[V2] Best Final Fantasy Game?

Best Final Fantasy?


  • Total voters
    163
I gotta give it to FFVII, and I've completed all but FFV. VII was so well executed and had a lot of funny quirky moments. Sephiroth was a beast. The battle system was fantastic. The materia/ability system is one of my favorites to date. The weapons were great. And the Limit Break system was really fun.

I don't have too many complaints about VII. I wish the character models outside of battle were better. The character models in battle were great.

I would say FFVI or FFX would be the runner up.
 
Bear in mind that this is coming from someone who only played VII-XIII, so maybe my opinion will change once I play the older SNES games, but for now VII is my overall favourite of the series. Everything about it hit every note right with me and I absolutely loved the story, characters, gameplay, world, music etc. the only real problems I had with the game are the graphics being laughably dated and the game itself being a little too on the easy side.
 
For me, it's VI. I know nostalgia is part of it, it was one of my first games ever, played the heck out of it. Loved it, and still do. Story, gameplay, cast, soundtrack, world, all top notch for me. But.. it's also difficult, since I hold VII, IX, Tactics quite close as well. Celes is easily my favorite character in the game =<
 
I also play Final Fantasy first and foremost for the character driven stories. That being said the following are my favorites for different reasons. For the sake of the poll, I chose FFVII.

FFVI: This was my first FF game and so comes with a significant amount of deep rooted nostalgia for me. We started to get a glimpse into the different characters and their psyches in a more widespread way then ever before and each offered their own rich personality and story to the game. The story was really quite something because it started to push itself out of the box that had been formulated before it. Not that the earlier games were not fantastic in their own storylines but here we begin to push the boundaries even further with technology and some darker themes not before seen. The fact that we were no longer focusing on ONE protagonist here was I think a risk that was taken but somehow worked very well. The theme of true friendships strengthening the whole worked so well as a big theme here and it is in part because of that decision.

FFVII: It's interesting because the very first concepts of my favorite game of ALL time, Xenogears, were initially meant to serve as installment VII of the FF series. They deemed the ideas too dark and controversial on the whole and the teams broke off to produce what would become Xenogears and of course FFVII separately. Xenogears is in my opinion superior in storyline to most if not all other games I've ever played, but FFVII must be given it's due. I can really see how some of the themes they brainstormed with in the beginning were kept. This game was revolutionary in it's storyline. It had a psychological depth that had not made it's mark on the mainstream like any game before it and in turn paved the way for future games to be delievered in the same thought provoking right. It forces the invested player to really ponder and ask questions about some seriously difficult stuff we face in life both on a personal basis, as well as as a society. Granted, they did this through a very fantastical story and world very much unlike our own, but with any sort of empathy and imagination, those differences feel seamless when submerged in the game. This is why I have to vote for this installment of the series above all else.

FFVIII: I have to make mention of the love story that took center stage in this game. Before X, there was VIII, and I don't mean that in the numerical sense obviously. Though I don't consider the rest of it's story to rival the others, I DO feel that it's love story alone spanning further than just one generation really did nestle it's way right into the warmest parts of my heart. I loved Rinoa and Squall. That's just me I guess because plenty of people hated it? I AM a hopeless romantic.

FFX: Okay, coming up on FFX, it was almost like they took what worked in FFVIII and learned their lesson with the rest. While the story is fairly simple at face value, what is really going on behind the curtain of reality enriches the love story and in turn the entire emotional experience that is X. I really do feel that X is a culmination of some of the best of Final Fantasy before it. The tragic nature of it left us just as speechless as Aeris' death which, let's be honest, is no small feat, and left you feeling deeply for the entire cast of characters in the end. At least it did for me. This game was full of storyline surprises, like FFVII but in a very different way and I consider it to be one of the top for a moving experience.


That's all I have on this for now, but I may be back later to go into FFT even though it isn't on the list. Much of what I wrote here is limited to my own experience and is heavily storyline focused, but in the end, I had to pick FFVII. It really was groundbreaking. I love my stories dark, difficult, philosophical, and thought provoking though so though it is no Xenogears, that was my decision.
 
My favourite is Final Fantasy 6.Not only a lovely score,but I was a child when I first played.On NTSC,I may have seen it through a different prism than those having it released on PS1.
 
I've played FF1 to FF10 except FF7 (I'm waiting for the remake)
I'm torn between FF6 and FF9, I can't vote...
This is my ranking:
1. VI and IX
2. IV and X
3. V and VIII
4. I, II, III



FFVIII: I have to make mention of the love story that took center stage in this game. Before X, there was VIII, and I don't mean that in the numerical sense obviously. Though I don't consider the rest of it's story to rival the others, I DO feel that it's love story alone spanning further than just one generation really did nestle it's way right into the warmest parts of my heart. I loved Rinoa and Squall. That's just me I guess because plenty of people hated it? I AM a hopeless romantic.

I'm also a hopeless romantic, I love the romance between Zidane and Dagger & Locke and Celes. But personally, Squall and Rinoa's is lame. I think it's overdone, I prefer those with struggles.
 
Wow, I'm pleasantly surprised to see FFIX so far up in the vote. My list of favourites would go like this:

1. FFIX
An instant classic for me. I love how the story is focusing on all characters almost equally, and the fact that all characters are so fundamentally different. The gameplay is fun too, and even the graphics aged quite well, since they went for a less realistic style compared to the other PS1 era games.

2. FFX
The first mainline FF I've ever played, so I might be a little biased. However, I replayed the HD version recently and think that the game still holds up today. My favourite part is the battle system and the fact that you can switch between party members without drawbacks.

3. FFV
Bit of an unusual one, but I'm a sucker for job systems in RPGs, which FFV is pulling off extremely well. Also, it isn't taking itself too seriously, which is a breath of fresh air in this series.

4. FFVI
Exceptional story and a great cast of characters, but I feel the second half of the game drags on for quite a bit. The main part of the story takes place in the first half, while the second half just turns into a game of Where's Wally while you walk around the world. I also found that it's a little too easy.

5. FFXII
Specifically the The Zodiac Age HD re-release. See FFV - I love job systems, although it isn't as relevant to the game here as it is in FFV. The battle system is probably my favourite in the entire series, but I'm not a big fan of the story - it revolves around politics too much which I find boring.

Also, there is an obvious lack of FFVII and FFVIII which a lot of people love. However, I could never, ever get into these games and just don't like them. With VII, the problem is that I played it long after its release, so I knew about the major story events already and could not get over the ugly graphics. I tried to get into it quite a few times, but never managed to. In VIII I don't like the level up and junction systems and never played it for more than five hours.
 
My personal favorite is Final Fantasy VII. I'm trying to get into FFIX but I don't know.
 
My favorite is Final Fantasy VI.

I think it was second Final Fantasy game I ever got into after Mystic Quest.

I believe it had the largest cast of playable characters, especially if you count the temporary ones, of any Final Fantasy game to this date and things were done with all of them. And the large cast of characters each had their own unique special mechanic that tended to go beyond what we have really seen in most Final Fantasy games since.


There was no spikey-haired default central protagonist who must be in your party at all times taking up one of only 3-4 slots and who everything revolves around despite having the personality of a wet blanket like almost every single Final Fantasy game has since. Instead, the protagonist shifted several times during that game and there were sections where the party would split off into different groups and you would play through different stories.

And there were a lot of really memorable sections in the game. The ghost train and the opera scene and infiltrating the imperial encampment and riding the magitech armors are good memories.

I really have to wonder why they can't make a Final Fantasy game like that one again.

Truly, I feel Final Fantasy 7, or maybe rather its success, really ruined the whole franchise. Because since them more than half the games have just been replicating some of the worst aspects of 7.

I really feel like 9 was the last true Final Fantasy game, but even it ended up having a much smaller cast than 6, had no outlandishly memorable sections and really didn't do much at all with the majority of its cast. Plus, it still decided it had to make so much of the game center around a singular spikey-haired protagonist without much of a character, granted-- at least it was a thief one instead of a standard sword/gunsword fighter like all of the others.
 
1. VIII
2. IX
3. X
4. VII

I've always adored the characters and story for VIII. Plus it has an amazing soundtrack. I'll admit that there are issues with the gameplay (<cough>draw</cough>), but even that I can live with due to the brilliance of the rest.

I'm looking forward to VII:R, I'm hoping it re-enthuses me for VII. I've always enjoyed it, but the massive popularity of it over the other games around it has jaded me towards it in recent years. IX was massively underrated at the time, I'm glad it seems to have been re-appraised somewhat in the intervening years. X, has always been great.
 
Naturally, I'm going to go with my favourite: Final Fantasy X. Even though it has some faults (piss poor voice acting, for one) I feel like this embodies much of what makes Final Fantasy great.

Great characters you care about, great system that has depth (to me, at least), some interesting side quests and an EPIC quest that hooked me in!

I quite enjoyed the Happy-Go-Lucky Tidus compared to Squall (squal lionhard, the best eva) and Cloud (which is why IX actually a runner up here).

Anyway - I thoroughly felt hooked by it. I loved X!
 
As with the 'Worst Final Fantasy game' thread, I have added FFXV to this poll too and granted people the ability to change their votes now that several years have passed.
 
VII is my personal favorite, although I wouldn't say that it's "the best." I think it kind of depends on which one you play first, I played VII first, so to me it is "the best" but that's going to differ from person to person accordingly. The mathematical grid for the stats in Final Fantasy VII were what made it my favorite game ever. I'd never experienced anything like that before because it was my first video game RPG. So therefore, I cannot have an unbiased opinion and in truth VII - X are my favorites. VI and III were also both really fun, it's hard to say. I've had this discussion with friends over the years countless times and I've also heard VIII and X getting a lot of praise, IX seems to be the least popular of the four, which is probably because it's more traditional fantasy and less sci-fi/fantasy sssoooo the target audience was a bit different. I liked IX, although I definitely found it to be the easiest. Admittedly though I never did do the speed run for Excalibur II, but I did basically everything else in the game, including killing Ozma. IX had my favorite locations and cities though, but X had my favorite battle system with the visible ATB/Turn List. I prefer the slower turn-based combat, but X had this cool way of doing it but also doing it where it can go really fast as well if you bump up the agility and use Hastega and Quick Hit, etc. Nemesis has too much health though, and I'm not interested in trying to dodge 200 lightning bolts when I can just use the weapon customization system to try to make the next best thing to it if not a direct replica of weapon abilities. Otherwise, X was also epic. Blitzball is the funnest thing since Triple Triad in VIII.
 
I wanna say 9. It had so much charm to it. A sometimes weird but memorable soundtrack. And probably the best cast of characters. I actually really dug the art style which I know is a point of contention for a lot of folks.

Wasn't perfect. The trance system was frustrating cause you couldn't control it efficiently enough and the story gets REALLY dumb towards the end.

But you know, I always have fond memories when thinking back on it. Zidane is easily my favorite character in the franchise. And I jam out to Dark Messenger quite frequently. Good times.
 
What poor soul voted FFI as their favorite? I have so many questions, such as, do you also eat nails in your cereal bowl in the mornings? Do you listen to radio static on your commute to work? Do you trim your toe nails at an angle and leave them like that? :gasp:

I'm kidding of course, but I'd love anyone's feedback that loves FFI

Honestly, for me personally, this is a tough vote. FFIX was/is my favorite game of the series, it just resonated with me since the first time we booted it up all those years ago. I think it really brings back the medieval roots that the games had started steering from and adds a lot of charm & charisma whilst being dramatic & serious at other times. The allusions hidden within this game pays homage to past games and really shows off the FF series as a whole with a pretty little bow on top. The story, characters, just... *chef's kiss* 😗👌

That said, I struggle with saying FFVII as well. There's a reason why it has a popular following, and honestly if FFIX wasn't my favorite then VII would be next in line. It's many people's first &/or favorite game, and I can understand why. The main focal point in RPGs is the story, and I think VII did that brilliantly.


Casted my vote for FFIX as well, but only because I had to choose one, and it was my personal favorite. :-)
 
What poor soul voted FFI as their favorite? I have so many questions, such as, do you also eat nails in your cereal bowl in the mornings? Do you listen to radio static on your commute to work? Do you trim your toe nails at an angle and leave them like that? :gasp:
I mean, I 'like' FF1... I like toast for breakfast... I never really thought of FF1 as one of those games a person LOVES. Also, your questions almost made me spit out my tea. :tearjoy:
 
Final Fantasy Tactic. Variety of classes, great and deep story. The bar system is nice addition. You can hear rumour and dispatch your party members to collect some ancient treasures. Unlike other Final Fantasy games you can recruit party members through shop. You can also recruit monsters to your party. Some monsters like Chochobo can hatch egg and you would get red or purple Chochobo. Which adds more to the variety of party members you can get. There are also some special classes here which don't exist in other Final Fantasy games. Meliadoul class allows her to break her opponents weapon/helmet/armor,
 
FFVII had the most impact on me as a youngster so easily that installment.

Groundbreaking for it's time sure but i look past the hype as an original fan who cherished it without the ratio of opinions from others i don't believe you should cater to popular opinions whatsoever i love it because i simply love it that's it end of story even if wasn't as popular as it is I'd still call this my personal favourite.
 
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