Favorite Main Series Final Fantasy Game

[SolidShroom]

This ought to lead to a very interesting discussion. The Final Fantasy series has a ton of spin-offs and that's why I haven't included any of them (however it should be noted that Final Fantasy Tactics is awesome). Anyway, my favorites boil down to VI, IV, and VII. VII is certainly the most popular of the three, but it doesn't really stack up to the other two game-play wise. I guess it's just more memorable.

Anyway, VI and IV are hard to choose from because both of them have wonderful characters and stories, as well as very effective battle systems. However I suppose I'll just have to give my vote to Final Fantasy VI. In my opinion it's just every thing that a Final Fantasy game should be.

Also, Chrono Trigger is better than most of the Final Fantasies I've played :).

[CrossEyed7]

Other than the first few minutes of I and VII, I've only ever played IV DS. I want to eventually play all of them, but I don't really have any money, and I only let myself emulate games that haven't been rereleased recently and/or that I already own in at least one form, so it'll take a while. Plus I'm holding out on getting V and VI Advance because I have a feeling they'll eventually DS-ize them too, and since I have a DSi now and can only play GBA games on my 7-year-old SP with the worse screen, that would be nice.

I'm also about 6 hours into The After Years and a year into the original Crystal Chronicles.

[bullykoopa96]

6...or 3 as I know it is the only one I've finished so I'll go there...although I'm playing 9 right now

[Lizard Dude]

JRPGs are one of my least favorite genres, but I have played them all except V, which I've never touched.

I've only "beaten" I, IV, VII, and IX but played at least 20 hours of all the others before quitting. I was in the final dungeon of VI when I quit. I've played to the last disc of VIII twice before quitting. III and X I was definitely in the last third or fourth of the game before quitting. XII I had played ~25 hours before quitting but I hear it's ultro-long so maybe I was still in the first third of that. II and XI are my least played but come on, no one is going to vote for those.

So I feel I'm a good judge.

IX is the best in nearly all respects. I especially enjoyed the ending and the characters Quina and Vivi.

[BP]

I have the GBA and DS remakes of Final Fantasies I, II and III. I love I and II. But I just can't make myself play III or IV (which I have played via emulation) for very long. I don't know what it is but I lose interest fast. I understand the series gets overcome by emo protagonists not much further along the line than that.

So between I and II... I has all its charm in its simplicity, but II has a stronger plot. With characters (including Firion, who despite witnessing the deaths of many a trusted ally, does not moan and whine. Also Guy can talk to beavers). And I liked the leveling system; much more realistic, made a lot of sense, allowed for plenty of customization even though the characters were constant.

I dunno. Either/or. I'll vote II.

[Chupperson Weird]

XII took me 85 hours or so. It could be my favorite overall, although I do terribly enjoy IV and V (V especially for the battle system). VI is pretty good but I haven't really played it enough to make me like it a ton, and VII is good but nowhere near as good as people think.

Bird Person has been ruined by the streamlined easiness of remakes.

[BP]

Yeah. The Ineffective misses, temper being broken, and having to go to an inn to save are so much more fun.

[Chupperson Weird]

Dude that stuff doesn't matter in the first place in III and beyond.

[BP]

Not even in the NES version?

[Black Mage]

As, Chupperson said, in Final Fantasy III and beyond the things you mentioned were addressed. And hey, you could save with tents and cabins as well in FFI.

I've played and beaten I - XII (though I can't say I've beaten FFXI, I have sunk many a hour into it) and though my favorites change frequently, if I absolutely had to pick one right this minute I would go with Final Fantasy IX, followed extremely closely by Final Fantasy V Advance (Specifically for the localization; I can't stress this enough. FFVA had the absolute best localization of any game in the series). But slow battles aside, FFIX represents the pinnacle of the series.

[Lizard Dude]

Gentlemen, gentlemen. The poll just asks you to pick your favorite game. I'm sure Bird would be the first to admit his lack of experience with the franchise. He just picked his favorite and that's okay! I'm also sure we can all agree that the Dawn of Souls versions of I and II are eight million times better games than the originals. If you don't see that, you're a nostalgia-crazed lunatic.

Re: "overcome by emo protagonists" -- Not really. Only VII and VIII are like that, but VII is really more the story of a delusional insane man and VIII is really more about the overcoming of emo-ness. IX, X, and XII have downright cheery protagonists.

Good to see Black Mage share the IX love. Every time I climb up a ladder behind bobman in RE5 I say "Final Fantasy IX" in reference to a certain gripping scene from the game.

[Black Mage]

No criticism intended. I just meant to reinforce the facts. Bird Person's more than entitled to liking Dawn of Souls.

I, however, will disagree about Dawn of Souls being better than the originals! Some of the changes are nice, but I disapprove of the use of the MP system over the original's spell levels. I will concede that Final Fantasy Origins versions are eight million times better games than the originals though. ;-)

[bobman37]

Ha ha! Gripping!

The only FF game I have put any extensive playtime into was FF I Dawn of Souls. But I don't remember specifically liking it. I watched my brother play a lot of VII and IX, and I enjoyed IX more.

Tactics is where it's at.

[Glorb]

The only Final Fantasy games I have ever enjoyed or finished are the Tactics games.

[WarpRattler]

The Tactics games aren't the only ones I've enjoyed, but so far FFTA2 is the only FF game I've finished.

I'm going through the process of actually playing main-series games right now. In the past, I've played most of DoS FFI, some fan-translated FFIII, a very small amount of FFIVDS, some fan-translated FFV (and a few hours of a friend's copy of FFVA) and a small amount of FFVII, VIII, and XII. Out of those, I'll probably revisit everything except VII. I started playing X a couple of hours ago, and I've got to say I'm liking it so far. I want to play IX because a bunch of you keep saying it's really good, and I'm going to play VI at some point.

For the record, I still like Dragon Quest more than Final Fantasy. I have no idea why except maybe to blame nostalgia.