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Does Final Fantasy V have the weakest story of the mainline games of the franchise?

sotojuan

sotojuan

Member
120v said:
i think FFV was during a phase where square wasn't quite sure what they wanted the series to be yet. my assumption is they looked at the success of Dragon Quest and decidedly returned to the simpler approach of "defeat the Dark Lord" while focusing on established gameplay strengths

for whatever reason they did a 180 on that with FFVI and beyond. but it's kind of irrelevent because FFV ended up being fun, plain and simple
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It's interesting because DQV which came just before FFV may not have a "deep" story (whatever that means) like FFVI or FFVII but it's really more than just "defeat teh evilz lord". I mean it's that but presented as
a multi generational coming of age story with a good twist and
a bit more motivation than just "evil guy is evil!!". It's very charming and endearing even if the characters are fairly static. I find FFV a lot simpler than DQV (or DQIV even).
 
J

Joey Ravn

Banned
I think the story in FFV is much better than in I, II and III. It's not as involved as that of IV and VII, but I vastly prefer the way it's told. It's simple, direct and entertaining.

FFV has the best system in the franchise, as well. Jobs for life, yo.
 
W

Weltall Zero

Member
poodaddy said:
Da fuck? I mean III sure, but IV? We don't speak ill of Kain and Cecil round these parts boy.
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Same, this is Twilight Zone stuff for me. Shitting on the game that gave us Cecil, Kain, Yang, Goggles Cid, Palom & Porom and fucking Rydia? These people be trippin'.

And on topic, V is perfectly fine, a simpler story than VI and VII but infinitely better than the absolute garbage Square started subjecting us to once they got their heads so far up their colons they turned into donuts.
 
ethomaz

ethomaz

Banned
Niosai said:
I feel as though those here that are saying "XV was worse" are trolling. XV had a decent story no matter what direction you approach it from. Yeah, the execution could've been better but all around it was much better than some of the previous games.

On topic: I'd argue that III was weaker than V.
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Yeap even SE are trying to "fix" the story via updates because it is the major complain by owners and fans.

Nobody is trolling... XV barely has an in game story.
 
P

Poppy

Member
Ezalc said:
Honest question from somebody who didn't finish V, why do people like Exdeath so much. He's just a tree.
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i mean exdeath is basically godzilla in that it was created by mortals and now threatens to undo them

also exdeath gets so pissed off about it that he's like i dont even want to deal with this shit anymore so im going to end all of your existences and then my own, screw you
 
T

Tuorom

Neo Member
I don't understand all the hate for FFXs story. It was pretty well done.

Like the world building is great, the motivations are great, the villains are good.

Everything about it is solid except for the voice acting, and the final boss is a little underwhelming, but the ending is fantastic.

I always found 4 to be pretty meh, but honestly, I don't think many people can be objective in these kind of threads. Nostalgia overwhelming (archon voice).
 
ShirAhava

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
FFV is the best game in the series...IMO...and in Japan's opinion

Its THE final fantasy game...It got everything right

I'll never understand why V didn't click with most people in the west.

FFV also has my favorite story and characters Bartz is awesome!

Some of the opinions in this thread are just....No FF game grabbed me like V did

FF12 has the worst story/char by far.....I just flat out didn't give a fuck about anything in that abortion of a game
 
E

Earthpainting

Member
FFV's is a little simple, but I think it's pretty well presented. Its simplicity gives it a certain vibe that reminds me Dragon Quest titles. Especially early on in the game, it weaves through the little character moments and locations very smoothly at a nice snappy pace. Its direction also complements its systems well in terms of replayability.
 
sotojuan

sotojuan

Member
ShirAhava said:
FFV is the best game in the series...IMO...and in Japan's opinion
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Source?

I'll never understand why V didn't click with most people in the west.
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Because it wasn't released here until 1999 (PSOne, slow load times) and 2006 (GBA, awesome port) and by then Westerners thought FFVI-X were what FF is supposed to be and probably thought V was too simple and "old".
 
C

Common Knowledge

Member
II is a black-sheep of the series, but man it gets some points for its villain, the Emperor.
Gets killed, goes to hell, then conquers hell and plans to bring hell to earth.
Whew. Probably the only major plot development I remember from that game.
 
L

Linkura

Member
At least of the classics. Probably why I don't like it very much, along with 3. Story/characters are a huge priority for me.
 
E

Eusis

Member
Firemind said:
IV tho
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I loved the story as a kid.

But now? With personal standards AND gaming standards higher (though those standards escalated reallly damn quickly)? Honestly, I think V may be the better story, especially with the GBA localization. It doesn't take itself so seriously yet has actual character deaths pop up and not be lamely undone. You'd play it for the gameplay but the story is an acceptable glue that binds the package together.
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

Walks in the Light of the Crystal
FFV's story is actually pretty good I thought. It's well paced. The characters are memorable. The story beats aren't very deep, but they're fun, and by the end of the game it's a satisfying experience.

FFXIII and FFXV are the worst in the series by far. Presentation is just abysmal all the way through in both of them and FFXV doesn't even have a datalog to fall back onto with its missing content. Both have a complete lack of any meaningful character development outside of the party. XV, pre DLC is probably the weakest overall. Both games are wholly unsatisfying from a story standpoint.

FFXII is also pretty weak. It starts off strong, but kind of just putters out. Main characters lack development, but there are a good number of interesting NPCs to make up for it. By the end, it leaves a "meh" impression. Its world lore and gameplay make up for this and it's still a great game but the story is its weakest point.

FFII, and FFIII are also weaker than FFV. This is more to do with them being older NES games though. They were both plenty competent for their time.

FFI is an odd ball. It barely even has a story. More like a premise that you just go do. Like the other old games though it still leaves a satisfying (if a bit confused) feeling at the end. Mostly because the game never tried to be a masterful piece of storytelling.

FFVIII has a few stupid plot points, but overall is still quite good. The characters and setting are well developed and the story is pretty epic by the end. The ending is one of my favorites.

The rest of the main series is too good to even bring up in this conversation.
 
sotojuan

sotojuan

Member
Eusis said:
I loved the story as a kid.

But now? With personal standards AND gaming standards higher (though those standards escalated reallly damn quickly)? Honestly, I think V may be the better story, especially with the GBA localization. It doesn't take itself so seriously yet has actual character deaths pop up and not be lamely undone. You'd play it for the gameplay but the story is an acceptable glue that binds the package together.
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You'd really like DQ games, Jusis.
 
P

Papo Swing

Member
I hate rhese kind of threads because hate for the most recent entries overtakes the convo sometimes.

XV was troubled but in no way shape or form is it the worst FF story.
 
W

Weltall Zero

Member
At least it warms my heart that nobody here is talking shit about VI (watch everyone reply to this post saying that it's overrated and that it loses its focus in its second half).
 
BasilZero

BasilZero

Member
Weltall Zero said:
At least it warms my heart that nobody here is talking shit about VI (watch everyone reply to this post saying that it's overrated and that it loses its focus in its second half).
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Nope!


Its one of the best games - I played VI at least 10 times across the SNES, GBA, and PS1 versions.


I bought the Steam/PC version last year - gonna play it again soon :)!
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

Walks in the Light of the Crystal
Papo Swing said:
I hate rhese kind of threads because hate for the most recent entries overtakes the convo sometimes.

XV was troubled but in no way shape or form is it the worst FF story.
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I mean, sure, the concept of it seems pretty good, but the presentation was awful and it's missing a ton of character development and backstory.

This isn't irrational hate for the newest entry. XV genuinely has arguably the worst story in the main series if we include characters and lore as part of story. Just going by main narrative, I'd say XIII is a lot worse. Otherwise, the rest of the series is just flat out better.

There are arguments to be made that the NES games are worse due to the lack of story quantity. That their simplicity makes them worse by default. They're better put together and more coherent though so I disagree. Sure they were easier to make good because of their simplicity, but they are what they are.

What mainline FF other than XIII is worse than XV and how is it worse?
 
P

PshycoNinja

Member
I feel like anyone who says XIII or XV haven't played any FF games before X. As much as I didn't like XIII or its story at least it tries to be interesting.

Story for me is:

I = Simplistic
II = Attempts to tell a story that's relatively interesting
III = Weakest of the bunch
IV = Anime as hell but fun
V = Simplistic but gets the job done
VI = A lot of memorable event scenes with a simplistic story
VII = Interesting characters in a story about many different things. Has cliffhanger ending.
VIII = A good romance story (I liked it!)
IX = Monkey king finds love; everyone questions themselves
X = Another great tragic romance
XI = Save the world with others and be unique
XII = Save Dalmasca and fight half the Judges
XIII = Fight your fate but accept it at the end
XIV = Save the world with others, but use unique/original FF games to play on nostalgia
XV = Betrayed and must fight to reclaim throne and save world; Also take on the best villain in FF


Niosai said:
I feel as though those here that are saying "XV was worse" are trolling. XV had a decent story no matter what direction you approach it from. Yeah, the execution could've been better but all around it was much better than some of the previous games.

On topic: I'd argue that III was weaker than V.
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Agreed. If I had to pick one it would be III. V was alright. It was fine-ish.
 
A

ArkhamFantasy

Member
Comparing the 2d stories to the modern day games is kind of like comparing a comic to a movie, they're two different kinda of story telling.
 
W

Weltall Zero

Member
PshycoNinja said:
I feel like anyone who says XIII or XV haven't played any FF games before X.
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Then your intuition is as abysmal as your taste. I've been playing since before V was released, and I didn't feel insulted until VIII and XIII. I'll take a fun and simple story over a pretentious one that just goes on and on, every day of the week.
 
P

PshycoNinja

Member
Weltall Zero said:
Then your intuition is as abysmal as your taste. I've been playing since before V was released, and I didn't feel insulted until VIII and XIII. I'll take a fun and simple story over a pretentious one that just goes on and on, every day of the week.
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Before you started to insult me you might've wanted to actually read my comment. I am no fan of XIII or its story. But I think insinuating it is "the absolute worst" when we have III is funny. Say what you will about the games during the PSX era and beyond but at least they attempted to tell stories.
 
M

mas8705

Member
Having played both XIII and XV, I would say that XIII is even worse in terms of story considering how it all basically circles around "They go somewhere, they talk about their focus and rinse and repeat until the end" where if the plot is to be believed the winning move to stop the evil mastermind was
do nothing since them doing their focus basically destroys said world, whereas if they turn into zombies, the world lives (all be it they would be goners, but at least the world doesn't get dragged down with them).

At least you can talk about what happens in XV, which is more than what I can say of XIII
 
N

Nikokuno

Member
True Fire said:
Final Fantasy IV also had a great story. It's a classic medieval story of redemption that eventually turns into a sci-fi epic with spaceships and aliens. How can you hate on that?

I'd honestly say that the weakest story belongs to X. It was the first clusterfuck story in the franchise, and it led the franchise down a dark road it hasn't recovered from yet.
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Word, only mainline FF I stop playing because it was straight up garbage. You can't mess that hard. I never felt like I wanted to see what's next, I just wanted to stop playing.
 
C

c1d

Member
Felt like the story of V was just an excuse to keep messing around with the job system. That said, I agree with the consensus that is was more coherent than XIII and XV.
 
F0rneus

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
PshycoNinja said:
I feel like anyone who says XIII or XV haven't played any FF games before X. As much as I didn't like XIII or its story at least it tries to be interesting.
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The good ol' "true fans" schtick I see...Also how is FFXV's villain the best? They have no story or relevance at all. Easily one of the worst villains in the series.
 
K

Keym

Member
Anyone who says the game that spawned this guy is bad

6f77aa2f1f0fe00ed48dd971a50d62ddf12b4e3d_hq.jpg
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is objectively wrong.
 
SilverArrow20XX

SilverArrow20XX

Walks in the Light of the Crystal
PshycoNinja said:
Before you started to insult me you might've wanted to actually read my comment. I am no fan of XIII or its story. But I think insinuating it is "the absolute worst" when we have III is funny. Say what you will about the games during the PSX era and beyond but at least they attempted to tell stories.
Click to expand...

I mean, I agree that FFIII is one of the weaker stories, but at least it follows a coherent plot all the way through. The heroes move from point A to point B, finding out more about the world's plight as they go and eventually face the big bad. Along the way they meet lots of colorful characters and see amazing places.

FFXIII has the weakest out of party cast in the series. Supposedly major characters like Yaag and Jhil only appear a couple times. Good luck finding a casual player who even remembers the names (or existence) of characters like Rygdia and Gadot. The setting is completely squandered. The history is barely even touched outside of the datalog. They never even really have a goal the entire time, and it all culminates in a literal deus ex machina.

Honestly, I think it's funny to find insinuating III being better than XIII funny.

F0rneus said:
The good ol' "true fans" schtick I see...Also how is FFXV's villain the best? They have no story or relevance at all. Easily one of the worst villains in the series.
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How does Ardyn not have any story relevance? He's the direct cause of almost everything in the game. His backstory is also good.....in concept. It's a pity it wasn't shown or fleshed out. Let's not pretend he's not a million times better than Dysley though.

maxresdefault.jpg
 
L

Linkark07

Banned
Butz a bland protagonist? Really OP? He is a loveable idiot.

While FFV story is quite simple, the characters are enjoyable and it gets the job done. Plus, it gave us Greg and his amazing track, Clash on the Big Bridge
 
S

Socivol

Member
F0rneus said:
The good ol' "true fans" schtick I see...Also how is FFXV's villain the best? They have no story or relevance at all. Easily one of the worst villains in the series.
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I couldn't disagree more. Not only did Ardyn's reasoning actually make sense for once, he is the only villain in the series that made all roads lead to a victory. I wish they would have fleshed his backstory out more, but as a character he was great. Everything that happens is because Ardyn leads you down the path. He is probably the most relevant person in the game outside of Noctis. It was also nice not to know his motivations until closer to the end of the story which makes sense from the perspective of being a villain.
 
F0rneus

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
SilverArrow20XX said:
How does
Ardyn
not have any story relevance? He's the direct cause of almost everything in the game. His backstory is also good.....in concept. It's a pity it wasn't shown or fleshed out. Let's not pretend he's not a million times better than Dysley though.
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I platinumed the damn game. Which backstory? Where was it? There was some vague story reveal at the end, that had the impact of a wet fart, because we saw nothing, and it was never brought up before the literal final dialogue before the final fight.

Socivol said:
I couldn't disagree more. Not only did
Ardyn'
s reasoning actually make sense for once, he is the only villain in the series that made all roads lead to a victory. I wish they would have fleshed his backstory out more, but as a character he was great. It was also nice not to know his motivations until closer to the end of the story which makes sense from the perspective of being a villain.
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Which reasoning and which motivations? When I got to the end, all I knew was that, that particular person was apparently the villain, and that there was some story there that simply...wasn't there.
 
A

Aaronrules380

Member
Philippo said:
XV has bad execution, but the story, the themes and characters in themselves weren't bad imho
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So what you're saying is the only part that ultimately matters is what they fucked up. A bog standard plot can be a classic with good execution and a super unique plot is still a turd if the execution is awful
 
K

Keym

Member
F0rneus said:
Which reasoning and which motivations? When I got to the end, all I knew was that, that particular person was apparently the villain, and that there was some story there that simply...wasn't there.
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Did you fall asleep during chapter 13? I wouldn't blame you, but that was exposition city for Ardyn and his story.
 
F0rneus

F0rneus

Tears in the rain
Keym said:
Did you fall asleep during chapter 13? I wouldn't blame you, but that was exposition city for Ardyn and his story.
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Did they add this in the patch that fixed Chapter 13? Cause there was no backstory when I played the game.
 
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