Hm, I have always had mixed feelings about IX. As much as I liked it, I also disliked it. For example, the trance system was just so inconvenient that it wasn't even worth counting on in a hard fight. Usually I would have a character enter a trance after everyone had already locked in their commands, and the fight finished before they even did anything, thus making the trance gauge reset. It was a neat concept, and even with the high tide ability, it still didn't work as well as it should have. I of course, was one of those that complained about Necron, but that really is small apples in the great scheme of things. What matters more is being able to enjoy the game and the process. The mini games were well done and fun (though I pulled my hair out many times from the chocobo hot and cold game), though the side quests were obscure and a pain in the ass. (Exalibur II, anyone?)
Ahem, that being said, XII was annoying. I never played all the way through it. It felt like an MMO with the way it played, and since I was already playing XI, I didn't need to play another MMO offline. The story was kinda lame, Vaan sucks, and that's about it. The only interesting thing was Fran and her legs.
In regards to XIII, it wasn't a bad game overall. I didn't like the fact that there were no "rest" periods, and the storyline is so linear it hurts. There is almost no free exploration as well as not even being to choose your own party members up until more than half the game is over. I absolutely hate leaving so much to the AI in battles, and getting a game over when your main character falls is harsh. And then having a cap on your level up attributes is so frustrating since you can only grind so far, as well as your condition against the final boss (or any other boss) has an upper limit until you beat the game. As for the characters, they all suck except for Sazh, and he's not even that strong in battle. And Vanille's accent really annoys me. Hope is a wuss, Snow is too cliche, Lightning challenges Squall with being emo, and Fang has hardly any impact on events until near the end. Ahem, so the game itself isn't bad, the story is all right, and the graphics are beautiful. It just doesn't "feel" like a final fantasy game to me. I think it could have been released under a different series and may have been better accepted.
Oh, and VI is my favorite. It's my first FF I ever played, as well as being the first RPG I seriously played. I wish they would recreate that one in 3D like they did for IV.
Ahem, that being said, XII was annoying. I never played all the way through it. It felt like an MMO with the way it played, and since I was already playing XI, I didn't need to play another MMO offline. The story was kinda lame, Vaan sucks, and that's about it. The only interesting thing was Fran and her legs.
In regards to XIII, it wasn't a bad game overall. I didn't like the fact that there were no "rest" periods, and the storyline is so linear it hurts. There is almost no free exploration as well as not even being to choose your own party members up until more than half the game is over. I absolutely hate leaving so much to the AI in battles, and getting a game over when your main character falls is harsh. And then having a cap on your level up attributes is so frustrating since you can only grind so far, as well as your condition against the final boss (or any other boss) has an upper limit until you beat the game. As for the characters, they all suck except for Sazh, and he's not even that strong in battle. And Vanille's accent really annoys me. Hope is a wuss, Snow is too cliche, Lightning challenges Squall with being emo, and Fang has hardly any impact on events until near the end. Ahem, so the game itself isn't bad, the story is all right, and the graphics are beautiful. It just doesn't "feel" like a final fantasy game to me. I think it could have been released under a different series and may have been better accepted.
Oh, and VI is my favorite. It's my first FF I ever played, as well as being the first RPG I seriously played. I wish they would recreate that one in 3D like they did for IV.