I dunno. I liked Final Fantasy VI (Actual VI, not American VI) a lot. It had great story, all the characters actually had a lot of history to them and their own motives and personalities. Hell, you even got caught up in little optional side scenes that explained about even more. Lots of customization as well. In addition! villain! Kefka was the main baddie in this game. If you play through VI with VII fresh in mind, you'll see how much is carry over from this game, so many running themes, and systems that were expanded upon in the next installment. Anyway, Kefka, obviously unstable, started the theme of a villain that's physically enhanced to the point where he goes nuts(See Sephiroth for more). But, adter this, Kekfa is his total opposite. One is crazy, the other calm and calculating, one is big on starting random fights, then running, the other fights it out all the way. Though, it got beat out when I got my PSP.

Final Fantasy VII, on the other hand was truly something that got my attention. Before I played VII I had the original Final Fantasy, but it was so hard for me (I was like, five) I never really got into it. But when I got VII and everything was so... basic yet complex, I loved it, the Materia system was amazing. VII has a great story, one you really wanna see out to the end. Good characters, good enemies... Anyway, It's a great game, more on that later! I must review all these games...

Next, Final Fantasy. I hold this game near and dear to my heart. Square struck gold. Sure, no character development, but the adventure is just... fun! Twist ending? I mean, if you take the time to understand what is actually going on, it's really neat...
Again, more later.


So... my list follows as such
1st Place - Final Fantasy VII
2nd Place - Final Fantasy
3rd Place - Final Fantasy VI

I agree with your whole concept on the actual Final Fantasy VI (which is Final Fantasy III American for SNES correct?). The fact that you could hold a certain amount of characters (four) one time, but leaving your other crew behind was also truly amazing. It helps you realize that "wow, I can't just focus on one crew of characters, building up the rest of them is something I HAVE to do" since the end of game really kills you if you didn't.

The materia system was pretty amazing, although I loved how in FFIX that you needed to actually extract the abilities from weapons you equip before you can totally master them. Also, synthesizing was pretty awesome as well. Although my pick is on FFIX, I still go back from time to time and pop in FFVII to just pick up where I left off months ago.

Another game that came to mind while I was away from this thread was FF Tactics for PS1. One of the better PS1 games IMO that Square released. The whole tactical, strategic playability was astounding, as well as character classes, useage of two abilities rather than one, and deciding whether you want to use your main charatcer (Ramza) in certain battles (training battles, not actual story battles). I really miss playing this, and I'll probably pick it up one of these weekends, but definitely a game to play if you haven't already.

Yeah Good! VI is a golden, totally. And yes, VI was turned into III on the SNES for its original release and recently came out under its actual number for the Game Boy. And yeah, the fact that you had such a large party was nice, albeit time consuming. I've yet to find five, but I've played 1-4, and that was a totally new concept, and a good one. It was a little daunting though, having you push all your characters to the limit to beat the game comfortably.

Yeah. Final Fantasy IX totally got it right with that system for skills. It's a working system, it worked so well they tapped it again for FFTA.

I actually own the PSP version of FFT, called Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions. It's currently on the back burner due to me just getting my hands on Mega Man Powered Up. Anyway, yes, Final Fantasy is one of those rare cases where it can be translated into something totally different and retain its awesome.

My one problem with that game is that I have to be so careful and keep everyone from dying. That's just... annoying. And then the time limit you have to revive them! And then the fact that 'Life' has only a 54% average chance of working!

I had previously played Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced (at an extreme (at least 2 250 hour+ files), in which death is generally temporary, revived after battle, all happy. So when I fired up FFT, I was still in this mentality, imagine my surprise when I ended the battle with two other living units...

Anyway, once I beat all 428ish achievements in Power Up, I'll be sure to come back to this game and see if I can't powerlevel a bit more.

I should review this game too...



If you have a PSP, you should probably buy War of the Lions, it's got new bells and whistles on it, and better stuff then the last game. That is, instead of logging more time into the PS1 one.

Your choice though.

My Favorites are
FFIX
FF War of the Lions
FFVII

Thanks to this thread, i played FF Tactics this morning

I like 8 & 9

I have to say that 9 has always been my favorite. It was my introduction into FF, and since then I have been addicted, but the other games never really matched it. My biggest problem with rpgs though is that I never actually finish them because there is so much to do, so I haven't beaten any of them yet...

Of all the ones I've played, I haven't finished a single one... so I can't say. D;

Of the ones I've played, which would be all of them, , except 11, I've only actually finished 2... that'd be FFVII and FFX... And I call myself an RPG gamer... I'm horrible *sniffles*... I generally get really deep into the game and then... something game overs me, I get pissed and call it a day. But anyways, my favorite, at risk of sounding like a broken record, has to be FFVII.

Yes, there's the people who are all VI was better and VIII was better(even though the latter are rarer) but I have to stick by VII. My issue with VI is that the plot wasn't very well centralized. It was pretty unfocused, and it jumped PoVs repeatedly. I mean, while it's good to get a change of perspective, not every freaking scene... please! The world map music for the SNES version(world of balance) was some of the nicest music I'd heard though.

And well, VII. The plot was a little better at changing points of view, the Limit Break system was awesome, really the best LB system until FFX's Overdrive system. The materia system was one of the coolest ability systems evar, and getting the Master Materia was extremely rewarding... I mean, all the magic in the game? None of the stat detriment? Pwnage. Yeah, the game was pretty balanced in terms of plot and gameplay, which is probably why it was as popular and groundbreaking as it was. It was the birth of the mainstream RPG.

FFI : Never Played
FFII: Always got to the Moon and never finished it
FFIII: Done
FFIV: (See FFII)
FFV: Never really played it a whole lot
FFVI: (See FFIII)
FFVII: Done
FFVIII: Just stopped liking it, one of the only FF i actually don't like
FFIX: Done
FFX: Done
FFX2: Hated it
FFXI: Never played
FFXII: Not bad, never finished though
FF1&2: LOVED it, done
FFTactics: LOVED it as well, done
FFTacticsAdvance: Done

just thought of the ones off the top of my head

FFVII is definetly there. FFVIII was very nice as well. Had one of my favorite storylines out of all of them. FFX deserves merit as well, because it was freaking FUN! (Haha, easy too, after caladbolg fully powered and going through Auron's sphere grid!) As for the specific order... Thats tough. I really wanna put all three as number one. I guess it would have to be:

1st: FFVII
2nd: FFX
3rd: FFVIII

I ended up beating one of my previous saved files for FF Tactics. Last boss battle is so fun if your guys are 60+ leveled up ;D

I'll look into the JP ones btw.

I really liked FFIX the best. The storyline was good, I actually liked all the characters, the music was amazing, and the mini-games were fun. FFVI and FFX are my other favorites.

Consider me a Final Fantasy connoisseur...

Easy. FF7 totally wins. As much fun as the first few were, 7 totally changed the RPG gaming industry. From the Materia system to the open ended gameplay full of side quests (which this game pretty much set the genre standard for)- it was the first of the new breed... a darkhorse game that is the bestselling game in the series.

My second favorite is Final Fantasy Mystic Quest- I loved it growing up, and didn't even realize it was a FF game. Only released in America.

The FF's after 7 have good graphics and ok storylines, but all of them wish they could be an updated version of 7.

The fan favorite FFVII was indeed great but the 3D deformed characters were a source of irritation for me. I don't think back then they worked. The storyline was, although a bit standard for the japanese RPGs, quite good.

My favorites overall would be

FFX: I loved the story. But hey that's me. I'm a sucker for love stories. But besides the major ones the story had some very subtle twists too. Plus visually it is the best FFX I have ever seen. The fact that you can change your party members during combat, and the absence of that horrible ATB system (I mean come on... is this turn based or action.. If I want action I'd go play Devil May Cry)

FFT: Hands down THE best gameplay of ANY Final Fantasy to date. Anyone who did not play it should get the new PSP version.

FF XI: I know people will dislike me for saying this. FF XI is an Everquest clone essentially. But it is one hell of an Everquest clone. It was the first MMO to have an actual storyline you can follow, instead of merely a setting. Even if it was quite different as a game, it had everything that made a Final Fantasy game special. Despite having one of the worst interfaces and design policies ever (the player is our enemy!!) still it is one of the best MMOs ever released (although it's also one of the hardest, and to reach those best parts is so hard that you might give up playing before realizing that)

Without a doubt, it was #9 for me. It was my first ever FF that I played and I loved it. I haven't found one that comes close since. I didn't like 7 or 8. Both 10 and X-2 were enjoyable but very annoying at the same time.

IV is the one for me. Followed closely by XII and VI.

My favourites would be 8 and 9.

Only ones I played are I (for GBA though), X, and XII, and just started working on VII. Never finished any of them though. I plan to actually finish VII; though I liked X better and thus should be working on finishing that instead, I borrowed X from a (now-former) friend and don't want to have to buy or rent it, so I am stuck with VII.

My opinion is that the franchise peaked with VI and VII, then descended from there, so I'll state that VI was the best for the time of release, followed by VII, V, III, IX and the odd II in that order.