Final Fantasy Advice

[mduncan50]

Wow, a lot of negativity from some people here. I have played all of the single player FFs and enjoyed every single one. For someone just joining the fun, I would suggest picking up the HD remake of X & X-2. For long time lovers of the games they may not necessarily be the best, but it provides a great entry point due to beautiful design, a fully realized world, a story that runs the gamut of fun to tragic, and great voice acting. Don't listen to the haters, the laughing scene is hilarious when in actual context. From there I'd suggest going back from IX down to VI so you'll be in love enough with the series that the drawbacks of the older designs hurt less.

 

[davidsoc]

Most people have basically said what i am about to. FF 6 is amazing, though it is 16 bit SNES, though i believe there has been at least one port. FF 7 is a great game and probably sold quite a few original playstations on its own, very good narrative, lots of fun stuff inside the game, and little bits and pieces that can get lost that are well worth reading and tracking down. Finally, i think one other poster pointed it out but Tactics is actually the only one i ever bought myself, even after beating it on loan from a friend. I do not a console that can play it anymore, but i still have my copy, and the memory card with my various save games on it. This is another one that was extremely well crafted...but it is also the first break in game play that i knew of. It is a RTS, versus the turn based RPG of the others. I never finished X, but it is gorgeous and the whole opening sequence is truly enjoyable.

Long story short, 6, 7 and tactics are my favorites, and i think very good choices to really get a good feel for the series. X is well worth the playthrough for the very well crafted world, though to me the story is less enjoyable in X that the others i mentioned. (incidentally not negativity towards it just a different taste...i preferred others more myself, though i do understand the love for X)

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Almost every FF has a following that becrys it as the best in the series.

You can't go wrong with any of them, but the "modern" generation is typically recommended more these days (7-12).

1-6 are all respectively great, but tend to be more of a "retro" feel as they were NES and SNES titles. Many are available on both phone and Gameboy now, which is also pretty awesome for you on-the-go types.

All have a unique world, unique story and characters. All have a slighty different system of rpg play, as each game explores ways to do things differently- Materia magic of 7, Draw magic of 8, equipment abilities of 9,etc. There are recurring themes, like the summons and the spells. Usually there's an airship and a guy named Cid closely related to it.

Any game is a good jumping on point, because they are all self contained. Every one of them is worth a playthrough. If you enjoy strategy games like Tactics Ogre, Disgaea, and Fire Emblem, FF Tactics is also considered one of the best Srpgs ever.

11 and 14 are JMMO's, don't worry about them. Don't bother with X-2 or 13-2, they are direct sequels (and poorly received). 13 is a very polarizing entry, it's not like any of the others.

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Almost every FF has a following that becrys it as the best in the series.

You can't go wrong with any of them, but the "modern" generation is typically recommended more these days (7-12).

1-6 are all respectively great, but tend to be more of a "retro" feel as they were NES and SNES titles. Many are available on both phone and Gameboy now, which is also pretty awesome for you on-the-go types.

All have a unique world, unique story and characters. All have a slighty different system of rpg play, as each game explores ways to do things differently- Materia magic of 7, Draw magic of 8, equipment abilities of 9,etc. There are recurring themes, like the summons and the spells. Usually there's an airship and a guy named Cid closely related to it.

Any game is a good jumping on point, because they are all self contained. Every one of them is worth a playthrough. If you enjoy strategy games like Tactics Ogre, Disgaea, and Fire Emblem, FF Tactics is also considered one of the best Srpgs ever.

11 and 14 are JMMO's, don't worry about them. Don't bother with X-2 or 13-2, they are direct sequels (and poorly received). 13 is a very polarizing entry, it's not like any of the others.

 

[FrozenLaughs]

Almost every FF has a following that becrys it as the best in the series.

You can't go wrong with any of them, but the "modern" generation is typically recommended more these days (7-12).

1-6 are all respectively great, but tend to be more of a "retro" feel as they were NES and SNES titles. Many are available on both phone and Gameboy now, which is also pretty awesome for you on-the-go types.

All have a unique world, unique story and characters. All have a slighty different system of rpg play, as each game explores ways to do things differently- Materia magic of 7, Draw magic of 8, equipment abilities of 9,etc. There are recurring themes, like the summons and the spells. Usually there's an airship and a guy named Cid closely related to it.

Any game is a good jumping on point, because they are all self contained. Every one of them is worth a playthrough. If you enjoy strategy games like Tactics Ogre, Disgaea, and Fire Emblem, FF Tactics is also considered one of the best Srpgs ever.

11 and 14 are JMMO's, don't worry about them. Don't bother with X-2 or 13-2, they are direct sequels (and poorly received). 13 is a very polarizing entry, it's not like any of the others.

 

[feeback06]

You can start with any one, and I would start with 4 personally. It isn't my favorite, but it started a lot of trends that continue on in the later titles.

 

[lunavixen]

Aside from the directly numbered sequels (i.e. FF XIII-2 being a continuation of FFXIII etc.) each game is a separate story, there are recurring characters and themes in the series but pretty much all self contained.

I personally think a great place to start is with FFVII, VIII or IX. They don't have the retro feel of the NES entries, but have the stronger stories overall and better balance challenge with gameplay. They're also better (I found) than the more modern entries of FFXII to current, don't bother with either FFXI or XIV as they are both MMO's.

I apologise for the roman numerals but it's how i've always written them.

 

[Mister K]

Non of the installments in FF series are directly connected (direct sequels aside) so just got to Wiki, look at the plot of any FF game, pick the one you like and enjoy.

As for recommendations:
My first FF was X and I still love it, so I recommend this one (or it's remake, that is coming out soon, if you wish). Once you get used to horrible design of the main character, it's a really nice JRPG.

Also, FFVI. I am playing it right now and it's quite enjoyable. You can suplex a train, what else do you need?

Oh, and I have to mention the most popular one, FF VII. To be honest, for me personally, aside from 3 party members (Tifa, Barret, Cid) I didn't really like anyone else (and with Tifa and Barret I like only design and limit breaks, not their part in the storyline) and out of all things that are in the game (characters, story, battle mechanics, etc.) I liked only the materia system. But it's just MY personal opinion

 

[not_you]

I don't understand what people see in the numbered FF games...

I've played VII (for about 4 hours), X (for about the same amount of time) and a small bit of XIII, and I didn't like any of them...

I don't know what it was about them, but I just couldn't get into the games... VII's magic system made no sense at all... XIII Didn't know what it wanted to make important, and X... Well, it's too long ago to remember anything about that...

My point is, they're obviously not games for everyone... The only FF games I've been able to actually play (And this is 300+ hours each) are FF Tactics, and Tactics Advance... (Although War of the Lions does NOT join that list.)

But yeah, the games aren't for everyone, that's basically all I can say... Then again, getting a hand on a GBA now-a-days would be likely impossible... (Yay ebay)
But yeah, I don't see what's so great about the (numbered) FF series...

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

Haha! This is one of the hardest questions to get a decent answer from.... You can pretty much guarantee that II, III and XIII will be taken out of the equation early on...

XII is usually not reccomended as first because it is so different... That's not a bad thing, it's a very good game, but it's usually better to experience one of the earlier ones first.

Now you have 2 catagories:

The early games:
I
IV
V
VI

and the later games (once they hit the PS1 onwards)
VII
VIII
IX
X

Now the fans are split into 2... usually by age. I am in my mid 20s, and I was of the age to enjoy FF games when VII came out. I naturally fall into the catagory that you should start with one of the later games, as I did, and I still enjoy them the most.

People who grew up with the early games tend to favour them for the same reasons.

People who are younger I find seem to split. They don't have a nostalgic tie, so they tend to advise on which they started with too... or maybe enjoyed the most?

So my personal reccomendation... from looking at them all (yes with nostalgia goggle enabled) would be FFIX. It has a relatively simple set of mechanics in terms of having characters with abilities and clothing (All characters are preset for differet jobs. There is not a blank slate like with a lot of the older FF games.) This means that you can focus more on the story and characters, which I find are better presented than some of the other games.
The cartoony graphics worked for me too, with the vibrant colours and great atmospheres! It was the last game before everything became rainbow coloured sparkly things (seriously... look at everything from X on... it's strange, but they put it everywhere!)
It also had (IMO) the best optional sidequests, with decent rewards, that didn't feel like a chore! (Although I have played Chocobo Hot and Cold until my thumbs hurt!)

If you prefer games for mechanics and strategy, over characters and story, I would reccomend FFV. I liked the job system quite a lot, and would often change my team to new strengths and weaknesses to test it out... kinda like a pokemon team! Unfortunately... also like pokemon, this took quite a lot of grinding... but so worth it!

EDIT: Oh damn... I didn't even consider FF:Tactics!! Those are the games, bar FFIX, that I have put the most time into! I have played War of the Lions, Tactics Advanced and A2 loads! They are also great for mechanics over story, and have actually quite deep gameplay. The only issue I have with them is that you need to plan ahead to develop your team. You need to know what jobs and abilities you want way further down the line so you can get the prerequisites... and the problem with that is that you don't neccesarily know what you will need until you find a boss that you are stuck on indefinitely! And have to restart... Then again, as the battles are the focus of the games this isn't a huge issue anyway!

 

[Captain Sunshine]

It really depends on you which one you start with and which ones you're most fond of.

People would be right to say FF6 to FF10, maybe 12 if you're into that kinda thing, are the best ones, but it really depends how... forgiving you are. 6 and 7 are classics, but that's because they were milestone RPGs. Maybe you want to play them to see why they were brilliant, but you'll notice everything that made them great has been done better since then, even by other Final Fantasies. And they still suffered from some odd problems the series had back then; bad translations, vagueness of where to go next, 6 in particular is very grind-y, 7's polygons are quite ugly now... definitely worth trying though, but it's no longer a guarantee you'll enjoy them, more of a taste thing.

And if you do, that'd be the best way to enjoy the series, because you can start at the earliest 'good' ones as possible and work to modern, so you never feel annoyed that aspects of the game have been taken away by going backwards. And a lot of people still enjoy 6 and 7 for the first time despite this.

However, I think FF9 or FF10 are actually the best introductions to the series.

9 is the final culmination of what they were trying to do for the Final Fantasy series up to that point. It's literally a look back on FF, but you won't miss anything if you play it without knowing the details since it's just cameo stuff. Mainly, the art style keeps it looking okay, the combat is slow but fun, the party's great (though sadly a few of them are forgotten by Disc 2) and it's a great romp going from silly whimsy to serious mortality checking.

And 10 is probably the most easily accessible game of the entire franchise. It has PS2 graphics going for it, a beautiful and interesting world, probably the most enjoyable battle system next to X-2 and an amazing cinematic story. The problem with enjoying 10 is going backwards is so hard. I've introduced so many people to 10 and it's nearly always been accepted and loved, but those same people rarely tried another FF afterwards.

Enjoy the games!

 

[go-10]

everybody else already explained that each game stand on its own so no need to explain that
as to what I recommend you start with IX, is a really good game with a good simple story and embraces the old FF (pre VI) while improving upon the new (VI forward). My only gripe would be the characters (Eiko, Qunia, Amarant, Kuja) while they're not bad, it's really hard to care about them and then there are characters like Beatrix who are all kinds of amazing but you never get to use them

the other one would be VII, it does look like lego people without the coolness of Lego but the story, world, music, and characters are really engrossing and it's hard not to care for them (plus look at my avatar those are the heroines of VII)

then I suggest you play VI, this one in comparison to the other 2 is a whole lot harder and requires some grinding to get by but the story, the characters, and the world is the best the series has ever had. Still I prefer VII because of the materia system and comedic moments

also if you are willing to deviate and have a PSX, a PSP, or a VITA then I'm going to suggest Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions