Final Fantasy series

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.

snausages

I don't really agree that FFVI is still worth playing tbh but Chrono Trigger really is timeless. Perfect length, no fluff and super-fun combat.

snausages

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

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.

X looks very dated now and required something of an overhaul to be somewhat presentable. XII looks fine. I think they could get away with re-releasing it without making any new assets. The only thing I think really dates it is its horrible compressed audio. Should have been a multiple-disc game.

Retr0gamer

snausages wrote: »

I don't really agree that FFVI is still worth playing tbh but Chrono Trigger really is timeless. Perfect length, no fluff and super-fun combat.

Really (with regards to FF6)? I still think it's an absolute blast to play and really has a cracking pace to it that makes it a joy to play.

Did you play a cartridge version of it or the PS1 version because the PS1 version is absolutely ruined by the load times, it slows the game down to an annoying crawl.

snausages

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Really (with regards to FF6)? I still think it's an absolute blast to play and really has a cracking pace to it that makes it a joy to play.

Did you play a cartridge version of it or the PS1 version because the PS1 version is absolutely ruined by the load times, it slows the game down to an annoying crawl.

I played GBA version. I can see why it's an important game in the series and probably one of the best but unless you're a historian of the genre I think your time would be better spent playing something that's more fresh and different rather than VI which is as close as you'll get to a 16bit version of VII.

Honestly I think VII just did everything VI did but better. VI didn't really grab me until I got magicite while VII started off great and I don't think it really lost any of that energy except maybe on disc 2.

ancapailldorcha

snausages wrote: »

X looks very dated now and required something of an overhaul to be somewhat presentable. XII looks fine. I think they could get away with re-releasing it without making any new assets. The only thing I think really dates it is its horrible compressed audio. Should have been a multiple-disc game.

They have to update the game so that it will run on modern hardware. I am not a programmer but I'm pretty sure a HD re-release isn't a small thing to do. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to play through the Zodiac edition and would happily pay to do so.

snausages wrote: »

Honestly I think VII just did everything VI did but better. VI didn't really grab me until I got magicite while VII started off great and I don't think it really lost any of that energy except maybe on disc 2.

You must be kidding. VII's story completely falls apart after the wonderful Midgar segment at the start though it does improve towards the end (coinciding with the return to Midgar funnily enough). The only thing separating the gameplay of VII's characters were limit breaks. VI's cast each have a unique skill or skillset which adds a level of strategy to choosing a party whereas any party in VII will do as long as you have materia.

Retr0gamer

Well I'd be of the opposite opinion, I think FFVII has aged a lot worse. I prefer the way FFVI built up and got better as it went along while FFVII totally lost steam once you leave Midgar.

While FFVII is still a good place to start there's an awful lot of weird jankines to it like the minigames that will probably confuse people.

FFVII really is quite close to FFVI though, the materia system is a simplified version of FFVI's espers and it's structured quite similarly as well. In a series that defines itself with it's battle systems being totally different from iteration to iteration FFVII is the only one that feels like a simplified version of the game that came before it, not that FFVI had the most complex battle system either though.

noodler

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Well I'd be of the opposite opinion, I think FFVII has aged a lot worse. I prefer the way FFVI built up and got better as it went along while FFVII totally lost steam once you leave Midgar.

While FFVII is still a good place to start there's an awful lot of weird jankines to it like the minigames that will probably confuse people.

FFVII really is quite close to FFVI though, the materia system is a simplified version of FFVI's espers and it's structured quite similarly as well. In a series that defines itself with it's battle systems being totally different from iteration to iteration FFVII is the only one that feels like a simplified version of the game that came before it, not that FFVI had the most complex battle system either though.

I know you feel that way but I couldn't disagree more.Threading old ground here, and you might not like it because it is relatively predictable for an RPG to do, but travelling the world and going to places like Junon, Gold Saucer, Cosmo, Nibelheim and Wutai was awesome.

Some of the characters back stories like XIII, Cid and Barret were really well done. I'd have loved to see more of the various sectors in Midgar but I think FF7's pace on disc one was excellent. Disc 2 is like a treat with all the things that open up.

EDIT: Have to agree with a few of the minigames, basket ball, kick boxin etc. Snowboarding and Fort Condor Battles were awesome though.

Retr0gamer

Well after Midgard isn't bad just predictable and never manages to reach the highs of the opening in Midgar or its pace.

Grimebox

I just bought Chrono Trigger on android after reading this thread to find it doesn't work at all. Lame.

Its amazing to see someone else have the exact same complaint about ff7 that I had. I genuinely thought midgar was the entire planet when I first played it. It was like a vast cyber-punk world being killed by those reactors. I was really disappointed when I first left to see it was this tiny circular city.

gimli2112

I'm currently playing VII on my third system. PS1, PS3 and now Vita. The long bits of dialogue are a chore now but it was fun at first. Hope Aeris survives this time.

It's where it all started for me but X is probably my favourite. Blitzball alone consumed me for months.