The Final Fantasy series and You.

[Spirit]

We've had a few new members join ZD recently who seem to be big Final Fantasy fans.

FF isn't discussed much here on ZD but with the Final Fantasy 7 remake dropping later this year it may be a good time to have a chat about the series as a whole.

So this is a thread to list your favourite and least favourite games and characters and to discuss what the FF series means to you.

 

[Dizzi]

Ive never played FF i think i watched a FF film

 

[Sheikah_Witch]

Final Fantasy is my second favorite series outside of Zelda. These games were vital to my upbringing and greatly shaped my life as a gamer.

I was old enough to get my mind blown by the PS1 and it's pre rendered cutscenes, who then were the height of graphics.

Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX were epic adventures that took me to other worlds that became my other home and whose characters became my best friends.

I sorta skipped X and only returned to it years later (to find it quite disappointing) I remember loving XII and even XIII when those games hit. Every Final Fantasy is so different from each other, especially when it comes to combat. I still think XIII takes it for my favorite combat system out of the recent ones, it's so flashy and fun. XV had it's massive flaws, but I still appreciated it for what it is.

My personal favorite is probably IX, but VI - that I also only picked up years later - is a second favorite. Both games have amazing worlds, stories and characters. And great soundtracks - Nobuo uematsu is a legend!

 

[Fierce_Deity]

I haven't played much main title Final Fantasy since XII, didn't like how they changed the battle system up. I prefer the turn based system, so thankfully Dragon Quest series is still around. First game I played was Final Fantasy III, as it was known then, on the SNES and was blown away by the story and characters. It was my favorite until Final Fantasy IX. I don't really have a favorite character though. I do have a least favorite character and that is Tidus. I just couldn't stand his whiny personality. FFX also happens to be my least favorite game.

The Chrystal Chronicle games I did enjoy, currently looking forward to the remaster of the first one. I did try World of Final Fantasy, but just it never clicked with me.

 

[Spirit]

FF is a bizarre series for me.

I grew up With Nintendo consoles and didn't play FF game properly until I owned a PS2 and a copy of FFX.

I'd played short bursts of 7, 8 and 9 in the past via friends but never enough to get a good feel for them or appreciate them. I am most familiar with Final Fantasy 8 because a friend and I preferred it over others and we'd play it off and on.

I found FFX to be rather dull and never completed it. The cast didn't wash with me and the story didn't feel involved at all. I got up to the second Blitz all match and no further.

I lasted 30minutes into FFX-2 before giving up on that one.

I also really didn't like FF12. I hated Vaan and really didn't like the drab world or the MMO style combat.

I played FF13 years later and really wanted to like it but just couldn't. Lightning is top tier waifu but that was all the game had for me. The story was too convoluted, the characters were pretty bland and I hated the combat. Honestly, one team member dying giving you a game over when the AI is too dumb to save itself made for a damn abysmal experience.

FF13-2 is a no go after the opening scene and FF13-3 is one of the most boring games ever made despite starring one of the hottest characters ever made that you can dress up!

FFXV was my next game and I didn't like it at all. It felt artificial, it was badly written and was dull as hell to play. I disliked the entire cast and the fact the story was broken up over different pieces of media and seasons passes just made the whole thing a big no.

I now own 7, 8 Remastered and 9 on Switch. But have yet to go through them.

I doubt I'll bother trying other FF games in the future. I've tried too many times to mesh with the series.

 

[Quin]

I have never completed a mainline game yet. Turn based games aren't high on my to do list honestly, but I have my JRPG moods, and its something I've been holding off for a while and I should probably start soon.
Thats said, Nothing about the series after 6 is appealing for me. It moves away from the more medieval fantasy setting to more modern, which is already a bummer, but the biggest turnoff for me are the character designs. I really can't stand the character designs of tetsuya nomura and thats also the biggest reason I don't touch Kingdom hearts, and the terrible story.
So yeah, I'm gonna start at 1 hopefully this year sometime, and make my way up to whatever number they are at now, and hopefully not let the designs after 6 cloud my judgement of the games.
I forced myself to start Dragon Quest last year, and I ended up loving it so much I pretty much binged the whole series, and its one of my favorite franchises now, so who knows with Final Fantasy.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I started off w/ Final Fantasy VI Advance and really enjoyed it, in the years following I would play FF7 and FF9 on PS3 through PSN, and my friend basically gave me his copies of 10 and 12 for PS2 [still have yet to play 12 though], I also tried out Final Fantasy Tactics, but I hit a wall about 8 hours in and haven't gotten back to it since

I plan on eventually playing 4, 8, X-2, 15, and maybe the 13 series, and other side games that catch my eye like crisis core and World of Final Fantasy, and of course the 7 remake

so far my favorite is either 6 or 9 w/ my least favorite being 10 [I used to like 7 more than 6 for the limit breaks, but I find myself much more inclined to go back to 6 than 7], 6 still has the best story out of what I played, and even though 10 is my least favorite, it probably has my favorite soundtrack of the series so far

 

[the8thark]

Of the main series I don't like any FF game after FF6. That's when the series moved to steampunk then more modern day.

Really though, my favourite FF thing is the spinoff series Chrystal Chronicles. I love those games and all the lore associated. I think it's really well done. I can't wait for the GC game to be re-released on Switch.

 

[Castle]

The first Final Fantasy through VI are noteworthy. Even FFII gets a bad rap but it's solid. III introduced the job system which is remarkable. IV is the only old school entry I think is overrated. It has an overwrought narrative but that narrative is good. I just don't think the game is especially unique or clever compared to the others. And VI is the real masterpiece of the series.

VII is one of the most - if not the most - overrated video game ever. Seriously, the only reason this game stood out in its time is because of the Playstations prerendered cutscenes. THEY'RE NOT EVEN PART OF THE GAME PEOPLE!! Otherwise, VII played exactly like every JRPG ever. Same mechanics, same perspective. This wasn't no gaming revolution. Ocarina of Time had to innovate a ton of concepts that became standard for video games in the 3D era moving forward and it did so many of them right the first time. VII changed exactly nothing except to add some laughably crude early 3D animations out of engine. And its story is cringingly preachy, melodramatic, and insipid. Offing Aris wasn't even edgy in its day, and the only other character anyone cares about is Tifa because she has tits.

From then on the series just slid all over the place. VIII is a total boondoggle. IX's gameplay is utter trash but the story and characters are so loveable they're worth it all on their own. X starts off well, even though we're hit from the get go with the most insufferable video game protagonist ever conceived, but quickly goes off the rails with a plot that takes a fascinating premise and runs it over a cliff in flames until nothing makes any conceivable sense at all.

XI is an MMO wut?

XII... oh god, Squeenix wtf did you do to XII? This was supposed to be a mature, sophisticated Final Fantasy but NOOO! You had to go and screw it up by insisting that your pretty boi Vaan and his utterly irrelevant squeeze be thrown in! XII still has a lot going for it. One of the most unique and fascinating original video game universes ever imagined. A villain who actually makes sense and is even a bit sympathetic. A plot that can actually be followed and actually manages to do political intrigue pretty well. And Balthier and Fran who sadly only end up as the only fun characters because you screwed up the narrative by dumping Vaan on us and turned the rest of the cast into planks. Why you blokes went with your insipid license grid instead of the obvious job system is a mindboggling "DUH!" And the insufferable grind only became tolerable when you implemented a fast forward button over a decade later!

Other than that, XII is my favorite of the post VI Final Fantasy games. Which isn't really much of a point in its favor when I only like two other post VI Final Fantasy games on technicalities.

XIII... what a gobsmacking mess.

XIII-2... I... like it. Yeah. I like the story. Even though Ciaus makes no sense at all, the whole building a future for humanity thing is engaging. I like the characters. Yes, I don't find Noel and Sera as insufferable as most people do and I honestly couldn't give a fart about Lightning. She's a cow. And Hope makes a massive improvement over the last game. Snow is totally irrelevant in this one and he's not around for long anyway. I like the open exploration of exploring the levels and the timeline at my leisure, completing sidequests and unlocking new endings and events. And I like the battle system. The ending sucks though and it only exists because Squeenix needed to milk their failure for whatever little it was still worth.

XIII-3 lol

XIV is an MMO wut?

XV <--- that's not fantasy it's is a 90s boy band LARP.

 

[NintendoCN]

I've played except for XI and XII and others I might have missed. In order from best to worst they are; V, IX, X-2, X, IV, I, VI, VIII, VII, XIII, XV, World of, XIV, Crystal Chronicles, III, and lastly II.
As for characters they vary by game. Snow from XIII sucks, both as a party member and a person. Yuna from X-2 is probably my favorite, and is super useful in battle provided you give her the right jobs.

 

[Ninja]

I've really enjoyed a lot of the games in the series. My personal favorite that I've bought so many times (and completed) is FFX. Such an amazing story, soundtrack, and ending. Despite it's negative feedback, I really enjoyed FFXIII. FFXV was pretty good too, I just wish that the DLC story parts were in the original game.

Really hyped for the FF7 remake.