Final Fantasy - recommendation?

[TheLastSamurai14]

Of course they're tame, they are all asleep. Have you recently experienced how slow that game moves?

That made me lol, but it's true. I mean even at the fastest ATB speed, nothing gets done. This is why I have Auto-Haste equipped on my whole party at all times.

But the slowness of IX kind of makes me want future games to use the fast paced ATB style of XIII. Detract the game as much as you want for linearity and Auto-Battle, but the ATB mechanics in it were near flawless if Auto-Battle wasn't used.

I really just want Square to somehow patch XIII and XIII-2 with an option to remove that damned button. A lot of people would realize that the game required more strategy if they were forced to actually input their specific commands.

EDIT: Just looked it up. Seems they have a "disable Auto-Battle" option in XIII-2. Now for a XIII patch...

 

[Epona]

Could you elaborate on the "less Final Fantasy-ish" part? Because, outside looking in, all the FF games seemed pretty easily identifiable and, from what little I know of the 3D ones, all share a similar art style and story focuses.

It is difficult to put into words. I imagine the following hypothetical situation though: If Final Fantasy 13 got released as [insert random generic RPG title], then no one would have said: "Gee, this feels like a Final Fantasy game".

Final Fantasy 10 made a few changes (like: voice over, different story flow, no world map) everything together made it feel different. It was still easily recognizable as a Final Fantasy game. With Final Fantasy 12 the combat system got changed into something completely different. Also the story, setting, side quests... everything felt even less like Final Fantasy. But still it had some Final Fantasy feeling. With Final Fantasy 13 that feeling is gone almost entirely. Everything is changed.

Actually, Final Fantasy X ditched the world map and added voice acting. What makes it Final Fantasy? There were many games before it with a job specific turn based battle system. The sphere grid was completely new and didn't have anything to do with Final Fantasy.

What is Final Fantasy-ish? Besides the mainstays like item names, chocobos, etc....what gameplay elements stay the same with every game?

 

[BarnaclePD]

FF5 - Is Quality, Simple and well-made.
FF7 - Even without the Hype, its one of the best JRPG's ever made.
FF9 - My Personal Favourite.
FF10 - Also very fun if a little too japaneseey.
FF12 - Much better than 13 and a very underrated game.

Also Chrono Trigger, i know its not FF but it's Square and may as well be and is an excellent game.

And i should mention FF8, it's like Marmite, you either love it, or hate it, i personally hate it but meh...

 

[kabooz18]

So please don't burn me at the stake or anything, but I've never actually tried a FF game before. I honestly have no idea on anything about the series, although I have played JRPGs before.

So I thought 'why the hell not?' and figured I should try one out. Problems is, I don't know which one; apparently there's really good ones and there's really, REALLY bad ones. Can anyone recommend me which FF instalment I should start off with?

depends on what you look past in a game and what you want from a game^^

I'd recommend FF X if you have a good pc and PCSX2 and no problem with more tactical battle (there is even an UNDUB - patch flying around the net)

if you can look past the graphics or are willing to play on a PS1 emulator like ePSXe
I'd recommend you try FF VIII and FF IX they are both very good beautiful soundtracks and awesome designed

FF VII was very hyped but it's with FF XII the only Final Fantasy games I actually stopped playing somewhere after 30 hours since I didn't care for the story or the characters anymore (except for Vincent he is always awesome)
but FF XII's gameplay is pretty unique for FF and the fighting is fun

FF XIII is also pretty good but it's more of a movie which doesn't bother me since the story is absolutely superb and the fighting is great (though it's only good pretty late in the game) it's also the hardest FF (except for special bosses)

EDIT: also you should try FF VI it's FF III in the states (it has the best story of them all)

hope I could help a little

 

[Epona]

Of course they're tame, they are all asleep. Have you recently experienced how slow that game moves?

That made me lol, but it's true. I mean even at the fastest ATB speed, nothing gets done. This is why I have Auto-Haste equipped on my whole party at all times.

But the slowness of IX kind of makes me want future games to use the fast paced ATB style of XIII. Detract the game as much as you want for linearity and Auto-Battle, but the ATB mechanics in it were near flawless.

I recently bought in on PSN and played it on my PSP for a 8-10 hours or something and all my illusions about how great that game was were shattered. I think the speed of Final Fantasy XIII's battle system has spoiled me. I am currently playing X and I am wishing it was faster too. It's like "Lulu, just cast the damn spell already".

 

[Jfswift]

Well if you want one with modern graphics try Final Fantasy X otherwise I recommend the play station remake of FF1 or try FF6 (4 is my favorite but it's really long and not everyone will like it).

 

[4RM3D]

What is Final Fantasy-ish? Besides the mainstays like item names, chocobos, etc....what gameplay elements stay the same with every game?

That is a very interesting question. But, I think, this question is a whole different subject.

It is at least something I can't just put into words in a few sentences. The most simplistic answer would be that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Or to put it differently, everything comes together and becomes something different entirely. Thats when you have the Final Fantasy feeling. But what this really means?

Emo guys with insane hairstyles that defy gravity? (hehe)
Epic story line of good vs evil?
Music by Nobuo Uematsu?
Turn base combat?
Unique fantasy worlds?

I can't really dissect Final Fantasy like that.

 

[Mikeyfell]

As a starting place?
Either 10 or 12
They have the high quality presentation that won't turn you off. (And I say "either" because they're completely different games. 12 is my favorite)

If you like which ever one of those you chose then you can move back to 8 or 9 or the earlier ones knowing what you're getting into.

My top 5 are
12
9
10
8
6

 

[Arqus_Zed]

I'd recommend Final Fantasy IX, like so many others already have.

It has a good story with both humorous and very serious parts, epic in scope and probably has the least plot holes of all FF games. The designs of characters and monsters are quite interesting and the environments (despite being pre-rendered backgrounds from more than a decade ago) bring life to a truly fantastical world. It's also quite easy and doesn't have too much annoying exploitable mechanics (Squall's Limit Break in FF VIII, Yojimbo's Zanmato in FF X, etc.)

Also, the music is very memorable. It doesn't have the epic orchestra of Halo or God Of War game, but atmospheric piano pieces like 'Loss Of Me' and 'Tantalus Theme' will linger forever in the back of your head.

The gameplay is also quite straightforward, in both combat an stat upgrading, so no problems there. If you would rather have a more "innovative" stat upgrading system, you might want to look into FF X. Or FF VII if you don't mind really crappy graphics. Or FF VIII if you don't mind grinding like hell and being confronted with a highly original, yet completely Junction system.

Oh, and FF XII is always good if you want more of a "western RPG/MMO RPG"-feel to your JRPG.

 

[RJ 17]

Is FF1 the best game in the franchise though? I don't really mind screwing up the chronology or anything, I just want to see what the series has to offer. If I like the first one I play, then it'll probably entice me to go back to the first one and work my way through.

Since, with a couple exceptions, each individual game's story has nothing to do with the game before it, you can really start anywhere you want. As such, chronology isn't really much of an issue.

Most of the people in my gaming circle grew up with the FF series 1-6, and as such we'd tell you that those are the best games out of the franchise. 7 is widely hailed as the best one ever, but there's plenty of people out there (myself included) that don't see what all the fuss is about...it's good, but just another FF game.

In all honesty, I'd say that FF8 is probably the easiest one to start with of the "modern" series (by "modern" I mean CD-based games). The thing of it is though, just like how each FF game's story doesn't play off the previous game, nor do the mechanics of any given FF play off the previous game. Most every FF game comes with a few new/different mechanics. For example, FF4 only has 2 set characters that can learn white and black magic and only one of them can call summoned monsters, while in FF 6 you can have anyone you want learn any spell you want and summon any monster you want (specifically by equiping the summoned monsters to a character and as that character levels up, the monster teaches them spells). This was tweeked in FF 7 in that still, anyone can learn any spell and summon any monster, but now you've got to equip specific "materia" for each specific spell/command/summon.

In short: if you ask me they haven't made a good FF game since FF 7 (not counting Final Fantasy Tactics which most consider outside the franchise since it's more of a strategy game than a standard RPG). I'd stick with FF 1-6, to be honest. But maybe I'm just like an old Star Wars fan. Someone who saw the original movies as a kid, absolutely loved them, grew up and saw what they did to the series, and now thinks it's all a bunch of crap. Somewhere Final Fantasy Tactics for the PS1 was the ast FF game to feature actual fantasy characters (knights in armor and wizards in robes and such). Every FF since then (FF7 included even though it came out before FFT) has been filled with a bunch of characters with crapy anime outfits and crapy anime haircuts and even crappier english voice acting. As Yahtzee said in one of his reviews, "When will people realize that Square-Enix doesn't want to make games anymore? They want to make movies!"

But yeah, if you don't mind the fact that the series now'a'days is essentially just a bunch of crappy stand-alone animes, then it really doesn't matter which FF you play first. No matter which one you choose you're going to have to learn mechanics that are unique to that title, as such one is as good as any other.

 

[SpaceBat]

Mentally disturbed? I don't think I've ever run across any of them, as IX's fanbase tends to be pretty tame from where I sit. Care to elaborate?

Spoiler

Remember that scene where Zidane, being the pervert that he is, "accidentally" grabbed Garnet's butt? I've encountered people who actively praised Zidane for that scene, mentioning that we all should do the same, that anyone with a double x chromosome exists for our pleasure only anyway and that it's completely her fault and deserved even more due to her selection of clothing. Perhaps it was just a fairly big team of trolls, but I didn't stay long enough to find out. All of this on a family-friendly gaming site too. I call people who actually mean these stuff mentally disturbed, but perhaps sexually frustrated is the more fitting word.

It is obviously a very tiny section of its fanbase (although that scene does seem to be incredibly popular). The majority of IX's fanbase is often tame and surprisingly mature. Unfortunately, every time Zidane does his usual pervert shenanigans, I cannot help but to remember those disgusting comments.

 

[TheLastSamurai14]

That made me lol, but it's true. I mean even at the fastest ATB speed, nothing gets done. This is why I have Auto-Haste equipped on my whole party at all times.

But the slowness of IX kind of makes me want future games to use the fast paced ATB style of XIII. Detract the game as much as you want for linearity and Auto-Battle, but the ATB mechanics in it were near flawless.

I recently bought in on PSN and played it on my PSP for a 8-10 hours or something and all my illusions about how great that game was were shattered. I think the speed of Final Fantasy XIII's battle system has spoiled me. I am currently playing X too and I am wishing it was faster too. It's like "Lulu, just cast the damn spell already".

Yeah, I can totally see where you're coming from with that. I stopped playing IX for a few months while I played XIII (the Platinum took me about a year to get, what with me getting every single variation on the ultimate weapons), but then went back to IX after my first XIII playthrough. The speed didn't completely ruin the game for me, as I managed to get used to it again, but it as well as...other factors really took a toll on me.

"ZIDANE, Y U NO STEAL INSTANTLY!?"

"Eiko, just switch to fucking ravager!"

"Crap, time to break out a full ATB skill!"

"Oh shit, he's charging a big attack! Steelguard!! Steelguard!!"

Yeah, I don't think XIII was good for my health.

Mentally disturbed? I don't think I've ever run across any of them, as IX's fanbase tends to be pretty tame from where I sit. Care to elaborate?

Spoiler

Remember that scene where Zidane, being the pervert that he is, "accidentally" grabbed Garnet's butt? I've encountered people who actively praised Zidane for that scene, mentioning that we all should do the same, that anyone with a double x chromosome exists for our pleasure only anyway and that it's completely her fault and deserved even more due to her selection of clothing. Perhaps it was just a fairly big team of trolls, but I didn't stay long enough to find out. All of this on a family-friendly gaming site too. I call people who actually mean these stuff mentally disturbed, but perhaps sexually frustrated is the more fitting word.

It is obviously a very tiny section of its fanbase (although that scene does seem to be incredibly popular). The majority of IX's fanbase is often tame and surprisingly mature. Unfortunately, every time Zidane does his usual pervert shenanigans, I cannot help but to remember those disgusting comments.

Oh Jesus Christ...the fanbase has THAT type of people? Great...The last thing I want it to be tainted by is a bunch of sexually frustrated misogynists.

Luckily, that's most likely an extremely vocal minority. No one I've encountered IRL or on the Internet has even mentioned that scene, much less praised Zidane for his antics.

I for one kind of wish Garnet was able to keep the white mage robe for longer. I love callbacks to the older games, and that was one of my favorites.

 

[Enigma Syndrome]

To start off? FFIV is pretty straight forward, has pretty good characters (albeit 'WAAHHHH MY LIFE SUCKS' Cecil and typical badass Kain) and as far as story goes it's not THAT convoluted? Most FF's tend to be anyways.

Plus I mean c'mon. Tower of Babil? Awesome.

 

[Epona]

What is Final Fantasy-ish? Besides the mainstays like item names, chocobos, etc....what gameplay elements stay the same with every game?

That is a very interesting question. But, I think, this question is a whole different subject.

It is at least something I can't just put into words in a few sentences. The most simplistic answer would be that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Or to put it differently, everything comes together and becomes something different entirely. Thats when you have the Final Fantasy feeling. But what this really means?

Emo guys with insane hairstyles that defy gravity? (hehe)
Epic story line of good vs evil?
Music by Nobuo Uematsu?
Turn base combat?
Unique fantasy worlds?

I can't really dissect Final Fantasy like that.

The WHOLE includes the Final Fantasy name and once the name is applied, then the point becomes mute. The question is, if Final Fantasy XIII didn't have the Final Fantasy name on it, would anyone say "This is like Final Fantasy"? Replace XIII with X or VII and so on and see if any game would pass that test.

Some may have said "Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire 2 are like Final Fantasy", I would.

The emo guy thing only started with VII. So that would mean VI is not Final Fantasy-ish. Besides, don't other games have an emo guy?

Epic storyline of good vs evil, doesn't every JRPG have this?

Nobuo Uematsu did the music for Lost Odyssey too I believe.

Turn based combat is in many JRPG's.

Unique fantasy worlds, many JRPG's.

Also, there are alot of games with the Final Fantasy name that shouldn't have. Like that Wiiware title, My Life as a King. That could have taken place in the Disney Universe and it wouldn't have changed much.

 

[Palademon]

I can unironically recommend FFXIII.
You're new to Final Fantasy so you won't have the fan rage other people do.

 

[Epona]

That made me lol, but it's true. I mean even at the fastest ATB speed, nothing gets done. This is why I have Auto-Haste equipped on my whole party at all times.

But the slowness of IX kind of makes me want future games to use the fast paced ATB style of XIII. Detract the game as much as you want for linearity and Auto-Battle, but the ATB mechanics in it were near flawless.

I recently bought in on PSN and played it on my PSP for a 8-10 hours or something and all my illusions about how great that game was were shattered. I think the speed of Final Fantasy XIII's battle system has spoiled me. I am currently playing X too and I am wishing it was faster too. It's like "Lulu, just cast the damn spell already".

Yeah, I can totally see where you're coming from with that. I stopped playing IX for a few months while I played XIII (the Platinum took me about a year to get, what with me getting every single variation on the ultimate weapons), but then went back to IX after my first XIII playthrough. The speed didn't completely ruin the game for me, as I managed to get used to it again, but it as well as...other factors really took a toll on me.

"ZIDANE, Y U NO STEAL INSTANTLY!?"

"Eiko, just switch to fucking ravager!"

"Crap, time to break out a full ATB skill!"

"Oh shit, he's charging a big attack! Steelguard!! Steelguard!!"

Yeah, I don't think XIII was good for my health.

XIII doesn't get the credit it deserves. I beat it twice now, I never beat XII so it's safe to say that I like it more than most Final Fantasy games. I can't count the number of times I beat 6 and 7 but only once for 8 and 9. Twice for X. IV was ok, I beat it once and have no desire to return to it, I didn't like always switching characters, just give me my team and let me build them up. XIII was guilty of that as well but not as bad.

 

[4RM3D]

The WHOLE includes the Final Fantasy name and once the name is applied, then the point becomes mute. The question is, if Final Fantasy XIII didn't have the Final Fantasy name on it, would anyone say "This is like Final Fantasy"? Replace XIII with X or VII and so on and see if any game would pass that test.

Some may have said "Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire 2 are like Final Fantasy", I would.

The emo guy thing only started with VII. So that would mean VI is not Final Fantasy-ish. Besides, don't other games have an emo guy?

Epic storyline of good vs evil, doesn't every JRPG have this?

Nobuo Uematsu did the music for Lost Odyssey too I believe.

Turn based combat is in many JRPG's.

Unique fantasy worlds, many JRPG's.

Also, there are alot of games with the Final Fantasy name that shouldn't have. Like that Wiiware title, My Life as a King. That could have taken place in the Disney Universe and it wouldn't have changed much.

That...

Emo guys with insane hairstyles that defy gravity? (hehe)

was a joke.

Anyhow, what point do you want to make? That Final Fantasy is nothing more than a name?

 

[OManoghue]

Play Chronotrigger, it's a JRPG without the whiny girly men and terrible voice acting.

 

[Epona]

The WHOLE includes the Final Fantasy name and once the name is applied, then the point becomes mute. The question is, if Final Fantasy XIII didn't have the Final Fantasy name on it, would anyone say "This is like Final Fantasy"? Replace XIII with X or VII and so on and see if any game would pass that test.

Some may have said "Breath of Fire and Breath of Fire 2 are like Final Fantasy", I would.

The emo guy thing only started with VII. So that would mean VI is not Final Fantasy-ish. Besides, don't other games have an emo guy?

Epic storyline of good vs evil, doesn't every JRPG have this?

Nobuo Uematsu did the music for Lost Odyssey too I believe.

Turn based combat is in many JRPG's.

Unique fantasy worlds, many JRPG's.

Also, there are alot of games with the Final Fantasy name that shouldn't have. Like that Wiiware title, My Life as a King. That could have taken place in the Disney Universe and it wouldn't have changed much.

That...

Emo guys with insane hairstyles that defy gravity? (hehe)

was a joke.

Anyhow, what point do you want to make? That Final Fantasy is nothing more than a name?

Yes, I guess that's my point.

Aside from chocobos, item names, Cid, Mog and a few other mainstays, Final Fantasy games are a new experience every time. Direct sequels don't count even though X-2 is nothing like X.