Final Fantasy Games 1-9

[Mr Light]

Thanks to Nintendo DS (and by extension Game Boy Advance) I'm now getting access to the early Final Fantasy games for the first time. But which ones are the greatest?

Obviously I would love to play 7 but of course that one isn't available. Sigh.

I have played all of 12 and loved it. I played about a quarter of 10 and got away from it... one day I'll get back to it.

I'll definitely be buying 4-DS when it comes out in June/July, I've heard that was a good one. What about 3-DS? I've heard mixed things. For example if its really difficult involving a lot of backtracking and replaying, then I'm not interested.

I have a PS2 which means I can play 7-9 but I think I need some kind of memory chip that I don't have, what is that and how much does that cost? 'Cause you can buy 8 & 9 on Amazon brand new for $20 each.

 

[firehawk12]

I must be old when 7-9 are considered retro FF games.
I have no idea if you can save PS1 games on a PS2 memory card. I know that you can't do that with Metal Gear Solid 1, but maybe that's just a Konami thing.

FF6 and FF6 alone will always be the highlight of the series for me even though I'm more of a Chrono Trigger fanboy. I'm hoping for a full fledged remake of 6 in the next few years. Hopefully for DS, but I'll live with a PSP version.

 

[warriorsfan]

I have no idea if you can save PS1 games on a PS2 memory card.

You can't. If you are playing a PS1 game on a PS2 system, you need a PS1 memory card to save the game. The PS1 memory card will work in the PS2 just fine.

I learned this the hard way. But I just said "to hell with it" and downloaded a PS1 emulator on my computer and I play the games just fine using a logitech controller. You can save games in the emulator and not have to deal with memory cards at all. There's no need to download the games if you own the discs, just put the disc in your CD drive and the emulator will recognize it and play it.

 

[The Fatman]

My favorite FF games are easily 6, and 8*. Those ones have the best characters and stories, which is why I play FF games. Part 4 comes next, and is a phenominal game. I'm actually considering buying a DS just to play the remake. 7 and 5 are in my next tier down...for various reasons I just don't like them as much, although they're still great games. 1 and 2 are good for nostalgia playthroughs... but aren't terribly great on their own. I haven't played 3 (no DS) and I actively hate 9.

* The reason I have to mark 8 is that it's a very interesting game... I think it has BY FAR the best characters, writing, and plot of any FF game. I love 8 wholeheartedly and unabashedly. That said... the gameplay in FF8 is so bad as to almost be considered broken. Many, many people who I've loaned the game to have said they don't care how good the story is, with how bad the gameplay is they refused to keep going.

 

[Servo]

FF7 is by far my favourite. I liked FF8 quite a bit too, but it didn't hook me as much as FF7 did. Honestly haven't played any of the others.

 

[Worf412]

Final Fantasy 6 is, by far, the highlight of the series. Those that came before it had something, though usually minute, glaringly wrong with it. Those that came after put more emphasis on movies than gameplay.

Don't get me wrong, I love them all, but 6 is the best, IMO.

 

[eastman23]

6 is my favourite, followed by 4.

I didn't really care for 2 and I was playing 3 on the DS several months ago, but stopped playing it. Going to have to get back to it sometime.

 

[Delsaber]

I must be old when 7-9 are considered retro FF games.

I know what you mean... I'm gonna go check for grey hairs after this.

I voted V, mainly for the job system, VII, for nostalgia, and VIII, as I'm one of the few people who enjoyed its rather experimental gameplay systems. The rest are more or less bunk.

 

[NCC1701]

I own Final Fantasies 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10. My favourite is 7, followed by 9, then 10 - the unskippable movies are fine for the first play through, they become a pain after that, tho -, then 4, and all the way down the bottom, 8. I once got to the end of Disc 1 on 8, until I lost the memory card that saved game was stored on. I wasn't gonna play all of that again, it, was bad enough the first time!

 

[warriorsfan]

* The reason I have to mark 8 is that it's a very interesting game... I think it has BY FAR the best characters, writing, and plot of any FF game. I love 8 wholeheartedly and unabashedly. That said... the gameplay in FF8 is so bad as to almost be considered broken. Many, many people who I've loaned the game to have said they don't care how good the story is, with how bad the gameplay is they refused to keep going.

It's fine once you get used to the junctioning system. The main problem was that you had to stock magic, which takes FOREVER and eats up a lot of time for no real practical reason. And having to constantly mess around with your GFs and junctions eats up a lot of time as well. Pretty much half the game is spent messing around with the junctioning system. They should have made it less time-consuming somehow.

 

[crouteru]

VII, VIII and IX. Those were my first Final Fantasy games. Being a UK resident, why should I play I - VI if Square can't be bothered to release them in my country when they were in their prime? Only joking...! I've played IV and VI on the GBA and thought they were pretty good, but I think the 3D games have spoiled them for me.

 

[unimatrix7]

7.

The End...

...Except to say that 8 was the biggest load of crap I've ever played.

 

[Delsaber]

^ Then you'll no doubt enjoy this.

 

[Venardhi]

VII is by far the best of all of them. VI is good, but after VII it just can't quite stand up. Maybe if they remade it, but I couldn't say for sure. VIII is crap for gameplay and the story was too slow to hold my interest most of the time and had really terrible twists. IX is alright, but suffers from a pretty terrible story. X is good, but without the visuals it wouldn't be worth much. XII is shit. Shitty shit with shit sprinkles. All the earlier ones I can't really judge fairly because I never beat any of them until after VI, VII and VIII so they had a lot to live up to.

 

[Mooch]

I have them all except FFIII (although I have a translated ROM of the NES version).

I've only finished I, II, and X though. I am about halfway through FFIV and 2/3 of the way through FFVII.

I like IV the best so far (not including FFX, which is one of my favourite games ever). VII has a decent story, but I find the awkward level design and "minigames" very tedious, as is constantly having to shuffle my materia around.

 

[CorporalClegg]

7.

The End...

...Except to say that 8 was the biggest load of crap I've ever played.

This statement is so backwards, I'm completely taken aback.


If anything, Final Fantasy VII will go down and history as prof that some eye candy and a lot of TV adds can convince people they're buying a quality product.

Something with dull, repetitive (and utterly simplistic) game play, stupidly stereotyped characters, a gazillion plot holes exposing a ridiculously convoluted plot must be good because the commercial said so, right?

In ten years, I have to hear one person give me a solid reason why this game is "the best RPG ever." Not one. They just regurgitate the same old tired lines. It's like those commercials were so successful, they created a whole new breed of fan-boyism of those who will toe-the company line for them.

And you know, what I find even more hilarious is that no one has attempted the same level of add campaigning as SQUARE did here. The proof is in the pudding--people gobbled it up. Yet no one has tried since.

 

[Worf412]

In ten years, I have to hear one person give me a solid reason why this game is "the best RPG ever." Not one. They just regurgitate the same old tired lines.

Hear, hear.

A good game? Sure. Best ever? Far from.

 

[unimatrix7]

7.

The End...

...Except to say that 8 was the biggest load of crap I've ever played.

This statement is so backwards, I'm completely taken aback.


If anything, Final Fantasy VII will go down and history as prof that some eye candy and a lot of TV adds can convince people they're buying a quality product.

Something with dull, repetitive (and utterly simplistic) game play, stupidly stereotyped characters, a gazillion plot holes exposing a ridiculously convoluted plot must be good because the commercial said so, right?

In ten years, I have to hear one person give me a solid reason why this game is "the best RPG ever." Not one. They just regurgitate the same old tired lines. It's like those commercials were so successful, they created a whole new breed of fan-boyism of those who will toe-the company line for them.

And you know, what I find even more hilarious is that no one has attempted the same level of add campaigning as SQUARE did here. The proof is in the pudding--people gobbled it up. Yet no one has tried since.

Unfortunately, this is all rubbish.

You're saying I like FF7 because I'm simple and easily swayed by colourful marketing? Furthermore, you're saying that everybody who bought the game was suckered by crappy advertising and played through 3 discs of junk because some commercial told them to? You're hardly worth replying to, but since you pointed your rather bizarre remarks at me, I shall defend myself.

I liked FF7 because...I liked it. I liked the characters, the plot. The gameplay was simple but good enough to sustain over the 70 odd hours, though certainly not overly original. The graphics...yeah, I liked the graphics. I liked the music too. I don't think the game is brilliant - I just like it.

But I don't think it's the best RPG ever made. I think it's the best of a bad bunch. I consider myself a fairly hardcore JRPG fan (not to mention a gamer of refined taste )and I loathe the Final Fantasy franchise as a whole. It becomes more bloated and insufferably bland by the numeral, with each intallment increasingly an exercise in slickly-produced mediocrity. They may as well dump the interactive aspects altogether, if FF12 is any indication. The thing practically played itself.

Ok?

 

[CommodoreKong]

4 is by far my favorite (I can't wait for the DS remake, and I don't even really like turn based RPGs anymore), followed by 9 and then 6. I don't really like the rest of them.

 

[zakfa]

Six is my favorite game. It's been years since I've played, but there are some elements of that game I can still recall. It was a great experience.

Seven is overrated but it's still one of my favs, slightly behind six. Some of my favorite FF tunes are from this game.

I just finished 5 recently on the GBA. Gotta say I was really surprised how fun it was. Definitely my third favorite.