Board 8 > Jeremy Parish ranks the Final Fantasy games

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://www.polygon.com/features/2017/12/19/16793294/ranking-the-numbered-final-fantasy-games

Bottom
16. Final Fantasy XIV
15. Final Fantasy II
14. Final Fantasy
13. Final Fantasy XIII
12. Final Fantasy III
11. Final Fantasy XI
10. Final Fantasy X
9. Final Fantasy XV
8. Final Fantasy VII
7. Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn
6. Final Fantasy IX
5. Final Fantasy VIII
4. Final Fantasy IV
3. Final Fantasy V
2. Final Fantasy XII
1. Final Fantasy VI
Top

Unlike his Mario list this is a great list with good opinions and even gets the order of the PS1 games right
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Did he just forget 7 exists or
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Oh nevermind he just has a horrible opinion of it lol
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I was about to ask where the heck FFVII was but turns out you just typoed it

oh well FFVIII top 5 I'll take that every time even if the rest of the list is bad
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sorry I had to fix it because my phone kept auto correcting some numbers to II
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I mean he has four of the five top games in his top 5 I think it's pretty good even if they're not in the correct order
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Somehow I know FFX was gonna be low. Poor delusional bastard...
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IV and V in the top 5 is good

the rest is hard to look at
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( those being 6 8 12 and 4 of course)
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8 is in the top 5 and is the highest ranked PSX game
4 is in the top 5

I'll take it.
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8 and 9 are stupid high and 10 a little too low but otherwise solid list
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One day I would like to record a podcast with my friend and recount the discussions we had in high school where we discussed the junction system at length and grew to love it more than any other system in the series
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It's 6 that's stupid high

On every damn internet list since 2009
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Anything lower would be too low for Final Fantasy 6
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Jeff Zero posted...

Oh nevermind he just has a horrible opinion of it lol

By far the biggest game in the franchise in terms of its cultural footprint, Final Fantasy 7 exploded the series from cult favorite to global blockbuster. Ironically, the things that made it so popular 20 years ago are the ones that make it feel so profoundly dated today. Its nearly seamless blend of real-time polygons, pre-rendered backgrounds and computer-generated cutscene footage represented a brilliant example of game developers harnessing technology in new ways to blur the line between games and cinema (with far greater elegance and substance than the "Siliwood" movement of the early 90s). Yet those elements feel clumsy and intrusive now, leaving FF7 with some of the ugliest visuals and shallowest game mechanics in the series' history. The flexible Materia skill system was done better by the games on either side of FF7, and the flashy monster summons fail to dazzle today; they're just drawn-out and dull.

No, what makes FF7 worth revisiting today is its ambitious story and character development. Although its convolutions are poorly served by the localization, FF7 makes some gutsy choices for its memorable cast. Protagonist Cloud Strife demonstrates a whole lot more personality and growth than the series' expanded universe works would have you believe, and the villainous Sephiroth cuts an imposing figure even as the narrative drops hints that he's more a pawn than a mastermind. I'm curious to see how the upcoming episodic remake processes and reinvents this landmark work in a best-case scenario, it'll revitalize the game's best parts without losing the essence that made the whole thing so beloved in the first place.

how awful
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I was expecting the worse but that actually seems pretty solid to me.
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who

ninkendo posted...

3. Final Fantasy V
2. Final Fantasy XII
1. Final Fantasy VI

whoever this is they have perfect opinions
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GuessMyUserName posted...

who

one of the most notable and longest serving game journalists around. former editor in chief of 1UP and USGamer. creator of Retronauts. coined the term "Metroidvania."
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Didn't Heroic Mario want to marry him maybe I'm misremembering
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of the things you said I only know "1up" and "metroidvania"

but I like those two things so that combined with this A+ top 3 speaks good things
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4 too high, 9 too high, 1 too low, 3 too high. I'd make some other small adjustments but those are the big problems to me
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X too low and XII waaaay way way too high.
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8 and 5 in the top 5 is good. 4 and 12 in the top 5 is awful and the best 2 games are 10th or lower yikes

Yea my main issues are how low X is and how high XII is. The rest are fairly acceptable.
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yikes

I don't even know where to start
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Who is Jeremy Parish and why does anyone care
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Time has been kind to the divisive 12th chapter of Final Fantasy. This past summer's long-awaited HD remake (The Zodiac Age) helped cement the fact that FF12 was, indeed, a work far ahead of its time one that has become only more relevant and engrossing through the years. A decade ago, FF12's determination to blur the line between single-player and massively multiplayer RPGs made it quite controversial. Its elaborate Gambit system (which allowed players to effectively program the behavior of their party members) struck many as a game design crutch that surrendered the actual process of play to artificial intelligence. Now, however, the prospect of AI-controlled party members in an open-world real-time RPG has become commonplace. Yet nothing that's come after FF12 has matched the flexibility and precision offered by its Gambits.

Open-world RPGs continue to struggle to live up to all the things FF12 did right. Even simple little details, like differentiating between passive and aggro monsters on sight by the color of their health icons, don't always make their way into games (including the very recent Xenoblade Chronicles 2). Few open world adventures manage to balance free-form questing with a structured narrative as well as FF12, either; the game allows you to wander wherever you like, even if you end up way out of your depth. But if you know what you're doing, it often simply lets you go about your way, making possible some interesting breaks from the "proper" order of events.

FF12 is a game that trusts and respects the player in a way you rarely see, especially in a story driven JRPG. While it may not have the greatest story in the series much of the main cast exists at the periphery of much larger events the vast world and durable game design more than makes up for its shortcomings.

Brings a tear to my eye ff12 so good
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MZero11 posted...

yikes

I don't even know where to start

opinions evolve over time. you'll get there one day
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iiicon posted...

Jeff Zero posted...

Oh nevermind he just has a horrible opinion of it lol

By far the biggest game in the franchise in terms of its cultural footprint, Final Fantasy 7 exploded the series from cult favorite to global blockbuster. Ironically, the things that made it so popular 20 years ago are the ones that make it feel so profoundly dated today. Its nearly seamless blend of real-time polygons, pre-rendered backgrounds and computer-generated cutscene footage represented a brilliant example of game developers harnessing technology in new ways to blur the line between games and cinema (with far greater elegance and substance than the "Siliwood" movement of the early 90s). Yet those elements feel clumsy and intrusive now, leaving FF7 with some of the ugliest visuals and shallowest game mechanics in the series' history. The flexible Materia skill system was done better by the games on either side of FF7, and the flashy monster summons fail to dazzle today; they're just drawn-out and dull.

No, what makes FF7 worth revisiting today is its ambitious story and character development. Although its convolutions are poorly served by the localization, FF7 makes some gutsy choices for its memorable cast. Protagonist Cloud Strife demonstrates a whole lot more personality and growth than the series' expanded universe works would have you believe, and the villainous Sephiroth cuts an imposing figure even as the narrative drops hints that he's more a pawn than a mastermind. I'm curious to see how the upcoming episodic remake processes and reinvents this landmark work in a best-case scenario, it'll revitalize the game's best parts without losing the essence that made the whole thing so beloved in the first place.

how awful

I applaud the second paragraph but nah. The visuals are still some of my favorites and the materia system is still my #1 customization system in the series.

Parish is is a good writer though, and I can respectfully disagree with him on his ranking. But the beauty of my occasional traipses to Board 8 is that this place is so frakking extra that I can shift gears from my conventional, "I'm actually going to type meaningful sentences and offer legitimate critique" self and boyishly dismiss entire articles in barely a single sentence instead.
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Lol FFXII is a massive mess compared to what they accomplished with flowing gameplay in XIII and he ranked 13 at the bottom what a joke.
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ninkendo posted...

Brings a tear to my eye ff12 so good

I bought the remake, but I seem to have misplaced it before I could actually... even open it, come to think of it. Where the hell did I put it?

12's biggest issues for me are how boring everything is. The world is bland, the party is super mediocre and has like 3-4 characters who are literally "just there because", the villains are poorly used and the political war story thing was just not interesting because of how dull the characters on both sides were and how little you care about the world itself.

His top three are in my top 4 (along with IX) so I'll call it a good list
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I am currently pkaying 12 for the first time and the problem jumping off the page to me is that there is no obvious point yet.

Like I II II IV V VI VII IX X XIII all have the point shown or faked in the opening few hours.

Instead the opening focuses on Reks and a mystery involving Basch that is almost immediately solved when you see him again.

I mean running around as Aladdin, I mean, Vaan in Rabanastra is fun and all but I have no idea why we as a party are doing these things.
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Eddv posted...

I am currently pkaying 12 for the first time and the problem jumping off the page to me is that there is no obvious point yet.

Like I II II IV V VI VII IX X XIII all have the point shown or faked in the opening few hours.

Instead the opening focuses on Reks and a mystery involving Basch that is almost immediately solved when you see him again.

I mean running around as Aladdin, I mean, Vaan in Rabanastra is fun and all but I have no idea why we as a party are doing these things.

It will come together but the problem is that there will be huge swaths of gameplay time in which very little transpires narratively, and -- perhaps more damningly -- character development slows to an utter crawl.
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Too much stuff in FFXII happens either offscreen or completely away from the playable characters.
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The Basch thing was a huge disappointment.

They build up what happened there and then are just immediately "oh Basch has a twin so hes not actually a villain"

And when Vaan has trouble accepting that the others just basically go "lol nerd"
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as they should since he is a nerd
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inb4 Eddv becomes a literal Vaan fan somehow
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ninkendo posted...

as they should since he is a nerd

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The Vaan and Penelo section of the game was fun if pointless.

Escaping from the Dungeon with Balthier was less fun.

This has been an FF12 update.
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ah, the leading man
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VII > VIII > X > IX > VI > XV > IV > V > XII > XIII > III > I > II

Definitive series ranking minus the online ones

XII Steam when
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@Whiskey_Nick
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7 > 5 > 11 > 9 > 6 > 13 > 13-2 > 4 > 10 > 8 > 13-3 > 3 > 1 > 14 > 2 > 10-2 > 12 (haven't played 14ARR and 15)
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*points and laughs at Nick*
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Hey I may be ugly and hate filled but.... what was the third thing you said?
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Hell yeah XII and VI the best.
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II a bit too low, XIII way too high, X too low, VIII too high, IV too high.
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