Back to the age old question, which FF to play next?

[ValiantKnight]

FF(Origins and DoS) - many times
FFIII(DS) - Beaten with two job sets, beaten secret boss
FFIV(Chronicles and Advance) - Beaten few times, secret dungeon as well
FFVII - Beaten a few times, secrets as well
FFVIII - Beaten, then beaten again with high stats via not leveling most of the game until stat boosts.
FFIX - Beaten a few times, got most of the secrets
FFX - Beaten twice, not played much blitzball, got half the ultimate weapons, beat monster arena, half the characters have high stats.
FFXII - Beaten twice, all hunts completed, I haven't gotten Danjuro or other ultra-rare things.
FFTactics - Beaten once, liked the game, but very long. Probably don't have all the secrets.


So.... opinion on which I should replay of these or start II, V, or VI?
I have played VI before and liked it, but hated the load time. I have a level 40-60 team somewhere in the second world, but lost the save.

I have access to II(Origins), II(DoS), V(Anthology), V Advance, VI(Anthology), VI Advance.
Is the load time as annoying on VI Advance as it was on VI(PS1/Anthology)?

I won't have access to XIII or XI.

[Karellen]

VI Advance. It doesn't have any of the load times from the PSX version and blows the other two games completely out of the water, no matter what version they are.

[Elpizo]

V Advance of course. It's the best of the Advance ports, is better than II and doesn't suck like VI. V Advance is the best version of the game you can find, the job system and the story are good for hours of fun and the new dungeon and bosses are a good extra challenge. It's also the best Advance port and the new translation is just wonderful, really helps the game a lot.

So go for V Advance, play II (DoS) after that if you want to and forget about VI. VI Advance isn't that good anyway, because it also hurts the one thing I could like about the game a lot: the music. It really suffers in VI Advance. I fear the only good version of VI is a rom of FF III US. Doesn't have load times, music doesn't suffer and the translation is not that bad as people now say it is.

All this is just my opinion of course

[Slothy]

You should be ashamed of yourself for not having played FFVI. If you play any other FF before playing this then you officially fail as an FF fan.

[ValiantKnight]

I've played FFVI, I just lost the save, and lost interest in replaying on the "super slow loading" playstation version.
It was directed at our friend, Vivi :)

[Elpizo]

I still need somebody to epxlain to me why never having played VI is a crime, making you not a true FF fan at all, while never having played II or V for that matter, is totally acceptable if one is a FF fan. If one is a FF fan, not having played II or V is just as bad as not having played VI, me thinks. So I'm confused and ask for some explanation. Passing VI is a crime, passing II and V wouldn't be. Why? Maybe I'm not a true FF fan either because I don't understand this?

PS: Topic creator, I know you've played VI. I was just asking this in general.

[Slothy]

I've played FFVI, I just lost the save, and lost interest in replaying on the "super slow loading" playstation version.
It was directed at our friend, Vivi :)

Woops, missed that. Regardless, go back and play through again and be sure to beat it this time. After that, go play FFV.

And to Elpizo; I personally feel FFVI is the high point of the series. Yes games before and after it were very good, but none of them topped it. Even years later, it manages to have the best story, with the most diverse and likeable cast of any FF title if you ask me. Throw in the best soundtrack in the series, and gameplay that's fun despite being a little too easy side and you have a winning combination. FFV is a must play as well as I feel it has the best battle system outside of FFXII, but that's all I really feel it had going for it. The story was cliched even for the time, and the characters had all the depth and development of a rock. And though I like the soundtrack, it's not one of the stronger entries in the series overall.

As for FFII, well, I think everyone who's an FF fan should try it (and all the other games) to see where the series came from and how it developed, but I don't begrudge anyone who can't stand this game. The story may have been good for the time, but it hasn't aged well, and the battle system just isn't fun to me. Then again, I don't often enjoy playing many RPG's from that era. You see, there's making a game challenging and then there's forcing people to level grind for hours just to get through. One isn't the same as the other, and this game suffers from it as much, if not, more so than every FF prior to FFIV or V (IV wasn't as bad as previous entries, but it still involved a little too much level grinding). I'm all for a challenge, but forcing me to fight enemies for hours to get through the game isn't a challenge; it's tedious.

[JackNapier]

I'd go with FFVI Advance. No loading times? Kefka? Buckets of awesome? Yes to all.

[Bolivar]

I've played FFVI, I just lost the save, and lost interest in replaying on the "super slow loading" playstation version.
It was directed at our friend, Vivi :)

Woops, missed that. Regardless, go back and play through again and be sure to beat it this time. After that, go play FFV.

And to Elpizo; I personally feel FFVI is the high point of the series. Yes games before and after it were very good, but none of them topped it. Even years later, it manages to have the best story, with the most diverse and likeable cast of any FF title if you ask me. Throw in the best soundtrack in the series, and gameplay that's fun despite being a little too easy side and you have a winning combination. FFV is a must play as well as I feel it has the best battle system outside of FFXII, but that's all I really feel it had going for it. The story was cliched even for the time, and the characters had all the depth and development of a rock. And though I like the soundtrack, it's not one of the stronger entries in the series overall.

As for FFII, well, I think everyone who's an FF fan should try it (and all the other games) to see where the series came from and how it developed, but I don't begrudge anyone who can't stand this game. The story may have been good for the time, but it hasn't aged well, and the battle system just isn't fun to me. Then again, I don't often enjoy playing many RPG's from that era. You see, there's making a game challenging and then there's forcing people to level grind for hours just to get through. One isn't the same as the other, and this game suffers from it as much, if not, more so than every FF prior to FFIV or V (IV wasn't as bad as previous entries, but it still involved a little too much level grinding). I'm all for a challenge, but forcing me to fight enemies for hours to get through the game isn't a challenge; it's tedious.

I think you should try the Dawn of Souls version of II, if you haven't already. Although Elpizo may be right that V is the best advanced, I feel the most was accomplished with the WSC/PSX/GBA remake of FFII. Some people might hate me for saying it, but I put the game on the level as the SNES ones having played through it twice.

To the threadstarter, since you've already played VI I would definately recommend II or V on GBA. V on the PSX doesn't have that bad loading times, about the same as ffix. I prefer those 2 the VI anyhow.

[Slothy]

Yeah, I haven't played any of the remade FFII's over the years, and I probably will someday, and if they cut down on the need to level grind then I'd probably enjoy the gameplay more, but I still doubt I'd put it anywhere near the level of the SNES FF's.

[Bolivar]

Well if you do it right, you really don't need to level grind in FFII although I found teleport and warp to be useful in this game to go out and rest then come back. But the remake was great, not surprisingly the world and the music are very well done.

[ReloadPsi]

You should be ashamed of yourself for not having played FFVI. If you play any other FF before playing this then you officially fail as an FF fan.

How dare you make such scathing comments about the majority of PAL territory residents! Racist smurf.

[Slothy]

You should be ashamed of yourself for not having played FFVI. If you play any other FF before playing this then you officially fail as an FF fan.

How dare you make such scathing comments about the majority of PAL territory residents! Racist smurf.

PAL resident isn't a race, and you guys have had the game officially in some form or another for five years. I'd assume even longer through emulation. No excuses.