Best Generation for Final Fantasy

[Colonel Angus]

Which generation do you consider the best for the Final Fantasy series? Are you a fan of the NES era games? Or do you prefer the XBox 360/PS3 generation?

[Spooniest]

The NES era was seminal, but is full of clunky early installment weirdness. The series came into its own with the SNES, and continued that high throughout the PSX era.

Then Sakaguchi and Uematsu skipped town, and well...there we are. Hasn't really been the same since.

[Leigh]

Then Sakaguchi and Uematsu skipped town, and well...there we are. Hasn't really been the same since.

I personally think that Sakaguchi was integral to the essence of 'Final Fantasyness'. Lost Odyssey is a case in point. That was practically pre-SquareEnix Final Fantasy in all but name. I haven't had chance to play The Last Story, but judging from the critical reception, it'd be the same deal.

I'd say that my favourite era was PS1 generation. I never cared for Final Fantasy X to a large degree, and I didn't even complete XII. XIII I pretty much ran through, bouncing from FMV to FMV in desperation of finding something vaguely interesting about the story and world.

[Rocket Edge]

I didn't notice it was a multiple choice poll or else i would have added in PS2 era as a second choice. Nothing beats the psx personally as it's the time i got into the series, and have a bond with the games at the time. FFX continued the trend - I loved that game but everything after went downhill story-wise. FFXII had stellar gameplay but the story was a mess. Uninteresting, bland, and hard to understand, so you didn't care about the characters (apart from Basch). I've already stated numerous times my hate for FFXIII.

Currently playing FFXIV:ARR and while I love it, the story again is ridiculously boring and very hard to understand with all the foreign words they throw at you. I get it's a MMO but still, they could try make it at least a bit interesting. I would probably understand it if I invested time into reading everything they say, but why bother when it can't hold your attention. Gameplay is incredible though.

[Colonel Angus]

I personally stopped playing them after XII, so I picked all the generations from then back. I have a hard time not loving them all.

The "first generation" was carried by FFI. But for me, that's one of the most important games ever made.

The "second generation", like Spooooon said, is where FF really found it's footing. IV took most of the best things from the first three & brought everything together. V, even though most of us never played it until it was rereleased, was an important bridge between III and later FFs. VI brought the dynamic casting from IV and set a new standard for how big a FF could be.

The "third" is probably the most important. Not only did it bring many of you kids into the fray, it also elevated the standard for how epic a FF could be from VI. This generation really played w/ how you learn techniques and spells, that just leveling or buying them wasn't going to be enough. Another note, a lot of the weirdness in the scripts were cleaned up. I noticed the translations flowed better than the previous generations.

The "fourth" generation put it all together, brought the characters to life w/ voice acting and larger scale cut scenes. Final Fantasies at this point became almost playable movies.

[The Man]

SNES, for sure. There wasn't even a mediocre entry on that platform (unless you count - ugh - Mystic Quest).

[Vermachtnis]

Well, Mystic Quest and IV were my first games in series. And it's no secret that I love V. And VI was all around great.

[Spooniest]

SNES, for sure. There wasn't even a mediocre entry on that platform (unless you count - ugh - Mystic Quest).

Mystic Quest may be "Final Fantasy For Dummies," but at the very least, it does have great music. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJQK0ZvSgj0)

[Colonel Angus]

Mystic Quest also had great fiend designs. It's the one thing I don't like about VII, even though VII is a much greater game overall.

[Pike]

I'm going with the PS2 era just because of X and Tactics Advance. Because my love of those two games overrides my distaste for XII.

[metagloria]

I went with the PS2 era because the three main console games (XII, X-2, and X) are three of my top five.

[chionos]

It's interesting seeing it this way, because there are entries in each era that I really love. It wasn't until the PS2 era that we got games that I didn't like, and only the PS3 era that I almost universally dislike. I voted for SNES, PSX, and PS2 eras because they were all great and because I was given the option, but if I had to rank them it would be SNES>PSX>PS2. SNES era was a beautiful time in gaming, both for FF, for Square, RPGs, and for everything else as well.

[DanielCLFFF13]

No PC :( Because I don't have any of those, but I do have emulator to play Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 and Final Fantasy XII. Now I just need to get my hand on the PPSSPP game :D
And I know, Square Enix didn't create any single player Final Fantasy for PC, other than the rereleased version and the online ones, which slightly a bit different than out along side the console.
But I'm really glad Square Enix finally rereleased some of the past Final Fantasy, and they rereleasd Final Fantasy that brought me to Final Fantasy community, which is Final Fantasy XIII (but I doubt they'll be making future Final Fantasy for PC :( well other than the online and rereleased version I guess)
I don't know why, but JRPG always been labeled as a console exclusive type of genre, and of course I could be wrong.

And yeah several game like The Last Remant is also JRPG that out for PC.

But this is my opinion :)

[Pumpkin]

My three favourite FF's are IX, VIII, and Tactics, soooooo

[Bubba]

Surely the PS era will run away with this... followed by the SNES era.

I think the series will peak with FFXVII on the PS5.

[Colonel Angus]

@ this rate, we'll probably have to wait for the PS7 for that one.

[Ergroilnin]

Definiely PSX era. All the three games were absolutely lovely.

[Shiva95]

SNES and PSX eras.

[Ayen]

The first four eras on the poll are my favorites.

[Wolf Kanno]

I stand by my assessment that IX was the last real FF game. The series hasn't been the same since jumping to PS2.

[VeloZer0]

I stand by my assessment that IX was the last real FF game. The series hasn't been the same since jumping to PS2.
:D

Conversely one could also make the assesment that the 'true FF game'TM died with Squaresoft.

[Wolf Kanno]

I stand by my assessment that IX was the last real FF game. The series hasn't been the same since jumping to PS2.
:D

Conversely one could also make the assesment that the 'true FF game'TM died with Squaresoft.

That would still allow someone to count FFX as a good FF as well, which I simply can't get behind. :wcanoe:

[VeloZer0]

If FF8 can count, FF10 can count.

In all honesty if it wasn't for FF9 I would have cut the line after FF7. Which is like half the series away. Depressing.

[Lawr]

SNES era was a beautiful time in gaming, both for FF, for Square, RPGs, and for everything else as well.

You could easily say the same for Playstation era too!


Chrono Trigger and IV have a special place in my heart, somewhere beneath all of the dark matter and decaying tissue. And, I finally played VI this year and it was amazing.

But I still think Tactics has the best story and protagonist out of them all, and VII and VIII are way more fun to play than the SNES Final Fantasies. Maybe it's because I'm a 90's baby but I really think PSX takes this one. Flawless victory too.

[CZ11_Jakku]

I believe that the best era occurred during the transition from Super Nintendo to Playstation (FF VI and FF VII), but if I had to choose based on consoles I would have to lean toward the Super Nintendo era because all the games were solid with Final Fantasy VI being the standout.

[Fynn]

The PSX era was really solid, the NES era was great for its time, and while the PS2 era had one of my favorite FFs of all time (XII), it also had my least favorite (X). XIII's a mess which is too bad. All that said, I consider the SNES era to be the most solid, with three games which were all original, enjoyable in their own distinct ways, and incredibly important in shaping up the definition of FF.

[Shlup]

I was going to say SNES hands down, but then I remembered how much I liked FF8 at the time.

[Galuf]

Damn wish i could choose 5-9 cos those were the best ones but ultimately i have to say PSX Era but it was very close