So for this weeks community writing challenge, Louis asks us 'What are some things you like to do in games that are a part of it, but not really what you're meant to do for hours on end?' My answer came to me pretty quickly. Most games offer a plethora of side quest and activities for you to complete, but one franchise stands above the rest in offering quality fun while doing these.
If you've read some of my other blog posts, you'll know that Final Fantasy is probably my most beloved franchise of all. The games offer new and unique worlds to explore, while usually offering a mountain of totally optional content for the player to experience. This is where my answer becomes contradictory, because the player is usually meant to spend a lot of time doing these, but even so I'll list some of my favorite side content from the series.
You can dream, kid. You can dream.
Everyone who's played Final Fantasy X is familiar with Blitzball, as it's a recurring theme throughout the game, and the player is requiered to actually play in at least one game. For me though, that game became more important to me than defeating Sin and saving the world. Leveling up my players, acquiring all the skills, and recruiting all the players (looking at you Biggs and Wedge!). I became obsessed with Blitzball and can say it became one of my favorite aspects of the game, even if it did become a little too easy once you acquire the Jecht Shot.
What is it boy?! Vivi is trapped in a well?!
Another mini-game I loved was Chocobo Hot & Cold from FF9. The music that plays during this was great, and the player can get a plethora of great items while leveling up their chocobo's beak as well as discovering more Chocographs to eventually lead you to that big chocobo in the sky. The game is fairly simple overall, though with the higher level ones being a bit tricky if you couldn't find that exact spot where the item was buried.
Should have played that bat in the upper left corner bro.
Triple Triad. Damn you, Triple Triad! Damn you for having so many cards! Damn you for being playable across the entire world of FF8! Damn you for being so fun! But most of all, damn you for your wacky regional rules! This game was another high point of the series for me, because overall it's a fairly simple game, that is until you start encountering regions that have absurd rules that can make it so a single card can overtake the entire board. While Triple Triad doesn't offer any end game rewards that can't be obtained by other means, collecting all the cards was still a priority for me throughout the game. This was also a game that eventually reappeared in Final Fantasy XIV, and took me forever to obtain all the cards again. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!
Getting some Rainbow Road vibes here...
And last but certainly not least, we have chocobo racing and breeding from FF7. Again, the racing portion is a mandatory part of the game where you must win a race to escape Corel Prison. But after it becomes a part of the Gold Saucer that you can freely enjoy, I spent hours upon hours doing so. This also serves an end purpose, as the only way to receive the coveted (and overly long) Knights of the Round summon materia is to breed a gold chocobo. The end reward is more than enough in itself, but I simply enjoyed struggling to raise the ranks of all my basic chocobobs at the start, then absolutely decimating the other racers once my breeding netted me the rarer breeds.
So that's it for mine. Is there a particular series you enjoyed doing side stuff in? Any stories from the Final Fantasy games you'd like to share? Post below, and thanks for reading!
