S1E30 - The Final Fantasy Series Part 2 - “Because he was a Ninja!”

The Final Fantasy Series, Part 2 In this episode: The Final Fantasy series has lots of sequels and spinoffs that aren’t part of the mainline, numbered series. There are some sequels, some movies, and some mashups like Kingdom Hearts that just take the FF characters and give them a new world to explore together. Some are good and some (like the new Justice Monsters 5) are total garbage. But which are which? (Hint: The new Kingsglaive movie is awesome.) We discuss our thoughts on Final Fantasy MMOs, and the gist of it is that both of us wish they had called them Final Fantasy Online instead of mainline numbered games. We have played both FFXI and FFXIV, and XIV felt more like a Final Fantasy game, even though it being an MMORPG made it so that the story couldn’t be anywhere near as compelling as the single-player installments. Do the old-school Final Fantasy games (I-VI) hold up to modern standards? Some of them really do! But which ones? Bwahahahah, listen to find out! We both love love love the remasters and re-releases of the series. More people get to play the amazing games on whatever system they want, either on a new console like the Playstation Vita, iOS or Android, or even PC through services like Steam. Plus, we’re fans of all the HD textures and new sprites/animations. It’s a win-win for us (and for you folks who’ve never played them before!) Our Least Favorite Final Fantasy? III all the way. Not the Final Fantasy III that was released on the SNES (that was actually VI, but III with the poorly paced story, the crippled job system, and the terrible player messaging that kept you unable to progress. Avoid it at all costs (unless you’re a completionist like Void) Our Favorite Final Fantasy, though? IX all the way. But we also have fondness for VIII for the best opening scene of any FF (link below) and V because it wasn’t translated into English for so long that it took effort and dedication to play. Favorite Villain for us? This is a tough one. You’ll hear about it when you listen! But just so you know...Exdeath from FFV, well, he’s a tree. For serious. Favorite characters? Again, a totally tough question, but it has changed over the years. Vivi is a constant from FFIX, but there are others we talk about, too. Favorite Scenes? The opera FFVI ‘Maria and Draco’ (Aria di Mezzo Carattere), The Ending to FFIX when Garnet is Queen and they do “I Want to Be Your Canary” again and then Zidane and Garnet are reunited, and The Opening to FFVIII (Liberi Fatali). Where is the best place to start for newbies to FF series? (asked by @chrisevans17 and @DestenLee on Twitter). Probably FFX for the overall experience, but we go into lots of others for various reasons, all depending on your tastes in gaming. But the biggest surprise? Not Final Fantasy VII. Never FFVII first. And we’ll tell you why. Weekly Geekery Beej - Mr. Robot Void - More Gamefly Games (Persona 4 Dancing All Night / Uncharted Collection) / Battlefield 1 Beta / Captain America: Civil War Be sure to subscribe to the Geek to Geek Podcast your favorite podcast app, drop a review so we know how we’re doing, and f