PixlBit

My vote is for Dragon Age 2. Holy crap, those recycled dungeons bored me to tears.

Only the original XIII bored me to sleep. I liked the others.

NOW IS TIME!

It was great to hear all of your stories! I started with FF IV, back when FF VI came out. After that, I played all of them in chronological order as they came out. The only ones I haven't played through are 1-3, 11 & 14. So I basically grew up with this series. I even have a Final Fantasy tattoo. lol 

My favorite is VI, and my least favorite is either X or XIII. I suppose that the stories mean the most to me. I used to read a lot of fantasy novels as a kid, and as a teenager, FF combined my two favorite things: games and fantasy stories. My favorite memories of this series is definitely from VI, where the world breaks apart from the magical Cataclysm. It was heavy stuff as a teenager. After I finished it, I wrote a fanfiction adaptation of the game. I even started writing a sequel to VI, and got halfway through before getting stuck. So I basically did some world building and got absorbed into that world for years. 

My favorite character in the main series might be Celes. When you first find her, she's imprisoned by her people for being a traitor. Even with everything against her, she was standing up for her beliefs, even when she was being manipulated by the only family (the Empire) she had ever known. And then she becomes the main protagonist in the second half. She almost gives up all hope, but is saved by the power of love. She becomes the harbinger, and finds her companions again and brings hope to a dying world. 

You guys hit the nail on the head as to why it's been declining in recent years. The company has definitely had some misteps along the way. From slapping the FF moniker to spinoff games to mobile cash grab games, they feel like they need to top themselves with each new main release, and are trying to turn the core series into an action franchise. I think that it's safe to say that FF XIII was universally reviled by gamers, but sold a ton. It was one of their highest grossing games yet. Most likely because of great advertising and a mature look. So there's that confusion thrown on the developers as to what is good. They really should go back to the Playstation era for inspiration. I hate to say it, but start by giving the fans a remake or proper sequel to FF VII. If not that, create a new game that gives the homage to that like FF IX did for the 2D games. Bring back the developers that worked on those games, revive the series for old fans and become the AAA series of video games again. It could be epic!

I have the OST's from Tactics, Dissidia Duodecim, IV, and VI-IX. There's a lot of great tunes. As far as my favorite overall, I have to give it to VI. Favorites of those are Celes' Theme and Daryl's Song. But the best FF songs of all time have to go to FF Tactics. Specifically, the battle themes. Songs like Antipyretic and Under the Stars are so good, and really opened my eyes as to what battle songs could be. It was cool listening to you guys. BTW, thanks for ending this three hour long monstrosity with one of the most awkward bits in the history of the series. A, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!1 -.-

Okay, well I really like that the whole thing is open ended. It's about the most open world in a FF game yet. You can tackle the main quests in any order you choose, or even abandon one of them for a bit if you get bored or stuck. I also like the Schemata setup, which is pretty much the Job system on steroids. You can also tailor the combat to suit your playstyle. Like to turtle up? Or maybe buff/ debuff, then go all out. While I can see some people not liking the level up system, I like the fact that they did something different. Instead of grinding monsters all day, actually do some, whatchamacallit, ROLE PLAYING. Yes, it sucks that there are no parties, but I pretty much had my hands full with one character. Besides, if you think about it, there are really three characters to control in battle at the same time. The world concept was interesting, and the story kept me playing until the end, which was satisfying because it brought all the characters and events to a close and wrapped it all up. The last thing off the top of my head is New Game +, which let you restart the game with everything reset and levels/ items kept. It was the second best game in the series for me, next to 13-2.

Ouch. Gotta keep those old grandpa consoles well ventilated!

Cool vid, man! I enjoyed that. I used to love the Street Fighter animes. I can take the Blu Ray off your hands for a good price. =D

LOL! That's great. :snags pic: I've always wanted to go there for the old castles and hot women. Love those accents.

Auron is the BEST character in that game. lol I'm surprised that the LE is so rare. I snagged one from Gamestop used. When the game first came out, I didn't like it either. I thought it was too linear, the characters were cliche and boring, and the story wasn't interesting. So now I'm finding myself playing through it again with a more "forgiving" eye. I'll try to get to the third temple this weekend, but no promises! The beginning hours of this game are kind of a chore for me, especially since you can't skip cut scenes. I'm playing the International Sphere Grid, so I can tell you guys some stuff. The ISG version is more open, and confusing, fyi. There weren't any specific item grabbing moves in the original game, so you're good. The level up system did pigeon hole the characters, I agree. But no moreso than some of the other games. The theme of the game is water, which makes sense, because the setting is supposed to be an Asian based fantasy. Some peeps are being critical of the lip syncing and facial expressions, but overall, I'm glad that a new generation is getting to check it out. I'm a pretty big FF nerd too, so talk away, Julian! I'll be following. BTW, the LR game was cool to me! Don't be hatin' just because you don't get it! :end exclamatory controversial statement:

It's not developers that are pushing delays, but publishers. February is the "golden month" they give themselves if their game isn't ready before the end of the holiday season. It gives them a month or two extra to print and ship copies to retail. Delays are never good, only acceptable in certain circumstances.

I gotcha. What's your most favorite video game collectable? Mine is a Nintendo beanbag I got in the 90's. He's been on every one of my deployments with me, and now he sits in my front window at all times. =D