Best Final Fantasy poll !!

my favorite thing ever for 8 or 9 months in 7th grade

haha, the rest of us were in college n' shit.

Well maybe you were, gramps.

hell, when even my BROTHER was in college. He would talk about how the guys on his football team got hooked on this game, even tho they(business school types playing for a Div II school) were not really the JRPG type.

I think I was in grade 8! I am not the youngest! Yay!

I think I picked VII, but I am waffling now. I think VIII was criminally overhated (the battle system was one of my faves!) and XII was really, really amazing as well! Plus, five was really awes too. Good thing Tactics wasn't in the running though, it would have been no contest imo.

I'd like to vote for I or II/IV for enthralling me as a kid, but I got the most thrills and replay out of VII for sure.

VIII was eh, okay. I sped through it in college, got to the last boss and couldn't beat it.

i even bought the score on CD as performed by some symphony orchestra

wth? I thought I'd be haha contrarian look @ me by voting VIII but other people dug it too?? :(

I only ever played VII; I was more of an Ultima guy.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I was in 4th grade when FF7 came out, I wasn't allowed to get it because it was rated "Teen"

vii is the best game ever

Also JESUS FUCK YOU PEOPLE ARE YOUNG

i remember playing ffvii once in high school and once my senior year of college (after i had ceased giving a fuck)

7 was my last year in college and I stayed more focused on that than anything else in my life.

co-sign HI DERE. When I was in the seventh grade I had nothing to play but Forgotten Worlds, you little brats!

I don't know if there have been better RPGs since VII, but that was the last one I had time for. I'm trying to fuck with Oblivion and Mass Effect right now and I can see right away that there is NO WAY I can put in the hours for these games.

The best RPG I've ever played is probably still Planescape: Torment, with Baldur's Gate II as a very close second.

HI DERE: Planescape :: GZeus : Chrono Trigger

(sorry that was mean)

I voted for I, actually, because none of the others ever felt quite as amazing. #1 felt completely Epic and New and Holy Shit, everything afterwards felt like formula (I know it's all really a bunch of dragon quest clones but I didn't get my own copy of the first dragon quest)

trying to get the rat tail and squeaking out of the dungeon with like one dude left with 2 hit points is def. in my top 5 most intense gaming moments

(and then having all my dudes hit puberty!)

and you missed out on it because you were at home playing video games?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

holy shit 6 for the big win

i woulda voted X but these games are too exhausting to even think about. I spent easily 12 hours on the soccer side mission on that one.

there was one after X where you could only play the girl chars and their outfits got +5 points in slutty.

The fuckin' CARD GAME! And the arcade in seven! I spent WEEKS.

VI for the low-level game alone. Best game ever.

All Final Fantasies after IX have been awful.

Shit I missed this poll! 7 was the last one I ever played; you guys know they made a Cloud/Tifa/etc MOVIE right?

Every time I've played FFI I named my white mage a girl's name at the start, then spent the last half of the game trying to force myself to pronounce it in a manly way, once they adulted up and I realized it was obviously a dude.

Snrub so wrong on XII. That game is actually phenomenal and I wish I had voted for it.

Actually, when I really give it thought, for me it's something like...

12 > 7 > 8 > 5 > 6 > 1 > 4 > 10 >>>>>> 9 >>>>>>>>> 11 >>> 2 > 3

I can't believe I have played every FF. :/

You ranked IV below I and VIII? Damn. The first one, I can maybe understand, but VIII? Ugh. Even VII doesn't always hold up as well as the SNES-era games.

I'm guessing by the poll results, most of the voters here are in their mid-20s or older (like me).

IV failed to grab me every time I played it. In fact, I have a mild vendetta vs. 6 and 4 for being overloved in comparison to, well, pretty much every game ever. But particularly V. That game is so overlooked!

As someone who hasn't played a mainline FF since VIII and gave up, do I want to play FFX and/or X-2 for historical interest, or is it not worth it and should I skip to XII? Would you consider these games still fun and worth playing in this day and age, or are they relics by now, having relied on graphical wow of the time and cutscenes?

Since you dudes voted VI as the best you are hereby trustworthy. I don't think I've played a traditional JRPG since Tales of Symphonia. not counting RGC's Guadia Quest. (Also, I heard X-2 is actually pretty enjoyable if you can roll with the sass.) But what say you all?

man I have played FF6 about the 75% point and gotten to the final boss of FF7 but have never beaten either. I guess it's like getting to the last chapter of infinite jest and going "ah, fuck it."

i replayed FFX last year having only played half of it when it came out. the battle system is pretty good and the boss fights got quite tactical, but the cutscenes were lengthy and really dreadfully voiced/animated. and i was still getting tutorials about 5 hours in! have never played FFX-2, am curious though.

X is great with the sound down and skipping through boring bits as quick as possible, X2 is fucking awful and headache inducing, XII was really well done but my PS2 died about 75% through it :(

god FF5 is amazing. It's the first game that's gripped me in a long time.

9 needs more love. the only bad thing about it was the useless card game.

and i stand by what i said up there. voice acting in final fantasy is a very very bad thing.

The other day I read that whole FFXIII review by tim rogers on action button -- all 18000 words of it -- and it convinced me not to play it. but, i wonder-- did i save any time? after all, that article took me quite some time.

how can you believe Tim Rogers about anything anymore though

i think i was already ready to not play FFXIII, to be fair, it just confirmed it in so many (SO MANY) words

of the ones I've played through at least mostly:

VI > V > IV > VII > I > IX

I played the first part of X but got confused and discouraged and the graphics + story development gave me a headache. surprisingly haven't played FFVIII.

what version of V did u play? iirc the famicom version is significantly harder than the psx/nds rereleases & a little more interesting to play. it probably is the most challenging ff

also ffIII is p great if you have a nds

i am enjoying this tim rogers piece whilst simultaneously wondering whether i shouldn't be doing some work instead

i have a copy of XIII sitting on my shelf, unopened, waiting for the critical revisioning that declares it a misunderstood classic

I played the fan-translated super famicom ROM. FF5 was the easiest final fantasy for me!! I love the job system.

I just started FFIII. It's a terrible translation but I think that is just going to make it all the more entertaining for me.

I really liked the car game in IX

I thought FFV was almost identical in all versions... FFIV on GBA had a combat bug where the enemies don't get a chance to attack, and of course the SNES version was seriously butchered. Was that what you were thinking of?

iirc some of the classes were rebalanced for the na release of V. also some of the monsters had their hp and other stats reduced so there wasnt as big a jump btw difficulties. cant remember if they "fixed" the ridiculous drop rates or not but i think it was less expensive to buy equipment.

what made V so difficult for me was a) the # of one shot items b) the randomness of hidden items/dungeons/bosses c) the amount of grinding required to get job skills c) timed dungeons

timed dungeons u just throw a thief in your party and you're golden

Gilgamesh's appearances makes FFV worthwhile

― ( X '____' )/ (zappi), Saturday, December 26, 2020 4:00 PM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

oh yeah the battle of the big bridge fight in FFV is obviously amazing

I need to play FF6 again so I can face the final boss rush properly — The last time I was over-leveled and cheesed my way through it by equipping everyone with Flame Shields and spamming Merton. I wish they'd release it on the Switch (not the hideous-looking mobile version)

lol i forgot about "Merton"

Now that I think about it, FFV would simply be so much better if it was possible to dash at any time. anyways i just entered "the void" where exdeath should be chilling and any enemy i see obliterates me immediately with meteo. i appreciate a challenge, but damn, getting through this feels like trying to plow through a 1000 page novel that you're only moderately enjoying

PS1 and GBA versions have a run button and it stacks with the thief's ability. In PC emulators you can just fast forward.

i still have only ever actually finished VI. lately i’ve been experimenting with believing XII is the best, but it’s kind of a spiteful opinion.

This is a podcast where the Final Fantasy games are explained to a non-gamer. I had forgotten how abstracted the early ones would be to a newcomer.

http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/shabcast-41-holly-explains-final-fantasy-vii-to-jack-part-1/
http://www.eruditorumpress.com/blog/shabcast-412-holly-explains-final-fantasy-vii-to-jack-part-2/

Funny you mention that 2k11nostagia; pretty sure that's where I gave up on the game, if that's the final final dungeon. But I probably also did a crap build in all honesty

ff12 is the best ff game of the 21st century by a significant margin

would agree with ff12 being best this century, but ff14 is really good in terms of story & characters. would love a traditional ff game set in the ff14 world (seems like ff16 will be very similar to this so kinda hyped for it)
considering a run through the early games, never played ff2 and only a bit of ff3 on the DS before.

wait, 14? The MMO?

ff14 is pretty fun, i put ~30 hours into it when it relaunched and had a good time. the MMO life is not for me but if it were that's the one i'd play (after OG EQ and ultima online).

yeh the MMO, I burnt out of the gameplay after a while but the writing is easily the best in a ff game imo

you've piqued my curiosity, but for my own good I stay away from MMOs

ff12 had great combat but the story, characters, and settings were almost impressively bland

yeah for me 12 fandom is a giving-in to "look just give me mechanics that don't waste my time quite so aggressively and i'll stop asking to be moved." the vestiges of FFT's universe that actually remain can be fun tho if you are a huge nerd, which like, odds seem good

i was playing ffVII remake at my friends house before the latest lockdown started. thinking about playing ffX on PS3 with my gf and ffVI on my ipad to substitute

I've defeated neo-exdeath. i take back everything critical i've said about this game, it absolutely rules. love how the final battle is so intense that it feels like the game could collapse at any moment

hey now
https://ff6wc.com/

I haven't played an FF since 9 (though I did put decent hours into 7 Remake before giving up on the complexity of the combat system), but curious if anyone is playing 16? I'm not sure DMC-style button mashing combat is for me either but the discourse is what I'm here for.

Played the demo. Kinda played like a breezy God of War combat system with some seriously extended and overwrought cut scenes. Really gorgeous graphics though - feels like a PS5 exclusive for sure. Demo was entertaining enough, but I'll probably hold off. Game seems to be okay but not earth shattering with TOTL graphics. I ended up getting the cart of the FFI-VI pixel remasters and will likely bust through some of those instead if I get the itch.

Playing ffxiii right now. Such a pretty game, still holds up very well visually. I like the story movements. I heard someone say it best when they said this game is best as 1-2hr session thing, not a whole day binge. I am okay with the battle system as things move head in difficulty. Also very ahead of its time as a “plays itself” game in the vein of vampire survivors etc. perfect thing to play on the steam deck while baseball/something else is on the tv in the background.

ff16 is fun, of course i'd prefer an old fashioned Active Time Battle system or whatever but the DMC-lite character action stuff is fine. they were smart enough to load it up with TONS of minibosses and cinematic moments so it rarely feels like you are just tromping from trash mob to trash mob a la xenoblade.

looking forward to 16 when i can play it

would be interesting to redo this poll someday, i think V has increased in stature a lot over time now that its far removed from being The Weird one That Didnt Get Released Outside Japan

16 is unashamedly shallow, I'm enjoying how relatively undemanding it is tbh

The combat seems to be designed to make you think you're incredible at dodging without actually being that hard. Voice acting is really excellent, Finchy from the Office among others putting on fine work

XP of the first six V is my second fav! Thought it was a "lost classic" type back in the early 00's when I was able to play it on the PS2.

5 was the peak in terms of the core gameplay imo. Really enjoyed the remaster of 3 as well. 6 obviously towers above in most aspects.

I just realized that 7-9 are the only mainline games I played -- loved 8, enjoyed 7, but did not like the 9's story (mainly disliked the breeziness of the story or Zidane). Are the pixel remasters for the older ones worth checking out in my case?

everyone who plays RPGs should play FF6 at least once

and the pixel remaster is good

Unbelievable they’re like the only games NOT on sale on steam right now. Was expecting to buy that bundle today but can’t stomach the $100 asking price

Are the pixel remasters for the older ones worth checking out in my case?

Absolutely! These are all the FF games made for the NES and SNES, so sprite 2D graphics for the most part. The NES games are updated to SNES like graphics which is nice. The remasters also have nice quality of life improvements like "easy modes" where you can say, get 4x XP per battle or turn encounters off while roaming the map!

The plot and story of the games get more and more involved leading up to VI with that game probably having one of the most immersive for a 2D RPG game. Kefka in VI is easily my favorite FF villain and that includes VII and beyond. Still holds up and you can see how VI specifically has influenced a ton of modern indie RPGs too (Eastward is one that comes to mind).

Pro-tip I learned from Reddit before it began to eat shit, but they only sell the cartridge of the pixel remasters for the Switch in SE Asia, but you can play this cart in the US just fine - runs great on mine. Seems to be for sale still here (though price is now $80 yikes - I paid $70):
https://www.play-asia.com/final-fantasy-i-vi-pixel-remaster-collection-multi-language/13/70g0qp

So I got some extra time in my hands lately, finally bought the pixel remasters and have been breezing through them. Finished the three NES games (1>2=3) and now maybe a third of the way through IV and wow what a jump in quality. There's like, an actual story! You kinda get the best of 3's job system with the characters who rotate in and out (I'm aware V is apparently where the job system really hits its stride?). These remasters are vry vry vry pretty too. Also, a modern mp system finally! Love the DnD roots of the spell slots, but I feel like I'm finally playing a Final Fantasy game as I know it entering from the ps1 era with mp, story focus atb. Loving how every game innovates, every one I've played so far has been classic.

Looking forward to V, VI, VIII, IX, X-2, XIII-2, XIII-3, and finishing XIV, XV and XVI...... lol