Which Final Fantasy should I play

4,6,7 (in no particular order)

I've played and beat almost all of them except 11 (which I will never do) and 12 (which I will do later this year) but those three above are my favorites.

I didn't really enjoy 8 or 9 (decent in their own right but just not what I enjoyed) and I was rather disappointed by 10 and recommend staying away, but I know some will vehemently disagree with me.
 
[quote name='blackjaw']4,6,7 (in no particular order)

I've played and beat almost all of them except 11 (which I will never do) and 12 (which I will do later this year) but those three above are my favorites.

I didn't really enjoy 8 or 9 (decent in their own right but just not what I enjoyed) and I was rather disappointed by 10 and recommend staying away, but I know some will vehemently disagree with me.[/quote]



Not looking to flame just curious what you didnt like about FFX?

I started the series with VII and was blown away. I am not Emo as some would suggest or anything like that. I bought VIII with great anticipation and was thoroughly disappointed. I didn't even finish it. i bought IX and liked it but still was left wanting more. Then X came out. I absolutely loved that game, it rekindled my love for the franchise. I skipped XI and once again awaited XII. It was a good game, not VII or X, but good. Once my characters could kill almost anything without me even having to push a button it got kind of stale. The story was def less epic than i expected though.

FF tatics is now my new hobby with War of the Lion on its way to my house now. :bouncy:
 
[quote name='Shizim']Not looking to flame just curious what you didnt like about FFX?

[/QUOTE]

Sphere Board, the lack of "real" weapons/armor, no real exploring to do (ie. linear), Tidus being a wuss, the story always annoyed me (probably more so Tidus than anything..haha), etc etc.

I had it pre-ordered and beat it on my first play through and have tried to pick it back up to play it again to see if things changed, but just never got around to it. It was just too different and linear and just never really got me excited (which it should have as it was the first FF on the PS2 and I waited so long for it).

Like I said, I know people that count this in their top 5 and are willing to literally die for this game, so I understand why people like it, but it just wasn't for me.
 
I started playing FFVII........ I'm about 7 hours in right now and I figure it might take me a while since I'm only able to invest about 1 hour a day on it.
 
I'm also in the 7 is overrated group. I like what it did for RPGs in general but I didn't really dig the combat. I liked 8, 9, 10, and 12. I still haven't played any of the older ones before 7 and I doubt I'll ever get to them. I tried to get into 3 but it's hard to go back to old school RPGs after playing 10 and 12.
 
I've gamed for over 20 years, and I still don't think I've played anything as epic or amazing as FFVII. The term "overrated" is used way too liberally nowadays IMO.
 
[quote name='Ryukahn']I've gamed for over 20 years, and I still don't think I've played anything as epic or amazing as FFVII. The term "overrated" is used way too liberally nowadays IMO.[/QUOTE]

I'm right there with you bro.
 
I'm going to have to say play them in order. I have my preferences, but I think you would just get more out of it because you see how the series progressed or digressed depending on your point of view.

The real question that comes to my mind is what systems to play them on now I suppose...but that is another story.
 
I probably shouldn't say over-rated then. I think some of us just realize that FFVII was just the first in a long line of great Final Fantasies on Sony platforms. It was a perfect storm of graphics, story, and playability that made (and still make) it a fan favorite. It was the first RPG with big cinematic cut scenes. FFVII is responsible for the eventual "moviefying" of the RPG. It culminated in PS2 RPGs becoming movies intersped with occasional combat. FFX and Xenosaga are the main culprits in this. I like FFX more than VII for the sole purpose that they added a new dynamic in the combat that I hadn't seen before. The ability to swap out party members DURING combat blew my mind and opened up strategical possibilities not possible in other RPGs. Yeah, Tidus is a little bitch but Cloud's no Dirty Harry either. The cutscenes border on the ridiculous but the sweet combat always brought me back for more. In VII's defense, it did have an awesome cast of diverse characters.
 
[quote name='"loonknight"']I'm going to have to say play them in order. I have my preferences, but I think you would just get more out of it because you see how the series progressed or digressed depending on your point of view.

The real question that comes to my mind is what systems to play them on now I suppose...but that is another story.[/quote]
i agree.
except for 2. 2 sucks and is a big time drain with no fun gameplay elements about it.

you play 1 first, you appreciate the gameplay and exploration more, and you get to play with the class system. i'd probably recommend the psx version though i haven't played it. the gba version is just too broken and easy.

then you play 3. i'd prefer the original 3 over the DS one if only because i hear all sorts of bad comments about the DS and the grinding. original 3 you get a better grasp of class changing and strategy over 1, and again, a more classic feel with a focus on gameplay and exploration instead of the modern RPG's focus on story.

speaking of story, you move on to 4 and it kinda bridges that gap between exploration and story. first rpg i can remember that focused on story so much. i think it's probably the only final fantasy with a traditional levelling system too...

then you go to 5 which has a story but feels more like 3. i don't like this one as much.

6 has multiple characters with stories for each. less depth than 4, more breadth and the first of square's many original levelling systems, this one with espers.

7 is the landmark 3D game
8 makes the graphics in 7 look like crap and really emphasizes square's direction in making more cinematic games

i don't consider 11
and then with 12 you get a very modern fighting system.

if you progress through them you really get to see the changes made over the years. i always hated how people would say "ohh, ff1 has no story." well, duh. it's supposed to be fun to explore the world and see where you gotta go, fight your way through dungeons, and collect treasure. it's like everyone's so focused on story in an RPG that they forget the times when people used to put themselves in the videogame and feel like they were battling in the dungeons to conquer evil, not so that billy can save jimmy's girlfriend from the church's betrayal or something like that.
 
Let's say that you tried X and didn't like it, and that is the only FF game you've (very partially) played. Should I try another FF game or should I just play something else? X was incredibly slow. After 5 hours (yes, that's about all I played), I was still waiting for it to get fun. It just felt like busy work. I suspect these games just aren't for me, but everybody raves about them so I keep thinking I must be missing something.
 
Man I wish I could find my FF 7 after reading this thread, I miss that game so much... I never beat it either, was @ the last part :(

still got the game save tho...
 
[quote name='crunchewy']Let's say that you tried X and didn't like it, and that is the only FF game you've (very partially) played. Should I try another FF game or should I just play something else? X was incredibly slow. After 5 hours (yes, that's about all I played), I was still waiting for it to get fun. It just felt like busy work. I suspect these games just aren't for me, but everybody raves about them so I keep thinking I must be missing something.[/quote]

I thought X was decent. You may be right in that the games just aren't for you, but personally I would give VI (A.K.A. III) and/or VII a try. As others have stated there's also Tactics if you want a bit of a different look.
 
FFIV is one of my favorites, especially when I get to the moon!
FFVI is also a favorite for the vast amount of playable characters
FFVIII for the story, and Quistis... one hot teacher! :whistle2:o
FFXII is an awesome game, and I love how 'open' everything is though the story isn't as strong as previous FF's

Although FFVII is a great game, it's a tad bit overrated considering the story kinda doesn't make sense to me... I like the Materia system and the characters though. :)

I have FF (PSP), FFV & FFX, but I still haven't played them yet, and I still need to buy FFII and FFIX... I'm skipping FFXI. ;)

I'll play FFIII after I buy and finish FFIV DS. :D

Finally, I know I'm going to get flamed for this, but I DID enjoy Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest when I first played it many years ago... It was the game that introduced me into the FF universe!
 
[quote name='ThickRing']I thought X was decent. You may be right in that the games just aren't for you, but personally I would give VI (A.K.A. III) and/or VII a try. As others have stated there's also Tactics if you want a bit of a different look.[/QUOTE]

I'll take your advice and try to track down a copy of VI. Of course it will end up on the backlog....

EDIT: Oh, are you saying that FF VI is the same as Final Fantasy III for DS? If so I guess I'll try to get a copy of the DS version. Or... should I get Final Fantasy VI GBA? Which version is best?
 
[quote name='crunchewy']I'll take your advice and try to track down a copy of VI. Of course it will end up on the backlog....

EDIT: Oh, are you saying that FF VI is the same as Final Fantasy III for DS? If so I guess I'll try to get a copy of the DS version. Or... should I get Final Fantasy VI GBA? Which version is best?[/quote]

No. Final Fantasy III (DS) is really the third game in the series. It was never released here. Final Fantasy III for the SNES is really Final Fantasy VI. If you want to play VI, you have three different options. You can play the hardcore version on the SNES. Many say it has the hardest difficulty. You can pick up Final Fantasy Anthology on the PlayStation or you should be able to easily find a copy of Final Fantasy VI Advance for the GBA.

Final Fantasy I for the SNES is the original. Final Fantasy II and III on the SNES are really IV and VI respectively.

When VII dropped, everyone went huh? It was actually the seventh game in the series but we all thought it was gonna be IV over here. I guess they thought we would be pissed if were missing out on sequels that the Japanese were enjoying.

Square eventually released Origins (I and II together), Chronicles (IV and the SNES classic Choro Trigger together), and Anthology (V and VI together) which finally gave us every Final Fantasy except for III. This marked the first time II and V ever came to the US.

Square also released all the early Final Fantasies on the Gameboy but they had a little ace in the hole. They were remaking III for the DS with all the news bells and whistles.

That's how we got to where we are today. The only other confusion or debate about the numbering system came with XI. Some people got a little perturbed byt the fact that an MMO got a proper letter.
 
I'm currently about half-way through FF3 and as others have said, it's a total fucking grindfest.

Interesting note, I think FF1 is my favorite for its simple game play and story.
 
[quote name='badramen']

Interesting note, I think FF1 is my favorite for its simple game play and story.[/quote]

A good friend of mine also said that. It's hard to argue with starting with the first.
 
ff3 on ds was a bit of a grind, but I didn't mind it that bad. Spent a few hours grinding levels, then plowed through the rest of the game almost 1 shotting everything.
 
i played FF3 for the NES, not the DS and i don't recall grinding at all...

is it really that bad on the DS version?
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Play them all. I can't recommend XII enough, and I'm in the middle of VI on GBA right now; it starts a bit slow, but the esper system is well done, and the storyline very good (dare I say that Kefka becomes a more despicable villain that the too-oft-lauded Sephiroth?).[/quote]

Kefka has infinitely more personality than any other FF villian ever. That was one of FFXII's weakest areas. The main bad guy was made to be just as androgynous as Sephiroth, however, they removed all the interesting qualities like the dementia and genocidal rage. He was just an effeminate boy-girl looking for power. How mundane. Of course, the cardboard standees they substituted for characters were the largest complaint leveled against the latest entry.

FFI- Abysmal. I missed it when it first came out and picked up the PSP remake. I can say the years have not been kind. You get 4 characters of zero depth that all level up on set paths. They engage on a forgettable quest to save the earth from X. The game pretty much just throws in on a massive world with your only direction being "find Y Village!" At several points in the game it tells you should go to a location without even suggesting a direction to look in. You pretty much just have to wander the whole world until you find the right place. It's a task that grows ever more tedious the more places you find as there is no form of world map to help you remember locations. The random encounters really don't help matters much either.

FFII- I'm about 5 hours in on the PSP remake and I really like it. Theres a story this time and the characters have more than just a name! I like how the traditional leveling system was done away with and replaced with a progression system that lets you make any character anything you want. Every character can use any weapon or spell and gets better with it the more they use it.

I haven't played 3 or 4 and I only vaguely recall parts of 5.

FFVI- Better in every fashion than FFVII, even graphically now that early 3d is so dated in appearance. The characters all have rich backgrounds and meaningful interactions. The story starts out as your typical save the world fare, but in a pleasant twist, you actually fail for once.

FFVII- A mediocre story of love and betrayal that became the poster-child for the endless possibilities of FMVs on a CD medium and started Square's dark descent into the realm of eyecandy whoring. The materia system was great, but honestly, I never want to see Kights of the Round ever again.

FFVIII- The magic draw system will have you wishing to slit your wrists.

FFIX- On the whole, a fairly forgettable ordeal. All I can really remember is Zidane was a monkey with big hands and Ultima Weapon was to the SE of a small island to the NW.

FFX- This entry is all about Daddy issues and pedophilia. As someone that hates sports, I actually found myself playing quite a lot of the Blitzball side game. The monster area, while tiresome to unlock, was rather challenging and quite enjoyable. Which reminds me, I still haven't beaten Nemesis...

FFX2- Please god, make the J-Pop estrogen fest go away. The ability to change jobs on the fly was interesting, but the whole super-sweet, in-your-face girl power fueled "story" made the game hard to finish.

FFXI- While being an MMORPG it's still one of my favorites of the series. The battles were epic, the characters involved were you and your friends and there was a thriving sense of community and involvement. Unfortunately, all of that fell to the way side if you relied on pick up groups, in which case, you'd wind up spending 4 hours in town looking for a group only to make one kill and have someone go eat supper. Even still, with the right group, the game is the best in the series.

FFXII- As I said before, weak character and a been there done that story line. However, the gambit system makes real time battles with 3-4 characters effortless. It magically removed the tedium of X-X-X-X-X for random encounters but still managed to keep boss battles engaging even if you didn't have to touch your controller. This game is all about the elite marks, monsters that eat ruby weapons for breakfast and shit out emeralds.
 
[quote name='chodax']I don't see why every one is so negative about VIII[/QUOTE]

Drawing
Junction System
Triple Triad

I never played it, so i shouldnt be talking. Im a sucker for love stories, but the common opinion seems to settle on "needlessly complicated, repetitive, and complex"

Sure, RPGs are repetitive, but i saw this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiToL55zwRI

and i got the message.

If more games were similar to FF6, really, im sold.
I hear FF7 was similar to 6, so yea, i bet thats great. (as far as JRPGs go)

I dont know, but im not compelled to play FF8 concidering there are better in the genre.
 
[quote name='ihavenolife123']Drawing
Junction System
Triple Triad

I never played it, so i shouldnt be talking. Im a sucker for love stories, but the common opinion seems to settle on "needlessly complicated, repetitive, and complex"

Sure, RPGs are repetitive, but i saw this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiToL55zwRI

and i got the message.

If more games were similar to FF6, really, im sold.
I hear FF7 was similar to 6, so yea, i bet thats great. (as far as JRPGs go)

I dont know, but im not compelled to play FF8 concidering there are better in the genre.[/quote]
there are ways around it. you just gotta be smart.
i purposely left my characters in yellow health to spam limit breaks.

i played triple triad to get cards, then converted those cards to magic so that i either don't have to draw, or get access to stronger spells earlier. enemies also drop items that you can convert to spells. also, when drawing, you want to junction a high level spell on your magic stat to draw 9 at a time.

lastly, you don't even need any of that crap to beat the game. i beat it the first time around and i didn't even understand the junction / draw system or how to play triple triad. i just used draw, took a couple of spells i really liked, and went from there. it only really matters if you wanna power up to beat everything into oblivion, and drawing / triple triad is just as bad as grinding random battles where you just spam the attack button.
 
[quote name='depascal22']A good friend of mine also said that. It's hard to argue with starting with the first.[/QUOTE]
Since the Final Fantasies aren't connected (other than X & X-2), there is no need to play them in order. I say start with the best entry and work down to the worst.

First, if someone is starting out now, what are the chances they will get through all those games before giving up in boredom and moving on to something else.

Secondly, the Final Fantasy games do share a certain style and after a while you do get the sense of deja vu about a lot of things. Someone who has played FF I-IX will find X just more of the same, while someone starting out at X will find it fresh and exciting.

I started out with X and thought it was great. Then tried VII and was severely underwhelmed. I don't think it has aged well at all. XII was very good. X-2 was good, but you just have to be in the mood for that sort of game. I tried FFI just for fun and found it waaaay too old school.
 
:lol:

[quote name='ihavenolife123']Drawing
Junction System
Triple Triad

I never played it, so i shouldnt be talking. Im a sucker for love stories, but the common opinion seems to settle on "needlessly complicated, repetitive, and complex"

Sure, RPGs are repetitive, but i saw this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CiToL55zwRI

and i got the message.

If more games were similar to FF6, really, im sold.
I hear FF7 was similar to 6, so yea, i bet thats great. (as far as JRPGs go)

I dont know, but im not compelled to play FF8 concidering there are better in the genre.[/quote]
 
[quote name='oremites']Since the Final Fantasies aren't connected (other than X & X-2), there is no need to play them in order. I say start with the best entry and work down to the worst.

First, if someone is starting out now, what are the chances they will get through all those games before giving up in boredom and moving on to something else.

Secondly, the Final Fantasy games do share a certain style and after a while you do get the sense of deja vu about a lot of things. Someone who has played FF I-IX will find X just more of the same, while someone starting out at X will find it fresh and exciting.

I started out with X and thought it was great. Then tried VII and was severely underwhelmed. I don't think it has aged well at all. XII was very good. X-2 was good, but you just have to be in the mood for that sort of game. I tried FFI just for fun and found it waaaay too old school.[/quote]

I didn't say they were all connected. I'm just saying you might as well go back to the beginning to see how it all started and then go from there.
 
[quote name='depascal22']I didn't say they were all connected. I'm just saying you might as well go back to the beginning to see how it all started and then go from there.[/QUOTE]
Sorry if I gave that impression. I wasn't saying that you said that.

I'm just saying that not all Final Fantasies are created equal. Why waste time on the weaker entries (which include FF I and II) when there are better ones to play. I personally think that the chances are slim that someone starting now would get through all the FF games.
 
[quote name='oremites']Sorry if I gave that impression. I wasn't saying that you said that.

I'm just saying that not all Final Fantasies are created equal. Why waste time on the weaker entries (which include FF I and II) when there are better ones to play. I personally think that the chances are slim that someone starting now would get through all the FF games.[/quote]

Yeah but if he picks a couple games to play it might be good to get one of the lesser ones out of the way early. I'm not saying beat the whole thing but try it out for a couple hours and then play some later ones to see the evolution of the series.
 
[quote name='thelonepig']IV and VI are on the top of my list. They should take you about 30 hours a piece.[/quote]

IV and VI are the greatest in the series, my favorite being VI.
 
I'm not a huge FF fan, but I like the newer ones a bit.

I know it isn't the popular choice, but FFX was really the first one that I loved through and through. The music, the art, puzzles(although sometimes annoying), strategic battles, the pacing, and everything flowed so well for an RPG. Maybe it's the nonFF fan's favorite FF?

Wait...what am I saying, I am an FF fan, just a different type!

My second favorite is FF8. I really like the unpopular FFs....I guess I just have an odd taste for the FF series.
 
[quote name='leveskikesko']I'm not a huge FF fan, but I like the newer ones a bit.

I know it isn't the popular choice, but FFX was really the first one that I loved through and through. The music, the art, puzzles(although sometimes annoying), strategic battles, the pacing, and everything flowed so well for an RPG. Maybe it's the nonFF fan's favorite FF?

Wait...what am I saying, I am an FF fan, just a different type!

My second favorite is FF8. I really like the unpopular FFs....I guess I just have an odd taste for the FF series.[/quote]

It's all just personal taste. My ranking is IV, VI, VIII, XII, I, X, VII, IX, V, and II (that's 4, 6, 8, 12, 1, 10, 7, 9, 5, 2). I have not played III or XI, so I can't comment there.
 
I would have to say to be fair to yourself just give them all a shot, and try to go in order as someone had said previously. It does really give you a sense of how their methods progressed with their approach to the games.

My first one was FF3 on the SNES (or FFVI now). I remember buying a PS1 solely for FFVII, then after playing it went through a bit of a hatred for the game because of how over-rated it had become. Many I had talked to acted like there was no other FF game that came before it. But now I find myself in a period where I am warming back up to it.

I have XII but haven't opened it yet, but I hear all good things so I am looking forward to that one once I am done with the Metal Gear series.
 
[quote name='mykevermin']Play them all. I can't recommend XII enough, and I'm in the middle of VI on GBA right now; it starts a bit slow, but the esper system is well done, and the storyline very good (dare I say that Kefka becomes a more despicable villain that the too-oft-lauded Sephiroth?).[/QUOTE]

i didn't know that was even a thang.

Kefka > Sephiroth since day one. ..

reasons: (don't open if you haven't played VI. )

the man straight up ganks a whole castle, kills his boss, kills terra's only love interest, AND shoots laser beams out of the sky just for the sake of it.

that my friends, is cash money.
 
[quote name='Sleepkyng']i didn't know that was even a thang.

Kefka > Sephiroth since day one. ..

reasons: (don't open if you haven't played VI. )

the man straight up ganks a whole castle, kills his boss, kills terra's only love interest, AND shoots laser beams out of the sky just for the sake of it.

that my friends, is cash money.
[/QUOTE]

couldnt agree more. fuck VII
 
sephiroth = mama's boy

kefka reminds me of Joker, just sheer insanity and mayhem
no logic to his actions

I like ff7

but ff6>ff7
 
[quote name='bostonfrontier']I trying to decided how I should tackle playing my backlog of Final Fantasy games....

Any advice on which on I should play first... I have all the games and have only beaten IX and X

Thoughts?

Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy II
Final fantasy III
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XII[/quote]

play them all in order. That way you can see the evolution of the series. Then play XII to watch it all go down the drain.
 
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