Final Fantasy Questions

[Mr. 47]

I have never played any of the games in the series, but have always wanted to. Luckily for me, I now have the opportunity to play the series from I to IX. As a complete and total newb to the series, I have a few (lot) of questions: Which, from Final Fantasy I up to IX your favorite? Which is best to a new player to the series? From what I have found out, the stories of the games are pretty independent, or am I mistaken?

 

[Sylveria]

Final Fantasy relative love scale: 6, 7, 4, 5, X-2, 8, 9, 1, 3, X, 2, being waist deep in shit, 12, being completely submerged in shit while being eaten by fire ants, 13, in that order.

I believe 6 is probably the best and least difficult to introduce yourself to the series with, followed by 4. Also, 6(3) and 4(2) can be played via SNES emulation if you want to go all piratey about it, not that I'm encouraging piracy. Each game has like 18 different versions on various consoles and handhelds so they're easy enough to find.

With the exception of X and X-2, which are directly related...sorta, all the game stories are self contained entities.

 

[Gaderael]

FInal Fantasy III/VI is probably going to be your best be. My favorites are still VII and VIII. Don't listen to all the hate about those two titles (popularity=It's so over rated and hating it makes me cool on the internet). Those are my suggestions fo best of the series.

 

[yohlazy]

My fave has always been 9 don't know what gets me so much I think it just the game overall. Anyways I played 5,7,8,9,10,10-2,and 13 there is no ralation between any expect 10/10-2 the things that are simular are like fire has the same levels of power and name but it's still fire etc.
5 might be a good place to start... Obviusly it's dated but it has an easy to follow story you can usually tell where to go next and the give you a limited amount of jobs while slowly adding more unlike others where everyone has a fixed job... But 9 would also be good... Yet again my fave and it's also easy to follow but I will admit the stealling can get tedius. I can't say much for 1-4 and 6 never had them to play but plan to eventually (I hope)
I am not sure what you mean in the last question to my knowleadge CC is for PSP and nothing else But I have played it and it is by fare my fave PSP game it was a great game and if you decide to play 7 you might want to play it first it is a prequal and it is rare in games to play the prequal b4 the game lol but seriously if you can and you are ok with hack and slashly feel try it.

 

[Mr. 47]

Thanks, and scratch the CC thing, learned that it was a prequel, not a remake of VII. My mistake.
I think I'll start a 6.

 

[Chibz]

Play FF's 1-6, Mystic Quest and Tactics. Then you'd have played the good FF's and avoided the inferior ones.

 

[MightyRabbit]

I have never played any of the games in the series, but have always wanted to. Luckily for me, I now have the opportunity to play the series from I to IX. As a complete and total newb to the series, I have a few (lot) of questions: Which, from Final Fantasy I up to IX your favorite? Which is best to a new player to the series? From what I have found out, the stories of the games are pretty independent, or am I mistaken?

Well of the bunch IX & X are what I'd call the 'beginner' games. I-III have slightly dodgy game mechanics and steep difficulty curves. IV-VI are something you should play when you're a seasoned fan, VII can also serve as an introduction as it did for all the people who got into it on the PS1 and VIII is one for people who like abusing the game mechanics.

A free weekend, knowledge of the Junctioning system and some creative thinking and teh game will never pose a challenge again. Casual play of it is a lot more difficult.

 

[Baralak]

My personal recommendations are

4 (listed as 2 on Wii Virtual Console, 4 everywhere else, personal fave, PSP version has this, the sequel, and a new chapter combining them, although the DS port is in 3d, sans sequel)

7 (2nd fave, can get on PS1, a bit buggy, but moddable on PC, and PSN)

5 (3rd fave, available on PS1 packaged with Chrono Trigger, bad load times, and GBA. PSN if you're in Europe)

10 and 10-2 (both are good games, although X-2 is much more lighthearted, but has really great gameplay, and tons of eye candy.)

12 (Real departure from the series, with a giant open world form the get go, and a more down to earth, more political story. Good fun)

13 (regardless of the hate it gets, aside from one whiny little emo kid, the story's really good, with an amazing combat system. I don't know why people hated on the linearity, I loved the game until it suddenly opened up, then the game died for me and I couldn't finish it. Had an absolute blast until that point, though)

 

[Chibz]

I-III have slightly dodgy game mechanics and steep difficulty curves. IV-VI are something you should play when you're a seasoned fan

Dodgy game mechanics? Are you just trying to say it's too hard for you? In which case (as my brother would say) put on a dress and swirl it around. Come back to me when you've become TOUGH LIKE PRAWN!

Why not START playing with one of the 4-6 games? If anything this was when FF's narrative was at its peek, especially since from a narrative perspective FF6 bends FF7 over a pinball table and violates it.

As for 7? I recommend not even TOUCHING it. Especially if you intend to take the series & genre seriously, because...

Spoiler

 

[Phlakes]

If you can go really fucking retro and put up with Nintendo Hard mechanics, start with I and work your way up.

But if you only want the best ones, IV, VI, and all three PS1 games.

EDIT: Also, I think VII is the easiest one to get into. The Materia system is very user-friendly, more than junctioning or IX's abilities.

 

[MightyRabbit]

I-III have slightly dodgy game mechanics and steep difficulty curves. IV-VI are something you should play when you're a seasoned fan

Dodgy game mechanics? Are you just trying to say it's too hard for you? In which case (as my brother would say) put on a dress and swirl it around. Come back to me when you've become TOUGH LIKE PRAWN!

Why not START playing with one of the 4-6 games? If anything this was when FF's narrative was at its peek, especially since from a narrative perspective FF6 bends FF7 over a pinball table and violates it.

As for 7? I recommend not even TOUCHING it. Especially if you intend to take the series & genre seriously, because...

Spoiler

If I may, that's an unnecessarily antagonistic attitude of you. I wouldn't recommend IV-VI for a newcomer because they're more difficult and the 16 Bit-ness might put a newcomer off. And yes, too hard. And they have thin plots. They're more something for serious fans to play through these days.

Also, OP, there's a lot of hate for every FF game and I recommend you play each one for yourself and don't let others dissuade you. For example, I can't stand XII, others swear by it. And Chibz & I disagree over VII here.

 

[lord.jeff]

7 is good, some of the popularity it gets is deserved, I recommend that as a good one to start with, as it is universally liked. I'd also say 9 and 12 but I seem to be one of the few that think those are the higher points of the series.

 

[Chibz]

If you can go really fucking retro and put up with Nintendo Hard mechanics, start with I and work your way up.

How is FF2 "Nintendo Hard"? Because of how the leveling system works the game is actually TOO EASY. Also very early (read as: After first mission) you get a white wizard in your party for a while. He has access to pretty much every white magic spell in the game all leveled up ad nauseum.

FF3 can be a little tricky, if you do an onion knight run. But I'm the only one I know that's stupid enough to try that shananigans.

I wouldn't recommend IV-VI for a newcomer because they're more difficult and the 16 Bit-ness might put a newcomer off. And yes, too hard. And they have thin plots. They're more something for serious fans to play through these days.

Did you just call FF6's narrative shallow after endorsing ... FF7's narrative? My god, I... don't even.

Spoiler

As for the FF6's 16 bit visuals? Yeah. I'm going to say it, FF7 was UGLY. Even for its time. The beautiful, well done sprites of FF6 aged wonderfully in comparison to the ugly mess that was FF7.

Spoiler: Check out the video instead of just skipping over it. Guy knows what he's talking about.

 

[loc978]

Well, I grew up on the NES and SNES, so I'll just recommend 4 and 6. Final Fantasy 4 is probably a good place to start, at least if you get the North American release (called Final Fantasy II) which has the difficulty dialed down to noob-friendly.

If you do wind up becoming a fan of the series, 7 and 9 are good, 8 has a certain charm, and 1 is a good thing to play just to see where the series came from... also, if you like the job system and party customization of 1, try 3 and 5.

...that's probably a little confusing...

so, a breakdown:

games to play for storytelling (in order of how much I like 'em):
6, 4, 7, 9, 8, and 2.

games to play for class skill customization and such:
5, 1, and 3.

 

[Zantos]

I'd say 9 is my favourite. Then 7, then if you're still up for it go in pretty much any order.

 

[[atomi|c|adaver]]

To be completely honest, the ultimate noob's introduction to Final Fantasy in general is the Dissidia series in my opinion

It introduces all the main characters and uses their pre-established personalities and gives introductions to the individual games' conflicts, while having a combat system that is FAR more accessible to a newcomer to the series.

If you enjoy the game, and are genuinely interested by some of the protagonists and antagonists, play their respective games.

(The personality intro is actually somewhat crucial, as many FF fans are divided on opinions of specific characters, I.E. Squall from FFVIII, who by some is considered to be a badass and by others a cold, whiny prick...)

 

[The Lesbian Flower]

I must be the odd duck of FF fans because I actually like FF12.

Anywho, I recommend 6, 10, and 12

 

[jacobythehedgehog]

I loved all the Final Fantasies. But hear is my order

X/X-2, XIII, VII, IX, Origins, XII, IV, Dissidia then the others

The only final fantsy that sucks that you should NEVER NEVER PLAY is XIV. That one blew chunks. And for all those who hated XII play XIV

 

[remnant_phoenix]

I've played all of the (non-MMO) games in the main series, and the best to worst for me is...

6, 7, 9, 10, 4, 1, 8, 12, 3, 5, 2, 13

...and if you're going to play 1, 2, or 3, do yourself a favor and play the remake versions on PSX/GBA (for 1 or 2) or GBA (for 3). The NES original releases are excercises in patience. While you can say that they were "good for their time," they have so many design flaws and idiosyncrasies that they just don't hold up by modern standards.

One last word, as you're just breaking into the series, I recommend starting with 4 or 6. I believe that they are the best examples of why Final Fantasy ever became a big deal. After that, you should play 7, seeing how it's one of the most popular games of all time and whether you love it or hate it, being able to have an informed opinion on it will give you some serious nerd cred (with either the fans or the haters respectively).