this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2024
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For me it's

  1. Final Fantasy Tactics

  2. Final Fantasy VII

  3. Final Fantasy XI

The three games I keep coming back to in the franchise.

Tactics has the best writing imo as well as gameplay.

Visually speaking VII's aesthetic and music are peak FF.

And then when it comes to getting lost in the lore and world of a virtual game, I like XI.

Granted all 3 share similar themes like good writing, music, gameplay, etc. but those are my standouts.

How about you?

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[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'd probably say:

  1. Final Fantasy IX
  2. Final Fantasy VII
  3. Final Fantasy Tactics

Final Fantasy IV is probably my runner up. It was probably the first RPG I ever played (just bits and pieces at a friend's house - didn't actually play it from start to finish until it was out on GBA lol).

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

IX is good but I never beat it as a kid as it didn't resonate with me like VII, VIII and Tactics did, but I can see it's charm.

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago

Yeah, I'm a sucker for the late PSX era hardware rendering of Amano designs. chefs-kiss

[–] dannoffs@hexbear.net 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Hot takes alert:

  • FFXII
  • FFVII
  • FF XV

I have not played 16

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 6 points 11 months ago

XII is great, there's so much side questing to do you can get lost in the sauce with it. I still need to beat it and try out the international zodiac job system.

[–] Storm@hexbear.net 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

X

IX

VI

X is my all time favorite though. I'm glad it got a sequel for its epilogue. The world building is phenomenal. The way Pyreflies, Aeons, Fiends, and more are incorporated into Spira makes the world believable.

My only gripe is that in the thousand years since Sin's appearance, only five summoners have succeeded in bringing a Calm. That just seems so unlikely, and it makes more sense to me if there were more successful pilgrimages. Otherwise why bother keeping the pilgrimage as a practice?

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[–] MaxOS@hexbear.net 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)
[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

VIII almost made my top 3 but was still beaten out by VII. Still it's a fantastic game with a really unique world.

[–] MaxOS@hexbear.net 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

Yeah. I understand the complaints, but it holds a special place in my heart. Probably my favorite game ever.

[–] Cloudx189@hexbear.net 4 points 11 months ago

ff8isthe.best/

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[–] buh@hexbear.net 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

tbh I've only played 7, 7 remake, and about half of 10

actually I also tried Tactics but I'm dumb and bad at strategy games so I gave up after 3 levels or so

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The great part about fft is that most things in the game can be cleared just by power leveling (or gameshark!)

[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

lol fr. kill all but one enemy, leave them weak so they run away, then just sit your party next to each other and fuck each other up and heal and buff and whatever. just get job exp ez style. you can even pump stats up this way.

also some classes/skills are way more OP than others (monk chakra and revive for instance vs traditional healing like a priest or a chemist)

[–] WaterBowlSlime@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

🥇 Twelve

🥈 Fifteen

🥉 Bravely Second

I played twelve to 100% completion as a kid (except killing Yiazmat) so it's formative to what fantasy games are to me. The incredible worldbuilding of Ivalice is something that I've yet to see done in another game.

I adore the boy band of fifteen and even though I think the plot is trite and perfunctory, it's still one of my favorite games because the camaraderie is so strong. It really captures the (final) fantasy of having friends and time to spend with them.

Do the Bravely games count? I think they do. Anyway, the second game has the most fun combat system out of any jrpg I've played. The plot's cheesy, but it executed it very sincerely which is refreshing and I'll never forget the moment where

endgame spoileryou break the dimensional barrier between the game and the Celestial Realm and you see yourself through the cracks in reality. As in, it's literally YOUR FACE on the screen being rendered in real time through the 3DS front-facing camera.

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Bravely has at least as much Final Fantasy DNA in it as FFV, so yeah, probably.

[–] WaterBowlSlime@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 11 months ago

Come to think of it, it's really strange how the bravely games didn't get numbers, but the two MMOs did

[–] nemmybun@hexbear.net 4 points 11 months ago

I like them all so it's tough to choose. I'll split into mainline and spin-offs

Mainline:

  • 12 (Zodiac Age version)
  • 10 (International/HD version)
  • 5 (SFC version)

Sequels/spin-offs:

  • 10-2 (International/HD version)
  • WOFF (Maxima version)
  • Final Fantasy Tactics A2
[–] Infamousblt@hexbear.net 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Tactics

8

14

This is the correct order and I won't hear anything else about it. Tactics is undisputed the best, 8 has Doom Train and Alexander summons and they're so fucking cool it squeaks 8 into second, and 14 would be 2nd if it wasn't impossibly long and expensive.

[–] roux@hexbear.net 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)
  1. XII - I really like the world building and how you actually play basically a side character that gets swept up in political shenanigans
  2. Tactics - Mostly nostalgia but also Ivalice again.
  3. VII - Warts and all. The game really pushed the genre forward in a lot of ways. It's super ugly at points and very dated but still holds up in a lot of ways.

I haven't played Tactics Advanced, VIII, IX, or X yet so it's subject to change. I also wanna revisit the first 6 pixel remasters at some point.

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Final Fantasy XIV, VI, and (give me this for nostalgia purposes) IV.

I know IV wasn't particularly sophisticated, but some of the music still holds up, and the vibes of some key moments still resonate with me, such as Cecil's final test to become a paladin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0QDhNgLGZk

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

IV is good. We have to keep in mind that this was the first Final Fantasy game on the Super Famicom hardware, so they were trying to figure out what that new era of the franchise would be.

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago

FFIII in Japan had more gameplay variety and options, but FFIV started a trend of cinematic emphasis in the series that is still part of its ongoing appeal now.

[–] frauddogg@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

IV is a really good pick negl and if VI didn't exist I think IV would be my favorite.

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (3 children)

The final battle slaps too. It was revisited in FFXIV!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmsSMtswgwA

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[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

tactics, 6, 4

10 is very close to 3rd

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 4 points 11 months ago (3 children)

I need to sit down with 10, I don't think I gave it a fair shake.

[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 5 points 11 months ago

it's very melancholy. the whole thing is just kinda depressing without getting into spoilers. great game, fun battle system, loved the summons (even the secret ones!)

[–] take_five_seconds@hexbear.net 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

but also if you finish X you can play the sequel X2 which gives you 3 pretty ladies in your party with a sick job system, the story is whatev

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago

Pro tip/hot take for FFX2: don't worry about getting the "perfect" ending - just play the game as-is

[–] LaGG_3@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago

If you want to hear some discussion about what people like about it (and don't care about spoilers), Abnormal Mapping has a pretty good episode.

[–] marx_mentat@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)
  • FF VI
  • FF VII
  • FF XII
[–] Findom_DeLuise@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Mystic Quest, Crystal Chronicles: My Life as King, and World of Final Fantasy, because I am 5 years old.

OK, real answer is the boring Elder Millennial Who Grew Up With an SNES staples: 4, 6, and 7, but not necessarily in that order. And I do genuinely miss that WiiWare My Life As King city builder/hero management game sometimes because it was very chill. But otherwise, yeah. Death to Shinra, Kefka gets an Atma Weapon/Offering combo applied directly to the face, and ROBOT SPACESHIP WHALE FROM THE MOOOOOOOOON MOTHERFUCKERS

Edit: FF1 Pixel Remaster isn't half bad, either. It removes a lot of the tediousness from the original, which, yeah, that cuts the playtime down by around 60%, but it's possible to actually finish the game without wanting to jab your own eyes out with knitting needles, which is nice.

[–] Facky@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago

Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy Tactics A2

[–] SnowySkyes@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I'm ready to be burned at the stake for my list.

  1. FF7R
  2. IX
  3. XIII
[–] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 11 months ago
  1. 7R looks good but i won't play it until it's completed.
  2. I have IX on the same place
  3. waiiiit a sec there...

[–] ProfessorOwl_PhD@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago
  • XII - not being the main character (or half of the party being the main character) made for really interesting dynamics as the party were swept through each others' worlds, and I loved how it implemented rtwp. More games should have a gambit system.

  • X - Easily my favourite turn based battle mechanics in a game. Turn order and manipulation, overkills, overdrives, kicking a ball at someone's head and calling it an attack, Auron. The Zanarkand sequence at the start might be my favourite opening to a game, too.

  • Origin: Stranger of Paradise - I will not accept that this is some "alternate universe" or reimagining of the first game, as far as I'm concerned it's a banger of a prequel with a story that does a great job of deconstructing the heroes of light trope and overcomplicating the plot of the first game enough to bring it in line with other entries. The Souls-like gameplay changed up the classic formulas in interesting ways, and implemented the classic classes really well within that.

[–] Beetle_O_Rourke@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago
[–] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

VI, IX and II. VIII I like but is a hot mess

[–] UlyssesT@hexbear.net 3 points 11 months ago

VIII I like but is a hot mess

I'm glad you owned up to liking it, or else you'd be a chicken-wuss. :SickoSeifer:

[–] SorosFootSoldier@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (2 children)

II is an interesting choice, most fans don't like it.

[–] Mardoniush@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago

I've always loved it. Darker themes, and the Rose rebellion march is a banger.

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[–] Hexbear2@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)

There was only one final fantasy game, a story about the Warriors of Light who must defeat the fiends who darkened the elemental crystals.

[–] autismdragon@hexbear.net 2 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Oh shit i missed something very relevat to my interests. Honestly my list fluctuates all the time and like, the possiblity of including Tactics makes it even worse

I think

  1. IX
  2. X

is pretty solidly true for me

But 3 could be any of IV, VI, VII, or Tactics for me depending on mood.

I also have huge soft spots for XII and XIII and think both are underated (for different reasons, also XII has been more appreciated in recent years).

[–] doublepepperoni@hexbear.net 1 points 11 months ago

9, 7, ~~Lost Odyssey~~, 6.

8 has wonderful music and graphics but the story and characters are pretty much doodoo.

I played the entire XIII trilogy despite thinking XIII was a colossal failure on all fronts. I thought it was so uniquely, fascinatingly bad that I just had to see how they'd try to build on it going forward, and to Square Enix's credit, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns were infinitely better games, not that it necessarily amounted to much. I said 8's characters and story were doodoo but XIII was just abominable Squenix nonsense all the way

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