Are these Final Fantasy games worth it?

[Arisato-kun]

Final Fantasy IX was the best and VIII was pretty good.

No Final Fantasy fans will ever agree though. I personally consider IX the best, followed by XIII and then II.

 

[-Seraph-]

2 wasn't as bad as so many make it out to be, hell at least it had a comprehensible story. The gameplay was broken if you abused it, but they fixed it in later iterations. I managed to beat the NES version without ever breaking the game and had fun with the challenge.

If you have to officially "fix" a game, it must be horrendous.

It was less "fix" and more a few tweaks, but it was hardly "horrendous". I played the damn game when I was 12 without any help from a guide, and never abused the system and managed to beat the game and enjoyed it. It had sparks of brilliance in its stat growth system, but a few minor issues held it back. It was hard as hell, but hey, so was the first and third games.

Really, it's the one game I don't get why it receives a lot of hate. The story for its time was comprehensible and was probably deeper than most of what you'd find on other NES games. Simple smart usage of party members in battle made some of the design issues not so terrible.

 

[busterkeatonrules]

Depends on what you like in a game. Here's my personal rundown:

FINAL FANTASY VIII
GOOD BITS:

*Rich, varied world to explore
*Deep, interesting story

BAD BITS:

*Junction system is needlessly complicated
*Magic system can get tedious and frustrating
*"Moody, Pessimistic Douchebag" - type protagonist
(Have to confess, I don't really like VIII that much.)

FINAL FANTASY IX
GOOD BITS:

*Varied, lovable main characters
*Cheerful, optimistic protagonist[small] (Yeah, this IS kind of important to me. After all, you see the game primarily through the eyes of the protagonist, so if they think everything sucks, you're bound to start agreeing with them eventually.)[/small]
*The last game in the series in which Hironobu Sakaguchi was involved - making it, in many ways, the FINAL Final Fantasy!
*Packed with references to earlier FF games
*Musical score is regarded by composer Nobuo Uematsu as the best he's ever written.

BAD BITS:

(Can't seem to think of any. Probably a bit of fanboy bias on my part - this IS my favorite FF game!)

 

[Solo-Wing]

Final Fantasy VIII had one of the best stories. Though the worst battle system for the Pre-SquareEnix Final Fantasy games.

And Final Fantasy 9..... IS THE BEST ONE EVER MADE!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE IT AND IT IS PERFECT IN EVERY ASPECT!!!!!1!11!!!one!!1ONE! Perfect cast of characters (Well... except for one who I wanted to put a gun to s/he's head every single time s/he talked. Or was on screen. Or was mentioned.) battle system was the closest to the 1-6 battle system since the PS1. Best music I have ever heard.

I also liked 7, good story (Though 2 of the main characters were angsty fucks), Really good battle system (Liked the Materia system alot) and over all just damn good.

I liked 10 because of many reasons. 1. Last game to have the classic battle system (Screw X-2, and put aside the 1-6 remakes that have come out for DS and PSP) 2. Last game from the SquareSoft era. 3. I like a lot of the characters except the protagonist.

 

[bushwhacker2k]

I couldn't get into 8, 10 or 13. I can't comment particularly on 8, but 10 and 13 felt kinda... like they were falling into a pattern, a pattern which I wasn't really into. The characters weren't really likeable and the story was kinda blah.

I don't have too many memories of generation 1 ff games (1-6).

7 was alright, though honestly I never felt the immense awe that everyone else who plays it seems to feel.

Tactics was by far the best FF IMO, the storyline was incredible and the gameplay was awesome. Very few games come close to Tactics IMO.

I really enjoyed 9 as well, it wasn't as good as Tactics (little is), but I actually found myself liking most characters and enjoying myself as I played.

12 was pretty good, I honestly wasn't that concerned with the story, but the new combat system was pretty cool.

 

[minespatch]

Well... I tried playing 12. The game was too much drama(even though I like watching drama movies such as the Elephant Man, Freaks, and What Dreams Might Come).

I'm more of a Dragon Quest fan myself. Both 8 and 9 seem to be full of fun and puns. Even though 9 isn't as good as 8(other players say it's the other way around), both have been a enjoyable experience with mixed emotions gaining pathos from the viewer. Rather it be humor of a silly situation such as a elderly man wanting be in a French maid dress to the sadness of sacrifices made by the protagonists, villains, and side characters.

Though... People might think the same way with FF, I prefer DQ just a bit higher.

Just to add, I've never played FF9, but the visuals make me want to play it.

 

[coldshadow]

I liked 13 :O

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

FF love and hate is about two things.

1: Which game you started on, which game you first understood for what it actually was and took as a part of the genre of rpgs. Many people have that first game be their favorite, I do that, FFVIII was that for me. I did play VII a bit before it but I was too young and my being not a native English speaker prevented me from understanding anything about it, I did revisit it later though and I do like it a ton but not as much as VIII. I loved the story, was completely immersed into the world and it was what opened the window to the world of RPGs for me, thus is my favorite game of all time.

2: What game is the most different from #1. I loved VIII, X, XIII (in that order), I disliked XII and to a much lesser degree IX (i just really hated Trance as a system, way worse than drawing magic IMO). Common elements between those titles are obvious, i like the ones with heavy focus on stories, romance, animelike themes and really meaningful endings. XII was lost due to the gameplay being like XI but without the online interactions and dumbed down considerably and IX...like i said...i mostly liked it other than the trance system and the terrible ending which gave me zero closure, it was like a fairy tale lol. Even the retro theme was not all that much like FFI-III, it was like FFVI which was decent (i played it ages after it was first released so it didn't have the impact it would if i played it when it was new...but i was like 7 at the time and like i said i wouldn't have understood a word)

 

[Caspulex]

FF2's broken-ness stems from a bug where you can input commands and then return...and it still counts as doing that command.

This bug was only on the Famicom. Dawn of Souls/20th anniversary/iPod fixed it.

 

[Austin Howe]

The only complaint I've ever heard against IX (besides a completely unsupported two-sentence pinch on some websites "Top 10 Overrated" list0, is that Spoony really hated the cartoon/anime character design and art style, which is part of it's throwback appeal. In truth, one of the few true risks the game takes, as graphics were a big deal back in the PS1 days (wait, that never changed), and making a game that wasn't hard to make look good was not common. See VIII for comparison, it has by far the most realistic character and world design, and possibly the best Realist graphics on the Playstation.

 

[WOPR]

Over the years I've noticed a distinct trend that most people agree main Final Fantasy games, 1 through 7 are fantastic. while the 10th through 13 are utter bullsh*t. what I've been determining all this while is whether or not games 8 and 9 are bad.

so I ask you wise men (and pubescents) of The Escapist: while Final Fantasy 1-7 are great, and 10-13 are fucktarded, but is 8 and 9 bad?

9 was AWESOME
it was like 1-4 in 3D

8, well I liked it but everyone else seems to hate it because "UGH! JUNCTIONING IS TOO CONFUSING AND DRAWING IS STUPID! WHY DID THEY CHANGE IT?!"

...despite that materia was also different from learning spells and using mana, which was also different from the classic buying spells

EDIT: oh the only "down-side" to 9

pretty much everyone is a kid... weather that's good or bad is up to you, but only one character is older then 18 (last I checked)

 

[Con Carne]

I liked 1-7 8 is good as long as its not considered a "Final Fantasy" title. 9 was good. Tactics was awesome. 10 wasn't awful, but it certainly began Square's plummet to suckage.
11 had a lot of features I liked in an MMO that I wish other MMO's would adopt. Sadly, those features didn't keep it from making its way onto my bad list. X-2 was waaaay too over the top for me. It had a decent concept but I didn't like the thought of playing with Barbies. Also I didn't think 10 was a sequel worthy title. (for those of you chomping at the bit, to hear which title(s) I think should get a sequel, they'd have to be 6,7, and Tactics.) 12 didn't interest me at all, so I can't officially say that I think it sucks. I haven't played it. 13.....everyone says "you gotta play it for 20 or so hours before it gets good." That's exactly where I lost any and all interest to keep playing. As for 14. A. I've kinda grown out of MMO's B. It got such bad reviews that I didn't even pick up it's game box to give it a look.

 

[Charli]

Nine was spectacular. I loved it from start to finish.

Eight had it's moments too but again it kinda walks that edge of serious Sci-fi elements in some cases which fantasy does override but not as obviously as Nine which is a giant nostalgia trip but is quite blatantly a Final FANTASY. Rather than a Final Story with strange universe elements.

And the villain in nine. I'll not spoil it but he's awesome. Just...everything about him is just so ...is there a word for Cool but Flamboyant?
I dunno he's a walking contradiction.

I think I regard nine so highly because ten put the series to death for me. It was just not my cup of tea. And seem to take all the negative elements I saw in 7 and 8 and mesh them with even more elements I was tired of.

So alas no more FF games for me.

 

[Mr Pantomime]

God. It's impossible to say.

The FF fanbase is fractured on EVERY. SINGLE. GAME.

Just try 'em.

Prety much what I was going to say. Its always something like "The series got shit at 10" "no 7 ruined it" "everything after 10 is bollocks" "youre all idiots, 6 was the best, and everything after that is utter rubbish".

Theyre all wrong though, the series died with 13.

My thoughts exactly.

There's always some fans who go nuclear if you dont love their fave like they do because in their opinion their fave IS Final Fantasy. Some might not even regard you as a fan or even a gamer for that!!

((Example: Heck I get crap from FF fanboys in my area for playing the series but not absolutely a fanslave of FF7, because they say 7 is the all knowing divine, 7 has all the answers, 7 is always there for them, 7 will always live, 7 will deliver...etc etc etc. Yet all I said was my first FF was 10...))

Final Fanatasy 7 is the ALPHA and the OMEGA, the Creator and the Destroyer. Yeah, that kind of thing does get old fast. FFX was the first Final Fantasy game I completed. I bought FF7 a little while after that. It wasnt a bad game, and it wasnt particulary impressive. Yet when I tell people that, they act like I just slapped their mother

Just tell them Aeris deserved to die and make enemies for life

 

[-Samurai-]

I've only played Final Fantasy 7 and whatever the most recent one is. I hated 7 with a passion. The most recent was actually ok. The different strategies and party member roles got me pretty interested in it.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

*Magic system can get tedious and frustrating

I'd call it hideously low utility. The GFs hit harder and provide defense and Junctioning actively encourages you not to cast spells because it affects your stats.

I think in all my playthroughs, my only non-draw-cast spells were against Diablos.

 

[teknoarcanist]

8 is a little emo for my tastes. Though the cutscenes-as-pre-rendered backgrounds is pretty gob-smacking when you first see it. And it was very good at plotting 'missions'. I'm thinking of the parade.

9, on the other hand, is about as goddamn charming as fantasy--particularly in gaming--gets. The characters are well-drawn and RIDICULOUSLY likable. The setting is fantastic. The story flows right along. It's an extremely well-made game. Perhaps not the best, but it is without a doubt my favorite JRPG ever.

 

[Ultra_Caboose]

Over the years I've noticed a distinct trend that most people agree main Final Fantasy games, 1 through 7 are fantastic. while the 10th through 13 are utter bullsh*t. what I've been determining all this while is whether or not games 8 and 9 are bad.

so I ask you wise men (and pubescents) of The Escapist: while Final Fantasy 1-7 are great, and 10-13 are fucktarded, but is 8 and 9 bad?

I think both are good. 9 would certainly be the better of the two, but 8 is still very much worth checking out.

8's story is debatably good. There are plenty of plot holes and sometimes doesn't make too much sense, but its well worth taking a look at. The combat system is complicated, but very easy to exploit with the abilities of your summons combined with playing the card mini-game. Spend some time finding the right cards and abilities, and you can breeze through the game with almost no trouble.

9 has a much better story in my opinion, though it's combat system is limited compared to 7 or 8. Though the limitations actually bring back specialized units, as opposed to the previous two when anybody could pretty much be any kind of character. Skills are gained from equipment and you are able to create new items and equipment with old ones as the game progresses.

If I had to make one major complaint about the two games, it would be that both games fall short on the villain category. There's no Kefka/Sephiroth/Sin/Whatever to pose a truly sinister threat. That said, both are very good games, and I highly recommend trying both out.

Just tell them Aeris deserved to die and make enemies for life

Okay, that's hilarious. I love 7 and you just made me laugh to tears. I'm going to have to use that in my next FF discussion, just to piss people off...

 

[bluecrimson]

1: First game in the series, so it has to earn props for that. Story is not complex, as expected. Gameplay is rather balanced, as long as you don't count in Monks. Garland will knock down all who do not try out the first in the series. 7/10

2: More complex game storywise, although it's cliche looking back at it now. The gameplay system is like nothing else is any other FF to date, and is a bit broken when you find out how to. Still, the customization is like few other games in the series, and is worth a try. 7.2/10

3: I can't really make a judgement on this game, as I've never played it. However, it does have a precursor to FF5's Job system, so give it a try. I'd say DS version due to balances done to some jobs. 7/10

4: More complex story, as expected, but it does still have the cliches prevalent in JRPGs. A special note goes out to the translation (You spoony bard!) which still stands up today. Gameplay in this one is nice, with distinctions between each and every character. There's three remakes of this game, each with their differences, so pick one and jump in. 7.4/10

5: Story in this one falters compared to FF4, although this game has some very memorable characters, most notably Gilgamesh. The gameplay in this game is superb, with the best job system in the series. I could go on for some time on how great it is, but I will just stick with saying it's very open-ended and flexible. Whether you're a man, woman, or a woman dressed like a man, I highly suggest giving this game a try. 7.8/10

6: The story in this game is expansive with each of the characters you play as having their own subplot, as well as having a twist not many see coming and hasn't been done since. I have to mention Ted Woolsey's translation for this game, as it has some quirky and memorable lines that stay in the player's mind and stays fresh, no matter how many times you see them. The gameplay is still nice, even if it does get geared heavily towards magic later on, and it balances out summons as well. You'd be dancing mad if you didn't give this one a try. 8/10

7: Although the story in this game is well-known at this point, it still was what put JRPGs on the map, and for good reason. Although not as epic as FF6, it is still quite good. The gameplay is still balanced, with the exception of a bug that breaks the game late on if one is able to do it. Now sit down and plat your goddamm game. 8.2/10

8: Story in this game starts out strong, but unfortunately turns into a sleeper when it drops the original premise of being part a mercenary group, and has some weak plot twists. Gameplay at times can feel a bit unwieldy, and drawing magic quickly becomes tedious. The minigames are fairly unmemorable, although Triple Triad is by far the best one. It is your mission to play this divisive game to get your opinion. 7.7/10

9: The story is a huge throwback to older games in the series, with memorable characters. The gameplay does a much-needed streamlining, and produces a game that feels very tight, but not enough to be confining. The minigames in this in this are enjoyable, although the card game is little more than a weak ripoff of Triple Triad. If you play this game and enjoy it, you are not alone. 8.1/10

10: The story in this one is inventive, although it may take a while for you to like the male protagonist. I have to point out the linearity of 10, as that can cause some to dislike this game. The gameplay in battles goes however fast you want it to, but the minigames are a stumbling point, with one ending out very weak. Listen to this game's story; you may come to like it. 8/10

12: Expansive story, and the setting is expansive. The fact that the main character isn't the one that you start out as can be a main arguing point, but the story works better that way. The gameplay can feel very detached, but the characters are very customizable so you can very easily choose how hard this game is. The minigames are very diverse, although two of them are tedious at higher levels and demand a strategy guide. And so it came that another came to play this game, and they were immersed in it. 7.9/10

There's reviews for each game in the series that I've played, sans FF3

 

[Veldaroth]

Final Fantasy II exists, your logic is flawed.

8 was okay, I'll admit. The plot revolved too much around romance between Squall and Rinoa than saving the world, and the gameplay was outright broken. But it did Triple Triad really good, and that basically made the game for me.

Can't say anything about IX, never played it.

Pretty much this.
As for IX, I didn't really like it. I know people who do, but I just couldn't get into it. I beat it somehow, but the characters and plot were boring. That was the last ff game I beat, as well.