#FFIII introduced the job system and did it the worst any of the games have ever done it

[anarchomoop]

"What if in order to not get killed in boss fights you had to sit and wait in regular fights and let the enemies hit you so you could have actual HP and defense?" "Oh, it's boring. That's a bad and boring idea."

Final Fantasy II’s grinding system is so funny, the dev team were just like “ok that sucked, we’ll never do that again ever”

[smokeybrand]

A World of Pure Fantasy

I’m a huge fan of Final Fantasy. I was introduced to the series with Final Fantasy IX and made an earnest attempt to play every one of the main titles. To this day, i have accomplished that goal, and then some. With the advent of Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition, i wanted take the time and just kind of gush about each game in the main line, or not, instead of trying to line up 15 full reviews. Although i might circle back around to the individual games in due time.

Final Fantasy

The original FF was kind of a mixed back for me. I enjoyed the game very much but not as much as the later entries. I didn’t play the original, my first foray into this game was the Origins port on the PS1, but i ran through it again when it god re-re-released on the PSP. That version is probably the best of the lot and i enjoyed playing it a great deal more than it’s immediate predecessor. While not one of my favorites, i did enjoy Garland and the the overall tale, which kind of set a precedent for the series moving forward, even if it was a convoluted one.

Final Fantasy II

This game was a dumpster fire. The story was generic, the battle system retarded, and the characters uninspired. They designs were pretty legit bu i think they tuck too close to that Amano feel. Dude is a brilliant artists but you have to tone his vision down a bit in order for it to translate properly. I played the PSP version of this game and they actually did that, to an extent, but it didn’t help. This game is just plain terrible and i hate it.

Final Fantasy III

FFIII is an interesting case. I recall enjoying my time with it but it’s just so generic, you know? I mean, the characters didn’t even have names back when it was first released in Japan. Since this was the only one that didn’t get a stateside release (FFVI was released as FFIII here) way back when, we eventually got a hold of a remake version that i rather enjoyed. The characters had names and depth, the narrative was brushed up into something more akin to an actual FF title, and Cloud of Darkness was a mark improvement over Emperor Mateus. FFIII was the first time the job system was introduced, as well. It was eventually perfected in Tactics, but this is where it was first attempted.

Final Fantasy IV

FFIV was the first FF title i didn’t finish. There’s only two, this one and XIII, but i dropped IV for different reasons. I’ll get into why i abandoned XII I when i get to that entry but this one jut flat out pissed me off. I started IX as a bad ass Dark knight. Leveled the f*ck out of that sh*t! By the time i got to that mountain, i was mad OP. Then it was all snatched away from me! Not only do they take away your awesome skill set and weapons as a Dark Knight, they reset you all the way back to level f*cking one!! F*CK THAT! Yo, i raged-quit so hard, it was disgusting! haven’t picked up since. That being said, what i did play, i enjoyed. And i hear thee is a solid narrative behind it. FFIV is actually one of the higher rated, more popular, titles of the series so i guess it’s good? But so are VIII and X and i kind of hate those games a little bit.

Final Fantasy V

Oh, i adored Butz’s tale. He got himself a harem and was menaced by a f*cking tree. Goddamn, what a time to be alive! Five was actually a delight to play for me. It reminded me of my first outing with IX. Butz, as he was called back when i was young (but i think it’s canon that his name is Barts) was a delightful POV character. His Onion Knight-ness made for a dope combination of play styles. Again, it was mad simialr to FFIX but just different enough to give it it’s own flavor. FFV is one of my favorite titles, even if ExDeath is basically a pissed off tree.

Final Fantasy VI

I love VI. Love. It’s not my favorite but it is mad close. This was the the very first title that felt like a proper FF outing. I enjoyed the battle system and the characters, tremendously. The conflict was set up perfectly and the world ebbed with life. FFVI felt epic and fantastical. There were real stakes here and the world was altered, irreparably, by one of the best antagonists in gaming. Kefka Palazzo may have been my favorite villain if i had played this game before VII. But Sephiroth, man...

Final Fantasy VII

Motherf*cking Sephiroth! Yo, i adore Sephiroth as a villlain. I adore his design. I adore all of the character designs, particularly Cloud and Tifa. As much as i loved how the game looks, i loved the battle system even more! To this day, the Materia system is my favorite battle system in any game. The Gem system from IX is a close second, but it’s that Materia, for sure. Final Fantasy VII is easily my favorite FF title. I even enjoy all of the Compilation material. Advent Children is actually one of my all-time favorite films! It’s not even that good, but i loved it!

Final Fantasy VIII

In regards to VIII, i hated the story. I played VIII after VII (my favorite) and IX (My second favorite) The narrative by comparison was shallow as f*ck to me. Plus, Squall is kind of a weak protagonist. the Laguna parts were more compelling and i hated playing the Laguna parts. More so, all of the characters felt mad uninspired, with the exception of Ultimecia, but even she was flawed. Her motivation was juts plain pedestrian. Also, the Junction System is the worst battle system in the entire series. Magic consumable? Really? The more Summons you equip, the weaker you get? How does that make any sense?? I don’t care for VIII at all.

Final Fantasy IX

I have such a love for IX. It opened up an entire world i never would have thought to enter! It was the very first FF game i ever played and, boy, did i play it! I wrecked this game, man. Finished it, 100 percent, at least 10 times. Man, i adored everything about it! The gameplay, the battle system, the characters, the story, the world, the villains; It was just TOO dope. I played VII and VIII immediately after this so i had no idea that there was a proper world of fantasy adventure to be had, that the futuristic melodrama of Squall and Cloud were the minority, so this was my first foray into that type of story. Imagine my surprise when i got to V, which IX might as well be a re-imagining of, or VI, with it’s steam punk, fantasy, motif. FFIX is easily my second favorite Final Fantasy title and i hope that it will get a proper remake one day.

Final Fantasy X

As far as X is concerned, i kind of hated everything about it. Tidus is the worst, Yuna is weak as all hell, and the Seymour might be the laziest protagonist of any FF title i have ever played. I couldn't identify with Tidus or his goals at all and the fact that the Al Bhed, the smartest people in all of Spira, were persecuted because they knew everything, just chaffed me raw. They've been telling you, the entire time, that Yevon was full of sh*t and NO ONE LISTENED, EVER! In fact, they went to WAR with them! You have a planet of willfully ignorant motherf*ckers, who are just okay with a genocide monster devouring their culture and people every generation, because the church said to be. Go on, kill yourself just to stave it off for another decade or two. The world of Spira is a global exercise in stupidity and it took a crybaby ghost-maybe, from the future-past, to kind of fix things but not really because the third narrative brings Sin back? I say third narrative because there is compilation material for this game, like there is for VII and the Fabula Nova Chrystallis for XIII. So everything you even do in X, doesn't matter at all! The f*ck man?? That being said, i love Rikku, Lulu, Blitzball, and the Sphere Grid. Thems was dope.

Final Fantasy XI

FFXI is an interesting circumstance. It was Square’s first attempt at a Final Fantasy MMO and it was quite successful. I didn’t play it much but from what i did sample, i was rather happy with it. The world they created was pretty expansive but i heard the grind was ludicrous. However, it has to be for an MMO. That’s really all there is to it. I’m sure the narrative was pretty good, too. I did enjoy the battle system and character designs but good luck playing this thing. All the the servers are dead in favor of, what i believe to be the far superior of the two, Final Fantasy XIV.

Final Fantasy XII

FFXII is my third favorite Final Fantasy title, easy. Cats kind of hate it because it tried to mimic an MMO with that whole Gambit thing but if you get use to it, there is actually a ridiculously deep, political thriller, fleshed out with the most whimsical of fantasy tropes. Ivalice is one of the most fleshed out worlds in the entirety of the Final Fantasy universe and it feels like it here. The License board is basically a Sphere Grid and the combat, itself, is pretty fun. It’s a beautiful game to play and the animation is on point. The only beef i have with this entire game is Vaan but once you realize he’s just a passenger on this journey, you’re in for one helluva ride! It helps, tremendously, that Vayne Solidor is one of the best Anti-Villains in gaming.

Final Fantasy XIII

Disappointment. Man, those first few trailers for XIII had me hype! The more i learned, the more i wanted it. I’m a huge fan of that futuristic, cyber punk, aesthetic and Lightning had the dopest design for a protagonist since Cloud! And then i played it. I was duped. We were all duped. What we got was a beautiful mess. The gameplay was terrible and the narrative was nonsense. It took two more games and a couple of novels to fix what was initially released broke. At the end of the day, XIII was just plain boring  which is sad because the world has such potential. Such beautiful potential...

Final Fantasy XIV

FFXIV is Square’s second attempt at an MMO and, admittedly, they stumbled out the gate. But with the retcon with a Realm Reborn saved everything. This game feels epic. It feels like a main line Final Fantasy game. It’s like a greatest hits of the entire series, a celebration of everything that came before it. I love this title. I don’t play as much as i use to, mostly because i don’t care for online play, but my lady does. She has every expansion and has clocked hundreds of hours into this thing. Beyond that, the overall story is actually pretty dope. It makes sense why you have to grind. The world feels as real as Ivalice and every time a new world is opened with an expansion, it’s a goddamn pleasure to explore. I adore FFXIV.

Final Fantasy XV

FFXV is the newest title of the mainline and the most ambitious yet. Thee has been mixed reception to XV but, if you’re willing to deep dive into it, thee is a meticulously groomed lore and compelling narrative that spans all sorts of media. Beyond that, Ardyn Izunia is one of the best villains of any FF title. Wildly charismatic and crazy like a fox, he’s who Sephiroth would be without all of that self loathing and i dig it. Going even further, this game is the first in the series to actually address branching paths and alternate futures. There is a whole mess of lore hereto unravel and, as a guy that loves a good narrative, i dove head first into it. A couple hundred hours in,we get huge chunks of extra content that fleshes out the already heavy narrative and that sh*t is just plain dope. It helps tremendously i loved all of the characters, particularly Aranea, and Noctis makes for, arguably, the third best protagonist in any of the titles.

It’s wild to me that people slight them in favor of mindless shooters or loot grinds that don’t have anywhere near as a complete gameplay experience. Though, not all of them are hits, most of them are some of the greatest stories ever told. And these are just the main titles. I’m not even going to get into the excellent spin-offs like Crystal Chronicles, the various Tactics titles, Type-0, and those ever so brilliant Kingdom Hearts games. FF has had an illustrious history and i hope it continues into the future. I love these games. If you get an opportunity, play all of them. I suggest taking in FFI, FFV, or FFIX first. they are the most accessible. When you feel like taking that deep dive, get into FFX, FFIV, and FFXII. Those titles, i think, are the most expansive and complete. The Final Fantasy games are some of the most enriching, unique, and compelling stories ever told. You’re doing yourself a disservice by sleeping on them, for real.