Final Fantasy curiousity

[SpiralDots]

I recommend IX the most, it still is my favourite FF game (although I have a soft spot for VII as it's the first one I played and so introduced me to the series) but well they're all different so it doesn't really matter which one you play.

However I would recommend leaving XIII for now, until you've played at least 2 or 3 more FF games, otherwise it might put you off since it's really nothing compared to other FF games (I like them making the games different, especially the battle systems, however I really, really struggle with XIII to find things I like and they've removed so many of the things that made the FF series good)

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

Tough call.

I mean, everyone has totally different opinions on the FF franchise.

You'll find a lot of love and a lot of hate for each game.

 

[MetalMaz]

I've loved FF since FFVII and still play them. I even bought I, II and IV when they were rereleased for the PS1.

If you're getting them from the PSN, £8 a pop is well worth the money (I don't have a clue how much they are in Australia though) and I've bought them all ('all' being VII, VIII and IX) despite having 3 copies of each in the original disc format. If you have a PS2 I would advise X BUT DO NOT BUY X-2, it was honestly the worst game I have ever played. XII was kinda pants, XIII is better (graphics at least) but I would wait untill you find it in a bargain bin or at least half price if you're short on cash.

 

[Blights]

Simply put it has this effect:

The greater the number at the end of "Final Fantasy" the worse it gets. 10 should be the limit max.

But 2 was horrible, and that's a really low number. How do you explain that?

I thought 2 was amazing...

OT: Considering what I just said, it's all preference. Take a look at some gameplay videos, and see what combat system you might like. 10's one is pretty basic turnbased stuff, while 7 is all about the ATB gauge.

 

[Naheal]

Each individual installment must be taken on it's own merits and not on the merits of it's predecessors. There's a greater disparity between fans of one installment and another installment than there are fans of one football team and another football team.

Edit: For example, I love the Ivalace series in Final Fantasy (XII, Tactics, Tactics Advance, Tactics A2) but can't stand to play VIII for any longer than a few minutes. For all the praise that VI has gotten, it hasn't caught my attention, but I love the shit out of V. I is still my favorite and II is up there.

 

[scorptatious]

If you're finding FFVII to be really fun, than you'll LOVE FFIX. At least that's what happened to me.

I can't really say anything about 13 as I have yet to play it. But just in case, I recommend playing some of the older FF games first.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Simply put it has this effect:

The greater the number at the end of "Final Fantasy" the worse it gets. 10 should be the limit max.

I wouldn't disagree but I can't quite agree with that...7, 8 and, 9 were my favorite but 6 had better characters and plot than 8 and (arguably) 9. I loved 7 - 9 for what they brought to the table in terms of gameplay (as for 9, I genuinely loved the characters. The story wasn't bad either) I never made it to the end of 10...didn't care too much for it to be honest.

Final Fantasy XIII is very different from VII. I don't think it's as good when it comes to characters (not just characteristically but aesthetically: FFXIII features more humans and synthetics than any other FF on display, making it seem far more sci-fi) FFXIII doesn't have any mini-games either. I wouldn't recommend FFXIII is what I'm getting at. I would recommend FFIX though.

 

[Legion IV]

Thanks for the input everyone, there seems to be a lot of anti-XIII sentiments out there from FF fans. The main problem seems to be that it is a lot different from the previous games... Maybe because I haven't played the originals I will get more enjoyment out of it? From a little research I've done it looks like a great and stunningly beautiful game.

Please i hope you read all of this.

Dont listen to the Anti FFXIII people alright? Am a fan of the series ever since i was born. I had a japensese console so i could play all of em in the right order my friend translated for me. I was like most and came into FFXIII with a hating attitude. I was wrong.

It is now my favotite game of the series and my favorite game. The Gameplay is amazing and refined its not like the others where you can power level and abuse stupid crap to blow through the game thats right am calling you out materia and junction. The game requires hardley if at all ANY grinding, or finding special items. Its 100% strategy. I hated how in 7,8 you could become STUPIDLY overpowered. As well the visuals, cutscenes and voice acting are the greatest i've seen and heard.

TO ALL THE LINEARITY COMPLAINERS.

If your like me when you play through a FF do you honestly run around and explore crap? Or do you want to follow the story? with me i wanna see how it turns out. when i played 7 i did nothing but go from point A and B to see the story i do that with everygame. In a sence every FF game is linear at heart. Having Stupid Fu*(&*^ minigames doesnt make it unlinear. FF HAS always been linear. And to the town and NPC complains i'll leave you with a quote my friend said as he was impersonating a NPC in FF "Hey there i can tell you alot of usless information you'll never need"

Oh forgot the leveling system. Its at its best here. As you level up your chracter just feels overall stronger. With many other FF games you will level up or get a spell and be like "Oh i have a spell now that may help me in certain situations but my chracter itself hasint improved. In FFXIII your chracters just overall get better you really ntce this.

Really i could go on for pages but i just hope you read this. Lol i keep debating on writing like a massive 5+ page write up on this game to show the world its a great game. I think i will. This game is truley a masterpeice. Get it, i dont know you or anything but i gaurntee you you will not regreat it. Thank you so much for your time.

 

[mirror's edgy]

Oddly enough FF3 still hasn't been re-released (to my knowledge) so its only available via a japanese rom and translation patch, via emulation.

FF3 is on the DS.


OT: You can get both 7 and 8 on PSN, you can also get Tactics there too (I prefer that more than any other FF). I am just letting you know of your options, I have yet to beat a Final Fantasy game, I get bored with them and just don't pick them up for 2 to 3 months and then forget where I was and what I was doing.

Agreed. DON'T get FF13. I can spend all day explaining why the story and level design are provably bad.

 

[WOPR]

So I've never played a final fantasy before. Dunno why but I have never been motivated to buy one, probably because none of my friends have either and there doesn't seem to be much coverage of them in Australia. I did play Kingdom Hearts on the PS2 and loved it, as well as pokemon on my old gameboy colour. Today I was looking through the PSN store and came across the original PS1 final fantasy seven and thought "what the hell?". I picked it up and I am enjoying it immensely so far. So my question is; are all of these games this enjoyable, and if so would 13 be worth aquiring? I don't have much money at the moment and I don't want to waste it on a game that will only last me a few days.

Good FF games = 4 (aka 2), 6 (aka 3), 7, and 9
Neutral FF games = 1, 2(J), 3(J), 5
Bad FF games = 8*, 10, 11, 12
Horrid FF games = 13, and Crystal Chronicles

All others I haven't played so I can't say

(* = I actually liked FF8 myself, but everyone I know either whines about junctioning being too complex or the gunblade being a stupid weapon that would never work in real life... they seem to not notice that half of the games name is FANTASY)

 

[ramboondiea]

get a cheap ps2 then you can play throu most of the series,
6 is endlessly enjoyable, and 12 is fantastic, its the game iv got the most time invested into. x prity mediocre but it plays very similar to 7 so you would probly like it alot

 

[mirror's edgy]

Thanks for the input everyone, there seems to be a lot of anti-XIII sentiments out there from FF fans. The main problem seems to be that it is a lot different from the previous games... Maybe because I haven't played the originals I will get more enjoyment out of it? From a little research I've done it looks like a great and stunningly beautiful game.

Please i hope you read all of this.

Dont listen to the Anti FFXIII people alright? Am a fan of the series ever since i was born. I had a japensese console so i could play all of em in the right order my friend translated for me. I was like most and came into FFXIII with a hating attitude. I was wrong.

It is now my favotite game of the series and my favorite game. The Gameplay is amazing and refined its not like the others where you can power level and abuse stupid crap to blow through the game thats right am calling you out materia and junction. The game requires hardley if at all ANY grinding, or finding special items. Its 100% strategy. I hated how in 7,8 you could become STUPIDLY overpowered. As well the visuals, cutscenes and voice acting are the greatest i've seen and heard.

TO ALL THE LINEARITY COMPLAINERS.

If your like me when you play through a FF do you honestly run around and explore crap? Or do you want to follow the story? with me i wanna see how it turns out. when i played 7 i did nothing but go from point A and B to see the story i do that with everygame. In a sence every FF game is linear at heart. Having Stupid Fu*(&*^ minigames doesnt make it unlinear. FF HAS always been linear. And to the town and NPC complains i'll leave you with a quote my friend said as he was impersonating a NPC in FF "Hey there i can tell you alot of usless information you'll never need"

Oh forgot the leveling system. Its at its best here. As you level up your chracter just feels overall stronger. With many other FF games you will level up or get a spell and be like "Oh i have a spell now that may help me in certain situations but my chracter itself hasint improved. In FFXIII your chracters just overall get better you really ntce this.

Really i could go on for pages but i just hope you read this. Lol i keep debating on writing like a massive 5+ page write up on this game to show the world its a great game. I think i will. This game is truley a masterpeice. Get it, i dont know you or anything but i gaurntee you you will not regreat it. Thank you so much for your time.

Okay, please listen to the other side of the argument.

I honestly see where you are coming from, but RPG fans tend to feel differently. The available sidequests (not just the minigames) were worth doing (not every one in the series, but I enjoyed a lot of them) because they helped show the player the world and characterize everyone. Many people have a problem with FF13's linearity because EVERYTHING is a hallway. I played around 10 hours of FF13 and never escaped the hallways. Even if you stuck to the main story in previous games, they were not this restrictive. Dungeons would have paths to explore leading to new equipment, items, etc. Look at the level map FF13 gives you. It is a straight line, bar maybe 2 lines branching off to marked treasure. I hear the world opens up five or ten hours from there, but I was done. I gave 13 a fair chance and so did a lot of people, but the game I saw is just too shallow. There is no exploratory element in the level design, meaning all you could do was walk straight from encounter to encounter until the next cutscene. No puzzles, no hidden item caches, it just felt too routine.

Was it possible to become very overpowered in old FF games? Yes, but you had to be very grind- happy to do so. I honestly haven't felt that way in FFs 4-7, which I have played a few times in a few different ways. The elimination of grinding I saw in FF13 wasn't a bad idea, but combat felt kind of weak. I've heard great praise for it, but every boss fight seemed to amount to buff, cast, stagger, heal, repeat. The combat was not terrible, but the other elements were no better. The story especially, as it was in dire need of better writing, exposition, and likable characters.

Is it the worst JRPG ever? Definitely not, but it is a bad Final Fantasy game. A series should experiment with new ideas, yes, but FF13 removed the elements people liked in the old games. Anyone else feel free to agree or disagree. And yes, I spent far too long writing this.

 

[supermariner]

Final Fantasy 7 is the best
10 is second best
and 9 comes in a respectable third

just my opinion mind, and i may well be in the minority. but i'm offering you my advice
if you're going to get any. get those three
13 isn't worth the effort

 

[TheDarkestDerp]

Simply put it has this effect:

The greater the number at the end of "Final Fantasy" the worse it gets. 10 should be the limit max.

Nice. *smiles* And agreed, though to be honest I've not given a nit or any of them past 6. Seems Yahtzee and I have an agreement on this aspect of RPGs, that they've become far more about the spectacle than any kind of interesting story or character, kind of like people that defend the new Transformers movies by saying the visuals are great... *rubs her temples* For me, each one I've seen has been more awful than the last, all style and no substance, culminating in the disaster that is XIII.

XIII... I watched my roomie play this train wreck hour after hour, day after day, grinding and grinding to get the items needed to improve whatever equipment he was using. I noticed how boring it was, how little control he really had over things, basically just telling his characters kind of an idea of what he wanted them to do and then watching them switch paradigms and do whatever fell within their new parameters. The characters weren't even interesting or all that likable, really. All against the same three types of enemies for whatever one-track hallway he was traveling down. And no matter what he did, it was all just filler in between the next big cutscene, and the game seems LOADED with those. The story started getting interesting after keeping up with his progress for several days of this drudgery, but I suppose bean flavored soda might taste good if I drank enough of it... *gags*

Maybe XIII is good for some folks, but I wouldn't pick it up from the bargain bin.

 

[spiffleh]

Final Fantasy is incredibly subjective. Personally I think FFX > FF13 > FF6 > the rest.

FFX has a really interesting plot and story that actually provides motivations for your actions. You actually have a decent reason from going from zone to zone. I find that if I stopped playing other FF's for a month, I'd come back and couldn't remember why I was going to the IIfa tree, or to Archadia or wherever. Leveling system leaves something to be desired but the plot made up for it IMO.

FF13 has a great battle system and good character development. The beginning is dry on gameplay but I found I wanted to know what was going on so badly, I kept playing. By the time you figure out a little of what's going on, combat picks up and becomes crazy fun.

FF6 had some interesting gameplay elements and an interesting story.

Honestly, compared to games like Eternal Sonata or Last Remnant, any of the final fantasy games are probably better. They all had a big production value (well except maybe the early ones, but I've only played FF3 to FF13 minus FFXI.)

 

[TheNamlessGuy]

DELETED

 

[TrevorGruen]

Simply put it has this effect:

The greater the number at the end of "Final Fantasy" the worse it gets. 10 should be the limit max.

Agreed. Personally my favorites have been 1,4,6,7,9 (Crisis core on psp was good too). I personally didnt like 8, but many people do. But 10 and up are bad. 11 was a shitty MMO, i havent played 12 so i cant comment, but 13 was garbage. I played it for 9 goddamn hours and all it was was going through a succession of 3 or 4 linear corridors broken up by combat that i controlled only a fraction of. Personally, if you like 7 i would suggest 9 as it works very similiar, and has a great story. I did not like 8 simply because squall annoyed me and the games menus were too complicated and metaphysical. But to every man his own, eh?

 

[Akihiko]

Thanks for the input everyone, there seems to be a lot of anti-XIII sentiments out there from FF fans. The main problem seems to be that it is a lot different from the previous games... Maybe because I haven't played the originals I will get more enjoyment out of it? From a little research I've done it looks like a great and stunningly beautiful game.

It's possible. I'd say either rent it, or give the gameplay a good look and see if you still like the look of it and then buy it when you know you like it. Also it largely depends on how much linearity bothers you. On one hand some people prefer it, and on the other hand people hate it. No one can really tell you whether you'll like it. As shown by this thread it causes a massive rift between people.

 

[Thundero13]

III is terrible, that's all i'm able to say.

 

[Defense]

Actually, check out Final Fantasy XIII if you can find it for a discount. It's actually one of the better Final Fantasy games to start with since most of the haters are Final Fantasy purists. If you play Call of Duty or other linear FPSes, then you'll definitely like Final Fantasy XIII. It keeps you on track and has really good gameplay(you don't even need to use auto-battle) in my opinion. The art style is great, the story is fairly good once you understand what's happening, and the characters constantly develop and grow together. However, it takes a while for the world to open and the battles take a bit of strategy, which doesn't help with the horrible battle curve after Chapter 10. And please don't call XIII an RPG, J or otherwise. So many little RPG elements made it to the game that it's about as much an RPG as Call of Duty. It's more of an Action RPG on rails than anything.

However, if you want more of a full RPG with "turn-based combat"(used loosely because ATB still exists), go for Final Fantasy IV, VI, VII, X, or even Tactics. The other Final Fantasy games aren't bad bar II, but the stories and characters aren't really that great.

Nice. *smiles* And agreed, though to be honest I've not given a nit or any of them past 6. Seems Yahtzee and I have an agreement on this aspect of RPGs, that they've become far more about the spectacle than any kind of interesting story or character, kind of like people that defend the new Transformers movies by saying the visuals are great... *rubs her temples* For me, each one I've seen has been more awful than the last, all style and no substance, culminating in the disaster that is XIII.

I fail to see how Final Fantasy VI has a great plot. It had great characters, sure, but the plot was "Destroy the Empire with your rebel team". Don't tell me that plot was never unused.

Pray tell, how did Final Fantasy become about spectacle after VI?