Poll: Best Final Fantasy Game.

[PorkChopXpress]

I've always loved FFVIII over all the others, everything about it works for me better than the other FF games that I've played.

The "Junction" system is great (and yes even the Draw system)
The characters are pretty good (except Irvine, fuck that guy).
All the GF's are badass.
Gun-blade!
The soundtrack still gives me goosebumps (Liberi Fatali, mmhmm).
Triple Triad card game was a whole lot of fun.

 

[The_Great_Galendo]

For me, it has to be between VI, IX, and X. FFVI had the best story of the series, while X had the best battle system. FFIX's battle system wasn't as good as X's, but it was better than VI's, while its characters were better than X's and on par with VI's. FFVI had some of the best character development in the series (Terra in particular, but Celes isn't too far behind), but also some of the worst (e.g., Mog, Gogo, that abominable snowman character).

I'm not going to vote, because if you asked me again tomorrow my opinion might change, but I'd probably rank VI as the best, followed by IX, then by X. I guess my total ranking (out of the games I've played) might be something like:

VI
IX
X
Tactics
IV
VII
Mystic Quest
VIII
XII
I

 

[The_Scrivener]

Final Fantasy IX was always my favourite. I remember back in my internet novice days lurking on various vidya game sites such as Gamespot and GameFAQS, FFIX was universally (save for the regulars on the game's GameFAQS forum) reviled as the one of the most disappointing of the main series and FFVII was universally heralded as the epitome of vidya games. Fast foward about a decade (I'm old, I know!) and it's esentially reversed. FFIX is the bee's knees and FFVII is overrated. But if everyone thinks FFVII is overrated, then who actually over rates it?[SNIP]

I think most people who rate FFVII as "God's Gift to Gaming" on a scale from one to five, do so because of what the game meant to the world of gaming upon release, rather than how it stands on its own. (One should keep in mind that the best-looking JRPG up to that point came on a chunky cartridge rather than three discs, and didn't look very different from LoZ: A Link to the Past.)

Your opinion is far from unwarranted because that seems to be the general consensus nowadays which is a shame. FF7 lovers are as bad about explaining why they love it as the haters are at explaining why they hate it. (Overrated tells no one anything.)

But the point that it was influential or that it was big for the genre is totally lost on me. To me, that's like saying The Backstreet Boys were the greatest musicians of all time because of how many albums they sold.

FF7's actual greatness, to me, is its message about the perils of corporatism and the price of complacency with the exploiting technology that comes with it. I think it is an extraordinarily prophetic game in terms of its worldview and the way it convinces its main character that the natural world matters because of the people and the lives contained within it. The maternal themes, the comedy/tragedy dynamic pacing, the symbolism of the characters, the realness of the dialogue (where the translation wasn't butchered anyway), the detail in the world to make it bigger than the three discs it was on--all just unparalleled to me.

 

[The_Scrivener]

anyone who would've chosen FF 1-3 is acting only on retro nostalgia or hasn't played FF in 20 years yet still keeps up with gaming culture enough to be on this forum.

I would've picked three (Preferably specifically the ds remake, but not neh) and I'm not old enough to have played that game on a nostalgia level anyway.

Either way, 'S a bit redundant to have a poll if you're going to exclude options.

Also, American/other specifications could be useful.

I only excluded options because I could only pick the 8 I thought were the most popular among people today. I wouldn't have excluded any if I didn't have to.

 

[debtcollector]

X is probably my favorite, even though the voice acting and graphics have not aged well by any means. The story, romance, and atmosphere made me feel a hell of a lot more for the characters than I usually do such games, and when I first learned the truth behind Yuna's pilgrimage I was genuinely distressed. Also, the cast was pretty strong--Auron is a titan, Wakka's dialect generally brightens the scene, Lulu is the Aubrey Plaza of the game, and Tidus may be whiny, but he takes his situation admirably better than I would.
In no particular order, the rest I like--
VI: Still classic, one of the best even if I couldn't get attached to a lot of the characters (get the fuck out of my party, Gau). Also, Kefka and the best boss music of the series.
IV: The first I played, deserves a mention for its impressive characterization.
XII: Don't understand the hate for it, really. The politics-heavy story was a pleasant change of pace, the gameplay was some of the series' most engaging, and Vaan sucks a nut--but not so much that the rest of the game should be vilified for it.
XIII: Yeah, I liked it. No, it was not the best in the series. Yes, it had issues. But I at least found enjoyment in the story, the beautiful visuals, the character interactions, and the terrific battle system. It was a good game.
VII: The best soundtrack of all of the ones I've played, but it must be said that I feel the least attached to VII's cast than any others'. Still, it's a classic for a reason.

To be honest, that's all the ones I've played except III. Don't play III.

I don't really care if I never play VIII or not. I am avoiding IX at all costs. (Main character has a monkey tail? Nope. I know, it's irrational, but you all irrationally hate XII and XIII so cut me some slack)

 

[Flaery]

I like the 20th Anniversary remake of the first game on the PSP. Nevermind that though, I cast my vote for number 6.

 

[JasonKaotic]

I'd say which one I chose, but my avatar speaks for me. Even though saying just my choice would've been much quicker than typing all this out.
It makes me sad that VIII is so unpopular. I can see things in it that people wouldn't like (i.e. Squall and his initial wankerishness) but I still love that game more than anyone should be allowed to love a game.
Granted, it was one of the first games I played, and the very first story-driven game I ever played, so there is a shitload of nostalgia there.

But yeah, it's followed by IX, then VI, then V, VII, X, IV, I, XIII, II, XII, III.

 

[mateushac]

Yes, even Ramza's crotch piece armour is genius.

I have to say, that made me smile. So thank you. On that note, I'mma boot up my PSX Emulator and play me some Tactics. Booyah.

Then this shall be declared the International Tactics Week. This thread has encouraged me to pop my old controller open and fix it (a bit of graphite does wonders) just so I could begin a new game.

And just to give all the Tactics lovers the initial push I'll have to remind you that

Spoiler: Once you listen to this song

Spoiler: You cant stop until you've listened to this one

EDIT: And cried a little bit in the process

 

[Rangerboy87]

The way these threads go, it always breaks down into what gen the person played their first FF game.

If they started with the SNES they will claim VI.
If they started with the PSX they will claim VII
If they started with the PS2 they will claim X.
If they started with the PS3 they will claim XII (the poor souls)

I agree with you there. It usually is the first Final Fantasy someone plays. Mine was FFX which makes it my favorite (hate X-2 though). Played VI (pretty good) and VII (meh). XII is a load of ass dragged across the pavement. And I've started FFI several times but never could stay at it long.

It's all about the flow for me. If I have to stop and level up for a while before I can continue on with the story, it breaks the game (doing side stuff because I choose too is another story). That's what killed my chance of finishing XII. By the time I had to XP grind for the 7th or 8th time, I honestly forgot the majority of the story and where I was going and why (says something about the awful story too). As much as some scenes were painful to watch:


I still play FFX for the story and smooth gameplay. It will always be my favorite one.

Thanks for putting this up! Love that song!

 

[Skoosh]

FFX is my favorite. The aesthetics were fantastic, very good story with some interesting symbolism, and some of the roundest characters of any FF, easily.

FFVII I enjoy a lot, probably second most. Good symbolism, but the story doesn't quite hold up as well as X. Some of why I rate it so highly is likely because of nostalgia admittedly too. I really enjoyed the gameplay for it (but not nearly as much as X).

FFIV is probably my third favorite, especially if you give it a handicap for what it did for the series. Really set them off in a new direction, not a bad story, and YOU GO TO THE MOOOOOON.

I'm honestly surprised by how many voted for VI and IX. Those are old-school ones, usually the favorites of the people that grew up in the NES-SNES era. And yes, I realize IX came out well after that period, but it was a throwback to that era more so than any other FF. While I like them both, I honestly find them a bit underwhelming. IX is better than VI though, unless you're giving handicaps for when they were made.

Really though the only FF I didn't enjoy in the main series was XII, for obvious reasons: they couldn't do a political story, Vaan had no reason to be there, gameplay felt like an MMO offline, etc. And yes, I even enjoyed XIII. It had some major faults, being way too linear, but the character designs were good, the story was solid, and the character development was great, leading to a much better sequel. Still low on the list of FFs, but not bad in my opinion.

 

[Flunk]

For me it is X, VII, VI, XIII, VIII, IV and the others are in any order you like except IX which is worst.

If XV is as linear as XIII I'll still buy it. But it would be better if they went back to being more like the SNES FF games in that regard (A good impression of freedom, although not really much real freedom).

 

[Shuguard]

final fantasy adventure(gameboy)
crystal chronicles
FFVIII
FFVII
(haven't played 9 yet).

 

[Doom972]

I played all the games up to VII and tactics (both PS1 and GBA), though didn't finish every one of them. My favorite is Final Fantasy I, or more specifically, the PSP version of it. It doesn't have much of a plot but the battles are fun and the ability to construct different parties gives it a bit of replay value.

I don't appreciate the OP's generalization of people who prefer FF 1-3. FF1 is the last one I played, so there's no nostalgia factor here, and I have played the newer games. If there wasn't enough room for more options, he could've just put "other" as one of them.

Final Fantasy VI comes as a close second because it has a very nice plot and I like how every character has his unique playstyle.

 

[AuronFtw]

6-9 was basically the peak and beginning of the decline. All of them (well, with the exception of 9) introduced hugely new mechanics, or really pushed the boundaries of what games could contain - graphical updates, combat systems, 3d world exploration, all the stuff that makes final fantasy a truly great series.

Then they kind of... lost their way. Nobuo leaving in the middle of X really hurt, as his music played more than a small part of the greatness of the earlier games. But X is also where the changes started getting really evident - the company was focused more on a grand spectacle of cutscene chains than any kind of immersive adventure the player gets to experience. FFX, however, was still not totally lost - it ended up being fairly good, definitely not on the level of its 4 predecessors, but still a thoroughly playable JRPG.

And then shit got *really* bad. Square Enix decided that the one thing they hated in their games was players being able to do fucking *anything*. Issuing commands to all your characters in battle? Fuck that, we'll just put in an AI system so you can set up auto-cast spells and if:then statements so you don't actually have to press any buttons in combat. Characters with depth and complexity? Fuck that, we'll make you play as Vaan, a 12-year-old with no connection to the story or any of its other characters, basically watching an epic adventure that *other people are having* from the sidelines with no control, understanding or meaningful involvement. And 13 kept up the awful spiral - very pretty, polished graphics, hours and hours of cutscenes, with the depth of a teaspoon and the actual player involvement of your typical movie (aka none at all).

Anyway, of the actually good Final Fantasy games, it's hard to pick an absolute best. They all had strengths and weaknesses. FF6 introduced a huge cast of characters, and even gave 2 or 3 of them really great plot and backstory, but because so many existed (and some get found really late in the game) most had only very minor story elements or none at all. 6 and 7 both offered a legendary antagonist, each very dangerous and chaotic, but not in a stupid way - the story flawlessly built up to the final confrontation, and there was a lot of emotion invested in the fight. This was probably 8's greatest failure - with the actual "bad guy" being introduced about an hour before the end of the game, it didn't have much of a connection to the rest of the story, and thus felt disjointed and out of place (see also: mass effect 3's ending). But 8 offered a ton of shit to make up for it - character depth and development even in non-playable characters and bad guys like Seifer, who you can't help but root for even though you know he's the bad guy. The biggest open world to explore and a fucking dragon spaceship to do it in. Fantastic cutscene animation (for the time) without cutscenes being "the point" of the game.

Good poll, and it's interesting to see the results - 6 and 9 are pulling ahead of 7 and 8, but all 4 are definitely the best of the Final Fantasy series.

 

[Kuilui]

I started with FF 4 and then played the amazing awesome majesty of FF7 which really cemented me into gaming. Still even though 7 was and still is one of the greatest games I've ever played I'll have to go with 9. The world was more interesting and the characters had some deeper level of interest to them I felt. Even though the characters again in 7 were pretty excellent and tragic and I'll never forget any of them. I can't remember many bad guys names in games but the Turks, The shinra gang, Sephiroth, etc were all great. Still giving it to 9 but by the slimmest margin imaginable. Music advantage will always go to 7 though I don't care what anyone says. My one dream is to make a game just to hire Nobou Uematsu and just listen to him compose. Forget the game I just want to hear him make music. I could easily die happy after that. Maybe if I strike it rich someday, hah.

I miss you Squaresoft

 

[Twilight_guy]

Your OP insulted me. I'm not sure if you were making a joke, but if you were you were too subtle.

Anyways my favorite final Fantasy game is Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles so your poll can just suck it.