The darkest Final Fantasy?

[SuperMillionaire]

I get the feeling that Final Fantasy VII has a much darker storyline than its predecessors. Is VII the darkest Final Fantasy game ever released?

[Flying Arrow]

They're all dark to an extent. I find VI, VII, and IX's plots to be particularly dark. However, not even the darkest moments from VI or IX can touch VII's ending for me, which was much more interesting and effective before Advent Children and the Compilation came and fucked everything up. Despite what many say, I think VII's original ending was an excellently dark bookend to an exceptionally-told story (for a video game, of course).

[Rad Bromance]

I actually found VI darker. The world actually gets destroyed by a maniac.

VII is pretty dark, but the world never got destroyed by the maniac. It did have a gritty setting and a far stronger feeling of hopelessness for salvation than any of the others though.

[Rostum]

FFXI is probably the darkest story in the series, imo.

[Kyros]

When compared to the predecessors I found IV and VI to be darker overall, especially VI. In respect to the series I don't see VII anywhere close to Tictacs, VIII or X in this way.

[Raistlin]

Most of the FFs are a little too campy to be considered "dark." FFVII certainly has its moments that are "darker" than most (Vincent's subplot, wandering through Cloud's mind in Lifestream). But the brisk pacing, which meant not delving into certain parts of the plot much, results in a game that isn't really dark. I guess it depends on how you define dark, which to me is not just colors and emo-feeling, but requires a certain realism.

Under my definition, FFT is probably the "darkest" game in the series, as it focuses, more in-depth, on the human elements of betrayal.

[Rostum]

Most of the FFs are a little too campy to be considered "dark." FFVII certainly has its moments that are "darker" than most (Vincent's subplot, wandering through Cloud's mind in Lifestream). But the brisk pacing, which meant not delving into certain parts of the plot much, results in a game that isn't really dark. I guess it depends on how you define dark, which to me is not just colors and emo-feeling, but requires a certain realism.

Under my definition, FFT is probably the "darkest" game in the series, as it focuses, more in-depth, on the human elements of betrayal.

This is certainly why I would think FFXI is the darkest. I guess it also has a greater opportunity to present a lore filled world of war torn countries and kingdoms. Don't let those Tarutaru's fool you! They have a very sad story behind their peoples.

[SuperMillionaire]

I've heard that the upcoming Final Fantasy Versus XIII will become the new darkest Final Fantasy game yet, but until then, to date, Final Fantasy VII still holds that distinction, in my opinion.

[Jiro]

I don't think it's necessarily darkest in terms of plot, but it seems to be a fairly gritty and dark world. Most of the games deal with pretty rough things so I wouldn't say VII is the darkest.

[Bolivar]

Most of the newer games have dark elements to it, so it's a matter of opinion.

Some of the stuff is genuinely disturbing/scary though so I might give it to FFVII myself.

[SuperMillionaire]

I guess Tetsuya Nomura generally likes to make things extra dark and somber.

And the advanced graphics make things look more gruesome too.

[I Don't Need A Name]

I agree more with what other people say.
VI has the whole planet being taken over by a maniac raining destruction (Why Kefka>Sephilame)
Tactics has betrayal and its effects.
However, I've always found IX the darkest.
The amount of death and its consiquences in that game is more than the rest of the FF's. The likes of the destruction of innocents at Cleyra topping it. Although, the aftermath of the Lindblum attack is pretty grim, considering you get children crying cause they saw their parents die in front of them

[Slothy]

Tactics has betrayal and its effects.
However, I've always found IX the darkest.
The amount of death and its consiquences in that game is more than the rest of the FF's. The likes of the destruction of innocents at Cleyra topping it. Although, the aftermath of the Lindblum attack is pretty grim, considering you get children crying cause they saw their parents die in front of them

I agree on FFIX probably being the darkest for those reasons, but FFVI is a pretty close second. Not only did the world get destroyed and Kefka take over, but it featured such memorable scenes as Celes being beaten while held captive, and falling into the depths of despair after Cid's death and trying to kill herself.

[Jiro]

There was the poisoning of the people of Doma too, war crimes and all that.

[Slothy]

Not sure how that slipped my mind, but thanks for reminding me Jiro.

[SuperMillionaire]

I also noticed that FFVII (or its related compilation) also displayed depictions of BLOOD in the cutscenes. I haven't seen that in any other Final Fantasy game (yet).

[leader of mortals]

Blood does not make a dark game. Settings, the people within those settings, and the troubles the main characters go through are examples of what makes a dark game. The hopelessness the people of the world after Meteor shows is what makes FF7 dark, Kalm is a dark place, Vincent's story is dark, but FF9 is darker, with the destruction of Cleyra and Lindblum and Alexandria, with the hopelessness felt in every single inch of Burmecia, and with Freya's storyline.

Freya is probably the most interesting character in any Final Fantasy game(Even though I don't think she is too amazingly important to the main storyline). I call FF9 the most dark final fantasy, out of all I have played, and FF10 to still be darker than FF7.

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel several of the FFs are definetly dark but as to what is the darkest really comes down to subjective opinion. I feel VII is a dark game but I would say IX's a bit darker, I just finished the Lindblum attack scene last night and forgot how grim everything was afterwards, not only the children seeing their parents die but also Zidane pleading for the life of an injured Black Mage against an angry mob that proceeded to dehumanize it and talk about the loved ones they saw killed by their kind. Not to mention one of the major plot elements of IX is an alien race smurfing with the reincarnation cycle so they can live on on a new planet while the old species is dispersed as Mist. You're screwed when you are alive and when you're dead.

I feel, II, VI, VII, IX, and XII are the darkest numbered entries as well as Tactics being pretty screwed up cause all evidence in the series suggests that the afterlife/gods of that world are seriously smurfed up which is then thrown on top of a gritty story using historical emulations of medieval Europe... The best thing that happened to Ramza was that people thought he died. That was the only way he was getting a happy ending anyways after losing everything and being drawn into a conflict that resulted in him killing his own family.

Yeah... FFT is probably the darkest.

[Darth Cid]

I don't know, have you seen the preview for FFXVI?

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a209/ZidaneAndGarnet/FFIV16-1-1.jpg

[SuperMillionaire]

I once talked with another Final Fantasy fan while in a video game store within a flea market, and he told me that the first "darker-toned" Final Fantasy was FFIV. I looked at it, and perhaps maybe it was the first dark Final Fantasy, but FFVII would later surpass it.

[qwertysaur]

Tactics is probably the darkest so far.

[Christmas]

I think FF VII is pretty dark cause it is alway night time in midgar and you spend most of the time in Midgar when you start the game. :(

And I am afraid of the dark. :kaocry2:

[Jiro]

But IX has a lot of Mist which makes it dark all the time.

[SuperMillionaire]

I don't see any sunshine in FFVII, compared to other Final Fantasies. I saw plenty in FFX, apparently because Tetsuya Nomura, for once, decided to change it up a bit and create a more upbeat cast of characters, because he usually designs gloomy characters with bad weather to match.

[Rase]

I don't see any sunshine in FFVII, compared to other Final Fantasies.
Snowboarding!

[arcanedude34]

The one what has a negro in the party.

They're dark.

Or so I've been told.

[SuperMillionaire]

I don't see any sunshine in FFVII, compared to other Final Fantasies.
Snowboarding!

Well, yeah, okay, but other than that, nothing...

Tetsuya Nomura likes gloomy characters with gloomy weather to match.

[leader of mortals]

You're using all of the wrong reasons to call a game dark. How does weather actually make a game darker? That would be like calling the Dark Knight an evil, saddening film just because it takes place at night much of the time.

[arcanedude34]

You're using all of the wrong reasons to call a game dark. How does weather actually make a game darker? That would be like calling the Dark Knight an evil, saddening film just because it takes place at night much of the time.
I believe everyone's just having a larf now. There was a seereeuss discussion on page one, now we're having fun.

[Skyblade]

You're using all of the wrong reasons to call a game dark. How does weather actually make a game darker? That would be like calling the Dark Knight an evil, saddening film just because it takes place at night much of the time.

Weather makes the game darker the same way everything else does: it helps set the mood. Take any scene from a movie, and film it twice. Once in a brightly lit sunshiny area, and again when it is dark and raining, and ask people which one is darker, even if the dialogue and music are exactly the same. There is a reason we describe the tone of a situation as "light" and "dark", you know. The imagery of such things is tied very deeply in with the ambience, including lighting effects, and precipitation. Don't think that weather can't have a very distinct effect in setting the mood of a scene.

[SuperMillionaire]

You're using all of the wrong reasons to call a game dark. How does weather actually make a game darker? That would be like calling the Dark Knight an evil, saddening film just because it takes place at night much of the time.

Weather makes the game darker the same way everything else does: it helps set the mood. Take any scene from a movie, and film it twice. Once in a brightly lit sunshiny area, and again when it is dark and raining, and ask people which one is darker, even if the dialogue and music are exactly the same. There is a reason we describe the tone of a situation as "light" and "dark", you know. The imagery of such things is tied very deeply in with the ambience, including lighting effects, and precipitation. Don't think that weather can't have a very distinct effect in setting the mood of a scene.

Exactly, and Tetsuya Nomura likes gloomy characters with gloomy weather to match. Haven't you noticed that all of the main characters that he designed have named related to weather? In particular, BAD weather, and that's why many of his characters are dark and gloomy (except for perhaps Tidus from FFX).

[arcanedude34]

I think that a "dark" game should remain "dark" when taken completely out of context. There's a difference between dark subject matter and dark ambiance. Not that one's better than the other, just saying.

[SuperMillionaire]

I think that a "dark" game should remain "dark" when taken completely out of context. There's a difference between dark subject matter and dark ambiance. Not that one's better than the other, just saying.

Mind explaining the two terms in more detail?

[Skyblade]

I think that a "dark" game should remain "dark" when taken completely out of context. There's a difference between dark subject matter and dark ambiance. Not that one's better than the other, just saying.

Mind explaining the two terms in more detail?

A dark subject would be the actual dialogue and subject matter. The plot is darker, more sinister, more serious.

While the dark ambiance is all the mood setters. Music and lighting chief among them.

The unfortunate thing with keeping the dark subject seperate from the dark ambiance is that it can be difficult to impossible to tell where one ends and the others begin. Having a character die instead of merely falling unconscious should be considered darker by most traditional assessments, yet it is not always. How dark the event seems is determined not just by what happens, but how it is treated by other characters. For example, had Cloud and company not been sad about Aeris' death, the event would have seemed a lot less dark than it was portrayed in the game, despite the actual event not changing. Would that be considered a change in subject, or in ambiance? It can be hard to say.

Regardless of that, the fact is, the best scene-writers always utilize both. Ambiance is can be every bit as important as the subject being dealt with. Though they will not always be used in a single unified way (every death scene is not accompanied by shadows and sad music), they are always planned out if you want the scene to have the right meaning. The wrong ambience can destroy a scene completely or totally change how it is portrayed, and to think that you can separate that from the subject is foolish.

[SuperMillionaire]

Thanks for the explanation.

And with that said, I still consider FFVII to have a darker storyline than most other Final Fantasies. All of them have some dark elements, but FFVII is more gritty and edgy than others.

[arcanedude34]

While I won't deny that VII did have a lot of dark subject matter and ambiance, both used very well, I wouldn't say any moreso than FFVI before it. Both excellently dark games for the series.

[SuperMillionaire]

I've heard some people say that FFIV was the first "darker-toned" Final Fantasy. But in my opinion, when Tetsuya Nomura is the character designer, things get extra ugly in the storyline.

[arcanedude34]

I've heard some people say that FFIV was the first "darker-toned" Final Fantasy. But in my opinion, when Tetsuya Nomura is the character designer, things get extra ugly in the storyline.
If we're counting IV as "dark" then it's definitely not the first. I'd say the first would be II. What did IV deal with that II didn't? Sacrifice? Paul immediately comes to mind, as do about half the playable roster. Betrayal? Leon, dur. Genocide? 90% of the world gets pwned by the emperor. II is actually a fairly dark game, now that I think about it.

[SuperMillionaire]

Apparently I, III, and X are the lightest Final Fantasies. Some games are darker than others.

[arcanedude34]

I wouldn't ever call X light. V was fairly lighthearted up until the end as well.

[SuperMillionaire]

Well, what makes you say that? Tidus and company are very upbeat guys (for once, but only once, Tetsuya Nomura designed an upbeat cast).

[Necronopticous]

My vote goes to Final Fantasy II.

[leader of mortals]

Well, what makes you say that? Tidus and company are very upbeat guys (for once, but only once, Tetsuya Nomura designed an upbeat cast).

That's because Tidus didn't know what was going on.

Also, with the dark visual vs. dark story arguement, I don't think dark visuals are what you would remember about a game that makes it dark. When you think of the clones at nibleheim, you don't think "Hey, they have black cloaks, that's dark", you think, "Wow, they've lost all hope and they are mysterious and they no longer have a life outside of Sephiroth, that's dark". Although dark visuals does help make a game darker, the story is what stays in your mind, and I find FF9 to be darker.

[SuperMillionaire]

When I said that FFVII was the darkest Final Fantasy, I meant that with both dark visuals AND dark plots.

[leader of mortals]

Yes, but all you seem to be referencing is the dark visuals.

[SuperMillionaire]

Well, now that it's been clarified for me, I meant both.

[leader of mortals]

Well, what do you like about the story?

[SuperMillionaire]

I like the epic battles, love stories, and the "Cloud-in-a-dress" scene.

[Crop]

I'd say FFVII is the most depressing (in relation to the world in general) but not what I would define as 'dark'. Still my favourate FF though.

[SuperMillionaire]

Yeah, it's much more somber in emotions, at least in Advent Children. Perhaps Cloud wasn't as emo in FFVII as he was in AC.

[Crop]

Yeah, it's much more somber in emotions, at least in Advent Children. Perhaps Cloud wasn't as emo in FFVII as he was in AC.

Maybe, but since AC had Rufus in, it doesn't exist to me. Rufus died in FFVII.
In fact, I don't know why Cloud was such an Emo lone wolf in AC, in never got that vibe from him at the end of FFVII.

[SuperMillionaire]

Yeah, from Crisis Core to the central installment, Cloud wasn't emo. It wasn't until AC that Cloud became emo.

[Raistlin]

Maybe, but since AC had Rufus in, it doesn't exist to me. Rufus died in FFVII.

http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l260/Silvxa/Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20Advent%20Children%20Icons/Cloud/thAdventChildrenCast.gif

[SuperMillionaire]

Apparently, Rufus survived.

[Christmas]

How did Cloud actually turned emo in AC? :confused:

[SuperMillionaire]

Perhaps Zack's and Aerith's deaths...

Cloud actually has a pretty good sense of humor when he uses it, though.

In Dirge of Cerberus, Cloud was happier, akin to his FFVII counterpart, but his outfit remained the same as in AC. Perhaps in the next installment in the related compilation, perhaps Cloud's outfit can be more colorful, with stripes of brown, purple, green, and orange.

[Rostum]

I'd be pretty emo by the time I got to Advent Children, if I were Cloud. A lot of bad stuff happened that would not be scoffed at in the real world.

He was pretty much a weak person that was thrown into so many events that defied what he could handle, and he still survived.

[SuperMillionaire]

Indeed, his moodiness was warranted.

[leader of mortals]

I like the epic battles, love stories, and the "Cloud-in-a-dress" scene.

None of these are dark... I meant what dark parts about the story do you find more memorable than parts of other final fantasies.

[SuperMillionaire]

The destruction of an entire city, the deaths of Zack and Aerith, and the demonicly-sounding "One-Winged Angel" (or should I say, "One-Winged Devil") song.