Hello and welcome to Don't Look Back... Again. Yeah it's been a little while, mainly for the fact that I haven't really had anything to write about or rather feel the desire/need to. But a few weeks ago my friend CorSec sent me a list that Game Informer had made, counting down the best Final Fantasy games (from the main stream line); which got me thinking of what my favorites are. My boyfriend too, saw this list and made his own via Twitter. So today I am going to countdown from 14-1 my favorite Final Fantasy Games.
But before we begin I do wanna say this; I do view the MMOs in a different class than the other Final Fantasies because they are completely different creatures, but because they are considered to be in the main stream line they will be viewed and placed as such. So without further adieu;
#14- Final Fantasy XIII
This might actually seem a tad unfair since I haven't played the game. With that said I have seen a fair portion of it and I am honestly not a fan. Where as I like the character designs for some of the main cast, I haven't really seen their personalities pop out enough and say "like me!!!" The combat is the least fun I have seen in a long time in a game. Where as ATB might be linear and "too easy" for some; the comabt in FF13 honestly doesn't make much sense to me. The fact that it's game over when the main character of your party goes down is beyond me; especially when SE has proven that they can make it so that if your party has fallen the sub party that is technically made via the extra party members can come out and revive you. Visually the game is beautiful, but it needs to be a little more than that. And for me; when this game was being talked about and trailers were shown along side Versus XIII I always wanted to play Versus more.
#13- Final Fantasy XIV
This game was a huge letdown, I will not even sugarcoat that fact. When I first saw the trailer via the E3 press conference on G4 I was so excited. True the races were rehashed FFXI races, but it was just stunning to look at and as time went on the more excited I was to look at the updates on what the game would hold for its players. In particular the thing I was excited over was the character creation; in FFXI you had very little options, but in 14 you could choose from at least 12 hairstyles, change eye and hair color and even had scars or beauty marks. I didn't get to try the game when it first came out, due to the specs being high; however when the priced dropped on the game itself and became free to play I decided to try it even it I was to lag. I do have a friend playing and we partied a bit (well duoed), but there was a lack of content to really do. When the most fun I had really was making my characters you know there was something wrong. Though the last day I logged on to take some screenshots with my friend was fun; so cute and shounen-ai.
As much as I really wanted to give the MMO a chance; there was little content and the announcement that the Free To Play period was ending was enough for me to quit. They are planning to overhaul the game and are dubbing it 2.0; which is good because it drastically needs improvements, but they should have waited to reinstate pay to play.
#12- Final Fantasy II
I never made it very far in this game and I'm everyone knows why; the leveling system. I do give this one credit for trying something different, but it was so grindy that I don't really know how anyone could get through it. The characters were flushed out for the most part and the designs were nice. But that one aspect made it hard for me to even get into the story.
#11- Final Fantasy III
Another one I never finished, though my access to this game was via the remake for the Nintendo DS. I do like and appreciate that SE finally released this game so we have all of the main titles in NA; but that's sort of where my like for this dies. The characters seemed a little flat and the outright difficulty was a bit ridiculous. FF3 was the first to introduce the job system and I am a sucker for it as I love the staple jobs of Final Fantasy. But I have to wonder if the original version of the game was a tad easier than the remake.
#10- Final Fantasy
The one that started it all. I really do like the reason it's called Final Fantasy as it was supposed to be the last game Square was going to make as the company was going under and in an ironic twist it saved the company. The story is very basic and there were no real characters; pick your job and go as it were. The magic system was pretty unique and very much like D&D, but the downside for me (which is why it doesn't rank higher) is that it doesn't directly tell you where you need to go. I am all for "reading between the lines" and put in an effort to make my way through, but this game had way too much of it.
#9- Final Fantasy IX
I have mixed feelings about this game; I really didn't like how spells and skills were learned, though it was a nice change of pace. The characters weren't very gripping in my opinion, but the throw back to traditional fantasy was pure win. As the last Final Fantasy to appear on the PS1 the graphics were both lovely and facepalm worthy. I don't really understand why they had to make 3D chibi... The story however was pretty good, though I felt they tried to cram too much in at once; and I should note there was really no reason to show/have a pissing contest between Vivi and Zidane. >.>
The combat was much like all other FF games, except that Trance was not the best way to activate a Limit Break. Unlike in FF7 or FF8; once you Trance meter is filled you are in it for its duration, so if a bomb explodes and it ends the fight and it was enough to put a character in Trance; you lose the Trance. Was quite annoying.
#8- Final Fantasy XII
This is probably surprising, even to me, that this placed as high as it has. I actually haven't played through 12 and the story itself is very remissness of Star Wars; which I am not a fan of, but the game has so many good points that it's hard not to like. Yes, the License system is BS since it has to be used for everything including armor; but the characters were so good. I know he gets a lot of flack, but even Vaan had his moments, though he isn't the true main character as he is promoted to be. The combat is just win and is the best part of this game. The system is a solo/offline version of sorts of FFXI's combat. The monsters aggro and you create macros more or less for your moves and program your party members to do what you need them to do. In addition you can cycle through the party and take control of them when you need to. It's more involved than a traditional ATB, but less complex and eye hurting than the system in FF13. The biggest part of this game I think is that when your main party goes down your sub party comes out; the fact that the game actually acknowledges the other characters being with you is very, very awesome.
#7- Final Fantasy X
The first FF to have voice acting, the first FF to spawn a direct sequel and the 3rd where you wanted to punch the "main" character in the face. FFX is probably considered a guilty pleasure of mine as I liked most of the characters; both in design and in personality. I liked the idea behind the story as a whole, even though the plot twist of Sin was pretty easy to figure out. But the idea of a false faith was rather intriguing to me. I loved the combat simply for the fact that you could interchange your party members and when Yuna summoned it would take the place of your characters and you could control the summons was pretty cool (though why the summons couldn't just replace Yuna I don't know lol). And I honestly really liked the Sphere Grid; your characters became rather customizable... or over powered depending how much work you put into it.
The main reason this didn't place higher was because of Tidus, hence also why this is a guilty pleasure. Tidus sights that the game is his story, when in fact it is technically Yuna's. He is also told not to mention that he is from Zanarkand and 10 minutes later he says he's from Zanakand. x.x
#6- Final Fantasy VIII
Game number two with a main character you wanted to bitch slap. Let's face it, Squall was and always will be an Emo Git; but that aside FF8 was a fairly decent game. Graphically it was pretty for its time and the characters looked real, which showed they were pushing the limits of the PS1. The main party members of this title I wasn't too thrilled with, in personality anyway (though I am partial to Laguna), design wise though I truly liked them all. The story, though confusing in some parts, was rather gripping and compelling and I was rather satisfied with its end. The upgrading of weapons being done through random magazines was interesting (though if you had all the items the upgrade would just unlock), but rather annoying. Getting a paycheck was a neat idea, but again annoying as it would take like 20 minutes for you to get a check and in any other FF game you could get way more cash in that amount of time for the random encounter, not to mention the amount of Gil you are paid is determined by your SEED rank. The combat though I am rather on the fence with. I loved the GF and junction system, but they had their flaws since you would have to build every character in a sense to avoid the "you don't have access to these characters so you can't transfer their magic and GFs over". And let's not forget the dreaded Draw/Stock system; that was the biggest waste of time ever.
#5- Final Fantasy V
FFV is actually one of the best in the series and if you haven't tried it it's really worth a look. The main character is a headstrong adventurer and one that is just enjoyable to play as. The story itself was a good and entertaining one and it was one of the only times you see a party member die in story context. The game revisits the job system and it's done rather well. Though grindy to build all the jobs on all characters, the pay off is quite customizable and nice.
#4- Final Fantasy VII
A revolution for its time and what used to be a major obsession of mine. FF7 still stands up though even through my nostalgia. Though Cloud may not be the best main character; I find his mentality of taking up where Zack left off kind of noble. I loved the materia system as well as the introduction to limit breaks. The cinematic, though dated now; were visually stunning and memorable. Aerith's death is still one of the most tragic scenes in video games today and still one of the most talked about. FF7 has to be the one game I played through the most and quite honestly I can see myself playing it through again and again till the end of time.
#3- Final Fantasy IV
Where as FF7 for awhile could be considered the fan favorite by most, I think FF4 is a close second. This game has a had a couple remakes and ports and it even spawned an episodic sequel in FF4 The After Years. The main character, Cecil, is just bad ass; starting off as a Dark Knight for the kingdom of Baron and starts to question his orders. The fact that he questions it instead of dwelling on it is what makes him one of the BEST main characters in Final Fantasy. Every character in the game has their purpose and even when they show they are afraid or worried they don't turn on their tails and run or whine and cry (even Edward).
The remake for the DS was jaw dropping with the opening cinematic scene and the voice acting just added to the epicness that is this story. However, the difficulty spike was drastically unneeded as was the addition to the mini games, but over all this is truly a classic story in every sense of the term.
#2- Final Fantasy XI
I am kind of shocked at myself that this ranked so high as much as I bitch about it. But the thought of you being the main character and that it's "your story" is very appealing. Though admittedly most of the time you act like a moron by either having a stupid option in the dialog or through the emote they chose for the scene or the story just happens around you. But for me I have my own stories to tell with my character and her friends and I like that thought.
The combat is one of the most simple I have seen for an MMO and the fact that you can choose 20 jobs for 1 character is really great (though storage for gear might be a problem if you wanna gear them all well lol). The player base aside; there are different play styles you can choose for any job and just playing around to find your style can be rather fun.
The overall stories the game has aren't as epic as a traditional Final Fantasy, but some of the NPCs really stand out and for me that made me want to play through that storyline more. Sadly, as I said before, the story seems to happen around you most of the time, but there are a few occasions where you can feel yourself being the hero. I had recently finished Wings of the Goddess and there was one cutscene in particular that made me go "they did this right"; it was right before a fight and the villains are boasting how you will fail and blah blah blah. Cait Sith looks to you and you have your options of what to say (I of course chose the one that made me sound cool) and then your party members show up behind you. It was the first time ever in this game where you see your actual party appear in your cutscene and for me that was pretty big and it made you feel like you are apart of the world.
#1- Final Fantasy VI
This was the very first Final Fantasy title I had ever played, back in the days of the SNES and this was labeled as Final Fantasy III. Back then, where as I liked it okay, I didn't really grasp how good it was till much later.
The story in of itself was very unique in many ways and frankly I can't really say it was cliché anywhere. In my opinion there really is no main character, but if Dissidia shows us anything it is met to be Terra; which makes it the first Final Fantasy to have a female lead. The story does a great job introducing its characters and making them evolve as the plot moves along; each of them standing out in their own ways. And it by far has the best villain in Kefka; a psychotic soldier of the empire. He has been the only villian I can think of that actually managed to win as he created the World of Ruin.
There are many moments that stand out for me in this tale; the opera being one of them. Where as people have been known to shed a tear at witnessing Aeirth's death in FF7, I feel my heart strings get pulled seeing Locke revive Rachel only to have her sacrifice herself to help everyone. Overall this is a very good tale and all around game; if you have not played this do yourself a favor and find a copy in some way.
So there you have it, my favorite Final Fantasies in order. I know there will be some who will defend their favorites who placed lower on my list, but I encourage that. After all that would be your favorite list. See you all next time! ^^/
