I have never played a Final Fantasy game ever, is it worth it to start now? Or too late??

cortadew

cortadew

Member
I had a PS1 when I was a kid but for some reason I never got to play any game of the series.

I don't think I would have liked them since I used to find turn based games pretty boring, nowadays my tastes have changed and I am more open minded but is it worth it to start as an adult?

Okay I will be honest, I tried the first game but found it a bit dated and did not continue playing :/
 
Its totally worth it. I personally would recommend FFX HD. Its the perfect blend of the old turn based style but still feels newer than the ps1 and snes entries. If you have a tolerance for old games those are all great though.

FFVII remake is also brand new and very modern. Its not representative of older entries but its worth playing to just try it out.

This series is one of the only AAA JRPGS in existence. They can be polarizing but they put effort into each of the entries in the main series.
 
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Nah man it's always a good time to jump in. You can start with any entry really, only a few are direct sequels (X-2. XIII 2, Lightning Returns) and XI and XIV are MMOS.
 
You can jump in pretty much anywhere. The older games from the PS1 era are pretty accessible and we have remasters like X/X-2 HD and XII TZA to cover it. Definitely recommend going through FFVII/VIII/IX before you touch the likes of X or VII-R. Especially the latter.
 
All the numbered final fantasy games have a unique story, cast and lore. So you can essentially pick up any of them and start from there.

And, no, it's never too late. These are some of the best games in history of the medium, so well worth a check.
 
Punished Miku said:
Its totally worth it. I personally would recommend FFX HD. Its the perfect blend of the old turn based style but still feels newer than the ps1 and snes entries. If you have a tolerance for old games those are all great though.

FFVII remake is also brand new and very modern. Its not representative of older entries but its worth playing to just try it out.

This series is one of the only AAA JRPGS in existence. They can be polarizing but they put effort into each of the entries in the main series.
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Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my inquiry.

I personally have no problems with old games, I have been playing recently a ton of NES and SNES games on RetroArch and I bought a crt monitor for 6 bucks to make it a bit more authentic.

You tell me FFX HD would be the best to start, but isn't 4 the one where the series got really good? I am honest from what I read from the fan base 4, or 6 are the ones that people tend to recommend.

Oh I would like to get FF7 remake but I think playing the original first may be necessary even though I already got unfortunately spoiled from one event :(
 
So the great thing about Final Fantasy is that the series is widely available and easily accessible because the games are not linked (Besides obvious sequels like X - 2 or spin offs). This means that the games have multiple good entry points and no prior knowledge of any of the other games is required.

Now I do recommend the following:
Skip the NES and SNES games for now, this includes the pixel remasters. These games just "feel" very old and haven't necessarily aged all that well. Out of the SNES games, Only VI is really worth playing. If you do enjoy the series, by all means go back to them but they're not the best entry point.

Now for which one you should start with, I recommend the following: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X HD.

These games have some of the best world building in the series, have traditional FF gameplay and are widely available. Games released after X are much more experimental and different. They are worth playing, but if you're looking for traditional Final Fantasy, then the above 3 games are your best bet.
 
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YukiOnna said:
You can jump in pretty much anywhere. The older games from the PS1 era are pretty accessible and we have remasters like X/X-2 HD and XII TZA to cover it. Definitely recommend going through FFVII/VIII/IX before you touch the likes of X or VII-R. Especially the latter.
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I was thinking playing 4 and 6 before 7, 8 or 9 since I've heard some fans claim these are more "classic" in terms of gameplay.
 
Just start with the FF7 remake. everything else would be dated for newcomers.
FF Stranger of Paradise is also great minus the below average graphics.
FF15 is so-so.
 
Rykan said:
So the great thing about Final Fantasy is that the series is widely available and easily accessible because the games are not linked (Besides obvious sequels like X - 2 or spin offs). This means that the games have multiple good entry points and no prior knowledge of any of the other games is required.

Now I do recommend the following:
Skip the NES and SNES games for now, this includes the pixel remasters. These games just "feel" very old and haven't necessarily aged all that well. Out of the SNES games, Only VI is really worth playing. If you do enjoy the series, by all means go back to them but they're not the best entry point.

Now for which one you should start with, I recommend the following: Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX and Final Fantasy X HD.

These games have some of the best world building in the series, have traditional FF gameplay and are widely available. Games released after X are much more experimental and different. They are worth playing, but if you're looking for traditional Final Fantasy, then the above 3 games are your best bet.
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Interesting. I don't have a problem with retrogaming or old mechanics I even have a crt. I've heard that 6 is a better starting point tho but it seems 7 is the most popular one because of it's shift from the classic formula.
 
Amiga said:
Just start with the FF7 remake. everything else would be dated for newcomers.
FF Stranger of Paradise is also great minus the below average graphics.
FF15 is so-so.
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No problem with that I am getting into retrogaming but yes I believe the first one was too dated for me lol
 
If you're worried because of how many games there are in the series, dont.
All the core numbered entries are self contained with no relation to any other.
I would recommend starting with FF6 if possible.
Enjoy.
 
Naked Lunch said:
If you're worried because of how many games there are in the series, dont.
All the core numbered entries are self contained with no relation to any other.
I would recommend starting with FF6 if possible.
Enjoy.
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Yes I will, probably with 4 and then 6, then 7, 8 and 9
 
I played FF Stranger of Paradise because i love Team Ninja .. if you are into character action games you should play it .. excellent gameplay and the story is good but the characters were handled in a meme-ish way
 
4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 14 are the good ones. For spin offs Tactics is the GOAT for strategy games.

Start with 4. If you don't like it try 6. If you don't like it try 7. If you don't like that don't bother with the series.
 
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They're all different, you can jump in at any point.
 
I'd say go with VII or if you want classic Final Fantasy play VI first. VI is my personal favorite for the 2D games.

Honestly if you want play VII and use the quality of life cheats then be my guest. I think you either enjoy grinding or you don't. The modes they added let you explore without constant random battles.

1 & 2 are worth looking at, but you might find it a little dry. 3 and 4 have good 3D remakes, but you might find it missing that robust world. The entries before 6 feel like they take place in a very medieval setting with castles and towns (classic RPG type gameplay). 6 has a good plot to it. 5 is good too, but I like 6 more.

7, 8, and 9 are highly recommended and their modern releases have cheats to make your experience feel like less of a grind. 7 and 9 are well liked more than 8, but 8 has good music/characters/art. It's worth checking 8 out because it came out when the Dreamcast did and it was well liked at the time. 9 went back to the medieval roots, so it's really enjoyable.

10 is good because of the battle system and it's the first fully voiced Final Fantasy. 11 is worth checking out for the world (World of Warcraft type of world), but you probably don't want to grind it. 12 had awesome places to visit, characters were well voiced (good dialogue in 12), and the hunts were a lot of fun. It takes place in the same world as Final Fantasy Tactics too.

13 and 15 you could probably skip IMO. That is when the franchise started to feel too mainstream. The whole 13 series of games just feel like lost chapters in the franchise. They're also super linear without the big robust world. 15 had a robust world, but it was boring. The characters weren't charming at all and the battle system felt way too floaty. 14 is worth checking out because that's the only thing keeping the franchise alive financially if you ask me.

It's never too late. Don't worry about the side stuff just yet. Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core, Dissidia, and all those spin offs. I wouldn't recommend playing Final Fantasy X-2 either. Final Fantasy Tactics would be my only recommendation if you're wanting to cruise over to the side stuff.
 
Start with X, then IX, then VII, then VI, then whatever you want (I'd suggest I or IV). I'd say that's the best way to gateway yourself depending on how tolerant of certain graphical styles you can handle. People make fun of X but it's phenomenal regardless.
 
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Graciaus said:
4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 14 are the good ones. For spin offs Tactics is the GOAT for strategy games.

Start with 4. If you don't like it try 6. If you don't like it try 7. If you don't like that don't bother with the series.
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I started with 10 on the PS2 and I've been hooked since. Playing 12 after 10 was very weird though because of the battle system. I basically wanted more of the same, like 10.
 
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Well. It depends. Just for fun?...i dunno. As an academic exercise...maybe. How much time do you have? And what do you actually wanna experience?

To me, there are 4 eras of Square Soft/Final fantasy.

The classic, legacy (I - VI)

The boom!, Square soft unhinged, the Play station era (VII-VIII-IX).

Transition from Soft to Enix...the downfall. (X-X-2, XII (the most disappointing one)

Enix era: Just a disaster. Fabulla Nova Cristallys....Big YIKES.
 
I thought 12 was good because it mimicked 11's battle system and the world felt alive. You could see the monsters on the map. The characters had their moments. They did a good job with whoever they got for their voice actors. It was probably the last time I felt like I enjoyed a Final Fantasy at its launch. Take out the 7 Remake because that's not even finished yet. I got so bummed out with 13 and 15 that I could have easily been some sorta old school gamer and said that was it for me.
 
Northeastmonk said:
I thought 12 was good because it mimicked 11's battle system and the world felt alive. You could see the monsters on the map. The characters had their moments. They did a good job with whoever they got for their voice actors. It was probably the last time I felt like I enjoyed a Final Fantasy at its launch.
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It is the most disappointing one because it was the closest to capturing the magic of a Final Fantasy. But it has pretty big issues with it's story and gameplay after the second half of the game.
 
ChorizoPicozo said:
It is the most disappointing one because it was the closest to capturing the magic of a Final Fantasy. But it has pretty big issues with it's story and gameplay after the second half of the game.
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Magicite was a cool concept. The first half had a lot of charm to it, so once you get to the latter half you're probably going to finish it. You do see how OP the gambit system can be. I had fun fighting the behemoths. Overall it was a good time. At the midnight launch our EB Games gave us all Mt. Dew while we watched Advent Children on their TV.
 
I'd start with 7, 8 or 9 and see if you enjoy them. If you do you could go backwards or forwards as you choose.
 
Saying you're more open to different styles of games is a bit different than saying you'd like them. FF games are big commitments. They're long, as most JRPGs are, but particularly almost all FF games are really long, and if you want to get the most out of them, you'll want to do the side content as well. Not all, but a lot of it. Do you actually like turn based battles or JRPGs? If you do like them, then sure. If you're not sure that you'd like them, maybe watch some early game let's play videos on Youtube first if you're ok with some early game spoilers to see if it's something you'd be into. In this case, you can check out a few from several FF games and see which one best fits your tastes. People can recommend FF's here, but that doesn't mean they will be the ones that directly line up with what you like. For all anyone knows, FFXV could be your favorite of the series. It varies person to person.
 
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Graciaus said:
4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 14 are the good ones. For spin offs Tactics is the GOAT for strategy games.

Start with 4. If you don't like it try 6. If you don't like it try 7. If you don't like that don't bother with the series.
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I looked some gameplay on YouTube and it looks much more polished than the earlier entries.
 
Rodya Raskolnikov said:
It's too late bro. You can never play a FF game again ever
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Ok thread closed
ChorizoPicozo said:
Well. It depends. Just for fun?...i dunno. As an academic exercise...maybe. How much time do you have? And what do you actually wanna experience?

To me, there are 4 eras of Square Soft/Final fantasy.

The classic, legacy (I - VI)

The boom!, Square soft unhinged, the Play station era (VII-VIII-IX).

Transition from Soft to Enix...the downfall. (X-X-2, XII (the most disappointing one)

Enix era: Just a disaster. Fabulla Nova Cristallys....Big YIKES.
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Enough time to try the best ones :)
 
I recommend 7, 9 or 10 to start with - after a full play through of either of those, anyone of the other entries are up for grabs. I'd recommend having a spoiler free guide ready just in case for the nes/snes games.

I have only the highest regards for 6 through 10.

I don't recommend farming or grinding in any of the games (especially 8) atleast until very late game, if at all.. I've always had more fun just barely getting by.
 
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DragoonKain said:
Saying you're more open to different styles of games is a bit different than saying you'd like them. FF games are big commitments. They're long, as most JRPGs are, but particularly almost all FF games are really long, and if you want to get the most out of them, you'll want to do the side content as well. Not all, but a lot of it. Do you actually like turn based battles or JRPGs? If you do like them, then sure. If you're not sure that you'd like them, maybe watch some early game let's play videos on Youtube first if you're ok with some early game spoilers to see if it's something you'd be into. In this case, you can check out a few from several FF games and see which one best fits your tastes. People can recommend FF's here, but that doesn't mean they will be the ones that directly line up with what you like. For all anyone knows, FFXV could be your favorite of the series. It varies person to person.
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Yes turn based has gained appreciation on my part since I played fire emblem Path of radiance, my doubts were mostly which ones were the most "worth it" to play.
 
SlimeGooGoo said:
Check out Langrisser IV (with english patch) for PS1, it's a great game and somewhat similar to Fire Emblem.

Shining Force is also worth checking out.
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Will check it out ;) I also like Vagrant Story from Squaresoft on the Ps1, not their most popular but really engrossing.
 
For the more "modern" experience X is probably a good entry point.
Otherwise, for the older games, I would recommend V.
Recent games have been pretty good in my opinion. XIII trilogy is definitely great, and gets better each game. Lightning Returns is fantastic. XV was also a great experience.
All different games though.

Phantasy Star IV and Lost Odyssey are great games as well.
 
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For what it's worth, my wife, who had never played a console game, let alone a Final Fantasy title, asked to play Final Fantasy VII Remake after catching a few moments of me playing. She thoroughly enjoyed it and kept hogging the PS4. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it as a starting point (that depends on the individual), but it's fairly accessible in terms of catering to a wide player base. There's a variety of difficulty options for new and experienced players, there are opportunities for exploration while still maintaining enough linearity to keep novices on the right track, the mechanics and UI are fluid, and of course the characters, story, and music have already stood the test of time.

It's also worth noting that each installment in the series can stand on its own, and the gameplay can differ quite drastically from one to the next (turn-based, action-RPG, MMORPG, etc), so it's worth trying a few as some may be more or less agreeable with you. There are some recurring themes in music, monster design, weapons, and the like that may be lost on you as a new player, but it's nothing crucial. I wouldn't say it's ever too late to give the series a try.
 
Here's a take from someone who doesn't generally play JRPGs and just recently played FF6 and 7 for the first time.

First off, there's no getting round the fact that these games are dated as fuck. Some parts are bullshit, some parts are boring, some systems make no sense on the surface and were shipped with bugs. Combat is a game of scrolling through menus as fast as you can, there's just no way around that.

Second, the script in FF7 today is really bad - I played the Switch version so I'm not clued up on if there's some translation that's supposed to be better, but it wasn't great.

However, that only really added to the charm to me. If you can look past some 90s JRPG jank, the characters and settings in both games I played are great. I'll be playing FF8, 9 and 10 for sure. I strongly recommend playing a version where you can enable some sort of speedup, whether that's the autobattle in FF6 Pixel Remaster, the right click stick in FF7 Switch, or just emulating with a toggle. It makes the actual gameplay segments far more bearable.
 
This is a pretty weird question, especially coming from someone who claims to be doing lots of retro gaming.

Like, what makes Final Fantasy games so different from the other older games you've played so far? Why would your age even matter?
 
cortadew said:
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer my inquiry.

I personally have no problems with old games, I have been playing recently a ton of NES and SNES games on RetroArch and I bought a crt monitor for 6 bucks to make it a bit more authentic.

You tell me FFX HD would be the best to start, but isn't 4 the one where the series got really good? I am honest from what I read from the fan base 4, or 6 are the ones that people tend to recommend.

Oh I would like to get FF7 remake but I think playing the original first may be necessary even though I already got unfortunately spoiled from one event :(
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If you're good with 4 and SNES style games, 4 is the first one I really got into. It's totally worth playing whether it's a ROM of the original, or one of the many remakes on PSP or DS.

Personally, I prefer the 3D one on DS. It's good! Go with 4 if you can play older games. The remake has some auto-battle stuff that I appreciate.
 
Video Games Japan GIF
 
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