I know this topic is older than I am (hah!) but come to think about it, I’ve never sat down to think about what I like or dislike in the FF series in general. Why not do so now?
Remember, these are just my opinions, not an unbiased evaluation!
FF 1-3: Not played yet. Will someday.
FF4: Average story (but great characters; Cecil may be my favorite.) Worst graphics of the series. System: so-so, I’m glad I played the version where the characters have their special abilities.
FF5: Average story (but I liked the part where the worlds merge.) Average graphics (for an RPG of that era) GREAT Job system. Most fun FF I’ve played, based on the Jobs, Items and Dungeons alone.
FF6: Possibly the best story and characters of any FF game; may have had too many characters, tough. Average graphics. Special Abilities and Magicite system were great, as were the various magic items.
FF7: Great story, if too vague in spots; great characters and designs. Generally good graphics (but disliked the squarish sprites.) Liked the Materia and Limit Break system. One of the few FFs whose minigames I really enjoyed. GREAT music.
FF8: Can hardly remember the plot, that’s NOT a good sign. Good graphics and great designs, specially the Summons; didn’t care for the Junction system. Liked the card game. Great music.
FF9: Good graphics and characters, but can hardly remember the plot either. Hate the out-of-nowhere Final Boss. So-So systems. Good music. Didn’t like the card game.
FFX: Best graphics and designs of any FF yet. Story was sort of good but too vague; liked the characters. Didn’t care much for the Sphere system, and hated Blitzball and the minigames. Great music.
FFX2: Great graphics and designs, yet somehow not as good as X’s. The story was OK, but not impressive. Cast definitely not as good as X’s. Sphere-dress system was interesting, but got old after a while. Great music. Plenty of good-looking Babes. WORST minigames of all.
FFXI: Not played.
FF Mystic Quest: not played.
FF Crystal Chronicles: cannot play, don’t have the console.
FF Tactics: Story was solid and had some good ideas (the Zodiac Crystals) but the characters were flat and the ending is terrible. The graphics are baffling; they look CUTE, which doesn’t fit the story at all. Astrology system unintelligible. Best Job system so far, replayed the game just for it.
FF Tactics Advanced: Cannot review completely as I never finished it, may do so someday. Story boring, Job system looks good but is too frustrating to complete. Again, graphics are too cute.
FF4: Average story (but great characters; Cecil may be my favorite.) Worst graphics of the series. System: so-so, I’m glad I played the version where the characters have their special abilities.
Worst graphics? What about the three games that came before it?
My favorite FF is FF X, (NOT X-2.) my second favorite is FF IV, my third favorite is FF VI, and my fourth favorite is FF XII. Actually, those are the only four games in the entire FF series that I like. I’ve played a few other FF games, but, I, didn’t enjoy them that much. Then again, the FF series is not one of my favorite RPG series. However, I do like the music in all the FF games.
EDIT: This article has been further edited to reflect my ever changing opinions about the Final Fantasy games, but one thing remains; FF X is SUPREME!
The only playstation FF i’ve gotten to play yet is FFX, and that, TA and FFVI are my favz. I was gonna get a wii this christmas but now I think I’m gonna get a PS3 instead.
Hmm, I’ve played everyone, in almost the order they came out in, since the beginning.
Final Fantasy IV A+
Final Fantasy VI A+
03 Final Fantasy IX A
04 Final Fantasy XI A
Final Fantasy Tactics A
Final Fantasy V A-
Final Fantasy X B+
Final Fantasy XII B
Final Fantasy I B
Final Fantasy TA B
Final Fantasy Legends II B
Final Fantasy III B
Final Fantasy Legends B-
Final Fantasy X-2 C+
Final Fantasy CC C
Final Fantasy II C-
Final Fantasy VII D
Final Fantasy MQ D
Final Fantasy VIII F
Im not including Final Fantasy Adventure, since it should not have been titled Final Fantasy at all.
I have not (and will not) played Dirge of Cerberus, so thats isn’t listed either. I acknowledge that my rating of FFVIII may be unfair, but the game system annoyed me so much I never got more than 2 hours into it. I am also rating them as I liked them at the time they came out, I am not going to compare FFX graphics to FFI or FF Legends I, excpt in the way I thought the graphics looked at the time it came out.
Final Fantasy I: B
Final Fantasy II: C+
Final Fantasy IV: B
Final Fantasy VII: B+
Final Fantasy VIII: B-
Final Fantasy IX: A+
Final Fantasy X: B
Final Fantasy X-2: B-
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: C+
Final Fantasy Tactics: B+
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: C+
Final Fantasy XII: A
1: FF IX A+
2: FF XII A
3: FF VII A-
4: FF VIII A-
5: FF IV B
6: FF X B
7: FF V B-
8: FF VI B-
9: FF TA C+
10: FF II C
11: FF I D+
12: FF Mystic Quest F
FF I-III: Haven’t played enough of these to say…
FF IV: (see above)
FF V: Sadly, I haven’t played this one yet
FF VI: A-
FF VII: D
FF VIII: C+
FF IX: B
FF X: C-
FFX-2: C
FF XI: A+ :hyperven:
FF XII: I have not played this, probably never will. Based on what I am seeing? About a B.
FFT: B+
FFTA: A-
FFMQ: I have yet to play this one
1----
To be honest, I’ve totalled about 2 hours on Final Fantasy 6 (an hour and a half of that was a spoofed version that had Final Fantasy 7 characters, which I thought was neat. ;)).
I don’t know what it is, but I just found the game extremely boring.
I won’t say it’s bad, or it’s good, but I just never cared for it.
2----
I don’t know anyone who hated Final Fantasy 8 for the ‘sci-fi’ story, even if it isn’t sci-fi at all.
Sure, there’s a small section that takes place in space, the rest is magic, zombies, monsters, and dinosaurs.
But I’ll agree, if you hated the game because it has a space travel scene, you’re probably a douche bag.
Anyway, I never found anything too complex on FF8.
The graphics really amazed me when I first played it, especially when they blended the 3D rendered characters and the pre-rendered environments, and you could hardly tell they weren’t part of the same scene (I’m speaking mostly of the radio tower).
One thing I did find that probably really put people off was how it shifted purely into a love story about half-way through the game.
Otherwise, I found every aspect of the game interesting and fun, especially how they depicted time-travel (time-travel has alot of theories tied to it, and they all could be possible, I just like the idea of time-travel in general), and the twists to the story.
3----
Not much to say, Final Fantasy 4 was really the first Final Fantasy game that heavily forced a story on the player.
One of my favorite RPGs to this day.
4----
I don’t believe FF7 is over-rated in the least.
I believe it is rated just the way it should be.
The first great roleplaying game for the Playstation era, Final Fantasy 7 sported new and improved 3D polygon character sprites, an interesting climax-attack (limit breaks), a new way of handling the application of magic, lots amazing pre-rendered environments, and one of the greatest running story lines ever concieved (“emo” or not, everyone I’ve ever met enjoyed the story, and the character progression. if you didn’t, you probably didn’t just because a) you wanted to be different b) you never played the game to begin with c) someone said that it sucked, and wanting to fit in, you said that it sucked too).
I’ve personally played through Final Fantasy 7 atleast 30 or 40 times since I first beat it in 97, and I gave away my first and last copy to a friend of mine in 2005 (which I will probably begin regretting some time in the distant future).
And I think the fanboyism is warranted.
Sephiroth and Cloud were some of the coolest looking characters to come from a game.
Ridiculously long and spikey hairstyles didn’t even exist in America before that day (and after Dragonball Z, they’re everwhere)!
Plus, a guy wielding blade that’s the size of a full grown man and a half is pretty cool, and I don’t care who you are.
5----
Never played it, but I’d like to.
6----
This game I do believe has become underated in this day.
When it came out, everyone said it was fantastic and great and awesome, which i is.
The sphere grid which allows you to learn new skills by branching off of the ones you know, the free-formed (free-formed as turn based gets) battle system was great, and I loved how you could just switch your other characters in to make use of elemental weaknesses and such (although it kind of violates the entire strategy perspective of turn based games, but that’s alright. it is it’s own game, so that’s just part of it’s own engine; having to build strategies that compliment the idea that you’re capable of using all of your characters).
The game did mostly shift into a love story near the ending (kind of corny too), but I believe everything that FFX brought to the table allowed it to do something like that. It broke ground for the Final Fantasy series (even if Final Fantasy X-2 was an extremely bad… just bad), and alot of other RPG games.
7----
I won’t argue with that, the story is not very heavily implemented into the game.
But it is implemented in a fashion that doesn’t take away any fun that could be had.
Final Fantasy 5 is still paving the way for many games nowadays.
8----
Nothing to say…
9----
I only played this game for 5 or 6 minutes after finding a fan-translated copy, and upon starting it up, I didn’t even believe it was a Final Fantasy game due to the choppy graphics and the way the story started.
10—
It’s true, the story doesn’t exist at all.
You’re basically told ‘hey, go get those crystals and save the world’.
But that’s alright, because Final Fantasy was one of the first roleplaying games ever made for a commercial console.
I can’t say why you should like it, just that it deserves praise for basically making Final Fantasy.
You would have enjoyed it in 1990, when it was released.
11—
Final Fantasy 2 was an interesting game.
It was one of the first Final Fantasy games that was guided by a real story.
Your village was destroyed, and your friend is missing.
THEN it eventually unfolds into saving the world.
I personally liked the game mechanics myself, but they were implemented pretty horribly. I loved how you gained mastery over your weapons and magic by actually using them, but there was a major miscalculation where, I guess they forgot, you could cancel your attack, and you’d still recieve your ++ to your weapon’s mastery (in turn, you could get your weapon skill all the way up in one fight if you really wanted to).
I also liked the idea that you only gain stats based on what you do in battle. If you attack, you gain strength, if you take damage, you recieve vitality, if you dodge, you gain speed/evasion, etc.
Final Fantasy Tactics----
I’m not sure about the popularity in Final Fantasy Tactics, but I personally loved the story and it’s progression, along with the characters, and alot of the mechanics involved in job handling.
When I first got into it, I played it for hours, leveling up my base classes just so I could see what other interesting jobs I might unlock.
The fighting is extremely generic Final Fantasy-esque.
One thing that it introduced was physical techniques.
Before that, all you had was ‘attack’, and magic spells.
In this one, you had all sorts of skills with weapons, depending on your job.
I don’t really know what to say, it’s kind of late, but I enjoyed this one alot.
First sad ending. :’(
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance----
The only difference I saw with this game was, not all jobs are available to everyone, considering their race and such. In fact, the cut down on alot of the jobs from the original and just stuck them on seperate races, which I didn’t like (I’m just starting to play this game, really).
Otherwise, the battling is really the same (other than laws, which don’t really impede the battle as long as you check them before the battles). Although, there are times (atleast, I think) where laws change mid-battle. And I remember reading that there’s a battle where the laws change every round or something.
Everything else battle-related is Final Fantasy Tactics.
Crystal Chronicles----
I’ve heard alot of bad mothing about this game, and I’ve never played it, but considering I’ve never met a person who had a good word to say about it other than ‘it was interesting but it sucked’.
I haven’t played it myself, and I honestly would like to.
Final Fantasy 10: 2 (heehee, 10 2)----
I agree on everything.
Plus, I just don’t like my main character to be a female.
Call me sexist, I’m not; even if I have nothing to say in my defense if you accuse me of it, I just don’t care for it.
Especially when it comes time to introduce the main character’s future love affair.
If I want a change of gender, they make little pills for that to buy at the pharmacy.
ps: I’m not sure how old this is, it might be years gone, but I think it deserves a response.
FF I -> B
FF II -> never played
FF III -> never played
FF IV -> never played
FF V -> never played
FF VI -> A- , good graphics
FF VII -> A+
FF VIII -> B i have got to get around to playing this
FF IX -> B
FF X -> want to play
FF X-2 -> see above
FF XI -> A++
FF XII -> B and would like to play it
FF1 = N/A
FF2 = B - never finished but I loved it the story was great but it seemed repedativ
FF3 = N/A
FF4 = N/A
FF5 = A - Loved it! Story, Fighting, Job system was perfect yet it was missing the memerable heros
FF6 = A+ - Characters had deep stories. They psyco non-emo villian. Unknown main hero(terra)
FF7 = B- - the sequels ruined its chance for an A
FF8 = B+ - I liked it, but… it seemed like Squall was ment to show Cloud’s real personality(emo)
FF9 = A+ - it was farewell to the original FF. Zidane cool! Story presented confusingly but Cool! Trance best idea ever!
FF10 = C - I dont like the winney loser! Yuna Auron and Kimari were the most intresting characters although they kinda ruined them as the story went on. fighting was stupid. aeons too useful. the voices were the thing that kept me playing but tidus shouldn’t have had that voice.
FF11 = N/A
FF12 = A- - overlooked but also provided some fun in my life although the walking really made me stop playing the hunts and sidequests. if a world map was there i would do them
FFT = N/A
FFTA = B+ - because the characters look like that were made for 9 year olds other than that i liked it
FFX-2 = B - do to the story it lost the rest was cool and enjoyable plus i took 2 points off do to the main idea of sex appeal being why they chose the characters
FFCC = C - because its only fun on multiplayer
WORST minigames of all.
