[...] I also like 7 a lot, even though a lot of people write it off as "overrated", which is annoying.

I don't "write it off" as much as I just don't think it's the brilliant masterpiece everyone and their mother seem to believe it is. While not the worst game in the series (from the ones I played at least), it definitely isn't the best one even among the PSX era.

[...] I also like 7 a lot, even though a lot of people write it off as "overrated", which is annoying.

I don't "write it off" as much as I just don't think it's the brilliant masterpiece everyone and their mother seem to believe it is. While not the worst game in the series (from the ones I played at least), it definitely isn't the best one even among the PSX era.

The issue is the characters weren't especially sophisticated, at least not in the English translation. I think it's the cool and intriguing science fiction imagery that convinces people it's the best. I still like it for the graphics and gameplay

[...] I also like 7 a lot, even though a lot of people write it off as "overrated", which is annoying.

I don't "write it off" as much as I just don't think it's the brilliant masterpiece everyone and their mother seem to believe it is. While not the worst game in the series (from the ones I played at least), it definitely isn't the best one even among the PSX era.

I'd be amazed if it was, given it was basically their 3D prototype. Given they were doing stuff with the graphics they'd never done before, I'm impressed that it's as good as it is. Goofy stuff, blocky models, plot holes you could fly the Highwind through and not touch the sides, and all.

I suppose FF7 is one of those games that are better if you play it when it comes out, not 20 years later. I mean, for a game from 1997, I can't say that the graphics don't look good, but they sure do look abysmal compared to... you know, pretty much anything released in 2017. I did download the Beacause patch or whatever it's called so that I wouldn't have to deal with the horrible translation, but I suppose that a better translation can't really help if I'm not all that interested in the story itself.

Anyhow, from what I've read, the general opinion seems to be that either 6 or 9 are the best FF games... apparently 6's Steam port is not as good as it could be and 9's is spectacular, so I guess I'll have to buy 9 first (unless they've already improved 6's port? Haven't heard anything about it but yeah).

You know, this is completely unrelated, but there are many times when I wish that I had an older sibling or a friend or something who'd recommend good games to me... I was such a dumb kid and I wasted all my parents' money on shitty games like Shrek. I started playing games when I was five in 2005, so I would only really have the chance to play XII (plus the KH games if you count those) back in my PS2 days, but that'd be better than... nothing. And now that I actually do research on games before I buy them, we have no money... hopefully, that'll change sometime in the future, but who can say...

last edited at Sep 3, 2017 3:19PM

Anyhow, from what I've read, the general opinion seems to be that either 6 or 9 are the best FF games... apparently 6's Steam port is not as good as it could be and 9's is spectacular, so I guess I'll have to buy 9 first (unless they've already improved 6's port? Haven't heard anything about it but yeah).

If you play on an emulator, there's a good patch by Ted Woolsey that fixed a lot of stuff in the ROM file that improves the experience. I haven't played very far into it myself, but it seems to work.

I've got the iOS port for FF6 and wow do I hate the control scheme. Much better if you have a controller in your hands.

last edited at Sep 3, 2017 3:43PM

I suppose FF7 is one of those games that are better if you play it when it comes out, not 20 years later. I mean, for a game from 1997, I can't say that the graphics don't look good, but they sure do look abysmal compared to... you know, pretty much anything released in 2017. I did download the Beacause patch or whatever it's called so that I wouldn't have to deal with the horrible translation, but I suppose that a better translation can't really help if I'm not all that interested in the story itself.

Anyhow, from what I've read, the general opinion seems to be that either 6 or 9 are the best FF games... apparently 6's Steam port is not as good as it could be and 9's is spectacular, so I guess I'll have to buy 9 first (unless they've already improved 6's port? Haven't heard anything about it but yeah).

You know, this is completely unrelated, but there are many times when I wish that I had an older sibling or a friend or something who'd recommend good games to me... I was such a dumb kid and I wasted all my parents' money on shitty games like Shrek. I started playing games when I was five in 2005, so I would only really have the chance to play XII (plus the KH games if you count those) back in my PS2 days, but that'd be better than... nothing. And now that I actually do research on games before I buy them, we have no money... hopefully, that'll change sometime in the future, but who can say...

I'm convinced that FFX is objectively the best game but that's just a contrarian opinion of mine. I recently played FF6 for the first time so I can offer an unbiased impression.
1. Cool story and characters, more simplistic than the post FF7 games though.
2. Battle system drives me crazy, constant encounter rate, simple and easy for the most part, the most repetitive thing in any game ever. Not bad though, kinda liked it.
3. Felt like the game lost steam in the open ended second half, plenty of people like that part best though,

Overall the game impressed me at several points but it wasn't my favorite. I'd imagine when it first came out it was a revelation. I haven't seen FF4 mentioned here yet, I'd recommend that one for a first final fantasy game. Simple yet fun story, combat is challenging but not too hard, characters are very endearing, and it's not too long.

Battle system drives me crazy, constant encounter rate, simple and easy for the most part, the most repetitive thing in any game ever.

I don't think that's really an exclusivity to 6 at all. In fact, I think all the FFs up to 9 have that, with the worst offender probably being FF1.

One thing about 6 and 7, the music was incredible. As are the OC Remix albums based on both. 9's opening theme was great too.

I wasn't as taken by 10's music, it didn't stick with me in the same way.

Battle system drives me crazy, constant encounter rate, simple and easy for the most part, the most repetitive thing in any game ever.

I don't think that's really an exclusivity to 6 at all. In fact, I think all the FFs up to 9 have that, with the worst offender probably being FF1.

1-3 were probably worse true but I never beat those. The balance was a little better in 4 and 7. Never played 5 and 8. X's was much more streamlined but the inherent problems were still there.

One thing about 6 and 7, the music was incredible. As are the OC Remix albums based on both. 9's opening theme was great too.

I wasn't as taken by 10's music, it didn't stick with me in the same way.

10's soundtrack was more experimental, not as "catchy" but still extremely good. Mostly wasn't done by Nobuo Uematsu. Have you played 4? It's pretty much the spiritual predecessor to 6.

One thing about 6 and 7, the music was incredible. As are the OC Remix albums based on both. 9's opening theme was great too.

I wasn't as taken by 10's music, it didn't stick with me in the same way.

10's soundtrack was more experimental, not as "catchy" but still extremely good. Mostly wasn't done by Nobuo Uematsu. Have you played 4? It's pretty much the spiritual predecessor to 6.

Oh, I've played a bunch of 4. That was my first of the FF games actually, and I played 1 later on (and the remaster of 2, I think it was, for the DS). Spoony bard and all that. It was a very "innocent" sort of game in a lot of ways, where 6's world was a lot more gritty.

Right, I forgot all about them sales. I'm definitely gonna have to buy them the next time a sale hits... now the only thing to worry about is which one to buy first. It seems that all the FF games from 3 to 14 (minus 12 and 15's apparently coming to PC soon) are on Steam, so I definitely have a lot of games to choose from in the future...

There seems to be a broad consensus among FF fans that FF6 and FF10-2 were the Gold and Silver Medalists, respectively, for the entire series. If you look online at polls and articles ranking the games from worst to best, you'll find FF6 in the #1 or #2 spots of most lists. FFX-2 doesn't show up as often, mainly because most of the articles which rank the games only rank the main, core games, and exclude the spin-offs and sequels. (FF11 and FF14 are MMORPGs, and also generally excluded from such lists.) But FFX-2 is held in very high regard as well on those lists which do discuss the sequels and spin-offs.

All of the games have things to like, though, and all of them have their fans. FFI is probably the most difficult one for the modern gamer to enjoy because it's pretty damned primitive. But even then it has its own quaint charms.

The Steam version of FF3 is the DS remake from 2006, which updated the graphics and story and gameplay considerably. Having played both the NES original and the DS remake, I can testify that the DS remake of FF3 is not nearly as hair-pullingly frustrating as is the NES original.

My personal fave is FFXII (pronounced "fucksy"), which is in the process of being ported to Windows via Steam, and will probably be released either around Christmas or around the time the latest one (FF15) is released on Steam.

The big drawback of those early games though was so little yuri potential. Not enough female characters spending any kind of quality time with each other to base convincing 'ships off. So great for the fujoshi, especially FF7 with its "one bed short" and all, but not so much to work with for us.

The big drawback of those early games though was so little yuri potential. Not enough female characters spending any kind of quality time with each other to base convincing 'ships off. So great for the fujoshi, especially FF7 with its "one bed short" and all, but not so much to work with for us.

One thing about 6 and 7, the music was incredible. As are the OC Remix albums based on both. 9's opening theme was great too.
I wasn't as taken by 10's music, it didn't stick with me in the same way.

Oh yeah, that was definitely one of the few good things I noticed about FF7 while I was playing it: the amazing soundtrack. I still like KH's a bit more, but that's probably only because of nostalgia factor (even if 358/2 Days was the only game I played as a kid, I still freaking love Dearly Beloved, Sanctuary, Vector to the Heavens... all that good stuff)

FF11 and FF14 are MMORPGs, and also generally excluded from such lists.) But FFX-2 is held in very high regard as well on those lists which do discuss the sequels and spin-offs.

I'm probably never gonna play FF11 'cause it's gonna die out by the time I get enough money to pay for the subscription, but I've heard pretty good things about it. I tried out the free trial for 14 and it was definitely a lot of fun; it probably pales in comparison to the better FF games, but it was still quite a fun MMO based on what little I played of it.

The big drawback of those early games though was so little yuri potential. Not enough female characters spending any kind of quality time with each other to base convincing 'ships off. So great for the fujoshi, especially FF7 with its "one bed short" and all, but not so much to work with for us.

I have yet to play FF15, but it doesn't really seem like it's any better than the earlier games seeing as though the entire party is male. I dunno though, maybe Aranea and Lunafreya (those are their names, right?) are actually secret lovers or something, but, yeah, probably not... still, yaoi ain't bad either and FFXV's party composed entirely of men is just as good to me as FFX-2's party composed entirely of women... though both are probably just disappointments in disguise since, at least from what I've read, the Yuna and Tidus and Noctis and Luna romances are pretty important to the plot. I didn't really notice much subtext in 14 either, though that's probably just 'cause it's an MMO. At least we have the fairly recent XIII series though to grace us with some wonderful yuri.

last edited at Sep 3, 2017 5:45PM

TFW the "sequels" wasn't about them and instead we got lots of wtf with Goddesses and time travel .-.

They did have a fairly major role in LR... The sequels did have pretty WTF plots, though

In LR, Lighting says Fang and Vanille's bond is "stronger than family".
Sadly I gave up on FF until Square does something that feels like the series again, and less like Nomura's dream.

I didn't really notice much subtext in 14 either, though that's probably just 'cause it's an MMO.

There isn't blatant subtext in 14, but I have seen short doujinshi featuring Sadu x Cirina lol.

At least we have the fairly recent XIII series though to grace us with some wonderful yuri.

FF12 has the Eruyt Village, which is populated entirely by sultry bunnygirls in skimpy outfits. Nary a bunnyman (nor an echo) to be found.

I ship Terra and Celes in FF6.

When I was a kid, I liked Locke and so the game pushes Locke x Celes and I was down with that but now I don't care about Locke like at all as an adult. lol

I honestly don't remember if there is anything between them in the game, but Terra is the main lead of the first half while Celes is pretty much the main lead of the second half. They do have that Empire connection after all.

I ship Terra and Celes in FF6.

When I was a kid, I liked Locke and so the game pushes Locke x Celes and I was down with that but now I don't care about Locke like at all as an adult. lol

I honestly don't remember if there is anything between them in the game, but Terra is the main lead of the first half while Celes is pretty much the main lead of the second half. They do have that Empire connection after all.

From what I recall, although I need to play through the Woolsey's "uncensored" version still, there really isn't anything but a line or two of dialogue, barely enough to pass the Bechdel-Wallace test.

I thoight 10 was overrated and that 7 is a great game (maybe it's an age thing), along with 9 & 12. Have never finished 2 - 6 though I'm trying to rectify that now but number 2 is such a slog so i may end up skipping it.

Couldn't agree more. FF13 has frustrated me to insane levels because it had ALL the prerequisites for writing good drama in fantastic context (my favorite thing in fiction), yet squandered all of them so meticulously, as if the writers were doing it on purpose. To boot: Lightning is a woman who got too much responsibility too soon in life, and estranged herself from her beloved sister because she thought she knew better what was good for Serah; Sazh is a single father coping with the fact that his son was taken from him by the government for something neither of them had any control over (isn't it any parent's worst nightmare?); Snow is an idealistic, if insecure idiot with too much energy and charisma who has the understanding that reality doesn't just magically turn out the way he wants painfully beaten into him; Hope is a boy coping with the death of his irresponsible, but loving mother by bonding with a woman who has clearly proven herself to be an utterly incapable mother figure; and Vanille has a massive guilt complex for what happened to Sazh's son when she and Fang awoke, and much more for holding Fang back during their first attack on Cocoon, and thus failing their mission and ensuring the extinction of their native civilization. Fang, in fact, seems to be the only main character who has clear goals and very little drama in her life, which actually serves as a nice counterbalance to the other five.

Pfft. I was gonna say that. but you did. so. Yeah. We don't even need to see how I would have worded it and that it would have been just as well written. Nope.

The only FF game I played before 13 was the u.s version of 3 which is actually different in Japan if I remember correctly. As mush as I disliked 13, I spent more time with those characters than I usually did with games up to that point. I have some odd fondness for it. Especially the music. I like Lightning but I don't blame anyone who hates her based on how she has been written in all of the 13 games. I really like her sister in 13-2. I'd even ship them but I don't really care for incest and going A.U just seems . . . excessive.

I was actually thinking back on "another part" that was considered a yuri moment between Fang and Vanille the other day.

https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/shipping/images/3/31/Final_Fantasy_-_Fanille_Brand_%28Final_Fantasy_XIII%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20130809212021

And everyone looks away awkwardly!

last edited at Oct 27, 2017 8:04PM

I like Lightning but I don't blame anyone who hates her based on how she has been written in all of the 13 games. I really like her sister in 13-2. I'd even ship them but I don't really care for incest and going A.U just seems . . . excessive.

Both Farrons are huge siscons, though...

and going A.U just seems . . . excessive.

Huh... Did you finish LR?

I think I played through to story until I encountered the esper of hope and just gave up tbh. I only played one previous title in the final fantasy series which was X so I kinda was disappointed when I was forced to walk trough one corridor after another instead of walking trough an open world. One of the reasons I liked X so much back then was that I totally fell in love with characters such as Auron, where some of the ff13 characters were just really unlikeable such as Hope a whiny, weak, socially inept if not retarded cowardly mommy boy ( I mean I understand it’s not fair to compare someone as badass as Auron to Hope, but dear god I hated that kid so much). I mean the game was not terrible characterwise, I really liked fang and vanille, since Fang reminded me of Auron and Vanille of Rikku. Still have the game on the PS3 so dunno maybe I give it a try again so I can follow the fang x vanille ship even tho I have to relive Shiva turning into a motorbike again ._.;