Final Fantasy 2 is the only good old school FF game, and you are wrong if you think

[Kimbasu]

otherwise.

I know this is elitist take. But its the truth. Other FF games, of FF1 or FF3-FF6 are obnoxious games. Its like getting a dump truck of Benny Hill theme stuff. It generally was so bad that the series didnt become popular til FF7 came out... though out of those i just like FF9 since the main character isnt a whimp and is pretty cool.

But one good news is Square has finally fixed the Pixel Remaster with a update where
- No annoying autobattle icon clutters the artwork to the upper left corner of the screen.
Though FF5 Pixel remaster ... it didnt make it. FF5 PR still has the Square Enix corporate logo, where it swoooshes by. And nitpick complaint is FF3 Pixel Remaster probably dont have the capacity system in the PR version.

So on a technical level. The games that are truly fixed is ..
FF1, FF2, FF4 and FF6. FF6 being my least favorite.


But to not go too off the rails. Reason FF2 is the best in the series, is simple. It feels like a epic story out of a NeverEnding Story novel. It feels earned when you do stuff there.

In FF1 and FF3-FF6, it just feels like the game is mocking you for wasting time with it? I generally think there are generally better game series than Final Fantasy, take Earthbound Beginnings and Earthbound games for reference. Really fun and engaging games. Or Ultima or Shining Force RPG games.

But if i had to pick decent picks. FF2 and FF9 is the one on my list.

[Loony BoB]

Definitely wouldn't say "elitist" take, but I would certainly say a hot take because I'm not sure I know anyone else at all that thinks this. Personally, FF2 is probably my least favourite FF, having played them all. Is it a genuinely bad game? No. But by FF standards, it was weak and frustrating for me.

I will, however, give it credit for having what I believe were the best use of guest characters in the series.

[Wolf Kanno]

Eh, while I was never an FFII hater, and honestly like it better than most FF fans, I wouldn't rank it as the best of the Old School entries. FFIII will always be my favorite of the 8-bit era because I enjoyed the Job class system, and I found the game challenging without being grindy like FFII. I would definitely not put it above the 16-bit for me, but that's just personal taste at this point. FFVI is my favorite entry in the series, so we're obviously not going to see eye to eye on that one.

Personally, I prefer the SaGa series that FFII inspired over the actual FFII. With the base idea of the mechanics finally hitting a good design sweetspot when it got to Romancing SaGa 2.

I have yet to play the PR versions. So I'm holding off on my personal judgement for awhile on those. I already figure they won't be definitive for me personally because I'm a traditionalist at heart who loves old school design and audio/visuals, since I grew up with them.

[Fynn]

FFII is definitely overhated and is my personal favorite of the NES titles. I kind of notice that there’s this hate bandwagon about it where people don’t play it because people say it’s bad, then play it with that mindset and pick apart the aspects that reinforce that opinion even further, just to have the opinion they already had on it be validated. It’s kind of like DQVI in that regard


But yes, I am glad its legacy is somewhat continued in SaGa

[Loony BoB]

I kind of notice that there’s this hate bandwagon about it where people don’t play it because people say it’s bad, then play it with that mindset and pick apart the aspects that reinforce that opinion even further, just to have the opinion they already had on it be validated.
See, if I have a mindset that a game will be bad before I play it, I'm more likely to like it than hate it. It's actually the reason I never truly loved VI and IX the way most people do, because I listened to hype for those games for a decade or two before I played them, and they could never reach the heights of the pedestal people put them on. If people slag off a game I go in expecting bad and am often pleasantly surprised!

I think with FFI-III the primary reason people play them is to tick off the "I played all the FF games" checkbox. I don't think many people go in with much of a predetermined view of those games, personally, but maybe I'm projecting there.