Are these Final Fantasy games worth it?

[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.

 

[thenoblitt]

10 and 12 werent bad though, they just went in different directions, 10 was more cinematic and 12 had an entirely different gameplay system, i didnt think they were bad at all.

 

[Grey_Focks]

I feel like Onyx did a /thread already, but to reiterate, there are NO FF games the community will agree upon that are either good or bad. None. Closest ones that are "universally" accepted as good are 6 and Tactics, whereas X-2 is really the only one most people agree shouldn't have happened, though 13 seems like a runner up.

Then again, the only ones I really liked were Tactics and kinda 12 and 7, because I liked the gameplay, but HATED the characters and story. Kinda. I played and just hated everything about 8. EVERYTHING. No feelings on 9, except the art style looked terrible.

 

[huigho1215]

It really comes down to who you are, Yes ff IV has a really predictable story at some points but it's still my favorite. X was my first and I love the combat and emotion in the story, it made me want to keep playing and exploring. V I found Tedious towards the end. III was fun Nothing too special though, I have yet to play VI to IX I want to though, XII I didn't really enjoy that much, to me it felt kind of like it was trying to pull off a .Hack thing and be a fake MMO with the HUGE world and different combat. I is the the dated classic, and II... well it gave us Firion for Dissidia.

 

[KefkaCultist]

I actually liked X and X-2 (yes, X-2 was kinda weak but it had one of the best examples of job systems so don't knock it), VIII was "meh" for me it had good and bad qualities, but there is absolutely no denying that VI was the best for this guy alone, not to mention all the other great things about it!

 

[Korolev]

10 is great. 12 was.... different, but it wasn't bad. 13 was abysmally awful. 11 was an MMO, and I don't play MMOs, same goes for 14. VIII wasn't my cup of tea, but IX is my favourite game of all time. Yes, I mean that.

 

[LanHikari2000x]

8: Never actually played it myself, but apparently it's way too easy to break. According to my friend, by about 3 hours into the game you've come across an infinite draw of both Ultima and Triple. "Hey look! I'm faster than a Cactuar, and I hit harder than a Tonberry!"

9: Not sure who told you that 9 is bad. Great game, and it succeeded in it's goal of going back to the series' fantasy roots from the techno-punk-ish(?) feel of 7 and 8.

10: Looking back at it, the voice acting was sub par, but it was actually pretty good for it's time. The only other things I really found to complain about were the equipment system (Every character can equip 1 weapon, and 1 accessory. And they're all character-specific, so there wasn't really any decision making involved.), and the replacement of EXP levels with the Sphere Grid. Besides taking forever to get anywhere on the Grid once you get farther into it (Which would be par for the course with levels, except with the Grid you get one stat boost or a skill, maybe, as opposed to a boost to every stat and potentially a skill to go with it.), once you actually manage to fill the Grid, most of your characters become redundant. Yeah, that character who was your White Mage/Summoner at the beginning? She's now hitting as hard as your Warrior and taking hits like a pro.

10-2: What KefkaCultist said a few posts up.

11: Dunno. Tried it once. A tutorial and actual menu navigation would have been nice.

12: Not so much a fan of the battle system. I felt that it gave the false impression that you could get away from an attack once it was locked onto you, and it was too easy to automate (Gambits should have auto-disabled on the controlled character.). That said, once I sat my friend down in from of it and forced him to marathon through it, we were amazed by the story. Any storytelling that forces you to question whether or not you are actually the good guy gets points in my book.

13: Yes, it had issues with being too linear at the beginning, and bad/nonexistant character development. Beyond that, it had a deceptively deep story and one of the more creative battle systems I've seen. My only complaint was that I wish the 'Auto' command wasn't there. It made most battles as simple as mashing the confirm button and occiasional switching to whatever support Paradigm you were using when ever you needed to heal or your buffs ran out. Also, props for the first game where I couldn't just power through every battle and ignore all buffs/debuffs besides Haste/Regen and Stop/Poison/Petrify. A couple of the bosses though... 'Insta-cast Doom at start of battle. Oh, and he's going to spend most of the battle invulnerable.' and 'About 3/4 of the way through the battle, he's got about a 50/50 chance to cast an unavoidable all-target instant death spell. Oh well, try again.'

 

[jboking]

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?

You seem to be misguided. Most I have talked to are fans of Final Fantasy 1-10, and some 1-12. Final fantasy games sucking is very much a new and recent trend. Final Fantasy 10 was great, though more of the same and Final Fantasy 12 was a complete innovation on the old system that didn't 100% sacrifice difficulty. Final Fantasy 13 pretty much gave up on difficulty of any time...or interactivity that isn't "press X to win." 14 isn't even worth discussing.

Back to the question you were asking either way though. Final fantasy 8 and 9 are both great in their own ways. The only downside of Final Fantasy 8 is the draw system which is a case of "I don't want to learn how to use it effectively." Final Fantasy 9, while sticking pretty close to the normal formula for a Final Fantasy, is easily one of the best final fantasies ever made. It is something that, if you haven't played it, you owe it to yourself to do so.

 

[warm slurm]

If someone likes the old games I-VI but dislikes IX then they're missing the point of the whole game...

 

[Stammer]

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've heard 9 is pretty good, but honestly 8 isn't all that great. And honestly, FF10 wasn't as bad as a lot of people say it is. The gameplay is well-done, engaging, and strategic, the story isn't all that bad (though admittedly it's not great). The only real complaints I've even ever heard about the game have been nit-picky things. "Oh, Blitzball is unrealistic" or "The characters look goofy". Even the voice acting isn't bad aside from that one scene (you all know the one I'm talking about).

FF11 isn't really a mainstream game, and as a result I can't argue for or against its quality. I will say this, though: it's an MMORPG that's specifically designed for hardcore players. If you have a lot of free time to dedicate to the game, I'd honestly say it's probably even better than WoW. Otherwise, I suggest playing something else.

Personally, I thought FF12 was a good game too. Though I also have a bias in that I was a fan of FFXI, and the game plays almost exactly like it. There's a lot of exploration, the characters are well-developed, the story is fairly engaging, the voice acting is decent.

FF13 is definitely the worst one since X-2, though. Badly-written characters, bad storyline, bad gameplay...

And of course, FF14 is regarded as one of the worst things to appear in 2010...

 

[Therumancer]

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?

There is no general consensus but yes, it's generally believed that 1-7 are consistantly pretty good with 4, 6, and especially 7 being the real stand outs. 8 and 9 are where things became divided, largely because where Cloud did the Angst thing well (and a bit before it was everywhere), Squall from FF VIII came accross as simply being a jerk, not to mention all of the imitators of the emo/ultra-angst thing had kind of turned it into a negative stereotype over the space of the few years that passed. It seemed that Square realized they had made a mistake and pretty much decided to dial 9 back in the extreme other direction, going with a very cutesy art style again, as well as a very upbeat plotline. Neither 8 or 9 is hated but sees a lot of community division as they had both had some really strong points, and there are plenty of people who will say they are their favorites in the series. Final Fantasy 10 was ridiculously popular as a stand alone, what hurt it was that as Final Fantasy X-2 was coming out the developers decided to turn it into a trilogy and what's more snubbed the US by saying ahead of time they weren't giving us "Final Fantasy 10- Final Mission" and the end of the story. Needless to say this tanked the whole thing, and I think a lot of the negativity attached to X-2 comes from that rather than people genuinely hating the game. Given the general level of sales, I tend to think a lot of people complaining about the whole "girl power" thing and the "garmet grid" really don't know much about the game as they typically have very little idea on how the mechanics actually worked. Final Fantasy XII is where things really went down hill because of the disturbingly androgynous hero who looks like he's from a gay porn version of Aladdin, the criticism of US politics (even if it's subtle), and of course the simple fact that the "gambits" system pretty much took a lot of control out of the hands of the player. Final Fantasy XIII pretty much continued the trend from XII, with very little control over the combat and character development overall, and was incredibly linear as well. Truthfully I think the much-criticized cast would have been fine if it wasn't for some really awful desicians in core gameplay.

So in short, I think it's the last two that represent the most negative reception overall. The rest of the series has generally been pretty well received. Trust me, people say they hated 10 retroactively, it worked well as a stand alone before people knew there were sequels, and there were tons of people echoing things like "OMG, I can't believe I got so into this game I actually did that lightning dodger thing for Lulu's ultimate weapon".

If your brandy new to Final Fantasy, I'd probably suggest starting with 4, 1-3 are good but quite retro even with the updates, the gameplay of 4 is where it starts to gain the characteristic depth that carried the series (ironically until they started making it progressively shallower).

 

[kypsilon]

IX was alright, it tried to bring back basic character classes which I thought the series really needed to do. VIII was alright, if not the more confusing of the bunch I thought, though it had a number of memorable scenes. I liked IX better than VIII but they were about average for a Final Fantasy game.

 

[Skoosh]

First few are meh. They used to be good, but didn't age as well.
4, 5 and 6 are very entertaining, great oldschool RPGs.
7 was good at the time, now it's mostly just good for nostalgia and to get jokes about it on webcomics.
8 is very hit or miss for people. It was a miss for me.
9 is one of the most underrated ones. It isn't the best one, but it was very very enjoyable.
10 was great, one of my favourites. Some people didn't like it because it's slightly more linear and change = bad for some.
11 wasn't really an FF game, it's an MMO.
12 was meh. Not horrible like some claim, but not nearly as good as the rest. Story was lacking and change = bad.
13 I didn't enjoy. Story was okay, visuals spectacular, but the battle system was much too boring. It felt like Metal Gear Solid where I just want to yell "if you wanted a movie, make a movie!" Autobattle and tons of cutscenes aren't fun, no interaction.
14 is like 11, MMO, only it's a bad MMO.

So um, yeah, there's my opinion of the games. A lot of that depends though on what you value in an RPG. Battle system, story, visuals, or characters. They all do well in at least one category usually.

 

[Pyre1million]

Having played through a couple of the games and sampled others, I can say confidently that 10 was exquisite. Most of the problems cited about it were completely ridiculous (You can believe in magical supermonsters conjured from the ether, but not in the dreams of a magical race creating living things? Seriously?). The characterization was fantastic, the world was grand (if a bit harsh on the eyes at points), and the story was as sweepingly epic as it should be in a Final Fantasy game. The voice acting was not the best, primarily because their localization was shit and again, people didn't understand what was going on. You cannot try to match an English script to Japanese lip flap and expect it to convey things right, and the result is almost every one the protagonist's line suffering because of the attempt.

As to the infamous laughing scene, it's SUPPOSED to be that way. Yes, it's intentionally meant to be that painful to hear.

11 is an MMO. It has the downfalls and advantages that come with the genre. You need a team to do much of anything after level 5. Evidently there is a good game there, though.

12 has the most fantastically developed WORLD of any Final Fantasy title I've ever even heard of. The characterization is okay, the plot is strictly small-scale, the art style can be jarring to some. But the WORLD in which all of this takes place is so fully realized and engrossing that you can lose yourself in it. This is no doubt because they built heavily off of FF 11 and its MMO basis, but when the DETAILS of the world your game is set in are enough to tug the player in and not let go, well, that's an accomplishment you normally just don't SEE outside of Western RPGs.

13 is pretty much a movie. Everything in the game strives to create as little player interaction as possible. Presumably they were trying to create a heightened sense of realism, but it backfired spectacularly. That SAID, the game lives through its characters: they define the world around them, and the plot of the game itself, in a way few other characters in the series manage. The problem here is that some absolutely loathe the characters, while some (myself included) adore them. Given the minimal player interaction, where you fall on this scale determines whether you will enjoy the game or not.


Onto your original question.

8 is a romance story. It's important to understand this going in. The game's mechanics were awkward and clumsy in places (no accessories, you had to draw from a Guardian Force to do ANYTHING), and the story, thanks to time travel, was a bit of a mind screw. But as with 13 after it, if you like the characters then the game can tug you in. Along with the aspects of the mechanics that DO work.

9 is considered by the creator of Final Fantasy to be the perfect example of what a Final Fantasy game should be. All the characters are interesting, the story is deep and engrossing, the villain is very nearly the most powerful to appear throughout the entirety of the series, and he has one of the most fantastic character arcs. He also has one of the most ridiculous original costume designs, which feeds into the problem described below.
The mechanics are a little weird, but easy to manage once you understand them (items are very important). It's remarkably hard to find people who played through FFIX who dislike it; most I've talked to consider it their favorite of the series outright.

The one major flaw in 9 is the graphics in CG scenes. Going with the cutesy style they did drove many people away from the game without even giving it a chance. And it DOES detract from the game... a little.

But some of those cinematics are so sweepingly epic that the 'cutesy' style doesn't MATTER. When you can take something that cartoony and put in a scene of legitimately soul-chilling large-scale horror, you're doing something right.

In summary: each Final Fantasy game has its own merits and flaws. 8 comes down to either love it or hate it in most cases. 9, by most accounts, is a fantastic example of the series, and should be considered a don't miss for any fan of it.

 

[twaddle]

10 and 12 werent bad though, they just went in different directions, 10 was more cinematic and 12 had an entirely different gameplay system, i didnt think they were bad at all.

Thankyou!! I;m so bloody tired of the fanboys complaining that 11 wasn't good because it was not like the previous. It had a solid story, no crappy romance shoved in there,most of the characters were believeble, and the gambit system was a great new addition.

 

[Archangel768]

1-10 are good (as in 1 and 2 are good for their time I guess loL). They never made 11. 12 isn't bad. 13 is meh. It seems as though they are skipping the number 14 as well as 11 too.

One time I was wondering where 11 was and some guy pointed me towards an mmorpg and told me that was a final fantasy game. funniest joke I've heard in my life. Why would you make a mmo final fantasy? Yeah, doesn't make sense to me too. Strange thing is, the guy also told me that 14 was another mmo. Why would they waste time making something as ridiculous as a mmo a final fantasy game? Of course, I'm not stupid enough to believe that guy.

On a serious note, 10 is very popular so I'd say 11 - 14 is considered crap.

8 got a lot of complaints (probably because it came right after 7 and expectations are through the roof) however, I loved it.

9 is considered by most a very underrated game in the series. It's also the creators favourite.

One thing I've learnt from XIII is that I should only hope that the next game in the series is good, DO NOT believe it will be good no matter how good other entries in the series were. A big mistake on my part when getting XIII.

 

[JoeThree]

1 - Good for its time
4 - see 1
6 - See 4
7 - Good
Everything else - shit

 

[ckam]

Personally speaking, I think Final Fantasy 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9 were good and the rest weren't.