DVD Review -- FINAL FANTASY VII: ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE

[Denim n Leather]

If you've already seen Advent Children, be prepared for a radically different movie presentation. At over twice the length, this is not just filler and extended scenes but a retelling of the original movie with a more universally understood plot line.

While not a requirement for this movie (unlike the original), some knowledge of FF will only enhance your appreciation of it.

The animation is beyond state of the art. Everything else, from voice acting to sound effects, is also first rate. My only complaint is that the soundtrack is a bit bass shy, and explosions/gunshots could have been more dynamic.

This is the future of animated movies NOW. If Hollywood was ever able to produce material of this calibre, Japanese animation would be out of business.

Watch it!

[CaptainDesslock]

If you've already seen Advent Children

This is the future of animated movies NOW. If Hollywood was ever able to produce material of this calibre, Japanese animation would be out of business.

Watch it!

I wouldn't worry about that cause the only thing good "Japanese" Hollywood can do  is screw it up, seriously, Transformers is the only exception I can think up.  Believe me this is something that always strikes a nerve with me, I'm not Japanese, I'm Phillipino (South Asia) , but I lived in Japan for 8 years and as someone who has a love for the country I can't stand Hollywood taking great Japanese ideas and $%&#ing them up...., nor can I stand Hollywood constantly making movies with an "Asian flavor" but always insisting on a white male protagonist.....

That being said I would LOVE to watch the new mix  but I will wait till I get my PS3, as downloading and watching on my computer would be a shiteee experience.

Also have did you watch the new FFXIII Versus trailer? What were your thoughts?

[Denim n Leather]

hehe, that's why I said "IF". There is no way Hollywood could do something like Advent, simply because you cannot market Cloud to sell Happy Meals. It disgusts me to no end, but that is what life is like here in the US: Music is treated as the carrier frequency for consumerism. Movies are all about consumer tie-ins, buy-ins, and sell-outs.

*ahem* Anyway ...

I think that each of the FF XIII games are going to be superb.

Having played the FF XIII demo, I can say that Lightning is my favourite female FF character, and I never thought anyone would top Lulu!!

Dissidea looks great, as does Versus.

[CaptainDesslock]

hehe,

Yeah I wasn't taking anything out on you I was just venting my disgust for Hollywood in general, I dont' even like DBZ, but I feel even worse for DBZ fans who'll see their show massacred in theaters this summer!

As far as the demo goes I was dissapointed by the new battle footage UNTIL I learned that-that wasn't the super-duper real time combat system they had hyped up but a PS2-esque filler combat system to give the demo something to play with, I don't want to go back to the old gameplay! Next-gen consoles should focus on providing next gen gameplay!

Lightning does come across as someone with potential to be an amazing character, my only beef so far is none of the other characters seem even half as cool as her! This is as opposed to FFX where we had Yuna, Lulu, and Riku who were all awesome in their own way.

The versus trailer is cool, I am curious how they will tie in together, I am sure by the time all is said and done everyone is going to want to see a throw-down between our X-13 protaganist and Versus-13 protaganist.

I think now I should actually get around to finishing a FF, here it is-

FFVII-Friend lent this and FFVIII to me hyping FFVII as "the greatest game ever," well, I start it up expecting the "greatest game ever" to be greeted by semi-human talking cg blobs with lines of scrolling text in the background..errr

FFVIII-So I pop in FFVIII and BAM I am blown away by an amazingly beautiful opening and and hooked, I get half-way through disc 3 and he asks for his game back...I was able to keep the gamesave but it was corrupted on the flight back to the US :(

FFX-SOOO now I have a PS2 and am playing FFX, everything is great (except for Tidus, ugh, Squall is my fav FF male) however on the way to rescue Yuna from her marriage during the assault on the airship against the great flying dragon my characters I too low-powered and I am stuck with no way to go back to level up! no! so i put that on hold

FFXII-This just failed for me, the worst main character ever, and the cast in general just reeked of fail, I put it away after 3 or 4 hours

So yes started 4 final fantasies and finished none, I don't care to replay VII as the only reason to play it is the story and that's already been spoiled by watching Advent Children, VIII I just adore (actually bought the soundtracks while in Japan) and am replaying through on my computer, X I will finish eventually and X12 well that's waaaay down the line.

I am hyped for XIII though :)

I feel we will be the only two people in this thread

[Denim n Leather]

LOL -- in all likelihood, yes!

I have to run to my office now, but will post back about your impressions on the various games, because I think you've missed a couple of important points!

[Denim n Leather]

Okay, what was I saying? PDT_008

FF VII In my opinion, up to and incuding VII, FF were pretty typical rpg's in terms of story. There were other innovations that Square brought to the game that far outshadowed the (let's face it) rather murky story lines of FF II, IV, VI, and VII.

Are you aware that FF VII International, which was originally to be released on XBOX but never made it out beyond a Japanese PS2 release (I can't remember the title of the JP release, but it's something like Super FF VII or something like that) has been released on the PSN in conjunction with the Advent Children Complete Blu-ray?

This is the same game with improved graphics and cut scenes. It sounds like you would be happier playing this version.

While I like the story for VII, it doesn't compare to later games in the series.

FF VIII is a GREAT game that requires some SERIOUS time to complete. Leveling up is not an option; from FF VIII onwards it's pretty much mandatory that your main party be at least 10 levels over the current Boss or you're gonna have your arse handed to you on a plate. :)

FF IX is often maligned due to it's return to that FF IV/VI look, but the story is actually pretty good and the gameplay is SUPERB.


*** SIDE NOTE *** You should know that I'm a fan of the ATB battle system and don't mind turn based rpg's either. For this reason, the FF XIII demo didn't bother me in the least with its ATB battle system. I realise this is an early build, too, and is basically 1/3 along the development from the finished game.

FF X. I really think you've misunderstood this game. For me, thus far, it is the shining crown of the FF franchise in terms of story. I've replayed the game 2-3x and have played through the final section of the game (from the last save point) probably a dozen times or so.

FF XI. Great MMO; don't have the time available to play it like you should, though, so I canceled my account.

FF XII. The story is GOOD; the gameplay, battle system, animation, and voice acting are SUPERB! FF XII is a MASSIVE game, well over 100 hrs worth of stuff on there. I really enjoyed playing that game through. I couldn't get past 99% completion on this one. I may well return to it, though, if XIII doesn't come out soon after I've completed the latest Star Ocean game on 360.

[Transcend]

Right i disagree with a lot of points in here but thats mainly because VII was my first FF experience and i loved it.

Its the only one where i have done absolutely everything 2-3 times over and believe me there is a lot to do. and its got sephoroth.... best videogame bad guy EVER.

VIII i loved but i hated at the same time mainly due to the annoying junctioning system as you can be at a ridiculously low level and get your stats mega high really early on in the game which makes the rest of the game a doddle. i think by half way through disc 2 i had squalls ultimate weapon and he was a complete tank as was zell and this just made the game far too easy. However the storyline did save it.

XI i also loved other than the fact it seemed really short and the story was just so similar to VII in many ways.

X i also loved loads to do and i loved the sphere grid and i also played this one through multiple times and yes i also got stuck on that boss that you are and had to restart the game.

XII was absolutely amazing balthier or basch should have been the main character though as they had more interesting pasts and seemed to have a lot more character development going on while Vaan just lingered in the background.

and im still to play XI and im eagerly awaitng XIII

[LazyNinja]

Ooh I see some fellow FF nerds! :lol:

I didn't realise there was Advent Children Complete! I'll check it out soon as possible :D Advent Children was good, but as you say it required your knowledge of FF VII and it relies on your nostalgia.

I've just recently finished playing XII, although there are still loads of things to do like completing hunts and getting secret espers. This was my second game; the first time I got to Pharos and then my PS2 got stolen... I think this is definitely one of the better FFs. Voices were great and the storyline was superb; not as mythical as other FFs but the story was gripping and there were some great twists that I wasn't expecting. Character-wise, I agree Vaan was weak and so was Penelo, but the rest all had thier own story and had great personalities that matched them. I like the fact that this FF seems to be one of those that has almost as much side quests as the main story and that's definitely good in my book. I like playing FFs until I kill the game!

For that reason I liked X a lot but not so much IX. Once you've killed Ozma there's nothing to do really. On X I maxed out the stats and defeated all the Dark Aeons and Penance.

Story wise, I liked pretty much all FFs but I think IV, VII, VIII,  X and XII stand out above the rest.

P.S Denim n Leather, you played FFVIII wrong ;) Levelling up is one of the worst thing you can do in that game cos your enemies get stronger as you do (but their strength, particularly HP rises in higher proportion compared to you). Making loads of magic and junctioning them are the way to go. I had a save where I beat Ultimecia and Omega with everyone at level 5 or so (you avoid levelling up by turning every monsters you defeat into cards). Give that a go if you get bored and fancy a challenge lol.

[CaptainDesslock]

Ooh I see some fellow FF nerds! :lol:

P.S Denim n Leather, you played FFVIII wrong ;) Levelling up is one of the worst thing you can do in that game cos your enemies get stronger as you do (but their strength, particularly HP rises in higher proportion compared to you). Making loads of magic and junctioning them are the way to go. I had a save where I beat Ultimecia and Omega with everyone at level 5 or so (you avoid levelling up by turning every monsters you defeat into cards). Give that a go if you get bored and fancy a challenge lol.

Wait wait wait!!! Are you telling me not to level up, that's crazy!!!!

[LazyNinja]

Ooh I see some fellow FF nerds! :lol:

P.S Denim n Leather, you played FFVIII wrong ;) Levelling up is one of the worst thing you can do in that game cos your enemies get stronger as you do (but their strength, particularly HP rises in higher proportion compared to you). Making loads of magic and junctioning them are the way to go. I had a save where I beat Ultimecia and Omega with everyone at level 5 or so (you avoid levelling up by turning every monsters you defeat into cards). Give that a go if you get bored and fancy a challenge lol.

Wait wait wait!!! Are you telling me not to level up, that's crazy!!!!

Not at all! If you're low levelled, all enemies have low stats so they're easier to defeat. You can still deal 9999 damage pretty easily I think.

 I just remembered that I loved the limit breaks on FF VIII!! Especially Zell's. Trance from IX on the other hand, was rubbish! 

[Denim n Leather]

I just remembered that I loved the limit breaks on FF VIII!! Especially Zell's. Trance from IX on the other hand, was rubbish! 

Squall's Limit Break is the best! Being able to steal/pool magic was a great mechanic, too.

[LazyNinja]

I just remembered that I loved the limit breaks on FF VIII!! Especially Zell's. Trance from IX on the other hand, was rubbish! 

Squall's Limit Break is the best! Being able to steal/pool magic was a great mechanic, too.

Oh yeah forgot about that too! In many ways VIII was a rather unique FF. Yeah Squall's limits are cool (Lionheart!!) but if I remember correctly, you can do insane number of combos with Zell going round and round doing the simplest moves (I think about 4500 damage each, taking about 0.05 secs to input).

I think I will start playing VI at some point. It's the only FF I've yet to complete that I own.  (I stil need to find 2 and 3 somewhere)

Funny no one mentions X-2. The story was shitee but I think that game had the best battle system with simultaneous attacks and chains and stuff. Got bored and gave up after about 50% completion after I defeated that old man in the Bevelle dungeon though (I got the "bad" ending in the main story... meh).

[Denim n Leather]

I found X-2 to be a thoroughly meh experience ... and, I'm not homophobic or anything, but that game was just too girly for me!

I enjoy the story, but you're better off watching the cutscenes on youtube and moving on to XII.

[Denim n Leather]

Oh, no one mentioned Crisis Core, either ... which is GREAT!

I don't have a DS (yet) so I've not played Revenant Wings.

[CaptainDesslock]

Oh, no one mentioned Crisis Core, either ... which is GREAT!

I don't have a DS (yet) so I've not played Revenant Wings.

I didn't play Crisis Core but from what I've heard the director of that game was fired or something