Hi there. I am just getting started on final fantasy. So far I have only played FF9 and complely loved it. I planned on playing 7 after, but when I did play it i could not get into it. that is why i came here. i would like to know which FF i should play that i would enjoy. i will tell you what i liked about FF9 and what i did not like in FF7. in FF9, I liked how the story Was playful and could have fun. ibliked the beginning part which seemed to focus on the whole build up without rushing. i also really liked kuja as a villain because he was crazy but never seemed To loose touch of his human side and was devious. i also really enjoyed all the characters in the game, specifically vivi, zidane, and garnet. in FF7, i have only gotten to the part where barret first tells you how he lost his arm. none of the characters seem real. i do not like anyone besides tifa. cloud seems emotionless and sephiroth seems crazy and emotionless. the battle system makes every character the same. that is all.
starter to final fantasy: which game next
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I have not played 9, but I have played 7 and I loved it 
But by what you said I'd recommend playing 10 then. There are some lighthearted characters and they all have depth. There are plenty of silly and fun parts in the game, but the story is also involving and serious. About the battle system: all the characters end up very different (different skills, magic, etc.) but it is possible to make the characters learn the same skills and such.
So anyways yeah, I'd recommend playing 10
Another good one might be 8, since the story builds up in the beginning and doesn't rush, and Seifer (not the main villain, but one of the main ones) is quite human and isn't completely crazy. There are some good comic relief characters (Zell
and Raijin and Fujin are pretty funny) and some lighthearted characters that are lots of fun. The only thing is that the main character is a very somber, expressionless guy, but he has a lot of depth. (The game shows his thoughts along with dialogue)So 10 is my first recommendation, but 8 is a good option also.
Tbh. It could be a hit or miss with characters who never had voice acting. Interpret it one way or the other. Cloud aparently was meant to be a character who was mysterious. So i suppose they were aiming for curiosity within the character rather than one way of interpreting cloud . Which is why i believe many people interpret clouf differently.
As for battle system i find it great but limit break definitely makes things different for each character that and not every character will have the same attacks unless you want them to.
TheRedBard
Spoony Bard
It really depends on what you like in a final fantasy game. From what you've said, it seems you like games with good characters and a good intro. I would recommend IV or VI if you want to try an old-school Final Fantasy that has plenty of interesting characters, but if you're looking for gameplay you can't go wrong with FFV.
Well If you like the more... playful games, then V is probably your best bet. If you like the crazy villeins then I would go with VI, if you wanna take a chance with a darker storyline, I would say go with X.
Really like Razberry said it can be a hit or a miss.
If you named other RPG's you like then maybe we can give you a better shot at picking one you would like more.
Really like Razberry said it can be a hit or a miss.
If you named other RPG's you like then maybe we can give you a better shot at picking one you would like more.
TheRedBard
Spoony Bard
Well, FFV has a bit of a slow start, but it is playful...
The thing with FFV is that its characters aren't the most memorable. You may either like them or not, but it'll come down to you. You may find its character customization aspect engrossing, though, so I would recommend giving it a shot, but each character doesn't exactly have a specific skill exclusive to them. The game has a job system that makes up for it.
Judging from what you said, a game with a good combo of story and characters is FFIV. It does have its dark moments, but it isn't as dark as VI. VI's characters are quite amazing though, but its world is rather dark so you may not like it. FFVI's villain is awesome, however. And in this game the characters each have a great variety in what they do. This game sports the series' widest selection of characters and some of their skills are very unique.
The thing with FFV is that its characters aren't the most memorable. You may either like them or not, but it'll come down to you. You may find its character customization aspect engrossing, though, so I would recommend giving it a shot, but each character doesn't exactly have a specific skill exclusive to them. The game has a job system that makes up for it.
Judging from what you said, a game with a good combo of story and characters is FFIV. It does have its dark moments, but it isn't as dark as VI. VI's characters are quite amazing though, but its world is rather dark so you may not like it. FFVI's villain is awesome, however. And in this game the characters each have a great variety in what they do. This game sports the series' widest selection of characters and some of their skills are very unique.
TheRedBard
Spoony Bard
He did say he didn't like FFVII....
I recommend going for FF10. It's slower than FF9 most of the time, but it has characters that are specifically made to have certain jobs (Lulu the Black Mage, Yuna the White Mage etc) and there are some dark parts. 9 is my favourite FF, but 10 is certainly one of the best imo.
Hope this helped at least a tiny bit
Hope this helped at least a tiny bit
After listening to some suggestions, i have narrowed it down to ff5,6,8, and 10. each of these seem appealing to me, but i can't narrow it down. So, i came up with this idea: of the games listed that you have played, rate 5 separate categories out of 10; story, characters, villian, gameplay, and an overall opinion on the game.
5 might be overwhelming. If you want to play 16 bit games over 3d then i suggest ff6 first. If not ff8 first then ff10 if you want to play a lesser go first and save the best for last (10).
Kor choose which one is easier to find.
Kor choose which one is easier to find.
FF5
Story - 3/10. There pretty much is no story...it's incredibly weak. Towards the end, you get the typical "world is doomed" scenario.
Characters - 5/10. They're generic, other than a certain pirate who has a few traits to be revealed...
Villain - 3/10. Enter generic bad guy who's plan is to take over the world!
Gameplay - 8/10. This is the game's strong point. Changing jobs has never been so much fun, and the game is challenging...but not too much so. Battle system is a lot like that of FF9.
Opinion - I love the colourful graphics, the music score is one of the strongest from the entire series and the bosses are normally interesting. However, the lack of a strong story or any really interesting characters makes it a bit worse than the usual 16-bit FF.
FF6
Story - 7/10. Pretty fantastic story until about half way through, where you'll be playing what feels like sidequests until the final dungeon.
Characters - 9/10 - With a choice of about...14 characters?...you're bound to find a party you love to use. Only slight downside is that 1 or 2 of these characters are pointless and do nothing for the story.
Villain - 9/10. I love Kefka! A crazy, clown-like villain with so many good jokes. One of the mini-villains are amazing too (sushi time!)
Gameplay - 8/10. Again, pretty amazing. Typical FF battle system, with lotsa exploring to be done. My slight downside this time is a repeat of above. The latter half of the game is like a bunch of sidequests strung together.
Opinion - Love it. By far the best of the S/NES FF games. Great villains, characters, music, story and gameplay.
FF8
Story - 9/10. The first disk is so good, with an school for soldiers being the main topic, with their missions included. There's a second story too, kinda, in the party's dreams. Be warned though, it turns into a love story in the later disks...but if you liked FF9, then that shouldn't be a problem
Characters - 7/10. Hmm, a mixed bag. A few of them are really great, including the main character and his love interest. I mean, they're all pretty memorable, but 1 or 2 get a bit forgotten towards the end of the game.
Villain - 9/10. I love the villain in FF8. I don't want to include spoilers for you...but the final battle against her is pretty epic.
Gameplay - 6/10. The only downfall of FF8. The typical FF battle system is still there, but there is a juntion system that turns a lot of people off. This is when you have to draw magic from enemies to use it, instead of having mp. There aren't all that many dungeons either.
Opinion - I love this game! It competes for the spot of my favourite FF game. The story, the cinematics, the way the characters split up a hell of a lot (just like in FF9), the music, the characters...almost everything about it is perfect for me. Just not the magic drawing system.
FF10
Story - 9/10. It's slow most of the time, but it's so damn good. The interactions between the characters, the way each new area is introduced, the whole religious background to the story...it's all bloody great
Characters - 9/10. A fantastic variety of personalities, which each suit the classes that they each should use in battle. The black mage is moody, the white mage is shy etc.
Villain - 8/10. You can truly hate this villain. He's slimy, he has no morals...but he's not completely evil and you get to know why he's gone a bit...wrong. He reminds me of Kuja in this sense.
Gameplay - The best battle system in the entire series, except perhaps X-2 (although that's debateable). The order your characters attack depends on which moves they use each turn this time around, so it's a little bit different. Nothing too drastically different though. The areas are a bit more linear too, but they weren't exactly huge and widespread in ff9, so you shouldn't mind this too much.
Opinion - Amazing. Play this game at some point if you decide not to play it next. Everything from the perfectly suiting music, to the aeon (summoning) system to the characters. It's just all so well put together. Another one that fights for my favourite FF spot.
Hope this helps
Story - 3/10. There pretty much is no story...it's incredibly weak. Towards the end, you get the typical "world is doomed" scenario.
Characters - 5/10. They're generic, other than a certain pirate who has a few traits to be revealed...
Villain - 3/10. Enter generic bad guy who's plan is to take over the world!
Gameplay - 8/10. This is the game's strong point. Changing jobs has never been so much fun, and the game is challenging...but not too much so. Battle system is a lot like that of FF9.
Opinion - I love the colourful graphics, the music score is one of the strongest from the entire series and the bosses are normally interesting. However, the lack of a strong story or any really interesting characters makes it a bit worse than the usual 16-bit FF.
FF6
Story - 7/10. Pretty fantastic story until about half way through, where you'll be playing what feels like sidequests until the final dungeon.
Characters - 9/10 - With a choice of about...14 characters?...you're bound to find a party you love to use. Only slight downside is that 1 or 2 of these characters are pointless and do nothing for the story.
Villain - 9/10. I love Kefka! A crazy, clown-like villain with so many good jokes. One of the mini-villains are amazing too (sushi time!)
Gameplay - 8/10. Again, pretty amazing. Typical FF battle system, with lotsa exploring to be done. My slight downside this time is a repeat of above. The latter half of the game is like a bunch of sidequests strung together.
Opinion - Love it. By far the best of the S/NES FF games. Great villains, characters, music, story and gameplay.
FF8
Story - 9/10. The first disk is so good, with an school for soldiers being the main topic, with their missions included. There's a second story too, kinda, in the party's dreams. Be warned though, it turns into a love story in the later disks...but if you liked FF9, then that shouldn't be a problem
Characters - 7/10. Hmm, a mixed bag. A few of them are really great, including the main character and his love interest. I mean, they're all pretty memorable, but 1 or 2 get a bit forgotten towards the end of the game.
Villain - 9/10. I love the villain in FF8. I don't want to include spoilers for you...but the final battle against her is pretty epic.
Gameplay - 6/10. The only downfall of FF8. The typical FF battle system is still there, but there is a juntion system that turns a lot of people off. This is when you have to draw magic from enemies to use it, instead of having mp. There aren't all that many dungeons either.
Opinion - I love this game! It competes for the spot of my favourite FF game. The story, the cinematics, the way the characters split up a hell of a lot (just like in FF9), the music, the characters...almost everything about it is perfect for me. Just not the magic drawing system.
FF10
Story - 9/10. It's slow most of the time, but it's so damn good. The interactions between the characters, the way each new area is introduced, the whole religious background to the story...it's all bloody great
Characters - 9/10. A fantastic variety of personalities, which each suit the classes that they each should use in battle. The black mage is moody, the white mage is shy etc.
Villain - 8/10. You can truly hate this villain. He's slimy, he has no morals...but he's not completely evil and you get to know why he's gone a bit...wrong. He reminds me of Kuja in this sense.
Gameplay - The best battle system in the entire series, except perhaps X-2 (although that's debateable). The order your characters attack depends on which moves they use each turn this time around, so it's a little bit different. Nothing too drastically different though. The areas are a bit more linear too, but they weren't exactly huge and widespread in ff9, so you shouldn't mind this too much.
Opinion - Amazing. Play this game at some point if you decide not to play it next. Everything from the perfectly suiting music, to the aeon (summoning) system to the characters. It's just all so well put together. Another one that fights for my favourite FF spot.
Hope this helps
I can absolutely recommend Final Fantasy X. It starts off slow and sets up the world by introducing a simple threat, and it escalates to something far larger as the character unveil the truth about the world and life, etc. etc. The characters are very, very diverse, personality-wise and in battle. The characters seem pretty innocent and lighthearted for the first half, and as things unfold, they really develop and grow a commitment towards eliminating the true threat. They go to some lovely locations throughout the game, not too many depressing moments. The ending to me is 10/10. I think it has the best ending in any videogame I've ever played. It's simply amazing and you need to be surprised by it in order to fully appreciate the story.
It's also interesting to see how they translated an epic Final Fantasy adventure to a full 3D + voice acting experience, from IX that came before it. It works really well, has comic relief and just about everything else you'd ask from a Final Fantasy title. It's a little more linear, but there are puzzles, bosses and levelling up decisions that require special thinking.
It's also interesting to see how they translated an epic Final Fantasy adventure to a full 3D + voice acting experience, from IX that came before it. It works really well, has comic relief and just about everything else you'd ask from a Final Fantasy title. It's a little more linear, but there are puzzles, bosses and levelling up decisions that require special thinking.
TheRedBard
Spoony Bard
Here we go...
FF5
Story - 3/10. Like stated above, story isn't one of this game's strong points. It does exist, however, it just isn't as unique, enthralling, and engrossing as other games' in the series. FFIX's story greatly outdoes this one's.
Characters - 6/10. They're purposely meant to not be so developed because of a job system, a phenomenon similar to FFIII, but with actual characters. Whereas FFIII had empty shells as playable characters, FFV's characters each do have they're own personality, but they aren't as outspoken and developed. You may still become attached to a certain old man after a while and the pirate that was mentioned before.
Villain - 4/10. While the main villain isn't as unique as other game's, he does still stand out in his own ways. His origin, for example, is rather unique, but not all too exciting. His name yells blatant genericness, yes, but his actions later in the game are what give this villain a feel of villainy.
Gameplay - 10/10. Ten out of ten may seem drastic, but I can't think of another final fantasy game with gameplay like this. The job system, although preventing individual, prominent character skills, does enable you to play the game your own way. By leveling jobs separately from regular character levels and retaining permanent abilities that may be attached to other jobs, you will be engrossed by near-limitless combinations of skills. Tough parts in the game will not be easily passed through without strategic changes, which means level grinding alone isn't going to help. Leveling your jobs, on the other hand, will be a task you won't mind doing.
Opinion - I must say, this is my favorite Final Fantasy game, so I may be a bit biased, but it's my favorite for a reason. The gameplay aspect of it completely drew me into the game. The bosses are really interesting and some of the recurring characters, notably one with a rather kick-ass theme, are fun to come across.
FF6
Story - 7/10. I think the guy above me put it perfectly. Can't phrase it any better.
Characters - 7/10 - This game boasts a large amount of characters, and most of them have interesting back stories, but the only drawback is that due to the high amount of characters, each one of them only gets a limited amount of development. They are still deep, round characters, but I would have liked to see more development from each one of them.
Villain - 8/10. The villain in this game might be the best in the whole series. The thing is, he only really begins to play the antagonist role halfway into the game. Before that he is still present, though, and it's great to see his evolution as a character. Kefka in FFVI is a bit different from Dissidia's Kefka, in my opinion, though. His personality seems a lot more legitimate and interesting in FFVI.
Gameplay - 6/10. Basic ATB battle system from SNES era. Characters each have distinct abilities that make forming a party quite the interesting endeavor, and the magic system functions well but isn't absolutely amazing.
Opinion - I liked it. The first part of the game was my favorite, mostly because, as said above, the latter half is pretty much sidequests. Overall, it tells a good story and it has a well crafted setting. Music in the game is also one of the best in the series.
FF8
Dunno much. Haven't actually played the game to be able to tell.
FF10
Same as above.
All in all, you should definitely give FFV and FFVI a shot, even if you don't play them immediately next. Same probably goes for X. I've heard that's a pretty good one, but I haven't played it yet...
FF5
Story - 3/10. Like stated above, story isn't one of this game's strong points. It does exist, however, it just isn't as unique, enthralling, and engrossing as other games' in the series. FFIX's story greatly outdoes this one's.
Characters - 6/10. They're purposely meant to not be so developed because of a job system, a phenomenon similar to FFIII, but with actual characters. Whereas FFIII had empty shells as playable characters, FFV's characters each do have they're own personality, but they aren't as outspoken and developed. You may still become attached to a certain old man after a while and the pirate that was mentioned before.
Villain - 4/10. While the main villain isn't as unique as other game's, he does still stand out in his own ways. His origin, for example, is rather unique, but not all too exciting. His name yells blatant genericness, yes, but his actions later in the game are what give this villain a feel of villainy.
Gameplay - 10/10. Ten out of ten may seem drastic, but I can't think of another final fantasy game with gameplay like this. The job system, although preventing individual, prominent character skills, does enable you to play the game your own way. By leveling jobs separately from regular character levels and retaining permanent abilities that may be attached to other jobs, you will be engrossed by near-limitless combinations of skills. Tough parts in the game will not be easily passed through without strategic changes, which means level grinding alone isn't going to help. Leveling your jobs, on the other hand, will be a task you won't mind doing.
Opinion - I must say, this is my favorite Final Fantasy game, so I may be a bit biased, but it's my favorite for a reason. The gameplay aspect of it completely drew me into the game. The bosses are really interesting and some of the recurring characters, notably one with a rather kick-ass theme, are fun to come across.
FF6
Story - 7/10. I think the guy above me put it perfectly. Can't phrase it any better.
Characters - 7/10 - This game boasts a large amount of characters, and most of them have interesting back stories, but the only drawback is that due to the high amount of characters, each one of them only gets a limited amount of development. They are still deep, round characters, but I would have liked to see more development from each one of them.
Villain - 8/10. The villain in this game might be the best in the whole series. The thing is, he only really begins to play the antagonist role halfway into the game. Before that he is still present, though, and it's great to see his evolution as a character. Kefka in FFVI is a bit different from Dissidia's Kefka, in my opinion, though. His personality seems a lot more legitimate and interesting in FFVI.
Gameplay - 6/10. Basic ATB battle system from SNES era. Characters each have distinct abilities that make forming a party quite the interesting endeavor, and the magic system functions well but isn't absolutely amazing.
Opinion - I liked it. The first part of the game was my favorite, mostly because, as said above, the latter half is pretty much sidequests. Overall, it tells a good story and it has a well crafted setting. Music in the game is also one of the best in the series.
FF8
Dunno much. Haven't actually played the game to be able to tell.
FF10
Same as above.
All in all, you should definitely give FFV and FFVI a shot, even if you don't play them immediately next. Same probably goes for X. I've heard that's a pretty good one, but I haven't played it yet...
Its sooooooo hard to choose between these. Each game sounds great. I will be going with FF6 first. it sounds like it has a good balance for all categories. I will post how much i enjoy it when i get farther. Thankyou everyone for your help on choosing one of these.
VI is definitely a good choice. It has a great story, a great cast of characters, it's rather dark...it's very steam punk in style. It has the best villain in the series, etc. After VI I suggest FFX
FFVI Is an excellent choice, there is no one main character (well there is at first but you will see what I mean later.) The story is a little darker than Other FF games (not the darkest, but still kinda dark) and it has probably one of the most crazy FF main Villains ever! MWHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAH!!!!
but as far as whats next in your FF list...
Well Tell me what you think of FFVI and I think we will be able to help you from there.
but as far as whats next in your FF list...
Well Tell me what you think of FFVI and I think we will be able to help you from there.