What's the best Final Fantasy game(s)?

The Game Room
61

It’s level up system is basically a dumbed down version of FFTactics. It’s story is basically Yuna, Rikku, and a new character Paine, who act as if they were possessed by Charlie’s Angels, searching for Tidus. With dialogue written like a saturday morning cartoon. They replaced the thematic and usually good classical themed music with usually terrible Jpop. They dropped the fantastic turn based battle system from FFX for a slightly upgraded version of the ATB system used in 4 through 9. On the bright side it actually lets you skip the movie sequences. And the level design is alright.

I’ve never played Shin Megami Tensei but i’d say X-2 is lighter and less complex then damn near anything.

62

I’d like to say that nothing could make me sadder (re: FFs, that is) that turning the music into “Jpop.” I’ve always found the FF music enchanting, well-written, and appropriate. To this day, I’ll sit down at the piano, play arpeggios, and my best buddy (a fellow youthful FF-lover/dork) will say “Save music!” without fail. I went so far as to go to a performance up here in SF of the music, played by an orchestra, and, well, it was FUCKING AWESOME.

The only other thing that could equal dumbing down the music is dumbing down the stories (which, again, I bailed out after PS1, so I’m unsure if they did). Not that they necessarily informed my worldview, but in retrospect I’ve always appreciated how they tend to focus on a kind of lefty, revolutionary, sometimes environmental thing I think I picked up subconsciously in my salad days. If I recall, both FF2 & 3 (US versions), you begin as a pawn of the evil, magic-hating State and end up rebelling, then fighting its cackling puppet master. Beats the pants off being a plumber kicking turtles, at the very least.

This thread is making me want to jump back into a game. Beyond buying a system (I don’t want to go that far) and, owning a Mac, is there anything I can do besides grimy emulator play? If not: bummer. But so it goes.

63

FF X-2 is pretty good. A lot of people think it has one of the best battle systems in the series. Also it has one of my favorite openings of any game (then again, I like J-pop).

64

Agreed. If i played an instrument one of the first things i would want to lean is Kefka’s theme. I haven’t played FF6 since the rerelease on the GBA and i still get some of it’s music popping into my head almost every day.

What’s wrong with emulator play? I own a PS2 and play all my PS1 & PS2 games on emulator. They look better and allow me to fast forward, run at higher framerates, play versions from other regions(especially useful for FFX which had some bonus enemies and a more open level up system in the European version), render at higher resolutions, and use a wireless controller. They’re better in basically every possible way.

65

The Mac versions haven’t been all that great for me. I’ve only gone as far as Super NES (again: Kefka!) and the emulator I downloaded wouldn’t allow for full screen and the whole thing was a little bit disappointing. Any recommendations, as far as that goes?

And allow me to concur about Kefka’s theme: one of the best pieces from the games I’ve played. They always bring the unbelievably epic music for the boss scenes too, especially the final battles, which are all Carmina Burana-y in the best possible way.

66

I’ve not used a mac in many many years so i’ve no experience there.

ePSXe
and
pSX

Both have linux versions though. My understanding is that modern Mac OS is based on linux… i’m not sure if it’s possible/easy to get linux software running on it though.

67

<hijack>

ears perk

I’ve played FFXI since shortly after NA release - I’ve eased off since March but I’ll probably go back in August.

Where/what did you play?

</hijack>
Anyway - other than XI, for me, it’s 8, then Chrono Trigger (which I count, dammit), then X, then 7.

On our wedding cake, the bride figure was represented by a Rinoa action fig; the groom was a Red XIII. Cause we’re geeky like that.

Chrono Trigger remains the only video game for which I’ve actually bought the soundtrack. I played it on SNES and DS both…

68

On a tangentially related note, I always thought this was kindof epic:

Terra in Black

69

That rules.

70

Sweet! I always loved the music of FFVI.

That game was pure magic. I know the creator of the series admitted that FFVI was definitely the best one and that they were just in the zone while making that game.

71

FFX-2 was okay, but if there is anything you want to play right now, I’d save X-2 for later. I was really thrilled about it when it came out and finished it satisfactorily, but it wasn’t as good as X.

I’ve only played a few, so:
FFX- The first one I ever played. I’d watched my college roommate playing VII and X over a couple of years and was somewhat interested. I’d never seen a video game with such deep storylines before. I really liked FFX’s characters, I liked the leveling system, and I liked the combat. The story was great to me, I didn’t have trouble following it.

FFVII- I bought this, 8 and 9 all together on Amazon several years ago for a song. I really, really enjoyed 7, even though the graphics and music were hard to get into after the PS2 engineered FFX. I liked it a lot, but the plot twists weren’t as good as 10, IMO.

As an aside, I find it interesting that my (and my former roommate’s) favorite ones have main characters who turn out to be nothing like what they appear.

FFXII- Still playing it right now and I’m enjoying it. The characters are decent and the story is just OK. Some of the music is quite good but most is bleh. But I frickin’ love the battle system. The gambit system makes combat so much more organic and adds a little strategic twist. It also feels to me like it “leaves one hand free,” so to speak. Instead of thinking about every little thing you need to do, in order, you can let a part of your brain work on deciphering your enemies tendencies while your characters hack away/heal themselves, etc.

FF8- Played about an hour so and didn’t get into it. I’m going to go back though, and try it again.

FF9- Still haven’t opened it yet. Someday, though.

72

See, I’m torn about my next game. It’s either going to be Digital Devil 1 and 2, which is one game split into two, or FF X-2.

Digital Devil is the more complex and serious game, but I think I might wash my palette with a cheesy, light game like X-2.

And X-2 is WAY cheaper. :slight_smile:

Oh, and play FFIX. It’s really charming and great! I love every character in it, except the tough guy you get late in the game.

73

Interestingly, right now a group of gamers is doing a donation drive for an Autism charity by playing through every Final Fantasy game in order, 24 hours a day. They started on July 17 and are currently on FF9 - check it out at http://www.thespeedgamers.com - there’s also a live video and audio feed of the gamers and a chatroom.

Of all the FF games I beat, FF8 was the longest - took me 61 hours, 40 of which was on disc 3. However, I had no clue what the hell I was doing (wait, you mean you AREN’T supposed to gain levels in this game?) so my second play through should be a lot shorter. I know how to beat the SNES FF2 (the real FF4) in about 5 hours btw - cycle through the dialogue and run from EVERY non-boss battle (except for praying for a little luck with the Magus Sisters and the Shadow Dragon battles, none of the boss battles need extra levels) and skip all of the side quests (by now everyone knows how to skip the trapdoor cave, right?) so that you can get to the giant in about 4 hours. Once you get to the save point, look for an alerter, which will summon mechanical dragons. Have FuSoYa or Rydia cast Weak on the dragon, and let anybody else whack it for an easy kill. Then wait for the alerter to summon another dragon. Keep repeating this for about 20 minutes or so (or until you’re worried you’re in danger of maybe dying yourself) and you will gain enough experience to take care of your party for the rest of the game (kill FuSoYa before ending the battle so he doesn’t steal 1/5 of the exp). Squaresoft knew about this little trick too, and so removed the Mechanical Dragons from the GBA and DS remakes, which actually stranded me in a playthrough, since the first two REALLY tough battles come at the end of the giant!

Just what the hell was the deal with Amarant in FF9? #1 I didn’t like his attitude and #2 he sucked in combat so I never used him. I also tried to avoid using Quina since she’s just play annoying and the devour skill is useless.

74

[My memories might we off on some of these, since it’s been decades since I played FFI]

Here’s the ones that I’ve played, in order:

VII : LOVED the materia system (once I figured it out). This game probably ruined my college career. I don’t know how much I played it, since it quit keeping track after 99 hours. I wish I could get it on my Wii.

X : I didn’t love the leveling system, since I thought it was inferior to VII’s, but I still liked the game. I eventually maxed out the grid, and got some of the ultimate weapons, but got so frustrated at trying to get the others that I gave up and quit (long after I had beat the game.)

I : Mostly nostalgia (and the fact that the rest that I played sucked relatively). Played it all the way thought at least twice. I thought it was almost a bug that you could use 3 ninjas with no weapons, and after a few levels of struggling, they’d kick so much ass that it was better than any other team. It’s the patriarch that saved the company. IIRC, it was revolutionary in that you could save games without writing down a long code, because it had a battery in the cartridge.

X2 : (I thought this was XII when I got it, and wondered how I missed XI) I didn’t like it because I’m not a girl. Like part of my problem with XIII after playing VII, it hated it because it wasn’t like X. Quit playing pretty early on.

IV : the after years : This is the WiiWare game. My complaints are that it is way to expensive for what it is (a FF2 remake/sequel), and that (the first chapter, anyway. I don’t plan on paying for more) is very linear. Several times if you try to deviate from the plot, a character will tell you where you should be, and it won’t let you enter that cave, etc… If I had gotten the entire game for the $8 that I paid, I’d be happy. But it’s going to cost nearly $40 to get the whole game. For what’s essentially a ~16 year old game? F that.

VIII : I’m glad I’m not the only one.

Maybe I was doing something wrong, because it seems that most didn’t have this problem, but I could not win a single fight without summoning a monster… then watching the same f’ing video clip over and over. I couldn’t stand it, and quit early on. After VII, it was a huge letdown.
I only played 2 (which I guess is now called IV) on my then-GF’s little brother’s Super Nintendo. And she wasn’t keen on me spending all of my time at her house playing single-player games, so my experience with that is brief and ancient. [I guess it would be worth 800 Wii points to play… but not 3600]

75

[quote=“Oni no Maggie, post:67, topic:503290”]

<hijack>

ears perk

I’ve played FFXI since shortly after NA release - I’ve eased off since March but I’ll probably go back in August.

Where/what did you play?

</hijack>

I was on the Quetzlcoatl server, was one of the few Galka’s w/ lvl 55+ whm/rdm/blm/pld/drk/brd… etc. 75 war was my main char. I forget what expansion came out, but my PS2 (which I played on) was too messed up to run CDs anymore, I ran strictly off the Hard Drive thingy you plugged into the back of the PS2. So all my colleagues ran off to do expansion stuff, while I stayed in town and synth’ed whatever was most profitable to 102 cooking. :slight_smile:

To the other poster thinking about trying FFX-2, I’d stay far, far, far away from that one. I think I saw it at the game store for like $3.99 used the other day, so if you can find that deal go ahead and give it a try.

It’s definately not worth more than $10. Like someone upthread said, it’s like FF and Charlie’s Angel’s mated… those 2 things just should not reproduce.

76

Sorry, I have to stand up for VIII here. Once you get the hang of the junctioning system, and if you’re willing to put some time into drawing magic (time that would normally be spent leveling up), you can easily beat the whole game without ever summoning a GF, or leveling up for that matter. Actually GFs are about the least efficient attacks in the game.

77

I think that may be the big difference between us folks. I think Ruck was probably playing w/o a player’s guide/walkthrough. I did the same thing as Ruck, I hate resorting to a walkthrough unless I’m 100% stuck for an hour or more.

FFX8 let you get about 10 hours in without really letting you have to know the junction/drawing system. During those first 10 hours, I used the abilities I had to defeat the enemy. Eventually, since I guess they went more towards the junction/drawing method, those of us used to traditional leveling found ourselves pretty much F’d about 10 hours in.

That led to us relying almost 100% on the awesome GF damage, (since that lvl’d up the more you used it). My weapons/spells blew, but 1 summon did like 10 rounds of damage. Unfortunately, that 1 summon video took about 2-4 minutes. (but they looked so cool when they were leaked months ahead of the release) :slight_smile:

78

True. I didn’t use a walkthrough when playing, but I did read about the junctioning system beforehand because I had heard that it was different than the usual system and necessary to get used to in order to play the game.

79

Hmm it’s all coming back to me now. This might be why I never played it again after the first time. I leveled too much and it became too hard when every enemy had powerful spells that would kill me easily. I’ll have to go through it again sometime. I wish the Pandora would get finished soon, it’s supposed to be able to run a PSX emulator so I would be able to make use again of my huge collection of PSX RPGs.

80

I don’t remember using a guide, and I noticed the junctioning ability in the menus. I’ll admit the game was a bit hard at the beginning, but not impossible or anything.