Final Fantasy III or Final Fantasy IV?

[The Fat Bioware Nerd]

Which RPG do you like better Final Fantasy III or Final Fantasy IV?

[Elpizo]

Final Fantasy III. Music, dungeons, characters, story, all superior to IV in my eyes. But I like IV a lot too. But IV doesn't have Refia or the Cloud of Darkness, so I like III more.

[silentenigma]

Eh FFIV

it has a story.

[Elpizo]

Eh FFIV

it has a story.

III had one too, as far as I can remember. Quite a deep one for being 17 years old and on an 8-bit console. =/

[,,,]

Gameplay-wise, I'm a sucker for III's job system. Buuuut.... IV was my first. You know how that is. And even though there's no job system and your characters will be exactly the same every dang time you play it, I just can't get past my childhood memories of scaling Mt. Ordeals. And I'm not saying that III lacks a story, but IV set the trend that made me expect and demand soap-opera-like storylines from RPGs. "Oh my gosh, Golbez is actually...!" That kind of thing. As much as I'd like to give the nod to III for the gameplay, I've gotta go with IV for the story. Hey, at least it didn't completely sacrifice gameplay and reduce you to "playing a movie" like some other RPGs have done.

[Elpizo]

I'm not saying people should hail III for having the best story ever, it's just that when I see people saying that III had no story I can't help but sigh and shake my head. After FF II, SE really didn't go back to less when it came to story. III should get credit for story just as much as II. II gave us characters with personality, III gave us the same (the sub characters, I mean), but added backgroundstory to its plot and an explained motive for its villain. You know, the stuff with the Flood of Darkness and the Great Magus Noah. We got a bit of insight in the history of the world and the villain, for the first time in any FF game.

And what III also started was the classic scene in which friends of the party come to save your party. In III Cid, Desch, Old Man, Alus and Sara came to save you from the curse of the Wyrms, in IV your friends healed you so you could fight Zeromus, in V the Dawn Warriors saved you from Exdeath's Void and in IX your party healed the 4 that would fight Necron.

I'm getting off-topic here, but common, I know it is nothing compared to current FF games, but can we at least give III's story credit for the parts where it indeed deserves credit? I see this so little these days... III did a lot of things for the series, but every time the things it did get either shoved to II or IV. Aside from the jobsystem. Most people give III credit for giving us the jobsystem. But they ignore the rest.

Dont worry FF III, at least I still love you. ^^"

[Avarice-ness]

FFIV.

[cloud21zidane16]

This should have a poll
IV:cool:

[Bolivar]

I'm not saying people should hail III for having the best story ever, it's just that when I see people saying that III had no story I can't help but sigh and shake my head. After FF II, SE really didn't go back to less when it came to story. III should get credit for story just as much as II. II gave us characters with personality, III gave us the same (the sub characters, I mean), but added backgroundstory to its plot and an explained motive for its villain. You know, the stuff with the Flood of Darkness and the Great Magus Noah. We got a bit of insight in the history of the world and the villain, for the first time in any FF game.

I don't really see it like that. It wasn't that I was a game lacking storyline, it was simply a different type of game, which III went back to.

That being said, FFIV was a return to the type of game FFII was, empire against rebellion, except it then took a page out of III and I's book by adding in a crazy villain that controlled everything and sought to end existence on the blue planet. I would say the even numbered FF's follow a trend (story-driven games), and the odd numbered entries another (open adventures), but the two moons in IV and IX symbolize a combination of both.

As far as which one I like better, I'm not sure if either of them is the better game, but I do like my FFIV Advanced better than my FFIII DS. Both are fun but I think IV just gets you caught up in the plot more.

[Hazzard]

III gets a little boring and predictable. IV has a interesting story full of good twists, a bit too much "Oh, he died" and then "Oh, he's back alive!!" sort of moments, and the difficulty is extremely hard, which some gamers prefer, I guess.

III only gets challenging in the Final dungeon, which I haven't even completed yet.

Overall, I go for IV.

[Sefie1999AD]

In terms of storyline, I think FFIV is the better game. While FFIII has cool and likable characters (Princess Sara in NES, Refia in DS ^^), I still think FFIV has better character development and a better villain. Gameplay-wise, I think FFIII wins because of its job system. Both games have interesting fantasy worlds with lots of old-school elements. While both games are good, I still prefer FFIV to FFIII.


III had one too, as far as I can remember. Quite a deep one for being 17 years old and on an 8-bit console. =/

When is it said that Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus (or the NES characters) are 17 years old? I was always wondering how old they are, but I could never find out the answer.


I would say the even numbered FF's follow a trend (story-driven games), and the odd numbered entries another (open adventures), but the two moons in IV and IX symbolize a combination of both.

Now that you mentioned it, it's a bit funny, really. I mean, FFs II, VI, VIII and X are all FF games that I don't like as much as some of the other FFs. FFVII and FFIX seem story-driven while FFXII seems gameplay-driven, though, so I don't think the even numbered FFs always have focus on the storyline.

[Elpizo]

III had one too, as far as I can remember. Quite a deep one for being 17 years old and on an 8-bit console. =/

When is it said that Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus (or the NES characters) are 17 years old? I was always wondering how old they are, but I could never find out the answer.


I meant that III's story (and the game itself) is 17 years old. Though that age seems to be accurate for the DS main characters as well.

[Sefie1999AD]

I meant that III's story (and the game itself) is 17 years old. Though that age seems to be accurate for the DS main characters as well.

Whoops. Sorry, I read your post wrong before. :eek:

[Heath]

I meant that III's story (and the game itself) is 17 years old. Though that age seems to be accurate for the DS main characters as well.

I naturally assumed that the characters were around that age actually, so I'd agree.

I prefer IV myself. Granted I haven't completed III yet (and I am playing the DS version), but from playing the two I've found that I generally prefer the gameplay, music and storyline of IV over III. They're both excellent games in their own right but I felt that IV had not only more engaging characters, but some that were really memorable for the right reasons such as Tellah and Rubicante.

[Laddy]

FFIII.

[Bolivar]

In terms of storyline, I think FFIV is the better game. While FFIII has cool and likable characters (Princess Sara in NES, Refia in DS ^^), I still think FFIV has better character development and a better villain. Gameplay-wise, I think FFIII wins because of its job system. Both games have interesting fantasy worlds with lots of old-school elements. While both games are good, I still prefer FFIV to FFIII.


III had one too, as far as I can remember. Quite a deep one for being 17 years old and on an 8-bit console. =/

When is it said that Luneth, Arc, Refia and Ingus (or the NES characters) are 17 years old? I was always wondering how old they are, but I could never find out the answer.


I would say the even numbered FF's follow a trend (story-driven games), and the odd numbered entries another (open adventures), but the two moons in IV and IX symbolize a combination of both.

Now that you mentioned it, it's a bit funny, really. I mean, FFs II, VI, VIII and X are all FF games that I don't like as much as some of the other FFs. FFVII and FFIX seem story-driven while FFXII seems gameplay-driven, though, so I don't think the even numbered FFs always have focus on the storyline.

the argument is a bit of a stretch, but i didn't mean story-driven as opposed to gameplay-driven, I meant more like in the even ones there are set good guys and bad guys and it's very focused on that story, whereas in the odd ones there are many different groups sometimes overlapping in their sides and it's more about the world itself than it is about specific actors.

[Wolf Kanno]

I like both games very much, so this will be difficult, but nostalgia will most likely be the deciding factor. So IV will win for me. (sorry Elpizo:( )

Each time I play through the game, it brings me back to the days where I stayed up late reading the instruction manual, failing test in school cause I decided that Cecil taking his trial to redeem himself was more important than algebra, and I remember finishing the game around Christmas and watching the fantastic ending with nothing more than the hue of the Christmas lights and the TV to illuminate the room for me (to this day, I still always get into the mood to play IV around the holiday season).

This is not to say that I don't have wonderful memories of FFIII (of anything, it confirmed the fact that I prefer the older FFs to the newer ones). As for the story debate, I think this goes back to what I learned from my debates in the XII forums: The majority of FF fans prefer character driven pieces and could care less about the fate of the world. III has a wonderful and deep story but it's not a character driven piece like IV was, which is why people prefer IV. I also learned that people prefer sappy melodrama and stupid Hollywood effects over good storytelling in the XII forums;)

[Jessweeee♪]

I didn't like FFIV much at all x.x

I still haven't finished FFIII, though...

[Rengori]

It's hard for me to choose between III or IV, I guess I'll say III.

[ReloadPsi]

I prefer III, simply because it doesn't have that one point half way through the game where it turns into a massive grindfest (WOR).

[Karellen]

It's not half way but I had to grind pretty hard in the original before I entered the final dungeon. I seem to remember that was fixed somewhat in the DS version though.

I prefer FFIII DS to any of the other versions of FFIV due to the rebalanced (and nigh on perfected) job system. The original versions are too close to call.

[i_like_ff8]

I havent played any but im getting III for the DS this week

[Necronopticous]

I prefer III, simply because it doesn't have that one point half way through the game where it turns into a massive grindfest (WOR).You are very confused.

Final Fantasy IV has a very special place in my heart that I'm afraid III, even at its best, could never eclipse.

For me, there is no contest.

[Winner]

I love IV