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[Trumpets]

I've just started a replay of FFVI via the Pixel Remaster Collection and it brought to mind what an incredible, concentrated run of form it started for the series.


VI launched in April '94 and by common consent is considered one of the best JRPGs on the SNES and indeed of all time.

Then in January '97 Square launched FFVII, possibly the most important single game in the genres history, at least in the West. It made the genre much more cinematic and gave the series several of its most iconic characters.

Two years later they released VIII, than just over two years after that IX launched, which happens to be my personal favourite.

Finally, one (!) year after IX, in July 2001, Square released FFX, which went fully polygonal and added voice acting, and just looked and sounded generally incredible for the time.


So, in seven years and three months, Square released FIVE mainline FFs, and I would guess that many people would put at least three of them at the top of their series list, if not four or all five.


For context, FFXV came out in November 2016, and when XVI releases in June it will have been six and a half years between the two.

 

[Lasha]

XI and XII are also bangers. XIII was the only real stumble since VI.

 

[itshutton]

It really is an incredible run that made at least 2 of my GOATs.

I think we are seeing them pick up pace again. I’m pretty impressed by the speed of Remake to Rebirth and then XVI concurrently as well.

 

[Poltz]

XIV is incredible. I know people don't give it it's fair due because it is an MMO but its the best FF story by a mile.

 

[Doom85]

For context, FFXV came out in November 2016, and when XVI releases in June it will have been six and a half years between the two.

In that time, they also released a bunch of DLC for XV, more content for XIV, and VII Remake Part 1.

XV also went through an insane amount of changes from its initial vision hence why it took so absurdly long to come out. As far as I know, none of the games from VI to X suffered these sort of issues behind the scenes, at least not to such an extent.

 

[Bragr]

I'm gonna bring this one back.

 

[Revolutionary]

XIV is incredible. I know people don't give it it's fair due because it is an MMO but its the best FF story by a mile.

If you've only played XIV, sure. But otherwise, absolutely not. Don't get me wrong, it's a great story overall but there are SO many ups and downs in the quality of the story, and in the storytelling itself due to the fact that it's an MMO. Post-ARR is an absolute slog for most new players, and is often a quitting point, which is a major reason why they are most likely introducing a new starting point with the next expansion.

 

[Varteras]

In that time, they also released a bunch of DLC for XV, more content for XIV, and VII Remake Part 1.

XV also went through an insane amount of changes from its initial vision hence why it took so absurdly long to come out. As far as I know, none of the games from VI to X suffered these sort of issues behind the scenes, at least not to such an extent.

Letterkenny

 

[Poltz]

If you've only played XIV, sure. But otherwise, absolutely not. Don't get me wrong, it's a great story overall but there are SO many ups and downs in the quality of the story, and in the storytelling itself due to the fact that it's an MMO. Post-ARR is an absolute slog for most new players, and is often a quitting point, which is a major reason why they are most likely introducing a new starting point with the next expansion.

I've played every one and I think XIV is above IV and VI personally. Yeah I powered through it all during covid tbf.

 

[NightmareFarm]

Only played half of VI like 7 years ago on a phone so I can't judge.

VII was great even by modern standards and fully deserves the praise it got.

VIII was a complete slog with very weird design choices.

IX became a slog halfway through the game and hasn't aged as well as VII.

X is timelessly great.

I think the series peaked in the PS2 era though.

 

[protonion]

Square's ps1 output was legendary.

FF7-9, FF Tactics, Xenogears (my GOAT), Parasite Eve 1-2, Vagrant Story, Brave Fencer Musashi...

No idea how they pulled it off. So many quality games back to back.

 

[KungFucius]

I'm gonna bring this one back.

Well in the 80% is sometimes great content. Good gameplay padded with lesser content and grinding is an issue that can be forgivable if the whole experience feels like it was worth it. The thing that really ruins the game for me is whether or not the story is worth grinding through the game for because even if the gameplay is decent, a shit story is going to highlight some bullshit battles where you get instakilled or put in status hell. FFX is where it stopped being worth it. The story was so bad I wanted my time and money back. Basically as soon as the games got more modern they started to suck. I still buy them all day 1 except for the MMOs but I am really hoping for another FFIV-IX and not a FFX, XII, XIII, XV.

 

[K2D]

No one mentioned Chrono Trigger yet..

 

[Moonjt9]

Square's ps1 output was legendary.

FF7-9, FF Tactics, Xenogears (my GOAT), Parasite Eve 1-2, Vagrant Story, Brave Fencer Musashi...

No idea how they pulled it off. So many quality games back to back.

I’d say snes to ps1 square was the greatest run of all time for any gaming company. Squaresoft was legendary and made actual GOATs.

I think the merger with Enix derailed that train.

 

[Nautilus]

Yeah, it was. And we probably will never see something like that ever again.

 

[German Hops]

We just didn't know how good we had it..

 

[AJUMP23]

The last fun FF was FF 12. I didn’t like 13, 14 is an mmo and I don’t care about that, 15 was not interesting.

16 has me interested but am I interested enough to buy a PS5.

 

[iHaunter]

Letterkenny

GF turned me onto it recently. lol

Anyway FF is a love or hate kind of game to most.

 

[Fuz]

XIV is incredible. I know people don't give it it's fair due because it is an MMO but its the best FF story by a mile.

You people should stop comparing MMOs to single player games. They work in a very different manner and answer to different rules.
And I don't care if it's named "Final Fantasy", that's a spinoff and not a mainline game.

P.S.
Yes, XIV is great and has some awesome moments (that often get ruined like the assassination.)

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

X was the first to shit the bed

 

[Koenigssee]

VI on GBA blew my mind on how ambitious it was.
Squaresoft was on top on their game back then.

 

[Northeastmonk]

No one mentioned Chrono Trigger yet..

Yea and it would be great if we had a console release. I’ve got it on Steam and iOS. Crazy how iconic it is and yet it doesn’t get much attention these days. Maybe back on NDS it got attention, but you got to either own it or go out of your way to get a used copy.

I feel like the reason we got Chrono Cross was because it didn’t get much attention for years and we just had the PSN (PS3) digital release. Plus the developers from the original game are still active (?) in the RPG side of things. Sakaguchi has been doing things with Apple and who knows what his obligations are to them.

I really liked VI back with Anthology. Back when we got Chonicles, Anthology, and Origin. They had a better run on PS1. XII was an excellent game to end the run on PS2 with. It had all the things I wanted from XI and then made it an epic story campaign. It didn’t feel like an MMO. I miss the save crystals and how you saw monsters in the field.

XIII and onward I kinda lost that whole feeling I had back on PS1/2. When Lightning Returns came out I had zero interest in investing my time, which sucked. I had some good vibes from XV, but I thought the game’s cast was awful and the combat left a lot to be desired. Outside of the Remasters and VII Remake - I had no real hype for the games. Sure the chibi and music stuff is cool, but that’s just a tease compared to your classic, return to arms FF games from yesteryear. I’m excited about XVI because the combat is fast action based like other franchises. It’s not some gimmick. I love 2D FF and VII-XII, including XI even if I didn’t invest more than a beta’s worth of time in it on 360.

 

[Azelover]

X was the first to shit the bed

To me it was XII. Actually XI, but that was an MMO, so I tend to be a little more forgiving.

X had its flaws but it still had the magic and fun of FF. After that it was a total shitfest for the series.

 

[Trumpets]

In that time, they also released a bunch of DLC for XV, more content for XIV, and VII Remake Part 1.

XV also went through an insane amount of changes from its initial vision hence why it took so absurdly long to come out. As far as I know, none of the games from VI to X suffered these sort of issues behind the scenes, at least not to such an extent.

Sure, but between FFVI and FFX Square also released Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Trials of Mana, Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Live-A-Live etc. etc....

 

[Dr. Claus]

I'm gonna bring this one back.

I think it is clear you have only played 2 Final Fantasy games. Also I am sorry you had to play *those* two Final Fantasy games.

 

[RJMacready73]

I've yet to play a Japanese game whose story didn't suck absolute balls tbf, even back when I loved Secret of Mana, FF7 etc the story lines where still head scratchers, same with animes as I got older I just couldn't put up with the nonsense and I see no difference with the latest FF games

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

To me it was XII. Actually XI, but that was an MMO, so I tend to be a little more forgiving.

X had its flaws but it still had the magic and fun of FF. After that it was a total shitfest for the series.

XII is the most disappointing to me. (it had so much potential to be the best FF from Square Enix).

but X had those prevalent issues of FF under SE (very linear world lacking on level desing, no cohesion between main characters and NPCs, no world exploration/airship, meme worth voice acting)

of course, they are good aspects but overall square Enix's Final Fantasies are a shadow of what this franchise has been able to achieve before.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

Man FF XIII gets way too much hate. I thought it had the best battle system in the series, plus a god tier soundtrack and incredible production values/overall audiovisual presentation.

I agree with a lot of the criticism of XIII but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. I put it behind only Xenoblade Chronicles as my favorite JRPG of the 360/PS3/Wii era.

 

[larkwaffle]

In my opinion, FFIX is the heart, soul, and peak of the entire series. The story can get a little wonky after the first act, but the characters, moments, and overarching narrative on friendship still hits me right in the feels all these years later.

 

[Dr. Claus]

XII is the most disappointing to me. (it had so much potential to be the best FF from Square Enix).

but X had those prevalent issues of FF under SE (very linear world lacking on level desing, no cohesion between main characters and NPCs, no world exploration/airship, meme worth voice acting)

of course, they are good aspects but overall square Enix's Final Fantasies are a shadow of what this franchise has been able to achieve before.

Curious what your issues with 12 were. Aside from maybe the story being a bit too... short for my liking (the game was vastly more gameplay and open world hunts than it was story, IMO) - it was still an amazing JRPG and one of the best in the genre.

X definitely was linear, but it was still a good bit more open and allowed for exploration and side content. The linear nature matched the story well and aside from the voice lines having to be sped up post-processing to match lip movmeents, the acting was fantastic. The only "meme" scene was the forced laughter scene which most people seem to always forget the context of.

Also I highly suggest you play XIV. XIII is bad and XV was wasted potential, but XIV is legitimately one of, if not the best in the franchise. Also try out some of the spinoffs as they are also equally fantastic and fun times that may be more up your alley as a fan of classical FF games (Bravely Default, Octopath, etc).

 

[ShadyAcshuns]

4-10 where great with the exceptions of 5 & 8.
C-combo b-breaker!

 

[skyfall]

15 is when the series started to get good, breaking away from the turn based stuff

 

[Doom85]

Sure, but between FFVI and FFX Square also released Chrono Trigger, Xenogears, Trials of Mana, Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Live-A-Live etc. etc....

Those aren’t FF titles. And Square Enix obviously put out plenty of non-FF titles between 2016 and 2023. Hell, I forgot Stranger of Paradise. So my point still stands.

 

[SkylineRKR]

Square's PSX run is probably the single greatest run by a third party ever.

Its not just FFVII which was an eye opener and one of the most important games of that generation, its also FFIX, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Parasite Eve and then they even did fighting games such as Tobal (the 2nd game is pretty good) and Bushido Blade (and Ehrgeiz, but I didn't like it). And what about their shmup, Einhander, its the best shmup on the PS1. Then I forget the SRPG genre with FFT and Front Mission 3.

You will never see this anymore. Development cycles don't allow it. FF was near annual on PSX with 3 numbered games coming out between 1997 and 2000.

 

[Captain Toad]

We got 3 mainline numbered Final Fantasy games every generation from NES throughout PS2. And those were shorter generations.

Game development times and budgets have just gotten out of control.

 

[Captain Toad]

Square's ps1 output was legendary.

FF7-9, FF Tactics, Xenogears (my GOAT), Parasite Eve 1-2, Vagrant Story, Brave Fencer Musashi...

No idea how they pulled it off. So many quality games back to back.

SNES was right there too. FFIV, V, VI, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Trials of Mana, Super Mario RPG, Secret of Evermore.

 

[Gambit2483]

Man FF XIII gets way too much hate. I thought it had the best battle system in the series, plus a god tier soundtrack and incredible production values/overall audiovisual presentation.

I agree with a lot of the criticism of XIII but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. I put it behind only Xenoblade Chronicles as my favorite JRPG of the 360/PS3/Wii era.

Will to Fight is one of my favorite FF tracks. FFXIII definitely had a great soundtrack.

 

[Captain Toad]

Man FF XIII gets way too much hate. I thought it had the best battle system in the series, plus a god tier soundtrack and incredible production values/overall audiovisual presentation.

I agree with a lot of the criticism of XIII but I still enjoyed the hell out of it. I put it behind only Xenoblade Chronicles as my favorite JRPG of the 360/PS3/Wii era.

I'll never understand why X gets so much love while XIII gets hate. They're similar games in many ways, and I prefer XIII in almost every one.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Curious what your issues with 12 were. Aside from maybe the story being a bit too... short for my liking (the game was vastly more gameplay and open world hunts than it was story, IMO) - it was still an amazing JRPG and one of the best in the genre.

the story falls apart in the mid-point. some characters like Van and Penelo shoudn't even exist. and i feel the judges were wasted.

I liked the strategic nature of the gambit system...but once you mastered; the challenge is gone and the game plays itself.

but dont get me wrong the Art Direction/level design is fucking amazing, the dialog (those british accent had so much gravitas) and the world felt alive.

and this intro:


a masterclass in story-telling. In only 7 minutes the stage and
stakes were set-up.

X definitely was linear, but it was still a good bit more open and allowed for exploration and side content. The linear nature matched the story well and aside from the voice lines having to be sped up post-processing to match lip movmeents, the acting was fantastic. The only "meme" scene was the forced laughter scene which most people seem to always forget the context of.

I remember X having a pretty good story, but i also remember thinking....well; it looks pretty and it was their first 3D game so i can understand the lackluster nature in other areas.

Also, I highly suggest you play XIV. XIII is bad and XV was wasted potential, but XIV is legitimately one of, if not the best in the franchise. Also try out some of the spinoffs as they are also equally fantastic and fun times that may be more up your alley as a fan of classical FF games (Bravely Default, Octopath, etc).

I have heard that before about XIV. this is why XVI is so intriging to me. There was a clip going around that gave me Old School Vibes.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

and this intro:


a masterclass in story-telling. In only 7 minutes the stage and
stakes were set-up.

Man, that is one hell of an intro. I played the Triangle Strategy demo for over an hour and it couldn’t accomplish what XII did in 7 minutes. At least I think they were going for the same “Royal wedding anticipated to bring peace between nations, only for shit to hit the fan and war breaks out”. I didn’t even make it to the punchline before dropping it out of boredom.

That’s one thing FF has always done amazingly well. They start out with a bang and draw you in instantly. I really appreciate how they save the boring “kid coming of age and yearning for adventure” backstory for later on, and usually give you the Cliffs Notes version instead.

 

[fart town usa]

Yea, VI is still my favorite and IMO the best FF game.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

The height of 90s Square will never be touched again by another games studio. The creativity of those games and the influence they left on story telling, music, cinematics, engaging gameplay, beautiful art direction and emotional connection to polygons was quite insane in reflection.

FF6
FF7
FF8
FF9
FF10
Xenogears
Chrono Trigger
Chrono Cross

...to name a few.

The other day I was driving and listening to the classical radio station and they started playing Aeriths theme. After it finished it was amazing to hear the host say, "that was Aeriths Theme from Final Fantasy 7, by composer Nobuo Uematsu".

 

[emivita]

Nintendo Switch owners are so lucky to have FF1 through 12 (bar 11) available as physical releases. If I had the console, I would collect and play them all again in order... maybe I'll wait and buy Switch 2 if backwards compatible.

I also wish someday we'll have FFXIII trilogy remastered for PS5 (with 4k/60fps, ray tracing, generally richer graphics and instant loading). I would buy it for $100.

 

[AV]

Shame VIII is an atrocious video game on almost every level.

 

[SkylineRKR]

FFXII is my number one FF game for many reasons. One being the writing, VA and art direction. Other is the flexibility of the gameplay and party. And the story isn't overly long and boring laid out. I think the story to gameplay ratio is fantastic.

And X compared to XIII? X is much more versatile. And I don't even mean the expert grid. In X you can go where you want, you can open up secret areas, there are towns, there is more interaction, there is Blitzball (which I liked, I just didn't like having to recruit the same team over an over), the story is better, the characters are better.

XIII is lifeless, you are going through corridors for 40 hours, no downtime, no minigames, barely any interaction. Spira had far better world building than Cocoon and Pulse. I beat FFXIII and every time I tried to replay I quit after a few hours since there is nothing to see. FFX I beat about 3 times.

We got 3 mainline numbered Final Fantasy games every generation from NES throughout PS2. And those were shorter generations.

Game development times and budgets have just gotten out of control.

True but games are more immersive nowadays and more things are added with support. I guess we did get 3 XIII games on PS360, but its obviously not the same. Lots of recycled content.

 

[PianistaMacabro]

Only played half of VI like 7 years ago on a phone so I can't judge.

VII was great even by modern standards and fully deserves the praise it got.

VIII was a complete slog with very weird design choices.

IX became a slog halfway through the game and hasn't aged as well as VII.

X is timelessly great.

I think the series peaked in the PS2 era though.

Ix is the best

 

[Captain Toad]

XIII is lifeless, you are going through corridors for 40 hours, no downtime, no minigames, barely any interaction.

This is a good thing.

FFX had the some of the worst mini-games ever created and tied ultimate weapons to them.

 

[SkylineRKR]

This is a good thing.

FFX had the some of the worst mini-games ever created and tied ultimate weapons to them.

Yeah they were infuriating, I ignored them on PS2 (I had the US version, no need to be OP there), but on Vita and PS4 I did them all. But it felt great once I beat them.

I should've said sidequests, they were fun. Like omega ruins, baaj temple, Belgemine, cactuars etc. There were hunts in FFXIII, but then again the monster arena from FFX was a lot of fun imo.

 

[German Hops]

Shame VIII is an atrocious video game on almost every level.

You never learned how to properly play the game.

 

[NightmareFarm]

Ix is the best

No