Your favourite FF!!?

OxfordComma

X was my favourite, overall. I thought it was absolutely amazing from start to finish. The storyline was perfect, great gameplay and graphics, good music too (though not the best), and I adored the tragic atmosphere of the game. The ending was perfect.

I also loved IV, VI and VIII. (I remember liking IX a lot, but I haven't actually played it in about six years, so I really don't remember it well!) People always say VII is their favourite, but I thought it was horribly over-rated, and definitely one of the poorer games in the series. VIII on the other hand is very under-rated, which is sad in my opinion, because it's a fantastic game with a great storyline.

I wasn't fond of XII at all, primarily because of its atrociously flimsy and insubstantial storyline (I actually loved the new battle system, but the storyline just wasn't up to scratch, and it didn't seem like a FF game at all.)

I'm now eagerly awaiting the release of XIII in a few weeks, and I'm hoping it'll be a return to form for the series!

Raze_them_all

1fahy4 wrote: »

X was my favourite, overall. I thought it was absolutely amazing from start to finish. The storyline was perfect, great gameplay and graphics, good music too (though not the best), and I adored the tragic atmosphere of the game. The ending was perfect.

I also loved IV, VI and VIII. (I remember liking IX a lot, but I haven't actually played it in about six years, so I really don't remember it well!) People always say VII is their favourite, but I thought it was horribly over-rated, and definitely one of the poorer games in the series. VIII on the other hand is very under-rated, which is sad in my opinion, because it's a fantastic game with a great storyline.

I wasn't fond of XII at all, primarily because of its atrociously flimsy and insubstantial storyline (I actually loved the new battle system, but the storyline just wasn't up to scratch, and it didn't seem like a FF game at all.)

I'm now eagerly awaiting the release of XIII in a few weeks, and I'm hoping it'll be a return to form for the series!

Prepared to be ripped apart by retro!!!

8's my favourite too but the story line is insane in a bad way

Retr0gamer

All I have to say to shoot down any FFVIII has a goo storyline comment is to mention the 'we were all in an orphanage together but didn't remember scene and btw irvine wouldn't it have been in our interest to know the women we were ordered to top was looking after us?' scene :P

carbonkid

Whatever about the storyline and that stupid junction system i did love the first disc of VIII...not sure what it was, had something very addictive about it.

landsleaving

Now let's gp fight a witch... in the future... or something... But watch out for aliens being fired from space. And invisible countries.

It's mind blowing stuff, just not in a good way.

I will give some credit to the Irivne sections, especially when he's in that village and you find out about what happened to him and how he settled down there. It's a surprisingly mature moment in a sea of teenage angst and sheer insanity.

Kiith

I enjoyed 8 when it was released, and still occasionally go back to it, but the story went totally crazy half way through it. Still some good moments in it though.

landsleaving wrote: »

I will give some credit to the Irivne sections, especially when he's in that village and you find out about what happened to him and how he settled down there. It's a surprisingly mature moment in a sea of teenage angst and sheer insanity.

Your thinking of the Laguna sections. Irvine was the cowboy sniper guy.

landsleaving

Yep, thats what I meant. Knew something didn't seem right about that

Xluna

6,7,8 and 9 for me. X was good but there was somethings about it that annoyed me. XII was'nt even a proper FF game.

OxfordComma

Retr0gamer wrote: »

All I have to say to shoot down any FFVIII has a goo storyline comment is to mention the 'we were all in an orphanage together but didn't remember scene and btw irvine wouldn't it have been in our interest to know the women we were ordered to top was looking after us?' scene :P

Yeah, I guess you have a point there I actually kind of forgot about that scene, strangely enough!

Orizio

Retr0gamer wrote: »

All I have to say to shoot down any FFVIII has a goo storyline comment is to mention the 'we were all in an orphanage together but didn't remember scene and btw irvine wouldn't it have been in our interest to know the women we were ordered to top was looking after us?' scene :P

I agree Retrogamer, stunning originality and emotion, my eyes are just begin to water thinking about that re-union/dream/flashback/time travel ummm...thingie in the Orphanage.

joe123

Definitely FF9. Was the first ff game I played (thinking I wouldnt like them at all). Its in my top 5 games of all time now.

I really liked ff12 and loved the battle system but the story was terrible. I liked ff10 too but it would place 3rd in the three that ive played.

GisforGrenade

On mature reflection Final Fantasy XII, I really liked how they tried to do something different and stray away from the same tired old format, they got crucified for it so now we get Final Fantasy XIII the most linear one yet. Final Fantasy IX would be a close second, it was the first one I ever played and it blew my mind.

carbonkid

Its really great hearing people finding FFIX to be their favourite...it is probably one of the best in the series and most under appreciated...definitely for the PSX generation.

joe123

Xluna wrote: »

6,7,8 and 9 for me. X was good but there was somethings about it that annoyed me. XII was'nt even a proper FF game.

How was 12 not a proper ff game?

If anything ff13 isnt even a proper ff game. The creators have even said it you could nearly call it something other than a rpg. No towns/vilages/shops/world to explore.....and its getting pretty bad reviews to boot.

GisforGrenade wrote: »

On mature reflection Final Fantasy XII, I really liked how they tried to do something different and stray away from the same tired old format, they got crucified for it so now we get Final Fantasy XIII the most linear one yet. Final Fantasy IX would be a close second, it was the first one I ever played and it blew my mind.

How did they get crucified for it? It got great reviews and the gambit system was hailed by most as an injection of new life into a tried a tested formula.

Retr0gamer

joe123 wrote: »

How was 12 not a proper ff game?

If anything ff13 isnt even a proper ff game. The creators have even said it you could nearly call it something other than a rpg. No towns/vilages/shops/world to explore.....and its getting pretty bad reviews to boot.

Because it's battle system is basically an MMO or bioware battle system and not a nothing like a traditional JRPG battle system. It played more like an offline MMO than a traditional final fantasy game.

joe123 wrote: »

How did they get crucified for it? It got great reviews and the gambit system was hailed by most as an injection of new life into a tried a tested formula.

It got good reviews but it really didn't sit well with a lot of the fanbase. I'd say there's pretty much 50/50 split of fans that liked it. People that liked the western RPG style liked it but for people like me that expected a JRPG because they hate western style RPGs didn't like it at all. Couple that with a story that didn't go anywhere and the bahamut coming a long at the end to rival any zeromus end boss in the series. Great soundtrack though despite me saying I hated it but it's a shame that I never noticed it because they kept it so low compared to all the other sounds elements.

joe123

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Because it's battle system is basically an MMO or bioware battle system and not a nothing like a traditional JRPG battle system. It played more like an offline MMO than a traditional final fantasy game.



It got good reviews but it really didn't sit well with a lot of the fanbase. I'd say there's pretty much 50/50 split of fans that liked it. People that liked the western RPG style liked it but for people like me that expected a JRPG because they hate western style RPGs didn't like it at all. Couple that with a story that didn't go anywhere and the bahamut coming a long at the end to rival any zeromus end boss in the series. Great soundtrack though despite me saying I hated it but it's a shame that I never noticed it because they kept it so low compared to all the other sounds elements.

Have to say I loved the gambit system and I loved the turn based FF style in 10 and 9.

I hate in the western RPGs the whole enemy scaling thing. I like to know in games that there are certain areas or places you know you cant go or you encounter a boss and you arent strong enough for him so you have to go and "grind" or level up.

In FF games of old you could find a location where there were powerfull enemies you could fight against and earn good xp as if you were training. Then head off in your journey.

Dont you think the majority of the FF fanbase will be pissed off knowing that 13 is really linear with no exploration/towns/villages etc etc. Buying weapons at save points is very westernised. Look at mass effect. Thats not an rpg at all.

I read an article of FF13 yesterday where the creator said that 13 is not really a rpg at all. Im so disapointed to be honest as I was really looking forward to it.

Might try Lost Oddyssey and see what thats like instead. As much as I love the FF series I never buy a game in blind faith. And hearing from the creators that they are trying to make it less rpg and more interactive movie is just really disapointing.

bcdccm

joe123 wrote: »

Definitely FF9. Was the first ff game I played (thinking I wouldnt like them at all). Its in my top 5 games of all time now.

I really liked ff12 and loved the battle system but the story was terrible. I liked ff10 too but it would place 3rd in the three that ive played.

This is the exact same for me! I tried VII when I was around 10/11 and just never got into it. But when I played IX I was addicted, the battle music alone was great. Since then went back to others and appreciated them much more.

wonderboysam

add a poll!

its got to be 7, AWESOME storyline and characters (sephiroth, aeries, vincent or the even turks with their own themetune, so bad ass) so ground breaking at the time and the storyline is far superior to any of its successors

I dont get people that rate FFX's storyline so highly, I mean the main villain, Sin?!? what was he a giant floating whale? total bollocks, I did enjoy and complete 10 but it doesnt get close to 7 in terms of storyline and characters

Xluna

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You do realise that in japan that Dragon Quest is considered the game for guys and it's mostly girls that play final fantasy? It's always been like that. And your favourite FF, the pretty poor FFVIII, was designed as a response to the increased interest of females in FFVII and was designed specifically to appeal to them?

Seriously? I never knew that. I can see how it is that way though. The FF games have a romance story to it and the main characters emotions are portrayed one way or another. Lets be honest,Square do there best to make the male protagonist as good looking as possible,with Squall looking like a young Tom Cruise. Dragon quest is more boyish. More Tolkienish and lets not forget you get to choose your bride in D.Q. V. And the girl in D.Q. 8,can't remember her name...Jessica?,with the massive tits and low cut top. Still, I'd like to hear more about this gender demographic. It seems Square are really seem to be trying to target the female demographic the more the series goes on.

As for Cloud being more of a "pussy" in the original Japanese dialogue;is there an article which highlights some of the major differences you could link?


Anyway,my favourite Final Fantasy is VII for the same reasons most people gave and I loved the limit breaks. I think IX was a close second. I liked Zidane as a protagonist, a good medium between the hyper introverted gloom of Squall and the annoyingly extroverted extreme of Tidus. That game had a lot of charm and likeable characters.

I like the world VIII was set in and I did enjoy the story up until the mass amnesia cliche. After that story became a silly and severely disjointed. I much prefered the battle system of VII too and I hated how I had to collect bits of materials to create weapons.That card game was great though.

Final Fantasy X: The battle system was fantastic but I thought the enemies were limited,many variations on the same type and far less summons. I did'nt like the small and sparse "towns". I'm allergic to Tidus. Give me an introverted emo over an extroverted drama Queen any day. All he did was whine and bitch non stop. Yeah I know the story was very coherent but it just did'nt appeal to me on a personal level. At least with Squall we did'nt have to listen to it and Clouds angst was actually quite enjoyable imo. I liked the scene where Tifa visits he's sub conscious. It was done well over all even if it was blatantly inspired from evangelion.Still it was the first time I saw it in an rpg.

FF X-2 was just trash imo and FFXII signalled the death of the much loved battle system and was a very average rpg overall.

In short FFIX was the last one I truly enjoyed. I can see how people hold X in such high regard but it's just my own personal tastes. I played VI and enjoyed it but it was too long ago to refer to it in depth.

James Howlett

can't see there being too much discussion here on the release day of a new final fantasy game

Burning Eclipse

Final Fantasy IX is my favourite FF game, and it is so for numerous reasons.

The character progression system is my favourite in the series. I've posted this before, but here it is again... Each character has a predefined role, and I'm delighted with that. Garnet will never be your damage dealer, she's a fragile white mage with a bit of summoner in her, Eiko being the opposite. Vivi is always your black mage, Zidane is a thief who does decent damage, and steals things You see where this is going!

It's not how I played FFXII, but it was very easy for character development systems like that to result in 6 Paladins, and nothing else. It dilutes characters imo.

I just found IX to be extremely balanced in its gameplay. Everyone has a purpose. There is no reason not to use magic (VIII) or summons/limits (XII).

The story kept me interested and wanting to know more, and I really liked the characters themselves. I don't care if Zidane doesn't have the depth that some might want, he was charming and likeable, and that counts for a lot.

The low point for me was probably the music... It was good, don't get me wrong, but VIII has my favourite music in the series, so it was bound to disappoint.

Final Fantasy VIII gets a lot of flack, some of which it deserves. The character development system is inherently broken. I abused the **** out of it on my second playthrough; permanently having Squall on low health (but still above what would be the norm for the part of the game) and just Renzokuken’d everything to death.

Music was a high point. Characters were a mixed bunch. Nobody loves Squall, but Laguna on the other hand… Loved that guy. Desperado ftw. Oh, and Triple Triad... probably the best mini game in the series, and much better than Tetra Master!

I’ll post thoughts on other entries in the series when I get a chance.

Retr0gamer

Xluna wrote: »

Seriously? I never knew that. I can see how it is that way though. The FF games have a romance story to it and the main characters emotions are portrayed one way or another. Lets be honest,Square do there best to make the male protagonist as good looking as possible,with Squall looking like a young Tom Cruise. Dragon quest is more boyish. More Tolkienish and lets not forget you get to choose your bride in D.Q. V. And the girl in D.Q. 8,can't remember her name...Jessica?,with the massive tits and low cut top. Still, I'd like to hear more about this gender demographic. It seems Square are really seem to be trying to target the female demographic the more the series goes on.

I've nothing I can link to but I read it in a magazine when Dragon Quest VII came out in japan and Games TM's japanese correspondent is always saying it as well. I've also heard it mentioned in other sources like retronauts. but it is true, FF games are made to appeal mostly to a female audience while not being girly enough to turn away male fans looking for something in between SMT and Dragon Quest. It's been mentioned many times on retronauts and ATB by jeremy parish and kat bailey that Cloud isn't the badass emo of the english translation but a moaning, whiny emo pansy in the japanese text. The moany sap cloud in crisis core is closer to the japanese one.

It started after FF6, square noticed that it gained a massive female audience interested in the story and especailly the locke, terra, celes love triangle. So FFVII was designed with a love triangle that was less implied and had a male lead girls could swoon over. FFVII had an even bigger female following so square went all out with FFVIII. It was influenced heavily by the cheesey love story of titanic, love was the main theme, a disgustingly crap and saccarhine love theme was composed and the male lead and other male characters were designed to turn japanese girls knickers into the atlantic ocean. Since then the males in their games have been designed to be very appealing to the Shibuya crowd especially with the annoying emo angst. Just look at FFXII which could have done without Vaan who was totally inconsequential to the plot and was only included since the other males were too old and gruff to appeal to the Shibuya emo crowd.

Xluna

Retr0gamer wrote: »

You see the game is more colourful than FFVII and FFVIII with more anime characters and the youngsters equate this to it not being mature or cool even if it has darker themes.

Here's an example:





Pop quiz.

1. Which game looks darker and more mature.

2. Which game is in facter the darker and more mature game.

Here's some hints. One game has a storyline that falls apart in after the firts section of the game and descends into anime cliche and focus group designed characters. The other game is a moving tale about how the lives of 3 young adults are torn apart by a war started by a crazed prince that decides the best way to get back at the people responsible for the event that caused his madness, watching his mother being raped by soldiers when he was four, is to go on a genocidal rampage through the country responsible.

You've just showed a pic of my two favourite rpgs in one post. Suikoden is surprisingly dark. Suikoden V deals with racial genocide. Hell,one of the characters in your party,the gypsy girl Rina,gives a enemy soldier a gooble job to get you through a sentry post.:pac: I forgot about what happened to Lucas Mother.

Retr0gamer

Xluna wrote: »

I forgot about what happened to Lucas Mother.

It was only implied in the english translation. I'm amazed even that got through the localisation. I the japanese version it's pretty much spelled out.

It's the reason why when luca grabs his sister he tells her that he always wanted to kill her for what she stands for but can't becasue she looks so much like her mother. His sister was born from the rape.