FFVII was the game that introduced me to Final Fantasy, and RPG's in general. But what makes me go back to the game again and again is the way it gets me more involved than any other game ive played. Its the first game ive ever felt emotions (other than "DIE DIE DIE ALIEN SCUM!! BUAHAAHAA" ;)) while playing, almost shead a tear when Aeris died! FFVIII lost my attention towards the end, it just got overly complicated, and i just wanted to finish the game to say i did!
I hated Aerith dying, but it didn't have the emotion for me that it seemed to hold for many of my friends. I liked Sephiroth too much, obviously. He was cool. Psycho, but cool. I really disliked Cloud, and Barret, and Tifa... so that really didn't help with the whole 'liking the game' thing.
I don't think VIII got too complicated, but then I've been through that game so many times I could give you a rather long dissertation on the storyline and relationships between all the characters! ;)
I think the leveling, magic and summon system was just right too, FFVIII made it a little overcomplicated. I liked the Spheregrid in FFX, but it was too big to master (unless you put some serious hours in!) The goals were also pretty unrealistic in FFVIII and X, the ridiculous amount of things needed to collect to get the ultimate weapons and stuff, i cant understand how anyone could work some of that out without a guide!
I agree that FFX had some stupid requirements for the Celestial Weapons, but I honestly thought that FFVII had more stupid sidequests than VIII. VIII's all made sense in relation to the story. I
hated Butterfly Hunting in X! Argh! If you were good at Triple Triad in VIII, getting the ultimate weapons was easy as pie. It seemed random whether or not at the start of a new game it allowed you access to all the weapons in the junk shop or not. If it did, you could get the Lionheart before you even went to the Fire Cavern. :D 8)
Also, I dunno. I got really good at using the Junction system. The Materia system in VII didn't quite work for me the same way. I could get really good combinations, but... eh. :)
I never got around to playing IX...maybe ill see if i can get through it in a few months time.
IX is OK. I won't say it's bad, but I won't say it's good either. I really like the music, which harks me back to the earlier games, but with higher quality. It's worth playing, but it isn't VII, VIII or X.
Dont get me started on X-2 :) If XII end up like X-2 im going to start burning copies of it outside the Square headquarters...
I'll join you. ;)
Ill try and grab that one, ive been wanting to get into Dire Straight for a while, might be a good route ;).
It's a fantastic gig. It'll totally spoil the studio albums, as the lives performances just have so much extra soul in them. The studio albums I own, but don't listen to - aLCHEMY and On the Night are the only two I listen to. :D