Final Fantasy's

[Streeteh]

I get where you're coming from in terms of Lifeless characters, They existed in a world. But didnt seem to belong to it. For instance in other Final Fantasy games, You could visit areas, and find people who actually knew you or a member of your party, or there would be some sort of connection to the world for a member of the party. Where as in FF12, The group you had adventuring seemed to be pretty isolated from any social aspect of the world.

Exactly, also it seemed that other than the princess the characters had NO reason to be doing what they were, even in X-2 the characters had a connection and purpose. It's because of this rather gaping flaw in the characters and story that i rate it as the joint worst storyline in Final Fantasy history.

I was a huge fan of the bounty hunting mechanic, i wish the battle system was a little more involving though, once you had kitted out your members with the best weapons and unlocked the full grid it was just a matter of setting up the correct AI for your particular enemy and leaving them to it. I even killed Yiazmat with very little involvement other than to change to wind absorbing armor when he used his 'limit break'. I had to laugh that when i fought the second to final boss i got a phonecall and forgot to pause the game, i came back to it to find the boss dead and a cutscene had kicked in, i hadn't even pressed a single button!

Thats another point actually, i've killed all the bounties, got all of the weapons (apart from the zodiac spear which was impossible to get without using a game guide from the very start), got all of the vespers and leveled all my characters up to at least level 90, yet i can't be bothered killing the final boss. The storyline was so pointless even though i'm clearly capable of completing the game i can't be bothered.

 

[wannabedamned]

Thats another point actually, i've killed all the bounties, got all of the weapons (apart from the zodiac spear which was impossible to get without using a game guide from the very start), got all of the vespers and leveled all my characters up to at least level 90, yet i can't be bothered killing the final boss. The storyline was so pointless even though i'm clearly capable of completing the game i can't be bothered.

That's a point actually, I've still not completed the game Did kinda what you did, Played it through, Got to the boss and died with a tiny bit of health left to take from him to win, Which was annoying. So I went away to train a little more. I've done everything, and i've not gone back to finish him

 

[Psyk]

One FF will set you back 50 hours. Imagine playing ALL those games

The earlier ones are quite a bit shorter. Last time I played FFI it only took about 12 hours.

For FFV your choices are the PS version bundled with FFIV or the GBA version. Not sure if the GBA version has any extra stuff, but the PS version has some FMVs. Not that they're anything particularly special.

 

[Lightnix]

Eh, FFXII's very meh. It turns into a proper grindfest (i.e. having to kill enemies for hours at a time to beat a boss or something). The combat system is clunky at best, managing the three characters in your party by yourself would be a nightmare, hence the 'gambit' system, but that just makes the game play itself. Spending hours at a time holding the analogue stick in the direction of the nearest group of monsters. It just feels horribly drawn out and repetitive. The bosses are some of the best in the series, which is what makes it such a shame that you have to grind endlessly to stand a chance against them. Gotta be my least favourite in the series.

That said IV is awesome, but I prefer the graphics of the SNES version to the DS version, call me picky if you like.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

Just play through FFX, then you've pretty much played the best!

 

[Strife212]

I feel like playing FFVII again now...but theres no point, my last data already has everything, defeated all the WEAPONS, etc.

My FFVIII data was mastered as well.

Those were the best two IMO.

 

[Noel Gallagher]

I feel like playing FFVII again now...but theres no point, my last data already has everything, defeated all the WEAPONS, etc.

My FFVIII data was mastered as well.

Allow me to be the first:

 

[wannabedamned]

I feel like playing FFVII again now...but theres no point, my last data already has everything, defeated all the WEAPONS, etc.

My FFVIII data was mastered as well.

Those were the best two IMO.

I have 100% completed copies of Final Fantasies too, Doesn't mean you cant do it again.

 

[Apopcalyptic]

The earlier ones are quite a bit shorter. Last time I played FFI it only took about 12 hours.

For FFV your choices are the PS version bundled with FFIV or the GBA version. Not sure if the GBA version has any extra stuff, but the PS version has some FMVs. Not that they're anything particularly special.

Or play it as it should be, in Japanese on Super Famicom. In fairness, the GBA version is far superior to the PS version. It doesn't look half bad on the gameboy player(for gc). There's an extra dungeon and a couple of extra jobs too.

If you can, import NTSC/U versions of the Playstation games. You will be looking at significant money for non platinum versions though.

 

[Mobius 1]

just to warn, some copies of ff8 wont play on ps3 my copy is in perfect condition but it doesnt get past the playstation logo, the screen just goes black. so i had to dig my ps2 out.

kinda getting swayed into thinking VIII is better than VII now... playing it through again at the age i am now (22), im getting a lot more of what is going on. and a lot of the jokes i missed out on, i actually understand now. i think the humour in the game is great. and features some of the best characters in the FF series.

 

[VTR]

Further into FFVIII and it's getting a lot better, story is starting to develop now - I'm around 26hrs in. Still not too sure if I like the leveling/junction system very much. With each level requiring the same amount of xp I'm finding my characters levels are miles apart depending on who I have grouped at the time. Atleast in VII you could team a weaker/lower level character with a higher group and they would catch up :\

 

[Chaos]

I was thinking of playing some of the old ff's as I think ive only played VII
What port of the very first one is the best as I see its been released on psp, gba, nes, gba, psx, WonderSwan Color

The op might be intersted in this google video, the complete history of ff.

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=1549225267032652048

 

[Phatjayunoi]

For the very first Final Fantasy or even the second one, I find its best to play the PSP version if you want it all modernised. Otherwise, just track down the GameBoy Advance version or PlayStation's Origins.

Everywhere I go I see so many people on the FFXII hate bandwagon. I guess I am of a few in the minority that actually enjoyed every minute of it. Character development is always the one thing I see people hate about the game, and whilst it is true in a sense and its not as obvious in your face like previous Final Fantasy's were, I find if you do a hell of a lot of talking to NPCs that walk around the cities, you do actually get some decent background information. And when it comes to the cutscenes, its the same thing if you pay extreme attention to the dialogue and the character's facial emotions. Perhaps many will also need to understand Yasumi Matsuno's way of storytelling and literature? I mean almost all that you need is in the heavy text in the game.