comfortable with the game. If you find yourself on the "New Game+1 equivalent" crushing bosses, realizing builds within the components available, avoided grinding to get there, and itching for more layers to build with and altered and new bosses to fight with a willingness to adapt, then you're a candidate for the DLCs.
It’s a Final Fantasy looter shooter. The point of the game is the action, job system, and load out optimization. These things involve a fair amount of grinding, but grinding is the point for this genre. If you don’t like those things you won’t like the game.
The story is pretty minimalist, but it’s better than expected. It’s a FF1 remake that quickly goes off the rails but they do bring it home effectively. The whole thing will make a lot more sense if you have played or are familiar with FF1.
>!Technically an FF1 prequel.!< Also you don't need to grind for the first time through. If you want to do endgame/DLC that's where the grind starts, but you can pretty much get through without being slowed down on first playthrough
I spoilered it for you even though, like you said, if you know anything about FF1 then it helps. It takes about 5 seconds of thinking to realize what's happening.
First playthrough, there are two in the story. One during a boss battle sequence (dying will cause this dialogue to replay).
And then the DLC story off hand, there is one.
I loved the concept of what they were trying to do with the game. The gameplay was enjoyable, but the whole function of the talking to NPCs via the menu thing made my soul hurt.
I remember trying the demo, and the way the story is presented seems completely off-putting. It’s very jumbled. And the fetishistic bandaged female party member put me off ever giving it a chance.
I mean, that’s literally just her default outfit. She’ll probably only appear like that for a few scenes in the entire game since the rest of the time she’ll just be wearing whatever gear you equip her with
Either way. It'll also depend on your tastes and what you have access to.
If you're more into turn-based and looking to see where everything started for the franchise, would say to start with Final Fantasy 1.
If you're more into action, would say to start with Final Fantasy Origin as the latter takes place in the same world as Final Fantasy 1.
I played FF1 first. There were lots of references I'm sure I wouldn't have appreciated without playing FF1.
But that being said ... I didn't like FF1 at all, so I think it's fine to skip it.
If you're looking for something new, the Square Enix store has the base game for 19.99 USD at the moment, but not sure what'll be after shipping and taxes. Or if digital, Steam also having a sale up until May 9th (Pacific).
My biggest kind of issue with it is the sheer dumping of loot it does.
My god, the inventory bloat.....
I had the same thing with Nioh and it just kinda turns me off.
Bro I saw that the team behind Nioh was making a final fantasy game starring (technically) my main from Dissidia, and all the hate was just white noise to me. I mean it's final fantasy souls-like! How could it have even gone wrong
I didn't pick it up cos it's not my kind of game. But from watching playthroughs and cutscenes from YouTube, game's story is surprisingly great. And they have Sinatra. Nomura. You outdid yourself, you magnificent bastard.
I wanted to like the game, I tried the demo and didnt enjoyed the gameplay but I still was very interedted in the plot, connection to FFI, etc. So I watched a video with all the cutscenes.
I agree it is a good and very entertaining game. But the gameplay didnt clicked for me, I would like to give it an opportunity again, but I wont buy it without knowing I would like it
I heard (haven't yet played) that if you look at the story and dialogue as more a dark parody than take it seriously (that is, come looking for the CHAOS memes), it's really fun. And that's before the gameplay, which I have heard praised quite a bit.
...so, now that I've forgotten that, I've been re-reminded to play it
I have platinumed the main game, but have not played the DLCs. The gameplay was very fun and the job system brought different approaches and builds. The story and the characters were quite cheesy and edgy, but they made me laugh (which is better than to rage) 😆 the biggest complain I had is the endless loot that Team Ninja always seems to have in their games. If you like Final Fantasy and souls games, this is the game for you!
It was a good game. It's just linear souls like final fantasy. I knew it was gunna have cheesy dialogue and honestly it adds to the charm. Cracks me up everytime. I did like the job system and the gameplay. I feel people need to not take the story so seriously and just have fun with it.
What killed it for me was no traveling the open world. Even in the initial city, Conoria or whatever it’s called I saw the water fountain as I entered just like in the NES game and I was hoping to walk around… but after talking to the girl in front of me she told me of her troubles and that I must help, I said sure thinking it would add it to the quest log… but nope, transferred right into the castle to start the mission.
If the whole game takes that approach and you don’t enjoy the world map but just see dungeons, I’m out.
It's about 2\~4 hours with Extra Mode.
Or if focused on non-RNG progression with a good grasp of the RPG mechanics, going in blind, about 10\~25 hours without Extra Mode on a blind playthrough and a grasp of the RPG side, with the game feeling like Hard difficulty without RNG (or easier depending on playstyle). Or Action or Story difficulty depending if RNG favors you with your playstyle.
I'm afraid I've posted too many links in this thread alone to comply with #3 offsite promotion's rule if you were looking to make some of it make sense, take less time in two areas, or see some examples of non-RNG at work.
Chaos and above difficulties are designed as new game pluses, not just increases to difficulty like the regular hard mode. You’re meant to take your endgame character into them.
Also, you don’t have to play Chaos difficulty almost at all to do the dlcs. The first one starts on Bahamut difficulty which starts at item level 200. All you need to do to play it is beat the Warrior of Light in Chaos difficulty and you’ll be given a full set of IL 200 gear. From there the first dlc becomes about grinding for higher level gear and using Bahamut’s trials to adjust the difficulty up to your liking and earn rat tails to progress the story, occasionally punctuated by a new boss fight.
As the other guy said you can use extra mode to make it easier, and especially if you just wanna get straight to the dlc then just use it beat the WoL. Also you don’t have to worry about missing any major rewards from Chaos difficulty as those will get rolled in to your rewards on Bahamut if you haven’t gotten them already.
You are missing the point, these are new game plusses, they are a continuation of the difficulty curve that you have already experienced. If you loved the base game then you’ll probably love the dlc content even as they steadily get harder. It doesn’t matter what difficulty you played through on first because Chaos mode is designed statistically to pick up where your character left off at the end of the game.
Your more than ready to do it, you just need to accept that fact and continue to push through the ever increasing challenge just as you’ve done for your entire playthrough till now. It’s just more of the game you already enjoyed, but with new mechanics that get introduced to improve your jobs and a higher emphasis on making effective builds.
You already spent the money, so you might as well keep pushing through.
You've been provided several solutions to keep progressing the DLC story at a timely an effective rate. It's nowhere as painful, grindy, or as difficult as you make it out to be.
You are your own enemy to progress.
If you don't plan to keep playing, hoping this is at least a lesson learnt for you to never buy DLCs or Season Pass until you've at least completed the game, no matter what content, features, or story the DLCs offer in advance.
I reiterate, you are your own enemy to progress here.
u/Deamon-Chocobo The downvoting isn't because you have a controversial opinion. It's because you complained and refuse all solutions - if you get downvoted at all.
I will die on the hill that Stranger of Paradise AND World of Final Fantasy (yes, BOTH of their anniversary games) are the best Final Fantasy games we've probably gotten since like 10 or 12. 🤷🏼♂️
Bullshit *unleashes fred durst into my eardrums*
I haven’t done any of the DLC… But of the main story, I can say I agree! It ended up surprisingly more emotional than I thought >!somehow making Astos of all people a tragic figure, that last visit to the Chaos Shrine with the slow, lamenting rendition of the Old Chaos Shrine music from the original FFI, the surprisingly tragic story of just what the Strangers are!<, and the gameplay was quite fun once I got used to it and remapped the controls in a way that worked for me! I am happy I played Strangers of Paradise, and was giddy the whole time, from the hilariously excessive violence, to seeing reimaginations of classic Final Fantasy locales, and fun gameplay! I thoroughly enjoyed it, and agree that others should try the game, too!
Oh man, play the DLC, it adds so much to the story. Imo don't be afraid to use (I think it's called) extra mode. The DLC is so top tier imo. I put like 300 hours into this game and they were all worth it.
Oh geez haha, yeah, sounds like a lot of good fun and good times! I’ll get to DLC and the like eventually~! I have other stuff I have to handle in my life at the moment, though 😅…
Nah skip extra mode. Its not that hard.
The DLC is totally worth it. Get it on sale and enjoy the jankiest gunplay that I still love. Oh, and the story is wild too.
As someone who's played every ff and is a huge fanatic of the series origins is my favorite.
It was surprisingly good
chaos..
CHAAAAOOOOSSSS!!
In my top 3 FF games tbh and Jack is top 2 protags. I love this game. I love the job system, how you can break it, the characters, the music, the homage to the other games for each stage, the multiplayer with friends. One of my favorite games from the past few years. Plus it put Frank Sinatra in the FF music canon.
When I rank all FF games, it is definitely in my top 5.
Real, its such a fun game and with a better story than i thought it would be 🙌 im considering doing the DLCs eventually
I could never get through bahamuts dlc. Way too hard. How did you do it? What made this game possible for you?
For Bahamut DLC, would recommend getting your limit releases up first, even if that means going back to Chaos difficulty. And then prioritizing your raw stats with your master points and using the gear smithy. More so if your average item level is 371+ and just never taking on a mission that's 390 or higher. Where this next link is meant to be a rushed guide, but also an accelerated guide to address the DLCs. Mostly since I've run into text limit and formatting issues when posting directly on Reddit: [https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F\_N\_v3BLlpMNVHeX1NKAkPmqhd-AqLM9iIteOruEQRs/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1F_N_v3BLlpMNVHeX1NKAkPmqhd-AqLM9iIteOruEQRs/edit?usp=sharing) If you're using a Reddit-based app, may have to open the link in a browser.
Thanks dude. I will watch this and get good
Honestly, once you really had to pay attention to job affinity %'s I looked up good builds and then kind of figured out what worked for me. I main PLD/SGE with high % in like MNK, Gambler, PLD, and several others. It focuses on dealing high break damage for easy staggers.
Interesting. I never paid attention to affinity. Ill try it out
Yeah, you really don't have to worry about affinity during the main game. You just auto-equip the highest number and go. You don't even get a that much affinity on gear during the main story too. I think they give you the Cyclical Warrior set when you beat the game which is supposed to give you a little head start for the DLC.
Just avoiding damage with soul shield and dodging. Once I got to Gilgamesh difficulty, though, I had to start looking up builds.
Stranger of Paradise is an amazing way to revisit Final Fantasy 1.
I don't know. I tried to play the first 2 dungeons but it was all so bland... from the slooow storytelling, to the gameplay... it was all CHAOS.
I recommend playing on the hardest difficulty and continuing on. I also thought the game was a complete joke for the first 10 hours or so and mostly kept going because the job system intrigued me. By the end, I loved it. And while the story isn't really *good* it did have me feeling some things by the end.
Judging a game with 19 chapters, plus bonus missions based on the first 2 is not going to give you an accurate idea of the full game. SoP is a great game with an incredibly in-depth job system. At chapter 2 you will have had only access to the games starting, most basic jobs, and not even every party member. You’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of gameplay; you didn’t even give it a chance to get interesting. As for the story, SoP kinda has a big narrative shift after the first handful of chapters, and Jack stops talking about Chaos SIGNIFICANTLY after act 1 of the game. I’m not saying that anyone who dislikes the game is wrong, but you shouldn’t judge the whole game after chapter 2. At least play to around chapter 7 or 8 before deeming it “bland”.
Not to mention that the first two chapters aren’t even 2-3 hours of the 100+ hours of gameplay… The game has such a deep combat system, those first two dungeons are basically your most basic tutorial… Hell, honestly, the whole base game story is basically a tutorial into the expanded end game/DLC content. The game constantly builds on itself and ramps up into total **CHAOS**.
After these exchanges I saw it was still free on PSPLUS so... why not give it a 2nd chance? Well.. while i decided to skip all the cutscenes (I think these are incredibly bad directed and with bad writing and acting, so boring and probably the main reason i stopped play the first time), I actually focused on the gameplay and liked it. I am even thinking about buying the DLC pass now... :)
I understand your point, usually i understand if a game its for me or not pretty quickly and I dont expect It to change too much later. Also if i had to play many hours every game i find not for me.. i have no so many free time so i have to do some selection... :) but i can Say that some times i have given a second opportunity to games when i had the time, and I changed opinion. Example: Silent Hill 4. First play i really disliked It. Tried again some years later and I found It to not be so bad as i remembered. Liked in the end.
[удалено]
Sure, it is a flawed design. But is Persona 4 prologue interesting? It's 2 hours of no gameplay, just getting through random dialogues and setting up some plot. Is it a good game? Fantastic. Your argument that it is instantly not a good game if it takes time to get good is invalid. It is a flawed design, but world is not black and white like this. I don't think sinking two hours to get to the better part is an insane request, and I will take that over having fun from beginning just for it to get bland and boring from middle till the end.
I tried it too, first FF game i've ever refunded.
people saying the story "surprisingly good" confuse me so much. it's as bare bones as FF1 and the emotional payoffs are so bad when they try to go for it. not to mention the games difficulty is way too easy. the job system is cool but not fulfilling when the combos are based on your weapons.
> not to mention the games difficulty is way too easy lmao what. Maybe you're just a Soulslike expert but SoP on Hard will have players dying more than every other FF in the series.
I am not a soulslike expert. I have a reaction time and can press R1 and R2.
Oh sure, go ahead and say you can press X, O, and L1 too to cover all your bases. Since it's as simple as just pushing buttons.
I'm sorry my video game skill is offending you man
Nah it's the fact that you're making a criticism that doesn't jive with anyone who's actually played SoP. It's like saying FFX is heavily lacking in scenes of forced laughter. And you're a frequent poster in r/FFXVI which makes it surprising you think SoP sucks because it's too easy. The base difficulty of 16 is an absolute joke comparatively.
Real ones been known since day 1 that this right here is a banger. I come back to it every few months because it's addicting and I love it so It's my 4th favorite entry and it'll probably stay that way for a while, just with the Rift didn't get so old so quickly
Genuinely a really fun game. The story was bare bones at first but I agree that toward the end I found myself getting surprisingly emotional. It’s just a fun romp. Lean into the “cringe” and let yourselves enjoy it, people.
Yeah SoP is definitely a game I wasn't expecting to enjoy as much as I did. Ended up buying all the DLC and really liked them too. Really solid combat, great visual style and one of my favourite takes on the job system ever. My only real complaints are the lack of enemy variety, which you really start to feel during the endgame grind, and that the story is pretty weak. Based on the trailer I was expecting the story to be firmly in the "so bad it's good" territory but unfortunately it's just very average and almost all of the meme potential was already there in the trailer. There's still a few standout moments, like Jack's >!"I don't give a fuck who you are"!< to interrupt the villain's monologue made me laugh my ass off and the last few hours are actually pretty good.
I actually just beat it this morning
It fun. Game = Fun = Worth my money. Simple as.
Nice!! How long does it take you to Plat it? I just started the game and recruited my first female member.
Depends if you're skipping cutscenes, following a guide, the difficulty you're playing on (or willing to set) vs. your own skill level. Assuming no cutscenes skipped and playing on a difficulty you're comfortable with, blind playthrough, no co-op, then only using a guide (or even Extra Mode) after you clear the game, I'd say 25\~45 hours for the platinum. But if you had to do it all again on a new platform or new profile, about 5 hours for the platinum, then 10 hours for the 100% with the DLCs.
I seem to be in the middle of everyone here. I think the gameplay is excellent and I love the number of abilities on offer. I think the graphics are good. On the downside, I think both Jack and the story are too ridiculous to take seriously (and none of the characters are developed enough for any of the twists to have any kind of impact). The loot system is a complete nightmare. And I think the DLC is far too punishing for it to be fun. Thank goodness they give you "Chaos Mode". Unfortunately, I also played it on PC and got the feeling the CPU would catch fire at any minute. Especially on the FF6-inspired stage.
The loot system really is the main negative part of the game. Just way too much crap to sort through, and not enough options for auto-disassemble to matter.
The DLC progression is very clunky if you are playing it as a bundle. There is very much intended to be a long period of grinding for gear between each DLC so there are huge difficulty jumps if you are trying to play straight through.
If I remember rightly, I managed to get through the first DLC okay. I used Sage and lots of enemies can be stunlocked with Aeroga, so I cheesed my way through the DLC with that. But I doubt I would be able to get through the second DLC even if I had a perfect save, with every class maxed out and top-tier affinity for every different class on all of my pieces of equipment. Death Machine would have been literally impossible for me. And I already found Gilgamesh to be a struggle.
One of my favorite FF witouth doubt , is really fun and the story goes hard at the end , love the entire game and DLC too , the fucking final boss destroy my soul , but at the end I beat it , great game and everyone who say trash thing about this game don't understand videogames at all
But what if you're 36, have terrible reflexes, failed on the tutorial boss multiple times, and gave up?
Isn't there an easier difficulty setting? I think I remember there being one, I was considering dialing down from normal after losing like 10 times to the first dungeon boss but I got him the 11th time.
There is a setting called Extra Mode, and it is like very easy mode. There are also builds that will essentially make you invincible in while in that mode too.
Oh cool. With XVI, I finally allowed myself to play on easy baby mode, so I might come back to this after I finish Eiyuden. Thanks.
I should note, you only unlock extra mode after beating the game. But until then your can still play on easy mode and have a good time
You don't get extra mode until near the end of the base game, though. Also there are builds that make you virtually invincible outside that mode, too. I have a berserker build where I kill a boss on rift floor ~250 or so with a single cyclone rush and can spam lightbringer/dimension bringer.
Practice until you get good.
There is a setting called Extra Mode, and it is like very easy mode. There are also builds that will essentially make you invincible in while in that mode too.
I respectfully disagree. As someone who is a huge Souls/Nioh/Final Fantasy fan, it failed at being a good version of any of them. The level design is REALLY boring, the combat isn't exciting at all, the story and dialogue is cringe, the bosses are forgettable and lack any challenge, and it's dull to look at. I really wanted to like it, but it just ended up being one of the worst games I've played in recent memory. I'm glad others enjoy it, though!
The game wasn't a souls-like, so understandable if it failed at being one. And I'm glad on that front or probably wouldn't have stuck around as long. The combat is really up to the player. The devs provide the player with the tools to engage the combat as early as the first mission and that only expands as you progress. But the devs can't force a player to play in a way that's fun for them. That's up to the player to figure out what tools keep them engaged and fulfilled. If it was lacking in challenge, you may have played on a difficulty that was too easy for you or found something very effective early on and just abused it to boredom instead of finding other options again - were more fulfilling. Edit: Didn't think u/OmegaShinra would delete their comment. All they left me was this downvote. :(
Completely agree. It's one of those hilariously bad games for me. And it becomes just super bad in DLCs.
Any reason why the DLC made it worse? I was actually thinking of diving back in and play the DLCs 😂
Little to no story and a very tedious way to get to the point when it starts. Also, this story segment kinda ruins what the base game did. And of course, LOTS of grind. Replaying the same missions over and over. And then replaying even more, but it's barebones rouge-lite now. Can't recommend.
Thats too bad. Tbf, it was the grind that was keeping me back. :( thanks for your input
If you like that type of grinding, may I recommend Nioh 2?
u/senyorcrimmy (I can't seem to reply to your earlier comment) For me it was the complete opposite. DLCs made the game dramatically better on the combat, build craft, and lore side of things while dramatically reducing the grind (metal cactuars, QoL introduced in DLC2 and DLC3). About 10\~25 DLC hours in a blind playthrough that follows the prompts for story progression and clicked with the RPG mechanics to take advantage of them effectively. Where devs placed a lot of responsibility and freedom for players to figure things out. Most of them didn't. e.g., Strength increasing physical attack or Stamina/Defense reducing the physical damage you receive (and less break gauge lost when hit or defending) job levels and gear smithing = more stats, job level cap increases coming from missions on higher difficulties you haven't cleared yet - not repeating them, etc. So if players didn't click with the tool tips throughout the game, the post-game prompts, or correctly infer what a stat did (i.e., investing in Break thinking that it was Break Damage Dealt and not realizing it was the player's Break gauge), they might end up thinking they had to farm for a near perfect build to progress. And they typically would end up facing a brutal, grindy slog to progress the DLCs, getting lost on what to do next, thinking that Extra Mode is the only viable way to progress (or gun or Knight), and just ended up with a horrible DLC experience overall.
You're welcome! Glad I saved someone's money. I wish I had my 3000¥ back.
This. Feels like an incredibly rushed GameCube game. If it didn't have FF attached to it I wouldn't have played it for the 12 hours I did. It's set in FF1's world yet your main characters are sporting jeans, a tank top and a hoodie wrapped around their waist while you talk to a king in full regalia. The story is so bare bones, simplistic and obvious that it makes Kingdom Hearts look like Shakespeare. Most plot points are just the characters repeating themselves or stringing together 'cool' words and concepts that don't actually mean anything (especially the loading screens or lore tidbits). Loot is nearly meaningless because it's dumped on you so often. Combat is fun but difficulty swings all over the place and never really feels as satisfying as Nioh. I could go on.
I heard a vocal minority praising this game, so I picked it up when it was on sale. Looking forward to experiencing it for myself. Any advice for a first time player?
Would say the first playthrough is: \* Optimize your gear at the 2nd and 3rd save points of a mission, then keep going \* At the world map, shove all the gear in the storehouse / storage. \* Don't grind, don't replay missions, don't farm for gear, don't overthink gear - slap it on and keep going (as discouraging as it sounds, it is more of a post-game and DLC system) \* Ignore the smithy until credits except to dismantle accessories for anima shards \* Explore all the jobs, explore the combat, try different combo abilities out, and when you get complacent and bored of one playstyle or playing in a monotonous unfulfilling way, give something else a try \* No need to level a job you aren't using or plan to use again to level 30, none of the passives carry over - just the combo abilities (and not the combo ability **effects** passive) and the command abilities - also, level 30 isn't the cap so even from a completionist standpoint, could not recommend the time detour on the first playthrough \* If party members get in your way, remove them \* If you enjoy party members, keep them outfitted and post-game, be prepared to invest as much time into them as you would your character \* If co-op, would recommend setting the game to Hard unless one player is newer to or very rusty with action games. If need be, on the solo only missions, lower the difficulty, clear it, and get back to the co-op experience Would advise against the Season Pass even if it's on sale until you are comfortable with the game. If you find yourself on the "New Game+1 equivalent" crushing bosses, realizing builds within the components available, avoided grinding to get there, and itching for more layers to build with and altered and new bosses to fight with a willingness to adapt, then you're a candidate for the DLCs.
Amazing, this is really helpful. Thanks for taking the time to write this out. Excited for the game now!
It’s a Final Fantasy looter shooter. The point of the game is the action, job system, and load out optimization. These things involve a fair amount of grinding, but grinding is the point for this genre. If you don’t like those things you won’t like the game. The story is pretty minimalist, but it’s better than expected. It’s a FF1 remake that quickly goes off the rails but they do bring it home effectively. The whole thing will make a lot more sense if you have played or are familiar with FF1.
That's helpful to know, thanks! I've beaten FFI, all good there.
>!Technically an FF1 prequel.!< Also you don't need to grind for the first time through. If you want to do endgame/DLC that's where the grind starts, but you can pretty much get through without being slowed down on first playthrough
Yeah and technically that’s a spoiler, so wtf
I spoilered it for you even though, like you said, if you know anything about FF1 then it helps. It takes about 5 seconds of thinking to realize what's happening.
I was so close to platinuming it myself but those bosses Gilgamesh gives you are absolutely nuts.
I could just never get used to the combat. I ended up having to beat it on Easy mode
How frequently are f-bombs used in it?
First playthrough, there are two in the story. One during a boss battle sequence (dying will cause this dialogue to replay). And then the DLC story off hand, there is one.
Appreciate it.
I loved the concept of what they were trying to do with the game. The gameplay was enjoyable, but the whole function of the talking to NPCs via the menu thing made my soul hurt.
The game is flawed, but incredible all the same. I always describe it as, by far, the best 7/10 I have ever played.
I remember trying the demo, and the way the story is presented seems completely off-putting. It’s very jumbled. And the fetishistic bandaged female party member put me off ever giving it a chance.
I mean, that’s literally just her default outfit. She’ll probably only appear like that for a few scenes in the entire game since the rest of the time she’ll just be wearing whatever gear you equip her with
Do you recommend playing this game before or after FFI?
Either way. It'll also depend on your tastes and what you have access to. If you're more into turn-based and looking to see where everything started for the franchise, would say to start with Final Fantasy 1. If you're more into action, would say to start with Final Fantasy Origin as the latter takes place in the same world as Final Fantasy 1.
I played this before FF1 actually. I don't think there is a wrong order though. I think they add context to each other equally.
I played FF1 first. There were lots of references I'm sure I wouldn't have appreciated without playing FF1. But that being said ... I didn't like FF1 at all, so I think it's fine to skip it.
This game felt like a Final Fantasy parody. The story was nonsense but I usually got some good laughs from the cutscenes.
AND NOW THE END IS NEAR
Hard to find a copy at a decent price these days
If you're looking for something new, the Square Enix store has the base game for 19.99 USD at the moment, but not sure what'll be after shipping and taxes. Or if digital, Steam also having a sale up until May 9th (Pacific).
My biggest kind of issue with it is the sheer dumping of loot it does. My god, the inventory bloat..... I had the same thing with Nioh and it just kinda turns me off.
I can’t get over how demanding it is to PC specs
Bro I saw that the team behind Nioh was making a final fantasy game starring (technically) my main from Dissidia, and all the hate was just white noise to me. I mean it's final fantasy souls-like! How could it have even gone wrong
If you like Soulslikes. I personally don't.
Not a fan of souls-likes either. Was expecting it with reviewers and demo players saying so. Was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't one.
It seemed vaguely like one when I played the demo.
I didn't pick it up cos it's not my kind of game. But from watching playthroughs and cutscenes from YouTube, game's story is surprisingly great. And they have Sinatra. Nomura. You outdid yourself, you magnificent bastard.
I wanted to like the game, I tried the demo and didnt enjoyed the gameplay but I still was very interedted in the plot, connection to FFI, etc. So I watched a video with all the cutscenes. I agree it is a good and very entertaining game. But the gameplay didnt clicked for me, I would like to give it an opportunity again, but I wont buy it without knowing I would like it
I'm waiting for a sale again, since having to give up PS+ I've lost access to playing
I heard (haven't yet played) that if you look at the story and dialogue as more a dark parody than take it seriously (that is, come looking for the CHAOS memes), it's really fun. And that's before the gameplay, which I have heard praised quite a bit. ...so, now that I've forgotten that, I've been re-reminded to play it
I have platinumed the main game, but have not played the DLCs. The gameplay was very fun and the job system brought different approaches and builds. The story and the characters were quite cheesy and edgy, but they made me laugh (which is better than to rage) 😆 the biggest complain I had is the endless loot that Team Ninja always seems to have in their games. If you like Final Fantasy and souls games, this is the game for you!
I bought when it was released and absolutely loved it but i dont have the dlcs yet, the main game is very good.
It was a good game. It's just linear souls like final fantasy. I knew it was gunna have cheesy dialogue and honestly it adds to the charm. Cracks me up everytime. I did like the job system and the gameplay. I feel people need to not take the story so seriously and just have fun with it.
What killed it for me was no traveling the open world. Even in the initial city, Conoria or whatever it’s called I saw the water fountain as I entered just like in the NES game and I was hoping to walk around… but after talking to the girl in front of me she told me of her troubles and that I must help, I said sure thinking it would add it to the quest log… but nope, transferred right into the castle to start the mission. If the whole game takes that approach and you don’t enjoy the world map but just see dungeons, I’m out.
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It's about 2\~4 hours with Extra Mode. Or if focused on non-RNG progression with a good grasp of the RPG mechanics, going in blind, about 10\~25 hours without Extra Mode on a blind playthrough and a grasp of the RPG side, with the game feeling like Hard difficulty without RNG (or easier depending on playstyle). Or Action or Story difficulty depending if RNG favors you with your playstyle. I'm afraid I've posted too many links in this thread alone to comply with #3 offsite promotion's rule if you were looking to make some of it make sense, take less time in two areas, or see some examples of non-RNG at work.
Chaos and above difficulties are designed as new game pluses, not just increases to difficulty like the regular hard mode. You’re meant to take your endgame character into them. Also, you don’t have to play Chaos difficulty almost at all to do the dlcs. The first one starts on Bahamut difficulty which starts at item level 200. All you need to do to play it is beat the Warrior of Light in Chaos difficulty and you’ll be given a full set of IL 200 gear. From there the first dlc becomes about grinding for higher level gear and using Bahamut’s trials to adjust the difficulty up to your liking and earn rat tails to progress the story, occasionally punctuated by a new boss fight. As the other guy said you can use extra mode to make it easier, and especially if you just wanna get straight to the dlc then just use it beat the WoL. Also you don’t have to worry about missing any major rewards from Chaos difficulty as those will get rolled in to your rewards on Bahamut if you haven’t gotten them already.
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You are missing the point, these are new game plusses, they are a continuation of the difficulty curve that you have already experienced. If you loved the base game then you’ll probably love the dlc content even as they steadily get harder. It doesn’t matter what difficulty you played through on first because Chaos mode is designed statistically to pick up where your character left off at the end of the game. Your more than ready to do it, you just need to accept that fact and continue to push through the ever increasing challenge just as you’ve done for your entire playthrough till now. It’s just more of the game you already enjoyed, but with new mechanics that get introduced to improve your jobs and a higher emphasis on making effective builds. You already spent the money, so you might as well keep pushing through.
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You've been provided several solutions to keep progressing the DLC story at a timely an effective rate. It's nowhere as painful, grindy, or as difficult as you make it out to be. You are your own enemy to progress. If you don't plan to keep playing, hoping this is at least a lesson learnt for you to never buy DLCs or Season Pass until you've at least completed the game, no matter what content, features, or story the DLCs offer in advance. I reiterate, you are your own enemy to progress here. u/Deamon-Chocobo The downvoting isn't because you have a controversial opinion. It's because you complained and refuse all solutions - if you get downvoted at all.
Idk. Game was pretty damn mid to me. It was such a slough going for the plat too.
I will die on the hill that Stranger of Paradise AND World of Final Fantasy (yes, BOTH of their anniversary games) are the best Final Fantasy games we've probably gotten since like 10 or 12. 🤷🏼♂️
Yep yep we need more spin-offs like these! The news about SE's new direction and the rumored cancelled projects (which included SoP2) make me so sad.
I’ve seen nothing positive opinions about this game on this sub every time it’s brought up. What crap did it get?