Best in the Series

[DakAttack]

Re: Best in the Series

Personally I'm into militarized games, and FFVII and FFVIII offered those certain aspects. Guns, war, technology, etc. Swords and spells are cool and all, but I like that mechanical edge.

I haven't played anything before VII though.

[Vildar]

Re: Best in the Series

A good scene on 8 is when them 2 garden ship things go t owar, and the motercycle fighters come jumping over. My favorite bit :D

[Chro]

Re: Best in the Series

I like it in the end when it goes all trippy

But yeah the garden battle is very cool! Although irritating having to swap parties all the bleeding time!!

[Vildar]

Re: Best in the Series

A good system i think for 8 was where you needed to fight the "Avatars" to beable to summon them. I remember getting that mysterios lamp at the begining, then trying to fight it straight away. I got canned from all angles.

[InuTrunks]

Re: Best in the Series

Personally I'm into militarized games, and FFVII and FFVIII offered those certain aspects. Guns, war, technology, etc. Swords and spells are cool and all, but I like that mechanical edge.
I haven't played anything before VII though.

You'd really like 6.

[Malacite]

Re: Best in the Series

You'd really like 6.

Don't forget 4, with Baron invading the other nations for their crystals.


Personally I love 11 the most, but if we're only counting the offline titles it's a tough call as I love all of them.

6 is without a doubt the best of the bunch however. It had a huge cast, the best (and most evil) villain ever (if a tad fruity looking) and was beautifully presented. The game had the best graphics seen on the SNES, wonderful music by Nobuo ( Terra's theme) and the hilarious animations they all have.

And who can forget the Opera House? Probably one of the greatest scenes ever in an FF (save for perhaps Aerith's death by Sephiroth).


Which brings me to 7... I love that game, make no mistake, but it gets entirely too much glory. In a lot of ways FF7 was just FF6 with a smaller cast. There are so many similarities it's disgusting, right down to the final boss fight (Kefka is the original 1-winged angel tyvm) so it loses out to that. The game has a lot going for it and it's one of the best games of all time, but I still don't think it beats six.

Conversely, I find 8 gets a lot of undue negative responses. Get this through your heads all you FF8 haters: The game was a romance, as opposed to the usual plot lines. It also has one of the greatest sound tracks ever in a video game. If not for the convoluted plot and long-as-all-hell summoning animations, it would have likely scored higher among FF and RPG fans alike.

9 falls into a similar trap. It's a great game and was designed as a testament to FF's past. If you don't pick up on the insane number of references to the past games in the series (especially the main plot really) then you need to go back and play the older games. Maybe then you'll appreciate it for the beauty it is.

I will give people this much though; No matter how you slice it, Zidane sucked. Period. Kuja ftw.


That's it for now I guess. Can't wait for 13 and the DS remake of 4, along with 1&2 for the PSP. My god does FF1 on PSP look lovely.

[Tekumel]

Re: Best in the Series

I don't see how people can comment on this, then say "Oh, I haven't played anything before FF7 though."

I've played every game in the series, bar III (Could never find a translated ROM, and not so anxious to play it that I'm going to go buy a DS), Crystal Chronicles (I don't think many people even know that one exists. lolGamecube.) and IX (Something doesn't quite sit right with a main character that's not the "tank" type). I didn't play much of II (The ROM I found was about half-translated. I'd like to play it agian though.).

Final Fantasy VII is the only one I'd rank beyond Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest for the absolute worst game in the series. The story read like Fallout Boy lyrics, Sephiroth was probably one of the worst villians I've ever seen in a video game (Being evil for the sake of being evil is one thing. This guy was evil just for the sake of the story.), and to top it all off, if you play your cards right, you can go on a date with a guy that has a gatling gun for a hand. The only character I really appreciated from the game was Cait Sith. He was a great tragic hero.

My tops for the series are definitely IV, Tactics, VI, and I.

IV had a good cast. Cecil was the classic tormented soul. Kain was a tragic hero in his own right. Rosa...well, love interest, what more need be said? The story was reasonable (subtract the magic/mythical beasts, and it's believable), and didn't let go once it got a hold of you.

Tactics wasn't really a Final Fantasy, I'll be the first to admit that. The gameplay was TOTALLY different from anything ever done. But that gameplay was great for what the designers set out to do. The job system was unusual (since at the time only V had done it before). The story was far more down to earth, but at the same time it stayed an epic tale. I know personally my playtime clock had maxed out on my save, and I still hadn't beaten the game due to wanting to do EVERYTHING.

VI was a good change of pace from I & IV. The story remained consistently epic, but some gameplay changes kept things interesting (the Relic system, Sabin's Bumrush commands, Mog's dances, the fact that when Edgar attacked with a Chainsaw he had a Jason Vorhees mask on). Plus...one phrase. "I'M A TREASURE HUNTER!"

Anybody that doesn't like I is a damned pinko commie, and that's all there is to it. How can you not respect the game that started it all? If not for Final Fantasy I, there's a good chance that Square wouldn't even exist now. No Xxcloudxxs, no Sefiroffs, no Cecilhighwinds. Plus...go read the comic 8-Bit Theater. You'll gain a whole new appreciation for the game. Swordchucks, yo.

EDIT: Forgot to mention: Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance, and to a certain extent XII can KISS MY ASS. Get your damned bunny girls, alligator men, and all that crap THE HELL OUT OF MY IVALICE!

[Mhurron]

Re: Best in the Series

Actually I found Kefka to be a joke, not a particularly good villain. 9 I liked, it was fun and easy to play, but it wasn't my favorite. 10 was a blast, and while very good, I like 8 and Tactics much more.

Thats actually my problem, I don't know which I like more 8 or Tactics. I replay them both, one about as much as the other. The soundtracks for both were top notch.

[InuTrunks]

Re: Best in the Series

I think you're the first person to say you hated Kefka.

Kefka eats babies.

True story.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: Best in the Series

I never understood the hate for FFVIII, honestly. I'll be the first to admit the story felt more like a simulation for what it felt like to be surrounded by idiots, but the game itself was very challenging and unique within the series. I actually liked that the world scaled up in difficulty with your party, even if it didn't exactly make sense. I wouldn't call it my favorite, but really liked it.

FFIV, FFVI, FFX/X-2 and FFXII are probably my favorites in no particular order. I'd probably still put FFVI and FFIV just ahead of FFXII. I know there are going to those that say FFXII wasn't a "true" and I'm going to humbly disagree. It took everything I liked about FF and RPGs and gave it the sense of scale an MMORPG has, it also brought the dungeon crawls back that had been notably absent since FFVIII.

FFIV and FFVI are just epic, I'll grant you FFVI was very campy for an epic, but there were just so many special moments for each character that made them very memorable. Even the optional characters had that feel about them, there wasn't really a centralized hero for FFVI, either, so people could always take their favorite character away as the main hero of the story.

And I guess that's something I also liked about FFXII, it also had that feel in the characters. Better yet, there were no forced romances to endure. Like there were in most of the Nomura-era games.

FFX I just liked the whole battle system and FFX-2 was the ATB system on crack merged with the classic job system of the non-story-driven FFs. I enjoyed FFX-2's story for the direct-to-home video Disney sequel that it was, but that one was really about the grind.

As far as Kefka goes, he's The Joker in a Final Fantasy game. That's why he's so awesome, though.

[Rostum]

Re: Best in the Series

I like all Final Fantasy games, but my favourites would have to be FF7, FF9 and FF12.

FF8 is alright, but I think it takes a bit of a dive after the first disc. No character development, forced loved story, plot holes and lame moments. (We all came from the same orphanage but forgot because of guardian forces? Lame)

The older Final Fantasy's are good, except for maybe FF2. I can't wait for the DS remake of FF4.

[Pai Pai Master]

Re: Best in the Series

I can't compare FFXI directly to the others.

FFXII's story is horribly flawed, but I do think it is the best Final Fantasy game to date. My personal favourite, besides XI, however, is FFIV.

[DakAttack]

Re: Best in the Series

(Being evil for the sake of being evil is one thing. This guy was evil just for the sake of the story.)

Being evil for the sake of being evil makes no sense, and ultimately is uninteresting. Being evil for the sake of the story? That makes even less sense...

Sephiroth believed he was the son of an ancient, and intended to find their fabled paradise. When he realized he was just an experiment he decided to crack the planet open using a meteor and absorb its power when it attempted to heal itself. That's that in a nutshell.

The only thing I didn't like was how he dropped pieces of Jenova on you all the time. It makes sense when you put Advent Children into context, but there was probably a better way to execute that. Dropping body parts of what he believes is his mother seems to be out of character for him.

[Aksannyi]

Re: Best in the Series

I am personally a big fan of the storyline of X. Definitely one of my favorites. Yeah ... I cried ... /shame.

[Rostum]

Re: Best in the Series

I am personally a big fan of the storyline of X. Definitely one of my favorites. Yeah ... I cried ... /shame.

You know, even though it had some cheesy dialogue and moments (the laughing scene!), it was actually fairly decent. I enjoyed playing through FF10 a few times. The only flaw is the sequel; they could have executed it a hell of a lot better and it would have been great (the battle system is incredibly fun).