BEST Final Fantasy?

[Alucard von Elru]

Whoa, I thought I posted in here, at least briefly. I didn't see myself, though. :P

First off, I'd just like to say that this thread has been, for the most part, a very enjoyable read. I've really been loving the discussion between toad and Wolf.

As for me, I cast my vote for FFXII as my absolute favourite in the series, although Matsuno's Tactics is absolutely sublime and always deserves mention. I've always been a big fan of Yasumi Matsuno and Akihiko Yoshida's distinctly baroque edge, and it really works when applied to various FF elements. I enjoyed immensely their more mature, subtle, politically-driven storylines, their incredible worlds, and most of all, the play mechanics. All I really need offer is this: my current hour count in XII is over 380 hours, and I still have a solid amount of things left that I need to do. It took me nearly an entire year of fairly consistent play (and ignoring all other games save Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria) to finally finish the core storyline, and I've been taking a bit of a break ever since. Soon, however, I want to dive back in and finish up with getting 100% completion.

As far as non-Matsuno FF titles are concerned, Final Fantasy IX is just about perfect, combining the best elements of every single main entry that came before it. Of special note is the game's wonderful art/world design. The game has a wonderfully whimsical, autumn-like vibe to it, but at the same time it has this strong, dark undercurrent running through it all. The overall effect is one that oftentimes gets me nostalgic for halloween. This unique combination of darkness and whimsy really gives the game a strong personality, and the characters in the game are incredible. Others have said it better than me, particularly in the lovely "IX vs VII and VIII" thread.

EDIT: It has to be said: Kuja is the greatest antagonist in the entire damn series. If it weren't for Vagrant Story's Sydney Lostarrot, Kuja would have taken the cake for my favourite antagonist of the entire 32/64-bit generation, even besting Panzer Dragoon Saga's Craymen and the many wonderful antagonists of games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Xenogears, and Suikoden II.

I also wanted to mention that, on the whole, there really aren't many FF titles that I don't like. I very much enjoyed both FFVIII and FFX. I think both have very unique play elements and leveling systems, and I really enjoyed the story and general worlds of both. VIII, in particular, is one of the very few games of the era in which I felt like the CG was kind of necessary, as opposed to being almost completely superfluous like in many games of even the previous, 128-bit generation. My only real issue with VIII is that the only character I really loved was Squall (well, and Laguna, but I'm trying to speak primarily of the main cast here). I thought he was an amazingly written character, and I really enjoyed the view we got into his deepest, even most random thoughts. I understand that this is an issue with which many take offense. I feel that if we knew every thought that other, more well-loved characters had, they'd be pretty commonly hated as well. I think it was a rather unique narrative device and that it, alongside the fact that I still found the rest of the primary cast to be highly likable, allows me to forgive its flaws. Overall, depending upon the size of a favourite games of all time list, VIII would most likely work its way in there somewhere.

As for X, that game is a bit iffy for me. To be blunt, I am absolutely unable to judge the game with a clear head, which makes me somewhat uncomfortable talking about it. Basically, I played it when I was decently young and not yet mature. The problem lies with the fact that this is the ONLY time in which I have experienced it. For example, I played VIII and IX when I wasn't yet very mature, but I have since re-experienced them and can still appreciate them; in other words, I can fully confirm that they have aged phenomenally well. This is something I may never be able to confirm with FFX. I am literally incapable of replaying it. Back when it first came out, it was all I played for about a year or so. o.O I had played it and replayed it so many times that when I load it up now, I'm just disgusted with it. I can't stand to play it and thus, I cannot tell whether or not my memories of it are accurate or misguided. A big part of a game's appeal, to me, is how well it has aged. This is the reason why, under usual circumstances, I require a game to age at least seven years (preferably a full decade) before allowing it to hold a spot in my favourites list. It has to prove that it can still provide an awesome experience, years after its release. In rare exceptions, I allow younger games in (Beyond Good & Evil, Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy XII), but they have to really, really floor me. I have to be just disturbingly enraptured by them to allow a game of such a young age into my list.

And that's the problem with FFX: I can't accurately judge it. Because I cannot stand to play it anymore, one might say that it hasn't aged well and that I shouldn't allow it, but I haven't given it a full replay to see if that is not the case. At the same time, on paper the idea of replaying a game so many times you get sick of it sounds wonderful. But again, it prevents me from being an accurate judge of the game's overall quality. So FFX is certainly not on my list, but at the same time it's probably about the only game I'm undecided on. Essentially, it's in a type of limbo. :/

I also wanted to mention FFVII. This is a game that I feel is above average, and has moments of brilliance, but it gets bogged down in various flaws. I don't love it, I don't hate it, I just like it. It's not enough for me to consider it a favourite, but I have always enjoyed myself with it and I appreciate the fact that it opened the floodgates for RPGs outside of Japan. One thing I do like to note about the game, however, is that for all of its storytelling faults I rather appreciate the fact that it is one of precious few examples of the "unreliable narrator" device in gaming. The fact that Cloud is not what he claims to be, and that much of the player's perspective for the better part of the experience ends up being something of a lie, is quite fascinating. That game actually does need a more current replay out of me before I really say anything more, however.

Also, I just wanted to do a little confession: I have not yet completed FFVI, after all these years. I missed out on it during the 16-bit generation, the PS1 port is too load-time heavy to bother with, and I don't have a GBA or NDS. Before anyone mentions, I DO plan to rectify this by ordering an SNES copy at some point in the near future. My only major experience with FFVI was with an emulation of the GBA version: I enjoyed it immensely, and it felt like it could really hold its own against the greats of the era that I loved, like Chrono Trigger and both Lunar games. However, that was my first and only experience with emulation, as I ended up feeling quite guilty about the methods I was using to experience it, and ended up deleting it all off of my computer. So there. *breathes deeply*