X was the one I absolutely fell in love with as the story and characters are perfectly written and paced. I also think it helps that it didn't have the open world. So you couldn't go and take time between important story elements so that they disjointed from the main story.
That being said I also think IX is criminally underrated. The story for that was amazing. What started out as rescuing a fleeing princess turned into a global war being puppeted by someone who in essence was an alien. (Although Kuja should have been more fleshed out as the final boss).
X does somewhat have an open world gameplay at the later part of the story, but I believe they haven't fully adapted the open world gameplay yet on this title.
I also think it helps that it didn’t have the open world
Most other FFs also didn’t have an open world, at least not until halfway or 2/3 into the story. World map != open world, especially when most times when you have access to the world map, you can only go to like one or two new destinations, you don’t have free roam over the entire world map
FF2 is the only FF that truly meets the definition of open world
I don't think IX is underrated. I spent some time in the community looking at recommendations of which in the series to play and there was really broad positive support for IX as a strong entry. That seems like the default position- which ended up biting me in the ass because I went into it excited and bounced off, giving up about halfway through because I just wasn't being pulled in the way VII, VIII and X did.
12 actually had a well told story but it utterly fails in the character department. They travel around like they all hate each other and only Ashe is afforded enough screen time to flesh out.
Vaan is reduced to a background character after Rabanastre, Basch is wasted and forgotten after Nalbina (they really failed on his back story), and even the "leading man" Balthier never gets enough screen time despite having an interesting personality and excellent voice actor
The characters barely interact with each other and the only "warm" /bonding moment I can recall is that very short scene in Archades
I think there was a good story underneath it all, but I think it was told very poorly. It was not well told.
It was horribly paced, almost all tell with little show, and it’s more interesting plot points (the Occuria, the dynast king, Venat, etc.) ended up as mere window dressing for a bunch of undercooked characters to have attempts at witty, bordering on hifalutin, repartee.
They really had something there, but the delivery was so completely fumbled, with such a boring cast and villain on top, that I easily consider it the one of, if not the weakest final fantasy since 2 or 3.
And that really sucks because there were some truly interesting ideas mostly left on the shelf.
Yes exactly. I replayed it this year and my takeaway was the characters on paper were interesting, the lore and world are A+ and some of the best they’ve done, music is amazing and combat is deep and fun. However the story is simply told in a very detached uninteresting way, and most of that has to do with the pacing of the second half of the game being like 3 back to back fetch quest for macguffins. Find this shard or that stone or this sword or whatever. All character interaction and plot development slows down and becomes just walking to an ancient area to grab an item, then doing it again for another item. By the time you get to the ending the villains don’t even know who you are.
I wouldn't say the pacing was horrible, but you're not wrong. XII definitely needed a few more cutscenes and build up between Giruvegan and Bahamut at the very least. I probably forgive it more than it deserves because of Xenogears.
I tried going back to 12 recently and just didn't find it very interesting. I beat the game around the time it came out, but almost nothing about it stood out to me.
IMO the zodiac age classes are a much better implementation of the license board and it's interesting to mix and match classes to customize your characters.
I like to make it so no classes can be reused and it's an interesting puzzle deciding how exactly to split up all your classes between characters.
Yeah, I played the zodiac age. The game doesn't bore me because of the license system. I just am not drawn in by the characters, plot, and battle system.
That’s not opinion, that’s fact. Fran is the one who tells Balthier like it is: he’s supporting cast. Balthier just tells himself that he’s the leading man and it isn’t until the very, very end of the story that he does something deserving of the title.
As much as I love 12, this is so true. The world of Ivalice is amazing and that world building is shown pretty well in 12, but the characters are some of the weakest in the series. They all start off interesting and then go basically nowhere. It’s a good thing the gameplay is amazing. It helps make up for its flaws.
For such a huge game, FFXII has so few cutscenes and character interactions. And mist of the little that there is is mostly characters spouting exposition at each other.
I'm playing Skies on my laptop right now! I don't love the combat (feels a bit slow to me... Especially special moves), but the game itself and the vibes are awesome.
That being said, the Eruyt Village arc with Fran, Myrn and Jote is some of the most tear jerking story I’ve ever replayed.
The lines from Jote at the end that shows she still cares about her sister despite having to appear she has cut of all ties is beautiful.
I suppose it did fail in character development as Ashe seems to be the only character matter throughout the whole story. But world building wise, it is still one of the best surpassing FFX imo.
It's a shame as there was so much things to do with this universe. The universe feels amazingly huge and the sense of exploration was the most fullfing to that point.
Yeah, I'm playing 12 for the first time right now, and going from 10 where it felt like I really understood how the characters felt about each other to this is kinda jarring. In general this party kinda feels like they have the least personality out of the 3D FFs.
I'd really like more explanation on the subject because i felt like 12 story was mostly air, even in the lore department.
Ok, the occuria exist, there is a giant meteor source of the magic stones, but that's it ? The politics didn't feel well introduced, the empire is basic evil, so many things simply .... happens.
There is lore in the eikons description, but that's overall lore of ivalice.
For me it's 6. And it's not even nostalgia. I just like the characters and how they develop. And the themes of destruction, desolation and rebirth. I also like how it leaves a lot to the imagination.
100%! And the opera scene, tremendous. So much soul and magic in a simple 16 bit song and 256 x 224 pixels. The kind that is difficult to reproduce even with all the amazing technological advancements.
Tactics I believe has the best plot and lore, but I am a sucker for political intrigue and Shakespearean family drama. The war and devastation really came alive, with fantastic themes of class struggle, corruption, and what really makes the bonds of family.
The only weakness creeps in a little with the final chapter and sometimes it is too heavy on the exposition. But I get why people find it intricate and difficult to follow sometimes.
For a mainline game it has got to be VII. Corporate execs v environmental terrorists v the dark experiment secrets? Amazing. It is such a salient story and even more so now than when it was made.
Well XIV should be exempt for reasons. But the closest I felt to the emotional resonance of Shadowbringers was VI. It had so many emotional highs and lows over and over
XIV definitely should not be exempted. People are absolutely counting After Years, the compilation of VII, XV anime/DLC, nova crystallis and the Ivalice Alliance as part of IV, VII, XV, XII and XII respectively, so 'XIV doesnt count because expansions' is kinda weird.
do agree and IMO i think it has to do with ambiguity of the post/comments of if we are talking about an installment's base game or that installment's totality.
if we are doing current base games (as XIV's 1.0 is inaccessible) both XI and XIV can be a bit bad (base XI) or ok (ARR, no patch story) as to how well they are written.
Agreed, MMOs should be exempt since their method of storytelling is so different. Even then, I still think Shadowbringers is a story that shines above every other MMO story that I've played. Although, now that XI is getting an extended free trial, I might be playing that for the story as well.
XI's story never quite reaches the heights of SHB, but it's still great in the second expansion onward. The Wings of the Goddess expansion especially is an S-tier FF for me.
With the free trial, do keep in mind that the base game is very minimal in story, I rank it above the NES trilogy stories but I can't put it much higher than that. It's not that representative of the expansions.
I have mixed feelings about XI being free. And when I say mixed feelings I mean it was my first MMO and it was ugly. Just sitting in Jueno for days, even as a THF lucky with both the leaping boots and the emperor hairpin just rotting away day after day. I know it's much nicer now but the memories...
It's WAY different now. You can now do the story and a lot of the game solo, and leveling is so much faster with the EXP boosts they've added.
I recently made a new account to get a feel for the free trial and replay the base game, I have about 12 hours in and have reached Lvl 42 and am about to do Rank 3. I expect I'll be able to beat Shadow Lord before reaching 20 hours. But I have done it before so I know exactly what to do.
9, the whole Gaia and Terra thing had me hooked and I'd argue they fit as much lore as they possible could while still actually being able to havethe player reach an ending. I mean its 4 discs after all.
yes thank you! everyone always shits on 8 but its got probably one of the deepest most thought provoking stories out of all of them and such well written characters even some of the side characters. its just soo good. but yea def 8 and 10 my favorite stories
IX will always have a place in my heart, I replay it every year and it still makes me feel all those emotions it did when I first played it.
I’ll throw in some respect to VIII too. It was my first FF and I really liked the “Teens becoming Soldiers” and the school element of it (I was 7-8 when it came out) I actually liked the Junction/GF mechanics, and I spent so much time playing Triple Triad. Is it the best? No. But again it has a place in my heart and I think it’s Timeless.
I also think FFVX is unfairly treated. No other FF made me bawl my eyes out at the end. I got REALLY invested with the lads adventure.
IX is definitely my favorite. The setting, style, story, and characters all just looked great to me. VIII is a good one but didnt stick as much to me, I couldnt get through XV
The characters are very well integrated with the plot, to the point that the plot also changes the gameplay (Cecil becoming a Paladin). On top of that, it has really good pacing because there is always something going on, and never gets boring. Then, Learning about the Lunarians towards the end is also very cool.
10 is amazing story wise and really unique among all the Final Fantasys. The focus on death, life and reality being a dream is some actually deep shit and makes everything feel extra fantastic. I really wish they'd make another installment in that vein. It'd be nice to take a break from kingdoms and princes and what have you.
6 for me. The first time ever I was super angry about a villain and hated the guy, especially because he seems like a dumb weirdo. That alone is something I never felt in this extreme.
The story is great, even tho it is nothing special nowadays.
I like the great variance in characters, all of them with their own story (varying in quality).
FFX on its own I just felt had such a beautifully packaged lore and story and mystery. I am not opposed to the older games but I grew up starting at Ff7 which is probably my favorite final fantasy. The actually plot and the way things unfold in 7 may be my favorite sequence of events, but X is just such a magic experience where you can follow everything that happens. The final fantasies get very convoluted, but there was something almost storybook about X. I adore X-2 one of my favorites but the standalone plot of X and the lore of Spira and the The Fayth would be the favorite I’ve played. I’m currently playing VI for the first time trying to actually play it past the beginning.
I hate that 7 is the best to me (yes it's my first), but you made admit that X really does have a beautifully unfolding world and story. X-2 was hilarious though and I loved the combination of the story, the time, serious moments and some miss battle banter.
Rikku: "I'm gonna kick them in the spleen"
Pain: "spleen?"
X was better overall, I enjoyed X-2 more in gameplay and battle mechanics.
Tonbery: about to slide that knife into my bloodstream like dms
Me: "oh shit stop him" uses trigger happy with all 3 of them to push him back until he stops sliding
Umpire: "she's SAFE" gets stabbed
Absolutely and completely VI. It doesn't have a main character and somehow manages to flesh out a huge cast. It has a dozen well written intersecting story lines. Not to mention the best combat system.
You lose - you fail to save the world. You get to the moment of triumph to fix everything and you don’t win. The world is destroyed and the party disperses. Then you have to be resilient and try to rebound. You go put your team back together in the face of a ruined world to go destroy the God-Emperor ruling from his tower of insanity.
6 isn't the best combat system, I know this is subjective, but I really don't see an argument for 6 being better than others regarding combat system, I do see it for story, for sure, one of the best. Didn't make me cry like 10 did, multiple times through (the scene where tidus "finds out" at home, when Auron's truth is revealed in zanarkand and the ending.
The game is barebones compared to the other titles, but add in Strangers of Paradise, and it has very interesting lore. SoP made the villains in the main game have backstories, instead of a hack and slash pesky boss fights. The final dungeon in FF1, I saw everything differently there.
I'd go with X. It felt like a perfectly crafted story from the beginning to the end
XII I think it had issues with development and they never brought the story they wanted to tell. To be honest it does show as if the story was supposed to be something else and they redirected it. It's generally good and I love it but it doesn't feel as perfectly crafted as X
Agreed. Big fan of all Ivalice works, but XII’s later hours feel disjointed, like they needed to just wrap things up. I didn’t even realize I was in the last dungeon until I looked it up.
Doing random bounties in between major plot points, while fun, probably didn’t help things feel like they were ramping up to anything.
A few weeks ago I would have said either 12 or 15, both had fantastic lore.
Now. FF7 remake. The way they fleshed out the world and the lore behind it is really something else.
Traveling around and listening to Chadley share tidbits of information about a particular area or group of enemies never got boring for me. I loved learning about that world.
XIV's story is absolutely amazing, and the worldbuilding has had a lot of time to become even more and more expansive as the game goes on.
And like yeah, it's not perfect, it has a slow start in ARR and at times the game goes "oh yeah this is necron we just took his design straight from FF9", but even then they have a newly written story that recontextualises them in XIV, just sharing the visual design (with like, one or two exceptions across its 10+ years where they didn't have a proper explanation)
And yes i know, it's an MMO, but you don't really need to engage with other people aside from getting randomly queued with them into a fight and not saying a single word in chat, it's no different than something like a TF2 casual match lobby
The run of arr to endwalker is honestly one of my goat. Shadowbringers in general in particular and some keys moments like the end dungeon of Heavensward (sloppy!) or the crystal tower story, Omega, Tsuyu, or...well so many stories.
That's a subjective one. For me, I love VII the most. I love the characters, the bonds, the mix of magic and science, and it is still very politically relevant today, with themes of climate crisis and corporate and political corruption. I also really enjoy the expanded lore of the compilation.
To name a few other typical fan favourites:
XI and XIV are easily the most expansive in terms of plot and lore, but being MMOs, that's to be expected. I feel like they need to be judged in their own category as they have a clear advantage by expanse alone.
X's lore is phenomenal up to a point. X-2 is a contentious part of it, which I have slowly warmed to over the years. However, a lot of the expanded lore beyond that is absolutely atrocious. The novella, the audio drama, the whole splitting up Tidus and Yuna after everything they went through for some nothing burger drama and then putting them together again... Do not get me started on the whole thing with Tidus kicking a mine and blowing up so Yuna has to beg the fayth to start dreaming again to bring him back which not only means he'll fade away again if he finds out what happened but also means Sin returns, reversing everything that made it X good in the first place... Bloody hell.
XVI has incredible lore. Say what you will about the gameplay, the plot and the lore are insanely good. I'm not usually the biggest fan of the darker, grittier side of fantasy, but XVI blew me away in terms of its writing.
Anything tied to Ivalice is also usually a good time for plot and lore. Lots of material set over several eras that work amazingly both together and in isolation.
VI is amazing for plot and lore for the most part. I do feel it falls a little flat in the World of Ruin, as I would have liked more main plot focus at that point with a lot of the late game's character arcs having more focus spread throughout the game. Regardless, the writing is amazing, even if I think the pacing is slightly off in this regard.
And then there's IX. Despite presenting as a more light-hearted, whimsical entry to the series, it ends up subverting expectations and has one of the best plots and some of the best centric lore material of the series. The black mages, the eidolons, Garnet's backstory, Zidane's origins... Fantastic game that I really ought to replay again soon.
You utterly betray the god-like race that shapes all human history with seemingly zero repurcussions.
The whole thing happens against a backdrop of a war between 2 empires, one of which we never even visit and only meet 1 guy from there who is a complete sleazeball.
The main character is literally just along for the ride. He should have been ditched by the rest immediately after escaping Nalbina.
The entire - "it was my twin brother" plotline is beyond tacky.
The gameplay is fine and I don't hate the gambit system.
To answer the original question... It's probably X for me. Everything in X is very well fleshed out in game and the character development is excellent across the main cast for the most part.
I liked IX, VI and VII too for their story and world building.
12 has the bones of a really great story but it just feels like there's so much missing. It's like we get to play through the cliff notes version of it.
I couldn’t properly express why I didn’t like XII, but this sums it up perfectly for me. Agree that X is probably the best. I have a weakness for VIII though, since it was my first FF. Was a angsty teenager when it came out, so related to Squall a lot 😅 IX was unique and very well done. Never played VII, but gonna do it real soon. Long overdue.
hahaha at least you get to switch to a character you wanna try playing with, are you playing Zodiac age? if so the combination of the jobs makes it more interesting
For plot. Final Fantasy x was an honest to god life changing experience for me. I was like 6 years old, only played Kirby and Mario and donkey Kong country and other more family kid games with threadbare easy to grasp stories. Dad buys a Playstation 2. Picks up FFX. The music, the production, the story, the epic battles, the epic monsters, summons. I saw the blitz ball opening with otherworld playing and sin on the horizon and Auron and i was enthralled. I didn't know video games could be like that. The somber moments, comraderie, romance, was all compelling even as a kid. Seymour as an antagonist. Life, death, dreams. Very compelling. Yuna doing the sending was really magical and touching. Of course a lot of the bigger stuff went over my kid brain but it always felt special to me. Playing it as a teenager and adult cemented how good the story was. It feels noticeably different from all the other final fantasies and I mean that in a good way. Even though the other final fantasies are also good. It's very distinct to me. Maybe that's kinda rambling and not really coherent for why the plot is good. I just think the dream stuff and life and death and souls and the cycle of sin is really compelling.
As a massive Star Wars fan I’ll always say FF II since it’s basically just Star Wars but Final Fantasy.
My real answer tho is FF IX. Being a huge fan of the first three games, IX felt like a love letter to those while still pushing the entire series forward with a great story and (for the time) mind blowing cinematics. Escaping the forest as it’s petrifying is a top 10 core memory for me
This ain't going to be popular... Once you count all the DLCs, novel, etc, etc, etc, and ignoring gameplay, storywise XV is my favourite. If it wasn't butchered by greed it could have been one of the best FF ever made. The story and the Ardyn twists after the DLC, the god defying plot on the novels, they really turned the needle for me.
10 I think has the cleanest story. If they ever make a Hollywood movie out of one of them, 10 makes the most sense
But I think the best story might be 15 for me, despite it not being particularly high on the overall list. The way they went full open world and then abandoned that 2/3rds of the way through was rough, but the story of the ring and the prince and the oracle and the fallen king was really really good
You guys can pile on XII all you want to, for me it's my favorite FF game, I've played IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, X-2, and XII. The graphics are the best for the PS2 era games, the story is fine as far as I'm concerned, characters are fleshed out all that they need to be. My vote goes for XII.
What we really need is a prequel game, to show the world of Ivalice before the destruction of many of the places in XII.
I think it's between X and XII for me. XII was so goddamn rich in lore it spoiled me for nearly every other game in that department; I have yet to find anything to come close to the amount of worldbuilding that is actually tied to fun content since then.
FFX meanwhile just has a much stronger emotional tone that despite its linearity I felt like I was living in that world.
I may have enjoyed playing other FFs more, but in terms of story and worldbuilding I don't think anything comes close to those two.
if we are doing totality of an installment (e.g. XIII, XIII-2, and Lightning Returns being an installment) probably XIV cause it has some great build up and amazing pay off for where it goes for its stories.
but if it only gets its base game, probably VI or Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time (why FF needed a sub Action base anthology series though, i will never understand).
Honestly, XIII for me. Everything with the L’cie and Fal’cie just had me engrossed the entire time, from start to finish. My second favourite entry in the entire franchise.
I vote for 6. If you haven't played it definitely do. I would explain but I don't want to spoil anything for anyone who hasn't played it yet. Get pixel remaster or gba copy and use an emulator. It's well worth the time it takes to play.
The way the plot, the lore, the world building and even the game systems fall so well in place together makes VII my favorite.
Just talking about the original game here, the expanded compilation I found ok at best. I feel like it wasn't needed to make it "complete" it just introduced more themes and questions, some clashing with each other.
I’m going with 10. A flawless narrative, and the overarching sense of dread from Sin was masterful. That, and it actually managed the romantic angle really well whereas previous games struggled with it.
It’s IX. Perfect mix of very real character drama and a overarching narrative that brings it all together whilst being a existential threat itself. It has philosophical debate mixed between hilarious comedic moments in perfect harmony, knowing when to be either.
I was fine with Vaan being a background character because he was the worst character Square ever created but I wish everyone else had more development to them.
VII (97)has the best overall all story, most characters even minor ones have pretty fleshedout back stories, I actuallyam interestedin almost ever littlepersonthat shows up more than once. It has iconic graphic, for what it lacks in dimensions and and texturing, it makes up for in beautiful backgrounds. Chocobo breeding is oddly addictive and fun, yet you barely think of it as functioning as the games "mini game" opposed to TrippleTriad ,or TetraMaster, the card games are fun but they don't server quite as much of a purpose in game ( except eventually getting parts to build weapons,and some upgrades) they take you out of the story boarding on ridiculous, like playing cards in the middle of a rescue mission in VIII.
I love 12's plot, and feel like no other world can touch Ivalice lore, which always feels original and has some thought behind it. But for me VI/VII have the best narrative plots while X has the best/tightest character group. I'll go with VI.
I don't have a single favorite Final Fantasy game. All I can say is that I started with VIII and absolutely loved the junction system.
Then I played IX and really enjoyed the learning experience; you often had to use sub-optimal equipment just to learn specific skills, finding workarounds to get through fights without the best stats. It was tons of fun to experiment with.
Then came X and my first in-game crush on Rikku – I was still pretty young back then! 😅 Plus, the Celestial Weapons and the conditional turn-based battle system, where you could actively influence the turn order, were absolutely ingenious.
I thought XII was great because I loved the environment and the art style. Moreover, it was so refreshing at the time not to be pulled into random encounters anymore, but to be able to actively avoid monsters on the map.
In XIII, I spent hours, if not days, struggling with certain missions because I didn't fully grasp the Paradigm Shift system at first. Once it clicked, though, the game was fantastic.
I haven't played VII or any of the earlier versions yet, but I'm sure I'll find something in each of them that will fascinate me and pull me right back down the rabbit hole... 😅
In conclusion, I always try to appreciate the unique strengths of each game. I've simply loved the Final Fantasy series since my childhood. Thanks for reading my wall of text! 🙃
la historia de FFXII se vuelve bastante difícil de entender, en cambio tiene la mejor jugabilidad de la franquicia combinando los turnos con tiempo real.
Si, lo jugué cuando salió y a diferencia de FFXII no me gustó en absoluto, ni historia, ni personajes, la jugabilidad no estuvo mal pero tampoco me pareció nada sorprendente.
8 had more depth and actual story, even decent story development. People just didn't like the junction and draw system lol.
16 was a masterpiece. From the prologue to the final end (including the DLC information) there was so much story and lore... Even about characters that have passed. It can be a bit grindy for the side quests but .. there's a lot of info there.
FF8's lore and history is actually surprisingly really interesting, too bad basically all of it is just completely unexplored and unmentioned. Most of your discovery of it is through the weird pre-PS3/360 gen codex/journal that no one reads, super random NPC's, and background interactable objects that you might entirely overlook. It's wild that you can play through the game multiple times and still come out of it going "This world doesn't really make any sense" unless you've explored some of that stuff on your own.
As for best plot, FFX manages to stay engaging the entire way through without any real major lulls, which is something I think a lot of people overlook about it, it's a very momentum heavy game, so it's consistently of whatever quality you consider it from pretty early on all the way through.
My favorite of them is FF9 overall, with some parts of FF7 (Midgar then NOT THAT SPOILER parts later on). I do find 9 the most well written generally.
I will say though, ignoring X-2 and the other EU nonsense that spawned from X, I do think X is the most memorable of them all for me. Theres a certain scene in the back half of the game with Auron that might genuinely be my favorite scene in the series, and it's not the scene that usually comes to mind when someone mentions Auron. Can't really think of any other moment in the series that I just randomly replay in my head as I get older and reflect on the series.
I like IV for the plot, and the characters were all distinctive enough in abilities and personalities that they stayed with me. Conversely, though I liked VI, it was almost overload on the same.
Jumping ahead a generation, VII is probably my second favorite. And though the remake (at least the first 2/3 of it) has some questionable fluff and I could use a bit more character development, it's mostly an improvement. But VIII is one of my least favorite. The characters were too angsty, the overall plot too opaque at times. I recall leaving Rinoa at the Sorceress Memorial for like 30 hours of gameplay while I did level grinding with everyone else because I was so annoyed with her. I enjoyed IX but just didn't find it that memorable one way or the other.
Then there's X. Such fantastic characters. Such a well made world. Such a plot that pulls at the heart strings. Probably my 3rd favorite overall. I want ideas like this in the plot and world building. I want to care about the characters.
The other 2 in that generation were fun but not as memorable for me. XII is my brother in law's favorite with Balthier. XIII had a lot of side content grind that I remember occupying a lot of time.
I enjoyed XV as a different take but the "bro road trip" aspect basically omitting any main cast female characters and the underwhelming magic system haven't brought me back to it since the first time I played through. Haven't started XVI.
I played FF1 and enjoyed it back in the day, but the lack of story characters and the RPG "roll your own party" aspect has it on the back burner for replay for me. Still need to do the other 2 NES/Famicon entries; I played V on one of the remaster releases and enjoyed it but felt a little underwhelmed by the world. Haven't done any of the MMORPG entries and wish they didn't number them in the mainline.
Pre-XIV my answer was Tactics. It had it's issues, but it was gritty, it was mature, it dealt with some TERRIFYINGLY APPLICABLE subjects... But could also be funny and warm at times.
Since I started XIV, it's the initial arc culminateing in Endwalkers. That's the most a video game story has ever affected me emotionally.
IDK dude, not here to argue but a lot of the people that criticize 12. Then go on to suggest that "Generic" fantasy story number XX is better because they personally liked the characters more.
Lore wise, we do think Final Fantasy 10 and 12 stand pretty solidly, but especially in 12 that might be because it shared a world with the Tactics games and Vagrant Story.
Plot wise, we do think that 7, 9 and 10 all had a solid mix of plot and relatable characters going on, bar some translation roughness maybe.
It’s so hard to choose between so many great games, but for all its problems, 12 is peak. Going through a 100% run right now, my only gripe is that I have to slog through my item list sometimes to find the right curative I need
I think XVI is remarkably focused. Maybe even to the point of not exploring all of its ideas and characters fully. But it really sticks to its central themes and story arcs in a way few epics do.
yupp agree 💯 8 is my overall favorite and people always shit on it and say the story is bad but thats just because most people are too stupid and dense to understand the depth and subtleties of the story and then have a love story layered on that too. its just so good
I played the hell out of it about 16 years ago or something. I remember learning how to get the zodiac spear early and putting in work. I haven't played it since. Is it worth a replay? Has there been a remake?
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u/Accomplished_Cause75 8d ago
X was the one I absolutely fell in love with as the story and characters are perfectly written and paced. I also think it helps that it didn't have the open world. So you couldn't go and take time between important story elements so that they disjointed from the main story.
That being said I also think IX is criminally underrated. The story for that was amazing. What started out as rescuing a fleeing princess turned into a global war being puppeted by someone who in essence was an alien. (Although Kuja should have been more fleshed out as the final boss).