Favorite Final Fantasy

[kenjiharima]

FF7 tops my list
FF6 seconds
FF5 thirds place.

Chrono Trigger is the best though imho.

[DragoonKain3]

After playing FF12:International Zodiac Job System, the difference between my #2 and my #1 just multiplied tenfold.

[ZGoten]

^Final Fantasy XII is really amazing and one of the most underrated games I know. Many people dislike it for its battle system and characters. But I love it. In fact, let me try and quote Garnett Lee's perfect review of the game, because I love quoting reviews:

"They always had this, you know, strong protagonist, who was young and comming to terms with a number of emotional issues and that sort of thing. In this case, although you might look at Vaan and say 'wow, he looks very similar to that', the story is much more a global political intrigue. It's a more sofisticated story. It's the kind of story you'd see in a big production epic movie. And for some people that's been a turn-off, because they've got accostumed to Final Fantasy. It doesn't fit their ideal of what that is. And for others it's exciting, because no longer are you just strapped to whether or not you love or hate the primary character. You can actually get into the story."

On topic though, if I had to rate my favorite Final Fantasies, the (momentary) list would probably look somewhat like this:

5. Final Fantasy IV / VIII / XIII
4. Final Fantasy V / X-2
3. Final Fantasy VII / IX
2. Final Fantasy VI / XII
1. Final Fantasy X

I haven't played 1 to 3 and XIII-2 yet.

[Merilyn Mensola]

Huh...

Final Fantasy...

VI and VII and X..for story and development of the story of the characters.

and XIII (a good story..but not good like the other i have mentioned)but yeah for the graphics next gen...

if you make FFVII with the graphics next gen...i think it is the best FF

[SeijiSensei]

I actually think the gaming part of FF XII is stronger than the story itself. Ashe, in particular, is an unsympathetic character thrust into the heroine role (and horribly acted by a heavy-breathing Kari Wahlgren). I like how she's at least conflicted between a desire to do good and a lust for power, but the writers really could have taken that conflict a lot further. Vaan is pretty much the generic pretty-boy teen that we've seen in other FF stories. Basch had potential as a character, but he fades into the background and becomes little more than Ashe's swordsman. Penelo is pretty much a generic genki girl.

That leaves Balthier and Fran, who are the two strongest characters in the game. I found less and less for them to do as party members in the later stages of the game, but Fran's back-story has some depth and Balthier has some of the best dialogue in any FF game I've played. All his remarks about being the "leading man," which implicitly break the fourth wall, are quite witty.

However the battle system in XII is one of the best ever created by the FF designers. I like the gambit system and being able to set up my characters and let them have at it. In complicated battles I'll usually control one of them from time to time, but it was fun figuring out what combination of strategies to use against certain bosses. It took me a number of tries to figure out how to defeat the boss in the Sochen Cave Palace (one of the best bosses ever, by the way).

One thing that I found disappointing was the final battle in XII, and in X and XIII as well. They all seemed less exciting than some of the other bosses along the way. I gave up fighting the final boss in XIII because it was just an incredibly boring battle. For some reason Square Enix seems to design final boss battles that just seem to repeat interminably and where the boss has ridiculously high HP levels. (VII suffers from this problem as well.) I like bosses that change strategies and pose more difficult problems as the battle progresses. The within-game FF bosses seem to have more of that character than the final ones. My other complaint about XII was the number of bosses who were there just to have a boss battle rather than being intrinsic to the development of the story.

Still I've invested a few hundred hours in XII including two complete playthroughs and occasional replays in between because I enjoy the battle system. For story development, though, I prefer X, VI, VIII, and VII. VI is the game that most deserves a remake with modern graphics and controls. Yuna (in X) and Celes remain my favorite heroines, with Zidane perhaps my favorite hero, and Auron and Balthier getting the nod in the male supporting roles. (i might have included Squall as a hero except for his remarkable display of obtuseness when he was alone with Rinoa in the spaceship.) Among the supporting ladies I'd probably pick Lulu, Tifa, Aerith, and Edea.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

One thing that I found disappointing was the final battle in XII, and in X and XIII as well. They all seemed less exciting than some of the other bosses along the way. I gave up fighting the final boss in XIII because it was just an incredibly boring battle. For some reason Square Enix seems to design final boss battles that just seem to repeat interminably and where the boss has ridiculously high HP levels. (VII suffers from this problem as well.) I like bosses that change strategies and pose more difficult problems as the battle progresses. The within-game FF bosses seem to have more of that character than the final ones. My other complaint about XII was the number of bosses who were there just to have a boss battle rather than being intrinsic to the development of the story.

i always found Chaos (original FF1 ver) to be the hardest boss ever in FF. In the NES cartridge game, he regularly let loose a couple of nukes. You had to be very careful or it would be a game over very fast.

I don't think i ever seen the water down ver let loose one nuke much less two in the same fight.

[Kirito]

My favourite is 10 hands down, followed by 9, 7 and 8.

Final Fantasy 10 had the best story, character development, fun factor, and loveable characters I've seen in the franchise. I love the other Final Fantasy games (minus 13 & 13-2 "shudders") but 10 still continues to grow on me. That's just my opinion.

[kitten320]

Ok, I have played more FF games so here is my new ranking.
Spoilers ahead so if you didn't play a specific game, probably it is better not to read.

Spoiler for FF 9:

1) FF 9
So far I can't see any game surpressing it and I have no idea why so many dislike it. For one, the main hero is not emo and doesn't complain on every corner like almost every FF MC does.
It has a lot of interesting characters and memorable towns to visit as well as anjoyable side quests.
Most importantly almost every monster is different so it doesn't get repetitive. I like battle system but I guess it is a bit slow.
I also love the whole equipment and weapon upgrade process. For me it is the best one out of all FF games. I also like how you can choose different abillities. And I like that every chara has a specific role that they follow, feels more realistic. After in reall story you wouldn't exepet for knight to suddenly turn into a magician. And that's what happens in almost every other FF game.

I find story memorable and it is nice to see a world that is not full of cyborgs. Whole cyborg thing is seriously getting boring since almost every game/movie has it. It might have a slo start and CD 2 is a bit of a drag but oever I see no issues. It has drama, it has mystery and it explores them. And most importantly it has Beatrix, the only character who never ever lost yet still switched sides. Real badass.

And most importnatly main charas are not stuck together forever. I hate it when main group is stuck forever like a bunch of gum, it is too one sided.

Spoiler for FF 10:

2) FF 10
I can't say that I love this game but it is good. The story is simple but the world they created was beutiful, nice and memorable characters too with some drama.
Probably my favourite battle system. I like that you can switch between the characters and I like the whole strategy and planning thing. You have to look at the bar of who strikes when and plan things out so they would work in your favour.
I also loved Blitz game.

Problems, don't get me started on Seymour. Such a huge waste of time and space. Why the hell didn't Yuna send him off sooner?!

Boring monsters, it is same monster every time, just coloured differently.

In all honesty story is not that original. I has a very over used theme which was simply presented in a slightly different way which was good.

Spoiler for FF 13:

3) FF 13
Yep, you read it right. I'm stil in the middle of playing it though but I like it so far. Yes it has a huge amount of flows. I would have to call it a guilty pleasure of mine. There are som any minuses yet something about it keeps me interested.
For one I don't like corridor like levels where you have no variety of where you can go. You are forced to go by one path do you want it or not.

Battle system is enjoyable but too simplified. You barely have anything to do there what is killing the fun. And I don't like the fact that you get your health restored after each battle, it kills all the struggle. Too easy especially when you have save point on every corner and when you die you start right before the fight you lost.
Getting your health restored at save point was already simplified enough but now it is just boring. You don't even need all those potions and that was a key in al FF games so far.

Also I don't like the fact that story is not explained properly and that we are just thrown into this mess. Only now do I finally start to understand what is what. Of course we do have the encyclopedia but do you really want to spend hours reading it instead of playing?

I know, with all those faults you are wondering how the hell did it manage to get on this spot but despite all that, there is something that keeps me entertained and makes me want to keep playing it to see what happens next especially since I finally know what is what. I also like the drama and that fact that we are not stuck with one party forever and can see story from different points of view. Though whole chase story does get a bit boring later on.

I find characters enjoyable too. They are not perfect but they are believable. I could perfectly see myself meeting people like that. And they do develop!

However, they really should expend on maps and make whole shop thingy better. It barely serves any purpose.

This game feels more like a movie than a game since we get rolics almost at every corner. It might be why I like it since I always wanted to see most FF games animated, not only FF7. As a game it is kind of weak but since it is something different and meets what I wanted to see, I'll let it slide. Don't think it will work again though. Creators should give players a bigger choice of actions and freedom.

So yeh as a game it falls flat, as a movie it has potential.

I'm not into visuals usually but they are beautiful here.

Spoiler for FF 8:

4) FF 8
I tried to like it but can't. CD 1 was good and CD 2 was decent but after that it just became a huge WTF? I actually liked battle system even though it did take ages with whole magic stealing. But I'm sure that if you replay the game, things will go much faster. I liked mini games, especially card game. It is much better than the one in FF9 which is confusing.

However, my biggest issue is with a story and in RPG games for me it is the most important thing.
Squall suddenly becomes a huge boss, everyone are constantly demanding things from him! Even the headteacher Cid! Come on! You are the main guy at school and yet a student has to do everything for you! No wonder Squall is so moody!

Whole romance thing makes no sence. At the end of CD 2 Rinoa is hanging from a cliff and Squall goes "Why do I ahve to save her? You do it!". She hangs there for almost an hour! she sure is strong!
But right at the start of CD 3 he is crying and begging for Rinoa to wake up so he could hear her voice again... dude did you hit your head? Since when do you care?!

The whole drama in space... Rinoa is out of air, the end. And then suddenly she wakes up and can breath again... how is that possible?! Also whole animation was VERY slow.

Then the whole drama with when Rinoa is taken away to get her witch powers withdrawn... why all the panic?! She won't get executed! She will lose her powers which wasn't hers to start with and will continue to live a happy life. She won't die and she won't be imprisoned, Edea is a walking confirmation of that. So why start all the panic?! Makes no sense!

Another thing... if Edea is a witch, why the hell does she need to steal magic as well? Like that she is not any different from others. It makes you wonder, just why does everyone call her a witch?!

There are a lot of other issues but those were the main ones.

Otherwise it was quiet enjoyable and Ultimecia is probably the hardest boss I've seen so far. I also liked the puzzle thing in her castle and having to unlock the seals.
The game has variety of monsters as well what seems to be a hige issue starting from FF10.

Spoiler for FF 12:

5) FF 12
I tried to like it by I couldn't. Story and characters are very important for me and that's where this game falls flat.
Characters are unmemorable. Vaan barely has any purpose in the story at all. The game is focused on polytics way too much and I hate politics, they bore me to death. Story had nothing to offer. They are simply trying to get the stone of great power while goverment gets in the way and tries to use it for bad things. Nothing memorable at all.
Only first clip made it good, poor king.

Also for such weak story there are too many side missions. And if you are determined to do them, you'll forget the story altogether.

However, most of side missions were fun. I actually enjoyed them more than whole story what is opposite to what happened in FF 13 where so far we have no side missions.
I like battle system as well, it is different and for people who are not into RPG static fight systems it is a good change and something that could get them interested. Too bad it was wasted on such weak story.

Alkso I don't like the fact that every character can wield any weapon they want and use any magic they want. It is simply boring.

That's all I have played so far. My next games on the list are FF XIII-2 and FF7.
Once I'm done with those, I'll update my list.

[Xellos-_^]

Just curious

what is everyone first Final Fantasy Game?

Started with Final Fantasy 1

[Kafriel]

^ The american or japanese FFI?

I started with FFVIII at '98. Being my first really got me biased towards it, I still think it has some of the best tracks and themes and the most immersing side quests (Triple Triad club, GF hunting, etc.) Worth of note, it's one of the few games where your exp curve is parallel to the X axis, all levels from ~7 to 100 require 1000 exp, which is actually a setback, considering the attribute bonus skills that you can obtain. What made it even more interesting is the fact that you can reach the ragnarok without using junction, just by spamming limit breaks with a revolver This made me want to play it over and over again under different conditions, like getting a ton of cards and keeping a very low level before bursting up with all the bonuses I can get, or grinding for Lionheart at Disc I and stuff.

Its story was, admittedly, weaker than FFVII or IX, but it's still better than FFX and XII (which, while well thought, was boring in the end).

The Fabula Nova Crystallis series have a nice premise, but it's tiring to buy 3-4 games for one FF universe, since they've never been the same after FFVII, not to mention that so far, they've been quite flawed and outright mediocre when it comes to battle enjoyment.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

^ The american or japanese FFI?

I started with FFVIII at '98. Being my first really got me biased towards it, I still think it has some of the best tracks and themes and the most immersing side quests (Triple Triad club, GF hunting, etc.) Worth of note, it's one of the few games where your exp curve is parallel to the X axis, all levels from ~7 to 100 require 1000 exp, which is actually a setback, considering the attribute bonus skills that you can obtain. What made it even more interesting is the fact that you can reach the ragnarok without using junction, just by spamming limit breaks with a revolver This made me want to play it over and over again under different conditions, like getting a ton of cards and keeping a very low level before bursting up with all the bonuses I can get, or grinding for Lionheart at Disc I and stuff.

Its story was, admittedly, weaker than FFVII or IX, but it's still better than FFX and XII (which, while well thought, was boring in the end).

The Fabula Nova Crystallis series have a nice premise, but it's tiring to buy 3-4 games for one FF universe, since they've never been the same after FFVII, not to mention that so far, they've been quite flawed and outright mediocre when it comes to battle enjoyment.

The Original NA NES FF1.

no saves in the last dungeon
1 type of potion
a boss that is actually hard to beat.

[Mateus]

FF IV (used to hate it because of the random battle every 10 seconds)
FF VI
FF VII
FF VIII
FF IX
FF XII

but my all-time favorite is .... Final Fantasy Tactics - even if it isn't a numbered FF entry, it still rocks to this day.

[Rising Dragon]

First Final Fantasy game I played, like many, was 7. Favorite though is definitely 9, I really, really don't understand why everyone else seemed to dislike it.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

First Final Fantasy game I played, like many, was 7. Favorite though is definitely 9, I really, really don't understand why everyone else seemed to dislike it.

just a guess, i think most of the criticism came form older game who like me started with ff1. imo it was ok but there wasn't anything really outstanding about it.

[Rising Dragon]

I don't think it was that, because from what I've been told, Final Fantasy 9 is closer to the original medieval-ish games from before 7. My guess is that it was because it was similar to those games, so people who started with 7 and 8 didn't care for the change in setting.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

First Final Fantasy game I played, like many, was 7. Favorite though is definitely 9, I really, really don't understand why everyone else seemed to dislike it.

I love 9 as well, really the best Final Fantasy ever. Though I do think it is rather well received generally. For one instance it is highest rated Final Fantasy game on Metacritic and it is Sakaguchi's favorite Final Fantasy. So I can't say it is disliked by many.

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

I don't think it was that, because from what I've been told, Final Fantasy 9 is closer to the original medieval-ish games from before 7. My guess is that it was because it was similar to those games, so people who started with 7 and 8 didn't care for the change in setting.

I did started with 5 so maybe as a result love the medieval settings. And I do think that 7 and 8, especially 8, is very overrated.

[kitten320]

My first game was FF 9 so that's why I probably like it so much. The only real problem with it is that as first time RPG player it was very confusing. I needed my friend to explain everything to me, especially battle system.

I kept healing monsters and wondered why the hell they don't die -_-

The game doesn't have enough instructions in the beggining like many others do.



I still want to play FF VII and see why everyone loves it so much though somehow I feel that I'll be disappointed in some way.

[Kafriel]

I still want to play FF VII and see why everyone loves it so much though somehow I feel that I'll be disappointed in some way.

FFVII fascinated a lot of people because it was the first non-2D dungeon crawler/world explorer FF title and it had a story vastly different from the usual crystal balance/save the world theme.

Favorite though is definitely 9, I really, really don't understand why everyone else seemed to dislike it.

It was pretty awesome, I don't think many people hate 9. Lots of comedy, great plot and characters, Tetra Master was almost as good as Triple Triad and it had the best mini-games and side quests (searching for coffee, retrieving the zodiac, hunting for chocographs, etc). Plus, it had Beatrix I would love to have it in my PC collection along with 7 and 8 though.

[Mateus]

I knew about 1 when it was out, my dad played it and I would watch him play and kill the end boos -- though it probably doesn't count. My official first FF would be VI (III at the time).

[Soliloquy]

Final Fantasy 9 is the only game I finished, so automatically this game gets my vote. I have played about half length of FF 6 & 7 but for some reason, it couldn't keep me for long. I have nearly finished FF 10 just before the last boss.

I only found FF 9 characters more easy to relate to and be easily charmed by. It had that closeness and natural character interaction than any of the series. I think people only dislikes the series because the loading transition is too slow. Really to me that's the only flaw of the game when the epic plot and music easily compensate for it. This is the kind of buildup all story driven RPG should aim for.