Most Final Fantasy games and JRPGs in general.
Patient Gamers
A gaming community free from the hype and oversaturation of current releases, catering to gamers who wait at least 12 months after release to play a game. Whether it's price, waiting for bugs/issues to be patched, DLC to be released, don't meet the system requirements, or just haven't had the time to keep up with the latest releases.
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Depending on how you define all powerful God, Fallout New Vegas
Final Fantasy 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 13
- Start off figuring out why meteors are falling and the wind has died
- Start off fighting a snail while using magic machines
- Start off as a terrorist
- Start off as an emo student
- Start off sneaking into a play
- Start off with blitzball
- Start heading down the hallway
Haven't finished 1,2,3 but spoilers below:
spoiler
Ff4 - have to stop a vengeful manifestation of an advanced race
Ff5 - stopping a tree
Ff6 - stopping a clown's divinity
Ff7 - well, that is more an alien with support from the spirit of the planet protecting itself
Ff8 - sorceressess and time shenanigans
Ff9 - ends with an abrupt challenge from a death god to convince it not to delete the current universe
Ff10 - and be transported to a land where a dominant religion is enforced through the power of a wmd that is maintained by "faith"
Ff12 - prevent the folly of a man trying to become a god, through the power of a renegade of the universe godhood pantheon
Ff13 - become pawns of higher beings wanting to stop the nihilism of one of its brethen tired of the infinite cycle
FF8 spoiler
Was Ultimecia characterized as (a) god, or wanting to be one?
I think Ultimecia wanted a world that consists of only her, hence she could be considered a god in her own world. She succeeded until the power of friendship and love defeated her but ...
I don't think it counts under what I understood the prompt in the OP is all about. But then again, it's been a while since I last played that game, and I hardly paid much attention to the story (got too icked out by the love story). Cool game mechanics tho.
spoiler
In a way, I guess technically her goal was very godlike as she wanted to control and compress time to create a favourable timeline for herself.
That goal however just created a self-fulling circular loop prophesy as her fear of SeeD was ultimately her demise.
As for the time shenanigans:
- Her being killed by your group in the future leads to her essence finding Cid's Wife as a host in the past
- Leads to the founding of SeeD
- Introduce main character and group for the game
- Leads to perpetuating a cycle
I suppose one can think of her desperately trying to win a time loop and going mad from failure
Edit
spoiler
Laguna's Love Story wasn't too bad, although a little on the nose for Squall falling in love with Laguna's first Crush, but him settling down with Raine was bitter sweet at the end.
That last sentence in the first spoiler is more or less my take on her situation.
FF8 spoiler
I saw Ultimecia as more of a tragic character than someone who really wanted power for its own sake, which is why I don't really see her as wanting to be a god. She just wanted a way out of the time loop. As you've said: she went mad from repeated (?) failure.
Coincidentally, I thought Squall, at the very end, could have had ended the time loop. In that cutscene after Ultimecia's defeat, as he was wandering back to his own time, he met a much younger Edea, who has then just inherited Ultimecia's power. He could have chosen not to tell Edea about SeeD at this point, but I don't think he's aware he was talking to that Edea he knew (even though I think the surroundings should have sufficiently clued him in).
FF8 B-plot spoilers
I found Squall falling in love with the daughter of Laguna's first crush to be a nice little thing. I also liked Laguna far better as a character, and his love story with Raine a far superior love story than the main one. I think he really fell in love with Raine, but his fatherly love for Ellone far outweighed it.
FF8 spoiler response
spoiler
Yeah, I agree especially with her being a tragic character her final lines sounds line someone desperate:
"Recall a memory from your childhood. The sensations, emotions, the words from back then. Growing up means leaving something behind and throwing something away. Time will not wait, no matter how hard you hold onto it, it escapes you. And ...",
especially considering how Ellone's powers work
I think it is repeated (at least once already) or she achieved some form of omnipotence with her time compression as her plans seem to have a definitive goal to them like she knows who to look for (Adel and Ellone) and what to do to achieve her ends. Edea (forgot her name) probably still had enough power to "guide" her a bit but ultimately she was overpowered most likely, until Ultimecia released her power to hop to the next one.
Yeah, Squall could have finished that in a few ways - although, I guess seeing Ultimecia survive (especially after she implanted that final thought, in retrospect), his instincts probably didn't want to take the chance of her time hopping again and wanted the time line to be prepared. Also he couldn't kill an innocent person either and risk one of the orphans getting the power as Edea tells him
The love story between Squall and Rinoa can be melodramatic, but it is done well enough with Rinoa peeling away the layers of edge off of Squall.
Laguna and Raine though, I agree was a lot better and I think Raine understood the type of person Laguna was and supported him - her personality was like his in some ways. She probably saw Ellone as a daughter as well and knew how far he would go to protect her, which is why she probably kept her pregnancy quiet to not distract him on his quest to save their "daughter".
Oh! Forgot which event happened after which other event in that long cutscene after the final boss battle.
FF8 spoilers
I thought Squall met the younger Edea after receiving Ultimecia's powers. I only remembered the fact that Squall implanted the idea of SeeD into Edea, but I couldn't remember how exactly it happened.
As for Rinoa, back when I first played the game, I was a bit younger than Squall is, and Rinoa annoyed the hell out of me—far more than I got annoyed with Selphie, supposedly the annoying one. Younger me would have preferred if Squall fell in love with someone else, heck, even Seifer would have been a better love interest for Squall as far as younger me was concerned. I guess then, their love story worked nicely, and younger me was just too stubbornly edgy to appreciate that.
I think Laguna and Raine's love story resonated with me far better because it's far less "abrasive" and in-your-face. It might be a more bland and ordinary love story, but it's a nice foil to the main love story between Squall and Rinoa.
EDIT: failed my spoiler formatting
FF 8 Spoiler Response
spoiler
If I recall, Squall sees a defeated Ultimecia staggering and ready to pass her powers on before dying, but Edea stops him from finishing her off They sort of have a conversation and SeeD is mentioned and young Squall comes running to Edea
Rinoa grew on me, at first hated the brattiness but over time she grew on me as a character who acts a blunt force determined to break Squall out of his shell. The Ragnarok scene and her becoming a sorceress locked her in as she matured and leaned on Squall for support in a reversal of her wanting to be his support and Squall being more "human"
The real love story is Zell and Hot Dogs (oh, almost forgot, Pig-tail girl)
Laguna and Raine was a lot more wholesome and mature with it not having any internal drama. The drama is more external elements leading to a more bitter sweet tale of Laguna accomplishing his mission but living with guilt of his failures
The Age of Mythology campaign. It starts with you heading to the Trojan War because some pirates stole your statue's trident…
The entirety of Final Fantasy 14
Loop hero has you trying to rebuild a forgotten world as you traverse round a simple loop...
Grim Dawn.
One moment you're dying on the gallows, the next you're fighting the tongue of a long dead god trying to reclaim it's appropriated flesh.
And the stakes only get higher from there for the DLCs.
Asura's Wrath, DMC1, Bayonetta
Most of the Dark Souls are like that, ain't they? I'm too weak sauce to ever reach those levels, though. Black Myth Wukong has you starting Heaven's entire army, so I guess that qualifies too (I'm assuming you end up fighting a god at the end, but again, I'm not worthy)
Monkey canonically kicks all the gods' asses, but then loses to Buddha, who is not a god. That's because instead of using force, Buddha preys on Monkey's ego by giving him an unwinnable bet. And THEN Buddha drops a mountain on him.
Mario and friends find a secret door while on their quest to defeat weapon invaders from another dimension.
Silent Hill and Silent Hill 3 - both games revolve around a cult that is trying to bring about the rebirth of their deity. You play as someone who finds themselves in the town of Silent Hill in search of a person. You solve puzzles, battle monsters, and navigate the town… and then it ends with you fighting a god.
Yakuza 0 goes through all the emotions with its storytelling: you start by singing karaoke, then become a fugitive, you go bowling, lose a friend, watch a dirty video...
Also, holy shit, most of you guys missed the point. Edit: Wait, did I miss the point? I thought this post was about wrong games for funsies
Though you DO actually fight a god in Yakuza 5 as a sidequest.
Final Fantasy Legend, on the Game Boy. There are multiple worlds, and in every world there's a giant tower, and when you enter the tower, each level leads to a different world. Eventually you get to the very top and you fight God, who is guarding the door at the top level that leads to paradise.
I mean... Dark Souls is the game that essentially created this meme.
Your entire goal is to beat up God and take his place so you can keep things going as they've been going for an untold number of centuries. Though IMO that's one of the bad endings; the good ending is ending the status quo and becoming a new, different god. A god a humanity instead of... Whatever the fuck the gods before were (they are separated from humanity, even though they look like humans) 🤷🏻♂️.
For a much older game... EarthBound. Starts off just being a quirky, modern day (modern day being the 90's in this case) RPG; ends with you fighting a literal space god that looks vaguely like a fallopian tube.
OG Chrono Trigger