• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Your views on the Final Fantasy games?

Three of your favorite FF titles in the series?


  • Total voters
    482

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
FFVII was by far my favorite game during my teenaged years. I downloaded it on PSN and it's bringing back all sorts of good memories. How I miss being a kid and not having a care in the world!
 

JimboJones

Member
Crystal Chronicles is poop. Disappointing when it first came out and they actually made the multiplayer worse with the recent version.

I've always wanted to try the Wii game but was always put off but the reviews and I've never seen it preowned or in any bargain bins.
 
XIV has introduced me to people that had a profound impact on my life. Downloading the trial version on a whim because I was in a JRPG mood at the time was one of the best decisions I ever made.
I recently started playing XIV and I like it but there is something that just doesn't seem to click with me. I go into these alliance raids and trial fights and as a melee dps the battle system just seems off. As someone who played FFXI religiously this battle system feels like its on crack compared to XI. I die constantly to random shit I'm supposed to know or watch a 15 minute walkthrough beforehand. The game wants me to do a rotation of 15 different abilities I gotta memorize the order of all while constantly moving around to avoid AOE's and other crazy shit these bosses throw at you. Any tips you can give me would sure help because I feel like I'm being a burden to my teammates.
 

swaffles23

Member
VI, IX, X have always been my top tier FF game. XIV is definitely pushing up there for me.

I'm almost through the post Stormblood patches right now so I'm excited to see if Shadowbringers lives up to the praise.
 

Kumomeme

Member
I recently started playing XIV and I like it but there is something that just doesn't seem to click with me. I go into these alliance raids and trial fights and as a melee dps the battle system just seems off. As someone who played FFXI religiously this battle system feels like its on crack compared to XI. I die constantly to random shit I'm supposed to know or watch a 15 minute walkthrough beforehand. The game wants me to do a rotation of 15 different abilities I gotta memorize the order of all while constantly moving around to avoid AOE's and other crazy shit these bosses throw at you. Any tips you can give me would sure help because I feel like I'm being a burden to my teammates.
you still in ARR or already move to HW? im quite new to mmo when i first time play the game but so far i has not much problem to the point that i must watch video guide. unless i doing extreme trials. dps should be easier than tank or healer but they deal more with mechanic than tank. melee dps is bit 'harder' since comparing to range dps, you need to constantly move dodge AOE, mechanic and get near to boss to deal damage. what job you playing? also at lower level the skillset still low but once you get higher level especially over 60 you gonna deal more skills and those skills is improvement of existing skillset. like you get additional bar etc that improve the gameplay. you also deal more various type of dungeon mechanic, things could get moving in faster pace, compared to dungeon in ARR.

when facing boss, zoom out the camera so you can see everything. watch out for AOE. each mechanic usually has 'sign' that signal it action. pay attention to party member movement. when i clueless to new raid usually i did this. but if they screw up move to wrong area then you also get the hit lol. watch them where they move and try to figure how they know that. watch how they handle mechanics too. for example when i first time encountered stacked marker i just see how previous party member handle it to get the gist of idea.

-regroup when you get stacked marker
-when there is single marker on your character, move away from party. or if party member with it move away from them. you might get caught in crossfire
-when everyone get circle aoe around them, spread and dont overlap each others.
-when there is mobs, kill them. if there is too many and you cant handle it, bring it to tank.
-beware of any orbs that suddenly appear
-when boss has eye sign with no AOE, face the character other way around until it finished chanting.
-watch for boss movement. usually there is visibile movement of what kind of attack and direction it gonna throw. for example when the boss raise right hand, move to left area because he gonna sweep the right part. sometimes it gonna be wide cleave attack so move back far. same goes for tail. some boss suddenly raise it tails. beware when they suddenly didnt move and chanting too
-pay attention to edge of arena. sometimes there is mechanic involved anything(like monster) that suddenly appear there
-pay attention to shape and pattern on the arena's floor. circle or square, the pattern on floor is checkered or circle, or others kind of shape. there reason developers did this. as guideline to AOE area and mechanics for players.
-pay attention to the boss hp bar. everytime when it gonna do skill, there is casting bar underneath/upper it with skill name.
-pay attention to the boss's dialogue that suddenly pop out in screen. it is a signal for upcoming mechanic/attack.
-healer has AOE cure skill. dont sit to far from them.
-everytime healer pop up healing dome stay in there. its not only regen hp but also reduce damage taken
- other melee dps like monk, ninja and even dark knight etc. has floor aoe circle etc that do damage over time. dont scare to stand it that. dont confuse with monster's aoe.
-dont stand same way as tank. as you might end up take same damage as them especially tank buster. usually tank will make the boss face front area to keep the attention on himself and the rest of party stay either behind of side of the boss. same goes when tank pulling mobs in dungeon too.
-also use Role Skill. skill like Low Blow can stun target. use it to stop monster chanting AOE. some boss skill can be disabled with that. some with Head Graze. for example Aurum Vale's cyclop AOE. same goes for Arm Length. use that to nulify knockback mechanic.

overall most of mechanic is revolved around this stuff.

also, pay attention at beginning of the fight. usually the boss will threw first round of mechanic as 'introduction'. then after that they will start at faster pace using combination of same mechanic. pay attention to the boss pattern. there is 'rotation'. the fight basically heavily scripted so dont worry.

ARR dungeon is pretty easy actually. but no need to fret. most of people dont bother if sprouts screw up. i also screw up for first time. even now too lol. just take time. you gonna get used to it. i also took few run of dungeon or trial before get the gist of it. sometimes i still not completely understand everything but as long i didnt die and finished the run so its fine. people just want to finish the run thats all. but reading guide or watch youtube is definitely helping. most of mechanic just being reused over and over again. once you get the used to it then no problem. no need to rush. take time slowly. most of people in the game pretty laid back so no 'competition' here. just relax.
 
Last edited:

Brigandier

Member
Loved 6-12 with 7, 11 and 12 being the stand outs.

1000s maybe 10s of thousands of hours played in Vana'diel. XI is just incredible.

Didn't like 13 much outside of it's amazing OST, 13-2 little bit better with a great OST.

Vanilla 14 god awful, ARR excellent with shadowbringers being goty material.

15 is a blight to the FF brand it was trash tier and embarrassing, easily the worst FF in existence and if you think 15 is the best FF or even a good rpg then you suck the biggest sweatiest hairiest smelliest cheesiest king kong balls ever...

Ahem... SE need to get back to basics and stop taking years upon years per game, here's to another 5 years before FF7 part 2 is here.
 
you still in ARR or already move to HW? im quite new to mmo when i first time play the game but so far i has not much problem to the point that i must watch video guide. unless i doing extreme trials. dps should be easier than tank or healer but they deal more with mechanic than tank. melee dps is bit 'harder' since comparing to range dps, you need to constantly move dodge AOE, mechanic and get near to boss to deal damage. what job you playing? also at lower level the skillset still low but once you get higher level especially over 60 you gonna deal more skills and those skills is improvement of existing skillset. like you get additional bar etc that improve the gameplay. you also deal more various type of dungeon mechanic, things could get moving in faster pace, compared to dungeon in ARR.

when facing boss, zoom out the camera so you can see everything. watch out for AOE. each mechanic usually has 'sign' that signal it action. pay attention to party member movement. when i clueless to new raid usually i did this. but if they screw up move to wrong area then you also get the hit lol. watch them where they move and try to figure how they know that. watch how they handle mechanics too. for example when i first time encountered stacked marker i just see how previous party member handle it to get the gist of idea.

-regroup when you get stacked marker
-when there is single marker on your character, move away from party. or if party member with it move away from them. you might get caught in crossfire
-when everyone get circle aoe around them, spread and dont overlap each others.
-when there is mobs, kill them. if there is too many and you cant handle it, bring it to tank.
-beware of any orbs that suddenly appear
-when boss has eye sign with no AOE, face the character other way around until it finished chanting.
-watch for boss movement. usually there is visibile movement of what kind of attack and direction it gonna throw. for example when the boss raise right hand, move to left area because he gonna sweep the right part. sometimes it gonna be wide cleave attack so move back far. same goes for tail. some boss suddenly raise it tails. beware when they suddenly didnt move and chanting too
-pay attention to edge of arena. sometimes there is mechanic involved anything(like monster) that suddenly appear there
-pay attention to shape and pattern on the arena's floor. circle or square, the pattern on floor is checkered or circle, or others kind of shape. there reason developers did this. as guideline to AOE area and mechanics for players.
-pay attention to the boss hp bar. everytime when it gonna do skill, there is casting bar underneath/upper it with skill name.
-pay attention to the boss's dialogue that suddenly pop out in screen. it is a signal for upcoming mechanic/attack.
-healer has AOE cure skill. dont sit to far from them.
-everytime healer pop up healing dome stay in there. its not only regen hp but also reduce damage taken
- other melee dps like monk, ninja and even dark knight etc. has floor aoe circle etc that do damage over time. dont scare to stand it that. dont confuse with monster's aoe.
-dont stand same way as tank. as you might end up take same damage as them especially tank buster. usually tank will make the boss face front area to keep the attention on himself and the rest of party stay either behind of side of the boss. same goes when tank pulling mobs in dungeon too.
-also use Role Skill. skill like Low Blow can stun target. use it to stop monster chanting AOE. some boss skill can be disabled with that. some with Head Graze. for example Aurum Vale's cyclop AOE. same goes for Arm Length. use that to nulify knockback mechanic.

overall most of mechanic is revolved around this stuff.

also, pay attention at beginning of the fight. usually the boss will threw first round of mechanic as 'introduction'. then after that they will start at faster pace using combination of same mechanic. pay attention to the boss pattern. there is 'rotation'. the fight basically heavily scripted so dont worry.

ARR dungeon is pretty easy actually. but no need to fret. most of people dont bother if sprouts screw up. i also screw up for first time. even now too lol. just take time. you gonna get used to it. i also took few run of dungeon or trial before get the gist of it. sometimes i still not completely understand everything but as long i didnt die and finished the run so its fine. people just want to finish the run thats all. but reading guide or watch youtube is definitely helping. most of mechanic just being reused over and over again. once you get the used to it then no problem. no need to rush. take time slowly. most of people in the game pretty laid back so no 'competition' here. just relax.

I am actually just finishing Stormblood and am currently a lvl 76 monk. I think the problem I am having the most is just things are so busy during the fight. There are circles all over the ground all the time and I'm not sure what ones I can be and which ones I can't. Also I am so preoccupied with my 15 button rotation combination I have a hard time seeing all the other stuff going on throughout the fight because I am so focused on the rotation and moving around the enemy for positional attacks.

For example I just did a trial where there were these tethered bubbles you had to go around and pop before they touched but nothing in the battle indicated that. So of course we wiped but didn't know why since all members seemed to be newer players. It wasn't until one of our players left the trial and was replaced by someone who knew the mechanic about the bubbles.

I really enjoy the game but sometimes I feel like its too fast paced and hectic for me to keep up. I die a lot and although no one has really given me crap I feel bad and feel like I am constantly burdening the healer who probably already has enough other things to worry about.
 

user1337

Member
Final Fantasy Cloud GIF by Square Enix


Never seen a tag list that big...
 

Mopey bloke

Member
1, 4, and 6 are the best ones.

Series has gotten way way to anime.

As someone who’s played every main FF since release on the NES, let my tell you FF7 is over rated. Not saying it not fun or not a good game but it’s highly over rated and it’s only ranked as it is because it was a lot of peoples first FF.

Final Fantasy VII is highly rated in Japan, a country that had been in RPG fever since '86.
 

Kumomeme

Member
I am actually just finishing Stormblood and am currently a lvl 76 monk. I think the problem I am having the most is just things are so busy during the fight. There are circles all over the ground all the time and I'm not sure what ones I can be and which ones I can't. Also I am so preoccupied with my 15 button rotation combination I have a hard time seeing all the other stuff going on throughout the fight because I am so focused on the rotation and moving around the enemy for positional attacks.

For example I just did a trial where there were these tethered bubbles you had to go around and pop before they touched but nothing in the battle indicated that. So of course we wiped but didn't know why since all members seemed to be newer players. It wasn't until one of our players left the trial and was replaced by someone who knew the mechanic about the bubbles.

I really enjoy the game but sometimes I feel like its too fast paced and hectic for me to keep up. I die a lot and although no one has really given me crap I feel bad and feel like I am constantly burdening the healer who probably already has enough other things to worry about.
no need to worry much about what others think. it gonna give you unneeded anxiety. Stormblood trials bit different though since it indeed throw wide range of mechanic different from Heavensward and even Shadowbringers, IMO. some of the mechanic you only found exclusive in the expansion. interm of mechanic sign, i believe in Shadowbringers they did better job at giving hint to players. dont worry nobody mastered the mechanic at single run. some people like me even took few run to get the gist of it. some of trial indeed need to read guide to properly understand since there is no proper explaination in the game.

about the hectic part...probably you can readjust the effect settings? set it to limited so it would feels less chaotic from all those skills effect. thats what i do especially i has slow internet connection.

i dont have Monk level up so i cant give advice but what i do i usually plan my rotation, where and when according to the battle phase to make sure i can do all the mechanic while get back to resuming rotation later. dont worry and keep going. you eventually gonna get used to all these mechanics. i suck too and die alot too. just proceed to next expansion. for Shb, you can run dungeon with A.I trust so you can take time and learn. the A.I know mechanic so you can watch their movement. they move like a book. this helped alot for first time running the dungeon before you run with players in duty roulette.

later once you finished Shb you can slowly try another job. it would give you better insight in gameplay and mechanics perspective. perhaps you can try ranged dps? they has mobility. ability to constantly moving while dps and able to attack from far while evading those AOE. once you comfortable and understand mechanics in the game you can try other role like tank and healer. but no need to rushing. take your time.
 
Last edited:
Final Fantasy is a huge franchise, and unlike a lot of other large franchises like Call of Duty, the general idea of FF has always been very experimental in terms of gameplay and so the actual franchise has games from almost every imaginable genre except uh first person shooter.

That said, the mainline titles are always generally some flavor of JRPG (excepting the 2 MMO entries) and so you can pretty much start anywhere you feel like it. Some people go backwards from the newest to the oldest until the technology level no longer interests them. Others pick an era and try all the titles of that era. If you've never played any FF it's important to realize that first FF more or less invented the modern concept of the JRPG but also that FF is more or less a genre unto itself and other JRPG franchises rarely ever are similar to FF titles because no one wants to copy FF.

Final Fantasy X remains my favorite of all time. Longtime fans of the franchise always have one they remember the most fondly and X is mine.
 
no need to worry much about what others think. it gonna give you unneeded anxiety. Stormblood trials bit different though since it indeed throw wide range of mechanic different from Heavensward and even Shadowbringers, IMO. some of the mechanic you only found exclusive in the expansion. interm of mechanic sign, i believe in Shadowbringers they did better job at giving hint to players. dont worry nobody mastered the mechanic at single run. some people like me even took few run to get the gist of it. some of trial indeed need to read guide to properly understand since there is no proper explaination in the game.

about the hectic part...probably you can readjust the effect settings? set it to limited so it would feels less chaotic from all those skills effect. thats what i do especially i has slow internet connection.

i dont have Monk level up so i cant give advice but what i do i usually plan my rotation, where and when according to the battle phase to make sure i can do all the mechanic while get back to resuming rotation later. dont worry and keep going. you eventually gonna get used to all these mechanics. i suck too and die alot too. just proceed to next expansion. for Shb, you can run dungeon with A.I trust so you can take time and learn. the A.I know mechanic so you can watch their movement. they move like a book. this helped alot for first time running the dungeon before you run with players in duty roulette.

later once you finished Shb you can slowly try another job. it would give you better insight in gameplay and mechanics perspective. perhaps you can try ranged dps? they has mobility. ability to constantly moving while dps and able to attack from far while evading those AOE. once you comfortable and understand mechanics in the game you can try other role like tank and healer. but no need to rushing. take your time.

Awesome, I appreciate all the helpful information you have given me. When I play community based games like this I always strive to be great since others depend on me doing my job properly and efficiently. I'll keep plugging along, I'm just about to start Shadowbringers, almost done with the in between expansion quests.
 

Kumomeme

Member
Awesome, I appreciate all the helpful information you have given me. When I play community based games like this I always strive to be great since others depend on me doing my job properly and efficiently. I'll keep plugging along, I'm just about to start Shadowbringers, almost done with the in between expansion quests.
just take your time and enjoy. Shb is amazing.
 

Jeeves

Member
PrimetimeKnight PrimetimeKnight I'd like to add a couple more pieces of XIV advice for you.

One is just a quick note that one of the most helpful things you can do for yourself is customize your HUD settings so that the enemy cast bar is gigantic and appears more in the center of your screen. I know it might sound like overkill but it's really of vital importance that you can be aware of boss attacks as soon as possible.

The above is obviously more helpful when you have an idea of what the enemy's moves actually do. It's ultimately your choice if you consult a guide or video before tackling new encounters, but personally I'm like you in that I don't like to feel like dead weight, so for most things I am in the habit of checking a guide before heading into something I haven't done before. It can be rewarding to puzzle it out on your own with trial and error, but honestly once a fight has been in the game for about two weeks, people will pretty much expect everyone to know the mechanics. Again, it's personal choice and some people never ever consult guides and manage well enough, but personally I think it's worth it to spend the 10-15 minutes beforehand to spend less of the raid dead on the ground and hopefully make things a little easier on the team.

And finally...you play Monk, huh? It's just as viable as any other job, and I don't play it myself, but I believe it has a reputation for being one of the most complicated/worst-feeling jobs to play. You said the battle system feels a little "off" and I think this might be part of why you feel that way. I would definitely give some thought to at least trying a different job. Some are easier to play effectively than others. For example, Red Mage starts at level 50 (so it wouldn't put you too far behind from where you are) and though it might take you a bit to understand how the gimmick of its rotation works, once you do understand it's like riding a bike and it's an easy job to play on auto-pilot while you pay more attention to boss mechanics. Plus you get to contribute to the party by being even more effective than healers at resurrecting your fallen. Another good choice might be Machinist, which has very few buttons to press compared to other jobs, the trade-off being it's a more fast-paced job.

It sounds like you have the right mindset to be a great player in this game, so I really hope you can find a way to make yourself more comfortable.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
I never played any as I was too young a d I don't like jrpg random encounter and jrpg combat I think.
That said... Looks like 13, 15 and 7r are all kinda modernized and might be ok to play for total newcomer? Especially 7r as I've talked in other topic?

Lets be frank. Not s lot of people will go to these 1-6 old style pixel art games without any nostalgia. Same with PS2 graphics or MMO entries. My beat chance is probably 7 on PS5 or 15... Maybe?
I have great nostalgia for quake and Duke nukem 3d but showed them to my younger nephew and he laughed and said it looks like bad Minecraft... And I've tried to get him into croc but same reaction. I understand now that nostalgia is a lot. I could not get into original 7 back in the day and because of that I have no nostalgia for it today. remake might be ok.

For me, FF series always began with 7 somehow. Previous entries are like duke nukem 1 and 2 in comparison :p

Edit tldr; 7 and 15 look great on trailers. Are these normal games I can play? Like I can play Skyrim without having played Morrowind? (I did, it's just an example. Morrowind rulez)
 
Last edited:

Rival

Gold Member
10 and 12 are the only ones I’ve replayed. Zodiac Age I fricking loved. 10 was the first one I ever beat and Is my second favorite.After that it’s 6,7,&9. 11 I never played. 14 I could never get into. Remake on ps5 is the next game I’m going to play after I finish Valhalla. I also keep telling myself to go back and try the 13 trilogy again.
 

Brigandier

Member
10 and 12 are the only ones I’ve replayed. Zodiac Age I fricking loved. 10 was the first one I ever beat and Is my second favorite.After that it’s 6,7,&9. 11 I never played. 14 I could never get into. Remake on ps5 is the next game I’m going to play after I finish Valhalla. I also keep telling myself to go back and try the 13 trilogy again.

Zodiac Age is incredible.
 
I'm playing FFXV right now and absolutely loving it. I love all the side stuff, especially the fishing. Yeah it's a bit easy for the main part but there are very difficult challenges in dlc and in revisiting dungeons. I'm actually stuck on one right now from the Gladio dlc :-(

I haven't really played any other FF games before. Only a bit of IV and didn't really like it. I wonder which other FF games I'm most likely to enjoy if I like FFXV, considering a lot of people hate that game.
 
Last edited:

Ikutachi

Member
I'm playing FFXV right now and absolutely loving it. I love all the side stuff, especially the fishing. Yeah it's a bit easy for the main part but there are very difficult challenges in dlc and in revisiting dungeons. I'm actually stuck on one right now from the Gladio dlc :-(

I haven't really played any other FF games before. Only a bit of IV and didn't really like it. I wonder which other FF games I'm most likely to enjoy if I like FFXV, considering a lot of people hate that game.
Original VII.
 

NecrosaroIII

Ask me about my terrible takes on Star Trek characters
Since my original post in this thread I've been playing FFXIV more. Beat ShB and about to start Endwalker.

It's the best game in the series and it's not even close. The first 20 levels of ARR are indeed kind of slow, but once the story kicks in the game becomes genius. Each expansion is better then the rest.

Best characters in the series. Best story. I'm in love
 

Boneless

Member
FFVII, obvious number one.
Music, awesome.
Characters, awesome.
Story, awesome.
Gameplay, combat system, materia, awesome.

Then I played FFX, but couldn't stick with it because it was too cringe, and blitzball really sucks.

Later, I played FFXV, which was decent enough and I finished it.

Then I played FFVII remake, which was pretty good, other than the horrific story changes, which was much like giving a monkey a paint brush and drawing over your classic refined painting you cherished for so long. Still, not bad, but couldn't been so much more by doing less.
 
Last edited:

K2D

Banned
Glad to see VIII not being totally in the rut..! Want to see Square give this one some love further down the line (ps4 remaster doesn't count)!
 

Cutty Flam

Banned
One hundred percent I was using Conquerer’s Haki during the latter parts of this thread

Thanks for educating me about all the Final Fantasy games, NeoGAF FF community

I’m currently like 35-40% into FFVII for my first playthrough, and the twists in the story are unbelievable. I’m beginning to understand more and more as I go along, how the fanbase became so strong. These FF games are some of the finest games anyone can play
 

Sojiro

Member
My top 3 would be IX, VI, V, in that order, followed pretty closely by XI and XII (only the Zodiac version though), if we're talking strictly the mainline series. Tactics would be in the top three if we included titles outside the mainline series. Really the only game I did not like at all was XIII, I gave it a solid 10ish hours before I quit playing, it just wasn't worth continuing IMO. XV is the only one from the numbered series I haven't played at all.
 
Last edited:

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Ahh 7 is vastly overrated.. but it’s when all the normies got into video games as well.

😂
 

Myths

Member
I need to step back in here and say FFV’s job system, not just conceptually but how they executed it is solid and well grounded. The idea of juggling classes with limits to mastery of abilities being inherited is Grade A. If I ever consider building a system, this would be my foundation for certain.
 

Myths

Member
My top 3 would be IX, VI, V, in that order, followed pretty closely by XI and XII (only the Zodiac version though), if we're talking strictly the mainline series. Tactics would be in the top three if we included titles outside the mainline series. Really the only game I did not like at all was XIII, I gave it a solid 10ish hours before I quit playing, it just wasn't worth continuing IMO. XV is the only one from the numbered series I haven't played at all.
We’re so close, swap IX for XII and wow. I mean IX, XII, V, and VI are still in my top 5 — FF3 DS actually found its way in my top 5 too.
 
Last edited:

Ulysses 31

Member
Haven't really played anything beyond VI so for me VI is still the best of'em all.

Though I really enjoyed the Gameboy entries as well.
 
Top Bottom