Poll of the Day > Are the Final Fantasy games actually good?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I've played all of them outside of 12. I thoroughly enjoyed them when I was younger, but going back to play them now I see so many flaws that they aren't nearly as enjoyable.

I used to think FF3 was my favorite game of all time, but the second half of it feels like one terrible sidequest.

So, are the games only good for nostalgia purposes, or are they actually good games?
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Theyre good

some are good, some are not. how about playing them and deciding for your fucking self, ok?
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Theyre pretty inconsistent in quality based on the game

Some are very good though
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Yes. Consensus among the fandom is the best games in the series are: 1,4,5,6,7,9,10,11 and 14

I'd personally say to avoid: 2,8, and 10 and the 13 trilogy. 15 I think had a decent story, but beyond that it's a fucking train wreck.
12 is good, but it is EXTREMELY different from all the the others.
3 is good, but it is balls to the walls difficult. Only play it if you really really liked FF1 and are looking for a challenge.

11 and 14 are MMOs. 11 is pretty much over and done with, but it's actually had a resurgence in popularity recently which is kinda cool. Plus it might be getting modern ports/remasters? idk I never played it and I don't follow it too much.

14 is currently going VERY strong. Might have overtaken WoW as the biggest subscription based MMO in the world recently. If not, it definitely will within the year. Also, the next big 14 expansion Shadowbringers is coming out at the end of the month, and it looks very ambitious.
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I've only played 7, 8, and 9, and I thought they were all great.
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Yeah I think the PlayStation trilogy 7-9 are he three best games in the series, while 6 (FF3 in the US) is still very good. FF 4 has not aged very well at all imo, but Im sure it was groundbreaking at the time.

Its all a matter of preference though. I still think as far as art goes, they have beautiful visuals and some of the best music youll ever find in a video game
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I played 7, 8, and 9 because people kept talking about how good they were.

7 was hilarious (remake id definitely going to lose that because of the PC culture going on now)

8 and 9 were so-so. People definitely hyped them up and then get annoyed when you say they were ok

I definitely agree with the comment about them being inconsistent in terms of quality.
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FrozenBananas posted...

FF 4 has not aged very well at all imo, but Im sure it was groundbreaking at the time.

I would disagree that it hasn't aged well; the story-telling and characters are still fantastic IMO. But yes, it was groundbreaking when it came out for its strong central narrative and the ATB system.
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I believe I own all of them and completed 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Plus the offshoots like Mystic Quest, the GB games, Tactics...

For their time they were good. Today I dunno. Modern conveniences like saving anywhere have spoiled us from having to walk back to an inn. Random battles could be annoying. Guess it depends on your tolerance for old RPG mechanics.
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MrCool812 posted...

I used to think FF3 was my favorite game of all time, but the second half of it feels like one terrible sidequest.

based on how you describe it, I am assuming you meant 6. I know it was originally marketed in the west as 3 but it's been known as 6 for over 20 years now. 3 was a NES game that never got released in it's original form in the west. but it had a DS remake that was released here

Some are good, some are not.

1 and 5 are the only ones I regularly replay.

4 and 6 are ok every now and then - maybe every 5 years or so.

The rest I just haven't held up IMO. I don't bother with them.

I've played a lot of them, and the only two that I really cared to finish were 10 and tactics advance.

And I guess I also finished the two psp dissidia games, which were really fun .

I think the smt series is better. Just more fun and more difficult
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Not really. They were a nice hobby to have when I was a child. The nostalgia is something fierce tho.
The SNES and PS1 games are an experience that will probably never be replicated again.
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If this topic is an example of anything, it shows that literally everyone has their own opinion and not a single FF is better than another.

Just play them for yourself and stop listening to others
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I've played quite a few and the only one I've genuinely enjoyed was 10, even then I didn't finish it because I got bored.

imo 6-10 are the good ones

but for 10 the word good is in quotations
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Yes they're pretty good overall.
Only you can decide which ones you like and think are the best.
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Eh, hit and miss

I loved V
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I am one of the odd people who actually like the "bad" final fantasy games (2, 8, and to a lesser extent 10. Not 13, never 13). Most of the "good" ones I can't stand with the exception of 1 and the second half of 6. Never touched the MMOs.

Personally I like the games that experiment a bit and aren't afraid to have mechanics that essentially "break" the game. 2 I like because it is essentially SaGa 0, and SaGa is my favorite JRPG series. 8 is my favorite because I LOVE junctioning and basically making super overpowered characters. Plus in the late game you can do away with junctioning entirely if you spend time playing triple triad and farming stat items. 10 I liked because it did away with ATB (which I HATE) in favor of a more traditional turn-based system.
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Aculo posted...

some are good, some are not. how about playing them and deciding for your fucking self, ok?

MrCool812 posted...

I've played all of them outside of 12

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Zikten posted...

MrCool812 posted...

I used to think FF3 was my favorite game of all time, but the second half of it feels like one terrible sidequest.

based on how you describe it, I am assuming you meant 6. I know it was originally marketed in the west as 3 but it's been known as 6 for over 20 years now. 3 was a NES game that never got released in it's original form in the west. but it had a DS remake that was released here

Yes, I am well aware. And I'll call it 3 because that's what I knew it as when I played it on my snes.
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FrozenBananas posted...

If this topic is an example of anything, it shows that literally everyone

read the title and didn't read my post judging by a bunch of the responses
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They are hit or miss imo, but when they're good, they're great,
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FF VI is the best in my opinion.
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MrCool812 posted...

So, are the games only good for nostalgia purposes, or are they actually good games?

to keep it short, I think the best part of modern RPGs (and RPG game mechanics in general) is their depth, yet classic FF games are actually pretty shallow (there are definite exceptions*). most of the time they completely miss the mark of what an "RPG" is "supposed" to be. they were good at the time because they were doing something new, but what they're doing has been improved upon in so many ways since then that they just don't compare to anything modern. (they still definitely have unique and valuable artistic quality, but in terms of gameplay they are nothing special at all.)

(*my experience is with FF1, FF4, FF6, FF7, and FF10. mostly arguing against 4, 6, and 7. 1 is an exception. I suspect 5 is as well. Don't know much about the rest (except maybe that 8 was terrible and not worth playing).)
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papercup posted...

Yes. Consensus among the fandom is the best games in the series are: 1,4,5,6,7,9,10,11 and 14

I'd personally say to avoid: 2,8, and 10 and the 13 trilogy. 15 I think had a decent story, but beyond that it's a fucking train wreck.
12 is good, but it is EXTREMELY different from all the the others.
3 is good, but it is balls to the walls difficult. Only play it if you really really liked FF1 and are looking for a challenge.

11 and 14 are MMOs. 11 is pretty much over and done with, but it's actually had a resurgence in popularity recently which is kinda cool. Plus it might be getting modern ports/remasters? idk I never played it and I don't follow it too much.

14 is currently going VERY strong. Might have overtaken WoW as the biggest subscription based MMO in the world recently. If not, it definitely will within the year. Also, the next big 14 expansion Shadowbringers is coming out at the end of the month, and it looks very ambitious.

3 is absolutely not difficult at all. I plowed through it solely using the default freelancer class. The only difficulty came from trying to switch to anything else after reaching level 99 in freelancer and winding up being sorely underleveled and having to waste time grinding up a new class to reasonable levels for the enemies being encountered. Instead I just stuck with freelancers and pressed A to win, only switching very occasionally to a magic using class when I encountered a physical immune enemy.

3 is undoubtedly the worst game in the series.
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Dikitain posted...

Not 13, never 13

I never got to finish 13 but what I played of it, I actually liked it. The only FF games I haven't liked were 8 and Tactics. And I disliked both of those for the same reason, the stupid scaling levels.
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Final Fantasy
Some are good, some are bad
Final Fantasy
Ask your mom, or ask your dad
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FrozenBananas posted...

If this topic is an example of anything, it shows that literally everyone has their own opinion and not a single FF is better than another.

Just play them for yourself and stop listening to others

That's mostly true. Some are of objectively better quality, in some ways - graphics, of course. But if regarded as samples of the time at which they were made, they're interesting even if you don't play them.

I played my first DR games when I was twelve (VII, & shortly after, VIII). I've pretty much been hooked ever since, though I wasn't keen on VII to begin with & it's still among my less preferred replays. The only one I haven't been interested in playing, even including the MMOs which just aren't so much my thing, is XV. (And that seems to have been proved reasonable in the time since its release for more than just my original reasons.) I'd say my top 3 in terms of gameplay, narrative & characters are probably V, IX and XII. I'm currently working on getting the platinum for XIII...

It really is a decide-for-yourself thing, but most people who like JRPGs at all agree the FF games are, as a series, definitely among the better of the genre.
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