What is your favourite Final Fantasy game?

[Shoggoth2588]

When it comes to the main series, my favorite is...well, it's an ever-changing kinda thing but my top 3 are almost always the same; IX, VI and, either IV, VII or, X (it's really difficult choosing between those five for the top 3 spot is actually really difficult for me but IX is generally my number one). I don't like how Trances are forced and I thought Amarant was kinda shoved in but aside from those two factors, I love everything else about the game. That being said, I still have yet to beat Ozma or find Excalibur II...stupid, near-impossible side things...I only recently beat Emerald and Ruby weapons in VII anyway...

When it comes to the spin-offs, Theatrhythm (specifically Curtain Call) is the one that I've put the most time into. I've put at least 100 hours into both titles and Behind the Door and Suteki da Ne still make me tear up somehow. As for the spin-off that I find the most fun to actually play, Crisis Core. I love the action oriented gameplay style (and would honestly be happy if FF7-R emulated this) and the story was really good too (even if it was predictable). Crisis Core also had the best ending to any video game I've ever played. It was very similar to Reach but it made more of an impact than Reach ever could.

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As much as I disliked Final Fantasy XIII, I'm morbidly curious about its sequels...would anybody recommend FFXIII-2 and FFXIII-3 at their current sub-$20 prices or should I continue ignoring them in favor of...I dunno, replaying Mystic Quest or Dirge of Cerberus?

 

[CaitSeith]

Final Fantasy VI, by a mile. Much of the good stuff in the 7 are concepts derived from 6. But 6 was deeper in gameplay, and it delivered a great ambiance that in the SNES was comparable only to Chrono Trigger.

 

[Recusant]

The original.

Oh, I can hear the baffled disagreements now. Most fans will claim seven was the best; those who're old enough to remember it will admit that six was better. And eight was so bad I abandoned the series, and so can't comment on anything that came after it. But even though later games were better, the first still holds a place in my heart for showing me what NES games (and even video games as a whole) could be; that this weird little Japanese box could do a lot more than Super Mario and Duck Hunt. Even though later games would feature things like "actual characters" and "plots" as opposed to simply "backgrounds that you moved through", the first taught me that I could play D&D without other people. For that, I'll never forget it.

 

[Charli]

I mean what? I dunno. But yeah. That one. I'm rather passionate about the varied character designs gorgeous background art, great story and timeless soundtrack. It's all I love about Final Fantasy.

 

[CritialGaming]

My favorite final fantasy game is 7, then it will (hopefully) be the 7 remake, and then in another 20 years it'll be the 7 remake REMASTERED ULTRA REMAKE ALPHA!

 

[ultrabiome]

I've played enough to finish the story of the following, unless noted: I, II (halfway), III (DS remake - twice), IV (DS remake - twice), V, VI (until WoR), VII (2-3 times), IX, X (PS2 and PS3-HD, so 4 or 5 times now), X-2 (started on PS2, will try again on PS3-HD soon), XII, XIII, XIII-2, XIII-3 (started and stopped right away), Tactics A2 (about halfway, but 80hrs+), and Theatrhythm.

X is my favorite, both because it was my first and I really like the departure in story from the now cliche warriors save the crystals and then the world. Voiced story and the more detailed costumes/environments helped.

I is simple, with no switching jobs (although they upgrade), but likable.
II was hard to play, with its weird leveling system.
III was fun, with first switchable jobs, still simple story.
IV had static jobs, but the switching characters allowed for a much more involved story of Cecil's fall and rise.
V had an awesome job system and I liked the world.
VI was ok, but dragged on imho. maybe because i played it so late, it wasn't as revolutionary or engaging, especially after WoR and you have to find everyone again.
VII was awesome. love the sci-fi setting, materia were very fun to level. i still think the battle graphics are great, the overworld... not so much.
IX was also awesome. definitely pushing the PS1 graphically and a touching story too.
X-2 had an awesome job/battle system, but I only played it at little and newer games tore me away. maybe I'll put more effort on the PS3-HD version.
XII was very pretty and the psuedo-MMO ness made playing the game faster, even if the story was on the dull side. crazy super-boss too.
XIII and XIII-2 were much more fun than everyone said, as I "got" the battle system - even though XIII was way too linear in the beginning. platinumed both.
XIII-3 made me feel stupid from the beginning. the battle system wasn't as fun as I expected, maybe I'll try again when I'm in a lull.
Tactics A2 was great, although it eventually bogged down when you realized you have to farm items off of enemies to get the weapons to gain skills
Theatrhythm was also very fun. at little annoyed at the 2nd version because I didn't want to rebuy it for all of the extras.

 

[happyninja42]

Favorite how? Favorite story? Favorite gameplay? Favorite cinematics?

I'm honestly not a big FF fan in general, I've never had any rabid devotion to the series, like some people do.

For story reasons, I'd say FF 12. Simply because the story was actually the most understandable, relateable, and coherent one of the bunch. It was basically Star Wars, Episode 4: A New Hope, put into a Final Fantasy paint job.

Vaan was Luke, Ash was Leia, the pirate guy was clearly Han Solo, and his furry copilot was clearly Chewbacca...a more sexified Chewbacca. The old soldier guy who mentors Vaan was Obi-Wan, and the Darth Vader-esque guy was obvious. Hell they even had a "Luke I am you father" surprise with it, when it's revealed that the Vader guy is the Obi-Wan guy's twin brother. The story made sense, and held together for the most part. Sadly I didn't finish the game, because I didn't find the combat all that fun and engaging, and since that was what I was going to spend dozens of hours doing, I stopped playing.

Gameplay wise: Probably FF Tactics. I loved the hell out of that game's system.

Cinematics: FF 10. The scene of Yuna doing the Sending on the water, absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. The scene of her diving off the balcony at her wedding, and summoning the aeon to catch her fall, fucking awesome. Everything else about that game...bleh.

 

[Odbarc]

Final Fantasy 6 is my all time favorite. It's the last of the sprited games before polygons took over. The main villain is highly memorable and is one of the all-time-best villains ever. Nostalgia helps a lot too, for me, though.

Final Fantasy Tactics is probably my number two pick. It's got a steep learning curve that isn't impossible but surely punishes you through out the learning phase but once you master the games mechanics and a few tricks, it's ridiculously easy. Which is the kind of thing I like.

9 is great except I hate the character designs. The battle system is almost perfect except for the Trances triggering in random battles all the time right before they end from other characters attacks. Happens like every time for me.

7 has a bad battle system but you can mostly get through it because it has an amazing story.
8 is terrible in it's Draw mechanic and makes it very unreplayable for me as a lot of my time will be spent using Draw.
10 is mostly good.
10-2 I played through to the quickest ending and never touched again. It seemed like a strategy-guides wet dream for goodies and learning through and through but I didn't much care for the story.

The one with Vane or something. It played like a single player MMO and I very much did not like it or the story. I think I own it because it was being sold 90% off or something but I've never beaten it. So much grind between the story elements even if you want to avoid it.

1~5, recommendable classics. For some, if you can't handle the retro graphics you'll probably avoid it but it's got all the good stuff games need. Fun. And they all have the kind of quality assurance from a time you couldn't patch a game post release.

 

[NeutralStasis]

Hands down, Final Fantasy X was my personal favorite. This is due to some personal reasons more than actually enjoying it more than any of the others. My wife and I played that game together when it first came out and is a game that we revisit at least annually. We tried to do the same with 12 and 13, but they did not have the same lasting impact or appeal to the two of us like X did.

 

[PolarBearClub]

I have to say Final Fantasy X.

A large part of that reason is most certainly due to the fact that it was the first one in the series that I had ever played, and was really an introduction for me into large, sprawling games, and RPGs.

Before I played it, I had only ever watched people playing FF7 and not really understanding what was going on.

It also represents one of the few times I can recall advertising have a direct influence on me, and in this case I was glad. The ad was the scene from the attack on Zanarkand at the very beginning of the game. It ended with Tidus hanging off the edge of the blitzball stadium and having some message about taking charge of his fate, yaddda yadda.

And I was sold, instantly wanted to play it, and to date it's probably the game I've invested the most hours in, while only fully completing it the once. I do have the HD remake, which I definitely intend to play at some point...in the next few years, when I get the chance.

 

[babinro]

FF 6

This is the game that inspired my love of instrumental music and listening to music from games when not actually playing them. I've revisited FF6 at least a dozen times in my life and I've even gone as far as to imagine what a cartoon series on the games storyline would play out as in my mind. The escape from Narshe closing the first episode with Figaro Castle descending into the sand as the end of the second.

I consider FF 6 to be an important part of my life rather than just another great game I've played multiple times through. There's a reason it's in my top 3 games of all time.

Anyone whose answer is not 4, 5, 6, 7, or 9 is wrong.

My favorite is 6. Great story, great characters, great combat, and arguably the best villain in the series.

Call me crazy but I could easily see someone calling the original FF their favorite.

It's certainly up there for me. Epic music, classic monsters and genuinely challenging. More importantly though this game has the best replay value of the entire franchise IMO because of the class selection system and it's inherent limitations. This game has that classic D&D feel to me. It's great in it's simplistic design and storytelling.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I would have to say as the traditional RPG seires go, Final Fantasy X is my favorite, primarily because I like the characters, content, story, side quests, visuals, and it is the Final Fantasy game that I've clocked in the most hours playing it.

In terms of SRPG status, I'm going with Final Fantasy Tactics A2, as I enjoy the class and races immensely and there is so much to do throughout the initial play through.

Outside of the RPG spectrum, I love Dissidia 012, a challenging, yet rewarding action fighting game that has generated an interest in all of the numbered Final Fantasy titles.

 

[maninahat]

IX. Why?

Because for once, random encounters actually have monsters who are pleased to meet you...and give you free shit without wanting to fight.

IX is first and foremost charming and whimsical, and FF games often have nowhere near enough of that.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I wonder how many people are gonna hate me for saying Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. Everyone on the planet? Yup, just what I expected.

I couldn't do the usual FF styled games. I tried. I really did. Just... didn't do it for me. 14-Realm Reborn was good too. Really good. Best MMO I've touched good

 

[xaszatm]

I wonder how many people are gonna hate me for saying Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates. Everyone on the planet? Yup, just what I expected.

I couldn't do the usual FF styled games. I tried. I really did. Just... didn't do it for me. 14-Realm Reborn was good too. Really good. Best MMO I've touched good

Oh, you like Ring of Fates as well? BURN THE HERETIC I enjoy the series as well. It's quite interesting how the put such a game into the DS like that.

My personally favorite has got to be XII. It's partially because I enjoy the Ivalice games in general but I actually really enjoy the combat and world of XII.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Tactics Advance.

Seven.

Nine.

Original.

Top Four. My first game on tactics advance was like... 250~ish hours before the cartridge got fucked. I haven't even spent that much time on Seven, though nearly that much on nine.

Making my own parties and classes is super fun and I enjoy that too much. So, Tactics Advance and Original get thrown up far for that. (And don't suffer Tactic's bad shenanigans.)

Seven and Nine have my favorite characters and story, but unfortunately there's something about Nine that just fucking drags. And I don't know what it is. It's partially art design, some of the characters, and the abundance of fighting that got a bit old, and the bullshit final boss.

 

[wulfy42]

FF6 (3) is still my favorite by a large margin, followed by the original FF (which I have actually played more then 6 or any other).

The first FF was amazing when it came out. I played through as every possible character combination, even all white mages, and loved that game (more then Zelda...which I played to death as well). I was never a fan of FF2 though (did play it through 2-3 times but never replayed it after a few years). I own the original FF on 4 systems at this point lol.

FF6 on the other hand was the best of the FF games for me by a long shot. It had individual characters, a great universal leveling system, awesome story, great combat and was just incredible when it came out. I replayed it once every year for at least a decade after it was released and have still replayed it a few times in the last few years.

FF7 was ok, the first time I played through I got the knights of the round table, black chocobo etc, and then have never been able to play it all the way through again. I have tried repeatedly and own the game on 3 systems (2 of which I have never completed the game on). I keep trying to get back into it but end up getting distracted.

FF8 I don't know if I even finished the first time, ti wasn't a favorite of mien.

I liked ff9 better then 8, and did finish it once...but never a second time (Even though I bought it on PSN a year or so again and tried to replay it).

ff10 I did really enjoy....most since FF7...and finished it twice at least. Didn't ever finish FFX-2 though. I'd rank it as #3 on my list of favorites probably...followed by ff7.

FF12 I own.....have never finished...and at this poitn don't think I ever will. Same goes for FF13, 13-2, lightning returnse tc. I kept buying them even though I never finished the previous ones. I have them all sitting there gathering dust (For years now), always thinking I'll get to them someday. I doubt that day will ever happen at this point.

So for my the ranking goes like this:

FF6 #1 by a large margin
FF1 #2 loved it, played it the most, but FF6 is just so much better in my opinion
FF10 #3 Great game, played through more then once...I could see playing it again still.
FF7 #4 Enjoyed it the first time, just can't play through it again.
ff9 #5 Was able to finish it at least, but even buying it again for Psn I just can't get through it...liked ff7 alittle bit more.

I'd put the first Kingdom hearts up to #3 in the list if you count that in there, and KH2 as #5 (after FF10).

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

8.

I have always had a soft spot for works of fiction that involve time travel. I know a lot of people didn't get it, which is why they didn't like the game. But since I had no trouble following it, I liked it very much.