What is your favorite Final Fantasy game?

[drthmik]

I've played VII, IX and XII and I liked them all
I liked the story of IX the best
I liked the game mechanics and combat of XII the best especially how they handled "random" battles
but VII is the only one I actually finished and beat the final boss though I came close to finishing IX a couple times

I just get busy with life for a few months and then I feel uncomfortable starting from where I left off so I start over.

If I had to pick one it would have to be IX

 

[Gylukios]

My personal favorite was XII. Using the gambit system to make the game play itself was giddily fun in a way I haven't had since.

 

[Duskflamer]

>sees thread in recent posts list.
>goes to post thinking FFX-2, and thinking people would find it surprising.

Personally my favorites are Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy X-2
as for Final Fantasy X-2, I loved the combat and the free roaming, Yuna as a rebellious Gun wielder makes sense, Rikku is always fun and Paine is just plain awesome. I love the Dress Sphere system its a brilliant change of pace

It seems that the OP already beat me to declaring FFX-2 a favorite XD

Not that it changes my opinion though, I find FFX-2 my favorite FF game for no other reason than its combat system, it is the only combat system in any FF game I've played where random encounters never became tedious. I never had the feeling of "God damn, I'm just trying to get to this next area and RANDOM ENCOUNTER GODDAM IT!" because I found the combat system inherently fluid, fast, and fun to play. The story may be sub-par compared to other games, but FFX-2 remains my favorite regardless.

 

[Blind0bserver]

I know this might be an odd answer because it's not even part of the main series, but Final Fantasy Tactics. The plot itself was interesting and it was my first exposure to Turn-Based Strategy. It's the first game I've played in the genre, and it's still the best.

A quick side note: Square, to hell with XIII-2 or Versus XIII. If you make a current-gen Tactics game with the same class and combat system, I will give you all of my money. Not an iPhone port, not a game for the DS, a full-fledged console release. Think about that, if you will...

 

[soul_rune1984]

My favorite is 9.

 

[Poetic Nova]

9 or else Chrystal Chronicles (GC).

 

[Slash Dementia]

The only Final Fantasy game that I like is IX. That's only because I've only played 8 and 9, and I don't like FF8 at all.

The other games in the series don't really interest me. I've wanted to play them, but then I just don't. I've read about them and seen them, and I don't really like what I see--I know that's not enough to fully judge, but it's all I can go on without having to buy them.

 

[Hypno-Sheep]

For me it has to be final fantasy 7. the story, the characters and the world. it had the biggest impact on my gaming life as a child and few other games have come close to delivering a truly immersive experience for me like final fantasy 7. it was also the first game that made me cry when aerith was murdered by sephiroth. For me its not just the best in the final fantasy series but possibly the the best rpg of all time

 

[Kotaro]

Main-series games only, I assume? Then I'll rate my top five:

5. Final Fantasy
4. Final Fantasy IV
3. Final Fantasy V
2. Final Fantasy IX
1. Final Fantasy VI

 

[Olivia Faraday]

I know it's the "wrong answer" but there's no contest here: FFXII. 12 captivated me from start to finish. Combat, side missions, exploration and dungeon flow. I loved the highly political story and the cast. Sure, I wasn't nuts about Vaan -- who was? -- but the fact is, he wasn't the real main character. Ashe was, and she's my favourite video game heroine of all time. After how much I hated everything about 10, I had felt like maybe Final Fantasy was over for me, but 12 convinced me that was silly. Faith restored for good.

My honourable mentions would be 4 (amazing cast, I especially love the DS remake for giving the storyline the time and focus to shine) and 8 (someone once said whether you love or hate 8 depends on whether or not you buy Squall, and I did, hook line and sinker.)

My least favourites are 10 and 5, but I love them, too, in their own ways.

 

[ImperialSunlight]

My favourite, out of the very few (FF I, FF II, FF XIII) I've played is FF I. I like the openness of it in comparison to the newer games. I also like that you don't play as predetermined characters.

 

[LilithSlave]

To be honest? IV.

Most like VI better. And while I like some things about it better, particularly having a female protagonist, even if she is somewhat of a wimp. I like the way IV came together better. I like an antagonist better who's motivation isn't "I want to destroy everything". And IV just has a lot of darn good drama throughout the whole thing.

I don't know how to explain it, but it's just my favourite.

 

[Rodney Jackson]

9

So many people passed it up back in the day claiming that it was too cutesy. Because stories that feature weapons dealer's proliferating a paranoid military industrial complex that results in a freaking genocide of another race is totally too childish to was your manly time on /sarcasm

 

[AgentLampshade]

The first game I'd played in the series was X after being recommended it by a friend. I really liked JRPG's and I hadn't even heard of Final Fantasy, and I think I'm the only person EVER to have that happen (in my defence, I wasn't a big gamer back then).

So naturally, I was blown away by the magnificent story. Spurred on by that, I rented XII when it first came out. Absolutely loathed it. Looking back, I don't remember much about it, but I couldn't stand the characters, the gameplay, everything. Because of my disappointment, I bought VII for the PS1 preowned. The second disk didn't work, so here I was, halfway through a story and not allowed to continue. By now, my rage for the series was so much that I just abandoned it completely.

Until VII came out on the PSN. I bought it without a second thought. Completed it, and finally understood why everyone said it was the greatest FF ever. It certainly was in my eyes anyway (even if it was a bit dated.)

I also bought XIII simply because I thought it'd take a good time to complete. It didn't, and I (like many others) really didn't like the game. The music was the highpoint of it for me.

Eventually I bought VIII, IX and VI (in that order) on the PSN. I've yet to play VI but I've completed VIII (just last week in fact.) Long story short. I absolutely adored VIII. I loved the characters (Zell and a few others excluded,) it took a while to get used to the gameplay, but I really enjoyed it when I did and the story was really nice.

Short version:

X - My introduction. Loved it aside from the dodgy main character.

XII - Loathed it.

VII - Absolutely loved it. It looks quite dated by today's standards, but still really immersive and enjoyable.

XIII - I suppose it's alright, but not as immersive as the others.

VIII - My favourite. Loved everything about the game.

IX - Can't say I'm too far in it but I prefer the more realistic ones.

 

[Rangerboy87]

FFX for me (I played it before FFVII and I find it better in almost every way).

The dialog was kinda silly (laughing scene), but it had a fun story. The combat has been my favorite in the series. Blitzball was really fun. Character growth is really good. The villain is the best kind of evil (elegant, manipulative, soft-spoken). Puzzle boss battles (bosses that required a certain spell or technique to defeat) were a fun variation, but all the boss battles were great, except for that final final boss.

Spoiler

a spider-god? really?

But the best part was this: it was paced perfectly! What takes me out of final fantasy games (XII especially) is having to walk around the same acre of land trying to level up enough that the group of monsters in the next acre don't massacre you. It feels repetitive and breaks the game flow. As long as I didn't run away from every battle, all battles were the perfect level of challenging: not super easy but not a massacre either. It required strategy and good planning. That is why FFX is my favorite.

 

[Zero=Interrupt]

IX, VII, X, and Tactics, in that order. Runner-up XIII was surprisingly good, despite the hands-off combat system and lack of towns (and thus immersion). Still, despite its shortcomings, I actually ended up caring about Lightning, Fang, and Snow.

X-2 was okay, except for that ultra-deep dungeon at the end with the cheap-ass monk boss. (you know, the one with the giant Tonberries). VIII was stylistically nice, but the world felt half-finished and the story was utter nonsense. XII's combat system blew hard, and the story & character designs were meh.

Apologies to lovers of VI, but having played through it, I just don't get the nostalgia. Maybe if they did a high-res remake with 3D characters and environments? I just couldn't get immersed in those old 16-bit games....

 

[kyogen]

FF XII is my favorite, though I can find reasons to like all of the games in the main series minus the two MMOs (never tried them). XII's battle system works well enough, its graphics and art style are a pleasure to look at, and I love the characters and story.

 

[Byere]

as for Final Fantasy X-2, I loved the combat and the free roaming, Yuna as a rebellious Gun wielder makes sense, Rikku is always fun and Paine is just plain awesome. I love the Dress Sphere system its a brilliant change of pace

I didn't think as much of the characters in X-2 as I did in X. I loved the story between Tidus and Yuna and X-2 didn't so much spoil it for me, just didn't work as good.
I do agree on the Dress Sphere thing though. It was a nice twist on the old style job-change system they had in the earlier games... and I liked how you didn't have to do as much work to change to certain jobs (like getting Lv20 in one or more jobs to unlock another job, etc)

Personally, I go against the flame war and quite proudly say that I love FFVIII most. Yes, we've all seen the Spoony review of it. We all know there were tonnes of plot holes and illogical things going on... but it's a fantasy game. Deal with it! *puts on sunglasses*

 

[Etteparg]

Both X and IX are my favorites XIII was pretty good so was VII.

 

[Sparkimus Prime]

Awesome: 5, 6, 10, 12
Good: 2, 3, 8, 9
Ok: 1, 4, 7