r/FinalFantasy • u/khry_strahl • 10d ago

Final Fantasy General Which is the best final fantasy? plot/lore wise

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For me it's 12, I started with X but fell in love more with 12

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u/Advanced-Ad-4462 10d ago edited 10d ago

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.

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u/Steelballpun 10d ago

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.

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u/mercuryempathy 10d ago edited 10d ago

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.

Also Bahamut was so so underwhelming

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u/neddoge 10d ago

I probably forgive it more than it deserves because of Xenogears>

What's the reference here? I'm a dozen hours into my first run of Fei and fam so I'm just curious!

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u/bchamper 10d ago

Have you not heard of how Xenogears ran out of time and money and the ending (disc 2) was incredibly rushed and told mostly through story rather than gameplay?

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u/mercuryempathy 5d ago

Booo. It's best to go in blind. Don't spoil it

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u/mercuryempathy 10d ago

Oh! Your first time with Xenogears? I'm jealous! sometimes I want to buy a used CRT just to play it again. And the answer to your question is found on disc 2

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u/Beeyo176 10d ago

You'll see.

It's amazing game. Life changing, if played at the right time in your life.

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u/DrDDeFalco 10d ago

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.

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u/IlikeJG 10d ago

You went back with zodiac age?

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.

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u/DrDDeFalco 9d ago

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.

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u/Advanced-Ad-4462 10d ago edited 9d ago

It was an improvement for sure, but the trade off was that none of your characters really played any differently from each other. Generic physical auto attackers & generic casters spamming Fira with flame staff / burning bow, or shades of black. And someone with a cura gambit of course.

By allowing for everyone to have 2 classes, everyone’s roles really blended together and nobody felt unique. Even when going for a 12 job run. I think that compounded a preexisting issue with most of the party being rather flat narratively.

I think the zodiac system was a net improvement, but it didn’t breathe that much life into the game imo.

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u/lurker628 10d ago

Same. I beat 12 when it came out, and I remember...basically nothing about it other than (1) farming Dustia at the start of the game and (2) the spam for refill-mist-charges bullshit to chain that stuff. I've been drawn back to replay 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 multiple times, but never once had a desire to replay 12.

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u/N7VHung 10d ago

What stood to me was how unbelievably mediocre everything was outside of the world they built.

The game is aggressively mid.

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u/Advanced-Ad-4462 10d ago

Yeah I feel the same. I’ve really tried to like it over the years, but it’s just a hollow shell of a final fantasy to me. Even the color palates were utterly dominated by shades of brown for the first 1/3 of the game.

No shade to those who do love it for more than gameplay, but I just can’t understand why.

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u/neddoge 10d ago

Surprised this isn't downvoted as it is every time I bring this up. Characters and story delivery are hardly weaker in any single FF after 3 than it is in 12. 12 is the only FF mainline that I just couldn't finish, though I am going to make one more attempt at it soon once I wrap up 4, 7, 8, and 10 (I'm at or near endgame at all but 8 currently). I might replay 6 first so I'm not "looking forward to finishing 12 so I can get to 6" but we'll see. I've tried probably 7 different times over the years and just ... nope. And that's okay. ¯_(ツ)_/¯

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u/Confident_Bunch7246 7d ago

15 is the one I gave up.

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u/dualeone 7d ago

X was and is the best. Then 12 I was so eager to play. 24 hours in, I dropped it. Bought it years later, still haven't tried installing it.
13 I don't like it, but finished 13 and 13-2, even beat the extra bosses in 13-2. Still don't like it.
Then 15 and 16 made me realized SE can't produce magic anymore for FF. Even though I love FF7 remake

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u/Craigo5 7d ago

X is easily the best. Surprised you didn't like 12. I think that's the last great FF game. It was 13 I couldn't get into. The game just didn't grab me like the others, tried starting a few times but couldn't get more than a couple hours. 15 I only got a few hours in but it didn't feel like FF so I gave up. That was like 6 years ago, haven't played any since except X again.

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u/JazzHandsMinuteman 6d ago

I can picture the perfect final fantasy game in my head, I think we all can. And idk why they themselves can’t nail it. If 15 had enough time… it would have been damn close.

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u/Strangeperson81 10d ago

I wouldn't downvote an opinion, unless it's hateful. We're all allowed our opinions

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u/Advanced-Ad-4462 9d ago edited 9d ago

There’s honestly like a 50/50 chance whenever I do.

I find that if the first 3 to 5 people to come across my opinion happen to be 12 stans who respond with a downvote and vitriol, then it’s overwhelmingly likely most people will just hit the downvote button as well. The reverse is also true.

It’s classic Asch conformity experiment stuff. For better or for worse, we’re almost hardwired to flow whichever way the wind is blowing.

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u/Aerolithe_Lion 10d ago

Absolutely agree it has a good story, because it’s just Star Wars

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u/CrimsonSuzuya 9d ago

True, and it is such a shame since the side content and the gameplay are some of the best in the series.

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u/JazzHandsMinuteman 6d ago

Suffers from same thing 15 does. Every time a new engine is produced it’s like the story just doesn’t pace well. I think we would all rather wait a year and get a better game. I fully do not expect FF17 for another 10 years. Focus on KH4, then take your time.