Why every Final Fantasy game is the best AND worst in the series

This was an excellent article, Kupo!

I would guess and say your first FF is going to be your favourite. Mine was FFVII as me and my friends at school were all playing it, got totally hooked into its world and spent all our time between homework exploring each town and breeding chocobos and pretty much doing anything to avoid making it end. I loved the story, especially the entire Midgar sequence at the start. Great art design, great music and it even had really memorable NPCs which is pretty rare outside Nintendo. FFX came close for me though for similar reasons and I found it fun to explore and get as much from it as I could. FFXII was too much for me though, I had never bothered grinding much in previous games (7-10) but this felt like a total bore and I couldn't be arsed with the story. It's sad really, I used to love the series so much but now I have a job and a life and all, I don't have the time to invest in them anymore. But then after all I've heard about XIII that might not be a bad thing.

I have no idea how anyone can consider FFXII as their "favorite" in the entire series. The plot was atrocious and you didn't care about any of the characters at all. FFIV had more character development than this game and the battle system was astral vomit. "Let's constantly walk around in circles during combat so I can regenerate mana, har har har." Stupid. Final Fantasy VI is definitely my number one.

a wonderful and sophisticated breakdown, kudos to you, Heidi! - I still consider FFVII as my ansolute favourite --> recently played it on my PSP and it just gave goosebumps - I litterally adore this game and how well executed its pacing, soundtrack and storytelling is. I never finished FXII and XIII, I stopped playing both by the mid of the game... they actually are good games in their own respect, but failed to keep me entertaining over a long run... such a pity. Hell, I even finished The Last Remnant or Infinite Undiscovery...

In terms of personal preference, FFIV is my favorite, mostly because I haven't found a FF character that I like as much as Rydia. In terms of quality, I acknowledge FFVI as being the best in the series. Everything about it was just great. I even liked the World of Ruin, which flipped pretty much everything you knew on its head. After VI, I hated pretty much everything, yet I'm doomed to keep buying them in the hopes that they'll get better. I didn't get FFXIII until just recently, and it wasn't as bad as I thought, mostly because my expectations were so low from all the flak it received that it had nowhere to go but up, right?

Oh, I did something like this for my friends when XIII came out. Some even took offense I compared Squall to Justin Bieber lol. I only played since PS1 era, so VII and above, and this article is pretty much spot on. Everything I love and hate about it is there. Personally my fave is IX, it had me at the first opening CG. Just to point out something, XII and XIII are totally opposite of each other. I'm still confused how the game fit into PS2 DVD, it's so vast, I spent almost 100hours. Gambit is abused and despite the huge world, the chars barely interact with each other. Also, there is Vaan, worst FF char ever, thank god for Balthier. XIII is on the other side of spectrum. It's linear, but the chars develop quiet well. The gameplay is challenging. First time I need to do, like, stuffs to kill storyline boss. I like the "What if it doesn't has FF in it" remark. Let a WRPG has 40 hours of linearity, I don't think it'd do well. It sold some millions copy because it's FF, I know some guys who got hyped, but it's also criticism magnet. Kudos to the writer. Great article.

yeah, um, ff's 8 & 12 are my favorites (i own all of 'em but 2 & 3); so...i'm sorry? and i could write pages about it, but yeah, not gonna. i'll just say that ffVIII came out when i was 19 so...there's that.

Damn, that was an awesome read. Thanks! I'm really looking forward to XIII-2 and Versus. Mandatory personal rating: 1st- VI 2nd- IV 3rd- basically all the rest of them. Loved VII. Loved VIII. Loved X (AND X-2). XII was awesome. Was a bit meh about V, but still liked it way better than... bottom of the barrel- IX and XIII; I really did not care for IX at all. Finished it and everything, but did. not. care for it. XIII had absolutely amazing visuals and an awesome battle system, but I think all the changes put together (and the one big, long tunnel...ugh) were a bit much for me. captcha: ntablobe physical o_O

@coryhendetta Read that second paragraph again. Word. by. word.

" But that also proves a point: players have come to expect certain established elements in a Final Fantasy game" IN THE SERIES THAT CHANGES EVERY TIME! God damn fools

Love FF7, but hate what the mimicry has brought to the industry.

I rarely, if ever truly "lol" when reading an article. XIV had me rolling on the floor. My favorite's VIII- I'm one of the few who enjoyed both the characters and the junction system.

Nice article. I'm with you there on an few things, but not everything. My favorites are VII, VI, and X. Great characters and stories, the most important thing for me. I also like my FFs nice and turn-based, so it should be obvious that XII is my next to least favorite FF game. If I wanted to play an American RPG, I'd be playing Dragon Age or Oblivion. FF should stick to being JRPG turn-based, and leave the major deviations to the sequels and tactics series. My least favorite are the online games though. There's nothing that feels less FF than online gaming. I want to have a handful of characters, that I can control, and I don't want to deal with other players. If I wanted online I'd either be playing WOW or COD. I'd have had no problem with online FF games, if they had brought them in like FF Tactics, but instead it was wasted on two of the main series titles. I was the game that introduced me to the series. IV is the game that made me fall in love with the series. I also like V and III, which I didn't play until more recent times. I haven't had a chance to play II, VIII I didn't get too far into before losing interest, and I was very turned off by the crummy character designs of IX. I'm currently playing XIII, which I'm enjoying, mostly because of the battle system, which reminds me of X and X-2, and the beauty. The story seems to have a good idea that's poorly executed, along with mostly annoying characters, who thankfully grow less annoying as the story goes on. I think in the grand scheme of things it'll be lumped in with VIII and IX as FF games that are like by some, but ultimately looked over when discussing the best FF games.

Mystic Quest was my first "Final Fantasy" game. It was pretty badass. It had a straightforward plot, and all of the battle were fun.

With all due respect everywhere that it's due, this may be the greatest feature ever written. Thanks Heidi.

I really enjoyed reading this.

Okay... so why are so many of the things that make the games "good" also make them "bad"? That is, why do you claim something is great about the game, then a few paragraphs later say it sucked? "... as well as set well-defined parameters for their behavior with the Gambit system. You’re also able to customize everybody as you choose with the use of the License Board. " As opposed to.. "abusing the License Board will give everyone access to the best weapons and armor the game offers, and with the Gambit system and a bit of programming know-how, you can make the game play itself while you kick back and watch everybody kick ass." This occurs several more times in the article. I can't really take the article seriously or understand any kind of point you're making when your claims are consistent.

an article to end all FF arguments! until FFXV is released anyway, but you probably wouldn't make such article again until FFXXIII is out. My personal take: best: VII most overrated: IV (played the DS version though) most outstandingly mediocre: IX made me vomit blood upon seeing the character design: X willing to play to find out if it's the best: V and VI also, LOOOL @ FFIV

I really want to play all of these games right from the beginning, right now.

This is a phenomenal article, a proper epic for a series like this. Great job!