Final Fantasy

[Cespenar]

Tactics, on the account of having a combat system.

[Blue1005]

You don't actually have to do those dungeons, you know. They're basically irrelevant to the story.. and if you're playing the game for the first time, I'd recommend you don't, actually, because you'll get an experience much closer to the original that way. Doing the bonus dungeons tends to make everything else way too easy, whether it's just because you're overleveled from all the extra fighting you do in them or because your entire party is wearing weapons and armor 1.5x times more powerful than anything that was in the NES edition of the game.

I truly have never gotten through the extra dungeons because they take WAY too much time. But i still suggest the original 8 bit for nostalgia.

[Drasius]

VII introduced me to JRPG's (quite a few years after it was released) and it is still one of my favourite games ever.

X was pretty good IMHO and cops for flak than it deserves for the VA, it wasn't all bad people just take that one scene and point at it while forgetting all the other good bits. The temples can go DIAF though.

X-2 never happened.

I never liked XII, but am currently replaying it since I recently had the urge to play XIII again and liked it far, far more on the 2nd play through. It's not as bad as I remember, but it's certainly not great, and even suggesting that it is good would be a push.

XIII didn't think much of it the 1st time through but eventually gave it another go and really enjoyed it. Fantastic writing for the character though the plot is the same old thing rapidly going from believable to convoluted rubbish that makes little sense. For someone like me who enjoys character driven stories the most, I really like XIII's writing but if they had of just had more Gran Pulse and less railroading, it would have been such a better game.

I would really like to play IX and IV one day when I have the time.

Dissidia & Duodecim, I bought a PSP for this and this alone and have sunk far, far more hours than is reasonable into playing this, >500 hours on duodecim alone and I'm still loving the hell out of it. The idea that I can pit any character against any other at a moments notice and either recreate an epic showdown or simply have some theoretical battles provides for endless entertainment.

[Comet]

My favourite main numbered titles, in order of enjoyment from the greatest downwards:

Ultros
VII
IV
X
XII

What all of these have in common is that they all do something really differently to what had come before. IV was the first to really run with a story and lots of fairytale drama.
VI perfected that with some really great characters and a cool steam and magic aesthetic.
VII had an even more dramatic bent towards the machine-urban aesthetic, especially towards the beginning, and the story rejected medieval drama in favour of attempts at psychology and qabalah and other weirdness. And it still remembered to be fun and crazy unlike some other titles in the series.
X had a really novel tropical atmosphere, with the story encompassing themes of death, religion, authority and father figures in a way that reminds me of medieval times here in Europe, which contrasts nicely with the palm trees and clear blue waters of the environment of the game. Plus a sword made out of water, which I still insist on calling the coolest sword in the series.
XII gave the strongest feeling of the world being an actual place. Lots of background information, NPCs with actual things to say and a vast environment to explore. And the story is pretty interesting, full of intrigue with a surprising lack of a clear evil, even if most of it happens miles away from your party.

Playing Tactics right now. It's pretty great.

[Kobold-Bard]

What is the best final fantasy game and why?

Most people would agree that Tactics is as close as we get to an FF game that is "objectively the best"; the story is coherent and well written, the combat system is excellent and the mechanics in general are great.

However it isn't my favourite, which is what this thread is really about.

For me IX is the one that I can keep replaying forever despite all it's flaws, just because I love everything about it. X is a very close second because again I love the setting and characters, but I don't like systems where people don't have defined job roles and everyone ends up doing everything, like with the sphere grid.

...

X-2 never happened.

...

That's not fair. My dislike of multi-job systems aside it had some of the best combat gameplay in the series. And if you did a 100% run, the story actually wasn't as shallow as it seemed if you just played through the main storyline (though obviously it was far from the best).

[The Succubus]

Ultros, Gilgamesh....FF has some really awesome supporting villains. Some main villans, however, were distinctly lacking. Seymour from FF X, I'm looking at you. Oó

I am a little surprised that nobody's mentioned Chrono Trigger yet (and it's great to see someone appreciates the rather under-rated Vagrant Story as well). I really cannot help but wonder what life would have been like if it had had some full fledged sequels like FF did.

And one day I'd rather like the chance to finish Chrono Cross too.

[Comet]

Ultros, Gilgamesh....FF has some really awesome supporting villains. Some main villans, however, were distinctly lacking. Seymour from FF X, I'm looking at you. Oó

I never thought that Seymour was the main villain in X. In my mind the game had two main antagonistic forces:

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Jecht-Sin and the cult mentality built around death and Yu Yevon (Seymour is a part of the latter, but I don't remember his role being all that important towards the end)

One of them you get to fight head on, the other you practically beat through defeating the first. That's one of the things I found cool about X: the story has changed quite a bit along the way once you get to the end. At first it's all about just defeating this big evil monster and how Yuna is going to be a grand hero. In the end, well, it's still kind of like that but the things you learned along the way make the characters' motivations completely different. And Tidus finally becomes a main character instead of an annoying tag-along.

I agree that Chrono Trigger and Vagrant Story are better than any Final Fantasy I have played. They are not Final Fantasies, though, so I can't call them my favourite Final Fantasies even if I really wanted to.

[KillianHawkeye]

I am a little surprised that nobody's mentioned Chrono Trigger yet (and it's great to see someone appreciates the rather under-rated Vagrant Story as well). I really cannot help but wonder what life would have been like if it had had some full fledged sequels like FF did.

Well, this is a Final Fantasy thread. Chrono Trigger is definitely on most people's short list for best jRPG ever made, and it's made by the same company, but it's not a Final Fantasy. There's plenty of stuff to talk about within the actual Final Fantasy series without getting into CT or Dragon Quest or Secret of Mana or whatever anybody's other favorite RPG series might be.

[Triaxx]

Actually, I have the original NES cartridge of Final Fantasy one. I could never get past the bloody poison dragons to get Masamune to get through the final fight.

The new one mostly saw me side tracked by 'Ooh, shiny' syndrome.

[Gullara]

Okay, my experience in Final Fantasy games is undoubtedly limited by some people's standards, but I certainly have my favorites. So, out of the ones I've played

I and II - Really only touched at these briefly. I'm sure if I'd played them way back when I would have enjoyed them, but I couldn't get into them when I did play them.

III - Ugh, it was really the extreme phoenix down shortage that put me off this game. Otherwise it was merely okay.

IV - Only played a bit of it. I should feel bad since I just got stuck and was promptly distracted by other things. >.> So no real opinion.

X - And here is my favorite Final Fantasy game period. I just loved the story, the characters, the turn based combat system, just everything.

X-2 - Uuuuuuuuuuugh.

XII - Not a bad game by any stretch of the word. It was pretty enjoyable.

XIII - Story was bluh, the characters (especially Lightning) we nothing to write home about, and the game play was annoyingly linear and boring. I managed to get halfway through before quitting out of pure boredom.

Tactics - It's not bad. I tended to do badly though... Not sure if it was too hard or if it was just me. The fact your people permanently died put me off the game eventually.

Tactics Advanced - Loved this game. It's such a shame I could only play it by borrowing it from a friend, but when I did have it I spent so many hours playing it. The combat system is great and it never suffered the previously mentioned downside Tactics had.

Tactics Advanced 2 - Loved it for all the same reasons as the original, and I actually owned this one!

XII: Revenant Wings - The combat system was just impossible to manage with DS controls, so I never got far.

And I'm pretty sure that's everything. X and the Tactics Advanced games were easily my favorites. There is an unfortunately large gap in the games I've played simply because I never had the consoles they were released on.

[Kobold-Bard]

...

Tactics Advanced - Loved this game. It's such a shame I could only play it by borrowing it from a friend, but when I did have it I spent so many hours playing it. The combat system is great and it never suffered the previously mentioned downside Tactics had.

...

I will hate this game until the day I die. I went through it as obsessively as you could possibly do it, ensuring everyone of my main guys learned every ability before moving on, making sure I never failed a mission; resetting and losing significant progress if I did, just to be sure I didn't fail something I couldn't do again.

And then at the very end, after the final boss and all the extra stuff that comes after it, it turned out I couldn't do the very final mission (not even a story-related one, just a random one) because I was missing a black thread that I can't explain not having since I did all the others and never threw a mission item away. So I've never been able to complete it.

[Gullara]

I would agrue that hatred is an extreme reaction, but arguing personal opinion is silly.

I never went for 100% in either Tactics Advanced game myself. As mentioned before I could complete the first one, but I think I only had a handful of missions left in the second one. I still have that save, maybe I should complete it.

[Kobold-Bard]

I would agrue that hatred is an extreme reaction, but arguing personal opinion is silly.

...

I have no doubt that it's an overreaction, but it was just so frustrating to be that careful about it, and still to mess up.

[Gullara]

Ah well, seeing as that 100% completion was your entire goal, I can certainly understand how you felt.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

VI was, by far, my favorite Final Fantasy ever. It had everything you needed.

An absolutely amazing music score, a solid plotline. Uematsu outdid himself on this. Opera Scene. Heck, even the overworld scene is one you'll never forget. Just so much amazing music.

It had a lineup of characters that weren't simply cardboard cutouts, each one had an amazing backstory with depth and their own personal side-quests.

And, just as importantly, if not moreso, it had great villians. Kefka. So much Kefka. Probably the best video game villian EVER. He's like the Heath Leger Joker... with magic. Why does he do what he does? Because he simply wants to watch the world burn. And yanno what? He does it. All the other villians I can recall were thwarted in their plot to take over and/or destroy the world, Kefka did it.

But, not content with that crowning villian, you also meet Ultros, whose Snark Content is Over 9000. He's always got a one-liner for you, and has more lives than tentacles.

Why are they such good villians? Because you just want to pound them into the pavement. Repeatedly. By the time you finally beat Kefka, you're practically throwing your controller town, and sticking your finger in the screen shouting "YEA! Self help book, huh? WHADDYA THINK NOW?!?" Kefka, in particular, is the villian you love to hate. He made it personal, not just as a character, but somehow as a player, he made it your personal vendetta to put the mad dog down once and for all.

IV was also a solid Final Fantasy game. Sure, you had Rosa playing Damsel in Distress half the game, and Kane's consistent Heal Face Turn Revolving Door gets old quickly, but it's quite an enjoyable game. In particular, one of my favorite aspects of the game is the main character, Cecil. He starts out a bad guy. And eventually becomes a Paladin. The character development with him is definitely one of the more endearing traits of this game.

The very first one will always hold a special place in my heart. I remember picking it up for the very first time. The intro music had me hooked, before I even started my first game. It... it's hard to describe to someone who wasn't around back then, but music like that just didn't exist for the NES... until Final Fantasy came out. Faxanadu came close, but the music score from Final Fantasy was simply groundbreaking for its day.

Then FF VII came out. 'Real Gameplay Footage' was 'leaked'. It was the cutscene wherein everyone piles into the three-wheeled truck, and Cloud hops on a Harley-esque bike. And this was touted as game footage. They hyped up the graphics. Then I get the game... what's with all these polygons? I mean, sure... it was actual 3d rendering, which was unique, but... the old sprite-based graphics were much prettier in my opinion.

Okay, so they lied about the 'real gameplay' ware actually 'cutscenes'. Fine, I can deal with that. I mean... compare the graphics with something like Secret of Mana or Chrono Trigger, and you're going to be disappointed, but it's brand new technology, you can't expect it to be pretty.

Character development was... worse. It's like Cecil in reverse... you start off with a solid character, then add Angst and Wangst until he goes and cries in a corner. Then you realize he was never a solid character to begin with, and proceed with more angst. Cloud is probably my least favorite video game character of all time.

As for your 'villian'... Sephie may be eye-candy for the fangirls (and hey, maybe a good chunk of fanboys too), but other than Fanservice, he was a very sub-par villian. He never did anything but Kick the Dog a little bit. His attempt at trumping Kefka by killing off Aerith felt more like an arse-pull, and made you want to quit playing the game, rather than get revenge. There was no build up, no leading into it, just 'trolololol headshot n00b!'. He's also, bar none, the easiest Final Fantasy villian to one-round. Kefka was dangerous. He could one-round kill your whole party if you didn't have Life3. Fallen 1 + S. Cross was a party wiper. Sephie, for all the cool graphics about blowing up planets, had a pathetic attack.

Furthermore, Sephie wasn't even the 'real' villian, he was just a pawn of 'Mother Genova', whom you never actually face. Cop-out, and lame. Makes you feel like the game is only half-finished.

So VII, in my opinion, is on the bottom of the pile.

Then VIII came out. I didn't think they could do worse character development than Cloud. I was proven wrong. Squall was even worse. I got so sick of it that I couldn't bring myself to finish the game. This from the guy who played and finished Final Fantasy America Mystic Quest. At least THAT was mercifully short. Heck, I even finished off VII.

I gave up on Final Fantasy for a while after that. I missed IX completely. But from what I've heard, I'd actually probably have enjoyed it, since it makes in-jokes that goes all the way back to the original.

My buddy finally convinced me to play X, swearing that there were no angsty main characters, or at least the angst was down to manageable levels. So I went ahead and played it. The skill system was convoluted, but once I got the hang of it, I actually enjoyed it. It was kind of like the VI's system of 'theoretically any character can have any skill if you grind it enough', with a bit more sense thrown in about which characters can get which skills easier.

It was certainly a pretty game, and it did have some wonderful music. It even had some entertaining mini-games.

I complained about the rocky and discontinuity start (WTF? How does that even... what, I'm on a where now?), but after the rough start, it played fairly well. I liked the character changeup mechanic, gameplay was nice. Not a bad game. Cute little twist ending.

X-2, however... ugh. Charlie's Angels meets Barbie Plays Dressup in FF-X's setting.

I swore off the series completely after that... atrocity.

So yea, VI, IV, I, and X are my favorites. VII, VIII, and X-2 are all worse than Mystic Quest, which is saying a LOT. I never bothered with anything after X-2's disappointment, so I can't say anything about them.

[Eldonauran]

Played them all, liked them all. Each in their own way.

I'm a big fan of storylines (linear or not), so my rating of the games is weighted towards the later games.

My favorite?

FFX-2

Yes, I guess it is.

[Starwulf]

snip

I'll actually agree with 2/3rds of what you said. You pretty much thoroughly described exactly why I loved FFVI(3 for the SNES in NA), and probably said it better then I could.

I will disagree with the VIII part, but hey, everyone is entitled to their own personal opinion. I loved Squall, he wasn't emo or anything, wasn't even dressed like it, he just shut himself off from his emotions so he couldn't get hurt, or hurt anyone anymore. Loved the Junctioning aspect, loved the storyline, it was all great fun for me.

Played them all, liked them all. Each in their own way.

I'm a big fan of storylines (linear or not), so my rating of the games is weighted towards the later games.

My favorite?

FFX-2

Yes, I guess it is.

Ehh, nothing to be ashamed of. I know a lot of people who greatly enjoyed X-2, especially when they managed a 100% completion. Just because certain people are extremely vocal with their hatred of the game on the internet doesn't make it a bad game. Same goes with VIII, and XII and even XIII. People who dislike/hate a game are always going to be far more vocal in their opinion then the people who enjoyed it, because the people who enjoyed it don't feel the need to go on the internet and start singing it's praises, while those who dislike/hate it do feel that need.

[Blue1005]

Actually, I have the original NES cartridge of Final Fantasy one. I could never get past the bloody poison dragons to get Masamune to get through the final fight.

The new one mostly saw me side tracked by 'Ooh, shiny' syndrome.

Re-release is like geek crack for sure. But if you just persist you can beat it.

[ThiagoMartell]

I agree with you for the most part except the end. Ramza is a total blank slate. We learn almost nothing about him.

Have you played War of the Lions? The new cutscenes add a lot mote depth to Ramza.

I understand why so many people dislike VIII. I enjoyed it fairly well. I really liked the characters - Irvine's introduction is badass. I specially liked how Squall seems like a strong person for everyone, but as a player we can read his thoughts and we know he is just a guy forced to take responsibilities he never wanted. I liked that you don't get money from bats, the quirk about weapon magazines, the mechanics behind limit breaks and the gunblade, the junction system, all that. Then you discover they were all in the same orphanage and that thing about GFs. It really felt bad. I still enjoy the game and have played through it more than once, but that twist did not help.

I think the reason we never got FF6 redone with modern graphics is because no one would ever be able to top that. It would be a game so ridiculously good it would spell the end of the franchise. Every FF game after that would just be 'well, it's cool, but it's not as good as the FF6 remake'.

[Triaxx]

We learn quite a lot about Ramza, even in the PS1 version. He's surprisingly chatty for a Final Fantasy hero. And unlike certain ones, he doesn't complain too much about his hardships. Mostly it's 'yeah, been there done that, here to kick ass and chew bubblegum and we haven't invented bubblegum.'

Besides, anyone who can get away with swaggering into a bar, and ordering milk gets bonus points for me.

Shneeky: Go find FFIX. It deserves to be played. Zidane more than makes up for all the faults of Squall and Cloud. And Garnet makes up for Rinoa completely.

[Kobold-Bard]

I think 8's main problem is that they tried to be subtle and let the player work things out for themselves, but they took it too far and just ended up being deliberately obtuse about certain things.

... Then you discover they were all in the same orphanage and that thing about GFs. It really felt bad. I still enjoy the game and have played through it more than once, but that twist did not help.

...

I always liked the "Cid's Plan" approach to the orphanage, it seemed like it was out of nowhere but it was all Cid's machinations. I can't remember it exactly but it's along the lines of:

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Imagine that you run an orphanage with your wife for victims of the World War against the Sorceress that just ended. You know your wife is a Sorceress too, but she conceals her power and devotes her life to helping children.

Then one day you find out that she was visited by a wicked Sorceress (who's power she took on) from the future who informed her that by doing so she created a time loop where she would build a paramilitary organisation that would one day be needed to stop her from ending reality.

So as one might expect, you panic. You know for an absolute fact that one day you will have to stop your wife from committing omnicide, but how do you do it; all you have to work with is a house by the sea and a load of kids.

So while Edea takes Ellone and the older orphans to form the White SeeD in order to keep them both hidden, Cid goes to the Shumi to seek funding, whilst also ensuring that the remaining younger children end up in his new Gardens.

He chooses the radical and potentially outright dangerous strategy of arming his soldiers with GF in order to inhibit their memories of their childhood, so that when the time came they could fight their Mistress, and manipulates their careers so that they end up fighting together so that their lingering but forgotten sentiment for one another will bring them safely to Ultimecia.

[Traab]

My absolute favorites are 6 and 9. I liked 7 a LOT, but the big fail point for me is the sheer level of cinematics in the early story, and that freaking half hour of wasted time doing flashbacks in calm after you first escape midgar. God I hated having to play through that crap every time I started over. I actually started saving a game right after that point was over just so I could start up a new game and skip past that part when it was time. I also really enjoyed those games where we had to defend the mountain and buy troops and such. That was a lot of fun.

But my favorites are 6 and 9. 9 was just freaking GORGEOUS. It had beautiful scenery, amazing cutscenes, and they didnt drag on so long that I got bored and annoyed like I did in ff7. Combined with all the secret stuff and semi hidden events like choosing which scenes to watch in order to see something special happen to one of the other party members, and it was just a ton of fun. I loved the skills, I loved the characters, I loved the whole ability gem thing, I loved all of it. My main complaint was with the waste of cash cheat book. It would give you a general overview of everything, then tell you to go online for details. What the *&^%*(&^ was THAT all about? Just tell me where the freaking astrology sign is hidden in this city and get it over with! Dont tell me to go online to find out after I wasted 20 bucks on this huge book that takes 5 pages to tell me to go online.

6 I loved because it was just so huge. There was so much to see and do, it brought back my castle wolfenstein reflexes of checking along every wall for secret passages, because yeah, there are going to be secret passages everywhere. The world was massive, the monsters unique, the characters all awesome and with interesting skills. I loved the magic system, and how to teach everyone the spells they would need. (all of them, they need all of them. lol) The story was epic, the bad guys were either hilarious, or awesomely evil. I also loved it for one of the reasons I love most ff games. The secret level up spots. First was narshe river and the endless loop. I had one of those turbo controllers. Tape down the right button and go do something for the rest of the day. Come back 8 hours later and you are 40 levels higher and can waltz through the rest of the game with those guys. And of course, dino forest. Get that exp egg and have everyone at 99 in fairly short order.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

6 I loved because it was just so huge. There was so much to see and do, it brought back my castle wolfenstein reflexes of checking along every wall for secret passages, because yeah, there are going to be secret passages everywhere. The world was massive, the monsters unique, the characters all awesome and with interesting skills. I loved the magic system, and how to teach everyone the spells they would need. (all of them, they need all of them. lol) The story was epic, the bad guys were either hilarious, or awesomely evil. I also loved it for one of the reasons I love most ff games. The secret level up spots. First was narshe river and the endless loop. I had one of those turbo controllers. Tape down the right button and go do something for the rest of the day. Come back 8 hours later and you are 40 levels higher and can waltz through the rest of the game with those guys. And of course, dino forest. Get that exp egg and have everyone at 99 in fairly short order.

Don't forget Intangir... 10 spell points a fight, and it's trivial to blow him away with magic because he starts off Invisible. Not to mention that it's one of Gau's more powerful forms (assuming you aren't pulling a Wind God Gau or similar trick)

[Winthur]

Final Fantasy 4. Cecil is my personal hero of sorts, I've grown to like him that much. Plus the moon.

Other than that I've only beaten FF1 so I don't have much in terms of choice yet.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

Final Fantasy 4. Cecil is my personal hero of sorts, I've grown to like him that much. Plus the moon.

Other than that I've only beaten FF1 so I don't have much in terms of choice yet.

If you liked 1 and 4, you'd probably like 6. Go pick up a copy of Final Fantasy: Anthology for the Playstation. You won't regret it.

[Triaxx]

6, 9, and 12 seem to have been the best games, because they occurred at the points in the life cycles of the consoles when the makers had been able to find all the ways to push the systems to their absolute limits. 9 had long load times for the fights, for no reason other than because it was using all the power the Playstation could put out. The shout outs and callbacks to all the other games were just icing on the cake.

[tyckspoon]

Don't forget Intangir... 10 spell points a fight, and it's trivial to blow him away with magic because he starts off Invisible. Not to mention that it's one of Gau's more powerful forms (assuming you aren't pulling a Wind God Gau or similar trick)

Wasn't that one of the ones that would tend to bug out the game? Or maybe that was just if you tried to Sketch the thing.. there was a lot of weirdness that happened when you made the game try to render invisible sprites.

[Eldonauran]

Ehh, nothing to be ashamed of. I know a lot of people who greatly enjoyed X-2, especially when they managed a 100% completion. Just because certain people are extremely vocal with their hatred of the game on the internet doesn't make it a bad game. Same goes with VIII, and XII and even XIII. People who dislike/hate a game are always going to be far more vocal in their opinion then the people who enjoyed it, because the people who enjoyed it don't feel the need to go on the internet and start singing it's praises, while those who dislike/hate it do feel that need.

Shame? What is this 'shame' you speak of?

I merely have a hard time picking between any of the final fantasy games from 6+ that I like more than the rest. Only reason why I choose X-2 is because I really enjoyed playing that game. Also, because it was the first with an actual 'sequel', it extended the story-part of the games that I love so much.

Its like picking from several different authors and choosing the guy that wrote more books.

[Xefas]

Granted, I haven't played 12 or 13, so there's that. But from what I've played, as games, I'm going to say Tactics. Say what you will about the plot and character development of other games - I played FF7 when I was seven years old and it blew my mind, of course, and I'll never forget it - but, as games, most Final Fantasy games are horrendous. They're tedious and repetitive with few, if any, meaningful decisions, and often a difficulty curve that curves downward.

Tactics is a reasonably challenging game, with a relatively robust combat system, and aside from a few weirdly unintuitive mechanics here and there, is solid. More solid than any other Final Fantasy.

Coming in second, I think, is FFX-2. I've never been able to finish it because, at some point, one more vapid, squealing, regurgitation from Rikku's face was going to end me. But the combat system, I thought, showed promise. Switching jobs on the fly, and the sphere grid mechanic, were cool. I'd like to see that kind of thing again, iterated a little bit, in a game with characters that I find bearable to watch for the duration.

[Lord Raziere]

VII is my favorite. What can I say? I like the classics.

I've played 1-3, but….they aren't my favorites.

I've played Tactics and eh…..never got that far on it. too hard.