#still thinking about ffxv x ffxiv

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

there's something about rdm noctis that doesn't sit right with me

like the vibes aren't there. maybe it's cos i can't see him wearing red, let alone a red hat or cape

or maybe it's too fancy and floral and shit

[gridanian-red-mage]

A Nocturne for Heroes--Part 14/?

I love this.😂 And we have a Y'jhimei mention!✨✨ (She's super cute.)

[rharyx]

I've been going through all the mainline Final Fantasy games (and such side games as well) since I've never really played that many growing up and felt like getting into them all. Doubt I'll ever play all of the main 16, since not all of them look interesting to me, but we'll see.

Final Fantasy X This was the first one I played, back in 2014. I wanted to have at least one FF under my belt before XV came out, and X looked the most appealing. Played it and loved it. Definitely a 10/10 game for me, and I think the Sphere Grid is one of the most fun leveling systems I've seen. The story is so good, the cutscenes go hard, and the characters are really well-designed and memorable. I think one of the most important aspects of FF is a good main party, and X is one of the best in that regard.

Final Fantasy X-2 I've tried twice to get into this game, and I couldn't do it either time. I love Yuna's development from X to here, and I love the aesthetic and vibe of the game, but I couldn't get into the gameplay or how the story was paced and broken up. Maybe I'll get back to it for a 3rd time someday...

Final Fantasy Type-0 I only got this because it came with the demo for FFXV, and I dropped it pretty quickly back in 2015. I only came back to it a couple months ago (2023) and played it to completion. It was definitely a chore. The gameplay itself can be fun/addicting, but everything else is just outright boring or done in a way that makes things as joyless as possible. Especially the story, which is handled super choppily. The cast was mostly one-note (which I get was intentional, in-universe, but still...) and I only really played as Ace and Cater. Machina is probably my least favorite FF protag I can think of while writing this up. I only did one playthrough, and I know there's more in NG+, but I just have no energy to go through it again. Overall, it's like a 4/10.

Final Fantasy XV To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Not really a hot take, shitting on XV, but I mean...it is what it is. I knew it was never going to be the game I was looking forward to back in 2006, but the final product was just so far removed from anything resembling a coherent thought. The combat isn't fun, the skill tree is so boring, and the "open world" is mostly lifeless. Noct and the boys had potential, but they're barely developed or given much to do -- and don't even get me started on Luna and the rest of the side cast. There's a really good story and setting somewhere underneath all the issues, and it's impressive they released anything at all, all things considered. But man, is it just disappointing. 6/10.

Final Fantasy VIII As someone who really loved Leon in Kingdom Hearts, I was always interested in seeing the origin of the character, but just like Type-0, I could just not get into this game. I tried it in 2019, after Kingdom Hearts 3 came out and let me down -- I wanted to pivot to something in the same ball park of Square Enix, so I tried seeing if other Final Fantasy games were up my alley instead. But unfortunately, I didn't click with the gameplay, and the writing felt all over the place. From the bits of it I did play, I did enjoy Squall, Rinoa, and Selphie at least. I plan on getting back to it later, but for now I just don't see myself completing it. And after dropping X-2 and Type-0, and being let down by XV, this was the moment that made me go, "Oh, maybe Final Fantasy just isn't for me."

Final Fantasy XIV The game that made me love Final Fantasy. I've never played an MMO in my life before, but I remembered watching Ray Chase (Noct's VA) stream FFXIV once or twice before and thought it looked cool. In 2020, I got Covid and was pretty much bedridden for the next nine months, so I figured then was as good a time as any to invest myself in an MMO world to whittle away the days. "If I can't live in this world, I way as well live in another," my thought process basically was. And it ended up being a great decision. I love so much about this game, from the stories, to the characters, to the world building, to the music, etc. It's just magical through and through, and I can't wait to see where the next story arc takes us. 11/10.

Stranger of Paradise Jack Garland is an amazing protagonist, and this entire game is so fucking cool. Anyone who hates it doesn't like fun. Chaos/10. The DLC is some of the worst DLC I've ever had the displeasure of paying for, though -- never managed to finish it.

Final Fantasy XVI After XV, I was reasonably hesitant to expect much from XVI, and I remember being turned off by the aesthetic and general art direction from the first trailer. But I was really surprised by how good the game ended up being. It does feel like they're sometimes overcompensating for what they got criticized on with XV -- like having so many cutscenes to the point it feels like a movie, as opposed to how chopped up and bare boned the story in XV was, for example. But the cast is likeable, the gameplay is fun, and boy howdy some of those boss fights will live rent free in my head for the rest of time. Also, the voice acting is on another level. I really didn't enjoy the ending, though, but overall it felt like a step in the right direction for future entries. 7/10.

Final Fantasy VI Man, I just love this game. It was after XVI that I decided to play the older games and finish as many as I could, and I started with VI. I didn't expect a game from 1994 to win me over so badly, but everything about it is so fantastic. I love the whole opera vibe where it's almost like the characters are actors performing a stag play, and it has some of my favorite characters in the franchise. I love Cyan, Terra, and Celes so much. I love the scene at the opera house, the phantom train sequence, the dream world, how some dungeons and parts of the game have you split up and utilize multiple parties in tandem. The music is great. I love Kefka. And dude, the ending is my favorite ending to a Final Fantasy game that I've played so far. It basically took everything I hated about XVI's ending, but did the opposite, and it was beautiful. It was exactly the kind of ending that I needed to see after all the previous games I'd been playing. 10/10.

Final Fantasy IX Another masterpiece. If VI was like an Italian opera, XI felt to me more like a post-renaissance Disney movie. The art direction is so good, and the story is really well written. That said, I don't really care for a good chunk of the main party (Quina and Amarant especially), and like I said above, a good party is one of the most important aspects of a FF game. Zidane, Garnet, and Vivi are all amazing, and I really like Freya as well, but beyond that...meh? I wish Beatrix was a party member. I will admit though, I cheesed it by using the handicaps on the Pixel Remaster version (dealing 9999 damage by default), so I can't actually say if I like the gameplay or not, but it seemed like standard FF gameplay, and the Trance system looked cool at least. But I was just super invested in the story, and didn't want to spend a lot of time fighting. The locations and cities in this game were noticeably good, I do want to say. Overall, a solid 8/10 for me.

Final Fantasy VII I almost didn't want to play this one. It's by far the most popular one and I already knew so much about it through two decades of cultural osmosis and Kingdom Hearts, I was almost content just continuing to be the guy who could say, "Yeah, nah, I've never played FF7" just to be a hipster or whatever. But I did play it. And I can see why it's so loved. The story is so good, and unlike with IX, I actually didn't use handicaps (besides the 3x speed for grinding), and I really enjoyed the gameplay. Probably one of the more addicting gameplay loops from a FF game. The main cast is really good, even if it does have its weaker links (Cait, Yuffie, Vincent). My only real complaint is the translation felt really stiff, like even the translators didn't know what they were reading sometimes. It's probably just because it was the 90s. Still, not a big enough nitpick to not give the game a 9/10.

And that's where I am now.

I want to play Crisis Core and the 7 Remake now, since I have context for what's going on due to playing the OG 7.

And then I think IV is the pixel game I'll tackle next.

I really want to play the XIII series, since I don't believe it's as bad as I remember people claiming it was back in high school. But they're not on PS5, so that'll have to wait.

[anotherfangirlsblog]

(spoilers for the ffxv x ffxiv collab below bc i’m... screaming and it’s probably all word vomit-y but like. ffxiv is my current obsession and ffxv is up there in my favorite games so. also read more included bc it got freaking lengthy but that’s just how it goes, and I’M SOOO SORRY MOBILE USERS ALREADY)

overall: good content. there was plenty of refs to the game’s UI and a lot of music from ffxiv was used without reinventing the whole game. and i thought it would be over like the terra battle collab giving u some items but??? it’s not, there’s still like some post-event, optional stuff (more on that later)

event was fun, i’m glad as a person who is trash for these ‘alternate worlds coming together’ that it was actually explained how she got there with the ixal instead of it just being like “they’re just here for the collab”. i guess even the terra battle collab had a simple, decent reason, so. fight wasn’t bad but that’s bc i was playing it practically ‘unsynced’ and nobody ended up dying. but it didn’t seem like?? super easy?? so that’s good. i was worried about that. kinda cool to have a new summon too but half of the time i don’t even call on ramuh bc i’d rather win it myself or come back to it later.

OKAY THE PART THAT I’M LIKE SCREAMING ABOUT THE MOST THO IS WHERE NOCT DISAPPEARS AND THEN THANKFULLY REAPPEARS AND Y’JHIMEI IS JUST LIKE “i was so afraid you’d been whisked away to my world this time!”

and i’m just like. dreaming myself. for that to be the lead for a ffxiv x ffxv collab (that would be timely announced next week tbh at the live letter). noct just getting whisked away from eos and appearing in hydaelyn and just trying to make it back (with the help of y’jhimei’s arcanist (?) friends, maybe?). and then just, reappearing in that spot like he’d been gone for five seconds when he’s been gone for like five days/weeks and he’s just not even sure how to explain it so he’s just like, “no, i think i was just... dreaming.” i wouldn’t expect it for another month or two (or even longer, heck, idc) bc of the starlight celebration coming up and everything, but at least knowing it’s planned is better than nothing. (i also want to note that during the FFXV livestream, it was hinted at, and clearly fan fest was packed enough so maybe... maybe live letter part 2. maybe they couldn’t announce it bc of the content of the ffxv collab or they knew they already had their hands full with all the new announcements. i can dream at least.)

(noct’s freaking smile btw is just. fjdklsf. and freaking prompto just jumping in all excitedly like he does to tell her his name is just... so cute.)

and then y’jhimei stays or w/e and she freaking sets up a shop. where you trade in items or FREAKING ALLAGAN TOMESTONES for items. and how do you get those? by fighting garuda again, of course, like cool, okay, i’m level 62 with noct and 60 with the others (well, before i deposit all of the EXP from the event yeesh) and i pull up to the training orb thing that reminds me of some allagan tech btw and as i’m writing this it calls the quests on the map ‘the howling eye (hard)’ and ‘the howling eye (extreme)’. cute.

SO ANYWAYS, the hard mode is level 45, where it was during the quest. cool. THEN FREAKING EXTREME IS A MOOD AS A PLAYER WHO REALLY DOESN’T LIKE OPTIONAL, HARDER CONTENT YET BECAUSE IT GOES FROM LEVEL 45 TO LEVEL FREAKING 120

and that literally puts garuda on par with the current level cap in the game. freaking. it’s something else. and it kinda makes sense, since this’ll be like, probably the last big new patch to the game. so... that’s a thing.

that’s probably it but yeah. if this event had come like 4 months earlier, i would’ve thought ‘cute’ and thought not more of it. but it’s 3-4 months after i started playing ffxiv and i just. i really want a ffxiv collab event now. give me those kingsglaive glamour that everyone’s been talking about with some cute little minions/figures of the characters (and some ffxv themed food, maybe?), or heck, throw in a little extra effort for the regalia with 4 seats that can transform into type f when you fly in the open world areas (though i suppose something like that would be behind optional items, but heck, people want multi-seated mounts. if they can’t do it now bc of limitations, at least do it post-5.0 launch.)

i just really wanted to get this all out so, that’s all for now, guess we’ll see what happens in like... about a week now about the ffxiv side of things?? i don’t have strong hopes but i still have hopes and i’m just also hoping that i lean more on ffxiv announcements for 4.5 instead.

[flowers-of-tenebrae]

[ More FFXV x FFXIV thoughts ]

Excerpts from my drafts (Mild FFXIV spoilers ahead):

^I actually did consider DRK for Noctis 😄. Didn't finish writing Ignis' part lol

See my earlier post about SQEX's preferred jobs for the bros - keeping in mind the collab was released in Dec 2018 for FFXV before FFXIV: Shadowbringer's 2019 release. Read this earlier post re: why I feel RDM doesn't fit Noctis plus other users' thoughts on the matter.

Anyway, FFXIV jobs I'd assign the other FFXV characters:

Aranea - DRG

Iris - PCT

Luna - WHM / LNC (still early lvls, no DRG job stone) / BTN

Cor - SAM

Ardyn - WHM then DRK/RPR -> Ardyn & Luna parallels w/ both initially as WHM

Ravus - ?? DRK (idk Ravus fans help me out here)

Other jobs I think could fit:

Gladio - GNB

Hear me out. Gunbreaker (GNB) is all about being a protector or a guardian (FFVIII) and more importantly having someone - or some important cause like one's country or freedom - to protect. I think Gladio could relate to FFXIV's Dalmascans what with the loss of their liege and country due to imperial invasion. Also FFXIV's GNB was an art passed down from generation to generation and originated from royal guards.

BUT I think Gladio would prefer more traditional forms of weaponry and combat, which is why I picked WAR and DRK for him! WAR is self-explanatory (unga bunga) and who doesn't love Fell Cleave? SAM comes after he's completed Episode Gladio.

Noctis - FSH max lvl / SMN

The kind of guy who spends weeks chasing after ruby dragons or cinder surprises or whatever the fuck FSH enthusiasts get up to these days. I think he'd be amused by the name carbuncleplushy (iykyk).

My old rambly notes on VPR and SMN Noctis (viper and summoner):

@noctswife brings up a good point against RPR for Noctis + some thoughts on DRK and RDM Noct:

Ignis - CUL / SGE / VPR / DRG

I'll expand on my choices for Ignis since I didn't explain them earlier. Our FFXV light party desperately needs a healer, so Ignis steps up. Like Alphinaud, he originally was a strategist healer (SCH - scholar) but decided he didn't vibe with Eos/Selene or the angel aesthetic and switched to sage (SGE) /jk

I think healing via DPS fits Ignis and he can swap Kardia between Gladio (MT - the main tank), Noctis, Prompto or even himself. Plus lasers.

About DPS jobs for Ignis - NIN has the traditional Japanese aesthetic while I see Ignis as more of a modern kind of guy. VPR's ability to switch between dual blades <--> one longarm represents Ignis' gameplay really well imo, and it also suits Noctis who has the armiger at his disposal. DRG bc Ignis obv has the hops n jumps, esp in Episode Ignis.

Bonus: I think Ignis would make a fetching RDM! Plus it incorporates his ability to use magic and heal.

Luna - SCH?

@noctswife suggested SCH for Luna, which was great to read:

I think Luna and Noctis both having arcanist (ACN) - the prerequisite class to SCH and SMN in FFXIV - in common works narratively wrt to FFXV's story, i.e. Luna and Noctis are the only ones able to really communicate with the Astrals (excl. Ardyn). Whether it's WHM or SCH, I think we can all agree Noctis and Luna have that tank/healer dynamic going on!

Anyway ty to everyone who shared their thoughts on the other posts about job classes for Noctis. Feel free to agree / disagree here, it's all for fun! Or correct me if I missed sth or incl any inaccuracies.