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Can someone explain Final Fantasy to me?

PerezDeCorcho

PerezDeCorcho

Member
I have no experience with this series. Haven't even touched a single game from it and I know absolutely nothing about it.

It seems to have an immense following here on GAF and just about any other gaming site I've visited.

So, if I were to begin familiarizing myself with Final Fantasy, which games would be ideal starting points for a newcomer like myself? Which games should I avoid?
 
FF X and IX are the most newbie friend ones I imagine. The former has nicer graphics and is 'cooler' and more appealing, while the latter is basically THE Final Fantasy experience there is, but I don't know if you can appreciate it as much if you aren't familiar with the series. Personally, I'd start with X and then play 7 or 8 or 9 or 6 depending on your liking, they all play a bit different and have unique settings. If you can coupe with FF 7's graphics, it'll be a great experience. You can safely ignore the rest. 12 is somewhat decent, but it's incredible boring.
 
How old are you that Final Fantasy has slipped you by entirely over so many years?

JRPG games with a great story, soundtrack, and unique battle system are the series' strengths. Each has its own flavor.

Most would recommend Final Fantasy 7, 6, and 12 as the big three "greats" that are debated over as the best in the series.
 
Final Fantasy mainline games (like FF7, FF8 etc) are all their own games with different characters and story. So one can start pretty much anywhere. The games are usually stories that have an ending. You don't create your own character, and mainly just experience a story unfold.

FF7, FF8, FF9 and FF10 are considered the golden age of Final Fantasy. Given the ease of access, I'll recommend FFX HD which is available on the PS3 as a good starting point.
 
You can literally start anywhere. All Final Fantasy games are standalone and in completely different universes (with few exceptions, which usually involve reuse of a number).

I've only personally played FF6 (which was renamed FF3 in the US originally, but this has largely been returned to its normal numbering in recent releases), FF7, FF8, and FF13, and consider FF6 my favorite of the bunch. FF7 I recall enjoying, but the game has not aged well. FF8 I did not enjoy as much as the others, and in fact was not able to finish the game on a technicality. FF13 was very pretty but is by far the most linear, movie-like experience; but for me, the battle system made up for the lack of exploratory freedom.
 
zlatko said:
Most would recommend Final Fantasy 7, 6, and 12 as the big three "greats" that are debated over as the best in the series.
Click to expand...

Holy shit where were all these people when 12 was released? I remember being in the minority trying to defend the game. I'm glad it's aged well, though.

Also, I did not particularly enjoy VI outside of a few memorable story setpieces. Random battles every 10 fucking steps was just awful.
 
If you have any quarrels about the JRPG genre and want to really ease yourself in, start with Mystic Quest. It's extremely newcomer friendly.
 
Final Fantasy is the Japanese take on Western fantasy, with a 9:1 ratio of combat to roleplaying.

They typically have grand stories about saving the planet from certain doom, amazing soundtracks, and only recently characters with terrible/perfect hair.
 
You're good if you play any of the awesome FF games FFIV, FFVI, FFVII, and FFXII are all great entree points. IX is wonderful but its sort of a homage to the early FF games so you'd appreciate it more if you waited until later for that one.
 
So many good answers but...

Final Fantasy Origins (play FF1, ignore FF2)
Final Fantasy V (GBA or SNES Emulator with Translated ROM)
Final Fantasy VI (SNES or Wii Virtual Console)
Final Fantasy VII (PC for less loading time but PSN version is also good)

After that explore your next game.
 
you know how you've heard Final Fantasy VII brought up more than any other Final Fantasy/any RPG/any Playstation game ever? play it.
 
Start with the Golden Age of Squaresoft. (Arguably FF7, FF8, FF9, and FFX, and most of the games they made in that time frame)

Then you should certainly experiecen FFIV and VI. Classics.
 
I'd say avoid X-2 to start off. X, IX, or VIII I think are good starting points. IV might be good too if you don't mind SNES games. You could also try the Crystal Bearers if you want to start off with a spin-off.
 
none of the games are connected. They share a few common monsters and tropes but that's about it. They rarely share the same world or characters so you can just jump into any of the games.

just wait till XV comes out and play it with everyone else. If the game turns out great, then welcome to the fan club. if it's bad, then at least you won't be as disappointed as the rest of us.
 
X HD would be the best place for a newcomer IMO. It has a really enjoyable combat system. Lovely word design and incredible eye-candy both in cinema scenes and gameplay. Also an emotional story full of twists and turns. It is one of the few (of two) games to actually make me cry. When it came out for PS2 several of my friends were all over the game and ended up playing it to the end, while they had never shown interest in a JRPG prior. FF X on some days is my favorite FF and a game that I would recommend in a heartbeat as a starting place for the series.

After that you can chose if you want to try stuff like VI or VII. But as an initial "knock your socks off" kinda game I would start with X.
 
Play FFIV and/or FFIX if you want the classic FF experince.
Play FFVII and/or FFX if you want the modern FF experince.
Play FFVI if you're looking for a masterpiece.
 
pantsmith said:
Where are the excessive belts and zippers in VII and VIII?
Click to expand...

As if.

Xigbar_(Action_Render)_KHII.png


Damn, why'd you edit out the comment to what I may or may not know?
 
ZiZ said:
none of the games are connected. They share a few common monsters and tropes but that's about it. They rarely share the same world or characters so you can just jump into any of the games.

just wait till XV comes out and play it with everyone else. If the game turns out great, then welcome to the fan club. if it's bad, then at least you won't be as disappointed as the rest of us.
Click to expand...

This is a pretty good suggestion too.
 
pantsmith said:
Where are the excessive belts and zippers in VII and VIII?

Spoiler alert:
in your imagination. There werent any.
Click to expand...
Where have they been in the past ten or so years? It's pretty stupid that people still use those as detractors for the series.
 
IX and VI are in my opinion the best starting points because they're IMO the definitive representation of classic FF stylistically, narratively, and gameplay.
 
Final Fantasy X is probably the best starting point.

The plot/narrative has pretty much one focus and doesn't diverge. Combat is turn based, and isn't just X X X X heal X X X X. The pacing is mostly good and only drags in temples.
 
zlatko said:
How old are you that Final Fantasy has slipped you by entirely over so many years?

JRPG games with a great story, soundtrack, and unique battle system are the series' strengths. Each has its own flavor.

Most would recommend Final Fantasy 7, 6, and 12 as the big three "greats" that are debated over as the best in the series.
Click to expand...

uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

no


12 gets a lot of shit from a lot of people, including me... 7,6,10 and then 9 I would say would be the most well known/renowned
 
When I was younger (like, mid to late 90's) the Final Fantasy games confused the crap out of me because I didn't understand how a bunch of games in the same series could be (pretty much) completely unconnected lol.
 
paul187 said:
JRPG with a AAA budget.

Start off with IV. It's really short and you will get a feel for the series.
Click to expand...
I've heard weird things about this series and there bring differences between the US and JP versions of the game.

Which one do I pick? The ds game or what?
 
Taco_Human said:
I've heard weird things about this series and there bring differences between the US and JP versions of the game.

Which one do I pick? The ds game or what?
Click to expand...

The DS one is pretty good actually, if you want "better" (i only say that because some people prefer the sprites im sure) graphics, the ds one is perfect haha
 
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