endtherapture said:
VIII, I think the story is actually better written for the most part than VII, and it has a really unique setting, mature political plot with a love story at its core, with two parallel stories going on. However the drawing magic stuff was absolutely stupid and puts a dampener on an otherwise REALLY good game.
Better written? That story had more holes and horrible characters than any game in the series... before XIII. <.<
Well, here is mine from favorite to least favorite. Main series only because too much otherwise, and I barely played those.(not counting XI and XIV, cause I don't do MMO's.)
1. Final Fantasy VI - Easily the best game in the series. No contest. The story is easily top of the line, with some of the best character moments in the entire series. The whole cast is pretty detailed, especially after you dig through each of the side-quests at the end of the game. Of course, Celes (my favorite all time video game character), Locke, and Terra steal the whole show. The three of them are all split for the main character role essentially, and each one is fantastic for different reasons. Not just them, but Sabin, Setzer, Edgar, Cyan, and Shadow all have glorious and heartfelt moments as well. It is down right crazy how much character detail went into this game. And do I have to even bring up Kefka? Easily the best antagonist in the series, if not all of gaming. The sprite graphics age very well, and the story and characters aged well with them. I love this game so much. I wish Square would release an updated version of this game like they did for IV on the PSP. Because this game deserves it the most. My favorite video game ever.
2. Final Fantasy IX - One of the more underrated games in the series. IX is right up there with VI as having the best story. Between Vivi, Steiner, Garnet, and Zidane, you also have one of the best casts of characters. Kuja, while he looks completely ridiculous, is easily one of the more sinister and successful villains in the series. What he lacks in raw power like Exdeath or Sephiroth have, he make up for in cunning only rivaled by Vayne Solidor from XII. He also has some depth to him as well so he is both a threat and compelling. The gameplay is nothing fancy, as it goes back to the nice classic style seen from I-VI. The Trance system holds it back a bit, though, as it always seems to activate when you don't want it to, lol. But the story, characters, and easily the best soundtrack in the entire series make up for any minor gameplay flubs. This was the latest game in the series I played (before XIII) and I regret not playing it much sooner, because it is glorious.
3. Final Fantasy XII - THE most underrated game in the entire series, and the most undeserved to be hated. The biggest problem is the Gambit System. It is really weak and can make the game a bit of a snooze. The license stuff is a bit obnoxious as well, and if you gain the character's Quickening's early enough, the early part of the game can be a breeze. But, even with mediocre gameplay, the story is probably the best when it comes to world building. None of the other games have the goings on of politics like this game does. All the scenes give you valuable information on what is going on in the world of Ivalice. Not only that, the open world is amazing. There is so much to see and do that I plugged in over 100 hours into the game and STILL haven't done everything. No other Final Fantasy game has a world like this outside the MMO's, so the world feels more alive than any other game in the series. The lack of random battles also make the game feel more alive as all the enemies are on screen and there is no random transition into battle mode. It happens right away. The characters are all mostly good. I know people hate on Vaan and Penelo, but you need to remember something about good story telling. They are there to be our eyes into the events unfolding around them. If they were not there, we wouldn't learn anything because all the other character KNOW what is going on. They are an outside reference for us to put ourselves into as outsiders. They ask questions and gain knowledge of everything that is happening so we the audience can understand what is happening. If they weren't there, we would just get a confusing mess that makes little sense like in the Star Wars prequels. I don't even consider them the main characters. Ashe, Basch, and Balthier all fall into that category more than they do. The story of breaking free of the hands of fate is HUGE in this game as well, which is why a villain like Vayne Solidor is perfect for this game of gods and humans. The ambition is makes him dangerous, but his goals and ideals are sound. Same with mot of the cast. It is just an all around glorious ride through a fantastic world. I hope Square follows through with their promise that if the HD collection of X sells well, that they will release an HD XII. The game would be perfect if the gameplay was spruced up just a little bit.
4. Final Fantasy VII - The most hyped game in the series, and it isn't completely unfounded. The story, while a bit wonky, DOES make sense if you go out and explore the world and do some side quests to learn more about Cloud and Zack's backstory. The game has a great cast of characters as well, with Tifa leading the charge as the most detailed character in the game. The music goes without saying. One of Uematsu's best (I only put VI and IX above VII.) The Materia system is a bit outdated, but it isn't horrible by any means (unlike VIII's junctioning system...) Really, the only thing holding VII back is that the story isn't as good as the others higher than it, and the graphics have aged extremely poorly for this game, more than any other game in the series. I am a bit leery about the remake, but I am sure that any graphics short comings will no longer exist when that comes out.
5. Final Fanasty IV - One of the classics. The Pre-VII fans laud this game to high heaven along with VI... but it is one of the more orverrated games in the series. Not because of the gameplay, which is VERY good. Not because of the characters that are all amazing and detailed. But because the story is... not very well thought out. It started off pretty good and simple, but the entire third act was a mess. Characters that "died" came back because...... they can? And the whole big reveal at the end for the REAL main villain reminds me something out of a really bad anime. Not good... not good at all. However, the heartfelt characters and the solid gameplay (only one with Five characters at once!) keep this game high up on the list. Just a fun experience.
6. Final Fantasy II - Definitely not this high for the gameplay, which is just dreadful (and makes no sense.) But for such an early game in the series, the characters are rather strong, and the story, while simple, actually compelling at times. The Emperor is also freaking aawesome and takes over Hell (and Heaven in the GBA and PSP versions.) So freaking evil! Firion is the opposite. For a simple character, he is a great main character. The first one with a personality.
7. Final Fantasy V - I am going to say this now, I am NOT a fan of the Job system. I find it exhausting and tedious to level them up. I don't have much fun with them because of this. So my bias starts to shine through for where I am putting this game. The story is only okay, the music is only okay, and the characters are only okay (except for Galuf who is awesome.) The game is just... okay. Exdeath is an alright villain. A bit preachy, but he has the most overwhelming power out of all the main villains by a landslide. His looks is also pretty cool. The think that is best about this game though? Freaking Gilgamesh! YEAHHHHHHHHHHHH! He is the greatest, and this being his first appearence, he steals the show. And who can forget The Battle on the Big Bridge? One of the best battle themes ever! All because of Gilgamesh!
8. Final Fantasy I - The first. Not much story, no real characters, either, so it kinda gets hit down a bit harder for me. However, the game isn't bad. I love the game. The music is solid, and the gameplay (in the updated PSP and GBA versions anyway) are very good. Also, Garland will knock you all down! (Everything after this I find to be terrible experiences.)
9. Final Fantasy III - Take V and remove the characters and story and you get III. Simple as that. The DS version tried to fix this issue, but... ehhh... Mixed results. In all, it is a pretty forgettable experience.
10. Final Fantasy X - I don't understand this game. People love it for some reason, despite the fact that the story is horrible, and most of the cast (outside of Jecht, Yuna, Lulu, and the awesomeness that is Auron) is rather... horrible. The main villain is a Sephiroth wanna-be, Wakka is a racist moron with the dumbest hair ever, Rikku is fanservice the character with the personality of a wet rock and annoying motives that make no sense when you think about them, and Tidus... my lord... where to begin. He is easily the most unintelligent and brain dead main character in all of Final Fantasy. His high pitched whining and moronic comments make me want to throw the console against the wall. And it isn't his story. It is Yuna's story. This twit is just along for the ride. Freaking annoying little twit. I hate him. If it wasn't for Hope, he would be my most hated character in the series. Well, besides the terrible characters, and the mediocre mess of a story, the game play is actually mostly solid, the music is beautiful, and the world of Spira is pretty awesome. So those things keep this game elevated from being a complete waste.
11. Final Fantasy VIII - This game was the first in the series I played, and I loved it a lot for some reason. But, man, when I got older, the story ended up being a laughing stock, and so was the game play (which I still hold as the worst in the entire series, even worse than XIII.) The drawing of magic, the junctioning of spells, and the overly complicated mess that all of this has with the summons (GFs) is the most tedious thing in the world. That makes it either the very hardest battle system ever in the series, or, if you know what you are doing, the EASIEST, as it is also easily the most exploitable system in the series. The only spells I ever used in the game were Cure spells, and the outrageously broken Aura which pretty much gives you Limit Breaks whenever you want. Because the other spells are best used Junctioned to your characters to pretty much max out their stats. Since there was a random Draw Point for Ultima rather early in the game, I just milked that for all it was worth and Junctioned 99 of them to my HP, which maxed it out before level 20. Want to get good at Final Fantasy VIII? Waste your life playing the card game, because some of those cards give you crazy good items for no reason. One Gilgamesh card gives you 10 freaking Holy Wars, an item that makes the entire party invulnerable for what feels like forever. It certainly made Omega Weapon, easily the hardest boss in the game, into a laughing stock. Add in the horrible characters like Squall who is the most Emo character in franchise history (he is equivalent to about three Clouds or 1.5 Hope's) and you have a recipe for disaster. Worst game play, horrible written story with giant holes in it, and a cast of characters that makes me want to let the bad guys win, and we get this great disaster. However, despite all that, I can probably go back and play it for nostalgia purposes. The graphics are still pretty good, and the music is awesome. The world is pretty cool, too. Just a shame the story and characters suck so much.
12. Final Fantasy XIII - The only game in the main series I never finished. At first, I didn't know why I stopped, but when I tried to replay it, I realized really quickly why... The game is just horrible. The game play is boring, the level up system has the illusion of choice, but it is just a more linear version of X's sphere grid, and the characters... My god the characters... Besides Lightning (and maybe Fang) everyone was pretty much insufferable for most of the game for different reasons. The story is the absolute worst with characters motivations not making any sense, and the plot a giant convoluted mess. I hate the game.
