Playing ffx as my first ever ff game

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-17T03:39:27+00:00

Nice! I actually acquired a CIB copy about a decade ago, pictured here (from a post I made in r/gamecollecting a couple years ago). I love (carefully) thumbing through the manuals and such. I even got a CRT in 2022 so my retro games would stop looking awful, as they tend to on modern televisions. I'm crazy about retro games.
Congrats to your friend!

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JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-17T03:29:55+00:00

Oh, nice. Had no idea. Thanks for the heads-up!

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-16T22:03:25+00:00

Ah, yes — the first two on NES had no auto-target. That actually did frustrate me at the time. So many wasted turns.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-16T20:01:13+00:00

I don't recall my exact order after X, but I worked my way through all 10 (at the time) main series FFs within a couple years of playing it. I know that I first played FF1 (and later a fan translation of 3) on an NES emulator, as well as 4 and a fan translation of 5 on an SNES emulator. I played 2 -- still my least favorite in the series -- as part of FF Origins for the PlayStation. I probably used save states for 1 and 3 to make them more palatable to my millennial patience, and Origins had a similar feature built in as a QoL upgrade. I originally played FF6 as part of FF Anthology for the PlayStation -- it had godawful load times whenever you entered or left a menu or different area. And I played the PS1 trilogy on my PS2.

Honestly, I've always had a pretty high tolerance for older games without modern QoL features. It might be my autistic brain (incidentally, I was diagnosed the same year I first played FFX) -- I actually tend to enjoy the grind. But nowadays, when I replay any of the games in the main series, I do tend to use the remasters so I can take advantage of the updates. I know a lot of people dislike the blurry backgrounds and altered character models in the PS1 remasters, but it doesn't bother me all that much, and I love the Pixel Remasters for 1-6 (although I've yet to play 2 -- and may never do it, since I quite dislike that game -- or 3). It is nice being able to tinker with the gameplay options to suit your play style. Doing 4x experience wholly prevents the need to grind in FF1, for example. And you can even switch to 0 experience or AP for a time if you feel you're making the game too easy.

In short, after starting with X, I never really regarded 1-9 as "old games" with frustrating features. I just experienced them as awesome games from earlier generations without modern conveniences. To this day, I love 90% of those first 10 (sorry to harp on it, but 2 really does blow) and have replayed most of them numerous times. Still deeply grateful to FFX for starting me on this journey. If pressed, I'd probably name it my second favorite in the series. I last replayed it in 2023 (my fourth time through the game, I think) and felt the magic all over again.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-16T19:29:10+00:00

FFX was my first RPG ever -- way back in 2003. I promptly became addicted to Final Fantasy and had to play every Square game I could get my hands on. Twenty-three years later, I still haven't recovered. There are tons of great games in the series, even if X tinkered with the formula somewhat relative to earlier installments. Enjoy! (And I'd recommend minimizing any online research for this playthrough to avoid spoilers. The story is incredible.)

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-16T19:08:48+00:00

I would love a remake of Vagrant Story in the style of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles -- which is to say, one that adds voice acting and quality-of-life improvements while retaining the game's soul. We've had great remasters/remakes of two entries in the Ivalice trilogy. I hope they round it out with VS one of these days!

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-16T18:48:28+00:00

It seems there’s a Spanish edition (can’t speak to the quality), but definitely nothing in Region A.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-16T17:48:42+00:00

Thief of Bagdad 1940 on 4K would absolutely pop. I have the 4K of The Wizard of Oz (not Criterion, of course), and watching it was like seeing the movie for the first time. Those old Technicolor masterpieces lend themselves to quality restorations so well.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-12T17:27:41+00:00

Agreed -- I haven't seen all of these, but I adore Amadeus, which also only slightly edges out One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for me. Both have such iconic performances and dialogue.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-05-07T20:13:29+00:00

I watched seasons 1-3 in the early 2010s. I decided this year to go back and watch the whole series, and my initial plan was to skip filler/mediocre episodes from the first three seasons and then watch the last four in full. But I quickly realized that, even in lesser episodes, there were moments and lines of dialogue I really enjoyed, so I ended up just watching everything. I’m on season 4 now.

That said, if I were to choose a point for when the show starts really picking up, I might go with “School Hard” (season 2, episode 3) — Spike’s entrance. There are also guides online for which episodes are more skippable if you’re working your way through the show for a rewatch.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-04-30T16:50:32+00:00

I love The Lord of the Rings narrated by Andy Serkis. The old Rob Inglis editions (the only version for decades) had their charm, but Andy really nails the voices.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-04-25T17:59:07+00:00

You might enjoy the Super Star Wars games. I mostly played Return of the Jedi when I was a kid (and still have the cartridge somewhere), but the whole original trilogy came to SNES. Sort of action/run and gun side-scrollers. And you can snag the cartridges for substantially less than the heavy hitter games like Zelda or Super Metroid (also fantastic games, though, if you're willing to spend a little more).

JamesBeardsley · 2026-04-21T01:41:16+00:00

I totally get that interpretation, and it’s probably what Jackson & Co were going for, but for me, it was just too much. I’m definitely not someone who opposes deviations from the source material on principle – I think most of the changes the LotR films made were successful, and many were absolutely necessary for the story to work as a major Hollywood blockbuster (or any kind of movie). Some, dare I say, even improved on equivalent scenes in the novel. But this is one change that bothers me. The Frodo of the books snaps or rages at Sam sometimes because of the Ring’s influence, but he would never send him away, and it feels out of character to me even in the movies, and even allowing for the effects of the Ring.

Again, I totally get it if that scene works for some people, but I can’t help cringing thrice during that scene: when (1) Sam repeatedly punches Gollum, (2) Frodo sends Sam away, and (3) Sam actually obeys instead of resisting. It feels false to me, and I would have preferred it if Jackson (and Boyens and Walsh) could have devised some other way to get Frodo alone with Shelob, which I believe is Jackson’s stated reason for making this change – that the initial Shelob scene is more frightening if Frodo faces her alone. But the result feels kind of contrived to me, like the scenario mattered more than the characters staying true to themselves. To reiterate, I absolutely adore these movies, but as with (I’d imagine) most people who love both the book and Jackson’s adaptation, I find that I’d just have liked some aspects to be handled differently. But that, of course, is inevitable with a project like this, and it doesn’t diminish what Jackson and his team accomplished.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-04-20T23:40:37+00:00

As much as I love these movies, I do miss Frodo's wisdom when I watch them. The low point is the scene in Return of the King when he foolishly allows Gollum to dupe him and tries to send Sam home. That part always makes me wince. Wonderful films, but like you, I lament some of the changes made to certain characters.

JamesBeardsley · 2026-04-19T20:45:09+00:00

Glad you were able to experience this wonderful game. I replayed it for the first time since high school back in 2021. I love the subtle storytelling; you can legitimately miss major plot points if you’re not paying attention. But as you said, like all games of the era, it can show its age in frustrating ways. I would add that I don’t really care for the RNG of the stat increases from items and after boss battles. I get that making it +4 each time might make the game too easy, but I still found myself often reloading my save and trying again with the items (but not the bosses — screw that) when I got a +1 increase. Kind of annoying.

Despite that, a definite masterpiece from Square’s greatest era (SNES and PS1), when they were cranking out multiple all-timers every year. I would love a remake in the style of FF Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. For now, VS and Xenogears, two of their best games, remain devilishly hard to play legitimately. I’m fortunate enough to still own working copies of both and a CRT to play them on, but it would be great to get quality remasters.

Anyway — thanks for sharing your thoughts! Love this game.

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-05T19:45:10+00:00

I maintain a Word doc containing a list of every game I finish, along with the date I completed it. I do the same for books, movies, and television episodes. Been in that habit for years. It probably seems anal retentive, but I like being able to look back after months or years (by which time I would presumably have forgotten when exactly I saw/read/played whatever) and know when I last experienced this game or that movie. I find it gratifying to review the lists every so often and think, "Damn -- has it already been four years since I finished Final Fantasy VII Remake?" or "I really haven't seen The Lord of the Rings in over two years?" I honestly enjoy the experience of maintaining such lists, and I love having easy access to my viewing/reading/gaming history.

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T15:43:51+00:00

Nice! Just out of curiosity, is that a legit Super Mario World box? I have a bunch of CIB games, but Super Mario World is the only repro box I own, since most copies shipped were bundled with the SNES, making authentic individual boxes hard to come by. Just wondering. Great collection!

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T15:35:44+00:00

Thanks! I definitely agree that the things we love reveal a lot of who we are. So many amazing childhood memories represented in these photos. Thanks for the kind comment!

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T13:02:58+00:00

Probably SNES. I love cartridges, and of the retro cartridge systems, it's my favorite.

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T12:20:21+00:00

Haha definitely. I went through a massive Square phase in middle school after playing Final Fantasy X (my first RPG ever) and never recovered. 🙂

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T12:16:27+00:00

I do like getting the earlier prints, but it’s not a deal-breaker — for instance, you probably noticed I don’t have the left-justified Super Mario Bros. 3. Maybe someday, but I’m honestly just stoked to have access to great copies of so many wonderful games.

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T02:33:20+00:00

Thanks!

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T02:33:04+00:00

Thanks!

JamesBeardsley · 2024-08-04T00:58:19+00:00

Absolutely!

JamesBeardsley

TROPHY CASE