Your Quick Thoughts On Each Final Fantasy

[Starships]

Final Fantasy I : A vivid and radiant beginning to Final Fantasy. It's simple, but if you look within its core, you'll find out that the game is a bit more exhilarating than you may first think at first glance. The game gives you a good sense of freedom which some more recent Final Fantasies fail to do, and it does a time travel story well, which is hard to put off. Final Fantasy I is mellow, but that it doesn't mean that it's uninteresting or blah.

Final Fantasy II : Final Fantasy II is cursed by over-ambition. It tries to be better than the first Final Fantasy way too hard and almost gets annihilated into shreds because of it. Final Fantasy II is almost a completely broken game. However, I treasure Final Fantasy II's ambition to do something a bit different even though it almost breaks apart the game. Final Fantasy II is just like that kid at school who sucked at maths ( hey, me !) and gets a D+ instead of an F and you are just proud for him because you knew that at least really, really tried.

Final Fantasy III : Here's where Final Fantasy music gets good! Yes, Final Fantasy I and Final Fantasy II had some appealing tunes, but FF3's soundtrack is just sublime. Final Fantasy III is also the first Final Fantasy to have the impeccable job class system and if Final Fantasy V didn't do things better, I think that this game would get more loved by fans, but instead, this game is pretty neglected. Does it deserve to be neglected though? ... I don't think so. It has the old "NES Hard " dungeons and bosses, but it's fun too.


Final Fantasy IV : What I really enjoyed about this game was Cecil. Cecil just feels like an imperfect character done perfectly. Just like Final Fantasy I, the game is simple, but that doesn't make it a horrendous game, in fact, it's the opposite.


Final Fantasy V : Final Fantasy V is a surreal and comical JRPG. Final Fantasy V has the perfect mixture of a witty and pleasurable script ( GBA ) and the beautiful job class system, which makes a grand return from Final Fantasy III and improves it with pristine polish. " This game is underrated !" gets thrown around a lot, but I truly believe that FFV is underrated.


- will do some more later. What are your thoughts on each FF ?

 

[mothcorrupteth]

I'll bite.

FFI. Didn't grow up with the NES, can't stand it because I'm spoiled by the quality-of-life improvements in the PS1 remakes. But I've played the original Wizardry and Might & Magic, so I recognize what it achieved at the time and do consider it one of the best RPGs from that era.

FFII. I'm the odd duck who likes it. I like the idea for the leveling system, because it's closer to how actual biological systems work. But other than that, I have to admit, it is pretty lackluster in the story department.

FFIII. I prefer the NES original, because the DS / PSP remake screws up the job system by making it too easy. The original punished you brutally for switching jobs willy-nilly, so you had to make calculated choices. Some would say this ruined that job system; but again, I've played the original Wizardry and Might & Magic, so I know the value of a challenging RPG.

FFIV. Didn't grow up with it, but I can understand why people who did have such fond memories. Personally, I prefer the graphics of the SNES original with the translation of the DS version. Great, memorable characters with distinct abilities. Timeless story, if clichéed by now. Still, not my favorite.

FFV. My fond feelings for this one stem from the aura of mystique that surrounded playing it on emulators in the late 90's. It was the Final Fantasy that America never got. And the characters rode on dragons. And the job system was gigantic. The story is mostly garbage, but dang do I love this game.

FFVI. There was a time where I was a diehard FFVI guy. And yes, it still is a very good game to play in 2019. And yes, the story is amazing. But that story is also basically the same story as VII (which is loosely the same story as Akira), and VII pulls it off better with its sci-fi / cyberpunk motifs. Nowadays, for me, VI sits behind all the titles from the PlayStation era as the best pre-32-bit title.

FFVII. Again, it's Akira but more fleshed out. It was my first Final Fantasy, and to this day it shuffles in and out of being my favorite.

FFVIII. I know all the objective reasons not to like this one, but as I've said in other threads, it represents a really idyllic time in my life. I will NEVER forget the day dad brought it home from Electronics Boutique and I had to play it in the main living room because my own CRT set was having problems. It had its faults, but there are times when I even like FFVIII more than VII and IX.

FFIX. Objectively the perfect Final Fantasy, even according to Sak himself. Unfortunately, this one has a dark sentimental side to it for me. By 2000, my mom had had her first bipolar episode, and I was going through my own issues in response. I had done something insensitive to my then-best friend, and I had to come crawling back to him to apologize so that I could beg for a copy of his game save, because mine had been deleted by a faulty Electronics Boutique memory card. Consequently, I like this game a lot, but I get bad emotions going every time I play it.

FFX. I really don't get people who hold this game up on a pedestal. I hated Blitzball. I hated the practical insignificance of the equipment system. I hated the loss of the world map. And I hated how the game, overall, seemed to reflect in places the new pop-culture status Final Fantasy had gained in the West. I want to be clear: X is a good game, a very good game with a nice battle system. It's just not my favorite.

FFXII. Never played this one at release. By that point, I was soured by a number of things Square-Enix had done with their intellectual properties, not least of which was the complete desecration of Brave Fencer Musashi. But I went back and played it recently. I like it a lot--more than X. But I don't consider it a real Final Fantasy. I consider it a spinoff of Tactics.

FFXIII. This game can rot in hell. I hate virtually everything about it.

FFXV. A step in the right direction. I still hate how Square-Enix keeps trying to take more and more control of secondary characters away from the player. However, it shows that Tabata was trying to take fan input seriously and was doing his best despite inheriting an overbudget production from Nomura.

Tactics. Not a real Final Fantasy, but if it were, it would be the best one. Anyway, it comes closer to being a real Final Fantasy than Crystal Chronicles or The 4 Heroes of Light or X-2 or The After Years or Explorers. It's the only game that never tires me out to grind in.

 

[greenyxi]

FF1 - I actually love the PSP version since it's speedy and shiny looking. I just wish I didn't get lost so much lmao. I like the choice of jobs at the start and the basicness of the game is pretty refreshing after playing all the modern cutscene-heavy RPGs.

FF2 - I'm not a fan of the stat building/losing nature of the game but I do love the introduction of gaining and losing party members along the way. Not much more to say about this one.

FF3 - The music is the only real positive I have. The characters are still bland and the job system is inferior to that of FF5. Not a huge fan.

FF4 - This is where FF really starts to kick off. I love the humour and (again) the speediness and shininess of the PSP version. I love some of the bosses (the dolls in the underworld is one that stands out). There is a certain metal-related cave that I absolutely hate though lmao.

FF5 - The music is amazing and the job system is improved from FF3. The colour and art is great too! I'm not a fan of job systems like this though so I find it hard as hell.

FF6 - The best of the 2d games...for the first half. Once you reach the WoR that is almost entirely sidequests though...I'm not keen. I love everything about the first half(ish) of the game though.

FF7 - I love so much about this game! The speedy battles, the music, the characters, the humour in amongst the pretty serious overarching plot. I think this is the perfect limit system, possibly drawing with FF10's overdrive system for me. The materia system is also a great way of changing up the job system so that even I like it lol.

FF8 - This is an odd one! I love the story and drama of the cutscenes. The music is possibly the best of the series. I love the events throughout. The battle system is something I need to play around with more. I always choose the "Magic, GF, Draw" commands, when there are so many other commands you can use and learn. I'd love to try beating a boss without relying on GFs and limits lmao. P.S. Ultimecia's Castle is the best final dungeon in any JRPG I've played ; survival horror puzzles that are so much like those from Resi Zero. I'll admit that I'm not fussed on enemies leveling with you though .

FF9 - This one is usually my favourite! I love the storybook feel, all of the party members (other than the under-used Amarant), the way they made a thief so integral for bosses. I like how they went all Banjo Kazooie and made one theme and changed the track up throughout. There are only two things I dislike about the game: the card game and the trance system; while trances are amazing when you can get them, they take too long to build up and normally happen when you don't need them.

FF10 - Another one that's my favourite of the series a lot lol. I love the cast (yes, even Tidus). I love the laid back environments and music. It's the most relaxing game of the series that I always go back to when I'm led in bed ill. FF10 even has water sections that I like! I can't think of another game where the water stuff is anything but annoying and clunky (other than the water temple in Twilight Princess).

FF11 - Never played this but I'm not normally fussed on MMOs.

FF12 - The worst of the main series. Only redeemed by Fran and Balthier. Bland and generic in every way otherwise.

FF13 - This has the FF feel back in tonnes. However, I hate the stagger system. Sunleth Waterscape is stunning to look at and listen to. FF13-2 is actually the better game of the 2 that I've played in this trilogy imo.

FF14 - While I don't like MMOs, playing with people off FFF was the most I enjoyed a game for so long. Even the tedious endgame was fun with you all .

FF15 - Garbage battle system, garbage original music that was saved by being able to listen to old FF music. Basic story that still ends up being over-complicated and unexplained half the time somehow. Good to look at but the environments are bland as hell most of the way through anyway so who cares.

FF Tactics (WOTL) - I love this game but it's so hard at times lol. The story is addictively depressing (lol) and the music is stunning.

FF: Crystal Chronicles - One of my favourite multiplayer games of all time . I can't wait to play it online in the remaster (remake?). I love the co-op stuff and the way that you have to fight to get the best stat upgrades at the end of each area. The opening cutscene competes with FF8 for the best FF opening too. The music is also amazing.

I've played more but I think they're all the ones that stand out to me :s.

 

[Paddy McGee]

FF 1 - I find the basic system and rather shallow storyline rather refreshing here - the system was challenging back in the day but rather trivial to beat now. I'll always have a soft spot for the designs here too - Warrior, Thief and all those OG jobs. I do love the sprites!

FF2 - When FF decided to give real characters a try for the first time and it came out... meh??? I quite like FF II - I enjoy the system, however annoying or broken it may be - and I really enjoyed the free spot characters. I do need to give the spin-off game from the PSP a go. Also - again, the PSP version has wonderful sprite design!

FF3 - I liked the DS remake of this game, which contains an attempt to give the unnamed characters from the original release some personality. Overall the job system is meh, the narrative feels stale and used. I like it but I'd never run back to play it.

FF5 - I have played the opening sequence... which really didn't hook me in. I should go back to it.

FF7 - I'm about 30% through this game on a stream - and I really haven't hit that factor of why everyone goes gaga over this game! I like it and I like the characters - but I found Midgar to be the only part of the game that I felt I thoroughly enjoyed. I'll keep at it.

FF8 - I actually quite enjoy VIII - while the junction system is broken as all hell, it's still fun to enjoy! I liked the "Past versus future" party members and, funnily enough, I don't mind Squall. The rest of the cast feels hollow though.

FF9 - IX has been my favourite of the PS1 era games. A loveable cast, a fantasy setting, a great title track and the most complete version of the ATB. The only thing I dislike is probably the card game - but I don't usually like the card games soooooooo whatever.

FF10 - My favourite of the lot. I love the cast, the music, the battle system and even the minigames (I like Blitzball, though wish it had better mechanics). The summoning mechanic in this game is easily the best - along with active party switching

FF10-2 - This game is... meh to me! I don't mind the concepts and the characters - Charlie's Angels eat your heart out - but I felt the battle system was a wee bit of a change that I didn't like. Still - it certainly made for an exciting fight.

FF13 - I would shit in my hands and clap to avoid play this game again - the aspects I do like (music, graphics and character renders) I can explore without playing the game. I've written a review on this game before!

FF13-2 - my playthroughs of 13-2 have always gone this way: Start, enjoy for a few minutes and ultimately get bored and quit. While better than 13 it's utterly unremarkable to me.

FF14 - I'm not an MMO type of player... but I did enjoy the fantasy world and conflicts here. I don't think I'll go back - but maybe I'll read about the narrative and enjoy that way.

FF15 - I enjoyed 15 a bit - I loved the exploration of brotherhood - but otherwise... it was average. The battle system isn't too exciting (for all the nonsense about it being awesome back in the Versus 13 days). I liked the music and the car - but the supporting cast felt incredibly weak. The designs and concepts were nice. To me, 15 feels like the hump project that SE basically went "fuck it, it's good enough. Let them have it"

Dissidia - feck it I'm adding it here. Dissidia is such a fun, interesting concept. It reminds me of being a kid and playing battles with my friends as our favourite characters but in video game form. The music selection was awesome. The story was thread-bare nonsense... but at least they tried with this one!!

 

[mothcorrupteth]

I almost forgot.

Blue Dragon (a.k.a. perfected Final Fantasy V). An honorary Final Fantasy. I'll be frank: The story bores me as an adult, but I can see a younger version of myself having this as his favorite in the series. It has everything that made V fun, but with a Chrono Trigger coat of paint. I've never finished it, but I always enjoy playing.

Lost Odyssey (a.k.a. perfected Final Fantasy VI, IX, X). The other honorary Final Fantasy. Imagine that you had X's turn-based combat, subtracted the character-switch mechanic, melded it with IX's ability progression system, and then stuck it in the world of VI. That is Lost Odyssey, and it's one of the best games on the 360.

 

[Linnaete]

FFI - Ah yes, the very original game. A game where seasoned madmen can happily pick four White Mages for the entirety of a playthrough and somehow survive the ordeal without dying from actual boredom in the process. I found FFI to be an archaic slog not worth seeing through from start to end. Now I'll never know how all this nonsense about an aggrieved knight/part-time princess kidnapper attempting to create a time loop that will ultimately render him immortal will end.

FFII - I am convinced the team took cocaine prior to this game's conception, hence why it turned out the way it did without someone stopping development partway through to abort it before anyone could be harmed. The incessant, merciless repetition of that terrible Dreadnought track alone makes this the worst soundtrack in the entire franchise. I have to constantly beat up my own party members to level up stats such as their HP like I'm watching a group of extremely coked up teenagers have at it. To top it all off, the dungeon design is among the worst I have ever seen in a video game. Dead end rooms strewn about everywhere ready to launch you into a mandatory random encounter. Long, winding, multi-floor paths that ultimately lead to dead ends. FFII is the epitome of wasting a player's time.

FFIII - It isn't a bad attempt, but marred by a horribly wonky early jobs system. It wouldn't be too bad if the jobs are merely options designed to extend one's toolbox and afford you multiple methods and strategies with which to approach different fights, but the game is no stranger to forcing you into sections where a particular job is mandatory. For example, there is one cave that you cannot survive in without bringing along a party of Dark Knights...even if I don't want to bother with Dark Knight. The most galling part of this game are the final dungeons. With zero save points within dungeons, one has to go through the entirety of Crystal Tower AND World of Darkness along with their army of tough boss fights as well as the final boss encounter without dying or using save states with an emulator. No thank you.

FFIV - Why is everyone in this game so keen to sacrifice themselves...only to not actually die in most cases? Cid chucks himself off an airship with all the explosives in his possession to detonate at point blank range every one of them to seal up a giant hole connecting the overworld with the underworld and that bearded codger survives?! I'm sorry, FFIV. I know you're the first entry in the series to genuinely step it up with emotive storytelling using a rich cast of eclectic characters, but I can't take your ludicrous non-sacrifices seriously.

FFV - They perfect the job system and it is glorious. It's flexible, packs an excellent variety of jobs (some evidently far more useful than others) and Bartz manages to make it through half a game where the women outnumber the men without it turning into a hideously adolescent harem anime like you would expect in this day and age. I'd say FFV is a solid, generally underrated installment sandwiched between two fan favourites.

FFVI - The World of Ruin section throws off a lot of people and lately I've seen a lot of pushback against it, but I reckon it's actually the stronger half of this game. There's this immediate sense of abject despair, a feeling of hopelessness, infinite insurmountability, of crushing loss and in Celes' case, feelings of downright suicide. Amidst all this, the player freedom to go find and reunite with as many party members one wishes is genius, as it closes off many character arcs such as Terra's and feels oh-so satisfying. You're gaining closure and a gradual building up of hope again ready to take on Kefka's tower. FFVI is a consistently solid experience with an eclectic and riveting ensemble cast from start to end. It's easily the best of the pre-3D games.

FFVII - It's...alright. I was never there during the cultural zeitgeist phenomenon of the late 90s when FFVII came out and blew people's minds. I approached it with modern sensibilities and I think I enjoyed the game a lot more when it was about corporate authoritarianism, environmentalism, profits over morality, etc. Basically politics that are just as relevant these days if not more important than ever. This is where the remake can capitalise on the opportunity to expand Midgar, give us more of Shinra and truly dive deeper into these themes. Otherwise, yeah the rest of the game is alright. Evidently it's not my favourite, but it's certainly not bad.

FFVIII - I'll be honest. I never properly played through FFVIII without cheats. Hopefully I can rectify this with the upcoming remastered HD release. So while I cannot exactly relate to all the horror stories about having to wade through Triple Triad for the best draws and the whole junctioning mechanic, I do have a few things to say about its story and characters. It's glorious. A veritable romp of memorable, batshit craziness and I love it all. I love how teenagers are being sent off to participate in the equivalent of D-Day. I love the Laguna segments. I love the fact that you even go up to space. I love the nonsense of monsters living on the Moon and literally falling down onto the planet. I cannot wait to experience the madness again.

FFIX - Okay, I unironically do love FFIX and consider it the best of the PS1 entries. I was never put off by its head-turning art style, except when someone pointed out to me that it's easy to horribly misinterpret Eiko's design. I quickly found myself swept up by the whimsy of it all and enchanted by a story that betrays the otherwise cutesy, children's book exterior and goes down a remarkably dark route covering themes such as mortality, identity, existentialism, maternal-daughter bonds etc. The PS1 version itself is unfortunately hampered by its agonisingly slow speed, though I hear a remastered version has mostly fixed this one and only prevailing problem plaguing what I feel is otherwise one of Square's finest work. Except for Zidane. He's a pervert and at times a creep.

FFX - Oooh boy. This is one of the most revered entries in the franchise and I'm not much of fan. I will go so far as to say I had a lot more fun with FFX-2 (mostly ironic enjoyment, but it's enjoyment nonetheless!) than this one, because its sequel for all its litany of undeniable faults, kept me thoroughly engaged, chuckling and entertained with its fast-paced combat system. FFX on the other hand...I dunno. I just didn't feel it. Without the freedom given to me by FFX-2 to go around Spira at my leisure and indulge myself with sidequests and general tomfoolery, a linear trek through Spira in FFX with slow, dragging, unskippable cutscenes isn't exactly my cup of tea by comparison. I get why it's so lauded and popular, but personally out of the PS2 entries I've played, I had the least fun with FFX.

FFXI - Never played it. I probably can one day if I have a PC and can be arsed to, but it will mainly consist of my Tarutaru plodding around looking perpetually lost with barely any other player around to accompany her. I'm just glad I was never playing FFXI during its prime. I can't fathom the thought of spending an evening attempting to look for a decent party of players just to be able to survive an arduous journey across treacherous terrain just in hopes of gaining some level-ups or to even reach a new city.

FFXII - "B-b-but it plays itself!" - Well that's only if you fashion your party with the most comprehensive set of Gambits you can find. It personally did not bother me. I had fun just tweaking Gambits as often as I liked while allowing myself plentiful room to manually input my menu commands like I would in an ordinary FF game. I just found it therapeutic to wander through large field maps and building up lengthy chain kills just to watch the loot drops become progressively plentiful. The story may grind to a screeching halt in between the Stilshrine of Miriam all the way to Archades, but the stellar voice performances and Alexander O'Smith localisations far make up for it, along with what I still believe are Final Fantasy's most impressive in-game towns and cities. There's something lived-in about Ivalice that just feels like home to me.

FFXIII - Oh no. This game broke me. Nearly everything about this game managed to break me. Never again. Instead I'll talk about FFXIII-2.

FFXIII-2 - Now here's a surprisingly decent entry to the series that had no business being anything more than aggravating mediocrity. Sure, FFXIII-2's story dives into confusing time travel logic so nonsensical that you really simply have to shut off your brain and accept everything as it comes to avoid mental overload, but unlike its predecessor installment in the trilogy, FFXIII-2 at the very least treats the player with sufficient agency. I didn't need to wait too long to have the Crystarium, monster collecting feature and battle system available to me without having to endure 25 hours of torturous compulsory parties and tutorials.

FFXIV - I have so many stories - mostly from Heavensward, which is the closest Final Fantasy has ever come to leaving me feeling genuinely tearful. While the base ARR content can be reductively described as an avalanche of banal fetch, kill and delivery quests with the most flimsy plot reasons behind giving the esteemed Warrior of Light such menial errands, Heavensward is a mostly amazing story experience. That initial first half where I'm travelling with Alphinaud, Ysayle and Estinien (the latter two butting heads as they're so philosophically worlds apart) is personally the most Final Fantasy the series has ever felt in a while. But beyond all that, I suppose the raids were interesting when I played. Unfortunately I only ever played on PS3, meaning some of the best 24-man raids at the time became nearly unbearable. I keep thinking I should return to FFXIV, but fitting an MMORPG around my life now feels like too much of a daunting task.

FFXV - Mediocre. The pacing is wack. You spend much of the game with nothing happening, followed by everything happening at once. Lunafreya is easily the worst "heroine" in the whole franchise. The world of Eos - or at least the chunk of Eos that can be explored - is as dull as dishwater. I shrugged when the Starscourge finally covers the world in eternal darkness. I didn't feel a thing when I witnessed gas stations and Galdin Quay abandoned and rotting, surrounded only by marauding daemons. I flat out did not care one bit about FFXV's world, which to me feels more like several dozen square miles of a wildlife enclosure than a lived-in continent. The combat is a messy affair, with any depth it has too obfuscated by camera jankiness and the fact that if you're stocked up on sundries such as Potions, you really cannot lose a fight. It is very possible to just brute-force your way through tougher fights with enough medicinal items and patience. There's a way to design a compelling action combat system. This isn't exactly it.

 

[blakstang98]

I'm pretty sure about a year ago I did something similar to this, but I have a little spare time.

FFI - I only played through this game (PS1) once and I've watched it several times (multiple platforms). Clearly, I didn't have a good party (Warrior, Monk, Red Mage, White Mage) and it was a struggle to get through. And for Christ sake, what the hell was up with the ridiculously high encounter rate!? I don't know the game as it is and am lost and I take 2 steps for another encounter. And with a garbage party, it was annoyingly hard. For the most part, the first game in a series just lacks, as developers tend to make improvements along the way, once a bigger sample size is out there of what's good and what's not. So I appreciate that it was the original, and wasn't going to be perfect. And it is a pretty well game done for it's time, even though I had issues with it. Good game, not great.

FFII - Again, only played this once, and it was roughly seven years ago and don't remember much from it. Obviously, the "leveling" system was the anomaly here, and agreed, it was really bizarre. Instead of grinding, I'm doing battles where my party takes turns beating each other. And I also remember equipping a weapon on each hand, and struggling mightily. Then when I went one weapon with a shield, it was like magically easier. The party was way faster than enemies now, and I sort of cruised through the rest of the game this way. It wasn't too bad, but considering how little I remember from it, it clearly wasn't memorable. So it gets the unfair critique of being at the bottom of the list.

FFIII - The game you couldn't find for years after it's release, here in the States. Played this probably 8 years ago, and don't remember much of this either, including the characters names! But the big redeeming quality of this game is the exchangeable job class system. It was great to fuss with different classes and combinations. And it made strategizing excellent. But there was some redundancy in classes. I don't even remember now, but I think there were multiple mage classes that were very similar to others. But like II, a lack of remembrance hurts it's overall rating.

FFIV - This game introduced the ATB, which added a dynamic of having to think on your feet, which mostly stayed throughout the series. The way the battles moved and overworld exploration went, it was pretty fun. There were way too many characters getting swapped in and out of the party so much. At least your constant main-stay, Cecil was a brawler, so I was okay with that. And Kain was a super dick-bag with his traitor acts, not once, but twice! People love him because he's a dragoon. He can shove his long-ass lance where the sun don't shine. And man, that final boss was stupidly hard to beat because he hit so hard. And even though I'm not a fan of restrictive job class system of this game, I felt like it didn't restrict you much and you could still do boss battles and random battles without feeling weighed down by either one. I think it was a fun game and started moving the series in the right direction.

FFV - Another one of these they kept secret from the States for a long time. Like III, we got the exchangeable class system, but done much better. The overworld exploration was solid as well including Galuf's world, that you got to through a meteor? The flow of the battles and the variation of boss battles was very well done. And I like that your party was stable throughout, with very few times of the party breaking up, and it was always the same 4, with Krile replacing Galuf after he succumbed. Grinding to bolster up the job classes was a bit long, for a completionist like myself. Oy, and Faris with the annoying pirate-talk, gets super annoying after like the 2nd sentence. These qualms though were easy to take overall, and I think this is hands down the best game of the legacy games.

FFVI - This game is bizarre to me. Terra is typically regarded as the main character, yet she spends large gaps of time away, has little to no dialogue and is really the person they're keeping away from the empire. I don't get it. Locke almost gets treated as a lead too, which makes more sense, but man is he bad in battle. The brothers and Cyan are the only good characters, of the thousands of characters you can use. Even though Gau made me laugh, and The Veldt was a great place with great music, he was useless in battle. And for a completionist, a nightmare to get all of his abilities. A dedicated job class system is tough to deal with here at times, though there are enough brawlers to get by. This game has a serious whiff of trying too hard, with the opera nonsense (scene and song) and the crazy clown thing with his obnoxiously long final battle song. I just see it as overrated and inorganic in it's epicness. And I've always had a problem with being introduced the playable characters so late in the game.

FFVII - The mighty game of the non-legacy era. This game breaks the trend of job classes, but having more "cookie cutter" characters in battle that you can alter the abilities of. As a result, the battle system is more to my liking. And the ability to combine them in weapons to make cool combinations like Final Attack - Phoenix, or something of the like. Exploration of the overworld is pretty good too, once you get out of Midgar. Aeris getting killed off when you have pretty good limit break abilities to gun for was unfortunate, what a tease. The game is overrated overall, but I still like the game and rank it mid-pack to upper tier overall. I just can't put it at the top like so many others do, but still a very good game.

FFVIII - The game with the black sheep stat system that you never have to use magic for. Works for me, brawlers for life! Yes, the junction system is weird and it can be exploited, and very early in the game. But if you are like me, and I think most are in this regard, you probably just junction along the way with magics you have and don't exploit it hard. I liked the link of the GF's to your abilities and the "life gage" they had when you summoned them, even though I hated it when they were killed. But I felt like the battle system overall was very good. And the overworld was pretty cool too. The Ragnarok was a big winner when it comes to epic airships. Yeah, it takes a lot of heat, but I really like it. I put it as my second favorite.

FFIX - And back to dedicated job classes. It was such a killer in this game. Why am I always held down by mages with ridiculously low MP that I can't use in random battles because I have to save that MP for the boss battle? And the flip-flopping of so many different parties, usually with at least one useless character in my party. And my strongest brawler is with me so little of the time, in Steiner. Instead I'm dependent on a thief that can't steal, who is pretty strong, but not strong enough for my liking. Don't get me started on Dagger not concentrating. And Eiko and Amarant come so late in the game, they're not even on the first disc. I've finished the game once, and I started it probably 3 or 4 times, to give you an idea of how I have a hard time with this game. Oh and with all the missable items, completionist nightmare. Leave during the card tournament to get this item? What a pain.

FFX - The start of linearity. Another game with job dedication, if you progressed on the Sphere Grid normally. But the difference, you have your whole party for the whole game, basically (Rikku comes a little late). And the ability to swap them out during battle was fantastic. I don't need a mage now, fine, the brawlers enter and mop up. And even though I don't focus a ton on story, the raw emotion was very well done. Much more so than inorganic nature of VI. Yeah, you lose a world map and have more straight lines to run, it didn't bother me. And the scenery was excellent along the way. The Sphere Grid was a nice way to develop your party and I think the CTB for the battles was well done as well. Over time, this game managed to wrestle favorite game status away from VIII, just because I think it's a little more well-rounded.

FFX-2 - The girl power game. This game comes off as very cheesy with a lot of the antics, and the soundtrack doesn't help either. This game goes back to the ATB for battles and it feels more fluid overall. The job class system, or dress sphere's as they call it, was pretty well done, and with the garment grids, you can change them up during battle. You can even get bonuses for changing during battle with certain garments. And I thought dynamic of the feuding faction leaders all being old pals was a nice twist. Honestly, I found the game fun and entertaining. And with a New Game Plus function, has replayability, to get missed items and to try to fill the gaps of completion percentage.

FFXII - The game that had the MMORPG feel, but wasn't really. It was certainly odd to not see battle screens anymore. And the world map being so massive was intriguing. Like my qualm with Terra in VI, Vaan was seen as the lead character, but after a while, the game isn't about him much and he's just there. The gambits system was interesting and took me forever to understand, at first. But once I got it, I perfected my party, there was no stopping them. We also got an introduction to marathon battles where you leave, then come back and do it again later, where you left off. Again, I don't focus on story much and the same goes for characters, but geez, they are so bland and have no chemistry. Yeah, people, especially in groups, won't always click, but the staple of FF games was always that strangers got together and battled for a common cause, and they made the best of it. But these clowns going their own separate ways made all the sense in the world, they absolutely didn't click. But deficient characters aside, the battle and scenery of the game was excellent.

FFXIII - I've spoken at length about this game on this forum, so I'm sure you know I don't follow the popular opinion of FFF with this game. It's linear and keeps you on story, check. Snow is an annoying pissant with his "hero" talk, check. Lightning might be packing heat downstairs, check. None of that annoys me. What does annoy me is how fawned over Serah is, when she has like 10 lines then turns to crystal. Why are we fawning over a crystal? Lightning suffers from the same problem as Vaan and Terra, who remembers why she's there by the end of the game? The battle system with Paradigm's is solid, being able to change classes on the fly in battle. Scenery I can't say enough about. Give me Sunleth and Suulya all day long, please. Secretly, I like this game more and more everyday, and I'm not sorry.

FFXIII-2 - Only went through this game once, and it was a while ago. I can at least understand the fawning for Serah this time around. Having a "captured" enemy as your 3rd party member is an interesting twist, but same battle system overall. I think the different places across different time periods was a really cool aspect, but man do I hate time travel as the non-linear element. It just gets so confusing after a while. Not much else to say more, considering it's mostly the same as XIII in basic aspects, but I did like the way the original played better, but this was solid too.

FFXV - Finally finished this back in the winter, or early spring. This game was very odd, but I played it to full completion, excluding DCL, and that includes post-story stuff. The exp system was annoying to get used to, then I exploited it by getting 3x after beating down baddies in a dungeon for a few days. The battle system was different, but not better than the original ATB-type system. And I felt like I drove so much, it got really old after a while. Decent little game, but it took a step back, in my opinion.


Geez, that took forever. Probably unpopular opinions overall, but I wear it like a badge of honor.