The FFs: One Positive, One Negative

[Midgar Mist]

Please give one positive and one negative from each FF you've played

Here are mine:

FF3:
Pos: You can shrink to a small size to visit a small village
Neg: Garuda. Need I say more?

FF4:
Pos: the three level worlds
Neg: near impossible to gain sufficent EXP

FF5:
Pos: the Job Classes
Neg: Galuf suddenly getting his memory back seems too sudden and convenient

FF6:
Pos: the playing around with World Map
Neg: Mandatory split parties

FF7:
Pos: the Materia you can get your hands on
Neg: the game music has its low points

FF8:
Pos: The gorgeous music
Neg: the difficult gameplay

FF9:
Pos: The pure free flowing adventure of it all
Neg: the unecessesarily difficult sidequests

FF10:
Pos: Yuna
Neg: the enforced Blitzball game (don't EVER ask me to do math)

FF10 - 2:
Pos: Fluidic Gameplay
Neg: that annoying marketing sidequest

Dirge of Cerberus:
Pos: Great development of FF7 story
Neg: tough/confusing gameplay

FF12:
Pos: The graphics/FMV
Neg: the auto battle system

Over to you....

[Fynn]

FFI
+ replayability
- scarce money

FFII
+ dark, memorable atmosphere
- unintuitive leveling (though it gets props for being original)

FFIII
+ interesting villain
- you never get an airship that lets you freely fly over everything

FFIV
+ five-member parties
- fake-out deaths

FFIV: The After Years
+ so many characters
- plot relies on referencing FFIV too much

FFV
+ awesome job system
- last world could have used a bit more plot

FFVI
+ amazingly dark atmosphere with lots of mood whiplash
- the "anyone can be saying this" lines

FFVII
+ probably Uematsu's best soundtrack, though tied with VI
- materia take super long to master

Dirge of Cerberus
+ seeing Cloud, Tifa and Barrett for those 30 seconds or so
- the dumbest plot in the entire fucking series

Crisis Core
+ Zack and Aerith fluff!
- fucking Genesis

FFVIII
+ Squall
- "actually, we all grew up together, remember?"

FFIX
+ throwback Thursday
- slow combat

FFX
+ Masashi Hamauzu's music
- blitzball

FFX-2
+ fun and light tone
- why do I only get AP for actions?

FFXI
+ big fun world
- I only got to play this for two weeks

FFXII
+ gambits were a revolutionary concept and designing your own AI scripts in detail was engaging and strategic
- long periods without any plot cutscenes

FFXIII
+ graphics and music
- ughhhhhh

FFT
+ best job system in the series
- huge difficulty spikes unless you grind a lot

FFTA
+ amazingly executed story - my favorite in the series
- repetitive quests

FFTA2
+ vastly improved gameplay with more races, jobs, and more varied quests
-main story is severely lacking

[Forsaken Lover]

FF2-
Pro: Innovative mechanics and ideas
Con: A lot of the experiments didn't work.

FF4-
Pro: The amazing music
Con: Zermus being the real villain

FF7-
Pro: Best main character in FF history ie. Cloud.
Con: Sephiroth's character could have been handled better.

FF8-
Pro: The gameplay is interesting.
Con: The story and characters

FF9-
Pro: Kuja is possibly the best FF villain ever.
Con: Battle speed is SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

FF10-
Pro: Spira is a great world.
Con: The final dungeon really sucks.

FF10-2
Pro: Yuna's character development.
Con: 100% Completion is not worth it and it sucks.

FF12-
Pro: Amazing cast of antagonists
Con: Crappy cast of protagonists

FF13-
Pro: Snow's and Hope's subplot
Con: All of Gran Pulse

FF13-2
Pro: Caius.
Con: Not enough Caius.

[Midgar Mist]

FFV
+ awesome job system
- last world could have used a bit more plot

FFVII
+ probably Uematsu's best soundtrack, though tied with VI
- materia take super long to master

Dirge of Cerberus
+ seeing Cloud, Tifa and Barrett for those 30 seconds or so
- the dumbest plot in the entire smurfing series
FFVIII
+ Squall
- "actually, we all grew up together, remember?"

FFIX
+ throwback Thursday
- slow combat


FFXIII
+ graphics and music
- ughhhhhh

FF5: Agreed
FF7: Its not integral to game completion to master, so it doesnt really matter
DofG: Agreed
FF8: But...doesnt the GF use explain this?
FF9: What is throwback Thursday?
FF13: Ive heard the rumours....I'm thankfully objective,having never played it.

[Fynn]

Well, the materia thing matters to me as I like to master stuff in a game :p

[Karifean]

FF IV
+ Pretty solid game overall...
- ...nothing more than that, though

FF V
+ Awesome gameplay!
- ...but lacks the long, fun, strategic superboss battles to back it up.

FF VI
+ The story is quite an experience
- The gameplay leaves a lot to be desired

FF VII
+ Moddable like crazy
- Imbalanced like crazy

Dirge of Cerberus
+ Pretty fun challenges
- Can get repetitive and boring at times

FF VIII
+ Best minigame in the series
- Bad combination of enemies leveling with you and you getting stronger without leveling

FF IX
+ All characters feel unique and distinct from one another in gameplay
- Tetra Master isn't nearly as fun as Triple Triad was

FF X
+ The story
- Being able to stat-max this easily and readily

FF X-2
+ The gameplay
- You absolutely shouldn't be able to get "100% Completion" in just one playthrough

FF XII
+ IZJS
- Original License Board

FF XIII
+ OH MY GOD I CAN PICK MY COMMANDS *BEFORE* THE ATB GAUGE FILLS UP, I'M SO DAMN HAPPY WHY CAN'T ANY OF THE OTHER GAMES HAVE THIS FEATURE
- Sidequests and trophies are pretty grindy

FF XIII-2
+ Paradox Endings
- Fighting against the computer's tendency to have the squishy damage dealer walk towards and stand right next to the tank so they get hit by AoE attacks

[Midgar Mist]

Well, the materia thing matters to me as I like to master stuff in a game :p

Uh oh, a completionist :-P

And throwback Thursday is...........?

[Shiva95]

FFIV
+ The characters and the story
- The fake deaths

FFVI
+ The best story and the best vilain of the series
- We can't get Locke back quickly in the WoR xD

FFVII
+ Inside Cloud's Mind is one of the best FF part ever
- The music is not the best

FFVII: Crisis Core
+ Zack is amazing
- Too short

FFIX
+ The main themes and the characters
- When a character is not in your team for a while, they keep their old level so it's very hard to use them after that :/ (hi Freya)

FFX
+ The story and the music
- Seymour Flux is harder than all his other forms and it's not even the last one

FFX-2
+ The main plot
- The sidequests in general

FFXIII
+ The music
- Gran Pulse is too long

FFXIII-2
+ The time traveling thing
- Being obligated to do again some of the longest dungeons (ie. Academia 500 AF) to complete the game

FFXIII: Lightning Returns
+ The story
- The time

[Wolf Kanno]

FFI
+ Great Replayability
- The Elfland section is kind of long and boring

FFII
+ Cool leveling system and story
- Quite possibly the most atrocious inventory system in the series

FFIII
+ Better selection of job classes
- The final dungeon gauntlet is a pain (DS Version - nerfed the game too much)

FFIV
+ The most solid and balanced game in the series.
- It's the Vanilla ice cream of RPGs.

FFV
+ Favorite version of the job class system
- Krile is kind of a Mary Sue.

FFVI
+ Probably some of the most forward thinking game design in the series...
- ...except the game is way too easy.

FFVII
+ Great world design and music
- Wish I could say the same about the plot that crashes and burns halfway through.

FFVIII
+ Squall has the best story progression of any protagonist.
- Shame Ultimecia shows up and kills any potential in the story.

FFIX
+ Vivi is my all time favorite character in the series.
- I wish Zidane and Garnet would quit stealing the spotlight from the actual interesting characters.

FFX
+ Auron and Jecht are fun and interesting characters.
- The most asinine plot twist in the series.

FFXI
+ Quite possibly one of the most interesting world and stories in the FF series proper.
- Good luck finding with the game's atrocious UI and noob unfriendly set-up for quests.

FFXII
+ Great scope for the world and a gameplay system that works in harmony with it.
- Randomized chests, the Bazaar mechanics, and the abysmal item drop rate can all go to hell.

FFXIII
+ Sahz
- Everything else

FFXIV
+ Pretty much looks like how I thought FFXI was going to be like.
- Having to listen to my FFXIV friend's non-stop talking and praise for it.

FFTactics
+ One of the best stories in the series
- The day you realize most of the jobs and customization are superfluus

FFTactics Advance
+ Great story and characters
- Weak customization mechanics and repetitive quests

FFTactics A2
+ Better refinement of FFTA's mechanics
- Still not as good as I would like, also the main story and cast are terrible.

FFVII: Crisis Core
+ I get to play as Zack!
- Genesis

FF Mystic Quest
+ So bad it's good
- Makes me yearn for vanilla RPG FFIV.

FFX-2
+ Cool ideas for customization system and combat.
- Ideas were handled better in other games, also having to put up with Yuna and Rikku

FF Crystal Chronicles
+ Really cool concept for a multi-player FF.
- Learn which of your friends are selfish bastards.

FF Dissidia
+ Fanservice, oh my the fanservice!
- All that grinding...

FF Dissidia Duodecim
+ I finally get Kain! Also the UI is vastly improved and I actually have a world map!
- The new content makes this more of a director's cut than actual sequel, too much focus on Lightning, the rebalance was not so great.

FF: The Spirits Within
+ Not a bad story when you look past the films non-FF feel.
- Uncanny Valley galore...

FFVII: Advent Children
+ Cheesy crazy spectacle good for unwinding and shutting off your brain.
- the "shutting off your brain" part from above is pretty much a requirement to actually enjoy.

FF: Legend of the Crystals
+ Hey, it's an FF anime! And it's actually a sequel to game that hasn't been whored out by Square yet!
- Calling it an FF anime might be a stretch, also the characters and pacing are not good.

FFXII: Revenant Wings
+ A decent "baby's first RTS" that tries it's best to work with the DS' UI.
- WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO FFXII!?

[Midgar Mist]

FFV
+ Favorite version of the job class system
- Krile is kind of a Mary Sue.


FFX
+ Auron and Jecht are fun and interesting characters.
- The most asinine plot twist in the series.


Mary Sue?

And i never thought id see the word asinine on a social networking site

[Wolf Kanno]

FFV
+ Favorite version of the job class system
- Krile is kind of a Mary Sue.


FFX
+ Auron and Jecht are fun and interesting characters.
- The most asinine plot twist in the series.


Mary Sue?

And i never thought id see the word asinine on a social networking site

Krile is a princess - like Fairs and Lenna
Related to one of the dawn warriors - like Bartz
saves the party in cutscenes a few times and her only time to fail is so Galuf can die so she can take his place.
Can communicate with animals because she's gifted.
Every character loves her and she's never made the but of a joke but quick to make them.
Galuf's death serves more of a purpose to make the player sympathize as opposed to being a character development moment.
Is the default narrator for the game's ending and is largely the focus of it if she survives the final battle.

She frankly has too many positives and her few negative elements serve the purpose of getting her to join the party. She also overshadows Faris and Lenna once she joins with most of the story focus being on her and Bartz. She's not a bad character and there are worse in gaming in general, but for a game that really needed to flesh out its cast, the title gives too much time on the character with little depth.

[Midgar Mist]

I've just never heard the term Mary Sue alot. I think it may be an American term perhaps. But thanks for the information, i get it :-)

[maybee]

FFIV
+ Beautiful story and character development for it's time
- Characters start dying off like Lemmings and then they all come back, making the impact and the emotional of their sacrifice and their deaths as a whole, extremely pointless.

FFV
+ One of the best job systems in Final Fantasy history
- story gets too strange at times, even for a jrpg- like characters using meteors as transport ? What ?

FFVI
+ So many lovable main characters !
- Some of those characters are basically pointless and have no reason to be there, example Umaro.

FFVII
+ Chocobo breeding and racing mini-game
- Confusing, messy plot.

FFVIII
+ Squall. Squall. Squall. Squall ! One of the most relatable and real main characters and Final Fantasy characters to ever exist.
- Card mini game is a right pain. No I don't want to spend 3 hours playing yu-gi-oh with Zell's Mum game !

FFIX
+ Zidane/ Garnet's romantic relationship is so funny, pure, gentle, and is written well.
- Oeilvert

FFX
+ Yuna- Final Fantasy's best heroine
- Voice acting is so horridly awful.


FFXII
+ Battle Limit Breaks are so fun and make the game quite addictive.
- Most of the main cast don't feel developed and just feel hollow and empty

FFXIII
+ Sahz and his cute chocobo buddy !
- The rest of the game tbh

FFVII: Crisis Core
+ You get to know who Zack is and his part of the FF VII story
- Aerith feels too OOC and weakened down as she's no longer a brave woman of the slums and now frighted of the sky. No, just no.


FFX-2
+ Brings back the Job System !
- Too much fanservice for the horny teenagers out there.


FF Dissidia
+ A Final Fantasy fighting game !
- Some characters feel OOC or just broken down to one or two character traits- example Zidane is now just flirting and treasure !

FF Dissidia Duodecim
+ Kain and Yuna !
- Too much focus on Lighting Farron ! We get it SE ! You love her. You most likely own a anime ! pillow of her to cuddle at night; we understand.

FFVII: Advent Children
+ Nice to see the FF VII cast in better graphics and not well.... lego people.
- Cloud's depression, while it could've been excellent character development to have a character try and overcome depression- instead it made fans completely misunderstanding his character and just throwing down his character as 'emo'.

[Pumpkin]

FFI
+ Classic, old school RPG feel
- Hard as heck

FFII
+ Key words, customization
- Also super hard

FFIII
+ Adorable job classes
- Not memorable

FFIV
+ Awesome characters and story
- Dungeons are way too long

FFIV: The After Years
+ Great characters
- Super hard

FFV
+ Great cast of characters, good humour, job classes
- Some bad translations

FFVI
+ Lots of characters
- A bit unengaging to me

FFVII
+ Materia system, easy
- Don't like most of the characters

FFVIII
+ Beautiful world
- Can't use magic without messing up junctions

FFIX
+ Best game ever, great characters and story, good world
- Combat super slow, Trance system

FFX
+ Great world, good story
- Sphere grid is kinda bleh

FFX-2
+ Job classes! All lady cast, fun gameplay, chapters
-Kind of cringe worthy at times

FFXII
+ License board is amazing
- Bland locations, not enough character interactions

FFXII: Revenant Wings
+ Pretty fun gameplay
- Boring overall though and not memorable

FFXIII
+ Paradigm system, beautiful world
- Not the best characters, not well executed, too linear

FFXIV
+ Great world, customized characters
- Monthly fee

FFT
+ Job classes
- Hard to follow story

FFTA
+ Job classes, beautiful world
- Not engaging for me

FFTA
+ Job classes, new race
- Not the most engaging either

Theatrhythm (both)
+ Fun, great music
- Repetitive

Dissidia
+ Many characters together
- Not fun

[Rez09]

FF1
+ Great feeling of adventure
- Mages are heavily mp gated

FF2
+ The combat system has a TON of great ideas
- Most of these ideas don't work well as implemented

FF3
+ A ton to explore for an NES game
- Any Mini-related dungeon

FF4
+ Enjoyable story
- Constantly shifting character roster

FF5
+ Everything combat related is a ton of fun
- Uninteresting story

FF6
+ Second half of the game is extremely open ended and rewards exploration
- Crippling lack of difficulty

FF7
+ Most things related to combat are well done and materia promotes a lot of fun / interesting builds
- Most members of the party see no use

FF8
+ The combat system has a TON of great ideas (most of which ARE implemented well)
- The ideas that aren't -- limit and level exploitation; item farming without cards

FF9
+ ATEs are a fantastic idea
- References to other FF games make me wish I was playing those instead

FF10
+ Weapon and armor customization
- Most of the characters

FF12
+ The story
- Random loot in chests

FFT
+ Favorite implementation of the job system
- Monster classes are disappointing

FFTA
+ Sending guild members to complete mini-quests is a great idea
- Jobs locked to races

Dirge of Cerberus
+ Gun customization is pretty agreeable
- I remember nothing else about the game

Dissidia
+ Great to see so many memorable characters together
- Combat feels like it was designed to be watched more than played