Calling All Final Fantasy Fans...

[Sir_Scud]

So I decided to do something pretty nerdy in trying to beat all the main series final fantasy games. I've actually played them all already, but there are a few I haven't beaten. Just curious to see if anyone else has beaten them all. I got this idea when I was on the psn store and noticed basically every final fantasy is there barring the obvious ps2 games.

I've yet to beat I, VI, X, XII, and XIII. As for VI, I loved that game and stopped playing at the final dungeon, so I know I can beat that game. Curious to see what people think of the others. I really liked XII, but for whatever reason I stopped playing it one day. Same with X. FFI will be pretty dated, but I think it will be ok. As for XIII, wasn't a fan, so hard to say.

Anyways as stated before, curious to see if anyone has beaten them all and what they think of them individually. I think the toughest one will be XIII for me. BTW mods wasn't sure really where to put this thread, move if necessary.

[AaronSOLDIER]

Currently playing through them all myself. Played and beaten every one except XI, which shouldve been a separate series, not a mainline FF. Anyway for me it goes like this:

FF6 ! FF7 - the peak of the series
FF5 ! FF8 - the runners up
FF4 | FF9 | FF10 - the distant runners up
FF1 | FF2 | FF3 - the distant distant runners up

FF ended at 10.

[daLa]

Have only played and finished 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, Crisis Core and am yet to finish 13 lol.

[Sir_Scud]

Currently playing through them all myself. Played and beaten every one except XI, which shouldve been a separate series, not a mainline FF. Anyway for me it goes like this:

Very nice. Any of them multiple times? Honestly, I forgot about XI. I played it, however, being an MMO hardly counts as a real ff game.

[Ghost-Rhayne]

I just finished FF vs13 and I gotta say it's my fav of them all so far.

[Equinoqs]

FF ended at 10.

No. XII was no further from the rest of the series than X was. I haven't played through XIII, so I can't speak on it.

[Yuuichi]

The first 6 where fantastic. Hard games that had a wonderful story especially 6. 7 was good but was easy, I mean dirt easy. Sephirtoh was ok at first then when he keep saying mommy this and mommy that I was like stfu. Cloud was a decent front man, not the best. Tifa had boobs and as someone who goes to many convention both gaming an anime I would like to thank the person who made her character cause I get to see it cosplayed. 8 was something else, but that draw system held it back. 9 was trying to return to roots with classes and it was decent story, good characters, hard fights. 10 SUCKED!!!! Yes it sucked people. It was linear if you admit it or not. Side quest where next to none. No real memorable boss fight. Characters sucked. 12 was decent. I loved the hunts, hated that to get a better weapon would sometimes require a rare drop by a rare spawn. Fights where again hard. 13 was good. I like Fang and Lighting. The crystal system was meh. I hated the lvl throtteling. If I want to wack on a lvl 1 mob till I am lvl 30 during the first hours of game let me. That is a core of rpg. Because of throttling that was only reason game seemed hard, but really was not after you mastered system.

Over all FF died with 6. They just keep slapping name on it and brought back summons. I never viewed any FF past 6 as a real FF game and just think of it as another rpg.

[Inzane2050]

Final Fantasy X was my personal fav. I can see the gripes with no side quests existing but I did not mind it. It was a bit too easy I'll admit, same with FFVII and FFVIII. The linear nature of FFX didn't bother me much. I actually used to defend FFXIII prior to the US releasing saying, "FFX was linear and it was still great!" and then I actually played FFXIII and I was like "OOHHHHHHH MYYYYYY GGOOOODD!!! This thing is as On-Rails as you can get!" Lol

[AaronSOLDIER]

Very nice. Any of them multiple times? Honestly, I forgot about XI. I played it, however, being an MMO hardly counts as a real ff game.

Off the top of my head:

FF1 - twice
FF2 - once (hate the levelling system)
FF3 - once (I play the NES fan translated version)
FF4 - three tiems (twice on PS1, almost finished on PSP)
FF5 - once but want to play it again soon, best job system in the entire series
FF6 - twice
FF7 - 4 or 5 times
FF8 - 3 times
FF9 - twice
FF10 - once or twice I dunno if I replayed it but will replay it when they release it in HD

For spinoffs I've played Crisis Core, Dirge of Cerberus, Ehrgeiz if it counts, probably not, Dissidia - hated it, Tactics (on PSP, no PS1 version here in EU), bunch of other Squaresoft games.

No. XII was no further from the rest of the series than X was. I haven't played through XIII, so I can't speak on it.

Well that's my opinion, but personally I thought IX was the last good FF, X started to go elsewhere but I did enjoy it. Basically it started going downhill when Sakaguchi stopped doing the stories.

[itachi73378]

I just finished FF vs13 and I gotta say it's my fav of them all so far.

I have notified the CIA and the FBI. They'll be there shortly to confiscate the time machine.

[The Black Wolf]

Currently playing through them all myself. Played and beaten every one except XI, which shouldve been a separate series, not a mainline FF. Anyway for me it goes like this:

FF6 ! FF7 - the peak of the series
FF5 ! FF8 - the runners up
FF4 | FF9 | FF10 - the distant runners up
FF1 | FF2 | FF3 - the distant distant runners up

FF ended at 10.

Finally, some respect for FF8!

[Equinoqs]

Well that's my opinion, but personally I thought IX was the last good FF, X started to go elsewhere but I did enjoy it. Basically it started going downhill when Sakaguchi stopped doing the stories.

Oops, I was just referring to their 'faithfulness' to the series, not which was good or bad (though I am highly biased since XII is my favorite). VIII didn't seem all that faithful to me, but then, I never finished it.

[Blacksite]

I'm just going to list the top 5 Final Fantasy titles worth playing:

1. Final Fantasy IX
2. Final Fantasy VI
3. Final Fantasy IV
4. Final Fantasy X
5. Final Fantasy VII

Final Fantasy Tactics was pretty good too.

[Fenix]

10, 7, and 13 - in that order - are my favourite. 8 and 12 are probably my most hated. I started at 7.

[Inzane2050]

Final Fantasy X was the first I bought and played after watching all of the development diary that got me hyped. I've been intrigued by Final Fantasy since I played the FFVIII demo.

[TGO]

Finally, some respect for FF8!

Hey for me FF8 is the peak of the series, I preferred everything it offered over the rest.
characters, summons, monsters, music, story (if ya understood it )
And the GUNBLADE :shocked:
Plus
http://youtu.be/upcRj4e6vdI
Thats when FF meant business
7 10 are my other favs

[Equinoqs]

I still have my NES cartridge of the first Final Fantasy, but while I was looking for it just to make sure, I found the best one of all, the one we've all forgotten...Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Let's see an HD remake of that!

[DarkVincent07]

I haven't played or finished all of the main series FF games... but my favourites are actually VII and the PSP re-make of the first Final Fantasy

[AaronSOLDIER]

FF8 in a nutshell (0:42):

[HellsJester]

Good - 7, 9, 6
Ok - 1-5, 8
Bad - 10-14

Some other Squaresoft ones i thought belonged in the good section but are not part of the main series - Tactics, Xenogears, Mario RPG

[TGO]

FF8 in a nutshell (0:42):

Lmao, what's wrong with hotdogs
On a side note, only two could follow u at one time, was suppose to be a improvement over the fact ya party just disappeared into the main character in other final fantasys, didn't think people would use it to dis the game lol
Guess people liked the thought of have 6 characters inside them that only pop out to talk, still one of the best thou

Sent from my Xperia S

[Lefein]

There are two kinds of Final Fantasy fans in my book.

This song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz4BGXqnNY4

Either gives you the chills with good memories, or you am fail.

P.S. and climb a wall of dicks.

[Equinoqs]

FF8 in a nutshell (0:42):

LOL - seriously, I laughed out loud at that. Some of that seems very familiar. Rinoa falling dead as soon as the battle started was great.

[Mr.House]

I got to admit; there is one FF that I never finished: FF2
Just couldn't do it. Played it for a few hours and decided that it wasn't really going to be worth making time for.

Basically, it's like this:

1. Final Fantasy VII - I'm saying it's best in series because of the materia system, the cast, the music, and the fact that it shat all over anything that anyone had ever seen before it's time in the graphics dept. There were plenty of secrets to discover, and the best world map to explore in JRPG history.

2. Final Fantasy VIII - I almost put this at #1. The cast is amazing (arguably better than most of VII), it has some great music (though VII's music is slightly better) And also like VII, it's packed full of secrets, and a fun card game to boot. Hardly any negatives.

3. Final Fantasy IV - I prefer this games medieval setting to VI's more sci-fi setting. This games story (for the most part) is simple yet strong. VI has a more complex plot, and improved graphics. And Kefkas fame arguably tops Kain and Cecils (but imo shouldn't). In the end, IV is a game that I play through once every few years. I can't say that about VI.

4. Fantasy VI - One of the finest stories in the series, and definitely some of the most memorable characters the entire RPG genre has ever seen. Still better than many of the more technically advanced RPGs. It improved the graphics from IV, and added a sci-fi direction that actually didn't suck. I liked how they mixed the technology and the magic into one idea. That was a new concept, or at least not a mainstreamed idea, in its time.

5. Final Fantasy V - Feels like IV meets VI halfway. It's got a more medieval vibe like IV, but the graphical improvements of VI and an interesting color pallet that gives it it's own feel. Holds it's own with a very decent story and a cast worth caring about. Played through it on GBA, and currently revisiting it on my PS3.

6. Final Fantasy IX - Honestly, I was never a huge fan of any of the characters in IX. The playable characters were weak compared to the rest of what we had in the PS1 era (VII and VIII). A much simpler game than VI and VIII as well. Music also not on the level of VII nor VIII. It was meant to be a nod to the old-school FF's with it's wooden airships and overall theme. So at the time I was willing to accept it for being just that. But I knew something was just starting to smell bad.

7. Final Fantasy XII - Better than X, but didn't really draw me in. I felt the characters were quite lame and forgettable. The story was predictable, and took zero chances with anything. It'a a good GAME, but it didn't feel like a FF experience to me. I just couldn't get myself 100% into it, but played the whole way through anyway because as a game it was still fun.
.
8. Final Fantasy X - Worst. Cast. Ever. All of them. No more world map to explore was a huge blow to this series for me. I'd hoped the PS2 era would bring even bigger world maps with god-knows-what kind of stuff to find. Then X comes out and they decide to completely remove it instead. A total let-down in that regard. But if you forget the words "FF" and just play it, you might enjoy it. Also, this game doesn't push any boundaries like the series had been known to do (up until VIII). The only thing I really enjoyed was the battle system.

9. Final Fantasy XIII - Amazing graphics. That is all. The characters of X and XIII can have a limp-wristed slap-fight for lamest characters in the series. In short: XIII is an undercooked turd that I only bothered completing because I kept on hoping it would get better. I tried desperately to find something to enjoy other than the eye-candy, but I never found it. Kind of a heart breaker really. It's shaken my faith in the franchise. FFXV is their last chance.


I'm not going to mini-critique FF1, FF3, FF11, or FFIV.

IMO FF1 is kind of beyod criticism. You can't really compare storylines, graphics, etc. because of the fact that it's the first one. It would be impossible to put it on a list because technically: it would either deserve to be #1 or dead last.

I've beaten FF3 on DS but I've never played the original FF3 (NES). If I had to put FF3 DS on this list; it would rank in between IX and XII.

And obviously XI and XIV are online, and that's a totally different beast.

[Versus]

Don't know about other posters OP, but I for one have beaten ALL 14 (13) installments in the FINAL FANTASY series. I own all 14 games, and have an official soundtrack and strategy guide with each and every single one of them. My FFVI OST is signed by Nobuo Uematsu himself.

I'm not a bandwagon fan that just likes the most popular ones either (VII and X) a TRUE fan respects FF as a SERIES and it's mythology of having every installment be different and take the time to try and see the new universes and have each game uses classic themes in different ways over and over again. ANYWAY! here what I think...

FFI - A classic

FFII - easily the worst in the series by far. A sophmore slump. Terrible gameplay that's easily exploited. Basic storyline is ok for it's time, but this title fails to standout in any way other then being the worst of th3 14, and will go down in the series' history as forever being the worst.

FFIII - Something of a retelling or different take on the original FF. It's OKish, but it just doesn't stand out. But made a great way to end the original trilogy back in the day.

FFIV - Really good. First to tell a complex story. Doesn't do anything really GREAT, but doesn't do much horrible either. Just solid FF game.

FFV - This one doesn't stand out much either in gameplay or story, but it's certainly decent. A worthy installment

FFVI - God himself placed his hand on this game and blessed it with the most amazing soundtrack in the series. (maybe in gaming period). Great characters, that aren't THAT complex, but stand out well and are memorable. Classic scenes make the narrative stick in your mind. OP, you SHOULD beat this game to see how well the ending credits mold together the golden soundtrack. Absolutely breathtaking.

FFVII - Sending the series into a new era of 3D. Story is epic, music is epic, narrative is very strong because of the best dialog in the series IMO and memorable stand out scenes like in FFVI. Gameplay is easy tho, but try and beat Ruby and Emerald Weapon for fun tho XD

FFVIII - Has a good basic concept for it's story but isn't told very well. Good characters, but fails to be as deep and weaved together like the previous two FFs. Gameplay, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh boy, da gameplay -.- can soooooo easily be exploited it's not even funny. And it's too complex for it's own good, and subsequently the battles aren't fun and are very SLOW. Great soundtrack tho!!

FFIX - Returns the series to it's pre FFVII roots with classic medieval themes and music. Like FFIV, doesn't do anything great, but it's just a very soild, rock hard FF game if you know where the series comes from. It may seem slow to get the story pumping unlike previous two games (VIII and VII) but picks up later on. Gameplay is average, plain Jane turned based, but it works. Battles take too damn long to load up tho -.- (Love Zidane BTW). If you love thongs, then this game is also for you ANYWAY!

FFX - My personal FAVORITE in the series. It does everything well even tho it does take away a few things past FF had. Soundtrack is done well, gameplay is sorta basic but makes ALL 7 characters useful and includes them all well. Good mini game Blitzball that also helps weave into the story. Narrative is told very very very well. Graphics STILL hold up well to this day. Pretty much the last FF to not be controversial. You must play FFX, it's the perfect "gateway" into the series.

FFXI Online - Let's get something straight, this IS, I repeat IS a true FF game in everyway. Even moreso then some other games. The ONLY difference is that it's played online. But all the classic themes that make a FF game are here in terms of music, characters, story, gameplay and magic. This game DOES, have a storyline, and it's the most complex in the series with the inclusion of the 4 expansion packs. It's my personal favorite storyline overall. Gameplay is dated and boring, but boss battles are done well. Some of the locations are beautiful later on the in the game too. Lately, you CAN complete XI, if you do the story missions. It's where the story is told, and if you do all of them I consider this beating FFXI. Cheak this game out AFTER you've played most other offline games. Worth playing for the story tho.


FFXII - Second best world in the series as far as exploring goes after XI. Best in terms of offline FFs tho. It's done the best and this style should be included in FFXV and beyond. Good PS2 graphics. Really nice movie-like soundtrack. IMO the gameplay lacks big time because the 6 characters you get are basically just interchangeable avatars because they lack indivuality like in FFIV and X. Story tries, but fails to be epic most of the time because it's soo flawed. It wants to be more political, which is repectable, but lacks the BOOM of let's say FFVII and X. Decent game tho. (screw you Vaan)

FFXIII - OK game, no it really really is, it's just really flawed in how it's executes itself in all main phases of RPGs. Gameplay, story, and exploration (immersion factor). Fighting can be very fun, but you don't have complete control on what's going on. Story has amazing potential, but SE completely dropped the ball on it's mythology. And game feels far far too linear. (this could have been the ultimate FF game, but I believe the development team was not up to the task of FINAL FANTASY XIII.)

FFXIV Online - Long story short on this 2nd FF MMO, it's a big nothing burger. SE created a land with not much to do in it. And gameplay was severely unbalanced. Needs an auction house too!! This all caused users to leave the game in droves. TBH, this game is not complete so you can't really "beat" FFXIV yet. At some point you will be able too tho. SE will relaunch XIV with "2.0" at the end of the year tho. Hoping that goes well! Kick ass graphics tho. (Miqo'tes are sexy as heck too! See avatar.


Awesome series, but needs to get back on track with FFXV. But there you go!