Top 5 Friday: Top 5 Final Fantasy Games

[sXeth]

When I bloody care more about the characters in the B - Story (Laguna frikkin rocks. Now THERES YOUR FRIKKIN ROMANCE STORY.), you have a problem.

Yeah, I've always maintained 8 would've been better served as Laguna's story of overthrowing the evil Sroceress of Esther, and (somehow) becoming President.

Instead it was Teen Assassins go to kill Sorceress for unspecified reason, fail utterly, ???????? Forced romance ???????? Forced Doublecross, ?????????, ??????????, ?????????, ????????????, Time travel junk ????????? ?????????? ?????????? SPACE SEX!, ???????????, ?????????, ???????????????????? WTF Just happened.


(The Draw system was tedious, and the alternative means were a little obscure, but I do have to give it some credit for being the only FF to really try and explain why the characters were the walking gods they were, combat-wise. (In 6 the characters are still obviously superhuman even pre-Esper augments, and in 7 everyone has materia, making their efforts nonsensical)

 

[Frostbite3789]

I'm confused as to why they decided it would be a good idea to do a top Final Fantasy video... I mean it's one of the most argued about franchises ever, they should have known that his opinion would spark some grand debate in comments. Maybe that was the goal?

Considering the last few weeks entire pages of comments were "THIS SERIES IS BORING AND INOFFENSIVE AND LAZY" I'd say that was the goal. And it worked.

 

[ScrabbitRabbit]

I like 1. There, I said it.

I love FF1, it's one of my favourites in the series. I just love that kind of simple, but engaging, dungeon crawling gameplay.

 

[crimson sickle2]

That error about FF 5 being 4 was hilarious, and yes I'm mentioning this again. The trolling will continue until standards improve.

 

[likalaruku]

I'd also like to see Top 5 Zelda & Bottom 5 Final Fantasy.

 

[Naqel]

For me, the top entry is definitely FF VI.
Never before or again have I seen a game with such a wide cast, that would endear me in its entirety.
Playing through that game, I felt almost as if making real friends, and cared deeply for every one of them.

Second would be a 3 way tie between the Tactics spin-offs I played.
I just love the idea of a turn based strategy with a fantasy theme, and it'd be too hard to pick the best entry here, since each had different strong points.

Third place falls to FF V.
I just love the way they handled the character progression in it, and the story had it's moments.
Overall though, I rank it here because of the gameplay.

4th would be FF X-2.
Say what you will, but it knows it's cheesy fanservice, and it rolls with it perfectly.
I was for a moment considering putting it 3rd, but let's face it, there's only so far fanservice can get you.

5th place is FF 3.
Gameplay wise it was a precursor to FF V, but it had a weaker story and some kinks still left to work out.

 

[RevRaptor]

I really don't get the point of this show If I wanted to know what some random dudes favourite games were I could just go to any old forum. this is this sites weakest show, needs a major over haul, This is just pointless and boring.
And how did he manage to get the FF 5 = FF 2 in the USA bit wrong. How hard is it to do some very simple research. FF4 was the one renamed to 2.

 

[grumpymooselion]

Why am I listening to this guy tell me what Final Fantasy games are best, when he can't even get their numbering right?

V was never originally released in the West at all, and it most certainly wasn't released in the west as Final Fantasy II. That was Final Fantasy IV.

VIII along with X and XIII is one of the worst Final Fantasy games I've played, not only from a story perspective but from a gameplay perspective as well. The only redeeming qualities are the villain designs, as you noted, and the card game. The Junction System, the take on the Limit System and pretty much everything else - especially the characters, their dialogues and story - are just trash.

You were right about the Job system in V being awesome.

You were right about Final Fantasy: Tactics being wonderful.

Final Fantasy VII was okay, but I can take it or leave it. The JRPG explosion in the PS1 and PS2 eras, I suppose, could be linked to it.

I wasn't surprised at all that VI was at the top of your list. It's always the go to favorite of anyone that doesn't want to have to listen to people blow their tops.

And saying that every Final Fantasy after VIII was Square dropping the ball? IX was easily better than VIII, but VIII was utter trash so that's not giving IX nearly enough credit. IX was the throw back to older Final Fantasy games, and it did a wonderful job at it. XII was surprisingly good - despite the development hell that resulted in missing features, forced in characters (Basch was the main character originally, you didn't play from Vaan's perspective) and more than a few other questionable or flawed decisions. XII is an example of what happens when the higher ups fiddle constantly with the creative decisions of the team, if Matsuno had been left to do what he wanted - instead if the higher ups pissing him off until he threw up his hands and left - XII would have been another Final Fantasy: Tactics level experience, and it shows for anyone familiar with Matsuno's work.

I hated X, and for good reason, but its combat system was solid and X's combat evolved into its final and best form in Final Fantasy X-2 a game far too many people dismiss. X was terrible, so the fact that it spawned X-2 a vastly superior product to X (all it had to do was not star Tidus to be better, let's be honest, but it actually did more than that)still boggles my mind. Yes X-2 is flawed in so many ways, but at its core X-2 is just a fun romp that's in permanent silly mode. Switch your brain to that mode and enjoy.

I can't imagine ever watching this top 5 series again . . . your taste in Final Fantasy games is fine, it doesn't have to be my taste. I'm not pissed off about your taste. I'm pissed off you're blatantly getting facts (like saying V was released as II, and far more than that) completely and totally wrong. If you can't be bothered to know or look up easily and readily accessible information . . . then I can't be bothered to watch the waste of time that is this top 5 show.

Personally my list looks like:

5. Final Fantasy XII (International - Zodiac Job System version)
4. Final Fantasy IX
3. Final Fantasy V
2. Final Fantasy IV (II [The original SNES version, not the edited and censored DS version that cuts out things like Rydia slapping Edward around when he's feeling sorry for himself])
1. Final Fantasy: Tactics

As a bonus: Vagrant Story (screw everyone, I know it's not a final fantasy, but it's a part of Matsuno's Ivalice setting which Tactics, XII, Vagrant Story and Revenant Wings all take place in). No I don't count the Ivalice of TA and TA2, nor should anyone.

 

[ShadowKatt]

My list usually pisses people off because of what my number one is:
5.) FF VI
4.) FF X-2 (don't judge me)
3.) FF X (LPing the International, which is gonna be fun)
2.) FF IX
1.) FF XII (mainly the International one since it's soooo good)

That's right XII is my favorite Final Fantasy game out of all of them.

snip

I have to defend my love of FF XII all the time. Heck I mainly play the international one now which helps improve my points, but still people give XII too much flak if you ask me.

I was one of those people that would have given you flak over it. When XII came out, I had pretty much nothing but hated for it. I didn't like the world, didn't like the characters, hated(I mean HATED) the fact that it pretty well shoehorned you into using the gambit system with its user unfriendly battle system, and the summons in that game absolutely SUCK. HARD.

The summons in that game STILL suck. That hasn't changed.

BUT, I changed my opinion after playing Tactics and learning that XII isn't so much another standalone FF like...well, nearly all of them, but part of the Tactics line. And I did love Tactics, but I played Tactics AFTER XII, so I never knew. Once I played Tactics though, I learned that I was playing through the events that led up to the War of the Lions, and the Gambit system was actually a more advanced form of the auto-combat system I used in Tactics. The grid was just gone and it was portrayed like any other FF. When I stopped trying to think of it in the same terms as VII or VIII, I realized just what a great game it is.

 

[Roxas1359]

snip

Best part about the International version of XII is that the replaced the License Board with 12 unique ones representing 12 different classes (Black Mage, White Mage, Red Mage, Knight, etc) and that made me love the game even more. I played XII before Tactics as well and I love it even more now that I've played Tactics. ^.^

I agree with you on the Espers though as they do indeed suck. Although some of their back-stories are pretty cool. Like how the Ocuria feared Zodiark so much that they trapped him in the form of a baby and sealed him in the deepest parts of the Henne Mines. The Ocuria are dicks and I could actually sympathize a bit at what Venat was trying to do. Too bad Vayne was a power-hungry tyrant.

 

[lostlevel]

It's nice to see that FF VI is on so many people's lists,
I thought I was the only one. FF VII was my first but 6 really sold it to me.

I guess mine would go something like this:

FF 9
FF 8
FF 10
FF 7
FF 6

Somehow I never got round to playing FF 12 as my Playstation 2 had died by then, so fingers crossed that PS4 drag me away from the next xbox.

 

[theultimateend]

FF7.
Yuck.

Mediocre JRPG hyped to no end.

For its time it was excellent.

@OP:

Personal Top 5?

5)Final Fantasy *
4)Final Fantasy 8
3)Final Fantasy 7
2)Final Fantasy 12 Int
1)Final Fantasy 9

I put a * for the 5th spot because I haven't played 5 or 6 yet, but 1-4 really didn't hold me. I'd add 10 but I loathe Tidus. He was purely negative on the story and quality of the game.

 

[Joriss]

Yeah I'm gonna stop watching this Top 5 friday-thingy. Trying to post your personal top of anything on the internet is basically stupid unless you make it entertaining to watch and you're able to back up your choices. Presentation in this series isn't all that...at all. Meh...

 

[personion]

Posting thumbnails of women with enormous breasts in an attempt to get extra views is something I'd expect to see on Youtube, not the Escapist. I am disappoint.

 

[newwiseman]

I've played, 1-9,11,13. I started playing 10 but the my friends disc had a scratch that stopped me from progressing then my ps2 died.

My list:
1:9
2:1
3:Tactics
4:7
5:6

 

[Gaias]

I have no 'better than' preference when it comes to any individual Final Fantasy game. I click the link to the video because of Tifa...

 

[KingdomFantasyXIII]

The only two I agree with in this list is FF6 and FF7 being in first and second on this list. FF4, FF9, and FF10. I call BULLSHIT on FF8 being the last good game. Hell, Final Fantasy X is the number one Final Fantasy game in Japan, Final Fantasy IX is Sagaguchi and Utemetsu's favorite, and Final Fantasy IV is a cult classic! I can see that and I have played all (but the MMO) Final Fantasy games! FF11 was Square's biggest profiting FF game and Japan was pretty positive to the 13 series and voted Lightning Farron the top Final Fantasy girl. However FF12 was pretty passed up by Japan and only got a DS sequel.

My list:
1. FF6
2. FF7
3. FF4
4. FF13
5. FF10