Board 8 > Which Final Fantasy should I play first?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Never touched 13 or 15.

Played 12 quite a bit at release, the last thing I remember is some forest that I think Fran's people might have lived in. I might have gotten further than that but I don't remember the story progression at all. I definitely got past the "I'm Captain Basch" part and I seem to remember rescuing Ashe from an airship or something.

I actually enjoyed the game quite a bit and don't know why I stopped.
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definitely 12.

The plot on 12 definitely slows to a crawl for a few sections and I can totally relate to struggling to keep going, but all in all I'd say it's worth the finish.
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voted 15 because it's the best one here, but maybe you should save it for last
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13 then 15 then throw 12 in the garbage
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Play 15, then throw 13 AND 12 in the garbage and BURN THEM!
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12, then 15, then 13.
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15 > 12 >>>> 13

Play them in whatever order you want
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12 and 13 are generally disliked right? Obviously it's been like 10 years since I played 12 but I actually remember liking it quite a bit.

Is the remake an improvement? Or should I just get the original on PSN?
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12, then 15, then 13.
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12 is liked, while 13 is divisive. I hate them because their battle systems are hybrid real-time/waiting things that play themselves. To me, 15 is what 12 and 13's battle systems were trying to shoot for, but couldn't manage. You can definitely tell people at Square hate turn-based combat now. It just took them forever to get real-time combat done in a way that wasn't boring.

I've heard the remake of 12 allows you to go at like 4x speed, which will drastically cut down the wait time. It doesn't help the story and characters are boring as dishwater, but if I were to replay it again, I wouldn't have to put up with the grinding. They were serious pitfalls for a game that was at least somewhat ambitious.

13 is disliked because it is linear to a fault. Unless you like fighting more stuff, there are no sidequests. I hate it because the characters (while more interesting) also end up WAY more annoying. Hope is just...GOD what a dipshit. 13 also has this thing about "Lightning is so fucking special. Look how great she is." I heard the creator went apeshit over her for some reason. I think they took the criticism of "lack of female protagonists" too far and put her on a religious pedestal. She was shoehorned into every franchise spinoff for quite a while after the first game's release. I think Japan finds her popular, but maybe that's just from brain damage from having to play that shit. 13 is nowhere near as popular over here.

Isn't she some sort of virtual supermodel in car and fashion commercials now?
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Maybe you should just go and look for another RPG to play...

Strife2 posted...

12 is liked, while 13 is divisive. I hate them because their battle systems are hybrid real-time/waiting things that play themselves. To me, 15 is what 12 and 13's battle systems were trying to shoot for, but couldn't manage. You can definitely tell people at Square hate turn-based combat now. It just took them forever to get real-time combat done in a way that wasn't boring.

I've heard the remake of 12 allows you to go at like 4x speed, which will drastically cut down the wait time. It doesn't help the story and characters are boring as dishwater, but if I were to replay it again, I wouldn't have to put up with the grinding. They were serious pitfalls for a game that was at least somewhat ambitious.

13 is disliked because it is linear to a fault. Unless you like fighting more stuff, there are no sidequests. I hate it because the characters (while more interesting) also end up WAY more annoying. Hope is just...GOD what a dipshit. 13 also has this thing about "Lightning is so fucking special. Look how great she is." I heard the creator went apeshit over her for some reason. I think they took the criticism of "lack of female protagonists" too far and put her on a religious pedestal. She was shoehorned into every franchise spinoff for quite a while after the first game's release. I think Japan finds her popular, but maybe that's just from brain damage from having to play that shit. 13 is nowhere near as popular over here.

Isn't she some sort of virtual supermodel in car and fashion commercials now?

Thank you
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I'm really harsh, because I wanted those games to be good. The lack of quality is really striking, especially when Bravely Default/Second shows some people at the company still care about making good stuff.
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Djungelurban posted...

Maybe you should just go and look for another RPG to play...

I have a few others on tap (Xenoblade, Persona 4/5, Suikoden 2) which all reside a tad out of my comfort zone. I love RPGs, Final Fantasy VII is probably my favorite game ever, but it has been a long time since I played one so I would rather ease myself back in with a comfortable experience.

I have a bad habit of not finishing RPGs. I can't remember the last one I finished (unless you count The Witcher 3 which I wouldn't). Besides FF12 which I already covered, the last few I've played are Dragon Quest 8 (bought for FF12 demo, enjoyed, never finished), Skies of Arcadia (enjoyed, never finished), and replays of FF8-10 (never finished any of the three and in fact have never finished FF8 in any playthrough). I never finished Chrono Trigger either despite getting like 80% through.

I'm looking for something I can casually see through to the end before jumping into the deep end of the pool. That being said, is there any modern turn based RPGs?
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Looks like FF12 it is BTW. I was kind of hoping that would win.
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is there any modern turn based RPGs?

SMT/Persona (Probably the biggest RPGs outside of FF/DQ right now)
Bravely Default/Second (Like I said, someone in Square wants this to work)
Atelier (Kind of goofy and whimsical, but good quality every year if you don't mind crafting)
Etrian Odyssey (Not my thing, but the Persona collaboration game they did was fun)

There's a host of dungeon crawlers out there too, but they veer into the niche "ZOMG ecchi girls in skimpy outfits" weird shit, like Dungeon Travelers, Criminal Girls, Demon Gaze, etc. Those are all good, despite the obvious trashy presentation. DT2 was surprisingly deep for a franchise I'd never played before. CG has an interesting battle mechanic if you can get past some shitty, shameless minigames.

I'm not saying Persona and SMT aren't without shame. They just...don't smack you across the face with it.
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Persona is probably the next one I'll check out. I would love an old school ATB style system.

If Bravely Default is Square that's probably worth a look for me.

Thanks for all the info.
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go back and finish FFVIII and Skies of Arcadia

they're better than these other three
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All three are terrible, but if you must play one, 12 is the most bearable.
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LeonhartFour posted...

go back and finish FFVIII and Skies of Arcadia

they're better than these other three

Skies of Arcadia would require me to dig my Gamecube out of oblivion
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XV > XII > XIII

And no Zodiac version only makes a minor difference in the rankings for me. FF12 isn't suddenly great because of a few tweaks. The story and characters remain one of the most embarrassingly bad combos in JRPG history.
The gameplay and the world has always been great though.
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Wait, why wouldn't you count Witcher 3 as an RPG?
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You should just play them in order, including going through the free trial period of FFXIV after FFXIII.
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Jakyl25 posted...

Wait, why wouldn't you count Witcher 3 as an RPG?

I would, but not in the vein of a Final Fantasy obviously
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JetJaguar posted...

<Xenoblade

Found the answer.
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JetJaguar posted...

LeonhartFour posted...

go back and finish FFVIII and Skies of Arcadia

they're better than these other three

Skies of Arcadia would require me to dig my Gamecube out of oblivion

Yeah, I feel your pain.

I wish Sega would port that game to literally anything else.
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