What is the best final fantasy game?

[Gunsaremagic]

Im more into difficult games i never really played final fantasy i like Party-Based RPGs like baldurs gate 2 or divinity pillars of eternity or turn based games like the xcom games as long as the game offers me a challenge ive been thinking about getting Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster but idk if i have chosen wiseley or not https://store.steampowered.com/app/359870/FINAL_FANTASY_XX2_HD_Remaster/ is it a good idea to get this as my first final fantasy game

[Zaris]

Most FF games are about story, level grinding and having nearly zero difficulty as soon as you outgrind enemies levels to the point becomine invincible fast. In short:

- FF1-12: easy grind games, with some excceptions (FF7 endgame ~4 bosses need tactic)
- FF15: tried to copy the action combat of other games and you need to dodge, parry sometimes but in general outgrinding is the most important thing
- FF16: no difficulty at all, just spam your 6 spells and enemies staggers and dies
FF13: reinvteded the combat system with role based combat and had some good bossfights during campaign and some hard bosses endgame
- FF7 Remake: Has most likely the best combat system with depth, complexity and difficulty even during the campaign, you will encounter enemies early on which can bust your group without tactic (exploiting different weaknesses, dodging, blocking and positioning are important) and outgrinding levels doesn't help

So if you want a good story with challenging combat start with FF7 Remake, after that FF13 or FF15. For sole story reasons most people will most likely say FF7, 9, 10.

[Xengre]

Final Fantasy games are not known for their difficulty. If that is what you are looking for you can give up on Final Fantasy.

You might like...

Growlanser

Legend of Legaia (particularly famous for its difficulty and perhaps #1 difficulty, but there is a known cheese too)

Star Ocean Till The End of Time (if you don't use a guide to know about some abusive builds, the post game in particular is what you would be most interested in but you might actually enjoy the majority of the game)

You might find the Xenosaga games to quality, but be warned they're like very story heavy with immense high quality lengthy cutscenes (literal hours, think Lord of the Rings style...). They're very high quality scenes compared to other games but a cutscene could readily last 10-40 minutes and such so you better enjoy a good story. If you are itching for mostly pure gameplay, though, avoid it.

If you don't mind more action oriented JRPGs with emphasis on action and minor RPG elements (basically opposite of Star Ocean's approach) then Ys franchise (notably the older ones like Origin, Oath of Felghana, etc. this franchise is basically slightly similar to Dark Souls but not quite and notorious for difficulty, actually makes DS look like chump difficulty). Some of the newer entries are way easier though... but depending on your skill level may still be of interest on their harder difficulties. Another might be Shining Force EXA.

I swear I better not see anyone mention a Persona game as that will instantly invalidate your opinion. Only preemptively mention because I've seen this one often recommended because of the typical bad player but these games are NOT hard. In fact, they're designed to be readily beatable at ultra low level even if you neglect dungeons/leveling and focus on the social aspects.

Overall, JRPGs just aren't hard typically.

Now, Final Fantasy games make for some great quality stories, world building, likeable casts, and adventures. Final Fantasy X/X-2 (mostly X tho...) is one of the more popular ones, too. Really, 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 are by far the most recommended (6 may also appeal to some).

Due to your mention of tastes such as party based games, Baldur's Gate 3, and such have you tried Divinity Sin (either game)? Agarest War (mainly the original, not the prequel... note avoid the absolute ridiculously p2w DLC in your case, it gives you literal post game super gear and thousands of free stats/levels)? XCOM 1 & 2 are amazing. You might like Final Fantasy Tactics. Disgaea series may also be worth checking out for you.

[Gunsaremagic]

Originally posted by Xengre:

Final Fantasy games are not known for their difficulty. If that is what you are looking for you can give up on Final Fantasy.

You might like...

Growlanser

Legend of Legaia (particularly famous for its difficulty and perhaps #1 difficulty, but there is a known cheese too)

Star Ocean Till The End of Time (if you don't use a guide to know about some abusive builds, the post game in particular is what you would be most interested in but you might actually enjoy the majority of the game)

You might find the Xenosaga games to quality, but be warned they're like very story heavy with immense high quality lengthy cutscenes (literal hours, think Lord of the Rings style...). They're very high quality scenes compared to other games but a cutscene could readily last 10-40 minutes and such so you better enjoy a good story. If you are itching for mostly pure gameplay, though, avoid it.

If you don't mind more action oriented JRPGs with emphasis on action and minor RPG elements (basically opposite of Star Ocean's approach) then Ys franchise (notably the older ones like Origin, Oath of Felghana, etc. this franchise is basically slightly similar to Dark Souls but not quite and notorious for difficulty, actually makes DS look like chump difficulty). Some of the newer entries are way easier though... but depending on your skill level may still be of interest on their harder difficulties. Another might be Shining Force EXA.

I swear I better not see anyone mention a Persona game as that will instantly invalidate your opinion. Only preemptively mention because I've seen this one often recommended because of the typical bad player but these games are NOT hard. In fact, they're designed to be readily beatable at ultra low level even if you neglect dungeons/leveling and focus on the social aspects.

Overall, JRPGs just aren't hard typically.

Now, Final Fantasy games make for some great quality stories, world building, likeable casts, and adventures. Final Fantasy X/X-2 (mostly X tho...) is one of the more popular ones, too. Really, 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 are by far the most recommended (6 may also appeal to some).

Due to your mention of tastes such as party based games, Baldur's Gate 3, and such have you tried Divinity Sin (either game)? Agarest War (mainly the original, not the prequel... note avoid the absolute ridiculously p2w DLC in your case, it gives you literal post game super gear and thousands of free stats/levels)? XCOM 1 & 2 are amazing. You might like Final Fantasy Tactics. Disgaea series may also be worth checking out for you.

Thx for the info dude maybe final fantasy isnt for me Agarest and pathfinder look interesting also found a game called avernium and looks cool

I already own every single divinity and dnd baldurs gate game except neverwinter nights just a glorified level editor no party management solo only sucks

[Xengre]

I forgot to mention these that you may or may not like, but I was a fan of these ones.

Put in order of my personal preference:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/418240/Shadow_Tactics_Blades_of_the_Shogun/
Best story / cast / aesthetics imo. Great gameplay and fine balance.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/610370/Desperados_III/?curator_clanid=32976195
Best level design edging out Shadow Tactics at times on this point. The lady with the darts is very overpowered though... might want to avoid exploiting her. I take major issues with the story after a certain point that is just nonsensical and downright stupid. Cast is likeable up to that point.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1545560/Shadow_Gambit_The_Cursed_Crew/?curator_clanid=32976195
The last one is the easiest due to overpowered characters (much of the roster, including some commonly cited as "underpowered" by the community due to incorrect use are among the most overpowered like the main character). Largest cast of characters so quite a bit of variety in compositions, strategies, etc.

[Cooperal]

Tactics or Tactics Advance sound like they are right up OPs alley from a gameplay standpoint. Typical turn-based game with tile-based positioning and FF flavouring.

I started with FF8 so I cannot bring myself to pick another over it. At least in singleplayer. I love every broken bit of it. Would love to see a junction system that didn't have crazy modifiers that you can tell are going to bust things just by reading what they do.

While I am here I want to ask a question too. Am I weird for preferring FF11s mechanics over FF14? The difference is night and day and FF14 lives up that more WoW feeling that most modern MMOs have. But FF11, it felt more like a game of theory and experimentation with little hand-holding and a heck of a lot of community engagement that WASN'T driven by automatic party-finders. You actually had to talk to people and stuff.

I swear I am not just that guy that blindly roots for the underdog, but I am just realising that their may be a strong argument for the contrary.

[Xengre]

Never played 11 or 14 so can't comment.

[rostysilverside]

Originally posted by Xengre:

I forgot to mention these that you may or may not like, but I was a fan of these ones.

Put in order of my personal preference:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/418240/Shadow_Tactics_Blades_of_the_Shogun/
Best story / cast / aesthetics imo. Great gameplay and fine balance.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/610370/Desperados_III/?curator_clanid=32976195
Best level design edging out Shadow Tactics at times on this point. The lady with the darts is very overpowered though... might want to avoid exploiting her. I take major issues with the story after a certain point that is just nonsensical and downright stupid. Cast is likeable up to that point.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1545560/Shadow_Gambit_The_Cursed_Crew/?curator_clanid=32976195
The last one is the easiest due to overpowered characters (much of the roster, including some commonly cited as "underpowered" by the community due to incorrect use are among the most overpowered like the main character). Largest cast of characters so quite a bit of variety in compositions, strategies, etc.

OMG thank you so much for mentioning this. It looks insane 😍. Will try it ASAP.

[Etagloc]

10 7 or 9 IMHO :D
also enjoyed 12

[Weltall8000]

You know, I didn't think much of II the one time I played it, but I am currently playing the Pixel Remaster of it and I really like it so far this time around. I guess they did nix the stat loss. Or it could be that I have changed in the past 20 years.

As for the franchise overall, I like Tactics best. Next is a toss up between IV, VI, and X. After that, VII.

[dannyj147]

Originally posted by Weltall8000:

You know, I didn't think much of II the one time I played it, but I am currently playing the Pixel Remaster of it and I really like it so far this time around. I guess they did nix the stat loss. Or it could be that I have changed in the past 20 years.

As for the franchise overall, I like Tactics best. Next is a toss up between IV, VI, and X. After that, VII.

It's odd that PC never got Tactics especially since it's also on mobile.

[Raidius]

for ff only, 7, 10 and tactics if you want turn based system

[mdesaleah]

10 is a good one.

But none of them are really meant to be some big challenge. Although 10 has some difficulty spike bosses at points that make you think more.

[Pack 4 Potatoes]

FFX is more than good enough if you want a challenging RPG. Especially if you've never played a FF game before. Those who replied to you must have thought you wanted a game like Dark Souls or something, which is not what you said.

If you really like turn based RPGs, you have to try at least one of the FF games. And FFX is right up there in the chosen fan favorites.

[Weltall8000]

Originally posted by Pack 4 Potatoes:

FFX is more than good enough if you want a challenging RPG. Especially if you've never played a FF game before. Those who replied to you must have thought you wanted a game like Dark Souls or something, which is not what you said.

If you really like turn based RPGs, you have to try at least one of the FF games. And FFX is right up there in the chosen fan favorites.

I love X, but it isn't parricularly difficult. It does have a couple points where the game does have a relatively sharper spike in difficulty, though. The post game, I have a hard time even classifying as difficult, more "grindy." Well, unless you cheese or handicap yourself.

Popularity-wise, yeah, X is in the upper echelon of FFs. IMO, with good reason. It was a well made game, especially for its time, while still aging rather well (yes, yes, the voice acting was campy, earlier VG VAing).

[Hiro]

Originally posted by Xengre:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1545560/Shadow_Gambit_The_Cursed_Crew/?curator_clanid=32976195
The last one is the easiest due to overpowered characters (much of the roster, including some commonly cited as "underpowered" by the community due to incorrect use are among the most overpowered like the main character). Largest cast of characters so quite a bit of variety in compositions, strategies, etc.

Just to point out, this one is: https://deidetected.com/games/shadow-gambit-the-cursed-crew