I have a very special place in my heart for Final Fantasy Tactics , so I need you to understand how badly I wanted to love this one. It isn't a bad game by any means, and the essential, Ogre Battle -like gameplay is still well intact. But the simplified, real-world crossover narrative feels incredibly awkward compared to the original's politically epic story, and falls way short of the incredibly high mark that Final Fantasy Tactics had set in that regard.
It's a good game in its own right, but compared to the original it really is just a bit of a disappointing sequel. We've got to keep in mind that we didn't even see a proper stateside release for this title until It did see a few updates along the way, but the core game was pretty well dated before reaching mainstream North American audiences that had already been exposed to later titles which had done it better. All that said, this was still a very important chapter for the series.
I mean, it gave us chocobos for one, and at this point you probably have a hard time thinking of the series without imagining those big, yellow horse chickens.
The action and skill-based character progression was But it wouldn't hold as a series staple, to put it lightly. Mixed reception on this particular chapter is understandable.
Dissidia was another attempt to break Final Fantasy out of the RPG box and into fresh territory, this time under the guise of a classic fighting game.
The concept is sound— top notch, even. I mean, how does playing out Cloud and Sephiroth's duel in a real time brawl not sound epic? It really was cool, and fun to boot. While the plot seemed a little forced in order to account for all these fighters from different worlds and universes, I never really do expect great storytelling out of fighter.
But with all that said, the Dissidia series is definitely one of the less well known and less played games in the franchise for a reason. It's a decent fighter and an excellent diversion, but it definitely didn't push many boundaries for its genre. Yes, the old school original fantasy RPG adventure shows its age plenty well. And that's precisely why it doesn't rank any higher. But it gets bumped up a few notches on the list due to the fact that this is where it all started. Credit where it's due, friends.
And there's plenty due here. Credit does have limits, however. While it did introduce this beloved series to the world at large, even the remastered versions may be a tall order for the modern gamer, taken aback by the threadbare plot and difficulty.
But for the rest of us, it's just a another stroll down memory lane. No, we're talking about the original. Although it wouldn't hit North America until in the form of an overhauled remake for the Nintendo DS, we'll try to take it in context with the rest of the series. Final Fantasy III was the direct result of Square taking notes during the development and release of its previous two Final Fantasy titles, and it shows in a good way. The vastly improved job system went over well, and the 3D graphics along with other key improvements made in the remake helped this old title bear its age a little more gracefully than most.
Truly direct sequels were once a rarity in the Final Fantasy universe, but it's fast turned into a trend over the past several years. This follow up to Final Fantasy X was definitely one of the bigger, more well received efforts to that end, and the all female leading cast was definitely a fresh take on established convention.
But of course, it had issues of its own. It took a fair bit of criticism for straying even further off base from what longtime fans had come to expect from the series, injecting more action-oriented elements into the battle system and taking a hard left turn into a poppy, more lighthearted atmosphere, parting even further from the decidedly somber themes of preceding titles.
Being honest, Final Fantasy X marked a turning point for the series that I'm not a big fan of. It brought a lot of cool new features and progression mechanics to the table, and I loved that.
But the incredibly straightforward, on-the-rails nature of the plot and gameplay in general leave a bad taste in my mouth. In spite of that considerable shortcoming, the game managed to pack in enough depth, side content and completionist bait to retain a fair bit of replay value. The character work, now featuring voice acted dialogue as a series first, could be hit and miss— well evidenced by Tidus' infamously meme worthy laugh scene.
You know the one. But all in all, it's a pretty good time. The first five numbered Final Fantasy are a pretty interesting showcase of Square's talent when it comes to innovation and improvement, with each title maturing the series' hallmarks while bringing new ideas to the table.
Final Fantasy V isn't an exception to this rule, but its contribution seems to fall a little short of the previous four. Don't get me wrong, the game's great. The characters are great, Faris in particular being a favorite of mine. But really, it kept pace with Final Fantasy IV more than it really polished and pressed forward when it comes to overall design and writing. The story and villain didn't prove incredibly memorable. We did get a throwback to the job system, though.
I don't doubt I could be strung up for this, but seriously, I had to swallow a lot of my pride just to move this as far up the list as I did. It's pretty difficult to argue with how well it resonated with modern audiences, but it's pretty far from being without fault. The game really did its best to reconcile the old and the new, advancing the more active, action oriented direction that the combat system has been revolving around while bringing a massive, open world back to the forefront.
Although the centerpiece of the narrative, the bond between the four protagonists, received a great deal of praise, I feel like it managed to sort of overpower and derail the greater scope of the plot, feeling more like a road trip simulator than an epic adventure more often than not. There's a lot to be unpacked here. This was the first single player, mainline title to totally abandon random encounters and explore an almost entirely new battle system, which actually worked out rather well.
This newer, more three dimensional combat system went miles as far as really breathing new life into the series. And this iteration of Ivalice certainly was heavy with content. However, the plot really didn't hold together too well, so deeply mired in politics that it fell a little flat by the second half.
The "license board" method of character progression felt a bit cumbersome and awkward, and the characters themselves ranged from delightfully intriguing, like Balthier and Fran, to incredibly annoying, such as leading man and war orphan Vaan. There were a lot of good ideas at play here, from the interesting and fresh take on the combat system and summons to the eerie and deeply cerebral plot.
However, it was definitely one of the more polarizing games in the series. There are flaws, certainly. The hard turn into a very young adult themed narrative, sudden embrace of realistically rendered characters and locales, and awkward magic system did little to fend off criticism. It seems like VIII tried really hard to capitalize on the success of its big brother's stylistic direction, and conversely, resulted in a lot of unfair comparisons.
The ninth numbered installment reads like a love letter to the origins of the series while managing to pack in just enough modernization and quality of life improvements to resonate with its audience. The return to its high fantasy roots, no-frills open world exploration and refreshingly classic equipment and progression systems, sprinkled with a few modern twists, are particular high points to be appreciated here. The only downside I can think to mention is that while certainly a decent throwback to the classics, the plot doesn't particularly shine, feeling a bit predictable and formulaic in spite of a varied and lovingly rendered cast.
It's hardly fair to mention the absolute trainwreck that was Final Fantasy XIV without bringing up the remarkable comeback story it laid the groundwork for. The story here definitely is one for the ages, but I'll do my best to give you the skinny of it. The transition was nothing short of masterful, tied to several in-game events and updates that culminated in an apocalyptic event known as a Calamity.
What emerged from the ashes was, for lack of better terminology, a much better game. New and revamped progression mechanics, a vibrantly redesigned world, and new content barely scratch the surface in terms of the steps taken to ensure that Final Fantasy XIV was, truly, A Realm Reborn. I think that this is where things really started to come together in terms of memorable characters and impressive storytelling.
It was gripping, deep, and character-driven as opposed to the more "broad strokes" style of the previous three games. And all this glosses over the introduction of the ATB battle system, greatly improving the pace of combat. While the lack of a job system did remove some player freedom, we received a cast of unique and personality forward characters that I'd gladly take in exchange.
Those factors are probably what most players are interested in, and so I feel comfortable calling it the best. It just doesn't have much heart, or a story I like, or a decent protagonist.
I like it when Final Fantasy has those things. It does have a British version of Han Solo, though. I'm a big Balthier fan, and if I could be him I would.
Tom Senior: There were apparently a lot of rewrites and story-shuffling during development and it really shows. Luckily 12 has my favourite RPG systems of any Final Fantasy and the fast-forward command added by the remaster means I can blast through zones, level up quickly, and test out new party lineups.
Plus the story never quite gains momentum. Final Fantasy has never been good at telling stories about politics, kings and queens. Give me a good party of pals who go on a journey and kill lots of cactuars. It just, uh, kinda disappears and then completely falls apart in the last third of the game. But before that: great stuff! The world and writing, like in Matsuno's Final Fantasy Tactics, are fantasy by way of Shakespearean tragedy, with a quippy rogue, a dutiful but disgraced knight, and a princess forced to step into a leadership role she never expected.
There's some great wartime politics to dig into here, though the throughline never quite explores them as much as it should. But the flavor that story brings sets it so far apart from your typical teens-save-the-world JRPG.
It's also hard to overstate how much FF12's world design—broken up into MMO-like zones, where everything is the same scale, rather than a world map or the disappointing list of locations like FF10's—adds to the believability of it as a place. It feels like a proper world you're exploring, at a level of fidelity no Final Fantasy game had delivered before. Wes: Final Fantasy 9 is that one game I'll probably wax poetic about for the rest of my life.
It just has such heart. It's a game that feels joyously made, celebrating the Final Fantasy series up to that point and the end of Square's insane hot streak during the PS1 era. It's peppered with in-jokes and references that manage to never be obnoxious or exclusionary; if you don't get them, they just add more flavor to a world already overstuffed with personality.
You can take Final Fantasy 9's opening hour as a case study for what makes it special among the series: you'll control three separate characters at different points, and during that time you can freely run around a city collecting tons of hidden items and gil caches, meet characters who will have small, cute narrative moments a dozen plus hours later, kick off a sidequest that lasts the entire game , play a minigame, learn FF9's card game and collect some rare cards, and participate in a wonderfully entertaining fake sword fight that was designed for this one scene and never used again.
That's really Final Fantasy 9 in a nutshell: it's so dense with things to do, with hidden delights, and with creative design that goes above and beyond, it's hard not to be charmed by the sheer love that went into every area. And the PC version will run on pretty much anything. The battle system isn't the best in the series, but everything else more than makes up for it.
I do love the story, though. There are some great moments, usually involving sad-eyed black mage Vivi. Also, it has the best world map theme. Despite being an MMO which understandably will turn some away , FF14 is a sincere love letter that captures all of the whimsy and drama of the earlier entries in the series. It's a shame that you'll have to endure a painfully dull level-up process, but once you get to the later chapters of A Realm Reborn and into the exquisite Heavensward and Stormblood expansions, Final Fantasy 14's story begins to rival some of the series' best.
In between the usual MMO grinds, there's an emotional, character-driven story of betrayal and revolution all set in a more medieval fantasy aesthetic that is a welcome departure from the spikey-haired, leather-clad look of later Final Fantasys.
Its endgame can be a little repetitive, but everything from the dungeons and raids to the crafting and job system are so beautifully realized and fun that I'm not pulling my hair out waiting for the next update.
Tom: At this point it feels like Final Fantasy 7 has been dismantled, digested, and rendered down into a puddle of memes, and I struggle to detach the game from powerful feelings of nostalgia for the many hours I spent extracting every secret from that world map. However, I really think the story holds up. Sephiroth starting Cloud down through the flames of Nibelheim is one of the best moments in any Final Fantasy game.
The Weapons that appear later in the campaign roam the map, ready to be challenged as soon as your gear and party were strong enough. Don't fancy that? Breed and race Chocobos in the Gold Saucer, or go and find the secret party members Yuffie and Vincent. I play it every couple of years, and always find it just as captivating as the first time. I think the variety is a big part of it. One minute you're fighting a giant mechanical scorpion, the next you're trying to out-squat a wrestler to win a powdered wig.
The world is great too. Every location has its own distinctive personality, from the high-tech militarism of Junon, to the cosy sands of the Costa del Sol. And I love how the arrival of the meteor transforms the mood of the game, with NPCs getting new dialogue to reflect the coming apocalypse. It's a proper big, exciting adventure, especially when you unlock the Highwind airship and can explore the map largely unrestricted.
Andy K: I remember being disappointed with 10 when I first played it, because it got rid of the explorable world map that I loved in 7, 8, and 9. Instead you'd just pick locations from a map interface, which is nowhere near as compelling as actually walking around yourself.
The world map was such a Final Fantasy icon that I'm baffled they got rid of it. I enjoyed the game overall, but this change meant I never really felt like I was on some grand journey. The world didn't feel as convincing somehow, like a series of disparate places artificially strung together. There were some great locations in there, though: particularly the rolling hills of the Calm Lands and the stormy Thunder Plains. Samuel: This is my favourite Final Fantasy game by a long way. Blitzball is a great minigame that connects well with the main adventure, once you understand how it works, and the way the game explores religion is pretty risky for a mainstream RPG.
It also has a progression system and end game that can keep you playing for tens of hours afterwards. The PS2 version came out at just the right time for me to fall in love with it I was 14, basically , and I play it every three or four years.
I also disagree that getting rid of the world map was a bad thing—FF10's world is a little too linear and paves the way for 13's long corridors, but it does feel strangely real to me, in how much personality there is in individual places like Kilika, Luca or Guadosalam. The fact it has no major cities, because this unstoppable force keeps destroying them, neatly explains why it's a world mostly made up of small tropical settlements.
I've never really loved Final Fantasy , honestly, with its straight-to-VHS-style follow-up story about lovers from years ago or some bullshit, but when I played the PC version a couple of years ago I had a new appreciation for it.
It was the first Final Fantasy game with an all-female cast and it has a very different, fun energy to It's almost like 15 in how the friendships at the heart of the game are a big part of why it's an enjoyable journey, even if the overarching story is bad. Square Enix completely redid the combat and progression systems, which they really didn't need to do to get people to buy this direct sequel. I also liked seeing the world of Spira several years later, with new locations and additions to existing ones, as well as granular bits of new story that tell you what happened to all its characters.
I wish there were fewer recycled assets and I don't love the musical numbers, but hey, not every Final Fantasy game is going to be my thing. I liked listening to developer Nina Freeman talk about the game on this podcast. She makes a good case for why it's better than I thought it was back in You get to guide your four good lads through a lazy summer, beating up wildlife for cash.
After the constraints of 13, the open world feels enormous, and it's extremely pretty. Also, the food. My god, the food. Samuel: This is how I feel—a cynic would say this is a game of nothing more than empty spectacle. But how can you not enjoy that journey? It's like the opposite of Final Fantasy endearing, full of character, and the combat is stylish but has little going on beneath it.
The story is The king is killed, and you come back and kill the guy who is your relative from thousands of years ago, who now sits on the throne speaking in a British accent. Is that right? Anyway, who cares when the summons look this cool:.
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