Final Fantasy

[Magus]

A series that is notoriously bad and good by its fans. Which ones do you like, or hate and why. Personally I like 6 the most, followed closely by 9. Everything in 6 seemed to work IMO, and 9 was an artistic masterpiece (once again opinion). We all have our favorites and least favorites, so please for the love all that is sacred keep this civil. I know how some of these arguments can get when people start fan boying.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Magus

[FraRPetO]

My favorite is FFIV, I loved the remake on PSP.

FFX comes second and the last one I've played is FFVII which I think was very good too.

[Rawr-Ma-Ama]

My favorite Final Fantasy is VI, closely followed by IV.

I also think V is a bit underrated. It´s pretty good, if you got to play the GBA-Version or the IOS or whereever it´s now these days, there´s like a ton of jobs you can select for your characters which makes it pretty fun to play ^^

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

FFVIII, it kind of holds a lot of nostalgia for me and it's the one that I know best cause I watched my aunts play it every time they did when I was younger.

Then there's Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, which was tons of fun (though admittedly I kinda... depended on powering my way through battles than actually being strategic ._.;; ). Two words: Dual Wielding.

[ReddestDream]

The Good: VI, IX, VII, IV, I

The Meh: V, III, IV After Years, X, X-2

The Bad: II, XIII, VIII, XII

Each grouping is ranked from best to worst. The Good and The Meh lists are mostly subjective in terms of ordering.

I think that most would agree, however, that the games in The Good generally do more things right than the games in The Meh.

I've ranked The Bad based on how many things I feel are utterly broken in each game:

XII: The Battle System, The Characters, The Plot, The Leveling System (The License Board).

This guy explains the problems with XII better than I can:

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

VIII: The Battle System, The Leveling System, Most of The Characters, The Plot.

XIII: The Linearity, The Leveling System, The Plot.

II: The Leveling System (Although this has been fixed somewhat in later releases, I originally played the fan translated NES version).

I've never played any of the MMOs (XI and XIV) or any of the XIII spinoffs (XIII-2 and Lightning Returns) . . .

Edited September 1, 2014 by ReddestDream

[Hellyam]

I've only played Final Fantasy V and IV. They're both pretty fun to play and the story line is decent in both. But I haven't been able to beat them yet. I think the job system is pretty hard to grasp though in Final Fantasy V.

[Etesian]

The first and last I ever played was 7 on an emu. I just really, really disliked the combat system in it, that "Active Time Battle" thing. The combination of RPG's "wait until you get to move" and Action's "enemies can hit you all the time" traits was really unappealing to me. If I have to wait to get my turn, why don't foes have to wait until I'm done with it? You shouldn't lose in an RPG because you were too slow. It's an RPG! The first word that comes to mind when you think of "RPG combat systems" is "relaxed" or "slow" (nothing wrong with that, I love RPGs). They tried to make an RPG with action elements, the result of which I didn't like at all. (Even though the mixing genres idea isn't bad, I loved Parasite Eve 1).

That's just my opinion, no war pls.

[ReddestDream]

The first and last I ever played was 7 on an emu. I just really, really disliked the combat system in it, that "Active Time Battle" thing. The combination of RPG's "wait until you get to move" and Action's "enemies can hit you all the time" traits was really unappealing to me. If I have to wait to get my turn, why don't foes have to wait until I'm done with it? You shouldn't lose in an RPG because you were too slow. It's an RPG! The first word that comes to mind when you think of "RPG combat systems" is "relaxed" or "slow" (nothing wrong with that, I love RPGs). They tried to make an RPG with action elements, the result of which I didn't like at all. (Even though the mixing genres idea isn't bad, I loved Parasite Eve 1).

That's just my opinion, no war pls.

I get how you feel . . .

The enemies in games with ATB do technically have a turn and wait time, but you just can't see it . . .

Sometimes I have to go into the settings and put the game on "Wait" mode so I have enough time to navigate the long menus to find my spells, summons, or whatever.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Battle_System

Edited September 1, 2014 by ReddestDream

[Felicity]

I feel like in order to enjoy the older games, you need an appreciation for the games which a lot of people get via the mass amounts of nostalgia. This means that a lot of people dismiss final fantasy, specially because of the 13th debacle. I enjoyed playing VII and VII, and I have VI waiting in the wings, but I never seem in the right mindset to play them, because I'm constantly waiting to be awed and whacked in the face with story.

[VSharma]

Final Fantasy VI will always be my favourite. Something about the amazing cast of fully developed characters and such an amazing villain. If you guys haven't tried it out yet I highly recommend doing so.

[ReddestDream]

I feel like in order to enjoy the older games, you need an appreciation for the games which a lot of people get via the mass amounts of nostalgia. This means that a lot of people dismiss final fantasy, specially because of the 13th debacle. I enjoyed playing VII and VII, and I have VI waiting in the wings, but I never seem in the right mindset to play them, because I'm constantly waiting to be awed and whacked in the face with story.

The nostalgia definitely runs high with FF . . .

FFVI was my first one . . . I got it in '95 for the SNES as FFIII . . . I was 7, and I loved it . . . Kefka still scares the crap out of me to this day . . .

I got all of the later games up to XIII on or around the day they came out . . . After how bad XII and XIII were, I kinda gave up on the franchise . . .

Edited September 1, 2014 by ReddestDream

[Saber12]

It's funny that 12 was my first final fantasy which I like but have a lot of trouble understanding plot wise. I'll always love it for not having random battle's and a battle theme that you would eventually get tired from hearing over and over again.

The strange thing about 13 is that I like Lightning but that just seems to be it. I mean everyone else to mean is ok but I played the game because I wanted to see her which is why I might skip playing 13-2 and just get Lightning returns. The battle system became a bit too tactical to the point where you'd constantly be switching paradigms.

I do prefer the story of final fantasy 10 to 12. It was just easier for me to understand and get into. Some people liked Tidus and other's hated him but at least you understood him. I thought he was entertaining character. Actually I enjoyed the whole cast to be frank. The battle system was simple but I liked how every character had a useful role.(except for poor Kimahri)

I kinda like 6 the best but sort of before the world of ruin. It gets a little too depressing at that point. Klefka was a great villain though. Like 10 I like how every character had a unique skill like Edger and his gadgets and Sabin's blitz techniques and oh my gosh stealing was actually useful with Locke! The extra characters sort of disappointed me because..... well they were extra and that's all they had to them. However, Shadow could have had a little more involvement instead of him dying if you jumped off the floating island thing too soon or him being available as an extra character if you waited for him. I like how Final Fantasy 7 had side quests for Yuffie and Vincent that gave players a chance to learn more about those two.

I love the series though I can't see myself buying every game they ever made.

[Sutoratosu]

well, so far I've only played 1,2, 4 (And the After years), 5, 6 ,7, & 8... need to get around to finding ways to steal play the others in the series.

So far my favorite plot wise is 4... I honestly don't know why considering some of the ones that came after it had a bit of a deeper storyline... guess I have a strong respect for Cecil Harvey(To this day, I think that the surname doesn't really fit him...) mostly because he's not afraid to own up for the mistakes he made and has the sense of justice needed to question certain orders that cross a line... though the fact that 4 had "The after years" to go along with it probably factors in as well.

I honestly enjoyed the combat system of FF8 with the GFs and all. it made it possible to have a decently strong party without having to go through a bunch of hours grinding because of the skills each GF got as they leveled up... which in itself was made a hell of a lot faster by Cactuar Island, getting like 20 AP for every one you killed in battle.

[Hutch333]

I've played I, II, Mystic Quest, V, VI, VII, some of VIII, IX, X, X-2, XII, XIII, XIII-2, Tactics, Tactics Advance, and Tactics Advance 2.

I had a lot of fun with IX, great story, amazing gameplay, and the card game was fun too. Tactics for PS1 was really difficult to start but once you made it past the like 4th level it get's really fun. VI was pretty high on my list because of the story. X was my favorite though, I loved the battle style (being a tactical person and all), and the story was amazing 'cause I've always been a fan of the whole corrupt church story line.

I wasn't a fan of VIIIs battle style. i only stopped playing though 'cause I bought the disc and it kept freezing. I didn't like how XIII railroaded you right to the end but then when you're able roam you have no idea where you're going. Although XIII-2 had too much free roam and i ended up getting lost every once in awhile.

I'm a big fan of final fantasy, but if you are too then I suggest Breath of Fire I and II for SNES Breath of fire III for PS1, and the dragon quest games (mostly VIII for PS2), And bravely default for 3DS was good but it was way too easy to get everything in the game and max out every job for every character. (seriously it took me 109 hr to get everything possible including all costumes, weapons, skills, summons, and endings)

[chuckles]

I actually adore FFXII and especially FFX. I really appreciated the unique levelling systems, and found myself enthralled by the plotlines.

I haven't played IX or VI though, and since people have been praising them here, I ought to check those out.

Oh I haven't played any of the XIII games either.

Edited September 4, 2014 by chuckles

[Gaunt]

The first and last I ever played was 7 on an emu. I just really, really disliked the combat system in it, that "Active Time Battle" thing. The combination of RPG's "wait until you get to move" and Action's "enemies can hit you all the time" traits was really unappealing to me. If I have to wait to get my turn, why don't foes have to wait until I'm done with it? You shouldn't lose in an RPG because you were too slow. It's an RPG! The first word that comes to mind when you think of "RPG combat systems" is "relaxed" or "slow" (nothing wrong with that, I love RPGs). They tried to make an RPG with action elements, the result of which I didn't like at all. (Even though the mixing genres idea isn't bad, I loved Parasite Eve 1).

That's just my opinion, no war pls.

Then you should try FFX no ATB there (the enemies wait for their turn and everything).

As for me i played only:

FF I, II, III and IV (normal/ok i guess)

FF VII good (but not "the best" like many people are saying)

FF VIII favorite, but this may be because it was my first FF game and the "school" setting (only at the beginning though) that i like, also some characters were good (except Rinoa, i hate her) and the music was great.

FF IX good (better than VII imo)

FF X second favorite, simply loved the plot and most of the characters (not Tidus) also the summons and the music (exceptional)

FF X-2 average (played only to see the damn "true" ending to FFX) the only character i liked was Rikku.

FF XII average (at best) Balthier was ok the rest of the "cast" horrible.

After seeing the reviews for XIII i didn't buy it (same for the sequels) so to conclude the (relatively) good FF games stopped at number X (for me at least) and the situation hasn't changed (for now).

[Commander]

I pretty much played and beaten I-X, except three:

I and II: For NES games, they're pretty good, but the latter's battle system is pretty bad (Chrono Cross redeems it though)

III: I could never finish this one because the final dungeons have no save points and I got a game over. It's a pretty repetitive RPG with a lot of encounters.

IV: pretty good game to start with if you don't mind ATB. I really like this game, but it's far from my favorite.

V: This one is my favorite. The story is not as good, but the character class system is 10x better than III's and bosses are actually challenging. Definitely worth trying if you haven't already.

VI: I'm going to be that guy and say it's my second favorite in terms of story. I only played the GBA version and need to play the SNES version before judging, but it's another one of FF's best.

VII: I tried liking this game. I really tried liking this game, but it's probably my least favorite. The black sheep of the series and I feel it starts off alright, but really derails by the end. The materia system was also more of a pain than actually fun.

VIII: I like a lot about this game. The battle system is good, but man, it can be broken at times (and the final boss can troll you with it). The plot is good, despite a couple WTF moments that felt forced and very unfitting.

IX: This game reflects what FF used to be. I love the classic medieval setting much more than the futuristic making this my second favorite. The game's story is great and really worth the journey.

X: I have both love and hate and more love for this game. The combat is amazing and turn based for those of you turned off by ATB. The story is also pretty good as well. My only complaints are the ultimate weapon quests. You will flip a coffee table trying the Chocobo racing (I raged quit after getting .1 seconds).

As for other series, I'd recommend the Xeno Series (Xenogears/Saga are turn based, Xenoblade was voted best jrpg of last gen) or The Last Story. These games were made by former Square employees and I feel they are all good, though Xenosaga does test a gamer's patience at times.

Edited September 4, 2014 by commander218

[Jelly]

honestly, 4 and 6 are my favorites. 5 is right behind them. they're all really great games, story-wise and gameplay-wise.

[Magus]

I've notice a lot of people really dislike the ATB system in the older ff games, I thought it was really cool, and you can know exactly whose turn was coming up, it was also like that in Chrono Trigger.

[Rawr-Ma-Ama]

I've notice a lot of people really dislike the ATB system in the older ff games, I thought it was really cool, and you can know exactly whose turn was coming up, it was also like that in Chrono Trigger.

^ This ^-^

I really like the ATB system, especially with the enemy-waiting turned off, because it can keep me on my toes from time to time if I don´t level too much because then you have to act quickly and you have to know what you´re doing with like that character whose bar fills up the fastest, so the quickest character or with that one guy who can cast haste ^^

Yeah, it´s like in Chrono Trigger. I love that game

[Nan]

Hmmm.. the only Final Fantasies I have played are I (I should buy the full version, only played the demo on my phone....) III, VII, X, XIII trilogy and the online game XIV..

The first game I played was VII and the first game I completed was X.. I really like the older ones but XIII in my opinion would be great game.. but the battle system is just horrible....

btw if you have 3DS I highly recommend buying Bravely Default, it has the classic turn-based battle system and it's like FFIII, I mean it has a similar job system.

[Eternal Edge]

Okay so let's just say I've played almost every main series game. The only one I didn't was XI because at the time I thought the idea of a Final Fantasy MMO was dumb. (Meanwhile now I constantly play FFXIV).

Let's do this in order of favorite to least favorite.

FFVI:

This game is pure gold, it honestly is. All the characters have SOME point (except maybe Umaro and Gogo lol) and their stories intertwine throughout the entire game, and even deeper if you get the side missions done. Shadow dreams anyone? You should have expectations of this game considering it was the last Final Fantasy title on the SNES, and it meets all of those. The sprites are beautiful and the music is stunning. They wrote a god damn 3 movement opera for this game and a 4 movement final boss fight, both around 15 minutes in length. As for the villain, he literally become an incarnation of God, nearly achieving all of his goals. No other boss has been as sick and sadistic as Kefka.

FFIX:

As was said earlier this game is art. Another "last on the system"game for the series, Final Fantasy IX has a really compelling story and a clever and despicable villain. Some of the character models could have been done better imo but it was still top notch. (Trivia Time: This was actually my first Final Fantasy game.

FFX:

I absolutely love the cutscenes in this game. They're the best out of any Final Fantasy yet. Most specifically the Tidus/Yuna water one (if you've played it you know what I mean). The villain made you literally hate him. He was so cocky and so snide, and the worst part is they let you play as him and make him seem like an alright guy until he shows his true colors. The music is by far among my favorites.

FFXIV

My most recent MMO addiction and it's a ton of fun. It looks beautiful and the music is well done. It's difficult but not too difficult if you can learn the raids.

NOTE: At this point my favorites get less specific.

FFIV:

I enjoyed this one a lot. The character were really interesting.

FFXII:

I saw some complaint about this title earlier, but personally I liked it a lot. I feel like the license system is something you either love or hate and I loved it.

FFVII:

Honestly a large reason of my strong dislike of this game is the fandom. It does drag down the title for me unfortunately. The game itself WAS revolutionary for it's time but it really doesn't hold up. The story was alright. (I should note however that I absolutely adored Crisis Core.)

FFI, FFII, FFIII, FFV:

I kinda group these all together because I wasn't massively impressed by any of them to be quite honest. Honorable mention for FFII for having perma-deaths (until the GBA versions) and giving me legit feels. Play all of these on their GBA or DS releases if you haven't, they're better than original.

FFXIII:

Let me tell you a thing. Having your 2 main characters be absolutely boring to the point where I don't care enough about them to see their development throughout the game is a bad idea. Honestly I wish I could say I like this game, but I can't stand Lightning and Hope. The game looks beautiful, and it has great music. I love the side characters, but they just don't carry Lightning and Hope for me. (Also let me tell you how much I absolutely hate Lightning Returns for taking anything redeeming about Hope and Lightning and removing it completely in order to "make them more efficient". FUCK that noise.)

FFVIII:

Last and certainly least, FFVII. It wasn't well put together imo. You can get the most powerful magic before the first boss and the most powerful weapon before the end of the first disc if you grind enough, and while it does take a lot of grinding to do, I just don't appreciate that. I will say the fact that enemies properly scaled with you was really cool though. It also doesn't look very good and the music is meh at best, with some exceptions.

[Magus]

Well I forgot to ask this, but what's you guyses favorite music in the series, of course there is plenty of good music in all the games, but my absolute favorite track is Dark Messenger, AKA Kuja's theme and boss battle music.

[Gaunt]

For me it would be:

1) To Zanarkand (from FFX)

2) Liberi Fatali (FFVIII)

3) Balamb Garden Theme (FFVIII)

[chuckles]

No love for One-Winged Angel? :3