MovieChat Forums > Fainaru fantajî X (2001) Discussion > As linear as FFX?

As linear as FFX?

posted 15 years ago by silakkalaatikko
17 replies | jump to latest

I was just wondering if FF9 is any less linear than FF10. I started playing it (FF10) after I finished FF12 and the linearity just drives me crazy. After 40 hours of the game I haven't still gotten out of the 'main pipe'. There's no side quests, no teleports to the previous areas, nothing else to do but to keep going forward.

Seymour Flux drove me nuts: It took me over an hour to get on that mountain top to face the boss that's virtually impossible without hastega. So I just circled around the save crystal for a couple hours to get that spell because there was nowhere else to go.

So could someone enlighten me? Does FF9 offer more freedom than FF10 or is just as story-orientated?

I haven't played other Fantasies than 10 and 12 and I have to say I've enjoyed the latter a lot more. I guess I just prefer gameplay to story.

[–] StarIsland 15 years ago

arent all Final Fantasy series kinda story-orientated? i mean what the heck do you want to do all day? just run around freely. you have to follow the story in order to move ahead and if there are things you really wanted, it would have been for the best to get it done before moving forward. sometimes you can't go back until much later.

FF9 is not like 10 and 12, you have your World map, you can go anywhere thats available. you also have your flying ship. there are bunches of side quests, especially with Chocobo treasure hunting. there are some sidequests that deal with the history of some characters such as Vivi, when he goes back to the very place he was raised. you have to take your time with the game though, because you'll easily miss alot of things. the story is pretty rich, surely you should get some kind of humor from it, especially since Vivi falls and trips, hitting his chin on the ground like every 6 minutes of the game!!!

[–] silakkalaatikko 15 years ago

Yeah I see your point, and of course the storyline is in most cases my first choice too. FFX has a great story, a lot more interesting than FF12. But the thing is that FF's also include a whole lot of leveling up. So what I really love in 12 was that when you get stuck into a really hard boss battle, there's always some hunts you can do or something, just teleport to a city to gear up, and then you can go anywhere you like.

Of course, I'm starting to learn about the significance of the story in FF games. After all, it is top notch for game standards. I just started playing 9 and find it fun. A bit less straightforward than 10, and I'm sure I've missed a bunch of stuff already. Missed Quina completely and had to travel back a while to get him :) The card game is awesome!

[–] StarIsland 15 years ago

LOOOOOLL you missed Quina? i did that too. but i dont think it would have mattered because you have to go to the marshes in disk 2 after you rescue Garnet, and i think then, Quina will ask to join you.

[–] silakkalaatikko 15 years ago

Oh, I haven't got there yet. Anyway I got whipped so badly by Beatrix that I would have been leveling up forever if I hadn't found him.

[–] soonerpike697 15 years ago

You need to play 6.

[–] silakkalaatikko 15 years ago

What about 6? Is it more or less linear as 10? It would be great if they published it in the ps network.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MarvinMacOrmick 14 years ago

I can sort of understand why people are always knocking the story in XII, but I must say that I loved it. It was really political, it was mature, and it was epic in different ways to previous Final Fantasies. I think part of the problem is the non-linearity of the game. The sheer openness makes it easy to forget prior events in the story, and the added complexity of side-quests just loads the player with information, making it really hard to put all the pieces together especially on the first playthrough. I think XII is quite similar to VI in this way, but they're both among my favourites in the series. X is by far the most linear in the series. And, despite how much X-2 is slammed by fans, I enjoyed the non-linear aspects of that game while still being able the enjoy the realm and characters of Spira.

See you, Space Cowboy.

[–] MaroonSerpent 14 years ago

X is linear in that you don't have a world map for most of the game. You can still go back and forth between places, you just have to follow their geographical order because you can't jump to a specific location.

The sidequests are mainly about finding hidden summons, all the limit breaks and the ultimate weapons. They're not that elaborate but still take a fair amount of time. When it comes to figuring it out, they're also easier to accomplish.

Basically you can start doing this after you've found the first Jecht Sphere. Gathering these lead to Auron's limit breaks. You find the first one in the forets, but you have to revisit earlier places because they only appear after the first one. Going all the way back might seem tedious, but at least you level up along the way.

"There's a difference between simply being, and knowing you are."

[–] wonderegg 14 years ago

You can get Final Fantasy 6 on Playstation now. It's been ported. Which is awesome. Go buy it off amazon or something, they have both versions.

Also, OP - you need to play FF VII. I wouldnt say its not linear, because they all are, though I feel its less so than X, however its more the point that if you dont play it, you've missed out.

Practice men in the habit of peace

[–] Infallable808 14 years ago

9 doesn't even allow you to choose a party until like halfway through the third disk. You're pretty much forced through everything until the very end where it opens up a lot.

[–] Danzence 9 years ago

Re: As linear as FFX?
image for user Infallable808
by
Infallable808
» Tue Aug 10 2010 14:23:37
IMDb member since February 2008
9 doesn't even allow you to choose a party until like halfway through the third disk. You're pretty much forced through everything until the very end where it opens up a lot.

That's the beauty of it, a true RPG and you have to use each characters' strengths to your advantage. As someone else said, try FF7, it is considered the best (and that's my opinion too) and allows you to completely customise every character with any ability (though some are more suited to magic, some more suited to physical attacks etc but you figure that out as you play).

[–] Creedence_Leonore_Gielgud 13 years ago

That's just how Japanese RPGs are. If you want a non-linear FF, FFXI is exactly that, but it's a MMO so it requires a lot of time and effort to play it. You don't have to complete the storylines if you don't want, though you lock yourself out of endgame, and other content by not doing them. The Chains of Promathia storyline is one of the best FF stories ever though. Even if you have no interest in playing the game, you should watch the videos on Youtube. It's the last truly great thing SE made--XIV is absolute garbage.

Cheating is just another way of being prepared. ~~ Coach McGuirk

[–] BrainGremlin 11 years ago

What's your opinion on A Realm Reborn? Same crap? Better? Don't know?

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Sad story. You got a smoke?

[–] keep-flying 11 years ago

You sir... need GTA

[–] BrainGremlin 11 years ago

Good GOD, man!

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Sad story. You got a smoke?

[–] giygas-12533 9 years ago

Final Fantasies 1 through X all follow a pattern of being linear to different degrees up until the point where you are given access to the final boss, and the area/dungeon said final boss is located in are made available to you. At that point, you are given full access to travel anywhere on the map and complete all sidequests freely until you feel you are ready to take on the final boss and finish the game. Usually certain sidequests can be done or at least started before then, but only when you are given access to the final boss are you given the freedom as a player to complete any and all of them.

Many other JRPGs also follow this formula to varying degrees. Even Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy XIII are set up this way. It's done this way primarily so they can tell these excellent, excellent stories that they tell without you becoming lost or being bogged down with too much information.

Some don't follow this formula. FF XII and of course the two MMO's (eleven and fourteen). I haven't played X-2, nor the two sequels to XIII, so I'm not sure about them.