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[Zerokku]

1 - Final Fantasy IX - To me this is what final fantasy is. Its adventure, its great characters, its fantasy, etc. I love nearly every aspect of this game.

2 - Final Fantasy VI - A fantastic cast of characters, and the best villain in the franchise. It also has the best music in the franchise as well.

3 - Final Fantasy VII - While I'm not sure it deserves quite the amount of praise it gets, its still a fantastic game with a great setting.

4 - Final Fantasy VIII - Maybe its nostalgia being the first 3D Final Fantasy I played, but theres just something I love about this game. If it wasn't for some questionable characterization and the worst plot twist in the series, I could see this being higher for me.

5 - Final Fantasy V - V's job system is the best thing in the series. 'Nough said. Oh and Galuf is a badass.

6 - Final Fantasy IV - It set the stage for later Final Fantasies in many ways, but it was surpassed. Cecil and Kain are pretty great though. At the same time, the revolving door of party members dying got old.

7 - Final Fantasy XII - Had the game been finished properly (and had followed Matsuno's original vision), this could have been one of the best final fantasies ever. As it stands, its merely good and not great.

8 - Final Fantasy III - It set the ground work for so many aspects of the series, and had a pretty interesting story (especially for an NES game)

9 - Final Fantasy - It started the series. What else is there to say?

10 - Final Fantasy XIII - Overly linear, with a cast of characters that just didn't do much for me. Combat was good, but wasn't enough to carry the game.

11 - Final Fantasy X - I do not understand why this game is popular (especially when 13 isn't). Boring, linear (not as offensive as XIII, but still). And an all-around terrible and unlikable cast of characters. The only character I liked was Auron.

12 - Final Fantasy II - Theres a good game somewhee underneath it all, but its ruined by a leveling system that did everything it could to make me not enjoy it.

 

[gatotsu911]

So, uh, when do the results go up?

 

[ErasureAcer]

So, uh, when do the results go up?

Came to ask the same thing.

 

[LethaL ImpuLse]

Looks like ScOULaris got banned in the meantime.. uhoh!

 

[.JayZii]

Looks like ScOULaris got banned in the meantime.. uhoh!

The inevitable result of Final Fantasy rankings.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Since the scoring system was set and all entries are in, I'll take it from here and parse us some results.

 

[flyover]

Since the scoring system was set and all entries are in, I'll take it from here and parse us some results.

Kudos to you for doing so!

 

[gatotsu911]

Has the list been posted yet?

 

[ScOULaris]

Hey, everyone. As you may have noticed, I got banned for two weeks during the time when the results would have gone up.

It's a long story, but for some reason I can't start threads or send PM's right now. I have asked mods to look into it for me, but I'm still waiting for an explanation/solution.

JoshuaJSlone, would you mind making the results thread? I had planned a glorious one, but it doesn't look like my thread-making privileges will be returning any time soon.

I would check with duckroll first to make sure it's okay, given the sticky thread about not making any more voting topics.

 

[scosher]

Hey, everyone. As you may have noticed, I got banned for two weeks during the time when the results would have gone up.

It's a long story, but for some reason I can't start threads or send PM's right now. I have asked mods to look into it for me, but I'm still waiting for an explanation/solution.

JoshuaJSlone, would you mind making the results thread? I had planned a glorious one, but it doesn't look like my thread-making privileges will be returning any time soon.

I would check with duckroll first to make sure it's okay, given the sticky thread about not making any more voting topics.

Can't simply edit your OP of this thread? Or can only mods change the title?

 

[Rahxephon91]

It may be best to just drop the whole "vote thread" thing.

 

[ScOULaris]

It may be best to just drop the whole "vote thread" thing.

That's fine, but don't you at least want to see the results of this one? It's a hotly debated series rankings here on GAF, and this is a pretty decent voting sample. I think it would be interesting to see the results before officially canning the vote threads.

Like I said, though. Someone should ask duckroll first.

 

[Dunan]

I missed this thread when it first got started! Is it too late to vote? I hope not, because this evening I want to post my favorites with commentary on each.

My order will go 12, 8, 9, 6, 4, 10, 5, 7, 1, 2 (haven't played 3), by the by.

And if Duckroll's first language isn't English, what is it? I would never have guessed.

 

[Payrus]

1. FF13-2
2. FF13
3. FF12
4. FF10-2
5. FF10
6. FF9
7. FF8
8. FF7
9. FF6
10. FF5

 

[I'm an expert]

That's fine, but don't you at least want to see the results of this one? It's a hotly debated series rankings here on GAF, and this is a pretty decent voting sample. I think it would be interesting to see the results before officially canning the vote threads.

Like I said, though. Someone should ask duckroll first.

No need for a new thread, just edit your op or post them here. Don't need giant breakdowns or quotes. Just 1-10. The end.

 

[Dark Schala]

It may be best to just drop the whole "vote thread" thing.

Yup. I'm kinda glad, because I started working on my vote (with descriptions and commentaries and cropped images like I did with other voting threads), but I kinda got busy with other stuff while I should've been working on it.

Besides, I don't like to rank FFs. I usually like putting them in categories instead. There are some FFs that I'd list as the same number or something, so the list would've been hard to come up with.

It's interesting to see other people's rankings and their explanations for them, though. I like reading what other people think. It's just too bad that these list threads are typically just that: lists without explanations. It isn't really good discussion half the time.

 

[Seda]

I wonder how it breaks down to the most recent vote.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400814&highlight=rank+your+final+fantasies

1 Final Fantasy 6
2 Final Fantasy 7
3 Final Fantasy 9
4 Final Fantasy 4
5 Final Fantasy 10
6 Final Fantasy 12
7 Final Fantasy 5
8 Final Fantasy 8
9 Final Fantasy 11
10 Final Fantasy 10-2
11 Final Fantasy 13
12 Final Fantasy 1
13 Final Fantasy 3
14 Final Fantasy 2

 

[bengraven]

1. FF6
2. FF8
3. FF7
4. FF4
5. FF10
6. FF9

I wonder how it breaks down to the most recent vote.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400814&highlight=rank+your+final+fantasies

8 being 8th is a fucking disgrace.

 

[Seda]

8 being 8th is a fucking disgrace.

Some people hated the draw/junction system (I had no problem with it) and the plot is usually criticized.

I think it's like my number 4 or something.

^ And that's why I don't like rankings, my own ranking isn't set in stone.

EDIT:

1. FF10
2. FF12
3. FF6
4. FF8
5. FF9
6. FF4
7. FF10-2
8. FF1
9. FF13
10. FF2

Wow I'm actually surprised I remembered correctly.

 

[Dunan]

I just realized that I completely forgot to rank 13 despite playing it in two different languages and sinking over 120 hours into it in total.

Heh.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

I was figuring on just putting the results here rather than a separate thread. I've been working on gathering things up in the background of other activities, which is why it's taking a while. Though I might be done now if I didn't have to fix the formatting of every other post.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

*Reminder of scoring system: #1 got 4 points. #2-3, 3 points. #4-6, 2 points. #7-10, 1 point. Entries with less than 5 games counted for half as many points.
*I wasn't a stickler about the format. All you bojos who used Roman numerals, or didn't use the semicolon to separate your comments, or didn't number your entries: you're welcome. Special wrench-in-the-gear nod to those who were willing to use 1-9, but insisted on X in place of 10.
*For the odd entry that went past 10, I just ignored the further positions. In the individual images below a #11 counts as a not charting..
*For the hate entries that went from 9th place to 100000th place or whatever, I just cut the last ones rather than counting them as next in line.
*500 voters had 5 or more entries, 34 more listed 1-4.
*Final Fantasy VI and VII were the only ones with more #1 votes than not to be voted on at all. VI is the only one with just a single #10 vote.


First, simply how many times did games get voted on at all?

Not in every case, but as a rule of thumb games with more votes at all ended up with more points, too. Though notably, one of those exceptions becomes the #1 game.

That's right, the winner is Final Fantasy VI!

Final Fantasy VI and VII were the only ones with more #1 votes than non-votes. VI is the only one with just a single #10 vote.

Here's how the point totals worked out:
1. Final Fantasy VI 1316.5
2. Final Fantasy VII 1230.5
3. Final Fantasy IX 1099
4. Final Fantasy X 901
5. Final Fantasy XII 889
6. Final Fantasy VIII 821
7. Final Fantasy IV 788.5
8. Final Fantasy V 588
9. Final Fantasy XIII 356.5
10. Final Fantasy 269
11. Final Fantasy X-2 247
12. Final Fantasy XI 188.5
12. Final Fantasy III 188
13. Final Fantasy XIII-2 156
14. Final Fantasy II 98
15. Final Fantasy XIV 16

I wanted to show off how many times each game got each rank. An image per game was too much, and one with everything was too busy, so I split it by generation. I wanted to include the number for unlisted, too, but those tended to be much higher than the individual places and really dominated the view.

If you didn't like the scoring method, want to sift through for any correlations, whatever, here's the data, as it is after being fixed for format, and before I threw it into a spreadsheet to do the number-crunching.

 

[Zwei]

^That's a solid top 5. I would've liked to see FFX take the #3 spot, but I'm not terribly disappointed, GAF

 

[King of the Potato People]

I see so much hate for VII nowadays, I'm glad it made it that high though.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

And all was right with the world. (though I'd have switched VIII with XII)

 

[frequency]

That''s about what I expected. Though my personal list is different.

Only things of note is that I would've guessed 12 would be in the top 5. And 13 would've been lower (although it's in my personal top 5).

11 ranking makes me a little sad.

 

[Shadow780]

Unsurprisingly the top 3 result is the same as last time.

 

[Mlatador]

Nice results!! Gaf didn't disapoint!!

 

[King of the Potato People]

Wow, XIII reached 9th place. I was expecting lower (not that it isn't without merit)

I see more love for even X-2 nowadays.

Also I just bought XIII-2 for about half price, and then seen its low ranking... I hope it's better than that impression.

 

[Ravage]

I'll probably never understand gaf's love for FFVI (and IX) :/

FFVIII should have made it into the top 5

 

[fuzzyreactor]

fairly predictable results. I see FF9 still getting praised for playing it safe despite how uninspired, slow and shallow it is.

 

[frequency]

Wow, XIII reached 9th place. I was expecting lower (not that it isn't without merit)

I see more love for even X-2 nowadays.

Also I just bought XIII-2 for about half price, and then seen its low ranking... I hope it's better than that impression.

I think it's just that low because most people didn't play it.

I like it a lot but didn't rank it because I haven't finished it yet. I don't think it's fair to rank games you haven't finished. But my preliminary ranking would've been #5.
For reference, I've played every FF and FF13 was my #2. So I'm a little crazy and I have terrible taste and stuff.

 

[Lothar]

Anyone putting IX above X is certifiably insane. The slowness of the battle system alone makes it objectively not that great of a game.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

The result that surprised me most was Final Fantasy IV barely being in the top half, and narrowly losing to VIII.

Only things of note is that I would've guessed 12 would be in the top 5.

It is #5--and not far behind #4.

And 13 would've been lower (although it's in my personal top 5).

Well, for it to go lower it would've had to start slipping behind the NES games, the MMOs, and the direct sequels (one of which most people haven't played yet).

Unsurprisingly the top 3 result is the same as last time.

Even more than that--going back to what surprised me, the top 8 is a pretty close match if we just slide 8 up a few spots and 4 down a few spots.

 

[frequency]

It is #5--and not far behind #4.

Oh yes. I was mistaken. I completely missed that list. I was just looking at the graph and I guess I'm not very visual. Sorry, I'm slow... and dumb.

Well, for it to go lower it would've had to start slipping behind the NES games, the MMOs, and the direct sequels (one of which most people haven't played yet).

But based on how GAF talks about it, it's like the worst thing to have ever happened in gaming. I see a lot more love for 11 and the NES games than I do for FF13.



Thank you for putting the data together by the way

 

[Wiz]

List is pretty solid. Good job GAF.

Would have been better if VIII was over XII though.

 

[fuzzyreactor]

Oh yes. I was mistaken. I completely missed that list. I was just looking at the graph and I guess I'm not very visual. Sorry, I'm slow... and dumb.


But based on how GAF talks about it, it's like the worst thing to have ever happened in gaming. I see a lot more love for 11 and the NES games than I do for FF13.

that's because its newer. disappointment and resentment are still fresh in the mind

 

[Shadow780]

Even more than that--going back to what surprised me, the top 8 is a pretty close match if we just slide 8 up a few spots and 4 down a few spots.

Over the years, with big enough sample size, the polls are always pretty stable.

VI and VII are top 2, #3 will be either X or IX, MMOs and II at the bottom, and the rest floating around the middle.

Good to see XIII moved up a little bit, I think retrospectively it's a better game than initially realized.

 

[Seda]

FFIV dropped a bit from 2 years ago

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

 

[Aru]

Forgot to vote :/

Oh well, even if it doesn't count, here's my ranking:
1. FF7
2. FF10
3. FF13
4. FF4
5. FF10-2
6. FF8
7. FF5
8. FF12
9. FF6
10. FF1

 

[cartman414]

I'll probably never understand gaf's love for FFVI (and IX) :/

FFVIII should have made it into the top 5

Preference for decidedly less adverse systems, perhaps?

Besides, at least VIII went up in rank, and at V's expense. Would have preferred that one go up a bit.

 

[Rolf NB]

Wow, so FF XIII really is universally reviled. I know there's a lot of apparent hate for it, but I did not expect this kind of result anyway.

 

[rataven]

Yikes, IV took a hit. Wonder how related that may be to the version played.

And I'll admit I'm smiling like a big dork to see VII still going so strong.

 

[Clever Pun]

I wanted to show off how many times each game got each rank. An image per game was too much, and one with everything was too busy, so I split it by generation. I wanted to include the number for unlisted, too, but those tended to be much higher than the individual places and really dominated the view.

would it be possible to make these charts have the same vertical scale for easier comparisons between systems?

 

[H_Prestige]

So XIII only beat out the NES games and the two MMO's? Sounds about right.

And I'm surprised the gap between VI and VII is so small. Given how wankery goes on here over VI and how people love to shit on VII, I expected the gap to be much wider.

 

[Soma]

8 being 8th is a fucking disgrace.

Indeed. It should be lower.

 

[Zwei]

I wonder where Tactics would've landed on the list?
Considering XI, XIV, and X-2 to be true Final Fantasies, but not Tactics.. eh, I can't really understand that. Iffy at best.

 

[ScOULaris]

Thanks for doing that, Josh. I added your results post to the OP.

I have to say, I agree 100% with the Top 3. I was going to vote similarly, but I got banned before I could submit my votes.

 

[Kesagiri]

Wow, so FF XIII really is universally reviled. I know there's a lot of apparent hate for it, but I did not expect this kind of result anyway.

Based on the results, I wouldn't say reviled, but rather the games ranked above it all adhere to fan expectations (towns, well hidden linearity earlier on) and end up feeling like much more well rounded games. While I quite liked XIII, its lack of useful shops, weapon, and often times terrible writing dragged the game down when fans expect the same formula with only a different battle system and prettier graphics. The point I'm trying to make is that it's hardly a bad game when all or most of the games ranked above it are considered the best in the genre.

On another note, XI is criminally low simply because of its barrier of entry.