Your favourite FF!!?

noodler

I thought the lamp was sposed to be a test of strength? Its not that weird - I mean they sent you to a fire Cavern to fight Ifrit for an exam.

I thought it, as a story, was basic bad army takes over with queen whilst small mercenary types (SeeD) rise up to figh them - first for payment then for their own agenda.

It was finding out Edea wasn't the head baddie that made things a little F'ed in the A.

Retr0gamer

The whole 'we knew each other since we were kids but didn't remember because of the GFs was the thing that had me cringing. Oh and thanks Irvine who knew all about this for not telling anyone.

James Howlett

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The whole 'we knew each other since we were kids but didn't remember because of the GFs was the thing that had me cringing. Oh and thanks Irvine who knew all about this for not telling anyone.

:eek: Er, I think I need to play the game again...

Retr0gamer

noodler wrote: »

I thought the lamp was sposed to be a test of strength? Its not that weird - I mean they sent you to a fire Cavern to fight Ifrit for an exam.

Maybe so but when I went to school a test or an exam didn't involve fighting 'THE FUCKING DEVIL!'

Gummy Panda

What about IX story?

I never really see much said about IX. its always VII or VIII or X.

I'm still praying SE decide to remake FFVI using Matrix again. FFIV DS is awesome.

RedXIV

Retr0gamer wrote: »

The whole 'we knew each other since we were kids but didn't remember because of the GFs was the thing that had me cringing. Oh and thanks Irvine who knew all about this for not telling anyone.

This for me was also a big falling point for FF8, ESPECIALLY Irvine not mentioning he knew anybody. hated that!

Retr0gamer

Gummy Panda wrote: »

What about IX story?

I never really see much said about IX. its always VII or VIII or X.

Well thats because FFIX is more like FFIV, FFV, Grandia and Dragon Quest. The story is there but it's not the main focus of the game. All it has to do is keep things ticking over at a nice pace and it succeeds excellently at that. What the main focus of the game is on a superb battle system and brilliant likeable characters. I find it a bit like FFVII, starts of quite good storywise but loses the plot about a quarter of the way through.

James Howlett

Yeah for true. IX felt like it was good but didn't really have anything to make it great/ memorable. Actually now that I think of it I am reminded of that Quail character, very ****ing annoying.

Retr0gamer

Thought FFIX was the standout game of the PS1 games. It was just so much fun to play. I actually liked Quina, she had some excellent abilities when used right. Magic hammer can destroy most magic based bosses especially Ozma.

The_Hat

Since soem one mentioned spoony, has anyone ever read the Let's Play FFVIII thing? Some of the jokes are the same as spoony's - no mentos jokes though - not sure which came first. It's the one where Squall is called Robert.

Gummy Panda

The_Hat wrote: »

Since soem one mentioned spoony, has anyone ever read the Let's Play FFVIII thing? Some of the jokes are the same as spoony's - no mentos jokes though - not sure which came first. It's the one where Squall is called Robert.

is this the one with the guy sitting on the sit and talking about the teacher scene or one of those youtube let's play vids?

noodler

Gameplay-wise I loved FF9 for its non0linraity.

Story was epic - war is excellent.

The_Hat

It's not a youtube video, just a long series of posts.

Ah, here's the link, its pretty hilarious - http://lparchive.org/LetsPlay/FF8/

Machismo Fan

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Thought FFIX was the standout game of the PS1 games. It was just so much fun to play.

I couldn't agree more. The constant throwbacks to the previous games is cool, the ATE is constantly entertaining and helps the character development and overall the general game is just fun to play.

Max Power1

ff7 or 9 IMO

Anti

7 without a doubt, i go back and play it every few years. Still havent killed the emerald void under the sea yet

Thornography

FF7 + 9, and 4 for the DS. awesome awesome series.

FF3 for the DS was a complete waste of time, and 10 with the voices wrecked my head.

ChrisBrady

12 annoyed me so much! Fighting system just didn't work for me, story lacked interest, and it was missing that hero/villain link form the other modern releases. Cloud and Sephiroth, Squall and Seifer, Zidane and Kuja and Tidus and Jecht. Those relationships always grabbed attention and pushed the story forward. Especially Tidus/Jecht which, bringing us back to the topic, leads me to say X is my favourite.
8 had some great elements, but the story did go a little too crazy at times (loved flying the Ragnarok around to Island Closest to Hell et al). Obviously 7 has a lot to love too. I found 9 to have the least replay value, I think it was lacking the "uber-boss" found in the rest, even if they were somewhat unbeatable in cases. Ozma, the giant beachball was not the baddest monster we've tackled!

RedDragonJack

There always seemed to me to be an unspoken agreement that 7 was the the best(maybe cause the magazine critics are always bumming it up) and i always went along with it, but tbh when i replayed 7, years later, i have a couple of critisisms i didn't notice at the time.

The first one is all the hype around cloud being the best character in the series, which i always agreed with(for some reason, i don't know why), but tbh his just another moody japanese big haired pretty boy. I think i liked him at the time because these was before my exposure to japanese pop culture, which is mainstream now, but now for me there a million of these characters in anime and games these days, so his 2 dimensionality comes true when i replay it. Another critisism about the cloud character is that although he's the most revered character in the series, he isn't really a character at all more like a prop. he never actually says anything, just sits there looking moody alot.

My second critisism is much like the first, in that onn replay i noticed that this game isn't that much different than the thousand other japanese rpgs that are knocked every year.

So, I suppose it had charm for me at the time. but, for me thats long gone today. For me 10 has to be the best it had characters that you could actually believe in, with well written dialogue and that actually developed and showed alot of emotion over the course of the game, so i got more attached to these characters than 7 i suppose. Plus wtf was with sephiroth, the most cheesy bad guy ever, he actually does the evil laugh on more than one occasion and ther isn't really any motive for him wanting to destroy the world?

Ramble ramble ramble... oh! you still reading?

KaiserGunner

My favorite Final Fantasy was definitely FF VII although Im not sure if thats just because it was my first ever Japanese RPG game. It just leaves me with so many great gaming memories and took an age to complete. I played FF VIII but didnt like the battle system.

FFX was also good with a great battle system. Have only played them three games but am eagerly anticipating FFXIII. Must pick up some of the earlier ones that are out on the DS.

Useful.Idiot

7, 8 and 9 are all winners for me with 7 being my personal favourite. Cleared it so many times but the most recent time I got a gold chocobo and Knights of the Round yay!

Although recently my wee bro bought it on PSN cleared the whole game while also killing Ruby and Emerald Weapons, something I could never do :O

scange01

Has to be 7/8/10. Anyone notice how 12 did better critically than 10, but noone is mentioning it!?

FF7 because it has a great story, so many themes, red XIII(underrated!), the soundtrack, the emotion(you know what I'm on about...), the quirky random humour(Squatting competitions for a wig? Yes please.), and the fact it introduced me to the series. Against would be the dated visuals, those arms are ridiculous like!

FF8 because of the magic system, I liked it for some reason, the story was a bit of a mishmash alright, but it had some pretty nice set pieces. And the card game wasn't the worst... Stunning intro.

FF10 because I don't think I've ever anticipated a game more and when Rammstein starts playing, and THAT blitzball video kicks in, I just sat there with a big stupid grin on my face! Story has it's moments, and the sin choon is epic. Voice acting is crap enough though, and I really wanted to punch Yuna, and when X-2 came out.. Oh god no.. Then again Aeris is annoying...

Do all FF's have a token annoying female!?

Overall 7, biased by nostalgia. I don't think anyone who has played the series can give a non biased view of their first!

James Howlett

I squashed Emerald under the heel of my boot on my second playthrough, an achievement before achievements were made.

Never did have the patience to after Ruby Weapon though, there just wasn't that much of an incentive considering you already had a gold Chocobo anyway.

o1s1n

There really isn't enough love for FF VI in this thread. It's as good as VII. (The only reason I rather VII is nostalgia)

I haven't particularly liked anything that came after VII. I missed out on IX though. (Have a feeling that's probably the one I would have enjoyed too)

Retr0gamer

You really should play FFIX, it's brilliant. It's a really nostalgic FF game and it's just heaps of fun from start to finish.

Ajfunky

Had to get in on this, although ive only about three ff's under me belt.

FF 7 - love it, nostalgia wise, story was a lil messy but gets somewhere pretty cool! Nice characters, but tbh some of the things you would have to 'figure out' by yourself are a little ridiculous i.e obtaining the gold chocobo without seeing any sort of guide..

FF 9 - Yeah good.. kinda just.. played through it, goin through the story not really caring about what was happening! so meh on that one really.. some cool aspects!

FF 12 - am playing thru this again a year later as it was bigged up by someone i was talking to. I played thru bout 20 hours the last time and said, seriously, this isnt even enjoyable. Given a second chance.. its ok.. not a single standout character story (maybe fran, coulda been a bit more deep) and im 3/4 way thru the game and Vaan has no purpose whatsoever. Awful awful characters, hate the british accents aswell.

FF X - Bloody amazing, one of the best stories ever written in my opinion (well maybe not, but definitely the best ff!). the twists are incredible, auron is the best character ever too! dunno if this is spoiler worhty but

Beating those dark aeons and penance was a BITCH!,(cept with zanmato )

Yeh so that wins..!

FF X-2 - I half played this, dont remember hating it! got over the dress system soon as i knew if i dwelled on it id not enjoy the game, but i want to play this again just to finish the story of FFX altogether. i remember really likeing having to hit the r1 button loads to shoot loads! any good reviews to go by?!?

bildo

Well now, this is a tough question. Think I'll ignore 1-5 cause they're just different and tbh haven't a chance. I think that VI is hugely under rated. Looking back on the cataclysm that occurs in the MIDDLE of the game thus changing the entire game and world, it was one of the most epic gaming moments ever. You thought you were just getting near completing and BOOM! No at all mate, just warming up. I knew my £40 was well spent!
VII is just brilliant, as has already been set is a benchmark for RPGs and still is today and it's nearly 13 years old! Aeris's death halfway through is another of those unforgettable moments and Sephiroth is probably the baddest boss ever created. The minigames and sidequest and general madness of the gold saucer do a hell of a lot for this game, an element I felt was lost a little in VIII.
Now, I have to say that I really love VIII, I love the draw system, the junction system and the fact that GF learned abilities not characters. It meant you could exercise almost complete control over character development. Might have been a little long winded for people who want a straight forward battle system but in my experience RPG players like nothing more than to spend half an hour prepping for a boss battle and defeating it in 5 mins, there was a hell of a lot more strategy and tactics involved in VIII that's not been replicated since. The love element story was great, from Edea, Cid and the Orphanage, Laguna, Elone, Squall, Quistis, Rinoa, Irvine and Selphie there was a love story everywhere you looked. A refreshing change from other games available at the time. The scene when garden lifts out of the ground and flys away as the missiles attack is another one of those I'll ever forget. Madness
IX I loved for its cartoonyness. had a very different feel and the constant homages to earlier games was great and I loved the world they lived in, the airships but it failed to have a lasting effect on me after VII and VIII despite having better gameplay, better developed character and generally being much bigger and better.
I'll be honest, I never played X much, I got as far as Luca I think and just stopped giving a crap, the characters annoyed the hell out of me, I hated the lack of level up system, the stupid balls in a grid method of gaining abilities was total crap and I couldn't make sense of what weapons to use, (a f***ing beachball ffs?) and I didn't like the characters having voices. The game felt a little stupider than the previous games I felt.
Music was awesome though.
Not been mentioned yet but XI was and still is bloody brilliant! It is just so damn huge and there is so much to do that it is literally never ending. It being MMO is just brilliant, the game has its own economy, every weapon, accessory, piece of armour etc is crafted by someone else playing the game out of items picked up from mobs or bought from the realtime auction, it's amazing! Each character would have their own way of making gil and they vary immensely.
There is so much going on in XI that it's impossible to explain why the game is so awesome because everyone's experience of the game is totally different, you just need to play it for at least 6 months to begin to get into the game proper.
For me XII was just a single player version of XI with slightly better graphics and a pretty boring storyline. It was harder, especially the optional bosses, I remember battling one of the final hunts for over 5 hours. It certainly had a hell of a lot of gameplay in it anyway, think i clocked 180hrs, but lacked the magic of the PS1 games.

I think in all I'd have to say my fav is VIII but this changes regularly and often depends on which I've played through most recently. IX and VII have been my favorite from time to time and I'm sure will be again.

Orizio

I hope Retrogamer doesn't mind me dragging this thread back up...

My favourite is 8, for multiple reasons - it was the first FF I played, the world is utterly fantastic imo, the junction system, the side quests, the card game, the graphics, the guardian forces, the difficulty, the soundtrack (even if you've 'figured' out the Junction system) etc are all excellent. Regarding the story, I agree it's extremely flawed, silly and non-sensical but its all of these factors that make it entertaining to me. Also, Quistis is extremely hot. Extremely.

Closely followed after that is 9, which is very underrated, is again beautifully made with a 'hard to finger but highly enjoyable' feel to it that makes it very addictive. The only problem is how easy it is.

docdolittle

Orizio wrote: »

Closely followed after that is 9, which is very underrated, is again beautifully made with a 'hard to finger but highly enjoyable' feel to it that makes it very addictive. The only problem is how easy it is.

Ah, you just reminded me about an article I read today http://www.destructoid.com/revisited-final-fantasy-ix-s-mechanics-of-identity-163459.phtml thought it was a really good read

Edit:

Orizio wrote: »

'hard to finger but highly enjoyable'

Sounds like the ex :P

landsleaving

VII was my favourite, but probably only beacuse I played it first. VI is the best game wise I think, probably story wise as well.

IV, V, VIII and IX are all around the same, great but not amazing like VI and VII. Each had some great elements though, but just enough dodgy bits to keep them from perfection. VIII's card game kept me interested in that game more than the story. Been playing back through VIII the last few weeks and it's a lot easier than I remembered.

X I hated. I'm gonna have to go back and try it again though, I'm sure it's not as bad as I think, but no airship (Not really) no world map, really obviously linear areas to explore, nothing really secret to find (like the gold chocobo or the cards in VIII) and I'm sorry but Tidus needs to be removed from that game and put in Modern Warfare so he can die within 5 minutes of starting the game. The story is fine but I just couldn't stand him. Or Wakka or Yuna for that matter. Also sacrilege you'll say, but Auron is overrated. Meh.

Yet to play X!! and XI doesn't count. First 3 are too simple thses days, though enjoyable nonetheless.

Crisis Core is ok as spin offs go. Slowly but surely working my way through it, but the battles are a bit dull after a while and random levelling is a terrible idea.