So here I am with yet another "ranking the _____ series" list. This time, I'm doing Final Fantasy. At one time, this was my absolute favorite series in all of gaming. Now, I still enjoy them, and I'd probably keep them in the Top 5 but I don't hold the series as a whole in such high regard anymore, though a lot of the games I still love to death. Please note, this list is my opinion so chances are you will disagree with me. No need to get upset! Everyone has their own ranking. Also, while I'm including direct sequels like X-2, I am not including spin-off titles like Crystal Chronicles. I'm also excluding the MMO Final Fantasies like XI and XIV since I have not played those and cannot rate them. So without further ado, here is my ranking of the Final Fantasy games...
16. Final Fantasy X-2
If you asked me 10 years ago what I thought about this game, there would not be enough expletives to describe my feelings about. Even today, though, this is one of the most disappointing games I have ever had the misfortune of playing. This is the game that showed me just how bad an idea a sequel could be. As a huge fan of Fina; Fantasy X, I was initially excited for this game. I would get to revisit Spira, one of my favorite fictional worlds. I didn't care that the party members were all female or that the battle system would be different, I was just excited to be back in that world again. Unfortunately, nothing prepared me for the actual game.
Every aspect of the game was disappointing. Back then I would've said the game is abysmal, but I've come around to seeing it has at least some merit, though I'd still rather it not exist in the first place. The music is bland and forgettable, the all girl cast is annoying (not because they're women, but the way they portrayed them), and the story might be the worst one in the entire series, I also found out that maybe I didn't want to revisit Spira as badly as I thought. I absolutely loved the entire world in Final Fantasy X but going back to the same areas in FFX-2 was like revisiting the town you spent your childhood growing up in, expecting it to be the same, only it turns out your old house was renovated, the barber you sued to go to closed down, all of your old friends have moved away, and things just look different. The nostalgia for your old town takes a hit and you never see it the same way again. This is kind of what happened with FFX-2. I absolutely loved FFX but X-2 kind of made me re-evaluate the game it was a sequel of. X-2 just shouldn't exist though, even if it does have one big (sort of) redeeming feature - the battle system. It's not the most original or even the most fun battle system, but it's done well and even made me forget how much I disliked the game when I was in battle. Unfortunately I was soon reminded how much of a disappointment the game was once I left battle.
Long story short, it's not a terrible game on its own, and I can even see how some people would like it, but I expected much more from a sequel of one of the best games in the series.
15. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Where I had big expectations for Final Fantasy X-2 and was left disappointed, I had zero expectations for Lightning Returns was was pleasantly surprised. X-2 had ruined my hopes for a good direct sequel to any Final Fantasy game, so I didn't hold my breath when sequels for XIII came out. When I finally got around to playing Lightning Returns last year, I found out it's not that bad. Unfortunately, like Final Fantasy X-2, the story is complete garbage and the game itself really has no business existing in the first place, but it's not a bad game overall. I enjoyed what I played, which was about 60 or 70% of the game, but never did I find myself truly looking forward to playing it. As a standalone game, it's solid. The battle system is a variation of the one you found in FFXIII and XIII-2, which is not a bad thing, the music was good (though forgettable) and the more action-oriented gameplay was actually kind of a nice change of pace for the series. But by this point, I was sick of seeing Lightning and sick of hearing what would become of the FFXIII world.
The game is very average. Not terrible by any means, but if they never made it, I wouldn't have missed it. To be quite honest, the only reason I even played it was to complete the FFXIII story arc since it's the third game in a sub-series. I never finished this game nor any game in the FFXIII trilogy, but I've played them all enough to know what to make of them, and Lightning Returns, as the third game in the trilogy, is disappointing, but as a standalone game, it's average.
14. Final Fantasy III
As the third-lowest ranked game on this list, I can say this was yet another disappointment. It may have been my own fault, however. Up until this game was remade and released on the Nintendo DS, this was the only main entry in the Final Fantasy series I have never played, since the original was only released in Japan on the Famicom. Well, rather than learn Japanese and play FFIII on an emulator, I waited for this with much anticipation. I expected big things from this remake, not only because it's a remake of a game I never played but because it was the last piece of the puzzle I've been waiting for. Finally I was able to play every game in the series. And my initial reaction? It was okay. Not bad, not great, just okay. Kind of like Lightning Returns, really. Though I really should've seen it coming, because even with the fresh coat of paint, it's still an old, dated game with little to no story, lots of grinding, an uninteresting battle system, and a few frustratingly hard dungeons. It's not at all a bad game, but I can't help but feel it came to us about a decade and a half too late.
Final Fantasy III, at its core, is an old game. It feels like an old game and it plays like an old game. I suppose the true cause of my disappointment lies within myself, since I actually expected a more modernized version of the game, when we actually just received the same game that released 1990 with better graphics and a remixed soundtrack. The entirety of its gameplay was stuck in the past. This is something I can't quite fault the game for but at the same time it was pretty disappointing. It's hard for me to rate this game, since I didn't play it during its original release, and I have never played the original, only the remake. But for a game that came out in 2006, even if it's a remake, the game turned out to be very basic, hard (almost unfairly so) and boring. Had I played this game back in 1990 (assuming I was able to) I would've probably enjoyed this game much more. I give it credit for staying true to itself and for being the first game in the series to use the innovative class changing system (which I'm not really a fan of).
All of that being said, the game might not have done much for me, but the game was a game-changer (pun intended) for the series back in its heyday. Unfortunately, this list reflects my personal experience with the game, and as such, I am giving it a low rating for being a letdown for me.
13. Final Fantasy II
Like Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy II was never originally released outside Japan. That was, until 2001 when it got a remake in tandem with the original Final Fantasy on a compilation disc called Final Fantasy Origins. That was originally released on the Playstation and then the same two remakes got ported to the Game Boy Advance under the title Dawn of Souls. Then the remakes got ported to the Sony PSP and one more time to iPhone and Android. So this game and the original have really gotten around since then. Final Fantasy II is usually listed as the worst game in the main series by fans. While I agree it's far from perfect, and is definitely one of the worst games in the series, I think its biggest problems were introducing good ideas that didn't execute well.
What do I mean by this? Well for one, unlike the original Final Fantasy, the characters had set names and followed a story (albeit a very basic one). Secondly, the game had a sort of a dialogue tree (again, a very basic one) where you could ask NPCs about certain topics, rather than just hear the same line of text over and over. And third, the leveling system was a great concept (the more you use a weapon or spell, the better you are with them) but was executed horribly. The biggest flaw in the game is probably the shoddy leveling system. I get what they were trying ton achieve here, and I applaud them for their efforts, but this game has the single worst leveling system in any RPG that I've played. It just doesn't work. I mean imagine this - you want to gain more maximum HP, right? Just get hit. You want to be stronger? Just attack. Somehow it sounds both brilliant and stupid at the same time. "So I have to die in order to stay alive?" was a thought I had while playing the game. Sadly, yes. If you want to get stronger, you must get hit a lot. It's just so stupid.
But you know what? The game isn't that bad. It's definitely dated, sure, but the music is nice, and the battle system itself, while basic, is pretty fluid. I also tried not to be too harsh on the game since it's old. Yes, I realized Final Fantasy III was old as well, but the remake of FFIII looked a bit better than this remake and thus expected more out of it. But overall, I actually still kind of enjoy Final Fantasy II. As long I remind myself it's an old game, and that the leveling system is broken, I actually have a little bit of fun while playing it.
12. Final Fantasy
For consistency purposes, I'm grading the remake of Final Fantasy that was packed in with FFII in Origins and Dawn of Souls. If I rated the original Final Fantasy, it would be dead last. It was a legend of its time, and a fantastic influence on the RPG genre as a whole, but I find the NES version damn near unplayable by today's standards. I just can't do it. However, the remake is much better, despite having the same internal organs as the original. The music is great, the ability to create your own party is great, and the battle system is even quite fun, especially being that it's the first game in the series. It is one of the first big RPGs to ever come out in video games. It is the origin point for the entire series. For those reasons this game deserves big credit. It was intended to be the "final" fantasy game of its time. Little did they know, this game created a legacy that stands today.
My first experience with this game is through the remake like Final Fantasy II and III. I expected not to like it going in, since I knew it was a remake of a dated game. At the time I played this game, the oldest RPG I have played was Final Fantasy VI. And while nowadays SNES-era games are considered old school, NES games, even remakes of one, are almost ancient by comparison. For what it is, though, the game is great. It's very simple but laid an excellent foundation for not just the series but for the entire RPG genre. Nearly every RPG in the last 27 years owes something to this game.
Long story short, I appreciate this game for creating a legacy, and it's mildly fun in its simplicity, but I just don't enjoy it nearly as much as other games in the series. It's a little too old school for my tastes.
11. Final Fantasy XIII-2
There was a lot of criticism about Final Fantasy XIII when it released. Even now, 5 years later, the game still gets a lot of flack. Square-Enix clearly knew this, so they created XIII-2 to supposedly "fix" everything that was wrong with XIII. Unfortunately while it didn't quite work out that way, it was a solid game in its own right. Like I said before, playing Final Fantasy X-2 left a bad taste in my mouth for sequels to Final Fantasy games. I enjoyed XIII but was hesitant about XIII-2. I really didn't know what to expect. What we got was a game that was similar in gameplay but with a more open-ended journey, but with a confusing and pointless story along with it. Overall, a good game, but once again, we have a sequel that didn't need to exist.
There are three big reasons I fell in love with the Final Fantasy series: fantastic soundtracks, engaging stories, and fun battle systems. This game falters on the story aspect but retains the great soundtrack and battle systems. The battle system is nearly identical to that in XIII but the soundtrack took a different route. It was a lot more techno or electronic-based than pretty much any other game in the series. I was kind of iffy about it at first but ultimately I came to love it for its uniqueness. The battle system in XIII was fantastic and there really was no reason to change it, so I was glad that it was mostly kept the same. However, the story was a big letdown. I found myself not caring about any of the characters or understanding why they were on this journey. I didn't care about the world, or why I was jumping around to different times and locations to save it. I didn't care about seeing a few characters from XIII again either. I enjoyed what I played of the game simply because of the music and battle system, but I could care less about the rest of the game.
I have come to expect big things from games with the Final Fantasy name, since there have been so many great games in the franchise, so it's disappointing that playing games like Final Fantasy X-2, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns puts a damper on my overall opinion of the series. Much like Lightning Returns, the game on its own is good, if you ignore the story aspect, but it just doesn't live up to the Final Fantasy name.
10. Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
This game was a surprise to me because never did I suspect that Final Fantasy IV would ever get a sequel. Unfortunately it was through digital download only, which is something I hate, especially for one of my favorite franchises. I didn't expect it to be that good, to be quite honest. Not since the debacle that was Final Fantasy X-2 a couple of years earlier. I put off playing it for a good year or two after it came out just because I was afraid of it tarnishing my opinion of Final Fantasy IV. Luckily, that did not happen. It's not the best game in the series, and it didn't really go above and beyond but it was sufficient. I found it forgettable and the gameplay was nearly identical to the game it was based on (which came out 17 years earlier) but at least it wasn't offensive. Just like the other direct sequels, this game did not need to exist, but at the very least I hoped it wouldn't ruin my taste for FFIV and it didn't, so I can at least thank Square-Enix for that.
Overall the After Years feels like one of those game the developers made just because they were bored one day. "Hey, we should do a new game to find out what becomes of the cast of Final Fantasy IV!" and that's basically the whole premise, only you play as Cecil's son, Theo. Of all the games on this list, this might be the most forgettable, and I often disregard its existence just because it's so forgettable. But of all the Final Fantasy games I really don't care about, this one is the best of them.
9. Final Fantasy XIII
Finally, we get to the games I actually like. Not to say I didn't like the ones previous on this list, but this is the point in the list where the games actually matter to me. Final Fantasy XIII may be the lowest ranked game that actually matters here but it's still a good game. No, it's not a traditional Final Fantasy game, and yes I do understand a lot of the criticism fans had for this game. Yes, it was very linear, yes the story was kind of confusing, and no I wasn't crazy about most of the characters in the game. But they must be forgetting the redeeming factors of this game.
First off, I love the battle system. I love the Paradigm Shift and having character switch roles on the fly. I love the fast paced action that takes place. No, I'm not crazy about the leveling system, but it's far better than Final Fantasy II's. The story I enjoyed for the most part, though it took me a little while to get into it. The world was a cool one, both Pulse and Cocoon. The graphics were amazing too, as well as the stellar soundtrack we've come to expect. So with all of these great points, why does FFXIII rank so low?
Well, a few reasons. One, as I've mentioned before, the game is very linear. Yes, most of them were linear, and only give an illusion of open-endedness. But I mean the game is almost on rails for 90% of the game. It only opens up once you get to Pulse. Secondly, there is little to no reason to ever play the game again. I never finished this one, though I've come probably within an hour or two from finishing it, but I no longer have my original save file. To go back through the entire game again just to finish it seems painfully daunting to me. I don't know if I'll ever be able to do it. Most Final Fantasy games I have no problem revisiting, but there is literally zero motivation for me to go through this game again. The first time I played through it, I absolutely enjoyed it, but it felt like one of those movies you go to see in the theater and you liked it, but you never wanted to buy it on DVD. It's kind of like that. I've seen it once, and I'm good for probably forever. Overall, a good game, not the typical awesomeness I've come to expect from a Final Fantasy game, and not one I have any desire to revisit, but one I did enjoy my time with.
8. Final Fantasy V
Like Final Fantasy II and III before it, North America originally didn't see Final Fantasy V during its release. Instead, we got this for the first time on Playstation in Final Fantasy Anthologies which also included Final Fantasy VI. Then we saw it again on Game Boy Advance as an individual release. Prior to its official release in the States, I played this game, though not too far, on an emulator, when the only available version was a fan translation, since the original was in Japanese. I didn't really like it at first, and sure it's still not one of my favorites, but I've come to like it decent enough since then. This was my first experience with the class changing system and is probably the best experience with a system of that kind. The story was very basic, just like Final Fantasy I through III. The music was good, but not a masterpiece like most other Final Fantasies. The characters were bland also, especially the main villain, who was named X-Death, which sounds like a bad metal band.
Overall, the game is good but not fantastic. I like it better than the previous games on my list, but it's not quite a favorite of mine either. The battle is fun, the soundtrack is good, and I eventually came to like the class changing system. Unfortunately the game plays it safe and feels almost like a retread of Final Fantasy III, which I played after FFV, but it's the same concept. When it comes down it, the game does most things well, but nothing spectacularly, and is ultimately just an average Final Fantasy.
7. Final FantasyVIII
Final Fantasy VII was a very hard act to follow. It was one of my first RPGs, my first Final Fantasy game, and it only led me to expect the game to be even more masterful. Fortunately, when I first played Final Fantasy VIII, I found it to be fantastic. In fact, for a while FFVIII was one of my favorites. Unfortunately, my opinion changed drastically when I went to replay it, or at least tried to. Much like, Final Fantasy XIII, I enjoyed it the first time I played it, but I just can't bring myself to ever play it again. I find it painfully boring to replay. I enjoyed seeing everything in the game for the first time, and the game has a lot of great points about it, but once again it was like a movie that I saw in the theater once and never felt any desire to see it again, despite how much I liked it the first time.
So, putting the boring story and painfully slow pacing aside, the game is great. I didn't like most of the characters, but the world was interesting, the story was great for the entire first disc (only to take a huge dip in quality afterwards), the battle system was great, the music was great, and the game featured one of my favorite things in the series - the Guardian Force system. I loved leveling up my summons and using them in battle, watching their power grow and I loved equipping my spells and GFs to add power to my stats. Of all of the Final Fantasy games, this game had the best summons, by far. Not just the selection of summons, but the designs of them as well. This game got summons right in a big way. That alone made me love the game.
Unfortunately upon revisiting the game years later, I found that the game felt slow, boring, and almost lifeless. The Guardian Force system was still great, but everything else was just good (not great). I also didn't like the way that enemies in the world leveled up with you. I get that they wanted to give you a challenge the entire game but it just didn't work out well. Perhaps it was the comparison between all other Final Fantasies and this one that made me rethink my opinion of this game years later. When I first played this game, I only played FFVII and FFVIII. When I revisited it, I had already played every Final Fantasy game up through XII. Where some older Final Fantasies seemed timeless, even after revisiting them several times, VIII did not age well. I can replay every Final Fantasy on this list after this one, but I'd rather I just remember the good time I had with it the first time through.
Overall, it's a good game, with some great elements to it, that ultimately doesn't stand the test of time like the rest of my favorites do.
6. Final Fantasy VII
"Oh my god! Final Fantasy VII at number 6!? How could you!?" It's called opinion. Yes I agree FFVII is fantastic, and I agree it's legendary, but it's not my favorite. I give it a lot of credit for bringing a lot of new fans to the series (myself included) and this game had a huge influence on my life, in terms of sparking my creativity and video game playing in general. This became the game, for me, which every RPG I played afterwards was compared to. At the time I first played this game, this was one of my all-time favorite games, even possibly my absolute favorite at one point. I wrote my own sequel to this game (albeit a very bad one) which in turn got me into writing, a hobby I haven't put a lot of effort into lately, but an interest that persisted a good 15 years. Final Fantasy VII was just something else I did not expect that came to me at just the right moment.
I only just got into RPGs once I played Super Mario RPG and Earthbound on Super NES, and this was one of the first RPGs I played. There is very little I don't like about the game. The graphics have aged horribly, sure, but the story is still good, the soundtrack is still great, and the gameplay is still classic. Overall, the game holds up pretty well. A remake would definitely rekindle my interest in the game (I wish) but as it stands, the game is still fantastic. I'm well overdue for replaying it, though I have played it 3 or 4 times in my life. But at least I enjoyed my time with the game in every single playthrough. The game also hosts one of my favorite cast of characters. I love nearly all of them. Red XIII is one of my absolute favorite characters in the entire series, and Aeris is by far my favorite female video game character, in any series. This game also marked the first time I cried because of a scene in a game. If you've played it, you know which scene I'm talking about. If you haven't played it, what the hell are you waiting for? But I won't spoil it for you, since it's very significant. Aside from the fantastic cast of characters and memorable storyline, the soundtrack is amazing. While the music has been surpassed by a few others in the series, this still continues to be one of my favorite soundtracks for any game. I can listen to it on repeat as a wave of nostalgia hits me every single time, reminding me of the very first time I played this game.
This game has a lot of significance to me, not just because it's a great game, not just because it was my first Final Fantasy, nor because it was one of my first RPGs, but because it was the first time that I can remember caring about the characters and the world around them. I had a bond with them. For a while I even dreamt about the characters and thought about what it would be like to be friends with them. While I had played video games for a good 10 years at the time I first played this game, I never felt I had a super strong bond to any one character, let alone the entire cast.
When it comes down to it, the game is a near-masterpiece. It holds up fairly well, though the graphics are pretty ugly nowadays. The game is built on a very solid foundation, and I will always cherish my first experience with this game. So with all the great things I have to say about it, why isn't it my #1? Well, quite simply because I enjoyed other games more. Sure this game is fantastic but the next few games on my list I found to be even more fantastic. A difficult feat, yes, but this just goes to show you how high in quality the series has reached and why it deserves its legendary status.
5. Final Fantasy VI
This game was originally released on Super NES in 1994 as Final Fantasy III in the United States. Since we didn't get the real II or III here, they just renamed IV and VI to II and III in the United States. Eventually this game was re-released several times and has since been properly labelled as Final Fantasy VI.
Now that we've got that brief history lesson out of the way, I can talk about the game. When I said Final Fantasy VII was my first Final Fantasy, that's not entirely true. The first Final Fantasy I ever touched was this one. I rented it on Super NES after my encounter with Super Mario RPG and went looking for more games like it. I didn't enjoy it and I didn't get very far, so I don't really count it as my first game in the series. Years later, after I played and loved both FFVII and VIII, I sought this game out through emulation and played it on my computer. Turns out, my first impression of the game was wrong, and I ended up loving it. For a game that was already about 6 years old at the time, it held up surprisingly well (6 years felt like a long time when I was a teenager). I was impressed how well the story was told and how much I loved the characters. I never thought I would be able to go back and play the games in the Final Fantasy series prior to VII but it turns out this is one the best. I have since played it several times on several different platforms but never actually completed it. I've come close to the end each time but I never beat the final dungeon and boss. Don't worry - it's on my list of things to do. Despite never finishing it, the game is fantastic the entire way through. Just like FInal Fantasy VII, I became close to the characters, became engaged with the world, loved the soundtrack, and had a ton of fun with the gameplay. I can't even think of any bad thing to say about this game. It's really just that good. It's also significant for having one of the greatest villains of all time - Kefka. Easily the most "love to hate"-able villain in the series, and one of the best in all of gaming. A good villain is imperative for most games and especially important for RPGs. Your party members are also very different, and there are lot of them to choose from. I only disliked 2 or 3 of them, leaving me with a good 8 or 9 to choose from.
Overall, this game just needs to be experienced to understand. It is one of the finest examples of why the series and RPGs in general are so fantastic. Telling a good story was not held back by pixels. This game showed me you don't need to be in 3D for an engaging story. All in all, one of the absolute best in the series and even a contender for one of the best games in the entire gaming industry. An absolute must-play.
4. Final Fantasy X
It's hard to imagine any game in the series being better than Final Fantasy VI or VII but somehow there are four of them. Final Fantasy X took me by surprise because I played it during a time where I was losing interest in Final Fantasy games and RPGs in general. I didn't get a Playstation 2 until several years after it came out and stuck with Gamecube during that time period. It wasn't until around 2004 that I finally played this game. I previously thought that Final Fantasy lost its touch after the masterpiece that was Final Fantasy IX, but I was dead wrong. Linear, this game may be, but what a fantastic story and world they gave us.
This game is one of the most memorable games in the series to me. The characters were lovable and diverse, the story was very driven and easy to get into, and this also marks the first time we see voice acting in a Final Fantasy, which I didn't care for at first, but it really did help engage me in the story. Final Fantasy X is a rare masterpiece, There isn't one thing it does wrong, in my opinion. If I had to fault it for anything, it's the fact that it became so big and it was so good that it spawned a sequel that was both unnecessary and inferior to the original in every single way. Ultimately, the sequel didn't tarnish my love for this game. I still love the story, the characters, the music, the battle system, and the soundtrack. In fact, this game has one of my all-time favorite soundtracks, despite being the first in the series that wasn't completely composed by Nobuo Uematsu.
One thing i absolutely loved that this game did was give you the ability to switch party members in mid-battle. This is something that hasn't been revisited and is still one of the reasons why I love the battle system so much. Every character was important in terms of battle and story. Nothing in the game is wasteful or filler content and I enjoyed every single moment I ever spent with this game. I've only played this game twice, but never had a single bored moment through either playthrough. I plan on playing the HD re-release some time in the near future, which I was very excited for, but ultimately other games took priority.
Overall, this game is a masterpiece and needs to be experienced by any Final Fantasy fan or RPG fanatics. It's one of my favorite Final Fantasies, one of my favorite RPGs, and one of my favorite games of all time.
3. Final Fantasy IV
We've made it to the Top 3 in the list, and this may or may not surprise you, but yes Final Fantasy IV is one of my favorites. Despite feeling dated now and when I first played it, I came to love the hell out of this game. This game is also the Final Fantasy I have played the most, in several forms. After having played VII, VIII, V, VI, and IX, I finally went back to play this game despite expecting not to like it. Fortunately, I was able to look past how dated it felt and just loved it for what it is. In essence, this was the first modern Final Fantasy at its very core. It had a set class system, a relatively strong narrative, and was the first appearance of the Active Time Battle System. I wish I had played this game during its initial release, because this probably would've been #1 on my list, but the mere fact that I was experiencing a game over a decade after its initial release for the first time and still managed to enjoy it immensely is a testament to just how good the game is. Sure it may be more difficult than most other Final Fantasies, and like I said, the game feels dated especially compared to other games in the series, but its simplicity works well.
The game was almost ahead of its time in 1992. The story, though basic, was a great one, one that I cared about, and with a cast of characters I cared about. Some of the characters are even favorites of mine, specifically Kain and Rydia. The villain was one that I loved to hate, and it was very satisfying finishing the entire game. The game is overall very memorable and never gets old to me. They have released this game in many different forms in many different platforms including Super NES (as Final Fantasy II), GBA, PSP, PS1, Android, iPhone, and DS. The DS version (as well as the Android and iPhone ports) is a remake in 3D similar in style to Final Fantasy III. Luckily, the game translated well into the third dimension, proving further that the game stands the test of time. Chances are it will be re-released or remade on yet another platform in the future, and I will yet again play it and love it as much as I did the first 5 or 6 times.
2. Final Fantasy XII
This game is a video game success story for me. After having played Final Fantasy X about two years prior, and having played every game in the series by this point, I was strongly anticipating this game. Despite the misstep that was Final Fantasy XI, I had very high expectations for this game. I knew it was going to be different but I didn't know just how much. I wanted this game to prove to me that Final Fantasy was still an amazing franchise and that it can have successful new ideas. I was so excited for this game that I even went to its midnight release (a first for me). Unfortunately, my first experience with the game was not a positive one.
Upon entering the game, I immediately recognized the more mature, more gritty, and more political tone the story would eventually take than I was used to. I generally hate politcal-based stories and this was no exception at the time. I initially hated the battle system and the Gambit system. I hated not being able to have a party in which I controlled all characters at once. The soundtrack felt boring and forgettable. I didn't care about the world or the characters. Playing this game for the first time was ilke a punch in the face and was the first time that I felt the series as a whole was dead to me. I even went so far to tell fans of the franchises not to waste their time with this game as I felt it was almost an insult to the rest of the games. I hated that they went with an offline MMORPG feel and it seriously detracted from the overall game experience. I played it for about 5 or 6 hours before calling it quits and didn't touch the game again for another 2 years. In 2008 I decided to give the game a second shot - and once again I ended up disliking it. I got a bit further this time - closer to 15 to 20 hours total - but ultimately I grew bored of it and just gave up trying to like the game.
"Wait, if you hated the game so much, how in the hell is it #2 on your list?!" Well, you didn't let me finish. Remember how I said this was a video game success story for me? Well, I'm about to get to why I said that. Fast forward to 2010. Final Fantasy XIII is on the verge of being released, which sparks my interest in Final Fantasy XII one more time. At this point I just want to play through FFXII just to say I did and put it behind me (Hmm sounds just like another game in a different popular franchise I played recently...) so that I never have to look at it again. What happened next could not have been predicted by me or Nostradamus or anyone in between. I actually liked the game. I don't know how it happened or why, but I was actually enjoying it this time. Perhaps a miracle had happened, perhaps I prayed countless time and wished for myself to like the game and that wish was granted, or maybe went into it for the third time expecting to hate it yet going in with a much more open mind this time. Whatever the case was, this game quickly shot up the ranks as one of my favorite games in the series. I eventually liked the characters despite them being severely underdeveloped. I eventually came around to liking the battle system and its fluidity. I eventually even came around to the political story, which I usually hate, but for some reason I found myself really engaged in it this time. I also found myself listening to the soundtrack on repeat for weeks just because I really got into it and found it just that good. Yes, it's a very different game than pretty much every Final Fantasy before it, but as I eventually discovered, that's not a bad thing. In a stark contrast to the linear Final Fantasy X and XIII, XII was refreshingly open in design. I loved the open world and wandering around wherever I pleased. This game also had one of the best mini games or sub-quests in the series in the form of Hunts. I loved hunting dangerous beasts to gain better items and weapons. Looking back, that aspect almost feels like a Monster Hunter game, which I only just played recently.
All in all, I was amazingly happy I was able to revisit this game with an open mind and appreciate the game for what it is. It's possible I was so stuck in the past that I didn't want the series to change or evolve that I disliked it just because it was different. Or perhaps I just wasn't meant to play the game in 2006. Maybe my timing was off. Whatever the case is, my third experience of the game was a very good one, and upon completing the game a mere week before the release of Final Fantasy XIII, it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time and nearly became my favorite Final Fantasy of all time.
1. Final Fantasy IX
Here it is - the moment this list was all about. My all-time favorite Final Fantasy game, one of my favorite games of all time and my second favorite RPG of all time. After having played VII and VIII on PC, I was hoping IX would come to PC so I didn't have to buy a Playstation. Unfortunately, it didn't, and I ended up buying a PS1 just for this game, and it was well worth it. I had asked for this game for Christmas in 2000, but I couldn't wait to play it and my friend (who didn't even like the game) had it and let me borrow his copy for the time being. So by the time I actually got my own copy, I was already 75% of the way through it. Still, my experience with this game is fantastic. Not quite as strong as my bond with Earthbound, yet I cherish this game very much. Everything in the game came together perfectly and is one example of a video game masterpiece in my opinion.
The characters, though cartoony, were very engaging and very different, each useful in their own way. This game harkened back to the old days of Final Fantasy, ending up very similar to Final Fantasy I and IV but with a more modern touch. The story starts out humble and somewhat predictable but eventually keeps building into something more and more grand. I never felt bored with any moment with this game I never could wait to see what would happen next. I loved the moments when your would switch focus from one character's perspective to the next. It really helped drive the story and I felt like I was playing the video game version of a classic book. The story and game itself feels timeless, even after I've played it several times through. The battle system is a little slow, but beyond that, eventually else is perfect. Least of all of that is the soundtrack, which even on its own is a complete masterpiece. The game has more charm than most other Final Fantasies and was overall very memorable. Final Fantasy IX was an experience I will never forget for the rest of my life. It was a defining moment in my video game history for being one of the best told stories that I would never get sick of hearing. Talking about it right now is actually making me want to replay it yet again.
Nothing more can be said about this game that I haven't said about it or any Final Fantasy game already. FFIX is a masterpiece and a true archetype of the series and RPG genre as a whole. It was a fantastic journey that I am incredibly nostalgic about yet still feels like a timeless classic that I will enjoy for years to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment