Final Fantasy with the Best/Worst Pacing

Inspired by my Overrated RPG thread.

Final Fantasy X, whatever its other flaws, did something really ingenious with the Pilgrimage setup. It helped connect the plot in a logical way that few othe rFF games can equal. With an RPG, it's a huge time investment so you need some down time to process everything. However, you can't waste too much time or risk losing the intrigue and excitement of what's going on.

That's where XII and XIII went wrong for me. XII wasted so much time having us wander around killing Tusken Raiders that your brain melts and leaks out your ears. And who can forget the trek to Archades? And then there was the Old Archades part which was so bad it didn't even have voice-acting. And then collecting Chops....

With XIII, it's the opposite. The absence of towns and the "on the run" story meant STUF was always happening which left precious little time for anything to reallyb e digested. You just get bombarded with so many facts and who are these characters and WHAT'S HAPPENING.

While I'm sure you're talking about story pacing, I'm going by a different interpretation:

For best, semi-controversial choice for sure but I would say FFVI. The game always had something new to do, a new character introduced, a new event, and I found I was never really bored going through the game. There just isn't as much fat in this game like other entries. I also adore the open ended "choose your own adventure take" of the WoR even if CT did it better. I know some would say its gimmicky and others will cry about how the story isn't as engaging by the WoR but smurf you, I had fun and that's what really matters to me in the long run.

Worst? FFXIII, in both story and gameplay. Gameplay is so slowly introduced that by the time the full system is open up, you're already nearly 3/4ths of the way through the whole and probably bored by then since your accustomed to the half finished mechanics. The story? Not since MGS4 have I seen so much said with so little actually done. You could easily trim down the dialogue and cutscenes in the game and make a coherent whole without extra hours Snow getting punched, Hope whining about getting revenge, and Snow telling you he is going to be a hero like he's still a six-year old. Chapter 10 never even had to happen for what little it brought to the story.

I think Final Fantasy IV had the best pacing in many areas! Not only was the story served to you in even chunks throughout the game, keeping things interesting with the narrative growing more and more as it went on, it also requires next to no grinding as you move between areas (as long as you don't flee too much), giving you a steady pace from start to finish! I mean, sure, by today's standards the story is nothing spectacular, but having played through it again recently I have a newfound appreciated of how solid a package it actually is.

Pacing as in no need to stop or go? VII did a good job at that. You really didn't have to grind at all and if you did there was nothing wrong with that. They only thing I remember that messed with level was Vagyrisk Claw. Sure Sephiroth got stronger if you were high level but it doesn't really matter cause your stats are up too.

I think FFVI has the best pacing. It's masterful, really, a work of art in that regard. Possibly the single greatest element of one of the greatest RPGs.

XIII has the worst pacing and I don't really know why anyone would argue otherwise. It's so bad at it, probably the game's greatest weakness.

I will say FF VIII had a really easy flow with it where you never really needed to grind and you were never really stuck either due to the monster level system. It was a easy FF which you were able to wiz through it.

Worst one was XIII. If SE would like to show people how not to make a RPG it is XIII. I think Mystic Quest at a whole was better than XIII.

IX had decent pacing. You were always on the move, but never felt rushed. They introduced new skills and abilities over the course of the game. And even the slower Steiner and Garnet moments had world building and character development.