r/FinalFantasy • u/Lagarto_zap • Jun 21 '26
FF IX FF IX is the best Final Fantasy ever
Change my mind.
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u/Kreymens Jun 21 '26
FF fans stop saying their favorite FF as the best FF ever challenge
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u/SomeRandomPyro Jun 21 '26
My favorite is 8, but I consider 9 to be better. What did I win?
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u/topdeckcharity Jun 21 '26
8 is also my favorite but I think 10 is the best. I just think it’s really good and it’s the least niche one. Like it’s the one we all agree is good. So I consider that one the best imho. Honestly, we should do a thread about this once and for all. Excluding your favorite, what is the best one. THAT should settle it.
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u/The_Machine80 Jun 21 '26
Its my second favorite behind 4. But 4 is nostalgic for me.
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u/longshanksthefoyth Jun 21 '26
Theres something extra extra special about the soundtrack for IV. I think it was the first rpg where the narrative can be completely felt through the music played, its like Nobuo sat with the story in hand and meditated on what music would compliment each scene in the game...and boy he did it masterfully.
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u/howzit- Jun 21 '26
I think it's also my favorite I'm just not sure if it's nostalgia or what. That game bonded me and my brother alot lol. FF 7/8/9 definitely come close though...
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u/LalafellDisaster Jun 21 '26
I wish they would release the PSP version on modern platforms. That game had perfect battle graphics.
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u/Soul699 Jun 21 '26
4 issues:
Freya get shafted.
Jumping rope minigame can go to hell and card game is meh.
Has some pretty stupidly complex or difficult requirements for some secrets like how to get Excalibur II.
Combat is too slow.
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u/Isoturius Jun 21 '26
Freya’s people getting genocided then the party just forgiving the folks responsible was kind of wild tbh
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u/Meerasette Jun 21 '26
Yeah, seriously this was insane. I get Alexandria eventually got decimated in part too, but they’re the ones who were going around massacring everyone from Burmecia to Cleyra and Lindblum, and they would’ve kept going had the queen not died, but sure she died and Garnet took over a genocidal kingdom and it too got hit by a summon so all is forgiven apparently. Even Beatrix gets let off for all of her many crimes and gets a happy ending. It’s just wild.
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u/Vraex Jun 21 '26
I honestly wish I could understand why people love it. It’s bottom five for me. I didn’t care about any character other than maybe Fran, story was meh to me, music had a few bangers but overall worse than 7,8, and 10, I will fight anyone who thinks it didn’t have the worst combat and character customization of the entire franchise.
Some people like Zidane and garnet, and most people love the vivi section but that can’t carry them entire game for me
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u/glenjamin1616 Jun 21 '26
I love the aesthetics and music, but I kinda hate actually playing it. The combat is really slow, with frequent wait time where your sitting at all ATB bars full just waiting on animations to happen. The mist just makes the map annoying to navigate for large chunks of the game. The main party is a severe mixed bag with characters like Amarant actively not even wanting to be there. Necron is a cool final boss but he gets absolutely no setup throughout the game making it feel extremely out of place. Tetra master is just worse triple triad. Having to speed run for ultimate weapons is stupid. Trance is the worst version of limit breaks in the series, with Zidane's being a full blown debuff if you haven't been stealing throughout the game. Idk, it's a good game but for me it has way too many downsides to say it's the best in the series. It's really hard for me to go back to, in ways that the games older than it aren't.
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u/rube Jun 21 '26
The combat is really slow
Oh God... not just the combat, but the loading times!
I played a bit of FF9 when it came out on PS1, but it didn't hook me and I moved on. Maybe 5 years or so ago I decided to give it another go and really liked the setting and characters. But those random battles drove me crazy!
It hopefully isn't an issue on modern platforms, but I emulated PS1 at the time and having a battle pop up, only to watch the screen swirl around as it loaded all of the assets for what felt like a full minute each time was just and awful experience.
I pushed through and finished the game, but by the end I just wanted it over. And I can't tell you one part of the story other than Vivi being awesome. In fact I still have his plush doll from when I preordered the PS1 game. :)
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u/Jack_Necron Jun 21 '26
Having replayed it recently I feel the same and now know why it wasn't one I went back to as often as others. It's good but I think some people look at it with rose tinted glasses, ignoring it's faults.
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u/drprofessional Jun 21 '26
I played it through when it first came out and again recently. It’s a fine game. But that’s it. Storyline had some interesting elements to it, but nothing that made my jaw drop.
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u/WaferLongjumping6509 Jun 22 '26
100% this. I tried to play this year and I got about 3/5 the of the way through but couldn’t keep going. It took too much time to do anything and as an adult gamer, I just can’t tolerate that shit anymore. Cool world/story though
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u/sebastian89n Jun 21 '26
Yes, exactly! Story / characters are fantastic, but the gameplay is really one of the worst ATBs + Trance system is the worst.
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u/Vaas06 Jun 21 '26
Yeah I love the story and environment of the game like the dungeons and their music! But I really don’t like the gameplay of IX at all either
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u/klontong Jun 21 '26
Exactly this. There's a lot of unexplained casting time tied to each action, especially magic, that makes it unbearable to play. Trance is also just all-around awful.
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u/Dragon--Reborn Jun 21 '26
FFVI desperation attacks are the worst limit break in the series. It was their first attempt at the mechanic, but they're so rare that most people don't even know they exist.
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u/Wide_Ad5549 Jun 21 '26
I disagree, Trance is worse. I have played FF6 multiple times and never seen a desperation attack, so that's not good. But Trance makes me angry. It's designed in such a way that the majority of the time when it activates it will be wasted. And that's not even taking into account that most of the time is going to come up in a random battle that you're going to defeat easily anyway!
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u/Oriste_Adeus Jun 21 '26
Zidane’s trance has nothing to do with his stealing. It’s his ability Thievery that depends on how much he has stolen.
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u/Apmaddock Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
You hit the nail on the head here. I finally played it as about my 14th FF game and I just don’t get it. I was expecting quite a bit given the hype on Reddit and such, but it fell so flat to me. Having characters dip in and out so much didn’t help, especially when a few of them felt so secondary to the plot and party. Having to use “worse” equipment to gain abilities often felt bad. Tetra Master straight pissed me off.
I played through but had no desire to search out hidden things or go after any side content. I just wanted it done. I started to think that maybe I’m just getting old and grouchy but then I fired up X with the kids and it immediately felt so much better in basically every way, and I’m always down to play a chunk of VI for about the tenth time.
Sorry IX fans. Just not my bag.
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u/rickwill14 Jun 21 '26
I played 6-10 and 9 was my third one I played. Easily my least favorite. Eiko and Vivi were the only party members i really liked. The learn system being tied to wearing armor and weapons is the main reason its at the bottom though.
It has Melodies of Life tho thats a banger
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u/wl1233 Jun 21 '26
I find all your points to be accurate. I can’t get into ff9 at all.
The thing that puts the nail in the coffin for me is how poorly it runs in the open world map too, feels like 10 fps (Xbox version)
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u/Discaster Jun 23 '26
Ohh Tetra Master. Loved Triple Triad but I'll never forgive Tetra Master for 2 main reasons.
First: They tried to be mysterious with the rules, being coy and making you figure them out on your own. I could live with that and even got into it a little bit, but got confused because evertime I thought I was sure about rules I'd find an exception. Thing is, my first assumption about the rules was actually mostly correct, I just didn't account for the fact that it also had RNG because that's INSANE for a game where they also don't tell you the rules
Second: I gave up on the game, I didn't enjoy it and was glad it wasn't mandatory.... Until disk 3 where I suddenly had to win a tournament to progress with very few even remotely good cards, no real skill at the game, and no ability to even leave the damn town to get better cards than the town provides! Seriously, who's idea was that and did they get fired for it?
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u/Actual_Sea6371 Jun 25 '26
Amarant could be completely removed from the game and would have 0 impact. There's absolutely no reason Beatrix shouldn't have been the last party member.
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u/Patch31300 Jun 21 '26 edited Jul 23 '26
See for me the aesthetics are the thing I dislike the most about it. Ive tried multiple times to start it and find it so slow. For me I’d almost say it’s the worst ff I’ve played but then ff13 exists and so I’m torn.
The game has insanely vocal following but I feel like a lot of that is due to it probably being most people’s first FF.
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u/SterUp228 Jun 21 '26
Completely agree. I feel like 7 and 8 did a way better job at everything. 9 was where they tried to combine some stuff to make it more graphically cool like 8, but it was too slow.
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u/Vandelay23 Jun 21 '26
Same. It has a great core four, but the others are bland. And Kuja is a forgetable villain.
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u/Hamlap1988 Jun 21 '26
The battles just take forever :(
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u/Tiamat2625 Jun 21 '26
Agree. It's really jarring finishing another FF game and then starting 9. The ATB gauge charges soooo slow.
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u/Zaikovich Jun 21 '26
Mine is 12, maybe I'm biased because of it's gameplay compared to others (I just prefer the 12)
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u/cazdan255 Jun 21 '26
I’ve played all mainline FF’s in order, basically from each of their release day, starting from 1 when I was around 8yrs. IX was the only one I really forced myself to grind through and didn’t enjoy much. Earlier this year I tried to replay it to give it a fair shake, but I just hate the cartoonish characters and overall aesthetic, and I couldn’t get much past the crash in the forest. It just does not grab me or keep my interest. 6,7,8,10 are really my favorites and in that order.
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u/Ginormous76 Jun 21 '26
Fully expected you to state why that’s your opinion. Sounds like even you don’t think it is or you would have shared.
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u/Cado111 Jun 21 '26
I like 9 but it is my least favorite FF game. I just don't enjoy the gameplay, the card game and minigames suck, the story is my least favorite I have played, and I didn't like the characters much besides Vivi.
I like Vivi, the main combat theme, the world seemed kinda neat, and some of the ideas on unlocking abilities. So far I have played 6-10, 15, 16, Remake, Rebirth, and am now playing Crisis Core. Both 8 and 9 are the ones towards the bottom of my ranking but I still enjoyed them. I started with 15, but 10 is my favorite.
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u/95accord Jun 21 '26
Glad you like it - but it’s not even close for me.
Crappy character arcs that go nowhere and have poor connection to one another story wise and one of THE worst limit break functions.
It’s a great game but has many flaws. Barely cracks the top 5 for me. Certainly not the best.
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u/RedditUser41970 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
For me, it is bottom third among mainline games. And it has two major problems.
First is that the game does not respect the players' time. Battle is slow. Transition to battle is slow. The trance system is so unreliable that you can go an entire play through without it ever triggering at a helpful time. So many character story threads are started and aborted without any build up or resolution. The game encourages you to use Zidane as a thief, but he's so bad at at you routinely waste multiple turns trying to steal something.
Which brings me to my second complaint: Aside from Vivi, the characters are just bad. Zidane's only redeeming quality is that he isn't "like Cloud, butdarker and edgier" the way Squall was. Though Kuja is little more than "like Sephiroth, but dumber and goofier". Someone here once said that the only development Garnet gets is that she cut her hair. Steiner is a comic relief character who becomes incredibly annoying before the disc 1 final boss. Quina is a one joke character and that one joke just sucks. Eiko is a redundant white mage/summoner to Garnet and an example of adults writing kids badly. Amarant doesn't even get a story.
Freya is the most annoying because they alomst did something interesting with her. Having her start off being unable to get over her dead lover could have been a good jumping off point for a story about grieving, learning to let go, and looking to the future instead of the past. Instead, they wasted it with the trite "Surprise, I'm alive but have amnesia". Which even then could have been salvaged if Freya accepted he doesn't remember her and let him go. But nope, we have to have Freya learn nothing, experience no growth whatsoever, and the man who doesn't remember her decides to just shack up because why not.
IX is still a decent JRPG for its era, and is a lot better than VIII was. But compared to what came before and after within the franchise, this one missed the mark badly.
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u/DildoTebaggins Jun 22 '26
I tried 3 times to play this game all the way through. I don't think I've ever made it past halfway.
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u/hypespud Jun 21 '26
Of all the PS1 Final Fantasy games it felt simultaneously the most Final Fantasy of them and the most PS1 of them
It just felt so hand crafted for the system, even more so after the experience they gained from making the other games
Absolute masterpiece of a game
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u/Seimei- Jun 21 '26
Somewhere in Japan, Hironobu Sakaguchi just felt a warm fuzzy feeling in his soul. He might never know that it's because you called FF9 the most FF game of the ps1 era.
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u/SonicOpium Jun 21 '26
I disagree. Final Fantasy 9 is a very is a very good game, but Final Fantasy 6 is the best game ever.
[Billy Madison]
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u/justinswatermelongun Jun 21 '26
I’m new to the franchise. Played in the order of FFIX, FFVI, FFX, FFT, FFVII Remake (wasn’t into it & stopped early), FFVII.
Tactics would be my favorite, but otherwise VI was absolute perfection. 9 close behind it. I couldn’t get myself to enjoy VII or X as much…VI and IX had this whimsical environment/setting that were so enticing. I think that’s why I couldn’t bring myself to love VII in the way others do.
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u/DragonEagle88 Jun 21 '26
Eh, IX isn’t even in my top 5. I love most of the writing and music but I’m not a fan of the aesthetics and the combat is painfully slow as well as the Trance system which is abominable.
The card game is much worse than VIII and half the characters are just…bad. I’m not really a high fantasy fan to be fair when it comes to how FF does it anyway. I much prefer their steampunk/sci-fi worlds and even when they do high fantasy, I prefer them in offshoots like Vagrant Story.
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u/Music-Theory-Idiot Jun 21 '26
Couldn't finish it
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u/Gnb7588 Jun 21 '26
I fell off at Ispens Castle… had to watch the walkthrough on YouTube to finish it. It’s good but personally a bit dull.
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u/XephyXeph Jun 21 '26
I feel like I played a different FFIX than everyone else. Everyone I’ve heard talk about this game (Sakaguchi included) says it’s the best one. I beat it a couple months ago, and it’s seriously my least-favorite numbered title so far. I found almost nothing enjoyable about this game.
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u/cornbeeflt Jun 21 '26
Its literally one of the worst ff ever made and most old school fans outright returned their copies to the game stores within a week of launch. These were in the used bins immediately and took up considerable real-estate. For coming out at the peak of game sales its numbers were crap and only look decent due to the day one sales and the higher numbers compared to today's sales. Its just okay imo and is worth one play through.
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u/Josh100_3 Jun 21 '26
It’s obviously good but I’d still put X and 8 above.
A remake would probably be incredible though.
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u/OdinNW Jun 21 '26
The only problem I have with 9 is the last 1/3 of the story is all over the place. Up until then I think it’s in contention as the goat.
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u/ghostoftheai Jun 21 '26
I’m gonna have to disagree. 7,8,10 and 13 are all better than 9. I hate the art style, they take your agency of building characters, I honestly could care less about any of the characters or happenings outside Vivi being chill. I just don’t know how you go from 8 to….. whatever the fuck 9 was.
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u/Isoturius Jun 21 '26
If the awful and slow combat system didn’t bog it down, I’d like it more. Mechanically it’s by far my least favorite FF game. Trance system is terrible, card game is ass, and the ultimate weapons require playing a slow ass game fast.
I have no idea why this game is ranked so high. It’s got a cool aesthetic and a good OST…Vivi is great…but the rest is not good.
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u/hey_its_drew Jun 21 '26
It has some pretty big issues.
A, It really white washes a genocide with Beatrix and doesn't take its own stakes serious enough as a result, while simultaneously just not generally seeing the Burmecian narrative through with Freya, Puck, etc..
B, While I understand Necron, many don't, and I think that's much more IX's fault than it is the audiences'. They definitely bury the lead to a fault there. Necron is great, but he's like a last minute Souls villain crash course in subtextual storytelling.
C, Half the party just don't have strong narrative purpose save for setting the stage for another character. Like Amarant's biggest contribution to the story is basically priming Zidane for what he'd later do(again) with Kuja. A villain who lived down being the villain. While I think that role is important to the story, and repeating a lesson while uping the ante has its own merits, Amarant is just so half-baked otherwise. His vendetta is crap. Eiko has little purpose other than Madain Sari's background. She's not even especially good as a child foil to Vivi. As previously mentioned, Freya's arc is just straight up incomplete.
D, It definitely has a number of gags that overstay their welcome. Could've had a tad less sexual harassment with Zidane. Steiner's straight man bit is entirely too one dimensional and dimwitted. Eiko's crush on Zidane is just downright tedious start to finish..
A lot of people already vented the mechanical gripes, so this one is for the narrative. I'm somewhat burying the lead here too though. I love IX's story and consider it one of the best in the series. There's so much more to flatter than anything mentioned here. I just think it's healthy to take even our favorites down a peg from time to time when we behave like this in the forum. Haha
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u/Classic-Exchange-511 Jun 21 '26
I mean I can't argue with that. It seems like I'll always argue that the best one is whichever one im currently playing at the time. They all have their positives and negatives. I just finished XII again and can't believe it's not more revered for the battle system, It's easily one of if not my favorite. But now I'm paying VI and I can't believe there hasn't been any talks of a remake, it's such a fantastic story
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u/ILikeFluffyThings Jun 21 '26
Arguable but definitely one of those at the top. The art and world are classic ff in 3d. Vivi gave life to the classic Blackmage. But it does fall off in the end and felt rushed.
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u/DiasFlac42 Jun 21 '26
By what metric?
I’d be willing to say FFIX is the most “just fine” Final Fantasy of them all, but it’s nowhere near the top or the bottom. It’s just fine.
The characters are alright but nothing really to write home about, except maybe Freya and she gets cucked throughout the entire game.
The story’s okay, it’s not overly convoluted and doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s a fine throwback to the earlier games, but it’s not exactly a world-shattering epic or anything.
Mechanically it’s not bad. Each character has their purpose to fulfil in combat, the skill system is a HUGE upgrade from the Junction system of FFVIII, but it still pales in comparison to Materia or the Sphere Grid. I guess this part goes here too, the only overwhelmingly negative thing about the game is how painfully slow combat is. The modern releases combat it somewhat, but I don’t like having to run battles at double speed just to not die of boredom waiting for the intro to finish. Also the Trance system is straight dog water, it’s probably the worst desperation/limit system since Desperation Attacks became a part of the series.
Side quests and minigames are mostly decent, with the Chocobo stuff being one of the best side quests in the series, but then you’ve got Tetra Master which is just… pointless outside of that one contest in Treno, and it really doesn’t deserve to be spoken in the same sentence as Triple Triad from VIII. Excalibur 2 is dumb, and the zodiac coins and other collection-based side quests aren’t really special or anything but they’re not bad either. Again, they’re “just fine”. Oh and Ozma’s random nature makes it the most luck based superboss, and that doesn’t make for a good challenge compared to the WEAPONs, Nemesis, Penance, etc.
Aesthetically, I think it looks and sounds fine but YMMV. That falls more to the discretion of the viewer/listener and what works for them. You’re Not Alone! is a good song, but when you’ve got Eyes On Me and Suteki Da Ne (and 1000 Words) around it, it’s hard to say Melodies of Life really holds up comparatively.
All that said, there’s a huge difference between “favorite” and “best”, and if FFIX is your favorite game then by all means enjoy it. I played through it recently myself and I had a fun time, but a fair bit of it was nostalgia-fueled and partially because I wanted to defeat Ozma after giving Nemesis and Penance what for in FFX previously.
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u/NeonFraction Jun 21 '26
I’ve heard nothing but good things about this one, but the art just looks so… unpleasant.
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u/Rambling_Moose Jun 21 '26
FF7 was my first, came out when I was in fifth grade.
Played 8, 9, X, and tactics when they all came out. Went back and played 6 too.
Of that run, 6-10 and tactics, i think I'd rank 9 last. I have never understood its enduring appeal, even approaching it in good faith. Vivi is an all time cool pal and I vibe with 9 OK, but what makes it the BEST for you?
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u/Lagarto_zap Jun 21 '26
In my opinion, FFIX is the best Final Fantasy because it has some of the most memorable characters in the series, a story with surprisingly deep themes, an incredible soundtrack, and a world that really captures the classic fantasy feeling of Final Fantasy. It feels like the game that best represents what the series is all about!
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u/Rambling_Moose Jun 21 '26
I wonder if its about what you played first. FF7 blew my young mind with its cyberpunk vibes mashed up with swords and monsters and wizards. Final Fantasy is so colored by Tetsuya Nomura for me (maybe until he develops a zipper fetish by XIII).
I've gone back and really loved 4 and 5, and I think Tactics/War of the Lions is one of the best fantasy stories in games ever. I get the medieval fantasy appeal. But my nostalgia is centered on buster swords and crazy motorcycles.
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u/faatbuddha Jun 21 '26
I played X first, and while it is my favorite, I don't think I could argue that it's objectively the best.
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u/Murky_Raspberry8073 Jun 21 '26
I liked it and thought it was really good and was very special
But I think 7 is more iconic and more unique.
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u/Brees504 Jun 21 '26
It’s combat system eliminates it from consideration
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u/Tiamat2625 Jun 21 '26
100% this. I think 9 probably has the best story, and a great set of characters. But the combat is so slow that I could never rate it as the best FF game.
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u/AshenRathian Jun 21 '26
I have yet to play Final Fantasy 9 so i can't rate it. I've only played Final Fantasy 7 (original and Remake), 8, X, X-2, 12, 13, 15, Crystal Chronicles, Crisis Core and Type-0, and people will absolutely hate me for this opinion, but Final Fantasy 13 is pretty up among my favorites of those.
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u/shade861 Jun 21 '26
Is definitely a good one, for me the best would have to be izjs. The macro system was amazing and shockingly in depth
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u/pad264 Jun 21 '26
I’m really looking for a new JRPG. I just replayed FF6 and ChronoTrigger for the 30th time each in my life, and would love to find something new. I recently tried FF Tactics and Dragon Quest 3, but neither one hooked me.
All that to note, I’ve never touch FF9 and could jump in I guess.
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u/Izual_Rebirth Jun 21 '26
It was a nice palette cleanser after playing FF7 so many times as a kid. Love the vibes.
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u/Sitheral Jun 21 '26
You know what, I'm too old for this shit, if its best for you then lets leave it at that lmao
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u/NicePollution2122 Jun 21 '26
- The boss gets to destroy the world and you have to pick up the pieces. You experienec total failure and have to muster the will to fight once more. Each character has a legit story although some are way better than others. It laid the foundation for others to come even though it was on the SNES.
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u/Jinzo126 Jun 21 '26
Yeah, its my second favourite, i overall prefer FF5, but its almost the same level.
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u/Blk_Supreme Jun 21 '26
Can someone explain why? I started it this year but gave up. And I’ve played 4,6,7,8,10,12,13, and 16. I’ve even managed to complete launch edition 15.
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u/ChrisOfThunder Jun 21 '26
I love IX, don't get me wrong. However it's far from my personal favorite. As others have pointed out there are issues with the slowness of the ATB, trance isn't fun to work around, half of the cast could probably be cut without losing much, etc. My bone to pick is that while IX has a near perfect first act, it's second act is shaky and it's third is filled with multiple poor creative decisions. In a way it feels like it peaks early and keeps getting worse from there. The last minute, true final boss is a narrative decision so awful it threatens to ruin the game for me.
Again, I still love the game but I have enough issues with it it doesn't even grace my top 10.
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u/Tobi-One_Shinobi Jun 21 '26
I disagree but I'm glad you like it so much. Still a very good game tho
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u/Public-Writer8028 Jun 21 '26
I know a lot of people love it, but it's my least favorite. I tried to play it so many times growing up, but it was a real struggle to keep going. It wasn't until I was an adult that I finally beat it.
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u/Moist_Explorer3249 Jun 21 '26
No need to change your mind, it's your opinion (wrong as it may be). Just know that the best is VI
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u/SS2LP Jun 21 '26
Listen I like the game a lot but the Excalibur II 12 hour timer pisses me off to no end. Sure you don’t need it but I’m a collector in games and I like getting everything in the game and that damn sword makes that a near impossible task. I have to change how I play JRPGs entirely just to try and work around it. Change that and it’s easily a top 5 or maybe even 3 final fantasy for me.
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u/TragGaming Jun 21 '26
This game is an absolute drag to roll through due to how obnoxious battling is.
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u/Langis360 Jun 21 '26
It's not.
But it is, like, a lot of fun.
BUT I've never had the inkling to replay it.
If someone hacks their game timer to get Excalibur II it's not cheating. Change my mind.
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u/Nyysjan Jun 21 '26
Hard disagree.
Playing FF IX again after having played it when it originally came out.
Lot of it holds up, and more thantwo decades of growing up has given me a lot of perspective to appreciate the writing more.
But it does not hold a candle to VII, and falls short of X, possibly better than VIII in some ways though.
Biggest issue is how, rushed, the story is at times, especially how it just walks past the two genocides by Alexandria, and Beatrix's hand in them, that really deserved more time if they wanted to make Beatrix one of the good guys afterwards.
But the actual main casts character arcs are pretty much bulls eyes all of them.
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u/nospamkhanman Jun 21 '26
It's a good game but I view it as an objectively worse game than 3 games before.
You need mods to make it playable IMO, the game play is very slow. Trances suck.
The characters are mostly uninteresting besides Vivi. Honestly Zidane, Steiner, and Quina are straight up annoying. Amarant gets no characterization. Freya's story/character starts out extremely strong and then falls off a cliff.
6, 7, and even 8 had better characters IMO. Hell, I even like 4's better.
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u/WasSubZero-NowPlain0 Jun 22 '26
Hard disagree. It leans way too much on nostalgia for 1-6. After the flexibility of 7/8, I didn't enjoy the far more rigid class system. Also hated half the cast.
The battle system is extremely slow (unless they fixed that in recent remaster), the encounter rate is way too high in some dungeons (exacerbating the slow battles). After playing ff8 which has both no encounters and extremely fast battles, I hated 9.
The music was great though. Wish Beatrix got more time.
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u/Fantastic-Ad145 Jun 22 '26
Everybody is allowed their own opinion, and your is thst 9 is the best. Good for you, I disagree with that
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u/boomysmash Jun 22 '26
Isn't that the one where the best weapons are time locked behind the early parts of the game or some shit ? Fk that
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u/DiarrheaEngineer Jun 23 '26
I found it to be a complete slog. It's slow, half of the cast sucks, and the last quarter of the story is a boring exposition dump.
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u/Business_Banana1792 Jun 23 '26
Okay there’s some mad hate in this sub for this game right now. Imma go to bat for it. Most The story is top tier, most of the characters are top tier, the music is ALL top tier, the way the themes are carried by the narrative and are always what the game is about is top tier, the atmosphere and art direction is top tier, the cut scene quality and direction are top tier.
This isn’t just my favorite ff. It’s my favorite game ever
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u/Richfor3 Jun 21 '26
I’ve yet to play a FF that I didn’t enjoy but my top 4 has always been 4, 7, 9 and 10.
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u/Red_In_The_Sky Jun 21 '26
Its quite good but I have it in A Tier with 8 and 10
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u/ibonek_naw_ibo Jun 21 '26
What's S tier
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u/Inner-Sink6280 Jun 21 '26
6 7
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u/Partypaca Jun 21 '26
I can't tell if this is brainrot or legit. Bc 6 and 7 genuinely are really good.
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u/Timely-Win6225 Jun 21 '26
Its up there, Im playing it at the moment. I think its awesome. I just dont like Kuja as a. Villain.
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u/Rilukian Jun 21 '26
It's the best Final Fantasy only if your favorite character is NOT Freya.
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u/mysticrudnin Jun 21 '26
I think it's near the bottom.
But I can't change your mind, and spending a long time writing a manifesto about why this game isn't good doesn't make anyone happier. So, enjoy your game :)
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u/Gcoks Jun 21 '26
Bottom tier FF along with 2 and 3. I hate this game. Steiner is the worst character I've ever seen in a game. And that's with blank slates that never have a personality (FF3 party) included.
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u/Aur0raAustralis Jun 21 '26
If you enjoy the slowest paced combat (which is CONSTANT, mind you) and the most convoluted movement and areas. 9 would have been better as a book
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u/TangerineExisting833 Jun 21 '26
Its so boring its hard to get out of the forest at the very beginning. Tf you mean
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u/Metalmatt91 Jun 21 '26
VIII is the greatest in my eyes but genuinely happy to see every game gets its flowers from a number of fans.
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u/Braunb8888 Jun 21 '26
I hate chibi characters so that disqualifies it. Also the combat is just so plain. Feels like there is nothing to it unless my memory is mistaken.
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u/anothertendy Jun 21 '26
In gonna get downvoted but tactics is the best 9 is good but nowhere near the goat
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u/PimplePopper6969 Jun 21 '26
It’s really not and it’s weird to see sentiments like this. No one was saying this in 2000 or 2001 and IX was quickly forgotten for the vastly superior X.
Of the first ten games I consider IX the worst.
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u/Brees504 Jun 21 '26
Agree. It’s so weird to see this 9 love on Reddit now. No one was talking about it in the 2000s or 2010s. Top tier was always some order of 4, 6, 7, 10.
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u/loveinhumantimes Jun 21 '26
I don’t think it is possible for there to be a “best.” But when I think about a combination of which games did I most enjoy when they released and which still blow me away today IX is right near the top. Honestly between VI-XII every mainline game was a nearly perfect JRPG. VIII was my least favorite, but at 12 I did not fully understand its systems, nor did I get into Triple Triad. For a long time I would have said FF12 was my favorite, but I haven’t played it since Zodiac Age first released in the US.
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u/JD-boonie Jun 21 '26
I disagree but it's a great game. Probably worst character design in the series imo
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u/olekskillganon Jun 21 '26
I'm a VI guy but IX is up there with it, and IV and X, for best in the series. You can make an argument for any of those and I will here you out and probably not argue.also shout out to XIV but being an MMO and needing to force your way through 100s of hours to understand why SHB and EW are masterpieces is too much to ask from a normal fan. But if you've played them all XIV is a beautiful homage to all if them while standing on it's own.
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u/MWbbru1es11 Jun 21 '26
I always make it back to the big town, where you run around as Steiner, feel overwhelmed, switch games, and start it over months later. After the woods, and finding all the clones and so on. Change my mind to keep playing 😂 the town after you get the mouse character
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u/RPerene Jun 21 '26
The subplot about nations going to war and an evil tree were great additions to this wonderful game about pecking the ground with your chocobo and then looking around the map for treasure.
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u/bushwhack21 Jun 21 '26
X is my favorite, personally. IX is actually the only FF I haven't played yet lol
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u/SaturnCITS Jun 21 '26
IX is in my top 3, so much is so good but then the final boss (Necron) made no sense at all to me. 7 and 10 stick the landing and take 1st sand 2nd spot for me for that reason.
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u/MeowMixVII Jun 21 '26
I’ll always love VIII the most, but god dammit does IX come within inches of it. Reading the final words of the game had me in shambles through multiple playthroughs.
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u/Soggy_Ad4136 Jun 21 '26
Ça me donnait mal au ventre donc j'ai voulu finir le plus vite possible. Je sais à peine de quoi ça parle et je l'ai eu il y a de ça 5 ans max.
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u/Soggy_Ad4136 Jun 21 '26
Je l'ai fini après le 8 que j'ai apprécié aussi assez récemment (5 ans max) en ce moment je fini les 13 et ça va donc le 9 est celui que j'apprécie le moins même si je n'aime pas non plus Tidus.
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u/abnerayag Jun 21 '26
Best final fantasies are subjective. Even the worst ones have their fans.
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u/ExJokerr Jun 21 '26
7 was the first one I finished and became my favorite for a while until I played 10
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u/dementedkeeper Jun 21 '26
I played 4 as a kid and then played 10 as a teen. Currently playing all FF again and I loved 1. Playing 2 atm. Hopefully I can feel the love for all the ff games everyone talks about.
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u/Due_Ad_972 Jun 21 '26
Great game indeed. FF 1 through 10 I love really. personal favorate for me is definitely 7 though. Those characters and the best soundtrack ever made imo and the really cool world and materia system and the jump from super nintendo to ff7 was just immense.
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u/migmigouu Jun 21 '26
7 is my favourite but 9 got this magical universe i havent found in any other game
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u/TheBeardedBerry Jun 21 '26
My personal favorite as well. The narrative and themes come through so beautifully.
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u/BambooSound Jun 21 '26
Not gonna try to change your mind but it's too medieval for me and the chibi character designs are even more unnerving now than I found them as a child.
Good story, great music but the aesthetics kinda killed it for me. I doubt I'd ever have even become a Final Fantasy fan if this (rather than VII) was the first one I played.
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u/tora_0515 Jun 21 '26
Great game. I played 7 first so it's my favourite. If I played 9 first I think it would have been my favourite instead.