Final Fantasy VII? VIII? IX or X? which one do you think is the best?

[TastEPlasma]

Greetings,

Ah, so this subject has come up once again. Seems just a month or two ago we had a similiar thread, with people stating thier ideas and percerptions of the great and reknowned(sp?) Final Fantasy series.

Last time I went into a great deal of detail on my own personal opinions, and I was tempted to copy/paste that couple of paragraphs in here. Instead, I think I will try to keep it shorter and simpler, and intentionally try to remove the nostalgia factor while maintaining a fair perspective in relation to the time in which wach game was released.

Final Fantasy One-Well, of course, the one that started the whole thing. For the time it was a breakthrough in console RPG'ing...computers had long since had multi-character parties and long quests and dungeons spanning entire worlds. Consoles had lacked this, although with the introduction of the original Dragon Warrior, they were not without epic RPG. But Square brought to the table a full length feast for the RPG'r, which many (myself included) gobbled up. There were a number of flaws to the game, naturally, the biggest (to me) of which is the incredibly slow code which drove the battle system. Although the system was innovative (FF games are still based off this original idea), fun, and challenging, there were times where a full couple of seconds was necessary to find out if you had killed your enemy. This could be extremely tedious at times, and is probably why I only beat the game twice. The graphics were acceptable by NES standards, and with the exception of the battle system everything else was quick and easy to use. The storyline was virtually non-existant in terms of dialogue and such, but there was a sense of making your own story as you went. ****, getting nostalgic. Anyways, for the time it was a good game.

Final Fantasy Two- This game introduced a much needed revamped battle system. Sadly, the plot was even less existant than in one, and there was an odd sense the whole game was just thrown together in a rush. I think I maybe played three or four hours into this before I got tired of it. It is easy to see why the game was never released in America.

Final Fantasy Three- Easily the best NES FF game. This one not only introduced a further modified battle system, which had 'blazing fast' graphics and whatnot, but it made the entire comabt situation much more interesting by introducing the class system. The story was definetly there, and I would say by far the best story of any NES RPG (with the possible maybe exception of crystalis, but I am biased towards that game, so...). A lot of fun to play, all the way around.

Final Fantasy Four- One of the six FF games which could be argued to be the greatest of them all. The first real American SNES RPG, this game took the cake in many categories. For one, there was a definete sense of identity among the characters, especially the leads, due to thier unique abilities. Here the fact that the classes and abilities are fixed was a boon rather than a bane, and really helped to flush out the story. The story itself was, IMO, incredibly fascinitating, and I know of quite a large number of people who write fanfics expanding on the universe Square created with this game. The battle system saw the intorduction of real time battles, and with the sequences entirely programmed in mode7, the graphics where ultra-flashy and uber-cool for the time. One of the overall funnest FF games I have ever played, and one I have beat a countless number of times.

Final Fantasy Five- It really is too bad this game was released back in the day, I think it would have gotten far better reviews than the ported PS versions did. This was also one of my favorites, partly owing to the fact that I imported it for $135 back in 1994. Still got the Japanese cart, with my original saves on it too. :-) Anyways, this game furthered the battle system a bit, using sprites rather than mode7 graphics. This resulted in much more detailed enemies. The battle system was further enhanced by the return of the class system. Here Square was yet again successful, as they managed to make the characters have no unique abilities, but still retain thier individual identies. I think this was partly accomplished by only having a limited number of people who took lead roles and journyed with your group. To be honest, I personally am not very fond of having an interchangeble party...I prefer the story line to dictate who is in my party. Thats just me though. The story for this game was excellent, though a bit sparse at times. Definetly worth at the very least a try, and I *think* I have beat this one twice.

Final Fantasy Six- Yet another game which could be argued to be the greatest of all time. This game introduced the true storytelling/drama side of RPGs, and handed us a dark tale of intrigue and adventure told from several different viewpoints. For combat, we had an enhanced version of the FF5 system, sans the class system. Here Square went back to the unique/class/character/abilites method of doing things. To keep the players with a bit of customability, they introduced the relic system. Actually, with the magic system also based on equippable espers, this game had a very interesting blend of previous class systems. Very well executed. Definetly a contender for the best of the FF games, and one which will always have a place both in my box o snes games and in the games folder for my emulators. I beat this one like a gaziliion times or so.

Final Fantasy Seven- The first of the PS games introduced to a whole new concept in RPG'ing, 3D battle systems. This system, although in form very similiar to previous FF games, had a few significant changes. For one, they reduced the number of characters able to participate in battle down to the number 3 first introduced (in Square games) in Chrono Trigger. I cant help but think that for the format of the game, this was a step in the wrong direction. Nevertheless, it worked, and worked quite well. Combined with the power of the materia system, any more than three characters would have made the game even more absurdly easy than it already was. Here I think Square made the mistake of losing some of the characters identities in the ability system. By the end of the game, any character was equally as powerful as any other, with the exception of Clouds Final Limit Break. Then there is the story...a moving, intricately woven touching story. Well written and well executed, it keep you enthralled until the third disc. Then, suddenly, the whole story seems to disappear, and all the loose threads are left to unravel in the wind. I felt at the beginning of the game that there were great mysterys and secrets to be discovered, but by the end only half of them had been revealed. It is sad to say that the last 10 hours of this game left a sour taste in many a gamers mouth, which is evident here in my own little mini review of the game. Actually, until the end, it was a great game, and a lot of fun to play. I have only beat this one once, however.

Final Fantasy Eight- Well, simply put, never played it. It got bad reviews, from 'pros' and people I knew alike. After demoing it I just didnt like the overall feel of the game. I am now regretting not pursueing it further and giving it a bit more of a chance. Overall, however, I know little about it and have no opinion.

Final Fantasy Nine- This game I have mixed feelings about. It started off great, with a wonderful off-the-wall adventurous feel to it. Later on, around the third disc, a lot of that wore off and I felt like I was playing the latter half of FF7 all over again. Because of that I kinda lost interest and havent gotten back into it yet, though I do plan to do so eventually. I do like the battle system quite a bit, and the way the characters are definetly unique in both character and abilities. I havent yet beat the game, but so far the story is extremely intruiging...anybody else notice that the bad guy Garland has the same name as the evil knight in FF one? I cant help but wonder at that, though I suspect there will be no correlation....and no, I dont want to know, I will find out on my own. :-) The graphics are, of course, top notch for the PS. Overall a fairly entertaining piece of work, I just havent been able to get into it or any other RPG lately.

Well, there you have it, all over again, my opinions on the FF games. I would say that given the choice, I would probably choose any SNES game over any other FF game for any platform. As for choosing between the games themselves, I dont think that is something I could really do.

One last thing, a bit of a rant: Why in the hell do all the FF games think that a good ending involves lots of airships flying around while the credits roll? This has got to be the most annoying aspect of the series. I personally, after spending 20 to 60 hours playing and beating one of these games, expect a grand and sweeping ending. I want epilogues about how these peoples lives have been changed or scarred forever by these events. I want to know what happens afterwards, like complete with dialogue and stuff. I think the only FF game I ever beat that came close to this was FF4, as it did have an epilogue of sorts. At least there was a little bit about the characters after the big bad battle had been won. To me, that is a very imortant thing, and I thik a ****ty ending can ruin an entire game. For instance, FF7 could have been saved by a properly constructed and suitably entertaining ending. Learing about how the people cope after the fact IS important.

Sorry, but that had been bugging me for years, and I had to drop my two cents about it.

Well, I guess I am done ranting today. Thanks for listening in, and as per always, feel free to drop your opinion. I am always interested to see what other people are thinking.

Sincerely,
TastEPlasma

boku wa watashi desu.
ore wa boku desu.
watashi wa ore desu.

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[Amberion]

I preferred FF9, myself. While I agree with whoever said that the plot disappears near the end(it does, the plot loses it's point after you leave Terra) The whole experince up to that was just incredible. The environments, the cities, the characters. I enjoyed the comical humor. Watching Zidane accidentally touch Garnet's bottom and saying 'Ooh, soft...' was hilarious. Simply put, I liked FF9.

I got a few beefs with FF8 that significantly hindered my ability to get into this game. First of all, the whole Magic system SUCKED. It was too inconvenient to use magic, because then you'd have to go find a monster to draw from to get your stat back to maximum. Guardian forces took too long to cast(which Square fixed in FF9, as much as admitting that it was a mistake), and assembling weapons was a chore. All these things turned me off. The story was... okay, but not terribly interesting. There wasn't really a good feeling of mood during most of the story, and you didn't get the sense, during the Laguna flashbacks, that Laguna & company were in any serious peril. Maybe it's just me, but I just couldn't get into it. I know some people liked it, and it seems that a lot of younger people, who haven't played FF1-4, were among this number. I guess I'm an old fogey who doesn't want to play a fantasy game where one of the main characters has a web page.

Amberion

[Metalmurphy]

Well... I think Final Fantasy VIII is the one... I mean... FFVII has an Kick ass story, Final Fantasy IX, has better grafics... but I don't know why i still prefer FFVIII. Now... for FFX!! I can't way to be released here in Europe. For what I've seen so far I think it's gonna become my number one.

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[REi_FoX]

final fantasy VII really rocks!!!!!!!!!!! who sez that its boring???

ffVII has a good gameplay
ffVIII focuses on the story not like ffVII
ffIX SUCKS!!!!

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[REi_FoX]

hey guys just wanna ask ( well I'm a newbie here )

why do you guys have those stars and thing like that?

and it says something about emulation king or some sort like that...

and for me it says "junior member"

I want to have some of those stars

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[koolguy14]

yeah...me too!

[Sylvan Sorrow]

you get more depending on how many times you have posted

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[Jonys]

I still Give my vote to FF8....
But I agree with SepHirotH OmEgA When he says that the FFVII is the most funny of FF's.....All the places and Houses (exept for Gold Saucer and costa del sol) look a little dark, and boring.......but the characters and some parts of the game are really funny....
In FF8 the only characters that seems funny to me are Zell, Rinoa and Selphie.....
But still is the best one.....

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[Ryos]

Stars don't work properly right now, they'll be fixed soon. They're based on the number of posts, as Ryoga mentioned.

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[REi_FoX]

hey i still think rinoas prettier cause all of the suceeding charaters are being based on rinoa's look even dagger and yuna but not as cute a her!!!!

Attached Images

rinoa.jpg (18.2 KB, 54 views)

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[Whoever]

I have played and finished FFI, VII, VIII, and IX. I have played about 25% of all the others. So far my favorite is VII. It has a great villian, varied and humorus characters an elegant magic system, well paced battles, and some great music.

My main beef about VII and VIII are the characters from a battle standpoint, for all practical purposes they are identical. They can all do everything given proper junctions/materia.

FFI is a sentimental favorite. I really like how you can completely customize your party with speicifc classes, lots of replay value - not too long!

The only games I just couldn't get into are FF2 and III on the NES. III had nondescript characters who were in their original form different only in color. II tried to have a innovative battle system (sorry i like levels) and had a weak story overall. Better to have a thin but "cute" story like I than one like II's.

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[REi_FoX]

oops sorry wrong thread!!!!

it was suppose to be in the tifa? rinoa? or yuna thread...

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[Aegnor]

I've played the IV, V, VI and IX, and i'm actually playing the VIII.

my top 3 is :

1- IX
2. IV
3. VIII

Why the IX, cause i love the feeling of the game, similar to the IV which was for me and for a long time the best rpg (along with chrono trigger). Dagger is really cute and zidane has a great sense of humor. It's refreshing, the only downside is the look of the character, a bit too childish. The synth and steal skill are a great + in this game and the subquest are interesting for character developpement (exp, items and abilities)

The VIII is great cause of its characters (damn, rinoa and quistis are so beautiful) but until the middle of disc 2 (i'm near the end of that disc now) it's a little boring... The combat are a bit long and repetitive but the character developpement (junctionning) is interesting.

i've just bought my ps2 to get the X in two weeks... yuna seems to rulez , wait and see...

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[REi_FoX]

you guys can buy a PS2 like a snap here in our place it cost about 25,000 pesos (well maybe you people are in the U.S. thas why)

well unlike here its really hard to buy one

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[Xeven]

Final Fantasy VII, my reason's I've stated in another thread similar to this one.. mainly, it's the ONLY game i stayed up for 4 days straight without a single minute of sleep.. was absent from university for around 2 weeks or so too.. doing nothing but playing this game! nyahaha!

actually rei, i bought mine for 16k +2k md.. hehe.. course, he was my friend..

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[robi_wan_kenobi]

hi there,

I supose that discussion is a very personal subject, FF rulez and is what matters for me. Indeed FF6 was the best in 16bit age, when the Ps arrived i bought one just because of FF7 and i really liked it, and then come FF8 that really rocks , and i dont think it lacks originality , i bought FF9 and i just can´t start playing it, for me it is too childish but i will give it a try again.

[REi_FoX]

Originally posted by robi_wan_kenobi
hi there,

I supose that discussion is a very personal subject, FF rulez and is what matters for me. Indeed FF6 was the best in 16bit age, when the Ps arrived i bought one just because of FF7 and i really liked it, and then come FF8 that really rocks , and i dont think it lacks originality , i bought FF9 and i just can´t start playing it, for me it is too childish but i will give it a try again.

i agree to you with that FF9 is chidish thats the word!!!
there is a thread made by me asking who would you prefer among the girls so who do you think??

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[Xeven]

well yeah, as has been discussed a lot of times here, ff9 is really, childish.. and i also like it the least of all the ff series .. not that i don't think its a great game tho, well it still is great.. just childish.. hehe..

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[REi_FoX]

yes its been tackle down alright...

did you heard about FFXI it would be released on ps2 and PC. coz its an online gaming...

kinda bit hard what if you a slow connection???

cant play it

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[Xeven]

well yeah its gonna be online, although i'm not too sure of the scheme they're going to implement on the game.. details are still sketchy i guess ..

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