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[Boss Mog]

Like I said IN the OP. GREAT STORY, non existent premise, the first couple of hours give you zero motivation to go out in the world other than "hey, its there!"

I see plenty of lore citing in your so called premises. The way you're trying to define FFXI's premise is like if I said The premise of FFXIII is a teenage girl who is afraid to tell her big sister that she's marrying her boyfriend, that's the premise according to your definition for it regarding FFXI. When you talk of Pulse and Cocoon, that's all lore.

 

[Shamdeo]

FFXIV
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h542YbZuwkQ

 

[Meowster]

Final Fantasy VIII had one of the most enigmatic and interesting openings of any of the series (and, at its time, visually groundbreaking) that made me wonder and think. It's a great setup and the whole SeeD missions at the beginning were awesome.

XIII also has a great premise that sucked me in (and sucked me out until about two chapters later) with how it threw you directly into the action. It was chaotic, visually a spectacle, and made you wonder how these people and their stories would go together.

VII and XII are both great too. IX, VI, and X are good too and it falls off the map after that. Square is known for having some of the greatest concepts and ideas in gaming.. they just aren't always fleshed out in the best ways.

 

[orthodoxy1095]

From what I've played
Best of the series tier: XII, IX, V
Good tier: I, VII, XIV (would be higher up if not for 2.0's slow start)
Average: X
Bad, dull, and generic tier: IV

What about FF I's premise is good? I'm not going to say you're wrong, but I can't really think of anything special about the premise. Give us the elevator pitch for it.

I see plenty of lore citing in your so called premises. The way you're trying to define FFXI's premise is like if I said The premise of FFXIII is a teenage girl who is afraid to tell her big sister that she's marrying her boyfriend, that's the premise according to your definition for it regarding FFXI. When you talk of Pulse and Cocoon, that's all lore.

Give us the premise of XI that's so great then.

 

[syncyes]

XIII had an amazing mythos behind it. A shame the overall execution was so subpar.

 

[Bennettt2]

I've always admired X for its premise.

Spoiler

loved the 1000 year time jump

 

[True Fire]

Final Fantasy IV subverted the whole stereotypical medieval fantasy RPG story waaaaay before subverting RPG stories was cool. Modern RPGs are still using some of the plot twists Final Fantasy IV introduced to the genre. You can't say Final Fantasy IV is generic when it was completely original when it came out, and years before its time.

And the whole basis of Final Fantasy IV is totally being recycled with Final Fantasy XV, and I imagine quite a few of the plot twists will also be recycled.

 

[Kieli]

I see plenty of lore citing in your so called premises. The way you're trying to define FFXI's premise is like if I said The premise of FFXIII is a teenage girl who is afraid to tell her big sister that she's marrying her boyfriend, that's the premise according to your definition for it regarding FFXI. When you talk of Pulse and Cocoon, that's all lore.

I've never played FFXI.

Give me the premise and let me judge.

 

[Shadowplay1979]

1.IV
2.VI
3.IX
4.XII
5.V
6.VII
7.III
8.I
9.II
10.VIII
11.XIII
12.X

I like when Final Fantasy doesnt try to be "deep" and instead just tries to be a good story with good characters. Its taken me 3 hours to figure out in 13 what anyone is even talking about. The romance in VIII was..terrible and the story , or whatever story there was had plot holes bigger then that image of squalls face at the end. X was just garbage.

 

[Philippo]

Hot Damn Holy Shits Tier

1.

In a world were all the Crystals have disappeared from their kingdoms, Lucis, the only still holding one, has evolved in a contemporary, highly developed but isolated nation (allowing for the technological advances to be focused on daily life, while magic deals with defenses and such), while other countries remained in a medioeval-reinassance state, devolving their resources in the bellic field. One of these kingdoms, Niflheim, now an empire, decides to invade Lucis and steal their Crystal, moving Prince Noctis to start his journey. The political/ethical contrast between First and Third World countries is something really mature and very different from what we usually get in a FF. The fact that aside from Lucis, which is comparable to our society, the rest of the world is filled with giant creatures and creative landscapes also add to a very compelling realism/fantasy-technology/nature contrast.

On top of that, dark GoT-like conspiracies, possibly a Romeo&Juliet-like romance and a road trip movie feeling ti create a better bonding between characters and to give the plot air to breathe, the just has all the ingredients to have the best FF setting ever.

2.

A world at war, with every Count, Duke and whatever all involved in various conspiracies and treasons, and amidst this two best friends choose opposite pacts in these factions? Sign me the fuck in.

3.

Again, empires at war (yes there's a recurring pattern in my tastes) drag a small kingdom in their clash, bringing together various characters, rebel princesses, thieves, knights and wannabe airpirates with a shelf-like personality, in a world filled with many creative landscapes and inhabitated by various races.

4.

In a more fairytale-ish/child-esque world than most FF worlds, a band of thieves enacts (pun intended) a plan to kidnap the princess of a kingdom, then shit hits the fan, draws together many pictoresque characters and set in motion a bigger-than-expected adventure.

Hells Yes I'll Play That Tier

1. FFVII - An ex-Soldier with a dark past in a cyberpunk world? Hell yes. I didn't put it higher just because i find the premises interesting now, didn't care much when i was little.
2. FFX - The mysterious boy come from God-knows-where ends in a fantasy worlds, nice.
3. FFXIII - Cool futuristic/wilderness contrast with Gods and predestination. Ugh, such a cool concept...
4. FFT0 - MOAR WAR AND PLOTS FOR EVERYONE!!!

Sounds Cool, I'm Excited Tier

1. FFVI
2. FFIV
3. FFIV

The others Tier

All the others

 

[rezn0r]

I love all the mentions of VIII, it's been my favorite since it came out. Game gets shit on way more than it should.

 

[astroturfing]

oh wow, i'm not the only one who really likes the premise of FFXIII? that's awesome. i seriously thought i was some kind of a freak.

thanks to the interesting and unique premise and setting i was able to forgive a lot of the faults in the game (gorgeous visuals and music helped as well).

 

[dragonlife]

I completely agree about XIII's premise. I dislike the game a lot, but I really liked the ideas it presented. It's really too bad the actual delivery and presentation of these ideas was tragic.

 

[Sub_Level]

Final Fantasy VIII had one of the most enigmatic and interesting openings of any of the series (and, at its time, visually groundbreaking) that made me wonder and think. It's a great setup and the whole SeeD missions at the beginning were awesome.

I love the aesthetics of VIII but Im not sure I liked the idea of SeeD. Its true we have military academies training teenagers but the way it was portrayed in VIII they are like the best of the best in special forces.

...where were the adults at? lol. Thats why I liked the slightly different Laguna premise more although the school setting was neat.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

I love the aesthetics of VIII but Im not sure I liked the idea of SeeD. Its true we have military academies training teenagers but the way it was portrayed in VIII they are like the best of the best in special forces.

...where were the adults at? lol. Thats why I liked the slightly different Laguna premise more although the school setting was neat.

The adults mostly died in the last war.

 

[Magnus]

I'm definitely with you on FFX, OP. The premise is extremely compelling.

I'm always a sucker though for stories where a cycle has been happening, and you're invited into the latest one where you just know something will be different, where you can help the protagonists break it and change the course of the future.

 

[galv]

I'm with the other people who agree about the premise of XIII.

The game's premise seemed to indicate that the story would be laden with themes of oppression, immortality, existentialism, free will vs destiny, seclusion and segregation etc along with a lore-rich world of godlike beings, and a Cocoon floating in the sky. The game world was beautiful to behold and it really did draw me in for a while.

The execution failed miserably. Gameplay was solid in terms of the combat in the game (but why oh why was there auto-battle...) however, the story/characters ended up being pathetic. Cringe-worthy dialogue and a convoluted mess of a story led to the game never living up to its premise.

With that said, the lore that was in the game was very very interesting and I still think that if SE had more talent in the writing/dialogue department, FFXIII could have been so so good, simply based on how detailed, beautiful and laden with allegorical themes the world they created is.

 

[Sub_Level]

The adults mostly died in the last war.

That's true.