anyone have distinct memories of their first Final Fantasy or how they got into the series? share them!
as a kid, my parents sent me to live with grandma in Charleston SC every summer. there was an older boy that lived next door, met him while he was fishing in the lake behind my grandma’s house. i don’t know how it happened but i asked him “do you like games” and he, of course, said “yes” and we went to his house, up to his room, and he showed me his collection of PS1 games. i must have been 10 or 11 at the time.
anyways, he had FF8, which didn’t look super interesting to me, but he came over to my grandma’s house one day, brought ff8, and he played it on my grandma’s huge old-fashioned projector TV (pictured); i remember being immediately entranced with the music; specifically Balamb Garden theme, and my interest in the series immediately increased.
that was my first “experience” with Final Fantasy, later during one of those summers my friend’s friend lent me their Game Boy Camera to “play with for the week,” and I subsequently traded it at the local Babbages for in-store credit (i was a psychopathic kid); these events were significant because thanks to that in-store credit, I was able to purchase a used copy of Final Fantasy 7; and at the time, my brain was immediately drawn to the spiky-haired guy holding a big sword on the cover. i spent the rest of that formative summer playing Final Fantasy 7.
All my friends were playing ff7 and raving about how awesome the game was. I had a PlayStation console but my parents could only afford 1 Platinum game a year (aka when games were severely discounted).
I saved my birthday/Christmas money and by the time I could afford it, Final Fantasy 8 was coming out. I bought it on launch and absolutely loved the game. I was playing it all the time. Got all the cards and completed all the side quests. I know the junction system is flawed but it’s still my favorite game of the series and I often replay it for nostalgia value.
I didn’t play final fantasy 7 until I was in my late twenties, I wasn’t impressed.
i prefer 8 over 7, as well; the junction system may be “flawed” but it’s a unique take on character customization and progression.
I appreciate the idea, I really do. Attaching fire magic to your weapon to counter enemies was cool. I just hated the “This boss has Regen, guess I’ll draw for at 30 turns before I even attempt to kill it” experience.
yeah, every time i play FF8 the beginning experience is usually “draw 99 of every magic as i find it” lol
God bless the speed multipliers on the Steam version xD
I did a whole run where I could only ever draw ???, meaning only magic I’ve never owned before and only once. So basically I got a handful of useful magic, like Aura or Demi, and that was it (through drawing). It was freeing and a bit eye opening.