2-HeadedGiraffe: Final Fantasy (May Contain Spoilers)
Disclaimer: This post may contain spoilers about multiple games in the Final Fantasy video game series. Bear this in mind when choosing whether to read it.
This morning, I have completed Final Fantasy III DS. For anyone who doesn't know, beating this game essentially requires the player to beat six bosses more or less in a row with no save points in the final dungeon and no possibility of exiting the dungeon between battles. You are automatically healed after each one, but there are still random monsters (I ran) and four trapped treasure chests with ribbons, which are well worth it, since I think at least four of the last bosses, including the final boss, can use status effects on you.
This has nothing to do with the main purpose of this post. I wish to place the first ten main-sequence Final Fantasy games in order of which I think are best. I haven't played XI or XII, so they're not on the list. Keep in mind this list will be highly subjective. My criteria and opinions are my own, and you'll almost certainly disagree at some point. So here goes:
10. Final Fantasy X - Graphically, this one is amazing. The voice acting is, at its worst, slightly awkward but normally very well done. Unfortunately, it feels much more linear than any of the others, which is a bad thing in an RPG. There's no real feeling of freedom in any particular area or even on the world map in general. This really hurts it. Also, the final sequence felt extremely easy. I swear, the final boss actually revived my entirely dead party more than once. I don't know why that happens or how to lose that battle. Maybe it was some weird fluke that I didn't understand. Either way, I didn't exactly feel challenged at that point. Keep in mind, though, that this is still a good game overall, even though it's at the bottom of the list (or the top, visually speaking).
09. Final Fantasy VII - This game has not aged well. The visual presentation is less satisfying than that of the SNES games. The story is interesting, but I'm not sure it really sticks out when I think about the series. I remember being fairly impressed with it at the time, but for the life of me, I'm not quite sure why. I do still like it, but it just doesn't stand up to the others.
08. Final Fantasy II - Close, but no cigar. This game had a lot of interesting systems. It had a lot of potential, and it did a fair job with what it. The story lacks the strength of other entries in the series, though. Also, the insane length of dungeons two games before the invention of save points makes some points more difficult or tedious than they really needed to be.
07. Final Fantasy VIII - Like II, this game tries some different systems. Drawing enough magic just takes time without adding much. Junctioning is interesting, especially status attack junctions. One of the big points against this game is that in most battles, it seems the correct move is just to summon every GF you have, since they don't cost any MP to use. It can get repetitive. Throw in one extremely cheesy moment in the plot, and an ending that, though cool, implies that if you lost the final battle, the whole thing would never have happened, and it falls a bit from where it could have been. It's a nice game, but it's probably better that its systems didn't become the norm.
06. Final Fantasy III - The job system is incredible in this game, the sheer variety of choices giving the game heavy replay value. Interesting characters populate the world, which is itself fairly memorable. A few problems, though, keep it from being higher. Every so often, the difficulty jumps, rather than curving smoothly. This isn't so bad in the DS remake (which is the same as the original version except better in nearly every way), but it's still there, to a certain extent. The other thing is the final sequence. Even if you're strong enough to beat it, it takes a fair amount of time. The quicksave feature on the DS version helps this, I'm sure (I didn't use it), by allowing you to basically suspend the game and come back to that point later, erasing the quicksave in the process. The major flaws of this game are smoothed out but not completely erased in the DS version. Oh, and this isn't the ultimate expression of the job system, which pushed another ahead of it.
05. Final Fantasy - This scores as high as it does for a couple reasons. First of all, the choice of classes for your characters at the beginning lets you customize your party and also adds replay value to the game. Got through it too easily the first time? Try it with four white mages (I did, on the easy mode of the PS version). The story was not incredibly detailed, but it was solid, with a twist ending I doubt very many people saw coming. The biggest problem it had was the length of time it took to level. You would seriously put 10 times the time into leveling that it took to actually do the things you were leveling to be able to do. The remake I played solved this issue (maybe too well; it was a bit easy, as many games are these days).
04. Final Fantasy V - For including the best incarnation of the job system in the games eligible for the list, this one gets high marks. Allowing your to combine the powers of various jobs feels like a natural continuation on the system introduced (kinda) in the first game and improved upon in the third. Without that system, though, I feel this would have been a good but unremarkable entry in the series. The story was interesting, and some of the characters were pretty good (Galuf and Gilgamesh come to mind), but overall it hasn't made the impression on me some of the others have.
03. Final Fantasy IX - This one is best not for what it does new, but for the way it brings together elements of so many of the other games. It feels more akin to one of the older games than the ones of its own generation. Things like the classic-style mages, for example, as well as all the references to other games in the series, make it a treat for those who've played the series. Also, the characters feel more unique than in any game since IV, partially because they each have different abilities rather than all being able to do everything. There are some things just about everybody can do, but they're more general. Also, Kuja probably comes in second for my favorite antagonist in the series.
02. Final Fantasy VI - I'm going to hear it for not placing this one first, but, oh well. My major objection to this one as opposed to the one that took first place is characters. There are a fair number of party members I just don't care about or usually have no particular desire to use. Some aren't developed enough or important enough to the story. Also, allowing any character to learn any magic feels like a step in the wrong direction to me. Before that, characters usually had to specialize in something. Even under the job system, they had to choose something and do it, at least for the time being. This game starts a trend which leads to the parts where the correct strategic move is to give everyone identical abilities, such as a single powerful spell or summon. They cease to feel different, which is bad. As for the story, though, it's powerful and fairly deep. My first time through, I never expected the World of Ruin, for example. Kefka finally did it. He finally blew it up.
01. Final Fantasy IV - This is my personal favorite. The characters are well developed, and the story is interesting, full of twists and surprises. Golbez is still my favorite antagonist in the series, and Kain is
the dragoon. Every character is interesting, and most of the party members are not only important to the story but actually fun to play as. This one did basically everything right, in my book.
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