Getting into Final Fantasy?

[AuronFtw]

I could give a run-down on all of them but everyone else is doing that so I'll just give you titles I think you could start with.

Great idea to start with; IX, X
Good idea to start with; IV, VI, VII
Bad idea to start with; II, III, VIII

Note that I haven't played I or V yet.

Pretty much this. I favor 8 a little higher, but I also agree that it's not a good one to start with - some of the plot elements are arcane at best, the main character is quite possibly the least likeable one in the entire franchise (aside from vaan, who I don't really consider a character at all), and it's got various other issues. I'd recommend you play it, but definitely play some of the others first.

The games all feature somewhat similar progression, so if you absolutely hate the first two you play, you probably won't like any of the others. Unless those first two are 12 and 13, in which case join the club!

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I'd recommend starting with Final Fantasy X. It has a great story, with well developed characters and antagonists. The combat system is also the best in the series by far. It also has a ton of post-game content.

The upcoming HD re-release would be a good place to start with the series.

After that you should play VI and VII.

 

[Ieyke]

Greetings, fellow escapists. I come before you on this evening to ask a simple question: Where's the best place to start for someone looking to try Final Fantasy?

Now I know there's a lot of division among the fanbase, so I'd like to mention something before you post. I've never played any incarnation of FF before, nor, for that matter, any JRPG at all. What this means is that I have no attachment whatsoever to the series, so I won't feel betrayed if I start with [Insert whatever one you like least here]. Also, the less mechanically obtuse the game, the better.

If you could also give a brief explanation of the reason for starting with one in particular (beyond simply, "this one is better than the rest"), that would be fantastic. Thanks!

Play Tactics and ignore anything in the series after FF9.

Instead of any of the non-Tactics Final Fantasys, I'd play Suikoden 2, or Suikoden 1 (since 2 is so hard to find), or Xenogears, or Lunar:Silver Star Story Complete, or Secret Of Mana, or Legend Of Mana, or Chrono Trigger.

Above all else, go play Super Mario RPG:Legend Of The Seven Stars. There's no better place to start with JRPGs.


I unrecommend Final Fantasy X.
It's sooo dull and absurd. And that's the game where the art direction began to get truly atrocious.

 

[foxlovingfreak]

The first one I played was 8 and wail it still my personal favorite the junction system isn't really beginner frenidly I actually went threw the first two areas with just the attack command until I figured out how to get it to work. 13 is also not the best place to start due to the fact that unlike the other games in the series where even if they start throwing terms around like SEED or MAkO you kind of understand what there talking about whers in 13 you have to look at the games pause menu to even have a fundamental grasp of what's happening. Like everyone else here 10 is the one I recommend and probably the most beginner friendly with 7 being my next recommendation even though its graphics haven't aged that well.

 

[foxlovingfreak]

The first one I played was 8 and wail it still my personal favorite the junction system isn't really beginner frenidly I actually went threw the first two areas with just the attack command until I figured out how to get it to work. 13 is also not the best place to start due to the fact that unlike the other games in the series where even if they start throwing terms around like SEED or MAkO you kind of understand what there talking about whers in 13 you have to look at the games pause menu to even have a fundamental grasp of what's happening. Like everyone else here 10 is the one I recommend and probably the most beginner friendly with 7 being my next recommendation even though its graphics haven't aged that well.

 

[AuronFtw]

I was going to edit this into my previous post, but lol walls of text. This one is mostly about the differences in linearity and combat... both of which took a turn for the worse at/after 10.

Spoiler: Linearity and Combat Agency in the Final Fantasy games

One of the big differences between pre-10 and post-10 is linearity. Compared to any given WRPG (particularly ones like Elder Scrolls or Fallout), the story is set on a linear path. This is fine, and part of the experience, since this allows the story as a whole to be more cohesive. That said, aggressive linearity is something the earlier games avoid. Each one features an Airship, letting you fly around the world map at your leisure, exploring every corner of it for hidden treasures or secret dungeons. You often re-visit locations from earlier, either to catch up with an NPC you met or because something changed in the town. Even though the overarching plot is linear, you still have "freedom" in how quickly you want to proceed, and how much sidequesting/fuckabout exploration you want to do in the meantime. Some even feature submarines or submersible airships (lol), allowing you to explore an ocean map in addition to the world map.

In FFX, you lose the airship and world map exploration. The freedom to fly around turns into a drop-down menu of teleportable locations. Yeah, you're "in an airship" but for all intents and purposes you are stuck to the very linear path from Besaid to Zanarkand with only the ability to teleport to various points along the road. 12 and 13 continue this trend, offering teleport services in lieu of world exploration. In an already-linear game in an already-linear genre, the loss of the world exploration mechanic was a huge step backward, and turns the games into little more than a series of corridors with flashy lights. (Compare it, for example, to the level design differences in Doom to any modern shooter - a maze full of monsters to explore and blast your way through or a series of cutscenes held together with string).

The second big drawback in the newer games (from 12 onward) is the lack of combat commands. You set up your party's AI in advance, giving simple commands like "use a potion on anyone under 50% health" or "maintain the trap detection spell on yourself" or (for a slow, heavy hitter) "prioritize attacks on enemies above 80% health." While this allows combat to be in "real time" (albeit with very long delays between skills...) it takes all sense of agency out of the game, as you (the player) are reduced to the ferryman who brings the party from fight to fight and watches the movie unfold, only deigning to take the reins if your party is having the downs and trying to cast fire spells on a fire monster or something.

Many people complain (Yahtzee included!) that menu-driven combat is boring, but I disagree; combat where you do nothing at all is far more boring. Issuing commands, sometimes intricately-ordered commands including summoning chains or heals landing at the "right moment" gave a hell of a lot of weight to the combat in the earlier games. Towards the end, if you spent any amount of time doing side quests, you'll easily stomp any opponent barring the optional megabosses, but for the bulk of the game your ability to make every decision in every battle matters, and that brought me a hell of a lot closer to the characters than watching them fight monsters by themselves did in ff12 and 13.

In 12 and 13, the only time I had to take control (aside from when I was fucking dying from boredom and wanted something to do aside from watch the movie) was during (some) boss fights. They either attacked too frequently or had constantly-changing resistances (or something, you get the picture) for the baby's first AI party to deal with, so you have to step in. But those were over very quickly, most of them were easy (don't use the thing the monster absorbs), and they were rare... so *most of the time* you just used the left analog stick to move and x to listen to Hope whine about his day.

Compared to the masterpieces of the earlier games, those were very hard to adjust to - and I found myself not wanting to. They were just pseudo-games using the Final Fantasy label to rake in the dough without having any of what made the series incredible back in the day, more akin to movies than games once you had the AI bit sorted out. I can totally understand when people find menu-driven combat slow, especially if they're coming off a God of War binge or similar, but replacing actual combat commands with player-optional fight movies is not the way to improve the system. It's such a bad change it even hurts the story elements by disconnecting the player from the characters, which is ultimately "the point" of Final Fantasy games :/

 

[Charli]

I'll let Hitler answer for me:


Seriously though, I'd reccomend 4,7,9, and 10. Those games are all pretty good IMO.

IX for me is the one that reigns over all of them though.

This guy knows what's up.

Nine is something of a recap of every theme and trope of the original final fantasies 1 through to 6. The game play isn't necessarily the most engaging but the story and characters are as beloved and endearing as any grade-A Disney classic. This has a more medieval crossed with steampunk vibe to it.

If you want to get straight into the more ...cyber, darker(?) themed Final Fantasies, start with 7. Some good characters, but personally the lead is not my cup of tea. Gameplay is about on the same level.

Final Fantasy has never been about gameplay in the past, the gameplay supports the story and character growth. And Nine I feel has the least intrusive combat system of any of them. Your safest bet in my humble opinion. I hope you come to enjoy it if you do play it!

.


I unrecommend Final Fantasy X.
It's sooo dull and absurd. And that's the game where the art direction began to get truly atrocious.

While I disagree that it's atrocious, I absolutely agree that this is where the art for Final Fantasy started to offend me. This creepy, doll looking, J-rocker look wasn't doing it for me. And the character designs became less about the character and who they are, and more about making some bizarre fashion statement.

 

[Rattja]

I agree with what most people say here, but personally I'd just say as long as you don't play anything after 10 you'll be fine.
They all have their own theme, feel and story, so it depends more on your taste than anything else.

But as people say, 6,7,9 or 10 would be the best choice.

 

[Colour Scientist]

Final Fantasy IX. It is easily the most accessible of all the Final Fantasy games. It also has an amazing story and soundtrack.

Seconded.
I'm pretty biased though, it's one of my favourite games ever.

 

[Ratty]

Yeah I'm very biased towards 9 as it's one of my favorite games as well. Melodies of Life still gives me all kinds of feels.

Spoiler: Incidentally, the piano version would be a perfect wedding song.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I don't think anyone recommended V yet? That's my favourite out of the entire main series. Play the GBA version if possible, as the translation is better. Anyway, the job system and the general design of the game mean it has the best combat in the series (besides FFX which has amazing combat, but suffers in all other areas) and the plot, while it's far from fantastic, is fun and whimsical and doesn't take itself too seriously.

It's probably one of the harder games in the series, but it's nothing too daunting.

If you want to experience the Final Fantasy that the internet always talks about, though, you'll want VI, VII or IX. Out of those, I think IX is the best. I started with VII, though, and I loved it. It suffers from a poor translation, and there's no point using any character besides the ones with strong physical attacks by a certain point (since they'll almost always hit the damage cap and everyone can use magic) but it has a great atmosphere, interesting (if a bit convoluted) plot and likable characters. And ignore his other incarnations; in FF7 Cloud is snarky and not even all that moody. He tries to act the part of a cold-hearted mercenary early on, but it lasts all of five minutes and is a paper-thin fascade.

FFXII would be my favourite if it weren't for the Final Fantasy elements. Best villain in the main series with an interesting, highly political storyline and some absolutely fantastic translated dialogue, but the teenage main character and some other elements just feel kinda out of place.

Tactics is the best game in the franchise in terms of both gameplay and plot, and it isn't even close. Not sure I'd recommend it as a starting point, though, as it's really not very much like the rest of the series.

 

[The Abhorrent]

To go through a few quick recommendations, from most to least...

Final Fantasy IX
If there ever was a "definitive" game in the FF series, I'd have to name FF9; it's the nostalgia-driven homage to all the games which came before it, taking the best elements of each and bringing it all together as wonderful experience from start to finish. The storyline is relatively easy to understand, but VERY well-paced and enjoyable. The characters all have their own development, and are quite endearing in their own right. While not the best soundtrack in the series (in my opinion), it's still one of the better ones. You can't go wrong with this game, period.

Final Fantasy VI
FF6 is the first game which departed from pure fantasy and started incorporating some science fiction elements into the game, but it's best known for having some of the best characters in the series and quite possibly the single best soundtrack in all of gaming. The legendary opera scene, with the renowned Aria de Mezzo Carattere, is one of those things which remains to be topped... it's been 20 years at this point, it's that good. The game itself is quite good as well, but the focal points here are definitely the storytelling, characters, and music.

Final Fantasy X
FFX is the first of the "modern" FFs, and takes place before Square started reworking how their battle system works; it still closely follows the old ATB system (which all my other recommendations have), just changes the active timer for a pseudo-cooldown approach. First FF game to feature voice acting.

Final Fantasy IV
Now, for the "classic" game of the series. FF4 may not be the best in the series, but it more or less established it; the first game to feature a compelling storyline, and it also introduced the ATB system. It may be a bit dated at this point, but it still works quite well.

Final Fantasy VII
The praise of this particular game is often overblown in my opinion, though one can't deny that how successful it was at popularizing the series nor the fact that it's still a great game in its own right. I'm not a big fan of it myself, but it's still worth playing through once.

---

The first picks from me would be FF6 and FF9.

FF6 is one of the best classic games out there, though it may be a bit dated for some. FF9 is just modern enough to overcome that issue, and is potentially the best overall package in the series; even if it lacks the stand-out moments other games in the series have, it's has some of the best balance throughout.

 

[krazykidd]

Don't. As a long time fan of final fantasy i could write a long post abou the pros and cons of each FF ( tactics was the best), and give you suggestions as to which to choose but i won't. If you now want to get into them, but my suggestion is not to. Final fantasy has always been, pioneers in graphical design ( it used to be story but now ehh).Without nostalgia, the old games aren't quite as impressive, and have become irrelevent.What i would suggest is to either play FF14:ARR or wait for Final fantasy 15 . It's definately not worth it as a newcomer to go back to the old games.

 

[UniversalRonin]

Really you can start with any one that you wish since generally all the Final Fantasy games are different and give you a different feel. For example, X was my first one but since then I've played every numbered FF game and now XII is my all time favorite.

Yay for the XII love!

OT: While 12 is my favourite, 7 was the first one I played, and in whatever year that was (98/99 I think- not when it came out- when I first played it) it was FAN-TAS-TIC. but like lots of people seem to be suggesting, go for 9. It harks back to the older style FF's visual style while continuing with the evolution of the game style, 12 is my personal favourite, but then I can't think of many jobs cooler than being a sky pirate who lives with a playboy bunny.

EDIT- fixed broken quote box

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

X, always X and what with the HD collection coming out next month or soon after I'd start exactly there so the graphics still look nice

 

[Kotaro]

I have three recommendations, depending on what you're looking for:

"Final Fantasy VI" is probably the best in the series overall, and it's aged remarkably well. However, the original SNES version is really glitchy and the PS1 port has awful load times. I recommend the GBA remake.
"Final Fantasy IX" has some minor issues, but it's a close second to VI in terms of quality. Absolutely fantastic game, and it's available as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Network.
"Final Fantasy X" and "Final Fantasy X-2" have a lot of haters, and yeah, their stories are told really poorly. However, they have what I would call the best combat systems (and in the case of X-2, the best implementation of the Job System) in the franchise. The upcoming HD collection for the PS3 and Vita will have the Japan-only re-releases of both of them, which added a little bit of extra content.

Those are my personal recommendations, but most of the main/numbered installments are good, though some more than others.

 

[MrBaskerville]

I would start with 9, a nice and simple skill system and a very gripping and coherent story that's easy to follow (compared to 7, 8, 10 and 13). Else i would probably go for either 6 or 12 for the same reasons as 9. But after those i would probably take a look at 7 and 10 as they are quite brilliant as well, the story is just a bit harder to follow (But combat is really nice in 10 and the music + atmosphere kicks ass in 7).

 

[Tactical Pause]

Thanks for the replies everyone, you've been a big help.

I think I'll start with 6, and work my way up from there (probably skipping 8). Is there any particular place in that order where Tactics should go? Or can I just sort of fit it in wherever.

 

[FFP2]

Well considering the the HD remaster of X is coming out soon so you might as well start with that. Quite a few of the older games don't really hold up.

 

[Bocaj2000]

Now I know there's a lot of division among the fanbase, so I'd like to mention something before you post. I've never played any incarnation of FF before, nor, for that matter, any JRPG at all. What this means is that I have no attachment whatsoever to the series, so I won't feel betrayed if I start with [Insert whatever one you like least here]. Also, the less mechanically obtuse the game, the better.

Never played any JRPG? In that case, start with the first. The first is an absolute classic and is representative of the entire JRPG genre. Is it the best one? No, but it's a very good place to begin your journey. After this one, I'd suggest playing the most representative of the FF series, FF7. After that, independent research will dictate which FF game to follow up with.

My personal favorite is FF4 because it's a story about redemption and emotional character growth. My least favorite is FF13 because it represents everything I hate about the stereotyped JRPG genre. I would suggest that if Final Fantasy isn't getting you into JRPGs that you look into Shin Megami Tensei. SMT has a contemporary setting that is easier for a new person to get immersed in.

I hope that this helped.