My Journey to Platinum all Final Fantasy Games (Mainline)

[RoxasOnFire]

On 4/2/2018 at 3:41 PM, linkdevivo said:

 

Man, these games.

 

Ok so i was really late to the final fantasy party. It's weird because these games are straight up my alley, growing up i was more of an n64 and gamecube kid instead of ps1 and ps2, so i missed out on that great RPG era (specifically PS1). I did, however, play FFXV at launch (even a few days before) and overall, i LOVED it. Recently playing and getting the platinum for Persona 5 (holy shit what a game) gave me an itch for turn based rpg's, so when a square enix sale was going on a couple of weeks ago, i thought it was FINALLY time to play the Final Fantasy games (spurred on by my girlfriend). I bought FF7, FF9, FFX, FFXIII and even bought the FFXV royal edition (UK version for double trophies), talk about an impulse buy.

 

Oh man, was I missing out. Suffice it to say that now i'm on a journey! I'm on a Final Fantasy quest to get every mainline single player platinum for Final Fantasy in 2018. I also thought i'd document my progress and give a small review of my time with the games on my way to the platinum. As you all know this is no easy task and will take a lot of time and patience but hey, they are so worth it. If anyone who has these platinums has any tips that would be pretty cool too. Please feel free to join me in getting these platinums if you don't have them and we can all bitch and moan about the Vivi jumping rope mini-game, or the absurd amount of grinding in every game (I'm looking at you FFIX 10,000 kill trophy)

Now, I'm still unsure if I should do spinoffs too, but that'll depend if i'm invested in the story of its predecessors. THIS IS A WORK IN PROGRESS.

 

Games Completed:

 

Final Fantasy XV:

As I mentioned before, FFXV was my first FF game. I decided to purchase it for a couple of reasons: the first one being that I'm a huge Kingdom Hearts nerd (have all platinums twice on ps3 and ps4), and the second one was that wherever you went, you couldn't escape the hype that this game was building. 10 years in the making, rebranded from versus xiii; I just had to see what all the fuss was about. I can honestly say, that even with all the flaws it had at launch, FFXV is a very good game. The overall comraderie between it's main characters and especially the music (I'm a professional musician so in every review you'll get a couple of info about the music) was out of this world. Yoko Shimomura did it again, but what can you expect from the woman who composed the Kingdom Hearts soundtrack? In terms of trophies, I had a lot of fun in the open-world and even though some were a bit grindy, nothing stood out as especially difficult (I remember that i got to the adamantoise before there were great guides on it and just wasted 2 or 3 hours hacking at it). I loved it so much that i recently bought the Royal edition import from UK to do it all again and I can't wait to double dip. I just wished the supporting characters were more fleshed out, especally Ardyn (weak villain IMO) and Ravus (great concept, poor execution)

 

Overall

8.5/10

 

Final Fantasy VII:

 

 

Have you ever had that feeling when you're playing an older game, where every minute playing it you have this notion or idea that you are playing something that is legendary? That you are witnessing gaming history and appreciate something on a whole other level? FFVII does not hold up very well (though the PS4 version did come with enhancements) but MAN OH MAN. I'd heard mixed things about FFVII, some saying it's the best game of all time and others saying it is very overrated. I can sincerely say that this game is worth the praise. Everything about it is just so beautiful. The game has so much personality and charm, the battle/materia system is pretty cool, the characters are amazing, and the music: THE MUSIC. Uematsu-san you genius, you! You know a soundtrack is iconic when you distance yourself a bit from the game and then get heaps of nostalgic memories from when you played it. Yesterday I was listening to the soundtrack again and I had this strange nostalgic feeling and sadness. I love how every character has a theme (including the FF7 main theme) and how Uematsu makes variations on these themes throughout the game signalling every character's journey. Notable tracks include Main theme (personal favorite as it literally shows up everywhere in the game with different variations), Aeris' theme, One winged angel, and the amazing battle themes. I can't imagine playing it in 1997 and then going through the same experience now-a-days, it would be gut-wrenching. In terms of story, I did know about the whole Aeris ordeal, as pretty sure no one can escape that now-a-days, but i was still genuinely surprised with a lot of things (mainly the Nibelheim Cloud-Sephiroth-Zack part) and others. I wish i would have played this when it came out but really enjoyed it nonetheless 20 years later. Thank god the trophies were pretty quick to get which is another good thing about this. I found myself though playing a lot with the speed booster on as the game tends to be pretty slow especially with it's battle animations that take forever.

 

Overall score:

9/10

 

Final Fantasy IX:

 

Final Fantasy IX was a game that I really wanted to try as i'd heard that Hironobu Sakaguchi himself said that it was what he thought a Final Fantasy should be: the culmination of everything that SquareSoft was building up to. And he was right. I loved the fact that it had a medieval setting instead of the two futuristic games that I had played previously. It was a nice change of pace. Even though I was invested in every FF story i had played this one took the cake. The love story with Zidane and Dagger was really beautiful to see. Also Vivi's story of self discovery is something we can all relate too in real life: what is our purpose in life? What should we do with the time we have left on this earth? The answer is spend it with people you love, and every character's discovery of this was something beautiful to watch. It deals with great themes overall of friendship, duty, love, jealousy and others. Also, the ending when they get to Terra was pretty cool. Now, the two part where this game disappointed me were Music and Trophies. Music-wise it is very good and when it hits it's AMAZING. But there are so many tracks that aren't as memorable. I can't help but feel the soundtrack was a bit rushed musically. I recently listened to it all again and it didn't evoke in me the same feeling that XV and VII did. Though I did love the use of different instruments that were common in medieval times, this gave it a unique spin. Notables include: Melodies of life, which also kind of plays as this game's main theme (I'm a sucker for this song), You're not alone, A place to call home, and Loss of me. The second part were the trophies. Insert angry random comment here about jumping rope mini-game and stupid idea to get 10,000 kills. Really? How dense do you have to be to make these trophies? Trophies should be to make a game even more fun and explore everything that it has to offer. But hey, when you complete it, you truly do feel something special.

 

Overall:

8.5/10

 

Currently working on:

 

FFXIII (Couldn't shake the curiosity of trying out this game to see what all the discussion is about so i decided to play it before the others) Will update soon!

 

 

Backlog:

 

FFX

FFXII Zodiac Age

FF Type-0 HD* (unsure)

FFXV Royal Edition UK Import

Please feel free to give me tips for the upcoming games, I need all the help I can get. Also keep me in line. Write an angry comment If i haven't gotten a FF trophy in a while.

Lol FFXV(all other regions) I have NA and JP myself. Good luck with the grind on the 1k trophies for ffxiv if you play it, and ffxiii can be a pain to grind at the end. Also, a tip for ffx: Don't sell anything til post game!

 

GL.

Lol.

[linkdevivo]

5 hours ago, RalfH89 said:

I am on a similar kick myself I need to get X/X-2 again, I have Royal Edition and Zodiac Age to work on for now, been a long time fan of the series, I got on FF kicks every couple years. 

How's that going? are you deep into FFXV? It really is a blast. T'was my first FF

5 hours ago, Gommes_ said:

Good luck on that journey. For me the franchise lost its appeal with 12 and peaked with being awful with 13. Stupid me went for all the trophies anyway, hoping that the further I dive into the game, the better they get but that didn't happen. And then I was fooled again when everybody was saying 13-2 got rid of everything awful.

 

Well, I'm already on chapter 13 (final chapter) but i'm grinding first to get gil and CP (found a very good and fast method online). I can't say it's my favorite, but it does have many redeeming qualities. Will post more when I finish but for now I can say that the music is very good, the graphics are top notch for a PS3 game, the combat is very good, and the story has some cool things going for it. That said, it drags on way too much, some scenes are just unbearable.

4 hours ago, RoxasOnFire said:

Lol FFXV(all other regions) I have NA and JP myself. Good luck with the grind on the 1k trophies for ffxiv if you play it, and ffxiii can be a pain to grind at the end. Also, a tip for ffx: Don't sell anything til post game!

 

GL.

Lol.

 

haha thanks man, i'm gonna need it. Did you like FFXV more the first time around or the second time (assuming you played with the new patches)?

[Metal Slime King]

9 minutes ago, linkdevivo said:

That said, it drags on way too much

 

Yeah, through two whole sequels. ?

[linkdevivo]

2 hours ago, mking_63 said:

 

Yeah, through two whole sequels.

 

? ..good joke

[AiManiaTrophyhuntres]

22 hours ago, linkdevivo said:

 

Well, i did say in my original post that it would only be the mainline singleplayer ff games. And that if the game preceding it was engaging i would give the sequels a try. I'm starting to think that a lot of people just read the headline haha. I wonder if this is what a games media outlet feels

 

I think it's more like a lot of fans don't see the "sequels" outside of the mainline. as long as it is the same system and continues the story, a lot of ppl see these as included.

real sideline FF games are like FF12 revenant wings, Tactics, christal chronicles (a great game though), dirge of cerberus, my life a a king/dark lord, and some of us think even the MMOs 11 and 14 are more sideline than 10-2, 13-2 and lightning returns.

I think when you experienced them you will see why this is not easy to answer and get your own opinion.

[CJ_Mystery]

Good luck on that ambitious undertaking! I might try to do something similar.

[CJ_Mystery]

On 4/2/2018 at 2:41 PM, linkdevivo said:

Please feel free to join me in getting these platinums if you don't have them and we can all bitch and moan about the Vivi jumping rope mini-game, or the absurd amount of grinding in every game (I'm looking at you FFIX 10,000 kill trophy)

I am so tempted to do just that, but I'm not insane.

 

Still, I hope you succeed in your quest. If I do join you, I will probably start with FFXV and then the X/X-2 remaster because I really enjoyed playing X-2 a lot.

[Mesopithecus]

Sounds like a great journey and a great goal to have.  I have very fond memories of the Final Fantasy games I have played, I'm still hoping that FFVIII gets ported over to PS4 with trophy support as that's my favorite.

 

I know your goal is to platinum all games, but definitely don't rule out playing the older ones that don't have trophy support, VI is a wonderful game and you can pick it up on PSN for around $5 during sales.

[Dav9834]

1 hour ago, Mesopithecus said:

Sounds like a great journey and a great goal to have.  I have very fond memories of the Final Fantasy games I have played, I'm still hoping that FFVIII gets ported over to PS4 with trophy support as that's my favorite.

 

I know your goal is to platinum all games, but definitely don't rule out playing the older ones that don't have trophy support, VI is a wonderful game and you can pick it up on PSN for around $5 during sales.

Fellow FFVIII Favorite Fan 

[linkdevivo]

2 hours ago, CJ_Mystery said:

Good luck on that ambitious undertaking! I might try to do something similar.

Come on man, please do. I'll check up on your progress.

 

1 hour ago, CJ_Mystery said:

I am so tempted to do just that, but I'm not insane.

 

Still, I hope you succeed in your quest. If I do join you, I will probably start with FFXV and then the X/X-2 remaster because I really enjoyed playing X-2 a lot.

Really? I wanted to do X-2 but not sure now as its a 130 hour platinum and the game isn't that well received critically. Do you recommend?

 

1 hour ago, Mesopithecus said:

Sounds like a great journey and a great goal to have.  I have very fond memories of the Final Fantasy games I have played, I'm still hoping that FFVIII gets ported over to PS4 with trophy support as that's my favorite.

 

I know your goal is to platinum all games, but definitely don't rule out playing the older ones that don't have trophy support, VI is a wonderful game and you can pick it up on PSN for around $5 during sales.

 

I've been giving this A LOT of thought and i'm pretty sure that sooner or later they'll bring them to the PS4 or PS5 eventually. I REALLY want to play 8 and 6 as i've heard great things about them but i'm such a trophy whore that i'd never forgive myself for giving 70 hours or more to each game and then them coming out with trophy support and do it all again. I'll be patient and hope for an announcement!

[CJ_Mystery]

18 minutes ago, linkdevivo said:

Really? I wanted to do X-2 but not sure now as its a 130 hour platinum and the game isn't that well received critically. Do you recommend?

Depends on whether you like rogue-like games, because I know there's a trophy for completing the special episode which turns the game into a roguelike dungeon crawler. But the whole episodic nature of the story was fun to play through.

[starcrunch061]

On 4/4/2018 at 1:10 PM, linkdevivo said:

 

Well, i did say in my original post that it would only be the mainline singleplayer ff games. And that if the game preceding it was engaging i would give the sequels a try. I'm starting to think that a lot of people just read the headline haha. I wonder if this is what a games media outlet feels

 

Well, if the game media outlet says, "All Final Fantasy titles", but then waits until the article to qualify "all", they'd probably take more grief than you are right now.

[linkdevivo]

1 hour ago, starcrunch061 said:

 

Well, if the game media outlet says, "All Final Fantasy titles", but then waits until the article to qualify "all", they'd probably take more grief than you are right now.

Probably.

But "My journey to get the platinum in every single mainline numbered final fantasy not counting multiplayer ones" didn't fit the headline. so here we are. I would if i could.

[Griffon234]

Ooh, nice, good luck on your quest. 

 

At a point, I had the same goal, to platinum every final fantasy, and have done most. But I got kind of put off because of Dissidia, all the FF15 DLC, and the VR Fishing game.

 

15 hours ago, linkdevivo said:

Really? I wanted to do X-2 but not sure now as its a 130 hour platinum and the game isn't that well received critically. Do you recommend?

 

I think 130 hours is a little bit of a stretch. I think I had in the 70s range in terms of hours on my main file, and then somewhere between 3 and 10 for my Iucytyr Tower file.

 

The biggest nuisance with X-2 is that you need 100% completion of the main story, and there's little or no room for error if you want to complete it in one playthrough, which requires meticulous following of a guide. Can't remember how much room for error there was if you do it in a second playthrough.

[linkdevivo]

UPDATE TIME!!!!

 

After getting the platinums for Nier Automata and God of War (fucking masterpiece), and 100% in Bloodborne, I'm back with Final Fantasy XIII, will post my review in the original post when i get the platinum (1 trophy left). I have a lot to say.

 

BTW, bought these beauties:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A2wmMn9DuQlXxEqnVutU6vD9uKFDBNcF

I'm dead serious with this FF Platinum Journey!

[Dav9834]

1 hour ago, linkdevivo said:

UPDATE TIME!!!!

 

After getting the platinums for Nier Automata and God of War (fucking masterpiece), and 100% in Bloodborne, I'm back with Final Fantasy XIII, will post my review in the original post when i get the platinum (1 trophy left). I have a lot to say.

 

BTW, bought these beauties:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A2wmMn9DuQlXxEqnVutU6vD9uKFDBNcF

I'm dead serious with this FF Platinum Journey!

Woot type-0!

[linkdevivo]

6 hours ago, Dav9834 said:

Woot type-0!

Got it on sale for 9 dollars used on gamestop. I love it when they have the original box art. can't wait.

[linkdevivo]

10 hours ago, linkdevivo said:

UPDATE TIME!!!!

 

After getting the platinums for Nier Automata and God of War (fucking masterpiece), and 100% in Bloodborne, I'm back with Final Fantasy XIII, will post my review in the original post when i get the platinum (1 trophy left). I have a lot to say.

FF13 COMPLETE!

 

10 hours ago, linkdevivo said:

BTW, bought these beauties:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1A2wmMn9DuQlXxEqnVutU6vD9uKFDBNcF

I'm dead serious with this FF Platinum Journey!

 

[Briste]

Good luck on your FF adventure! It truly is an amazing series and I hope they release them all at some point with trophy support. I've been playing Final Fantasy games since I got the original on NES back in 1988. I bought my gaming system based on which one was going to be carrying the series. My favorite video game experience of all time was the first time I played through Final Fantasy III (VI) on the SNES as a kid. That game blew my mind and I still love that one the best. So long as you don't get distracted, your goal is very attainable (even if you decide to do FFXIV). 

 

I actually did something similar a couple years ago and currently have all the Platinums available (as well as A King's Tale, Adventures of Mana and World of FF) and I think you will really enjoy the ride. Final Fantasy VII was released without a heads up just before Christmas. I loved that game the first go around and I bought it and played it for the nostalgia. I still have the FFVII theme with Aeris' song as my PS4 theme almost two years later. This was another game that blew my mind at the time and I learned the hard way about the biggest spoiler in games up to that point. Replaying this game got my Final Fantasy itch going so I ended up playing them all in order of release (what was out at the time.)

 

IX wasn't out when I did my binge, but I just beat that a couple months ago now. Originally, IX was a game I beat over Thanksgiving break when I was in college. I bought it on my way home for vacation and beat it in the 5 days I was home. It was the only time I played it so the story wasn't one I was terribly familiar with when I picked it back up. It is a fantastic story and I like the combat system. The 'Trance' wasn't as good as the limit break in VII, but it was a new wrinkle. The jump rope almost killed it for me with this game. I wanted to get it done right away and it took me a solid week. I needed a break from the game after that so did the DLC's for HZD.

 

X i ended up liking more the first time I played it. This time around I had a really difficult time with the chocobo rider trophy which ended up taking away some of the joy of playing. I also didn't like the voice acting as much...it seemed pretty awkward at times. I almost regretted playing it again since my memories of it were so good. It is still a great game but it went from being in my top 3 to outside my top 5 in the series.

 

X-2 was ok. That was a game I never finished on the PS1. I think I got stuck going up the floors to beat Trema the first time around. This time it wasn't too hard. The story wasn't as good as X but the battle system was pretty unique and there are enough good things about it to make it worth playing. But this one has always been one of my least favorite in the series.

 

XII also wasn't out when I did my FF binge a couple of years ago, but I just plat'd it a couple of months ago and I enjoyed it. The story wasn't very deep and there wasn't a ton of character development, but I thought the gambit system was really pretty cool. It was a little limited in what it could do. I found several things I wished it did but didn't, but it was still a pretty neat idea. Nothing about it was particularly hard but I was happy that I finally got to it. I missed it when It originally came out. I was engrossed in FFXI (I played that game exclusively for six years).

 

I personally loved XIII. I thought the paradigm system was awesome once I got the hang of it, the characters were interesting enough and I enjoyed the story. It was weaker than some of the previous releases...but it was still pretty good. The somewhat linear style didn't bother me too much because in all honesty...X and X-2 were also pretty linear. I never understood why that particular issue was the hold up for people when X, which was beloved, was pretty similar with the maps. 

 

I liked XIII-2 even more since I liked Noel and Serah better as main characters. I also kind of liked the limited choices for party members. It made you invest in these characters. The whole element of time travel was pretty new as well.

 

Lightning Returns was...ok. I liked the game play a lot except the timer setup...constantly stopping time and sprinting around. Certain quests only unlock during a certain time of day, but there are only a limited number of days to try. This game would take several play throughs without a guide. I understand why this one is generally panned by the fans, but I enjoyed it more than it bothered me.

 

XIV I beat first and I did that before I really became a trophy hunter. The leve quest trophy is the only reason it takes 6 months to beat. If you are going simply for the trophies, you can easily cheese most of it. You can spam low-level fates that are quick, bang out cheap, quick synths for those trophies and run through some of the shorter dungeons. I bet 100-150 hours is doable. Especially since they raised the level cap and nerfed most of the original content. The story in this game is really good though and if you liked the other games, won't be disappointed. The battle system takes some getting used to but I was able to do everything with PUGS (Pick Up Groups).

 

Type-0 was the easiest to Plat for me but was the worst trophy list in my opinion. At some point I want to go back and really play this game. My biggest issue with the trophies was that you could get the platinum long before you did everything in the game. I moved on once I got the plat...but I feel like I left a lot of ground uncovered. I had a lot of fun with this one. It was the least like any of the other FF's I've played.

 

Well I think I've hijacked this thread enough....I just get very excited about these games and I'm happy that you have chosen to undertake them as well! If you haven't already, you should also sign up on the project platinum thread! Good luck!

[linkdevivo]

4 hours ago, Br1ste said:

I still have the FFVII theme with Aeris' song as my PS4 theme almost two years later.

Holy shit man me too! Turning the ps4 to Aeris' theme in minimalistic piano never gets old.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your personal ff experiences. I agree with a lot of what you said,it was a blast reading it. It's amazing to think that a video game series could unite so many people around the world. It's just so good. I think the music is its secret sauce but im biased as i'm a music producer. I really might give XIII-2 a try, it has a low score on metacritic but everyone says it takes what XIII did and kind of improves upon it, making it overall a more enjoyable experience. Might buy it used at a gamestop. Right now i'm doing FFXV again (UK import) and am enjoying it so much. It feels so different from when i played it back at launch, i'm actually enjoying it way more. Next up is FFXII and FFX, so excited.

[Briste]

16 hours ago, linkdevivo said:

I think the music is its secret sauce but im biased as i'm a music producer.

That is one of the Hallmarks of the series. In general the music has been great. That was actually my favorite part of FFXV. To gain AP I would just have Ignis drive back and forth between long distances and listen to the old soundtracks. I really wish they were complete soundtracks of the previous games...but there was enough to keep me happy. In addition to Aeris' theme song, I'd say my next favorite is Celes' from FFVI theme song. Fortunately, that one is available in FFXV. There were a couple of songs in XIII-2 that I liked. My favorite was in the Archylte Steppe. There are different weather patterns you need to select, and the music is different for each one. The Cloudy or Sunny weather was my favorite and much more upbeat than the others. 

 

I have the Royal DLC left to do with FFXV and I'll be 100% there. Going to get that done after God of War. Good luck!

[killivincent]

Oh, how I envy you. If I would be that brave. Love Final Fantasy very much. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you will have a blast playing!

 

(Hope I was not too late wishing you luck..)

[linkdevivo]

1 hour ago, killivincent said:

(Hope I was not too late wishing you luck..)

Hey thanks man. You're definitely not late, read my original post so you can see my progress!!

[SquidBaronet]

I'll look into joining your quest(even though some of the games are not my cup of tea, especially the earlier titles) because I am already working on FFXII (The Zodiac Age) and just hit 50% trophy completion with snagging Ultima. Man was she a b***h to fight, it was the first time my party was dying left and right(Penelo was equipped with the White Mask so Holyja did nothing to her) and some of the bosses are hard as f'k to kill even with the best weapons in the game because I think the Zodiac Age version changed a few bosses to make them super-hard, but I am chugging along fine. Just completed Giruvagan(sp?) and need to clear up all the hunts I have collected thus far before heading to Ridorina Contract and Pharos and summoning the Warship Bahamut for the endgame.

[Dav9834]

1 hour ago, SquidBaronet said:

I'll look into joining your quest(even though some of the games are not my cup of tea, especially the earlier titles) because I am already working on FFXII (The Zodiac Age) and just hit 50% trophy completion with snagging Ultima. Man was she a b***h to fight, it was the first time my party was dying left and right(Penelo was equipped with the White Mask so Holyja did nothing to her) and some of the bosses are hard as f'k to kill even with the best weapons in the game because I think the Zodiac Age version changed a few bosses to make them super-hard, but I am chugging along fine. Just completed Giruvagan(sp?) and need to clear up all the hunts I have collected thus far before heading to Ridorina Contract and Pharos and summoning the Warship Bahamut for the endgame.

You're missing out on some of the best Jrpg stories if you ignore 7 & 8 & 9

(they better give me 8 with trophies) 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Dav9834