On a relentless FF bender: after VII, where to next?
 

There's really no excuse for me not having gotten into Final Fantasy sooner, and now halfway through VII for the first time, there is DEFINITELY no excuse. I picked up my first two FF games a few months ago (I & II: Dawn of Souls for GBA) and loved both of them. I'm borrowing a PS1, VII, and VIII from a friend this summer with the intent of forging my way through these two as well as IX.

I'm nearly halfway through VII for the first time (and relishing the experience, holy shit) and I'm left wondering which game is most recommended that I proceed to next. After reading reviews of the ones that are accessible to me (IV, V, VI, IX (X and beyond are off limits)), the most promising one looks like VI, though the GBA port version would be most practical for me and I'm not aware of an announced release date for it.

The quality of the music, darkness of the story, and character development are the three factors in determining which game will come next for me. Anyway, what are your opinions? Unless there are strong recommendations otherwise, I may just proceed with VIII, since that's already in my possession.

THANKS.

The two I recommend most are FFIV and FFVI. Their plots surpass the others you listed based on my personal opinion. My only caution is that if you play the PSX version of the games, be prepared for slow loading times. Otherwise, the games are worth playing through.

I'm taking X/X-2 is off limits because of a lack of a PS2.

In that case, sure, why not proceed to VIII. VIII was the first FF and I loved it. Some people complain about how the magic system is basically different. Instead of MP, you have a certain number of spells to use. With this, you can attach (junction) these magic items to armour, weapons, and the like to get the weapon it's attribute. For example, if you junction your gunblade with lightning, it will have lightning properties.

FFVI is pure awesome and is on the SNES platform.
Tina's theme - BEST OPENING RPG THEME, EVER. why lie.
That is Uematsu magic right there.
Since you have a PC (I'm assuming since you just posted), just go get the rom from romnation or cherryroms or the like. That game is surprisingly long, especially the 2nd half when you have to find the rest of your crew. It sounds boring to do that, but it's great. It has a massive cast of protagonists, and each have their quirks and funny traits.
Check, check and check. FFVI wins.


For V, I can't say too much because I stopped playing just maybe 3 hours into the game (when I got the job system). I should give this game a shot again, LOL Butz.

FFIV is also another game I stopped playing. It was an excellent game, I just can't remember why I stopped.

FFIX is also a great addition. Perhaps people complained it when back to the SD characters from VIII, but I didn't mind it. Zidane was a nice person to use, not like anti-social Squall. I'm about 1/2 way through it.

Why not also give FF Tactics a try. It's a bit different, but it's also a very engaging story and way to do battles. This time you're basically looking at an isometric battle field. Battles are MUCH more strategy based as you move your characters from square to square to defeat the other members. The way I make it sound is so boring, but you should try it, seriously.

(No PS2 = No FFXII ;___; )

FFIV all the way. Easily the best in the series (IMO the only one better than "decent". Can't say I'm a fan of the series...). Excellent plot, excellent characters, and unless you play the SNES version it's a good challenge. My favorite part was the main character's path of redemption.

Sounds like VI is the one you want. Anthology version sucks though. The laggy cursor during battle made me opt for my SNES cartridge again.

For me, IV through VII is the peak of the series, with VI being my personal favorite. I'm mostly indifferent towards VIII, IX, and X, though I still think you should try them for yourself.

Tactics isn't a main installment of the series but it's awesome and it excels in the three areas you mention as well. Just be prepared for a different style of gameplay since it's an SRPG.

When I get VI it will be the GBA port version. Any word on a release date for that?
I had a feeling that most of the responses would lead to a toss-up between IV and VI.

Additionally, part of my motivation for crashing through all these games is because I possess a very large amount of FF music, but I rarely listen to it because I lack the context that playing the games provides. I listen to the VII soundtrack on almost a daily basis, compared to the months of nothing before I picked up the game.

I like VIII a lot, but I guess I am in the minority. Of course you should play VI because it is the best of the series {outside of Tactics}, but I would suggest avoiding the PSX version of it. I would play VI and VIII before playing IV, but that isn't to say that IV is bad, it is just, to me, inferior to VI - VIII.

Definitely get FFIX, my personal favourite, probably because it's the first RPG I played. It's a highly enjoyable game, and next to FFVI, the best FF game from the main series. Final Fantasy Tactics beats all of them though.

Final Fantasy IV: Definately worth it. But if you're used to the graphics from FFVII and FFVIII be ready for the SNES graphics. Character development while good for a SNES game won't be what you're used to on the Playstation. But it's a great introduction to Final Fantasy.

Final Fantasy V: You get to see the early version of the class system they later used in Final Fantasy Tactics here. Lots of customization for a SNES Final Fantasy. On the minus side forget any story. With a villian named Ex-Death and a hero who has three princesses following him around in his party you can guess how much story this one has.

Final Fantasy VI: Considered by many to be the best Final Fantasy. It's a very good game. Considering that it's for the SNES and how many characters it has, I'm surprised that they managed to develop them to the degree they did. Kefka has the greatest evil laugh too.

Final Fantasy IX: I was neutral about this one. I didn't mind the return to the SD characters. My problem with it was a "been there, done that before" attitude. It felt like it didn't really add anything to Final Fantasy. This also feels like the start of the decline in music for Final Fantasy although it had a few tracks I liked. Final Fantasy X didn't have any tracks I liked.

Final Fantasy VIII: I think this one has the best music in the series. Lots of character develpment but the story gets questionable at the end. Proof that having enemies level up with you is dumb.

FFVIII has a pretty good battle system, to bad almost everything else sucks. I pretty much enjoyed it just for the battle system. There is also a couple of good music tracks in it too.

Final Fantasy V and VI are my favorites. The games were great, the music was good, the plots are awesome (For FFVI at least), and the villains are badass.

Why not just go in chronological order by original release dates? FFIII is suprisingly awsome for an NES release.

Each game has it's own quirks, best just play through them all in order so you can get the feel of the series "evolution" into what it is today (which you can judge for yourself)

I thought III was never released in America?

I had originally intended to go in as chronological an order that I could, but VII and VIII were right here, and I had no others on hand. And since none of them are related, I figured it's like watching Bond films out of order: no big deal.

Play VI before you die. It's obligatory. But since you want to wait for the GBA version, play IV first. Keep in mind that it's an olde-tyme RPG, so the story is limited and kinda kiddy. Not that there aren't some neat bits in it.

I really enjoyed VIII's battle system, but the story is lame. Specifically, the only character they ever bother to flesh out is Squall; everyone else is defined by who they are to him. Even then, his personality is neither believable nor likeable. But the battle system is enjoyable, and the card game is fun too.

V is overrated, but it has Gilgamesh and oddly enough, it has neat body language considering how few sprites each character gets.

If I were you and waiting for GBA ports is necessary, go with IV or VIII first.

Final Fantasy VIII. Play this game, it is the true gem of the series that most people fail to recognize.

Final Fantasy IV and VI are what made this series what it is. My personal favorite is IV but bot are amazing. They're oldschool, but playing these games will teach you what Final Fantasy is all about.

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At least you didn't put FFVIII at the bottom of the pit :tpg:. Also a word to Cellius, I may not agree with Badrad's rating of VIII and X, but X-2, what is this shit. Next please.

X-2 basically takes a rather decent cast and turns them into pop singers and flashy GURL POWER. I don't understand why SE would do this. FFVIII was loved by both guys like myself and girls as well, because it had a good balance for both genders to be interested in. X-2 was just no.

Here's a nice summary care of Denicalis:

Denicalis FTW for the Saga Frontier praise. I'll briefly argue that I liked 10-2 better than 10-1 (shock) for the fact that it didn't take itself so ridiculously seriously like 10 did. There were some pretty big suspensions of disbelief that 10 demanded, and 10-2 had a good time poking fun at them.

Anyway, on to the games that the author is concerned about.

FF7: Some say it's great, some say it's overrated, I tend toward overrated but you're going to find out yourself anyway. Strong points are the soundtrack, the amount of side-quests available, and the admittedly cheesy but entertaining ability to over-level your characters to such a disgusting degree the Ikaruga creators are still crying tears of blood over it as we speak. And the game is older than Ikaruga.

FF8: My personal favourite of the series. It removed the absolutely sick over-leveling present in 7 and added more challenge, but not so much that it was frustratingly unplayable (a universal deal-breaker in my book, right along with jumping puzzles). Best soundtrack of the PS1 generation with 9 following closely behind, had the most interesting visuals, and a real whopper of a final dungeon. The cast seems to be the #1 complaint about this one, and I'll agree that playing Teen Beat RPG was a bit of a turnoff. The odd plot twists near the end put some people off as well, but for whatever reason they didn't bother me all that much. Play 8 for the soundtrack, battles, and cinematics, but be prepared for said cinematics to get plentiful to the point of being excessive.

FF9: I have really mixed feelings about this one. The story is definitely its strong point. The translation is virtually error-free, and the plot stays relatively straightforward except for its major twist about 3/4 through the game. After that, though, there aren't any other weird twists. The one huge, HUGE complaint I have about FF9 is the laggy-as-a-motherfucker battle engine. Jesus christ, Squaresoft, optimize your fucking software would you please? Only Xenosaga 2 has worse lag than this game during battle (15-second load times for the lose). The whole thing overall feels sluggish, from menus to battle to minigames. High points about 9 are again the soundtrack, which is done in a more traditional classical style than 8's (which had some very interesting but very weird experimental tracks), and which is absolutely huge at ~110 tracks; some nostalgia trips for players of the older games in the series; and about the best visuals the PS1 games had in the way of character models, textures, and resolution. Aesthetics cannot be objectively judged, and so I will withhold judgment with the note that I preferred 8's style, but that you may find 9's more fitting for a fantasy game.

Garg, have to go to class. Will be back for parts 5 and 6 on SNES.

A lot of people hate on 5 for some reason, but I enjoyed it a lot more than 6. 6 might have more interesting features as far as the combat and character design goes, but there were multiple times that I found myself wondering just why I should care about anything that was going on in the plot. Not so with 5, which I enjoyed immensely up to the end. The plot might have been simple, but at least it was engaging. Also Kefka is the fucking worst villain I've ever seen.

VII and VIII kinda stand alone in the series right now in terms of the darkness of the story, as you put it. Most of the others share a lot of resemblance to anime, up to and including cheesy sounds and music, goofy expressions, and uninteresting and unrealistic dialogue. VII and VIII have that, but to a much lesser extent.

Forget you ever played VII and go get IV, V and VI. IV and V still have that oldschool charm, and VI probably marks the series' initial foray into scifi garbage - except it's more steampunk than scifi here, and it's actually amazingly-well stylised.

I really can't stand ANY of the PS1 FF games. VII was the worst in the series, VIII wasn't much better and IX was an ill-conceived stab at trying to regain that retro-charm.

Tactics isn't bad, either.

Final Fantasy X-2 is basically Final Fantasy: Slut Edition.

Well, me. I'm more interested in the newer FFs heading down the "Square Enix pipe". Final Fantasy XII and the Fabula Nova Crystalis Project; of Final Fantasy XIII, Final Fantasy Versus XIII.

Looks like you got a lot of responses already, but I'll throw in my opinion if you wanna read on....

Final Fantasy I - I think you said you played this, but yeah, this game is very challenging (at least for me) and it's a lot of fun.

Final Fantasy IV - Seconded as being one of the best games ever. Seriously, more plot twists than you can shake a stick at.

Final Fantasy V - Awesome game with an awesome class system. It's a pre-taste of Final Fantasy Tactics if you decide to pick that up. And yes, the main character's name, by default, is Butz. Pronounce it as you wish.

Final Fantasy VI - This is THE FINAL FANTASY GAME. This game cannot be beat. With a deep story, awesome music throughout (I'd have to say this is the BEST boss battle music here), and a utterly evil villan. You'll seriously want to punch this guy in the face when you reach the end.

Final Fantasy VII - Awesome game too, I guess you're already playin this one.

Final Fantasy VIII - Pretty good game, I like it, though not as much as others. A little different, I'd have to say, but good, nonetheless.

Final Fantasy IX - I liked this one a lot, but some people don't like this one. I dunno. It's kinda like a return to the "fantasy" world with the return of the traditional Black Mage, Moogles, and Chocobos after their lack thereof in Final Fantasy VIII.

Take your pick, they're all really good.

My opinions:

IV - The story is great, really engaging. The system and the graphics somewhat less so. It's not musically a stand out.

V - The story is perfunctory. It's not up to much, in general. Faris is cool, though. I really enjoyed the game system, but not as much as...

VI - The SNES stand-out, and possibly the series stand-out. IMO, best graphics, story, and system. I love this game. Only the sound is not above all others.

VII - The music is outstanding. The graphics are showing signs of age now, but they were cutting-edge back then. The story has plot-holes big enough to drive a truck through, and... I don't know about anyone else, but I sort of stopped caring by the time I got to the third disk. I did finish it though.

VIII - I'm not a fan. The graphics, the system. I hate it. I forced myself to finish it, because in those days, I finished all my RPGs.

IX - It was fun, but ultimately forgettable. I didn't even complete it. It wasn't bad, as such, just plain. I just would start playing, and get bored instantly. The Chocobo stuff was kind of fun though.

X - I loved it. Not everyone does. I loved everything about it, except the voices, which were only OK.

X2 - Avoid at all costs. WHY GOD WHY???

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Here, don't read anything anyone has said, I'll sum up what you should do (again):

Play them all and find out what you like the best, go in any order if you feel that it wont hinder your experience with earlier games (such as ffIII) due to the fact that as the series goes on the gameplay seems to be overshadowed by the story, but luckily Square seems to pull off something original or refreshing each go-around.

Also I played FFIII on a ROM which wasnt too bad, you can wait for the DS release, but playing the NES version seemed a bit more magical to be honest.

Also I'd stick wtih the GBA version of FFIV, although I didn't finish it, the menus are cleaned up and easy to navigate, rather than older releases which are a bit frustrating.

But seriously, everyone hates or loves each FF, and trying to get a unanimous opinion on one would take a miracle. You could expect to shake hands with Jesus before you see two people agree on this subject. Play the games with an open mind, don't let anyone corrupt your opinions about the games before you play them ;)

Yes, Squenix truly shines when they release tired sequel after sequel of the same angst-ridden tale of Pretty Boy Joe's romp through Anime Cliche land, featuring 100% more androgynous villains and self-congratulatory references.

I would recommend every FF game really, but Tactics first. It's my personal favorite in the series, it deserves every ounce of FFVII's ill-gotten praise. My second favorite is 6. It's basically VII-X minus the suck. And although it's not FF, I would definitely recommend Chrono Trigger above all else.

But then at the cost of losing some of their fan base. Well perhaps not to entire lose them, as I have high hopes or XII, but I'll excuse them for calling it "exploring different RPG elements" this time around with what they tried to pull with X-2. Of course we'll probably be expecting to see more of this type of crap coming up, perhaps not now, but in time. Somehow, I actually think XIII will pull of a nice job, I don't know why, but it does seem a bit more mature, this time around.

These replies are all excellent. The sheer amount of praise for IV and VI has certainly convinced me to begin one of them before VIII; probably IV, due to its availibility. I do intend to play them all (up through IX), so it's not like I'm going to completely miss one. So far I've thoroughly adored the stories of those I've played (except for I, I guess; that didn't have much in the way of development), and I'm quite eagerly looking forward to experiencing finally the others.

Well, FFVII wasn't that "bad" for a PSOne game. At least it was better than X-2. That all female party member game.

All gaming companies get into the business in order to make money, you dumb wop.

Actually, you should probably try 8 next and use it as a gauge. If you like it then keep going up. If you don't like it, then go down. Only reason I say that is because 8 was the turning point for me.

I wondered who that was sitting next to me.....

I can only comment on 3 ps1 games, since I haven't played the other 2 I have yet....

I like VIII as well--The story kept you involved, and the music was great. You could steal magic and Summons from your enemies. Then Junction that magic to your weapons to give it that element. Also, there is a compatibility with Summons that can play in your favor. And another thing that puts this game on my "plus" list: The women in your party don't use the typical staff. Thank you.

VII dealt with a problem we are familiar with as well--the over-mining of certain items (fossil fuels) which could lead to the destruction of the planet PLUS a little of the Gaia theory thrown in (you know, the planet can protect/heal itself when it's hurt).

IX was a "throwback" game, honoring the past games. It had elements from previous games, and if I remember, it's tagline was: "The Crystal is Back." I had fun with this game overall, although I wasn't too thrilled with some of the characters and the surprise ending.

I would play IX last--not for chronological reasons, but because of the fact it hints at previous games and WAS the last FF game for the PS1.

http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Lair...es/ff3logo.gif

THREAD CLOSED. DISCUSSION OVER.

Gee, Deni, say what you really mean.....
:p

What's with all the X-2 haters? Were you taking the game too seriously? I viewed it as a strange japanese game and had a blast playing through it. The thing about the ff series is the games often take themselves to seriously. FF X-2 doesn't which is why I think it's good.

I stopped enjoying Final Fantasy after FFVII. I've played FF I-XI (X-2 included. XI is good but it's a MMORPG. Won't factor it in here).

FFIV is most likely the best one in the series. Storyline and character development-wise, it is years beyond itself. Plot twists abound, to boot. If you want the best of it, download an English-translated JP Rom. The American version for the SNES was kinda butchered and made real easy. Download a rom of it off of dgemu or something. There are some poseur translations that suck, so be careful.


I also highly HIGHLY recommend FF Tactics. The story is incredible. Probably the best PS1 RPG hands-down. You can buy it cheap online for around $20, to boot. You'd think a goodie like this would cost more, but it never got the acclaim the main series did.

I didn't include this earlier, but yes, Final Fantasy Tactics is an EXCELLENT game. Next to Final Fantasy VI, it's my favorite.

I can only read so much FF viewpoints, so I stopped after around post 25.
To add my reiterations:

FF IV: Excellent story, with genuine development between Cecil and Rydia throughout the whole game. Plus, even before VII:

FF V: I love this game to death because I was so fixated on mastering every job class. Also, major points for Exdeath again

FF VI: This is many people's favourite for good reason.
1) Kefka = truly insane + THE laugh + success
2) Many characters are in here, but they all have sufficient backstory and it's just neat seeing all these people come together to save the world
3) Soundtrack is pretty impressive on all counts, imho
4) etc. just play this NOW, and never look back

FF VIII: I liked FF VIII, and don't see why many people complain about it's junction system. It's not that hard! Towards the end, the story is rather slapped together. I mean how logical does this sound:
It's true!
I liked the highly abusable limit breaks here though.

FF IX: Back to a light hearted feel. The best reason for complaint is the battle system lag. You input the command, but it literally comes out 10 seconds later. This isn't due to disc reading or anything, it's just the way the whole battle system seems to be. We have a beautiful character mix in here, and a likable main hero. People go nuts over Vivi, but Beatrix is also a compelling factor to play this.

FF X-2 was a lighthearted game that didn't take itself too seriously? Except that it bastardized characters from a game that DID take itself seriously. If X-2 had been a stand alone, it would have been fun. Lame, but fun. But as it stands, it belittles everything you did in X.