Fave Final Fantasy games?

Curious as to everyones favorite Final fantasy titles, and moreover, why?

Mine in descending order would be;

FF7 - mostly everything that has been said about this game. The plot was adult, made sense, and truly felt like a grand fantasy and adventure. The characters are written to the point where I truly feel for them and bond with them and their struggles. I love this game

FF4 - While a simplistic plot, story of a man facing and changing himself really hits home to me. Also the music really gets me. Favorite music in all of SNES

FF1 - This game to me feels like a true adventure. I never tire of the PS1 remake. I love to play this game with friends. Creating a new party everytime and naming the characters after each other. The gameplay and ability to choose your own party at the outset pairs well with a plot that while generic, is good in that regard. Many times, to me, a well made basic quest feels more epic than a half assed high-brow attempt at a plot.

FF11 - So many amazing memories online and helpful friends made. To me this feels like 1 just more fleshed out and modernized. Also the constant references to other games in the series made me feel like I was on a journey all culminating in something grand. Soemthing many other MMOs fail to obtain. Felt like it had its own lineage if that makes sense.

I've never finished an FF game.

Final Fantasy 3/6 is not only the best Final Fantasy game, but the best RPG ever IMO, with the only possible challenger being Chrono Trigger.

The VII games and the XIII series for me. Story preferences aside, I just really enjoy the combat in these games.

The materia system in VII and the fighting game-style battle mechanics (parries and cancels!!) of Lightning Returns always make me revisit these games in particular.

I have played 1-8, and determined on 8 that I don’t care for 3D Gd.

So anyhow
1) FFIV
The battle system in this game really shines, especially in the newer versions where you can get the skills of fallen comrades. Some of these create very powerful options for your core team. The world system with sub-terrain, earth, and moon was good. Love the score especially for the moon. Mostly I enjoy trying to complete this one.

2) FFVI
Could be first place, but I prefer the story with a smaller core group and all the deaths of team members in FFIV. Amano’s designs and Uematsu’s score are top quality. The world here felt epic and so was the disaster from Kefka. One neg was that Square didn’t get in front of the Shadow dream rumor early and let me waste a lot of time trying to figure out it was fake.

3) FFII
The remake of this game did it a lot of justice, letting us enjoy Amano’s artwork. Good system overall.

4) FFV
For a while this was my number 1, but playing all the FF games over the past few years again has changed my opinion. It’s a great game. But the art is not great. Maybe it was a factor of the time. It didn’t have the same weight as Amano’s watercolor fantasies.

5) FFIII
This is basically FFV but less girth. Still worth playing.

6) Final Fantasy
It’s kind of boring compared to rest.

For me, my absolute favorite is IX. Besides the random final boss and the god awful card game, it has probably the best character development of the pre-PS2 final fantasy games.

I enjoyed VI, great game and fantastic premise. An underrated gem is V, it has its flaws like the absurdity of the final boss, but the job system was great.

VII I felt was good for it's time, but until the remake drops, it's hard to have someone who has played any RPG after 2007 to get into this one. The story is convoluted and marred by translation issues, and the graphics were pretty meh even at the time it released.

X is a good beginners final fantasy, stream lined and focused. The combat is great as is the sphere grid.

All of the other ones, I played and they just don't have the same spark as V, VI, IX, and X. They're all great (minus II) and worth a play, but those are my favorites.

Evil Wasabi said:

I have played 1-8, and determined on 8 that I don’t care for 3D Gd.

So anyhow
1) FFIV
The battle system in this game really shines, especially in the newer versions where you can get the skills of fallen comrades. Some of these create very powerful options for your core team. The world system with sub-terrain, earth, and moon was good. Love the score especially for the moon. Mostly I enjoy trying to complete this one.

2) FFVI
Could be first place, but I prefer the story with a smaller core group and all the deaths of team members in FFIV. Amano’s designs and Uematsu’s score are top quality. The world here felt epic and so was the disaster from Kefka. One neg was that Square didn’t get in front of the Shadow dream rumor early and let me waste a lot of time trying to figure out it was fake.

3) FFII
The remake of this game did it a lot of justice, letting us enjoy Amano’s artwork. Good system overall.

4) FFV
For a while this was my number 1, but playing all the FF games over the past few years again has changed my opinion. It’s a great game. But the art is not great. Maybe it was a factor of the time. It didn’t have the same weight as Amano’s watercolor fantasies.

5) FFIII
This is basically FFV but less girth. Still worth playing.

6) Final Fantasy
It’s kind of boring compared to rest.

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Interesting...

Here's my take:

FFI (NES)- loved it when new...it has not aged well. There's some better (and fixed) version of this game that have come out since that have corrected a ton of issues.

FFII and III (NES/Famicom)- I tried these later when they came out on the PS1, but couldn't get into them.

FFII/IV (SNES)- Possibly still my favorite. The SNES one is fine, but I think the remake on the GBA (2D remake) is much better and more refined.

FFV (Famicom)- Where I did play this one through translated on the PS1 and GBA...it's still not my favorite. The job system is not my favorite (although I loved it on Tactics)

FFIII/VI (SNES)- This is still an amazing title...possibly not as god-like as people make it out to be, but it is really solid

FFVII- I loved VII when it was new...now it hasn't aged well. I wish Square would stop being faggots and just remake the damn game. It looks like they might actually be doing this, but like I've said for decades...I'll believe it when I see it.

FFVIII- Tried to like this game but just couldn't stand it, never completed it.

FFIX- Never played.

FFX- I loved this game when it was new...loved the grid sphere leveling system as well. I know people do not like the voice acting, but it didn't spoil an otherwise amazing game for me.

That's basically where I stopped with FF titles. I did try the PS3 one...possibly 13? I don't know, it was boring and on rails, I only played it for a very short time.

lachlan said:

I've never finished an FF game.

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Ditto, quit playing any RPG for a week and come back and think, "Well shit I forgot where I'm supposed to go next".

Not VIII. I had relatively fond memories of playing it when it first came out, then started the remaster on XB1 a week or so ago. The Junction system is so much more annoying than I remembered it, it's just bad.

I like the combat in XIII, and the I like the story a lot more than most people probably do.

The combat in XV is good, and the main antagonist is cool, but everything else in that game is not so good.

XII is consistently overlooked I think mostly due to when it released and also because its plot is so focused on politics at the expense of strong characters, but it holds up really well.

III/VI is objectively the "best" game in the series, but my personal favorite would be XIII.

jro said:

Not VIII. I had relatively fond memories of playing it when it first came out, then started the remaster on XB1 a week or so ago. The Junction system is so much more annoying than I remembered it, it's just bad.

I like the combat in XIII, and the I like the story a lot more than most people probably do.

The combat in XV is good, and the main antagonist is cool, but everything else in that game is not so good.

XII is consistently overlooked I think mostly due to when it released and also because its plot is so focused on politics at the expense of strong characters, but it holds up really well.

III/VI is objectively the "best" game in the series, but my personal favorite would be XIII.

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Yeah, I think "best" is completely subjective. IV, VI, VII, and X are all my favorites. I like them all for various and differing reasons so its hard to pick one over the others.

Never bothered with the MMOs but every numbered entry after IX is fucking horrible.

Best:
VI
VII
IV
V
II

If you enjoy FF X or XIII, go fuck yourself.

famicommander said:

Never bothered with the MMOs but every numbered entry after IX is fucking horrible.

Best:
VI
VII
IV
V
II

If you enjoy FF X or XIII, go fuck yourself.

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You have cool picks!

Man I know Im in the minority but VI bored me to tears. It feels long and drawn out to be long and drawn out. Ive started and restarted it about 4 times amd I camt even get halfway through it. V is by far my least favorite, I feel that game is actually objectively bad.

VII I can defend as objectively a phenomenal game. I believe it holds up incredibly well. I played it with my GF last year who had never played a FF game before and she absolutely loved it and she mostly plays modern stuff.

Interesting you have II up there! Everything Ive read on the story interests me. Ive tried playing through it though and that grind game is real. Still, unlike VI for me theres something about it where Id be willing to try and push through that to keep playing.

X could have been so cool, and yet the autism of the main character is so great that it tanks that entire game for me. XIII... jesus I feel you on this. Ive just statted playing it amd I am TRYING to like it, and actively failing. Its just... awful from a gameplay perspective. Its more on rails that Zelda Skyward Sword was... and the combat is god awful. However having two sequels I really want to try to experience them by playing this first and its tough man... really tough.

X is horrible all the way through.

You put on a half shirt and capris and walk down hallways for 20 hours. That's it.

Also there's a retarded minigame with the lightning shit.

IV was the first I tried, and I immediately decided Final Fantasy was my new favorite game and RPGs my favorite game genre. But by the time the next FF game made it to the US, I was already completely over that feeling. In fact, I think Vagrant Story and Ocarina of Time were the only post-SNES RPGs of any kind that I enjoyed enough to complete.

By the middle of the PS1 generation, everything I had liked about RPGs could be done better in other genres with less grinding and no turn-taking.

famicommander said:

X is horrible all the way through.

You put on a half shirt and capris and walk down hallways for 20 hours. That's it.

Also there's a retarded minigame with the lightning shit.

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X?

Funny enough, I really enjoyed the game. I'll admit that it is kinda on rails until you get the airship.

The downs were that absurd sport (can't recall the name of it, it's like swimming + lacrosse...at least that pretty much is an option which you can avoid), the cloister of trials stuff....and the voice acting. Besides that, I found the combat system to be perfectly fine and love the grid sphere.

I never played X-2...I heard it was absolutely horrid.

1. Final Fantasy X: Carl Jung Final Fantasy is the best Final Fantasy. I liked the leveling system a lot too. The environments were fantastic.
2. Final Fantasy VII: It was mind-blowing at the time, and I think it holds up. I like the characters, the world, and the materia system. I wish the story was a little clearer.
3. Final Fantasy VI: Great story, great mechanics, etc.
5. Final Fantasy XIII: Combat was fantastic and the story was great. My only complain is that most of the characters sucked.
6. Final Fantasy IV: Nice and simple, but visually impressive. Loved exploring the caves and the moon.
7. Final Fantasy I: I think this has aged pretty well, TBH.

Never beat: II, III, V, VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIV, or XV. I will probably play V next.

I've played all of them up through 10 (tried starting XII a couple of times and usually quit after about 10-15 hours... shit was boring).

6 - FF6 and Chrono Trigger were when the genre peaked for me. Everything after that was a steady downhill slide. Perfect balance of light-heartedness and melodrama, likable characters with relatable problems and character flaws, relatively simple systems that don't get in the way, terrific music. Yeah... can't be beat.

4 - A charming, simple story with a shoddy translation in a few places but for some reason, I've always thought of 4/2 as the best example of what Final Fantasy is, warts and all.

9 - The best of the 3D ones by far. Great music, likable characters that aren't morose, sullen bores and a simple set of systems. The antagonist is bland and the load times were bad (for the time) but I was just grateful to have a Final Fantasy game that didn't actively insult my intelligence.

7 - Great game marred by a TERRIBLE translation and a look that was groundbreaking upon release but was almost immediately laughably dated (most early 3D suffers from it). Curious to try the remake provided I can either turn the voices off or have a Japanese dialogue option. Not because "durr-hurr Japan master race" but for the reasons stated below.

5 - Solid mechanics, fairly rote story with cardboard characters.

3 - Best of the Famicom games but that's not saying a whole lot. This is about the cut-off of what I consider decent Final Fantasy games.

10 - Voice acting killed Final Fantasy because it brought with it the (not-so) stunning realization that the majority of the dialogue in Final Fantasy games is either embarrassing or completely inane (particularly post-7). I enjoy the mechanics for 10 but Tidus's obnoxious voice and Meg Ryan hair are among the multitude of reasons I never finished another FF game. Replayed this a while back with the Japanese voice acting and it was much more tolerable but I think that was because the words aren't as embarrassing when spoken in a language I only barely understand. Edit: I've heard X-2 has a fun iteration of the job system but I wasn't interested in another minute of FFX's characters... particularly after that opening cutscene.

1 - Tough to go back to but I had fun when it came out. Very Wizardry-ish.

8 - Main character is an insufferable twat, the love interest is a personality vacuum (both of which are important when you're playing what is obstensibly a 40-hour "love story"), the mechanics are largely designed to waste the player's time, the game's color palette is dull and brown and the infamous basketball court scene is one of the most embarrassing, hamfisted exposition dumps in a series known for them. 8 will forever be the pivot point where Final Fantasy went from charming fantasy romp to overwrought and embarrassingly melodramatic to me.

2 - BAAAAAAAAAD. I gather the remakes made significant changes that improve it but the original Famicom version is god-awful.

Well, that killed half an hour on a boring Friday at work.

100proof said:

4 - A charming, simple story with a shoddy translation in a few places but for some reason, I've always thought of 4/2 as the best example of what Final Fantasy is, warts and all.

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I have the fan-hack 10th ann edition of IV and it's far superior to the SNES version, I played that one through a few months back and it is extremely well done. I still feel the GBA version is the best, they updated the 2D graphics wonderfully. I agree...IV feels the most "final fantasy" of all of them, not sure why.

100proof said:

7 - Great game marred by a TERRIBLE translation and a look that was groundbreaking upon release but was almost immediately laughably dated (most early 3D suffers from it). Curious to try the remake provided I can either turn the voices off or have a Japanese dialogue option. Not because "durr-hurr Japan master race" but for the reasons stated below.

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7 has aged terribly. The Resident Evil 2'esq hand drawn graphics part is fine...but the 3D elements are just miserable, it hasn't aged well at all. Because of this the plot scenes and all the battles are horrid looking. I tried playing it again a few years back and gave up on it.

100proof said:

5 - Solid mechanics, fairly rote story with cardboard characters.

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5 always felt like some sort of experiment to me, I think that's why it never saw a US release on the SNES. Its completely job focused, the plot is paper thin and the entire game was a swing in the wrong direction compared to IV.

100proof said:

Well, that killed half an hour on a boring Friday at work.

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Its been a fun trip down memory lane...I was quite the FF fanboy back in the day.

I just played FFVII again. It looks like ass but it plays fine still. Not choppy, battle system is still great, lots of stuff to do. Great soundtrack.

famicommander said:

I just played FFVII again. It looks like ass but it plays fine still. Not choppy, battle system is still great, lots of stuff to do. Great soundtrack.

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I'm really crossing my fingers that the supposed spring 2020 re-re-re-re-remake of VII will be well done, I'd love to play that game again.

GohanX said:

Final Fantasy 3/6

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Agreed ff6 is where its at.

1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, and 12 are my favorites in the main series.

Theatrhythm: Curtain Call and Explorers on 3DS are my favorite spinoffs.

Honorable mention to Adventure and Legend 1/2/3 on the original Gameboy, even though they're really Seiken Densetsu and SaGa games.

6 is the best, my favourite game for a long time but let’s be honest, it hasn’t aged all that well. Feels like an early sandbox game now.

Well, at least this thread didn't start as some other Final Fantasy related topic and then descend into the axiom that every FF topic must.

As for me:

IV (including The After Years)
VI
VII
XIV: ARR (although I don't play anymore)
I
XI (haven't played in years)

After that, I really don't have any particular affection for the other games in the series but acknowledge its impact on the medium.

Theatrhythm = love