Top 5 FF Games

**RavenCarver** · 10-19-2011 08:05 AM

Fire off your five personal favorite game from the Final Fantasy series. Focus on the numbered games and respective spinoffs/sequels, and FF Tactics games.

Mine:
5. FFIII
4. FFIV
3. FFIX
2. FFXII
1. FFVI

There you go.

Provide reasons, if you want. I might share mine if provoked

**X-Zone** · 10-19-2011 08:42 AM

Oho, this looks like fun. The only FF I've yet to play/complete is III. Well, there's also XI and XIV but I have no interest in MMORPGs. Out of the rest:

5. FFVIII
Flawed ability system, unlikable supporting cast (imo), nonsensical plot (oh, the orphanage 'twist'), but a glorious aesthetic direction, the few characters I did like I loved, and exploiting the game mechanics was brilliant fun. Also has my favourite music in any FF.

4. FFXII
I felt the plot pacing was poor for the most part and I never got the sense of a building threat like with most FF games. However, that may very well have been because I was having too much fun going off sidequesting and monster hunting. I have a blast with that kinda stuff. Very much enjoyed the freedom of the game. It did not feel like a Final Fantasy and I can understand the criticisms levelled at it from fans, but I really enjoyed it for what it was.

3. FFVII
Overrated? Over-criticised? I care not. I liked the art direction, I liked the characters, I enjoyed the story ~~until Cloud turned into a gibbering emo mess~~... but most of all the fast paced combat and ability system were the traits that stood out to me. And for the record, much like in Dissidia, I enjoy the game more without summons. Forget KotR/Hades, take down Ruby Weapon with double cut like a real man.

2. FFIX
Excelled on pretty much all counts for me, but I think the game world is what drew me in the most. Vibrant environments filled with personality, a wonderful cast with strong character development, and the nods to previous FF titles were quite lovely. Oh, and I had a blast treasure hunting. The only weak point for me was the somewhat sluggish combat.

1. FFVI
Simply put, as close to perfection as the series has got.

Also a notable mention to FF Crystal Chronicles on gamecube; a tedious single player experience, but a fantastic game to be enjoyed in multiplayer. And I'm sure that's not just the alcohol talking from my Crystal Chronicles get-togethers.

**Vance** · 10-19-2011 08:48 AM

I may edit in reasons later, but for now

5. VII (7)

4. XIII (13)

3. IX (9)

2. X (10)

1. VIII (8)

**ジタン2728** · 10-19-2011 09:02 AM

Mine currently stands at:
1. VI
2. XIII
3. IX
4. V
5. IV

At work so will edit with reasons or quote and post with reasons later.

**Cookies** · 10-19-2011 09:07 AM

Hmm...

5)I. The combat was awesome, the world was massive and in the extended versions the extra dungeons were freaking epic. A charming little game, my only issues with it stemming from the fact that it never really tells you where to go next.

4)II. The most interesting (if slightly flawed) job system in the series backed up with cool spells and a simple but great story. Plus dat Firion is the most likeable (arguably) main character in the series. Everything that made I magical, but with a good story.

3)VII-CC. Epic story (cried sooooo much, partly because I'm a wuss) with characters that are trully loveable (still don't get the Genesis love though). Fun combat system and interesting way of obtaining materia/weapons. I always had awful luck with the Slots though, and I think that sorta let it down.

2)VII. I actually love the story and most of the characters. Awesome summons and style, love the epic legacy (despite the fans) and the fact that the spin-offs either looked nice or worked really well. Only thing I don't really like is the fairly poor graphics, that and the emo bit :P

1)IX. Simply the best story, sidequests, music and style in the series.The only game in the series where I love all the characters (except Eiko, she's a little bitch). The fact that nothing as awesome as the chocobo sidequest has been created yet should be a sign :P

I'd also like to mention that, although it was awful, there were points in FF:CC The Crystal Bearers that were actually alot more fun than anything else in the series, or atleast, just as fun. Also, if IV wasn't so freaking hard it would be above I and II.

**Narolf** · 10-19-2011 10:56 AM

Spoiler:

Didn't play or partially played the FFs pre-VII. Don't plan to dig them more.

**Balguna** · 10-19-2011 10:57 AM

5. III (DS). I thought Tactics A2 would be here, but I forgot how pointless some of the missions could be. III gets a spot simply because of it's sheer difficulty that makes the game surprisingly fun, unlike some other FFs (VIII, VII). Lots of party combinations possible, too. Falls because of its final dungeon that easily discourages you after Game Overing.

4. XII: Revenant Wings. Not the greatest replayability in the world, but there's a good deal of fun playing through this thing, and there's a surprising amount of tactics I keep finding each time I replay. Some bosses still kick my butt after replaying a few times.

3. X. I was going back and forth with this one, since the lack of skippable scenes make Kilika and Luca increasingly painful to sit through. Still, solid soundtrack, a good playable roster, and a combat system that's very easy to ease into. Also spawns a surpisingly humongous number of challenges for replayability.

2. VIII. My first and one tinged with most nostalgia. Even after discovering all its flaws, it's still an innovative game, with little lull moments (looking at you, Nilbeheim flashback), and some great characters (Laguna, Quistis, Edea, Ward) that spawned from the root of it all, and a plot that gets surprisingly deep the more you think about it. Squall's inner monologues also really resonated with me when I first played it.

1. IX. Awesome filled with awesome. Fantastic soundtrack, likeable characters all around (except Quina and Amarant, but I haven't found the distaste for them that I'd find with, say, Vincent or Tidus). Some of the best characters yet (Zidane, Vivi, Dagger), a ridiculously addictive minigame that's fairly mind-numbing (Chocobo H&C), a solid all around plot, and a sympathetic villian. Disc 2 is a wee bit draggy, but overall, super game.

**Starseeker358** · 10-19-2011 11:01 AM

5. Iv
4. Viii
3. Xiii
2. Ix
1. X

**BRKNglassIncarnate** · 10-19-2011 12:29 PM

1. Final Fantasy VIII
2. Final Fantasy XIII
3. Final Fantasy IV
4. Final Fantasy VII
5. Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings

**Enigma** · 10-19-2011 01:26 PM

For now it goes like this:

5) VI - Actually the first and only of the NES/SNES series that i manged to almost finish. It's packed with good story and an overall acceptable gameplay, but the things that got me the most were: 1) the individual depth of almost any playable char and 2) the flow of events' setting, especially in the beginning, wich helped to know most of the chars' background. Too bad for Kefka.

4) IX - The only thing that i can recall about it is an all around balance with every aspect: from sound to graphic, from the gameplay to the story's significance, from delicious characters to awesome minigames, even difficulty was a little challening sometimes, despite being a FF. Everything was above average in my opinion, too bad i managed to finish it only once before borrowing it and never see it again (I bought it again though, but still can find some time to spend with it).

3) Tactics - This is just a masterpiece. Despite being a spin-off, it has one of the best story ever seen in the series, where a whole lot of political aspects and social differences collide with individual characters' depth and reasons, giving life to a dramatic exposition of all the humankind's narrowness and fairness has to offer. The gameplay is no less, having inherited the famed job system, this time amanzingly adaptet to TRPG, wich give even more possibilities than the standard one, and difficulty tries to calibrate itself automatically making it challenging all the way to a certain point, in wich everything tone down for the presence of a one single char tha makes everything pretty easy. In any case it's truly a gem of its times.

2) X - This one is here only by affective reasons. I got in a period that my psx was out of order and i bought the ps2 + FFX bundle, thus spendig the WHOLE summer playin only this. The thing that i liked most was the possibility of completing everything in reasonable times without the use of a guide, but I appreciated the story and gameplay too, the only things that i could never bear with were the protagonist and the fucking thunder minigame. Whatever.

1) VII - The most overjudged of all FF, the only one that made a Compilation born, wich fame had hyped a lot of people (probably everyone that heard something about the game) and both disillused and fulfilled many who played it later on. Luckly enough, the original game wasn't utter trash like every Advent Before a Dirge of Crisis that came after. What was the magic of FFVII? It will really take long to describe, but let's say this straight: it's not the ultimate perfect game/jrpg like some try to depict, it's surely had some flaws even back then (times when its graphics was everything but abominable like some dare to say) but that didn't make all of the merits it had vanish. The story was so damn intricate that it was almost impossibile to get it entirely in one playthrought, amazing to see that there are still some debates on what really happened even today. The chars however didn't have the same share of depth and backround, but in my opinion it has never been an issue with the presence of the Cloud character alone. I just loved the gameplay, the most flexible and intuitive growth system i've ever seen (though it wasn't a so big deal since the game wasn't that hard, it was a FF after all), and the same goes for the minigames, Gold Saucer and chocobo farming kicks every butt, hands down. And...well there're a lot of reason that make me prefer VII, but i already digressed enough stating synthetically some of the most important of them, so let's close here this chapter.