Ending B

In November, I promised a post about the best games in the Final Fantasy series. Though it wasn't ready before XIII's release, it's less than a week after, so I guess I can count that as a win.

Once again, here are the rules that I set forth for not only this part of the retrospective, but as a whole as well.
1.) Unless stated otherwise, only the games in the main series will be analyzed. AKA, Final Fantasy 1-10 & 12. The main reason Final Fantasy 11 is not a part these lists is because I strongly believe that MMORPGs cannot and should not be compared using the same criteria as console games. They are two almost completely different things. So, the other 11 core games will be analyzed.
2.) If a list we create states "Best or Worst of," then the order is that of preference (least liked to most liked).
3.) This is a new rule that I'm adding specifically for this post: Remakes/Re-releases are not eligible for analysis. Original releases only.

So, here it is. Ending B's "Best and Worst" of Square-Enix's Final Fantasy series. The results are a combination of my votes along with the votes of others who are either members of Ending B or are affiliated in some way. The opinions on why the games got the ranking they did are mine alone. One more note should be that this review may contain spoilers (just an FYI).

A special thanks to Kim Samson who put this picture together on such short notice. You can find more of her art on MHHO.com or on her deviantART site.

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With Lunar: Silver Star Harmony coming out soon for the PSP, I'm reminded about one of my favorite video game moments; Luna's "Boat Song" (also called "Wind Nocturne") from Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete. It's a beautiful song where Luna, the female lead, expresses her loneliness and desire to know her place in the world. Take a look.

It's usually jarring to have a character spontaneously break into song, but it worked well in Lunar since Luna is a songtress. Since I have a musical background myself, I enjoy these musical moments. Luna's song is one of my favorites, but what are some others?

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Hey all! Been doing a lot of work over break (with working on my thesis, writing comics, and working on art), but I still managed to take some time to do some fun things over break. Here's what I've been up to. But first, let's start off the new year (or decade?) with...

A gratuitous panty shot! Thank you Tekken 6!

Over winter break, I played Tekken 6 and Final Fantasy X, and I watched some of Spice and Wolf. Here's what I thought of each.

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I've had Final Fantasy on the brain for a while, and one thing that I absolutely love love about the series is the music. Up until the more recent titles (aka FF12), the music has been composed by Nobuo Uematsu, and, despite what I think about each game, I loved the soundtrack for each one.

Here are the rules that I set forth for not only this part of the retrospective, but as a whole as well.
1.) When talking about the best and worst aspects of the series, one part will be chosen per game to explore. So, for the music retrospective, one song will be selected from each game.
2.) Unless stated otherwise, only the games in the main series will be analyzed. AKA, Final Fantasy 1-10 & 12. The main reason Final Fantasy 11 is not a part these lists is because I strongly believe that MMORPGs cannot and should not be compared using the same criteria as console games. They are two almost completely different things.
3.) If a list we create states "Best or Worst of," then the order is that of preference (least liked to most liked). In others, such as this one, the order is simply chronological.

Sound fair? Okay!

Final Fantasy I: Corneria/Cornelia Castle

According to the Square-Enix website, Final Fantasy XIII will come to the United States on March 9th, 2010.

Don't look so apprehensive. From what I've seen, your game has potential.

Square's official site. The site itself has some short character bios, wallpapers, and other goodies. Check it out!

Hey all! Some of the Final Fantasy XIII soundtrack pieces were released late October. I thought I'd share some of my favorites.

As you can probably tell, this is the main character's theme. It's pretty (lots of piano, so I think Ed will like it).

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While looking for a trailer video for my previous post, I stumbled across these Final Fantasy (I'm assuming fan made) parody videos of some animes, and I thought I would share some of the better quality ones with you.

In all honesty, I have no idea what this is parodying (all I could gather is that they're doing something called a "Becky Dance."), but it's the ladies of Final Fantasy VI doing a cute little dance.

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With the newest Final Fantasy game coming out next year, I feel it may be time for the world... er... internet to find out how I... er... we at Ending B feel about this long standing series. Before XIII comes out, I plan on having some "Top" lists for you all to look at, including (but not limited to):

- A list of "core" Final Fantasy games listed from worst to best.
- Best spinoffs and sequels.
- Best music.

Stuff like that. I hope to get more of the Ending B crew involved in this to get involved in this to get a more complete and less biased compilation.

In the meantime, please enjoy this trailer for Final Fantasy XIII. Yes, it's in English, I know. But I found when reading the subtitles, I couldn't concentrate on the pretty pretty graphics.

Today, the sequel to Final Fantasy 4 came out today. I took a little bit of time to glance at the game, and here are my initial thoughts.

In the front is Ceodore, the main character, along with the returning main characters from the original game.

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Last Tuesday, I bought Final Fantasy IV for the DS, and I must say it's quite fun. Now, when reading this post, you have to keep in mind a few things. First, I played FF4 back in the day it was called Final Fantasy II on the Super Nintendo. Second, I could get to the final dungeon of this game when I was in the 1st grade and FF2/FF4 helped me learn how to read. Third, I have played through this game multiple times ever since it first came out. Fourth, FF4 is probably my favorite video game ever made.

Now that I've given a background of my history with this game, it's time for the main point of my post.

*ahem*

Oh my god, I can't use the Tornado spell to kill the Dark Dragon guarding the Earth Crystal! The game is actually making me... FIGHT HIM! I've used that Tornado (back in the day, Tornado was called Weak) trick ever since my first encounter with the Dark Dragon. I have NO IDEA how to fight him normally! The DS version is actually expecting me to... go into battle... without cheap tricks!

Don't get me wrong, this game is insanely fun. But... *shakes fist* Damn you and your strategy altering ways Square-Enix!

This image has nothing to do with my post about the Dark Dragon. I just think Rydia is kick-ass.