A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 1 year ago
Illusion of Gaia is one of those games that holds a magical place in my heart, so much so that just hearing or thinking of the name…even all these years later, still gives me goosebumps.
Such a fantastic game. and such a fantastic story
It was the first rpg-type game I ever played and it awoke a passion in me I still have 30 years on.
I still have the cartridge. Don’t have an SNES to play on anymore (I’d just emulate anyway). But I keep that and ff8 on display, for being formative titles.
FF8 was such an underappreciated title. I think the negative backlash that it got really did a disservice to the entire franchise.
The SNES and the PS1 were like, the epicenter of amazing, mind blowing RPG games.
I guess I got lucky that I never played 7…? Everyone hypes the hell out of 7, and you almost never hear about 8…
For me, though, 8 was more than the story, it was more than the game. It was the absolute most frustrating experience of my entire gaming life, thus far.
See, I fucked up. I fucked up and saved my game when I came across a save spot. I fucked up and saved my game right before the end boss. I fucked up and saved my game right before the end boss with a very nearly empty inventory.
Because it’s not a short game, I wasn’t willing to re-play it. That would have been faster, but less fulfilling. Nope, instead I spent about 72 hours over the span of two weeks, replaying the final boss with 2 heal items, one resurrection, and that’s about it. I did no other gaming in that time. That boss was the only thing I did for days and days.
I beat that bitch. I whooped her after hours upon hours of trial and failure. Different starting lineups, different item use, different summon use pattern… the works.
The day I beat it I learned that I could, if thoroughly motivated, do whatever I set out for, even if it took a while. (No, this definitely has not translated to real life but that’s because I have no motivation left to put forth in actual life… made a big difference in gaming tho!!)
SNES and ps1 were really pushing the limits of what could be done. A lot of games from that era are super hard to play now, though, because the controls are just sloppy. I’m not even concerned with the graphics, but the controls… ungh and that was also the time of non-remappable inverted camera controls and shit…
7 was a great and brilliant game, with an enormous world and an incredible story… It certainly deserves a lot of hype for what it did and achieved, but I also think its telling that instead of just giving it a graphical update and releasing it for modern systems, Square is doing…whatever horrid shit they are doing with the remake thats basically killed it for me forever.
8 did a lot different. Not just different from 7, but also different from Final Fantasy in general. I think thats why it doesnt have as much love, that, and it it had the misfortune of having to follow 7. But I think that chance it took is what makes it special. Genuinely special.
Unfortunately a lot of people didnt seem to think so, which made Square go back to the classic airship fantasy world that most other final fantasy games used.
Its incredible that you managed to pull that off, though, lol. I wouldnt have. then again, I’m the obsessive hoarder “I cant use this, what if I’ll need it later?!” type.
Cadeillac@lemmy.world 1 year ago
I immediately started hearing the music when I saw the title. I tried playing this game as a kid, bit had a fairly hard time with it. Went back in the past decade and finally beat it. Am I remembering correctly that the instruction booklet had an entire strategy guide in it?