Your video highlights the devastating effects of selling yourself short as an artist. Far from just making life difficult for yourself, you end up cutting corners for a whole fanbase to see... or hear, in this case, and it drags fellow artists down by making it hard for them to actually charge the amount they need in order to do their work properly, or sometimes just make a living wage. Anyway, thank you for articulating all of this so well.
12:33 this is my issue with Phantom Brave. In that game, the difficulty felt like it lies on the enemies level gap. You know what translate that into? Grinding!! Its also my problem with Riviera despite how short Riviera is, still grindy as hell. Anyways, your videos have more "replay value" than most modern games and I think this topic is a masterpiece.
6:23 I will ask this quote to youtubers I know. Cryptic or not, I do look for guides on how to do this and that quite alot but that doesnt mean I want the game to actually guide me. I did this alot with Dept Heaven games and it feels satisfying to route on how you will get to that point. I dont want the actual game to say that in my playthrough, that would just be a straight up spoiler.
Good point with Dept Heaven. Half the fun of playing Knights in the Nightmare is finding out which objects you need to break that have the recruitment items you want for unlocking characters. If I followed a guide for that, and knew which units I needed to bring into a stage to reach and break those objects, that would completely crush the experimentation aspect of the game. Finding out what does or doesn’t work, that puzzle solving process, is what makes the game fun.
Ha, I think Emerald Beyond flew under most people’s radar. Square does appear to be marketing this Saga 2 remake much more, which makes sense considering it’s designed for a wider audience.
Given the fact that we have the internet with so many guides detailing all this stuff, I think it's best we left all of the crypticness in the past. People can and will just look this stuff up, either that or they will play blind and get frustrated. So I think game developers need to find more emergent means of brining about complexity. This can be difficult in JRPGs though and I feel that's the reason why A lot of JRPGs are easy now, because it's difficult to bring about emergent complexity in JRPGs, they have always relied on inherent complexity for the longest time and if I've learned anything from videogames it's that inherent complexity is rarely ever a good thing. Ultimately at the end of the day, what matters is that the game has depth, inherent complexity should only be a thing if it brings depth but emergent complexity is never a bad thing. Some games have a lot of inherent complexity but they don't really have much depth at all, Resonance Of Fate for example, it sounds complicated at first but once you figure it out, the game is actually pretty damn broken, you could argue the same with Valkyrie Profile 2 if you want but that's only in regards to the numbers game, there's a lot more going on in that game to justify the inherent complexity, the numbers are just there to give players a means of getting through the game without mastering its combat because masterping Valkyrie Profile 2's combat is not easy, I think you've probably seen some of the combo videos on RU-vid that show how the game is supposed to be played. I think the most important thing right now is to figure out what metagame potential the games have, what can actually be done in the game that requires some level of skill to perform, that gives players a feeling of satisfaction and how do we reward that? As opposed to just placing a progression wall in player's way and force them to figure out some cryptic little detail to progress. That's what Valkyrie Profile 1 did wrong that Valkyrie Profile 2 did right, Valkyrie Profile 1 relied on cryptic details to gate off progression, Valkyrie Profile 2 makes progression hard by default but offers ways to make it easier, demanding experimentation to make the experience easier but not fully requiring it to be able to experience the game, there's an option for everyone. Finding that option can be difficult for sure but there are guides out there to tell you how to do it now, so what is left when you take away the crypticness is multiple playstyles, some of which require more skillful play than others. Resonance Of Fate did not have that which is its fatal flaw, despite being made by the same guy who did VP2's combat and using the same idea, it just didn't work out as well because ultimately there's no combo mechanism in place, it's purely a tactical RPG and a broken one too. You can't use the guns the same waay archers can use the bows to launch enemies miles into the sky and eject them from the battlefield, acquire gems to generate more AP, increase hit count for higher damage on the soul crush and that's before we even start with the whole knockback aspect with wall bouncing and moves like Mist Phantom that reposition a character to recieve a horizontal launch attack to follow up with a combo. There's just so much going on in VP2 emergently that it holds up well, whereas with Resonance Of Fate, there isn't enough. Put simply it's not figuring things out that matters, it's how you utilize the tools given to you that matters.
Thing is, I think some crypticness is important. When you beat something like Symphony of the Night without getting the Holy Glasses, you get the bad end and miss out on half the game, but the game never outright tells you “hey, you need to get this item to get the true ending.” By keeping some information secret, that encourages the player to explore and replay the game, so that he can find new things each time. Sure, you can look up all the answers online, but that deprives you of that satisfaction you get when you solve these puzzles on your own. That replayability is something missing from modern rpgs. Devs are afraid of players missing out on content, which means games are designed so you can do most things on one playthrough. This is why so many games are smeared in yellow paint these days; devs don’t want players to get lost. Games are smoother experiences now, but they also shaved away some of that unique goodness that used to make exploring these worlds so fascinating. Speaking generally, of course.
@@RushHourWeekend What I'm saying is that the reasoning for that is: The Internet. That approach worked back then but those days are over now and games kinda need to adapt to that. There are still ways to have replayability without any crypticness. Thing is that people are going to look up the answers online, that's just how it's gonna be. Sure they might play it blind on the first run and miss stuff but then they'll go back to it with a guide... and that kinda brings about a mentality of "I need to use a guide for every game I play just to save time and not miss anything". That's pretty much what I did with Symphony Of The Night, I got the bad ending, looked up a guide and finished it. The problem with using a guide is you get ALL the answers, even the ones you don't want. So if a player feels the need to use a guide to begin with, then that's a problem, they shouldn't have to feel the need to use it because if they do, they risk ruining the sense of discovery. So it is an absolute must that crypticness is kept to a minimum, sure you can still have secrets but ending stuff in particular needs to be accessible for everyone or people will look up guides. Back when SOTN was a thing, we didn't have easy access to guides, you say you like the learning experience, well a guide ruins that... but when you reach a point where you feel helpless without a guide, you're just going to use one. So you have to avoid making games too cryptic. I think your SOTN example is not a good example due to its time and due to how much people miss. Now having some secret level or some secret item or whatever is fine but having multiple endings with one of which being hidden behind a wall of crypticness is a problem otherwise you'll just get people not finish the game or ruin it for themselves. Ideally what games should do is get players to feel like they can keep playing through it without having to use a guide but offer challenges that players have a good idea as to what they have to do to overcome it but must refine those ideas into something practical that will actually get them to overcome it. Like I have dropped countless games due to cryptic stuff like Legacy Of Kain Soul Reaver, Zelda, Metroid etc. Because of that I am not a fan of those games and refuse to play them, it's made me view those games in a negative light despite many other people liking them, if they were more streamlined, I'd probably like them more but I don't like them because of how Cryptic they are. I got tired of having to constantly follow a guide to do anything and not using a guide is not an option, there's only so many times you can punch a wall till your fist starts bleeding and you get fed up with it, that will mean I either use a guide or drop the game and never buy another one.
another video crying about Japanese games unavailable on pc. your videos just sound whiny and negative. start with the positives if you genuinely like the games.
i remember playing this on the 360, i spent many months figuring out the systems of the game, it consisted of trial and error but i eventually figured it out. I used to love old games being opaque, when there was something to discover, now every game has a wiki.
Dear youtube, can you please recommend me more of this and not the millionth "$1 vs "1000000000000 [your object here]" so I can actually enjoy the good stuff? Thanks!
I fully emphasize with vaan, but me and bro are around the same age so I can easily put myself into his shoes. In the scene with Ashe at Gariff village, Vaan mentions he only told himself he wanted to be a sky pirate to distract himself from the conflict going on within his life.
1:10:00 the PC version came with the chocobo mini-game as a seperate app that allowed you to transfer those rewards to your preferred save file. Still wasn't much fun.
Sakaguchi and Nomura came up with the original story for VII. Also Nojima said he studied Jung and Yogacara Buddhism to make the story for rebirth. Hope this helps.
I knew I read before that Sakaguchi came up with the original story concept for FF7. For all his recognition as a great director and producer, I think Sakaguchi’s biggest strength is storytelling, at least to my tastes. And his departure left a giant hole in Square’s writing department, which remains unfilled. At least his work at Mistwalker has been consistently good.
The story isn't really a mess, it just isn't spoonfed to the player like almost every other game. It's more like Dark Souls where you have to go out of your way to put the pieces together. Does this make it bad? Maybe, since probably 98% of people won't really experience it as the writers probably intended, but to me it's absolutely fantastic and allows for a much deeper story than is usually possible for a typical jrpg.
Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Looked it up just now. Teruki Endo, he was a game designer for RE5 and lead game designer for Monster Hunter World. That guy knows his shit, those are great games. Man, Capcom lost a lot of talent. Itsuno left this year, and Ryota Suzuki left to work on FF16, so whoever takes the reins for Devil May Cry has their work cut out for them.
4 years later and we’re still hearing the same tired old arguments? Come on. We got to spend so much more time getting to know Midgar than we did in og. Why is this a bad thing? Criticize the game for the occasional jarring dialogue and stilted delivery, or make a rational argument if you’re gonna criticize it.
For all the time spent in Midgar in Remake, we didn’t really see a whole lot that was new. Sure, you go to the upper plate to visit Jessie’s parents (with a ton of forced walking), and some new characters were introduced like Roche and Kyrie (whose arcs didn’t go anywhere in Remake), but most of the game consists of the same locations as the original, just stretched out. I wanted to explore more sectors, explore a better vertical slice of the city, see and do new things. Learning more about the doomed Avalanche members’ backstories doesn’t really interest me when I know these characters don’t matter much in the grand scheme of things. It’s a matter of pacing, and Remake just feels very slow. The Remake couldn’t decide between having a new experience or retelling the same story. Instead, it settled on a middle ground, so it is neither faithful to the original, nor is it a wholly fresh experience. It’s a compromise that tries to please as wide a group as possible, but doesn’t really excel at anything in terms of storytelling. Gameplay wise, the combat and boss fights are great.
I love the points made about 16. The worst part about the game to me that makes it impossible to replay is that there is no progression at all. You have a single moveset that you unlock and you never change your base moveset again. Then there’s no elements affinity and basically 3 enemy types. And don’t even get me started on the disappointing story. Too many people were in the honeymoon stage and took 0 criticisms about the game.
FF16 has the right action game fundamentals (attack cancels, parry, dodge i-frames) but never incentivizes you to make the most of that skillset because the challenge is nonexistent. Just dodge through everything because your i-frame window is enormous. The “Final Fantasy” mode is a joke that never encourages you to switch up your strategies like a proper hard mode should. Why bother with having this eikon skill tree when you can refund all of your points at will, for free? (Same exact issue with Rebirth’s skill tree) There’s no commitment to a build. Imagine if you played Demon’s Souls but you can refund your levels for free whenever you want. Having to commit to build would encourage replay value. But of course, the eikon distribution is so terrible that they couldn’t incorporate any build permanency because you don’t get two of the eikons until the very end. Why have a crafting system for weapons when there’s no elemental affinities, no attack type properties, no eikon scaling, nothing? Just equip the highest damage sword at all times. And to have most accessories just modify specific ability damage or specific cooldown reduction feels so boring. FF12’s accessories grant you skills. FF9’s equipment teaches you abilities. FF10’s weapons come with specific properties. FF7 Rebirth’s accessories function as maxed-out materia. The RPG elements are the flimsiest they’ve ever been in this series, and the pacing and balance are completely inappropriate for a proper action game.
Rebirth is so bloated and filled with maximalist game design. 50+ markers on the map that just feel like im going through a checklist. As a result, running through the world feels like a chore, and there isnt much inherent desire to progress besides seeing the next pretty cutscene and fighting a cool enemy. The story is a whole other mess as well.
The way exploration was handled feels very formulaic. I’ve never been a fan of climbing towers, lighting up objectives on the map, running to the new points of interest and partaking in the same 4-5 activities. It’s played out and safe. I’d like to see some innovation here. Kinda the same deal with Tears of the Kingdom, which I think many people were disappointed to see. But for me, the gameplay in both Rebirth and Zelda is engaging enough that the exploration activities don’t really bother me. They’re for the first-time playthrough when you want to do everything, but you can still have fun on a replay by ignoring them. That was my experience with hard mode in Rebirth. Don’t get me wrong, I want exploration to be fun. It is a problem in Rebirth, no doubt. If I viewed Rebirth as an adventure game first and foremost, it wouldn’t be a good game. But as an action rpg with a side of Mario Party, I really like it.
That’s a great question. So the most common complaints I’ve seen are that Vaan sucks as a protagonist (my perspective is that he’s not great but I think he’s a good player insert into the world), that Basch should’ve been the main character, and that combat is too automated with the gambits system. I think most complaints stem from the umbrella, blanket reason that the game is different. With Final Fantasy, up through 10, you could reasonably predict what each experience would be like. There was an established formula each one adhered to. Tactics was a hit with fans because it wasn’t a numbered entry, and the genre was written right there in the title: tactics. If you don’t like tactics games, you skip it. Easy. But really, if you consider the political backdrop of the storyline, and the tactical elements of combat, FF12 really isn’t all that different from Tactics. Starting with 11, people started to turn on the series because the formula was changed. You’ve got this traditionally single player series with open environments and turn-based gameplay and now there’s an mmo (11), now there’s real-time combat with AI programming (12), now there’s a linear world with no direct party member control (13). This was the era where people turned on the series for not sticking to what made Final Fantasy popular. Then, with 14, we entered a new era where modern fans have come to appreciate these entries for being different. We saw the release of Zodiac Age, and a ton of players came to realize what they were missing out on. If FF12 were released for the first time today, it would be celebrated. It came out during a time where fans wanted a traditional game, especially after 11, and that negative reception kinda stuck with some players for a long time. I’m not speaking for everyone, and I’m sure someone’s gonna say they hate 12 because of XYZ reasons, but from what I’ve seen from the fanbase over the years, I genuinely think the poor reception at the time was because it was different. If it were called Final Fantasy: Ivalice, I think fans would’ve been more forgiving. If Lost Odyssey was titled Final Fantasy XII, it would’ve been a smash hit instead of the cult classic that it is. Fans place too much power in words.
I appreciate you making a video and making your opinion known and the effort you put into this video but I heard so many dogwater takes in the first 20 minutes I can't possibly take it seriously. Good luck in the future.
I know my thoughts about Square Enix go against the grain at times, and I’m gonna lose people that really enjoy games like FF14 or Kingdom Hearts, but that’s just how my tastes align. Thanks for watching.
Yeh the story and world build is just Kingdomtrash7 now. Bet Nomura ego reach skyhigh in this game. I disagree 16 is more fun in actions for me story is also hold it own, Atleast it not childish stupid multiverse. But yeh Im not hardcore A rpg fan maybe Im not understand their dept. But i love it more than trash FF7R, Atleast it try something new. 7R and ATB that you said about CD is also boring old to me. Nomura wrote some part of FF7 original. barret scene with Dyne are good here???? Seriously? Original Dyne are 10000000* better.
16 did start off with a really great story. I was hesitant to buy the game until I tried the demo, where the story in the intro really hooked me. It’s too bad once the second time skip happens the story completely falls apart, but the tone of the story certainly feels more mature - and not just because of the swearing and killing. The Dyne scene in Rebirth, I mentioned this in another comment, but I think both versions are great. The original is simple, quiet, and brief, and that lends the scene a more solemn and haunting feel, especially with the wind sounds blowing the entire time. Rebirth goes completely over-the-top with melodramatic theatrics, and I think it’s a powerful scene in a different way. The expression on Dyne’s face when he sees the picture of Marlene, Barret tossing his gun on the floor saying go ahead and shoot, these images stuck with me. But yeah, completely understand why fans wouldn’t like the change.
Pokémon is kind of in a unique yet very sad situation that we'll never have a great Pokémon game again because they no longer need to offer one to get the sales. They could successfully sell coils of steaming dung if the Pokémon logo is stamped on them. Pokémon really has become a victim of its own success and it's a series I've given up on. Still hopeful for other series though like Final Fantasy because unlike Pokémon people actually stopped buying the games when they got worse. Personally I like balanced games that are challenging and offer a good system of gameplay which is getting harder to find these days all in one game. There's definitely been a shift away from challenge in gaming.
I think your point about gaming shifting away from challenge is really interesting because I think that’s true, but also not true at the same time, and it’s a video I’ve been planning on making. The issue has to do with the skill floor being dropped in this modern crusade to make every game accessible. The skill ceiling remains high, but that barrier of entry has been dropped so low that it feels like every modern game is designed so that anyone of any age and skill level can beat them. Before, with something like Devil May Cry 3 (non-Special Edition), normal mode was ball-bustingly hard, and Dante Must Die was brutal. High skill floor/high skill ceiling. Nowadays, with Devil May Cry 5, normal mode is easy, and Dante Must Die is hard. Low skill floor/high skill ceiling. Is that better for the wider gaming audience? I don’t know, but I know one thing: I, personally, don’t like it.
Rebirth is a great game with some frustrating flaws so I'm looking forward to see if they can really iron out the funny stuff and put together a truly cohesive game for the final part
If Square can make Cid and Vincent as fun to fight with as Tifa and Yuffie, I think I’ll be satisfied with the game no matter which direction they take the story in. I’m in it for the combat, minigames, and fun character interactions.
Ff13 was so FCKNG AWFUL that its stink infected all subsequent titles. They don't know what to do with the franchise anymore. And i was so hyped for that game after having played ff12, imagining they would take it and make what was good 10 times better, like no more loading areas, bigger party, bigger cities, even more items and builds. And then we got... that. What a disaster and a disgrace for the franchise. Congrats to everyone involved in the killing of the series (apart from the visuals team, they did a nice job cause the game really was beautiful)
I remember 100% this game in the PS2 era (regular version) and my final saved file clocked over 250 hours, this game was massive, expansive, so full of secrets that you could miss a legendary weapon in the endgame for randomly open a chest in the first dungeon, where most content is actually optional...it gives a scope that the world is bigger than you that not other single player FF has ever achieved again, last time FF was good indeed.
Glenn is from First Soldier. But First Soldier got cancelled so the only way to know anything about it is if you are playing/watching the FF7 Gatcha game.
Ah, that explains it. I figured he must’ve been from a gacha or manga or something that’s not a mainline game, because Rebirth treats this character as someone we should already be familiar with.
I didn’t understand ff16. Seemed like alot was going on with the fast forwarding of time and what not. Ff7 remake and rebirth are good, but I can see why people who never played OG ff7 may be confused as to the endings of remake and rebirth.
I think there are two time skips in FF16. I was enjoying the story up until the second time skip. Before that point, the story had a lot of great political intrigue going on. Then the devs remembered that it needed to have a more Final Fantasy-esque story, so they tossed out all of that effort. If FF16 didn’t make concessions to fit within the Final Fantasy mold, it would’ve been much better.
35:00 really that is the first complaint I have ever heard from Queen blood. It’s way too easy that is a new one a lot of times I’ve heard people say it’s way too hard or it’s way too complicated or I just don’t wanna play a card game, but I have never heard. It was way too easy. I mean it’s pretty easy to get strong and powerful in that game especially when you learn how to actually do it
