New to FF, which one?

[Toireht]

I always passed on Final Fantasy games and always leaned to more action oriented games. But today I watched a show on the composer for Final Fantasy and heard some of the music. From there I downl...bought a lot of Final Fantasy music, and now I cant stop listening to it. Now I wish to play a final fantasy game, either 7-10, but cant decide on which one to start on. So question is, Which Final Fantasy out of 7-10 has characters that are deep and you start to care for and the best music?

Thanks for all who help me decide.

[beaglegod]

Well my personal favorite is FF7 for a number of reasons, one is that I realy liked some of the characters Cloud, Barret, Sephiroth and Vincent were realy cool characters. I thought the story was awsome and I the materia system so far is my favorite. Of course the more current the game the better the graphics but sound wise all the FF games have some very memorable tunes as you already know. Actualy you realy cant go wrong with any of them although some people found the junctioning system of 8 a bit of a hassle at first to deal with. Id recommend 7 on all counts though.

1. great story
2.great graphics (for its time, and I still love older rpgs graphics, a lot of heart went into those older games)
3.memorable characters (7 had the most characters that I liked in it)
4.awsome music
5.a great battle/character building system.

Of course after you play one youll wanna play em all.
Have fun :)

[squareSOFT]

Well, they all have good music, although disc 4 in IX is best. I wold advise playing X first because it has the best battles, solid music and pretty good charaters. Of course, it's all opinionative so just play them all and decide for yourself!

[BlazeLord]

The only FF I know are X and X-2...............unfortunaly.



..........................let's blitz...............................

[Del Murder]

Go with VII, a lot of poeple started with that one.

[rubah]

Actually I'd start with ff5, because it's about the final fantasyest you can get, being in the middle and having the quintessential plot line.

But if it has to be 7-10, 8 is probably a good place to start. That way you have middling good graphics, and all the awesomeness I believe ff8 to have ^_^

[Lilian]

I thoroughly enjoyed 7, 8, and 9, so...I don't think it really matters. I wouldn't start with FFX--IMO, it's the worst one that's been made so far--but I know there's plenty of people who disagree with me on that, so hey, feel free to start with that one if you'd like. The things you listed--deep characters that you start to care for and good music--are pretty much true of any FF game you pick up. Just do what I did when I first got into it and grab one that has a pretty cover. :P

I'm sure this post was entirely unhelpful. Oh well.

[Alexander]

Start with FFIX. PERIOD. It's old-school, so you could start with FFIV/V/VI and get the same results XD

And... try to avoid FFVIII. Seriously. If you play ANY FF before this one, you'll be VERY disappointed when play it. o_o

[Toireht]

Well after looking threw them all, and reading through all the posts I think I will start with Final Fantasy IX because I like the look of the characters, and then work my way down and then come back to X. Thanks for all the help, Now I just need to order a PS1 Memory card and pick it up :)

[liamo]

oooh thats actually a hard question to answer for me can't choose i recommend you buy em all and decide for yourself

[ThroneofDravaris]

Hmm, Well I started with FFX, but I would suggest starting a little father back. This will avoid the shock of the graphic transitions. Don’t go too far back though; chances are the earlier FF games won’t hold your interest. As people have said, FF7 is a good starting place, but it’s rather rare in some places. I would personally start with Anthology, FFVI would give you the feel of both the futuristic and medieval types of FF games (don’t play FFV first though; it’s by far the hardest and not particularly rich plot wise). Once again though, Anthology is unavailable in some countries (I had to buy mine while I was in America). Basically, go with the one you can obtain the easiest (If you live in the US you shouldn’t have much trouble trying to find any of the FF games though…). This will usually be FF8+. Don’t trust what people say about FF8, most of it is highly opinionative, without any real factual basis. While I consider FF9 to be the best, I wouldn’t start with this game, because you won’t understand the references it makes to past FFs. But if you must, I'm sure you'll find it to be a decent game none-the-less.

[liamo]

yeah what he said

[Snap Jumper]

If you're new to the series, game 8 probably isn't a good place to start. If you play it first, a good portion of the gameplay mechanics are different, meaning it likely won't get you used to the series. Ten, with the sphere grid, may do the same, especially when it's the only game where you can switch your party during battles. So, therefore, I'd suggest either 7 or 9. 7 has a better Limit system, more character customizing, more freedom to choose your party, and a darker plot. 9 is lighter with fixed character roles. Both games are really good, though.

[rubah]

Throne of Dravaris makes a good point-- no two people hardly ever have teh same opinion of ff8, so play it and make sure for yourselfxD

[MushroomZOMBIE]

FF8 is an acquired taste :).It was also my first FF.So I wouldn't reccomend anything to you.

[rubah]

FF8 is an acquired taste :).It was also my first FF.So I wouldn't reccomend anything to you.

For being an acquired taste I liked it well enough right at the beginning of the game.

[Toireht]

Well, seems there is a lot of assorted opinions on the question, and "try them all out for your self" seems to be the general reply. Like I said before, since they are all good I will start with IX first and work my way down. I will have a lot of time to do so now since its summer, and if I was able to log in around 200hrs in World of Warcraft in three and a half weeks I think I will be able to play through them all.

Thanks for all the help :D

[RedCydranth]

The order in which I played them is I, VI, IV, VII, T, VIII, V, IX, II, X, X-2.

If you have NEVER played an RPG before you might want a system that isn't too complicated. FFIX gives you an easy system where theres not a million menus to navigate through, since there's not a lot of character customization. Also the game's story isn't nearly as confusing as VII or VIII. Some claim its kiddish in comparison to the others, but i think thats why its a good game to begin with. Magic is laid out for you, you don't have to tinker with materia and drawing (VII and VIII's more complex magic systems), the Limit breaks are quite straight forward (you'll know what I mean once you play any of the later FFs) and its still a challenging game. The characters a re pretty well developed and the story flows smooth. My vote is to start with IX. Since none of the others correlate together, after IX its up to you where you want to go. I highly suggest finding a copy of FF Anthologies or Chronicles and play some of the earlier ones. If you want to go to the first, to see the series' start, Origins or Dawn of Souls (on GBA) would be the way to go. Sure you can d/l I-VI but it doesn't give the feeling inside when you beat it, IMO. III, is the sole exception because its not out here yet (don't ask...).Here's my HONEST suggestion of how to get into FFs:

IX, IV, I, II, VI, VII, V, X, X-2, VIII. I didn't include III because its not available by purchasing methods. At any point after IX you can try FFT, a FF spin-off thats more on an army scale than a party of people kicking but in random encounters. its unique to say the least.

But as Captain Palnet said so well... "The Power is YOURS!" You choose your fate. The only reason I don't suggest playing VII or VIII forst is because some people are turned off by their complex magic systems. If you want a game that will test your mental abilities, go for VIII or VII. But you said you wanted one with deep plot and characters.. so, VIII isn't the best option, the charactrs are quite bland. But heck... I still play it so it DOES have redeeming values. Play IX first, please.

[-N-]

VII or X or VI.

[FoxHoundx25]

alright first off, if you play X make sure that play it first, that way you wont relize how much it sucks compared to the other ones.....and if you're only looking for VII-X i'm gussing you gaming on a PS, but you're missing out if you dont play the first 6, the classics are one of a kind games.....but my personal favorite has got to be tactics, you can play through the game ten times and still not do it the same way, that, and it's hard as hell, which is always a good attribute

[Yuffie514]

i think i played all the FFs in numerical order (FF7 - FFXI). and i don't believe in any dreadful misfortunes if i play FF8 b4 FF7. unless there's a sequel, maybe you should play the prequel first (FFT b4 FFTA - i didn't do so).

all is your choice. but skipping FF8 is like dissing the whole series :p ! you will be doomed... :eek: :tongue:

[DelightfulSpekkio442]

The problem with starting on FFVIII is that it requires more patience (to me). It takes a while to get interesting. VII and IX grabbed my attention right from the start. Plus I second everything said about the magic systems...IMHO, the most complicated system in the 3D Final Fantasy games is FFVIII's Junction, then X's Sphere Grid, then VII's Materia, then IX's straight-up Ability system. Don't think that just because it's easier to grasp that IX is any less fun and entertaining (actually I feel it has a better story than VIII!). As for the older games, FFVI has the best story by far, and the Esper system isn't too hard to figure out. I - V have a very basic magic system that involves purchasing spells/leveling up.

EDIT: BTW don't forget the Chrono series!!! Muy fun. I suggest you play those in order: Chrono Trigger then Chrono Cross.