You should play V. IMO, the job system in V is the best job system they’ve ever used in a single player game.
I might as well jump on the favorite FF bandwagon.
FFIV was my favorite. Granted I was younger (12 or 13) when I played it as FFII. I plan on picking up FFIV advanced so we’ll see how it holds up.
FFIX is next on the list. People get hung up on the art style and the fact that Zidane had a tail - and honestly that’s some serious not seeing the forest for the trees type stuff. It had a great plot, awesome set pieces, memorable characters, and was just all around great.
FFIX suffers in peoples minds for a few reasons. First, there’s the bizarre prejudice against the art style - I had the same thing going too when I picked it up but it took about an hour to get over it - and then it actually becomes downright endearing because the art fits the game brilliantly. I’d go as far as to say that the art style in FFIX matches the game better than any other Final Fantasy game, period.
The other reason people don’t like FFIX is twofold, I think. First off, it was the followup to FFVIII, which was probably the worst modern Final Fantasy game. Second, FFVII brought an enormous amount of people into the Final Fantasy series who had never played it before - consequently they thought that Final Fantasy was all about angsty heroes angsting about angst in a sci-fi type setting.
After FFIX we have FFVI. It was a great game, memorable characters. It suffers in my mind on a few fronts. First off, as pointed out - Kefka was just a weak villian. Too goofy and silly. Second, it began the slow slide into pure sci-fi that Final Fantasy has taken, much to its detriment.
Then probably Final Fantasy X. It’s a good game, even very good - but others have pointed out its flaws. The whole love story isn’t terribly believable and there’s honestly no chemistry written between Tidus and Yuna. Coincidentally, the two main characters aren’t very likeable. Tidus is a whiny little prat throughout most of the game, and Yuna is simply an insipid child. Wakka and Lulu were both infinitely superior to these two.
Then I’d guess we have Final Fantasy VII. I loved this when it first came out - I was dazzled by the graphics and holy crap awesome cutscenes and what seemed like a detailed storyline with lots of intrigue and then omfg Aeris gets killed and then…
And then I realized that the characters were stupid, the storyline was incomprehensible, and after leaving Midgar the game basically boiled down to level up for 20 hours and then go beat Sephiroth.
A the bottom of the heap? Final Fantasy VII. Terrible art style, a plot that manages to be as incomprehensible and ridiculous as that of Final Fantasy VII without at least managing to be somewhat interesting. The main character was hideously unlikeable, and again there was no chemistry written between him and the romantic interest. Unlike Final Fantasy X, it didn’t have some strong supporting characters to prop it up (Zell or whatever his name is? puh-leze).
I haven’t played any of the others. Well that’s not true - I played the original way back when, but it almost doesn’t count; it’s an entirely different game. FFV sounds amazing and I’d love to play it when (if) it comes stateside on a portable.
What surprised me most about FFIX was just how well integrated the NPC’s and environments were put into the adventure. Zidane’s little theatre troupe almost extended into a second party, and the personality and care put into their writing and narrative went above and beyond almost any of the other installments. Also, the mobs you face had many subtle goofball touches, such as humorous death and attack animations that are far more varied than the previous installments.
The only real knock I have against FFIX is that the antagonist is pretty forgettable(I can’t even remember much about Kuja other than the name and his feminine looks), oh and the sluggish loading in and out of combat. Fantastic entrant in the series, and possibly the most polished and well presented FF game in the past decade.
3d FFs suck, is my rule of thumb. Works great, but hopefully the DS one will break my rule.
I Rate the Final Fantasy Series
Episode X
Episode IX
Episode X
Episode LX
Episode VX
Episode XX
Episode I
Episode I
Episode CX
Episode K
Kuja is actually supposed to be female. For some reason, her gender was changed without changing anything else during translation.
Figures.
When I played through the game I just mentally changed all pronouns referring to Kuja to be feminine. Made it much better.
Kuja is actually supposed to be female. For some reason, her gender was changed without changing anything else during translation.[/quote]
Wow. Is there an official reason for the localization gender swap? Far too irrational to be merely a goof.
I’m with Jeffd on the comments about FFIX. That’s my very favourite, but then also because I LOVED the world and the art style and I prefer so much more Square-ish fantasy and funny settings than ansty, serious sci-fi mixed with fantasy.
My second favourite is FFVI. I like how the situation always change. It’s one of the more dynamic and the story hooks you wonderfully. The only problems are those Jeffd pointed out, a too silly villain and the slide into sci-fi.
Then it would be hard to make a list. I love the port of the first two chapters on the GBA. They are extremely simple but the graphic is lovely and the musics kick ass. I also bet that the third redone on the DS will be great.
I still only saw the beginning of FFX (again too serious and realistic compared to what I really like in the series) and I like a lot what I saw in its sequel. I would even dare to put FFX-2 ahead of the X, then FFVII and the following one.
I still only saw the beginning of FFX (again too serious and realistic
Impossible
Come on, Ben, you know we all deal with that Final Fantasy stuff every day. I have a bitch of a time keeping moogles off my lawn.
Realistic as character design, style of the world etc…
FFVIII, X and X-2 are more pop culture than fantasy, imho.
You should check out the original NES version of the first one. IIRC, they changed a lot of things for the remake to make it significantly easier.
Kuja is actually supposed to be female. For some reason, her gender was changed without changing anything else during translation.[/quote]
…believe it or not that actually makes some things make a lot more sense.
Except for the 3D-character-running-over-CGI ending scene. I still wonder what they were thinking with that one.
I’ll agree with an earlier poster and call FFIX ‘charming’. The characters have a Warner Brothers feel to them - not in the visual sense, but much more than in FFVII and FFVIII I feel like I’m seeing an ‘ensemble cast’ that could be ripped out of the setting, dropped someplace else, and tell a different story while still being themselves.
Unfortunately, the impression I get is really tough to describe, so that probably doesn’t make any sense.
–GF