Best FF

[MoonlessNight]

To me this is the best FF game ever made. I will die on that hill!

[Hinnyuu]

I'm kinda torn myself between this and X. And of course VII. Well, and there's X-2 as well.

But definitely one of those!

I'm reminded of Elsie de Wolfe, who had a cemetery for her many dogs that died over the years. And every single headstone said "The one I loved best".

[Vagrant]

I always had a crush on 8 because of the story. The gameplay was kinda meh. Getting OP with magic draws, card transmutation and refusing to level up. Bah.

Then I have "muh nostalgia" pick which is 4, but it used to be #2 once upon a time. It was my very first FF on the SNES. Good times.

12 has excellent gameplay with a lot of freedom, both in playstyle and map coverage. Music is great. Story is leaning a bit on the Tolkien side with the whole "unlikely band of companions making perilous journey through fantastic land while avoiding all-seeing eye of doom and its army" thing. It's a bit lacking in minigames and you need guides to find everything. It's the deathcry of Turn-Based battles and a prototype of action-based fights that FF is now know for. Probably the hardest pill to swallow for longtime FF fans, especially those who liked FFX, who were waiting for the next big thing to drop after FFXI's MMO thing

It's cool that 12 gets more love and that people who didn't like it before now come back to the Old Flame.

[MoonlessNight]

Yeah, each of the FF games have their charms. But FF 12 and 6 are my favorites out of them all so far :D

[YukiPlays]

and it has very good mods as well, trying out Struggle for Freedom right now, gives you a whole new experience

[YaminoKain]

Having played every single FF from the very first one on the NES, it's really hard to pick a best one. I don't know if nostalgia is playing a big part for my favorite, but 6 is definitely the best for me hands down. Awesome cast of characters, great story with the cast failing to save the world for once in a FF, the greatest FF villain, and best gameplay as far as 2D FFs are concerned.

But with that said, 12 is without a doubt one of the bests. And definitely the very last excellent FF to date.

[YaminoKain]

Oh, and it's a shame SE never reused the gambit system for later FFs. !5 and 16 could've really used it to enhance the experience.

[m_brent]

My list in order (this is tough!)

XII - due to replay-ability, freedom to explore, mods
VIII - something gripped me about the story and the world feel
X - story + some epic boss fights + blitzball
III - love the job system and felt much expanded world over I&II

[chuckpolk]

I’m almost at the end, I can feel it in me bones! And I can comfortably say, story aside, this is my favorite of all the games. The gameplay is surprisingly open and allows for so much customization without falling into the trappings of everyone feeling “same-y.”

The plot isn’t awful, it’s got interesting qualities. The main character not being the main protagonist, experiencing it largely from the perspective of one of the tag-alongs. It doesn’t leave glaring inconsistencies (like people generally unaware of “The Ancients” even though they lived up until modern times, or the fact that they could live and breed indistinguishable from Humans and chose to die out instead, right until the very last one). The problem I’m having with the story is that things happen so big, so fast, that it feels like by-design it requires a second playthrough just to see the pieces unfold again, already understanding how they fit into the whole. I just don’t have time to commit to a second playthrough, but maybe time will hit the nostalgia button.

So not my favorite story-wise. But in terms of gameplay, I can’t think of any FF title more engaging. (I’ve yet to play beyond 12, playing them in order, for what that’s worth).

[YaminoKain]

It only goes downward after 12. 13 has no freedom. 15 is mixed. And 16, while I loved it, is a complete departure from what defined FF in terms of gameplay.

[Larry Daley]

I loved FF12 its one of my favourite games

[WhateverWorks]

12 is easily one of the best ones. 9 is my favorite overall in terms of plot and music, but 12 is the best in the series in terms of gameplay and world-building imo. There are so many beautiful places to see in 12, and they all feel like they could exist within what you're given along the way. Enormous amount of depth, the bestiary was a really good feature to have. 12 found the perfect compromise between turn based and real time gameplay. Just all around it's a phenomenal game, like others have said it was the last truly good one.

[YaminoKain]

Originally posted by WhateverWorks:

12 found the perfect compromise between turn based and real time gameplay.

Exactly! You read my mind. And one can still play 12 in turn-based by turning off the gambit system. Although by doing so, fights would really become a chore. But I do play a la turn-based against challenging hunts.

[Ryika]

It's a bummer there's no major rpg that ever refined the combat system. It's a great idea, but so limited by how the gambits are laid out, you run into the limitations of your creativity pretty quickly.

[YaminoKain]

I hear you. The gambit system could really benefit with more conditionals. But at the same time, if I'm not wrong, we have to remember that this was the first iteration of such a system in video games. It's no wonder why Bioware used the same system (with quite a few improvements) for Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

[Sakhari]

It's a toss-up between this and 6 for me but this one (which is coming up on 20 years old now) is the last in the series that I can say that I genuinely enjoyed without some heavy qualifications.

And yeah, I'd also love to see some refinements to the Gambit system in a new FF title. I'd enjoy that a lot more than another middling action game stuffed with non-combat distractions, anyway.