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ElkinFencer10 wrote:What about the glorious "indie" game (that I haven't made yet) called Phynal Phantecee?

If it isn't released in playable form by the time February is over, no, you can't play it for February TR.

Also, I want to play Phynal Phantecee Laejundz.

dsheinem wrote:your list didn't include Ehrgeriz

I never said my list was definitive though, just a starting point. My list omitted a lot of Japan-only Chocobo games for example.

dsheinem wrote:I suppose the question is what makes something count as a "spin-off"?

One time you and I were arguing about... I don't even remember what, and I pulled the "dictionary tactic" on you, and you derided me for it. So now I've pulled out my imaginary hypocrisy tutu, and I'm picturing you dancing in it. Dance you sexy little man, dance!

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I agree we're all getting a bit silly about all this.

I merely hope next month to see folks play something obviously FF related and at least ten years old*. That's what I personally shall do!


*Except for Noise. But he deserves to play the original PSP version of Type-0. SUCK UP DA GRINDU

Exhuminator wrote:I agree we're all getting a bit silly about all this.

agree to agree!

I merely hope next month to see folks play something obviously FF related and at least ten years old*. That's what I personally shall do!

And that's great. We'll all come up with whatever little rules we see fit to make us happy with the game we decide to play. None of us are getting paid to play a game here - unless y'all are, in which case who do I talk to about getting a check? But I mean I think it's great that you and Bone and others are very strict about sticking to some 10+ year rule. And I think it's great that others might explore some leftfield shit. As long as the result is interesting conversation about games, I'm pleased as punch.

*Except for Noise. But he deserves to play the original PSP version of Type-0. SUCK UP DA GRINDU

Sorry, player. You know how I'm rolling haha.

A question for fans of the Final Fantasy Tactics series:

I've never played any of the FF Tactics series. As a Final Fantasy fan I've always been curious, but the trouble is that I'm not a huge fan of tactical strategy gameplay (RTS or TBS). Having said that, perhaps this upcoming TR theme would be a great opportunity to (finally) give Final Fantasy Tactics its fair shot, and more broadly speaking to have another go at a tactical strategy game (maybe this one will finally click). My question is which version of Final Fantasy Tactics would be preferable? I'm looking at either the original release on Playstation or the updated (remastered?) version released on PSP under the title of Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.

Normally I'd just play the original release first, and depending on how that went I'd plan to play the updated version sometime down the line. In this case however the chances are good that it's not a game I'll be revisiting, and accordingly that I should just pick the one that offers the best experience. I'll be honest, I'm sort of leaning towards War of the Lions. The portability aspect is very appealing, and my research leads me to believe that the localization is better/more coherent. But I don't know; are there good arguments to play the older title instead? War of the Lions was released in 2007, so I don't feel like there's a conflict in terms of its 'retro status' (or at least not in terms of the generally established TR guidelines. )

The original's plot certainly wasn't incoherent or anything, but it did feel like there was stuff going on that wasn't necessarily adequately explained. As I understand it, the PSP version went a bit crazy with spell effects, which slows down the pace of the game. I'm not sure what other changes the PSP remake had. I'd say the core enjoyment (or lack thereof) will be the same either way.

nullPointer wrote:My question is which version of Final Fantasy Tactics would be preferable?

Original PS1 FFT doesn't have the PSP version's slowdown, but it also doesn't have the superior localization (translation) the PSP has.
PSP version has much better localization, but has the slowdown, and also has crap scaling on the sprites, making them look blurry.

When I beat FFT back in 2009, I chose to play the PS1 version, but with the PSP version's superior translation hacked into it. Said hack also comes with many glitch fixes.
You can get it here:

http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=3659.0

Alternatively, there is a hack for the PSP version, that fixes the slowdown issues, and the bad sprite scaling:

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2965/

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The three games I plan to beat for February:

All of those are 10 years old or older. If I have my druthers, they shall be beat.

Revenant Wings is a game I had fun with, but you should set your expectations accordingly - it's clearly a smaller, lower budget game than others you might play.

It's not particularly hard or complex, but I found it compelling in it's own way.

Looking foward to this month. Got three games lined up at the moment; Final Fantasy Legend 3, Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core. I also have Dissidia 012 but it's a bit too modern although with the new Dissidia out soon I'm likely to play it anyway.

alienjesus wrote:Revenant Wings is a game I had fun with, but you should set your expectations accordingly

As a big fan of FFXII, as long as I get to spend a little more time with Balthier and Fran, I'll be happy enough.

Sload Soap wrote:Dirge of Cerberus and Crisis Core.

I may play Dirge also, depends on how much time I have left after the other three. I'm not a huge fan of FFVII, but I still enjoyed Crisis Core. Crisis Core does a good job of being a prequel to FFVII, and has an amazing ending.

Exhuminator wrote:

nullPointer wrote:My question is which version of Final Fantasy Tactics would be preferable?

Original PS1 FFT doesn't have the PSP version's slowdown, but it also doesn't have the superior localization (translation) the PSP has.
PSP version has much better localization, but has the slowdown, and also has crap scaling on the sprites, making them look blurry.

When I beat FFT back in 2009, I chose to play the PS1 version, but with the PSP version's superior translation hacked into it. Said hack also comes with many glitch fixes.
You can get it here:

http://ffhacktics.com/smf/index.php?topic=3659.0

Alternatively, there is a hack for the PSP version, that fixes the slowdown issues, and the bad sprite scaling:

https://www.romhacking.net/hacks/2965/

Wow this is awesome! Either of these hacks sounds like an improvement over the corresponding vanilla version of the game. It certainly gives me more to consider in terms of making the best choice. It's really tempting to play that PS1 version, but when given a choice I generally like to keep my RPG gaming portable (makes it easier to sneak in some gaming while the family is watching TV or whatever). Hmm ...

Thanks so much for the info Exhuminator!