Just finished FFXVI and holy shit.

Never have I played a game this cinematic. I went into Final Fantasy XVI without any prior knowledge about the game (I did play Final Fantasy VII before tho), and I never expected they'd let us play as the Eikons.

The boss fights are hella cinematic, and I love it. The combat being hack n slash kinda feels good too.

My biggest issue is the PC optimization. Frequent frame drops got annoying, and I wish the performance was better. Some parts also felt a bit dragged out.

STILL, I had a blast. The Eikon fights alone make this game worth playing.

Which Final Fantasy game should I play next?

Takes me back to the launch days of 2004.

FFXI works natively again on the PS2, no mods or alterations needed. Just set up POL and install FFXI from the discs, and then download the version updates like the old days. Broke out my old HDD and network adapter, which I haven't used for the past 15 years now. Absolute dream come true, never thought I'd be able to do this again.

I'm moreso a nuanced person when it comes to discussing modern final fantasy, I love it but also hold a lot of criticisms toward specific games. Resonance, while not being the first fanservice-ridden self-love letter to the series, is one as charming IMO as 9. It references & nods to all parts of the franchise while also being able to believebly sit next to the OG pixel games. Whereas 16 continues taking the mechanics to different places, Resonance brings back turn based that half of us have been begging for - its story isnt as cinematic & emotionally taxing as 16s but is entertaining & really invokes a cheesy 90s adventure storyline, with these tropey characters that aren't going to get video essays dissecting their psyche anytime soon but are endearing enough to get you fully invested in them as party members with other factors like design & kits

I just started chapter 5, & while i agree the voice acting + writing can be a miss sometimes & gave me a little emotional whiplash here & there, I think it succeeds in what its trying to do - which i think is emulate a 90s anime fantasy adventure with some modern production, with unusually charismatic characters & an epsidodic storytelling structure that treats every chapter like a totally separate storyline while keeping an overarching goal in view to keep us coming back every Saturday morning; not to mention i think it just genuinley gets some things right despite having SATAM cartoon-style pacing issues in Olderin & Zoldaad. I find myself caring about this games story the more I play it, whereas prior to the halfway point of chapter 3 the gameplay loop & music where the main things that I fell in love with instantly.​ I'm not bored, & i honestly am a little fatigued of overly drawn out, excessively bloated scripts in RPGs ive experienced recently, so having a game go full on SNES levels of simplistic writing that gets straight to the point (to a fault sometimes) is honestly refreshing for me. The voice acting is not consistent, but there are some really good performances in here that I feel are getting skimmed over right now in favor of highlighting the more awkward or "cringe"​​ moments.

The gameplay is kinda perfect if you ask me, the visions acting as both kit extensions to the party but also their own character in the vein of demons from SMT makes the game feel like Final Fantasy x Mario Kart Double Dash. It's comfort food for turn based gamers in it's most delicious form, & i dont think it'll excite you if you dont care about final fantasy being turn based again, it succeeds at its gameplay loop to a similar degree of the pixel remasters. My only complaint is that, on normal difficulty the game has felt a bit too easy until the final boss of chapter 4. Part of me could stroke my ego & say I'm just really adept at final fantasy, but im pretty sure the game just overpowers us a bit needlessly. Also dont appreciate the rather hand-holdy nature of the map markers. Why set up an exploration quest for carbuncle if you give me a giant ping for every single spot described in the riddle? I actually wanted the promise of getting lost trying to study the map to find these locations, only for it to hand it to me as soon as possible. This wouldn't be a heavy complaint for me if the option to turn off pings or the mini map as a whole (PERMANENTLY) existed. Just feels like the game has promise of good exploration that gets spoiled a bit with those obvious location markers

OVERALL: I think i love this game more than 16. I enjoy it more than 14, & I was way more excited for this than anything regarding FF7R; I want this game to succeed & remind square that there is an audience for this era of Final Fantasy, or just the style of turn based RPGs in general. As opposed to wanting 17 to be turn based (though i would flip out if that happens), my biggest hope for Resonance is that it's successful enough to get a sequel game to expand on the story, which from what I hear gets REALLY good in Brave Exvius in events past this games story arc. It's not a perfect game & stumbles in some areas that other modern FF gets right, but i also think it shines brighter than what we've been getting the last few years for the things that make it stick out​

The wig was spontaneously styled the night before, I forgot half the accessories at home and the coat is a bit too small/short for me but I was still happy with the outcome.

Comment below!

For our final day of this series, it is Yukihiro Kajimoto, who worked on Star Ocean and Adventure of Elliot, who has drawn Bartz and Bocco.

The final artwork ! It has been quite a ride of amazement, deception and strangeness. It was really cool though. I hope you liked this little series of posts. Now, i suppose we won't have any more official posts like those, but i will check in case they continue with more drawings.

About Bartz, i personally like this artwork. Not much to say, to be honest. It looks cool.

JP : https://x.com/FFRS_JP/status/2115005587314336033

EN : https://x.com/FinalFantasy/status/2115005839929147427

Edit : it has been comfirmed that this artwork was the last one by the Japanese account : https://x.com/FFRS_JP/status/2115031173550485751

Loved the game inside and out and really exhausted every mission and side quest.. but the music is really top tier. I don’t tink this game receives the love it deserves. Truly a whimsical masterpiece. That’s it 😇

Trying to beat her for the past hour. I will eventually...

I picked these up a few years ago (3 copies) sealed, I cannot find it anywhere and was wondering more information and if anyone has uploaded it

As someone who played FFBE when it was around, here are some plot changes I noticed in Resonance:

1. The term Veritas is not mentioned at all anywhere; they replaced the names of the Sworn Six with the Latin translation of their associated elements.

Edit: looks like they do use Veritas in their introductions, but I’m not sure if they do again after.

1. No Diabolos, Lakshmi, nor Tetra Sylphid espers. I’m assuming that this is to not double up on elemental espers. In FFBE, Leviathan was only acquired in Season 2, while Siren was the season 1 water esper.
2. Sol was already a sociopath before his imprisonment, having lost his emotions due to the same process that causes his appearance and powers. In resonance, his change is due purely to his imprisonment.
3. Behemoth K lost his K, so he’s no longer a king :(.
4. When Raegan disguises himself as Gelidus in FFBE, he freezes everyone in Duggle village, which doesn’t happen in Resonance. I’m guessing they cut this since it’s out of character for him to do such a malicious act.
5. The season 2 hook at the end is gone. Originally, Rain has one final clash with Sol and they are sent through the portal into Paladia. This sets up the motivation for the party finding a way through it to save Rain. Since this is no longer the case, I wonder how they might setup the events of Season 2 in a sequel to Resonance.

That’s all I noticed, but feel free to leave your own observations in the comments!

Well it finally showed up today so getting a late start, but it feels like it was worth the wait! This thing is massive.

I loved playing tactics back on the PS1 when I could still pull all-nighters. Tons of great memories with my buddy between this, FF8, and Metal Gear Solid, with the occasional break for some Crash Bandicoot. I'm excited to play the remastered version!

I never got to play Brave Exvius, so I'm not sure what I'll be getting into with Resonance, but I love the HD-2D style and you all seemed really excited about this one, so I had to snag a copy as well.

And I totally copied y'all by saving the 40th anniversary sticker. It's amazing to think how far we've come from my first first foray into Final Fantasy. I remember the opening crawl of FF6 as a kid and just being *blown away* that games could be more than a goofy pastime. I was immediately hooked, and I think I knew in that moment that I'd be playing games for the rest of my life.

Final Fantasy is a big inspiration behind one of the comic series I write, and it's been such a joy to share these games with my daughter as she's gotten older. I'm doing my part to keep the love alive into the next generation!

FF5 is legendary for its job system and subsequent replay value, plus a few standout music tracks like Battle on the Big Bridge. But there isn’t much chatter about the story or its characters compared to other golden age FFs like 4, 7, 6, or 9. I know characters like Faris and Galuf are notable, but I don’t get much of a read on anyone else.

FF protag with the most aura

Art I commissioned from the wonderful StrawderryST on Twitter.

https://x.com/strawderryst/status/2114956338120044722?s=46&t=biCBMfx_IUElXObReN1rig

I've been thinking about this and couldn't find a definitive answer anywhere. Does anyone know where I could find one, or will I have to do the research myself?

I'm counting everything: mainline games, console spin-offs, and every kind of Final Fantasy game out there, including mobile games, rhythm games, and anything else released under the Final Fantasy name.

Until I find the answer, my guess is Bahamut. He appears as a boss in III, IV, V, VIII, X, XII: Revenant Wings, XIII, XIII-2, XIV, XV: Comrades, XVI, VII Remake, VII Rebirth, and Crisis Core. He probably also shows up in some games I haven't played, such as XI, Explorers, IV: The After Years, Stranger of Paradise, and Resonance, not to mention the countless mobile games that must have featured the series' most iconic summon at some point.

I've been following this guide and I can't give any more Crystal Bangles to my Red Elemental, it's HP is only at ~9100 at level 99 but this guy brings it up to 9999 without any equipment. Did I do something wrong to lock myself out of max HP or is it just not possible to get more than 9100 without equipment as a White Mage?