To those who have played all or most F.Fantasy games...

ID2006

ID2006

CAGiversary!
I just finished Final Fantasy VII (from PSN) for the first time. The only other FF game I've completed is FF6 (whose story and characters I enjoyed a bit more).

Now I'm interested in playing the other games I've missed over the years, for which I'll do a little research and choose the best versions; however, I'm not really a big fan of turn-based gameplay.

What kept me going through FF7 was the story. I wanted to know what happened. On the other hand, Persona 3 failed to keep me interested, even though I got pretty far; I haven't been back to it since.


Getting to the point, aside from obvious exceptions like the online game or goofy spinoffs, what order would you put the different Final Fantasy stories (not gameplay) in (worst to greatest)?

Are there any that you wouldn't waste time on?
 
Excluding 6 & 7 which you've played...

1-3 you can pretty much ignore if you want stories. FF8 is my favorite largely for it's story. 10 has it's haters but the story in that game was really great and full of symbolism. It's ending is kind of unexpected, too.

4 feels cliched by today's standards, but that's because it helped invent a lot of the cliches that have become standard. For it's time it was fantastic, and the DS remake fleshes the story and dialogue out a slight bit.

5's story is rather cookie-cutter, and the job system takes all the personality out of the characters... one of the least memorable IMO.

9's story felt a little empty at 1st, but has some very entertaining characters, a lot of personality, and gets very interesting towards the end. I haven't finished 12, but I was enjoying pretty much everything about it when I was playing it.
 
1 is a classic and worth a play no matter what, imo
Didn't really enjoy 2 much. Bizarre leveling system was so awkward i NEVER really figured it out.
Played through half of 3 and got bored
4 is spectacular...definitely a must-play
never played 5
6 is my favorite of the bunch. Just great on all levels
7 you've already done
8 was okay. Graphics are horribly dated, though. I tried replaying recently and couldn't bear it.
never played 9
10 is awesome.
11 is pay-to-play, so i didn't
12 was great, imo, but VERY different and had a pretty weak story
 
FFVI is my favorite.

FF 1 definitely, but get ready for a trip back in time.
Then there's 10, which gets a bad rep, but liked it as well.
12 bleh.

Of the FF spin-offs and what not definitely check out Final Fantasy Tactics.

And whatever you do make sure to skip Final Fantasy VIII.
 
My order is FF 10 or 9, then give 12 and 8 a try. Eight wasn't that bad, but I hated the draw system. If you missed out on a magic spell or summon and didn't realize it then it was back to a prior save.
 
F1-3: Don't bother
4: Fantastic
5: Played it for a bit but lost interest
6: Awful
7: You already played it
8: Love story, so, bad
9: Great
10: Solid
11: PTP
12: Great
 
have only played the 3d ones but as far as story goes:

8: fairly confusing (for me) double story going on. liked the world setting and the events that happen in the story are good, but the good individual parts didn't come together to make a good overall story.

9: decent tale of a band of thieves who kidnap a princess. again, many memorable moments and good happenings, but it didn't come together as well as it could/should have. better than 8 to be sure, and likeable characters.

10: probably my favorite in terms of story. this time, a few parts are goofy or awkward but they all come together to form a complete and coherent story. not sure why this one gets hated on so much.

12: it has a solid story that focuses on politics a lot, but the problem is the gameplay effects the story too much. at least in my case when I was playing, I would often be focused on getting a certain item or building up chains of enemies for such a long time that when I finally got back to doing the actual story advancing stuff, I had forgotten why I was in that situation. the long breaks you encounter due to the game's mechanics make it very easy to lose you place in the story.

you may enjoy 12 more though, as it is not really turn based. instead you wait for an action bar to fill up as you are free to run around and dodge and then move in to attack without going into a separate battle screen. kind of like MMO combat.

so for the 3D ones,

1. 10
2. 9
3. 12
4. 8
 
12 was one of the worst ones i played. the story was had too much political focus and no character development. however, the battle system was good. the only flaw of the battle system was that magic is not necessary if you have decent items. you can win with physical attacks most of the time.
 
It really is hard to say, I like the earlier versions prior to 7 a lot more than 8-12. You can take most of them with you now via a portable system. I like the GBA versions personally since they kept it generally the same.

My favorites are FF7, FFIV, and FFVI.
 
Final Fantasy games:

I - Where it all began. Doesn't pull any punches (hard) and buying multiple items is infuriating.
II - Like others have said, the level system is just too weird.
III - Not bad just nothing stands out.
IV - I've played this more times than I can count. A true classic and worth the time.
V - Tons of fun with the job system. Story only so-so.
VI - Best. FF. Ever! From story to battle system to music. This is FF perfection!!!
VII - Proof Jesus died in vain. Hang your head in shame for playing it!
VIII - Gets a bad rap for dumb reasons. Wasn't emo like VII so people hated it. One of the best stories though.
IX - Great game that unfortunately falls apart a bit at the end. Pseudo-retro.
X - Another game that sometimes gets a bad rap. I really enjoyed it though.
XI - This game is like crack and has taken up more of my life than any other. ><
XII - Overall not bad but the lack of direct control of all characters is annoying.
 
I've always liked 8 and legends 1 and 3 (blue label) for the old gameboy (wich ever one was the green label was really the first Mana game) 7 just dragged on and on IMO. never played the pay-to-play one, crystal chronicals was horrible
 
[quote name='johnnypark']Excluding 6 & 7 which you've played...

FF8 is my favorite largely for it's story. [/QUOTE]

[quote name='Nogib']
VIII - Gets a bad rap for dumb reasons. Wasn't emo like VII so people hated it. One of the best stories though.
[/QUOTE]

[quote name='Shadows916']I've always liked 8 [/QUOTE]

Love you guys!

Hell yeah FFVIII! \\:D/
 
1-was fun
2-too weird
3-bland
4-confused me, but still good
5-job system was very large
6-never played
7-I liked
8-never got around to playing it
9-never played it
10-first ff i ever played, awesome
11- Blech
12-You might like since its not really turn based
 
I like FFVI way more than any other game in the series and FFVII was probably the 2nd best FF. I would say you already played the two best games in the FF series so I don't think you should expect much from the rest of the games but there are a few other good ones.

These are definitely worth playing (from highest to lowest recommendation):
1. Final Fantasy IV (DS version if possible) - Great story and a great game all around.
2. Final Fantasy I (FF Origins version) - It's kinda lame by today's standard but it's a game worth playing, just to see what the series started as. Plus, there's an easy mode in the FF Origins versions... the actual game is fucking hard.
3. Final Fantasy IX - Classic gameplay with some epic story elements.
4. Final Fantasy XII - It's a huge game with lots of things to do even if the story/characters are hollow. And the game just drags on and on after the first 20 or so hours, with dungeons which get progressively longer and more boring.

These are passable but worth a try:
1. Final Fantasy V - It has its moments but not a lot going for it other than the job system.
2. Final Fantasy VIII - It's got some pretty cool parts but overall, it's a kinda of a flamboyant game.
3. Final Fantasy X - Cool combat system but way too easy and the story sucked.

These are just plain bad (from bad to worse):
1. Final Fantasy III (DS) - since this is the first time the real FF3 came stateside and it was a remake, I guess I was expecting a bit more but it's just a mediocre game from start to finish.
2. Final Fantasy II - Honestly, the only thing wrong with the game is the unbelievably stupid leveling system.
3. Final Fantasy X-2 - It's not really a FF game, by any standard... it's more like a Britney Spears game.

The only FF game that I've never played is FFXI since it's an MMORPG so I can't comment on it.

But I would highly recommend Final Fantasy Tactics over any of these games. It's not an RPG, it's a SRPG but it's easily the best SRPG I ever played. I would say it's my 3rd most favorite FF game... maybe even 2nd most favorite but definitely not better than VI.
 
FF10 seems ideal for you, the story drives the adventure.

FF4 is also another solid choice, probably the 2nd best storyline after FF6, however while it's a good story it tends to get lost in the level grinding and pointless side adventures.

FF8 might be worth a look if you enjoy both of those, the story is certainly strange but overall I found it enjoyable.

FF1,2,3,5,9,12 I would avoid, the stories tend to be either crap or more of a backdrop to 40+ hours of turn based combat.
 
I also loved 10. It's one of my favorite games I've played. So, I think that would be worth playing.

Graphically, FFVIII has fallen off over the years (graphical powerhouse in its day), but that shouldn't bother you since you just played VII. VIII has an evellent story as well.

12 is a little less story driven. Also gets more difficult at the end, so I didn't finish it. Good game (though below the other 2), and worth playing.

If you enjoy X, might be worth looking into X-2. It's a true sequal, and has a very different feel to a final fantasy end of the world theme. It's also has a 12 year old girl feel to it, but fun if you can get past that.

So, I would try either X or VIII next.
 
I definitely recommend the original Final Fantasy if you have means to play it. The PSP version is my favorite by far but the GBA remakes are pretty good as well. The remakes are easier than the original NES version.

I'd also recommend you hit up VIII as well. It's a pretty decent story although the repeated summon animations get boring after a while. If you think you'll have trouble with sitting through the animations use a guide to level your characters so that you won't need the summons.
 
[quote name='cochesecochese']I definitely recommend the original Final Fantasy if you have means to play it. The PSP version is my favorite by far but the GBA remakes are pretty good as well. The remakes are easier than the original NES version.

I'd also recommend you hit up VIII as well. It's a pretty decent story although the repeated summon animations get boring after a while. If you think you'll have trouble with sitting through the animations use a guide to level your characters so that you won't need the summons.[/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure that FF8 was the first FF game to let you skip those animations.
 
As others have said definately play FFX.

1 - It is good to run through
2 - never play
3 - stopped playing the DS version after an hour
4 - My favorite of the series and the game that really threw me into RPGs
5 - Fun job system and nice music but story is nonexistant
6 - It looks like you played the best one first. Technically the "best" FF game and really nice character development, music, etc
7 - It was a fun game to play through and if the story can hold your attention there are a lot of non-ff games out there that you will love.
8 - never finished it for some reason. Played less than 10 hours in.
9 - not bad to play through but the story is little uninteresting
10 - you should really like this one - so play it
12 - only FF game I stopped playing because I could not stomach it any longer


and for non-FF games CHECK OUT XENOGEARS
 
[quote name='Moxio']GFs were so bad I just stopped using them entirely.[/QUOTE]
they were good until you discovered how to abuse limit breaks.
 
[quote name='Vinny']I'm pretty sure that FF8 was the first FF game to let you skip those animations.[/QUOTE]
Guhhhh? I thought they were unskippable. I'm going to feel like a complete ass if I played through that whole game (the first time) without skipping animations when I easily could have.
 
i think ff10 was the first where they were skippable. ff8 had the system where you can tap X to increase the strength. i'm not sure about ff9 because i kinda don't remember it and i can never motivate myself to play it again.

oh yeah i should probably give my opinion. in terms of story, excluding 6 and 7,

10-4-8-9-12

then 5-2-3-1

the first row being the stories i'd actually care about, the second one, not really.

in terms of gameplay and what I would play:

10-4-8 (tied, 4 is the SNES/GBA version. the DS version makes it seem silly.)
3 (NES, not the DS which is harder and grindier for whatever stupid reason)
1
12
9
5
2
 
my ranking from best to worst:

IV - best combination of story, characters, and gameplay mechanics - the one FF I've replayed more than any other
VII - most popular for a reason and a cast of memorable characters
X - I felt it was quite a solid game and loved most of the characters, even if the storyline was a little hokey
VI - storyline was good, but too many characters and they were all casting Ultima for me by the end of the game
IX - kind of a weird storyline but the gameplay mechanics were classic FF style after the uproar that came from FFVIII
I - classic that is still good
VIII - very polarizing game - you either love it or hate it. I lean more towards the hate it camp, maybe because i didn't like the gameplay mechanics nor the characters.
XII - interestin MMORPG style single player, but the storyline and character development was very weak so I stopped caring
V - interesting job system, but storyline wasn't too great
III - the DS remake helps, but it's too antiquated and frustatingly difficult
II - forgettable
XI - MMORPG (forgettable)
 
Based on what you put out there about liking VI and VII but not being a huge fan of turn-based I would recommend X or XII as your next play. The reason why is while X does use a turn-based attack system, you can swap characters during the fight and the level progression system was novel and fun. I personally enjoyed the story of X, which could be cheesy at times due to some questionable voice-acting to go along with some basic story-writing but the overall piece was very good and even a bit emotional like VI. XII will give you a good story in the evolving world of Ivalice which has been the base for the Final Fantasy Tactics game and Vagrant Story. It's also a real-time battle system which you may want to check out.

As for the other FF's, they all have their charms. FF1 is a very short, basic story but has the total series roots. FF2 has a bizarre leveling system, but a good story premise which is similar to VI. etc etc. There's plenty of info already in this thread on the other games.

Try out FFX.
 
The only problem I had with VIII is how abusable the junction system is early on, if you make curagas out of tents you can have 4000hp before you even get to timber.


Otherwise it was probably my favorite ps1 rpg, although admittedly I still need to play through IX fully.
 
[quote name='espionage']III - the DS remake helps, but it's too antiquated and frustatingly difficult[/QUOTE]
the remake DOES NOT help. it is wayyyy worse than the original NES version.

in the remake i was all excited and i take my monk out only to find out that he does crappy damage. why? because his skill level isn't high enough.

what?
in the original, skill level hardly matters. you can just jump straight into all the dungeons. especially helpful against certain bosses when you need to change everyone's class to, say, blackmage or dragoon. they also balanced the endgame classes so that ninja / sage isn't broken anymore.
 
[quote name='kainzero']the remake DOES NOT help. it is wayyyy worse than the original NES version.

in the remake i was all excited and i take my monk out only to find out that he does crappy damage. why? because his skill level isn't high enough.

what?
in the original, skill level hardly matters. you can just jump straight into all the dungeons. especially helpful against certain bosses when you need to change everyone's class to, say, blackmage or dragoon. they also balanced the endgame classes so that ninja / sage isn't broken anymore.[/QUOTE]

i guess what i meant to say was that it helps in making it more accessible to us western gamers. i never got a chance to play the original on the famicom, so i have nothing to compare the ds version to. all i know is, i didn't enjoy ffiii on the ds much at all.

nice profile image btw - onizuka is full of win.
 
Which one is FFIII for SNES? Was that FFVI? That's the best one (out of the ones I've played) although it's been years since I've played it.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Which one is FFIII for SNES? Was that FFVI? That's the best one (out of the ones I've played) although it's been years since I've played it.[/QUOTE]

SNES = Actual number
FF 2 = FF 4
FF 3 = FF 6

Reason being is the original FF 2, 3, and 5 weren't released in NA until much later and they didn't want to confuse people back then. Then when Square released FF VII back in 98 it led to all the confusion among casual players. I didn't know about it until I discovered the internet in 97/98.
 
IX > VIII

Its entire system is a lot simpler and works a lot better. Not to mention it's not absolutely retarded and abstract like VIII's.

Huh? @ extracting "Fires" from monsters. #-o
 
Final Fantasy has changed a lot. You're in a funny place, having played VI and VII first... then again, so are many others.

That said, stories, in best to worst:

FFVI
FFIV
FFXII
FFVII
FFIX
FFX
FFV
FFVIII
FFX-2

In my opinion, of course.

That doesn't tell the whole story by a long shot, though--not all FF games are built alike. For example, XII is damaged goods. It doesn't play like any other RPG, and the story is lopsided due to development issues--greatness mixed with turd. FFX-2 is fanfiction developed into a game.

FF, FFII and FFIII aren't there because you can hardly call what they have a story--more like a series of random events that keeps you fighting bosses, loosely strung together into a weak narrative. That said, FF is still worth trying out, because it's the basis of the design of II-V.

If I were you, I'd try IV and VIII, and you'll start to really see how the storytelling and style split ways at the FFVI crossroads. RPGs are heavily about personal preference, and reviews and advice often tell you nothing. You're really going to have to experiment.

If you like story, though, you should try FF Tactics, and Vagrant Story, if you can wrap your brain around the game's system.
 
8 - Shitty battle system because of the Gambits, but has a good story
9 - I really don't remember much, but I really liked it for being more fantasy based
10 - Awesome all around
12 - The story sucked big time, but good battle system
 
Note: Somewhat long post ahead. I tend to get sidetracked.

:bouncy:Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I've been reading the posts and am surprised to see such a wide range of opinion.:bouncy:

I'm the kind of person who likes to save the best for last, which is ironic since a lot of the greatest RPG stories were released at least 10 years ago. Nowadays, I'll take a good game story when I can get one.

I think I've played through nearly every good SNES RPG, though there may be some really obscure ones that I've never tried. I had meant to play the GBA version of FF4 (with a supposedly improved translation) at one point a few years ago but never got around to it, with school/work and all.


So far my playlist is like this:
1. FF4 (GBA)
2. FF8 (I'll try to hold out a while for a PSN release, now that Square has opened that door)
3. FF9 (Same with this one)
4. FF Tactics (I've read that the PSP version has some slowdown issues, so I'm not sure which version to spring for.)
5. FFX

Based on response, I probably won't invest time/money into FF12, despite its fast paced battles.


Here, I start to get just a bit off topic.

Anyway, a couple posts got me thinking. I more or less missed out on the PS1 and PS2, being a kid with no job the first time around and a major Smash Bros. fan the second time. Both of these systems are now open to me. I haven't tried much on the DS or PSP, either, although I do have Crisis Core and KH on my list.

In other words, I'd like to hear more recommendations of additional RPGs unrelated to Final Fantasy (or even Square).


One last thing about Final Fantasy VII (minor spoilers?):

What do people mean when they say FF7 is emo. Nobody dyed their hair black, acted like they wanted to die, or constantly wallowed in self pity. Aside from questionable senses of fashion, their attitudes seemed more-or-less reasonable, given the circumstances. Is there some more accepted definition of "emo"?

Would anyone care to explain a bit?


Once again, thanks. :) Especially to anyone who actually reads this long post.
 
[quote name='ID2006']Anyway, a couple posts got me thinking. I more or less missed out on the PS1 and PS2, being a kid with no job the first time around and a major Smash Bros. fan the second time. Both of these systems are now open to me. I haven't tried much on the DS or PSP, either, although I do have Crisis Core and KH on my list.

One last thing about Final Fantasy VII (minor spoilers?)

What do people mean when they say FF7 is emo. Nobody dyed their hair black, acted like they wanted to die, or constantly wallowed in self pity. Aside from questionable senses of fashion, their attitudes seemed more-or-less reasonable, given the circumstances. Is there some more accepted definition of "emo"?

Would anyone care to explain a bit?[/QUOTE]
Dunno about the whole FF7= emo thing either. If anything, I would consider FF8 to be closer to "emo" then the others.

Looking at my rack of PS2 games rpgs that were decent: Kingdom Hearts, Xenosaga, Star Ocean, .hack series.

I don't think any of those had particularly good stories though with the possible exception of Kingdom Hearts and that is highly debatable.
 
As an avid final fantasy fan since the first for the nes (since december 87?) I will tell you that final fantasy VII is weak, one of the worst in the series.

That said, you need to play IV, (you already played VI) XI and X. skip VIII, XI and XII and along with V, I, II, and III.

When you are done with IV, you can go onto the Wii and download FF IV the years after and play that too.

Have fun, long live the snes final fantasys (and chrono trigger and secret of mana)
 
Cloud is very depressed and borderline schizophrenic. Somehow this ended up as being "emo".

Definitely check out Xenogears (PS1 game). It is about the same age as FF7 - so the graphics are a little more than fuzzy but well worth it. It is also long and a run-through will take 60 hours. This is still my favorite RPG and has been for what... 10 years? I think this was also placed on the PSN. This would be the game to save for last.

as for FFtactics I would play the PSP version. I liked the new translation and it has a few additional story battles. I don't really remember any slowdown or that it was a big deal at all. It is an SRPG so there is no action that would be affected anyway.
 
for other squaresoft games, I'd recommend Vagrant Story. Probably the best Squaresoft PS1 game I've ever played, although it can be a bit complicated if you're not old enough to appreciate it.
 
Sounds like a good playlist, except I'd probably play Tactics and FFIV concurrently.

On the versions of FFIV, I feel the GBA is the best way to play the classic version. I've actually been playing that cart on a DS Lite recently, because it's easy to pick up and drop at a moment's notice.

On an interesting note (at least to me) the SNES version (aka Final Fantasy II), is not really that much easier than "regular" FFIV (Super Famicom/GBA). But it is simpler, dumbed-down, a bit harder than FFIV Easytype. Yang's Kick is a good example--in FFIV, it's only used in certain situations, because it takes so long to charge and only knocks out weak mobs. But in FFII, the damage is so good you want it every round. In FFII, Palom and Porom rely on "Twin" for damage. In FFIV, choosing "Bluff" with Palom and then casting Fira/Blizzara/Thundara does so much damage, it's criminal. So in FFII, you often resort to power-leveling, instead of strategy, to beat a hard boss. It really takes a lot of the soul out of the game.

For a non-FF RPG on PS1/2, I am going to repeat myself and recommend Vagrant Story by a long shot. The story, characters and art direction are beyond that of most any other RPG, but the system can be very, very frustrating. I recommend forcing yourself to play it up to, say, Snowfly Forest. If you're still pulling your hair out by then, give up.

I also enjoyed Breath of Fire IV, but it's a pretty long game, with a lot of side quests and party management, making it easy to lose interest in. But it weaves an interesting, very different story.

Xenogears is like FFXII--ambitious project, full of gaps that are filled in with less-ambitious putty. Lots to like, lots to hate.

Nothing else has ever really held my short attention span. I know a lot of people that like the "Tales of" series, though, but I can't get past its cutesy atmosphere.
 
I can't stand to read these topics because people's opinions of this series vary so drastically and you end up seeing people trash the games you loved and praise the ones you thought were meh, but for story, play 8 and 10.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top