Final Fantasy series

Mr Bloat

There is a post in the Gaming Bargains thread informing us that all the Final Fantasy games are cheap on PSN at the moment. My first introduction to FF was 7 on the Playstation and then 8 afterwards. I adored 7, like many many others. I also enjoyed 8 but found things like the cut scenes that play every single time you played a Guardian Force to be irritating. I'm not sure I could enjoy it again now.

I'd like to try a different one but haven't a clue which to pick. What is the general consensus on the best FF game? Are any of them better than 7? If any of them have things like guardian force cut scenes then forget it!

Kimbot

I really enjoyed Final Fantasy X, 7 & 8, decided to get 7 on the ps3 again and still love it

noodler

9 is tremendous fun and should be played.

I rank it above 8 quite easily.

I love the storyline.

landsleaving

VI is the best for me.

Robert Lawlor

Final Fantasy Xiii was pretty good all new grafics Xiii-2 wasn't as good tho but hopefully the new one where lightning returns will be good.

calex71

9 was my favourite, so much so that everything that came after was hard for me to get into.

8 was a real struggle for me too, tried 3 times over the years to play it but i just never got into the characters and setting.

Not in the lest bit impressed with the series over the last few years, 13 was ok in terms of characters for me but it's linearity was horrific. I haven't played 13-2 and have no intention of playing lightning returns, though maybe they have improved over 13????? Anyone?

Retr0gamer

Just be aware that the Final Fantasy games on the european version are the compromised PAL versions of the games that run slower and have black borders that mess up the aspect ratio. You're better off getting them from the US PSN, the versions there are a hell of a lot better.

I'd also recommend not getting the PS1 versions of FFIV, V and VI. The PS1 versions are really bad with messed up music and load times that totally ruin the games.

That leaves FFVII, VIII and IX. I'd got with IX, it's far and away my favourite of those but VII is a lot of fun as well. VIII is more an acquired taste and far too complex for it's own good so I'd play that after you've played those two.

Again I can't stress how much better the versions of these games are from the US PSN.

If you are interested in the SNES games then FFV and FFVI are superb, much better than FFVII as well. Just don't get the PS1 versions on PSN, you are better off emulating or getting versions based on the SNES games like on the Wii.

Retr0gamer

calex71 wrote: »

have no intention of playing lightning returns, though maybe they have improved over 13????? Anyone?

FFXIII-3 is looking great. Supposedly it's a spiritual successor to Valkyrie Profile rather than a FF game and it's made by the same team from tri-ace.

calex71

Retr0gamer wrote: »

FFXIII-3 is looking great. Supposedly it's a spiritual successor to Valkyrie Profile rather than a FF game and it's made by the same team from tri-ace.

Oh really ? That kind of changes my mind from writing it off completely to willing to see what they are bringing to the table now.

Edit: Whats this i spy on the xbox dashboard?????? An english demo for Lightning returns !

F1ngers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVf5Cr4M-F8

Dravokivich

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Just be aware that the Final Fantasy games on the european version are the compromised PAL versions of the games that run slower and have black borders that mess up the aspect ratio. You're better off getting them from the US PSN, the versions there are a hell of a lot better.

Just checked and there doesn't appear to be a deal on'em in the US PSN store.

Retr0gamer

Dravokivich wrote: »

Just checked and there doesn't appear to be a deal on'em in the US PSN store.

They usually have them as well regularly. Worth waiting. In the mean time the PSP games are great. FF Tactics and the PSP version of FFIV in particular are superb.

Hank Scorpio

Play through ff6, one of my favorite games of all time

ancapailldorcha

Final Fantasy XIII is probably my favourite. FFX is very good and is getting a HD re-release soon so watch for that. FFIX is held in high regard. FFVI is my favorite of the PS1 games. FFVIII is a lot of fun once you avoid summoning GFs and twig how the junction system works. FFVII is good but doesn't deserve anywhere near the lavish praise heaped upon it.

super_furry

The PSP version of FFIV, that's on sale on the PSN store is excellent and includes FFIV After Years Story.

Mal-Adjusted

There really isn't a bad Final Fantasy game (XIV was broken, but has since been fixed) and they're all varied enough that you'll get different experiences with each one, so I'd suggest have a quick read of the synopsis of each game in the main series and see what story/world takes your fancy. (just remember that XI and XIV are MMO's).

There's plenty of dedicated forums comparing and contrasting games in the series as well, so wouldn't be a bad place to get some info as well as general chit-chat.

martingriff

jonny24ie wrote: »

I really enjoyed Final Fantasy X, 7 & 8, decided to get 7 on the ps3 again and still love it

Love 7 it was my first FF game. I got iy on steam during Christmass for €4

ShadowHearth

I started playing FF7 again, but had to put it down for now ( damn you persona 4 ). Its a lot better then I remember from childhood. Its a lot damn more mature and dark then I remember too.
Still plays and feels solid after so many years.

martingriff

Mal-Adjusted wrote: »

There really isn't a bad Final Fantasy game (XIV was broken, but has since been fixed) and they're all varied enough that you'll get different experiences with each one, so I'd suggest have a quick read of the synopsis of each game in the main series and see what story/world takes your fancy. (just remember that XI and XIV are MMO's).

There's plenty of dedicated forums comparing and contrasting games in the series as well, so wouldn't be a bad place to get some info as well as general chit-chat.

X-2 was not good but I did like the concepts of the dresss shere wich are back from the demo I have seen of XIII-3 XIII series was not the best and been completly healed after every battle was crap. Also the Crystirium was the worst way of leveling up that and the drawing of magic in VIII

noodler

martingriff wrote: »

X-2 was not good but I did like the concepts of the dresss shere wich are back from the demo I have seen of XIII-3 XIII series was not the best and been completly healed after every battle was crap. Also the Crystirium was the worst way of leveling up that and the drawing of magic in VIII

It saddens to me to hear people liking XIII to be honest.

I much, much preferred the oft-lambasted FFX-2 (once you get past the intro movie of course).

noodler

super_furry wrote: »

The PSP version of FFIV, that's on sale on the PSN store is excellent and includes FFIV After Years Story.

I picked this up two years ago but am stuck halfway though it because I saved on the World Map and have no idea where or what I am supposed to do next.

Gotta get back to it.

martingriff

noodler wrote: »

It saddens to me to hear people liking XIII to be honest.

I much, much preferred the oft-lambasted FFX-2 (once you get past the intro movie of course).

It was playable had good graphics and the battles were unique with the paradym shifts. Some of the battles were long with some thought on how you finished them. It is not a great game by any means but I would rate it over X-2 it was just so corny having to get all the spheres

snausages

XIII was at least sufficiently difficult. First Final Fantasy to ever really give me a hard time with the story bosses.

Gandalph

I downloaded FF7 from PSN there 2-3 days ago, wow the game hasn't lost its touch at all. I actually appreciate the character build up & connection a lot better now!

I don't remember the language being so mature though, when I played it back when I was like 8-9 I don't remember Barrett calling me a "f**king R**ard" :O I thought they blanked out all the mature language but I guess not.

TouchingVirus

FF IX is tied with FF VII in terms of my #1 spot.

10/X would be the next on my list, I absolutely loved the storyline and though I was young playing it it did surprise me in parts, I won't spoil anything though but I thought it definitely worth playing if you can.

8 doesn't come close, I just didn't like it and felt it was too significant a departure from 7 and 9.

gaynorvader

My opinions on the games in order.

FFVIII is probably my favourite. I really loved the style and setting and enjoyed the complexities of the draw system.
FFVII is a close second. The story just blew me away and the materia system is great.
FFX is very good. Blitzball was great fun and the sphere grid system is excellent.
FFV had a fun job system. I enjoyed it a lot.
FFVI had a great story and was a lot of fun. I missed the job system though.
FFIX I didn't enjoy. The system seemed good, but the story and graphics were a bit cartoony for my tastes and I was never able to stomach playing it for long enough to get into it. If you like that kind of thing, it's by all accounts a great game.
FFI has not aged well, the story is pretty basic as is the combat.
I don't remember any details about FFII, III or IV. I've definitely played them, but don't remember them as being especially good or bad.
FFXIII was my least favourite by far. The story had an extremely poor delivery, requiring you to constantly read through reams of text in your journal to follow it. The combat was detached from you and you spent most of your time hitting the auto attack button to be quicker. The fact that if your leader died it was game over as opposed to a party wipe meant that revive was less useful on non-leaders and your leader needed to be someone with a fair bit of HP. The visuals were amazing, but that wasn't enough. It's also disappointingly short and small.

FFXI was an MMO and I thought it was pretty fun. Not really a Final Fantasy game though (or at least not one of the numbered ones).

I've never played FFXII, though I hear it's good. I've also never played FFX-2 or FFXIII-2.

Retr0gamer

VII for me starts good but then dies a bit once you leave Midgar and becomes very like every other RPG. Found the materia system to be very basic in hindsight, the game is very easy as well which means outside of the optional bosses there's no real reason to play around with it.

I think you are mixing up FFV and FFIV. FFV had the job system. For battle system it's one of the greatest RPGs ever made. It's gloriously broken and lots of fun to experiment. FFIV is quite basic in story but is wonderfully paced and it's the only game in the series where the ATB system actually works well.

FF1 is very basic now but as a 8-bit RPG it's up there with the best. Dragon Quest 3 and 4 are way better though and I prefer Phantasy Star.

FF2 (not to be confused with FF2 on SNES which is FF4) is a total disaster, a really terrible game. They did manage to make it playable in the GBA and PSP version which are ok.

FF3 is kind of dull. It has a job system but it was just aping the job system of Dragon Quest at the time and doing it badly. It was in FFV that it really got good.

Gummy Panda

Anyone tried FF VI on android?

Good/bad port?

Retr0gamer

Meant to be good even if it looks horrible. The high res characters against the SNES backdrops looks very jarring.

martingriff

Gandalph wrote: »

I downloaded FF7 from PSN there 2-3 days ago, wow the game hasn't lost its touch at all. I actually appreciate the character build up & connection a lot better now!

I don't remember the language being so mature though, when I played it back when I was like 8-9 I don't remember Barrett calling me a "f**king R**ard" :O I thought they blanked out all the mature language but I guess not.

I downloaded the game on Steam over Christmas and the language is blanked ot like you would have quoted it there. I downloaded FFIX on PSN last night only played as far as boss in evil woods but its fun. Died at the boss needed to level a bit only at level 3 that and I try to steal all the time

sin0city

VII followed by X for me.
Bought VI off PSN recently. Only played it a bit but it seems very good so far too.

Got XIII on the PS3 and was really looking forward to it as I hadn't played a FF game in some time. MAJOR dissapointment.

noodler

7, 9 and 10.

I won't quibble over the order of second and third but FF7 is king (to me!).

Tazzimus

10 is my favorite by far, loved the story too. Final bosses became very easy once you put some time into leveling the characters up though, Dark Aeons are a challenge.

Useful.Idiot

for me it's definitely 7 first then 8 with 9 and 10 on equal footing I think, though my memories of 9 are very hazy so I must revisit it.

7 wins for me because it has by far my favourite story, soundtrack and world setting. 8 was also fantastic in these departments. I loved the new fantastical direction that 9 took (and 4 character parties blew my mind hah). I loved 10 for the amount of depth it had (and being able to do over 9999 damage), who knows how many hours upon hours I put into building up a deadly blitzball team!

Downloaded the Android version of 4 on to my phone and going through that now. It's pretty cool that they updated 4, 5 and 6 with 3D graphics, cinematics and voice acting among other improvements!

James Howlett

Gummy Panda wrote: »

Anyone tried FF VI on android?

Good/bad port?

I saw that on the marketplace the other night... I'm a bit put off my the graphics but am definitely put off by the price (€15!).

Robert Lawlor

Are the android FF games worth buying im a big fan but don't know if they would be good on my phone.

Useful.Idiot

they are definitely a bit on the pricey side but I like the graphics update. A better way than most to relive the stories of the older Final Fantasies. I think they just released some new original sequel content to FF4 as well with the same engine.

ancapailldorcha

Does anyone know if War of the Lions is coming to Android here? I know they released in Japan but last I checked there was no mention of a western release.

spiralism

FFVII is probably my favourite game to this day. Currently replaying it for the first time since i was in TY when it took up a lot of free time. Materia system is basic and enjoyable, the amount of gameplay in terms of sidequests is massive, the story is probably the best in gaming, characters are relatable and interesting and the soundtrack is ****ing gorgeous.

FFXII isn't as widely played as the rest going by here, probably as it was released at the end of the PS2s lifespan. This is a shame because it's a brilliant game and comes close to VII in my view. Real time battles add an interesting dimension, it looks seriously amazing stretching the PS2 hardware to its absolute limit, has an epic storyline and the gameplay is brilliant, the sidequests are a treat in themselves

FFXIII isn't as good but it's a very decent game by any means. Didn't love how linear it was for long spells but the game opened up nicely. Again, looked amazing. Story was a bit difficult to grasp for a while but got very good. Arguably the most difficult one i played too, the battling is quite strategic and can get quite frustrating late in the game. Didn't love the sidequests as much as the others though. Soundtrack isn't as good either unfortunately.

FFX i didn't get a fair crack of it, i bought it after FFXII and my PS2 sat down shortly afterwards and i never got around to repairing it. Liked what i'd seen but wasnt totally sold though.

FFVIII i'm currently playing for the first time. Wasn't gone on the junctions system and find it rather complex but getting around it. Storyline is so far excellent and soundtrack is very good. Growing on me in a major way.

snausages

XII gave you a great feeling of control I think. Being able to move party members anywhere and switch between them was great. Hope the Zodiac edition gets a PS3 release.

Zero-Cool

Its mad how the series splits so many people. VII is my favourite game of all time and I loved VIII. Couldn't get into IX and hated X. Didn't try any after that. playing VII on the psn is just as good as it was back in the day.

ancapailldorcha

Unfortunately, I can't imagine FFXII will ever get a HD rerelease which is a shame. It tried something new and was a fun, if failed experiment. I think Retr0gamer mentioned a poll in Famitsu once where FFX was voted the greatest entry in the series. It makes sense to rerelease it as it's held in high regard and requires a fairly minimal amount of work to improve the graphics. FFXII, on the other hand is a different story which is a shame as I'd love to play the Zodiac version and starts of with probably the best story of the franchise if you ignore the fetch crap at the end along with Vaan and Penelo.

Retr0gamer

I couldn't get on with FFXII at all. It was a brave try but I felt it ultimately failed. The story started good but ended in a rush and the battle system was dull outside of boss fights.

Ultimately Xenoblade came along and built on the potential of FFXII and ended up being a far better game with none of the annoyances of 12.

CiDeRmAn

My favourite Square game is Einhander!

I have most of the FF games but have played none of them, where's the best place to start?

Retr0gamer

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I have most of the FF games but have played none of them, where's the best place to start?

Chrono Trigger.

It's short, looks amazing, has a stunning soundtrack and is just so much fun you won't put it down. It's also very progressive for a 16-bit game, there's no random battles for one. The DS version is good and easy to get.

If you want a Final Fantasy game to start with I'd recommend FFVI but really Chrono Trigger is far better than anything in the FF franchise.

Mal-Adjusted

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I have most of the FF games but have played none of them

How does that happen?
Though I can't say much as I have VI and XIII-2 on backlog

CiDeRmAn

Oh, I have Chronotrigger for the Snes, plays well on my region free Snes.
I put a couple of hours into it and stopped, probably distracted by something shiny, I'll throw myself back into the fray!

Retr0gamer

You should. It's not the time investment of other RPGs ad it's got the crazy sci-fi you like.

Taylor365

Any thoughts on FF XV?

Will probably be the first FF I've picked up since IX.

Retr0gamer

It looks more like a Kingdom Hearts game than a FF game. No surprise considering the Kingdom Hearts team are making it. It could be fun but expect the story to be absolute garbage. Tetsuo Nomura has shown with Kingdom Hearts that he is capable of writing the some of the worst stuff ever inflicted on humanity.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It looks more like a Kingdom Hearts game than a FF game. No surprise considering the Kingdom Hearts team are making it. It could be fun but expect the story to be absolute garbage. Tetsuo Nomura has shown with Kingdom Hearts that he is capable of writing the some of the worst stuff ever inflicted on humanity.

Except for Birth by Sleep.