What final fantasy game is your favorite?

[Sud0_x]

Snipped

Well it's nice that we agree.
Despite the detractors the series has always had quite a strong fanbase so I'm not in a position to call anything regarding how much further it will go. Game mechanics have been somewhat innovative in more recent years... to some extent, though not to great effect.
They could most certainly benefit from improved writing.

Maybe the franchise will continue to be that old tired joke, it just never ends. I can't see the publisher dropping it in its lifetime, so maybe it will end when square enix closes its doors, maybe somebody else will buy the rights and it will continue in an endless cycle. Who knows.

I did play 'Vagrant Story' in my younger days. I was quite a big fan of the Square catalogue. Although, like yourself, I have become somewhat disillusioned with it in my later years.

Edit: Totally forgot to quote, I'm sleep deprived

 

[Richardplex]

I have played FF6, 7, 8 until the first battle and then my disc died, 10, and 13. 6 was too hard for me because I'm terrible, 7 was average, 8.. .well, I spent 5 minutes dicking about in a classroom with no reward, 10 was pretty awesome, bar Tidus, with the combat system, but I'm terrible and got to the third iteration of that guy who refuses to die, and 13... well, it looked and sounded awesome.

So, in order, FF10, 13, 7, 6, 8.

 

[scorptatious]

Out of all the Final Fantasy's I've played so far, these range from my most to least favorite. (Although I do think they are all good.)

1. Final Fantasy IX. The second FF game I've played. Played it just last year and it is now one of my most favorite games of all time. Great characters, great storyline, and great gameplay mechanics. I highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys RPG's.

2. Final Fantasy VII. The first FF game I've played. Played this right before IX, and I had a lot of fun with it. I kind of think that this game is given a bit more hate than it ultimately deserves, but there's no denying that it has some flaws. Such as it's somewhat dated graphics and the rather engrishy translation.

3. Final Fantasy XIII. Yes. I actually liked this game. Despite what the majority of the people here on the Escapist say, this was actually a pretty good game. I really enjoyed the gameplay and the fun boss fights this game had to offer. Story wise, I wish they did a better job and didn't have people rely on the datalog to know what's going on. Other than that, really good game.

4. Final Fantasy IV DS. A very difficult but very rewarding game. I really enjoyed how challenging it was, and I also liked a few of the characters. I have to say though, compared to the newer FF games, this one is a bit more bare bones than the later FF games. (Ooh I'm going to get a lot of hate for that.) The story is more simple and straighforward, the battle mechanics are a bit simple, and there are very few interesting characters beyond the playable characters and villains. Obviously, this is a remake of a much older game, so I can't give it too much flake. I'd still recommend it.

5. Final Fantasy X. While I do think this is a good game, I did have quite a few problems with it. The voice acting for the most part was pretty bad. And I found some of the characters extremely annoying and unlikable. (I'm looking at you Rikku.) Other then that though, the gameplay mechanics were nice, music was good, and I did like some of the other characters that didn't annoy me. So I can still say this was also a good game. I just didn't enjoy it as much as some of the other games. (Especially not as much as IX, which I played right before this one.)

 

[Hides His Eyes]

snip
Problem with 7: Cloud weilds a sword bigger than him and PHEONIX DOWN THE FUCKING ***** WHO DIED
snip

I have lost count of how many times I've said this but PHEONIX DOWN DOES NOT BRING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD, IT BRINGS THEM BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH. If all three characters are incapacitated in combat then it's game over because there's no one there to use pheonix down and you all bleed to death or whatever. When Aeris died she was ACTUALLY dead. And as for Cloud's sword, it's a Final Fantasy game, outrageously huge weapons and hair are what it's all about!

Anyway, VII is far and away the best as far as I'm concerned. I don't blame anyone who plays it now and doesn't like it, I imagine it's very dated in many ways. But it's one of my favourite stories in ANY medium, not just games, and it helped me through the shitstorm of early adolescence. I feel like all the characters are old friends, corny as that sounds.

X is my second favourite, followed probably by VI, then VIII then IX. All the ones before VI are good but I feel the series didn't really "come of age" until VI. All of them after X are just unadulterated shit. Well, XII had a few good points I guess, but it was missing the spirit of FF in my opinion.

I love talking about FF, can you tell?

lol I'm sorry, but I see so many times where characters get a sword go through their body in battle and they're not sliced in two, they just flail around for half a second before going back into battle stance. It's just an example of cut scenes doing what they want for the sake of story and despite gameplay.

That's just the gameplay, that happens in any game that uses hit points. The alternative is either everyone dies in one hit during fights or Sephiroth stabs her fifty times during that cutscene. Yes, cutscenes do what they want for the sake of the story and despite gameplay, because it is both a game and a story. I'm aware some games integrate gameplay and story a lot better, but be honest - how many?

 

[RYjet911]

snip
Problem with 7: Cloud weilds a sword bigger than him and PHEONIX DOWN THE FUCKING ***** WHO DIED
snip

I have lost count of how many times I've said this but PHEONIX DOWN DOES NOT BRING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD, IT BRINGS THEM BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH. If all three characters are incapacitated in combat then it's game over because there's no one there to use pheonix down and you all bleed to death or whatever. When Aeris died she was ACTUALLY dead. And as for Cloud's sword, it's a Final Fantasy game, outrageously huge weapons and hair are what it's all about!

Anyway, VII is far and away the best as far as I'm concerned. I don't blame anyone who plays it now and doesn't like it, I imagine it's very dated in many ways. But it's one of my favourite stories in ANY medium, not just games, and it helped me through the shitstorm of early adolescence. I feel like all the characters are old friends, corny as that sounds.

X is my second favourite, followed probably by VI, then VIII then IX. All the ones before VI are good but I feel the series didn't really "come of age" until VI. All of them after X are just unadulterated shit. Well, XII had a few good points I guess, but it was missing the spirit of FF in my opinion.

I love talking about FF, can you tell?

lol I'm sorry, but I see so many times where characters get a sword go through their body in battle and they're not sliced in two, they just flail around for half a second before going back into battle stance. It's just an example of cut scenes doing what they want for the sake of story and despite gameplay.

That's just the gameplay, that happens in any game that uses hit points. The alternative is either everyone dies in one hit during fights or Sephiroth stabs her fifty times during that cutscene. Yes, cutscenes do what they want for the sake of the story and despite gameplay, because it is both a game and a story. I'm aware some games integrate gameplay and story a lot better, but be honest - how many?

Mass Effect annoyed me if Wrex gets shot. I see him run head first into enemies and die constantly when he's on my squad, only to pop back to life after battle/I unity him back up, then Ashley manages to pretty much one-hit him from miles off and I can't just Unity him back up again! XD

There's just an awkward disconnect for me with that particular scene. Characters seem to receive MUCH worse damage in battle, swords slicing through them, various levels of magic ranging from fire bursting out of them, electricity striking, getting frozen, poisoned, turning to stone, meteors flattening them... And the game tells me she dies from a stab? That's like fighting your way through an army only for the last guy to get you with his bayonette. At least in the above example I can just prevent Wrex's death by convincing him to stop being a jerkass (by making him help me destroy the only thing that would help his race outgrow their wasteland of a planet... When did I stop being the good guy? =/)

Even so, petty annoyances aside, 7 for me was one of the worst, and I'm not really sure why. I just wasn't able to get into it the same way 9 hooked me, and to date it's the only 3D one I'm still willing to play to this day.

 

[AzureRaven]

I like a lot of them, but my favorite goes to IX. I loved the story, characters, the pacing...just....everything. And after the previous two games...(Though I did like them), I needed a change of pace away from the super gloomy main characters. Zidane was awesome.

 

[ABLb0y]

XIII is my favourite, if only because of Vanille.

 

[Tanis]

FF6
FF8
FFX-2
&
FFT:WotL

 

[Darthbawls77]

Tactics followed by 7 followed by 6. The job class system in tactics along with epic boss fights and the awesome zodiac monsters had me hooked when I was younger. I want to play it again actually but I have so many other games on my list to finish first =P

 

[Hides His Eyes]

snip
Problem with 7: Cloud weilds a sword bigger than him and PHEONIX DOWN THE FUCKING ***** WHO DIED
snip

I have lost count of how many times I've said this but PHEONIX DOWN DOES NOT BRING PEOPLE BACK FROM THE DEAD, IT BRINGS THEM BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH. If all three characters are incapacitated in combat then it's game over because there's no one there to use pheonix down and you all bleed to death or whatever. When Aeris died she was ACTUALLY dead. And as for Cloud's sword, it's a Final Fantasy game, outrageously huge weapons and hair are what it's all about!

Anyway, VII is far and away the best as far as I'm concerned. I don't blame anyone who plays it now and doesn't like it, I imagine it's very dated in many ways. But it's one of my favourite stories in ANY medium, not just games, and it helped me through the shitstorm of early adolescence. I feel like all the characters are old friends, corny as that sounds.

X is my second favourite, followed probably by VI, then VIII then IX. All the ones before VI are good but I feel the series didn't really "come of age" until VI. All of them after X are just unadulterated shit. Well, XII had a few good points I guess, but it was missing the spirit of FF in my opinion.

I love talking about FF, can you tell?

lol I'm sorry, but I see so many times where characters get a sword go through their body in battle and they're not sliced in two, they just flail around for half a second before going back into battle stance. It's just an example of cut scenes doing what they want for the sake of story and despite gameplay.

That's just the gameplay, that happens in any game that uses hit points. The alternative is either everyone dies in one hit during fights or Sephiroth stabs her fifty times during that cutscene. Yes, cutscenes do what they want for the sake of the story and despite gameplay, because it is both a game and a story. I'm aware some games integrate gameplay and story a lot better, but be honest - how many?

Mass Effect annoyed me if Wrex gets shot. I see him run head first into enemies and die constantly when he's on my squad, only to pop back to life after battle/I unity him back up, then Ashley manages to pretty much one-hit him from miles off and I can't just Unity him back up again! XD

There's just an awkward disconnect for me with that particular scene. Characters seem to receive MUCH worse damage in battle, swords slicing through them, various levels of magic ranging from fire bursting out of them, electricity striking, getting frozen, poisoned, turning to stone, meteors flattening them... And the game tells me she dies from a stab? That's like fighting your way through an army only for the last guy to get you with his bayonette. At least in the above example I can just prevent Wrex's death by convincing him to stop being a jerkass (by making him help me destroy the only thing that would help his race outgrow their wasteland of a planet... When did I stop being the good guy? =/)

Even so, petty annoyances aside, 7 for me was one of the worst, and I'm not really sure why. I just wasn't able to get into it the same way 9 hooked me, and to date it's the only 3D one I'm still willing to play to this day.

I think I have always viewed the fights as more or less representational. It's just the way they chose to do the combat. I can see why it might annoy some people. Depends what your priorities are, I guess.

EDIT: Or if you NEED an explanation, then remember that stab was from Sephiroth's sword, wielded by Sephiroth. If that had been in a fight it would probably have done enough damage to kill Aeris outright from maximum HP, unless you had been level-grinding like a ************

 

[Noctius]

dissidia, both of them
final fantasy VII: crisis core
best...game...EVER

 

[ManInRed]

The top 10, out of the ten main stream, numbered, non-mmo, Final Fantasy games would have to be:

10. Final Fantasy IX
9. Final Fantasy XII
8. Final Fantasy VIII
7. Final Fantasy
6. Final Fantasy XIII
5. Final Fantasy V
4. Final Fantasy IV
3. Final Fantasy X
2. Final Fantasy VI
1. Final Fantasy VII

Of the games excluded from that list of ten games, the best game with "Final Fantasy" in the name, would have to be Final Fantasy Tactics.

 

[greyghost81]

4, 6, and Tactics. They're all fairly close.

 

[effilctar]

Tactics, then IX, then IV.

 

[effilctar]

can't decide between X and XIII. i really like both of them a lot.

Of all the games in all the universe, you picked the two walking down a corridor simulators.

 

[Flamezdudes]

Final Fantasy X, definitely.

I just love it to bits, it makes me all nostalgic just thinking about it and the time I spent first playing it. The music is beautiful, the story is brilliant and the gameplay is interesting and fun.

After that... well i'm not too sure. I've only ever played FFX, FF3, FF12, FF13 and about half of FF7 (I dunno what happened, I think I got stuck when i was a kid and forgot about it).

 

[Galaxy Roll]

Final Fantasy VI forever <3

 

[Vuxul]

FF VI for the story, music and athestics. gameplay-wise FFV, the jobs were a lot of fun.