Favorite Final Fantasies

[Kim]

I've just been thinking about Final Fantasy as a franchise, and thought it might be fun to discuss which ones are our favorite and why. (Also I'm drunk) Now, I might dislike XIII, and Blues dislikes XII, but this thread isn't really for talking smack on the ones other people like, but for talking about our favorites. First off, from me, a list...

1. XII
2. X
3. VI
4. IX
5. VII
6. XIII
7. IV
8. I (On PSX on Easy)
9. VIII
10. II

III and V I haven't played enough to categorize, and I don't consider XIV and XI the same kinda game so they aren't in the list.

XII has a tower dungeon that can go fuck itself, and a few unnecessary parts, and Vaan and Penelo should have been replaced with Larsa. At least replace Penelo with Larsa if nothing else. Other than that it's a good game. Just very different in a lot of ways from what people expected. Still a solid story, and some very likeable characters. It really is my favorite, which is why I'm so comfortable criticizing it. Because I know it's still great in spite of all these flaws it's easy to say "Here's how it could have been even better."

X is interesting. Some awful character designs, the opening Zanarkand bit needs to be at least an hour and a half longer so we can give a fuck later on and to foreshadow stuff, and they need new voice actors and to ditch Tidus' narration. Oh, and the minigames are ass. These are some pretty huge detractors, but if it weren't for them X would easily be one of the best jRPGs I've ever played. Hell, To Zanarkand is THE best FF song. It's interesting to see how much potential it has and how much it fails to live up to it in some respects, but in spite of all that it's still really damn good.

VI is VI. It kicks ass and doesn't afraid of anything. It's just not as dear to me as it is to others because I've got no nostalgia for it. Still a great game though.

[Krylo]

1/2. XII & VI
3. IX
4. X
5. IV
6. VII
7. XIII
8. X-2
9/10. I and VIII

I never actually played II, III, or V.

I put VI and XII as a tie for first, because it's really hard for me to decide which I like best. They're both war stories, they both have some of my favorite characters, they're both just overall fun to play, etc. I'm tempted to give six the edge, but I'm not sure how much of that is nostalgia talking.

XI rates high because Zidane is the best protagonist. The best.

And I'm quite fond of most of the rest of them. Only my tie for last place includes the two I actively dislike. I even found enough to enjoy in XIII that I don't regret buying it.

[Kim]

I don't know why, but I kind of like I in that old school "fuck you" kinda way. Obviously the PSX version is necessary to make it bearable, but yeah.

[Krylo]

Well I never played the PSX version. I just have the old cartridge, and I've never made it very far... because every time I start playing, I fall asleep in every other random battle.

I loved it tons as a kid, though.

[greed]

Here's mine

1. XII
2. IX
3. X
4. VII
5. VI
6. IV
7. VIII
8. V
9. III
10. I
11/12. II and XIII

1-4 on the list are head and shoulders above the rest, while II and XIII are by far the worst as far as I'm concerned.

[IHateMakingNames]

1. VII
2. X-2
3. IX
4. XII
5. VI
6. X
7. VIII
8. V
9. IV
10. I

Never played II, III, or XIII (Though I imagine XIII would be top 4 once I get around to it).

VII is the game I've gone back to play again the most. The Midgar section is my favorite part of any FF, I like most the characters, fun enough to play, and probably some nostalgia.

X-2 has the best battle system by far. I'm fine with the story and don't care that they do magical girl transformations.

IX has my favorite overall story telling, setting, and mood. As a story, the most fun. No stupid leveling gimmicks either.

XII has the most interesting story.

After those four it's mostly minor preferences making the difference, between enjoyment if I played now and character/story.


The list would look slightly different if it was just "Which game I would go play again" (7/10-2/9, 6/10/8, 12/5/4, 1).

[CelesJessa]

1. VI
2. IX
3. X
4. XII
5. IV
6. V
7. VII
8. VIII
9. I
?. X-2

The rest go under the category of "didn't play enough to judge"

FF6 is obviously my favorite, and it might be nostalgia talking but I still have fun replaying it, even now. I loved the characters and the world and the music. Same reasons go for 9.

I just really liked X's story.

FF7 was amusing enough to finish, and I enjoyed it while I played it. FF8 I finished but it was just... not good. The combat system was a mess.

I didn't really know where to put I really, I've tried replaying it before but just... can't. I never did the easy PS1 one though.

X-2 gets a question mark because I have a love-hatred for it. I enjoyed the battle system and I really kind of liked their crazy costumes. The story... not so much, especially after how much I liked X's.

[Jagos]

1) VI
2) VII
3) IX
4) X

That's actually all I've finished. I just still like the idea of Sabin body slamming a train.

[Gregness]

I've only ever actually played VI through to completion (multiple times, even). I played through a good chunk of VIII, but my friends disks were scratched causing the game to crash in the middle of a cutscene when I hadn't saved in fucking FOREVER. I was too disheartened by that to try to pick it up again before my friend let another mutual friend borrow it and it got lost in loaner hell.

Which is really too bad because I actually liked the game rather well. Recently, I've been reading the Altimate rewrite (fanfic/LP of FFVIII from the RPG.net forums) and it's given me a new appreciation for exactly how much damn promise the game had and how infuriatingly far short they fell of realizing it.

I played a bit of VII and some others, but I've been a poor college student for so long that I think the last time I had a current gen console system was back when the N64 was the hip shit.

Anyways, my list (such as it is):

1. VI ( flat out: best overall musical score of any game i've EVER played)
2. VIII (dumb,dumb execution aside, I'm a sucker for potential.)
3. VII (dunno, just didn't really captivate me.)
4-blah: the rest

[Flarecobra]

1: VI -To me, just the best overall.
2: IV -Great characters, probably the best normal fight music out of them all, and great story.
3: X - Great music, not too bad a story. Tidus needs to shut his piehole. And Jecht was kinda interesting. I'd be curious to see something detailing HIS trek through Spira.
4: V - Fun Bosses, great job with the job system, and you get Gilgy, an evil tree, and a talking turtle for kicks.
5: VII- The first one I've ever played. Good music, interesting world. Some confusing moments though. Never understood all the Yuffie-hate.
6: X-2- Just could not take this one seriously. Interesting costumes and good music though.
7: III- Have not finished sadly, but kinda fun. (Did not finish due to losing the save.)
8: I - The first one. Buggy, but can be quite fun.
9: VIII - Interesting weapons. But I grew discuraged by the story.
10: XII- Just kinda got bored of it.
11: XIII- 360 bricked not too long after the fight with the Shiva twins. But come on, baby chocobo!
12: II- Hate the leveling system... though good for customizion... but just not for me.