Final Fantasy vs. Other Square RPGs

[Del Murder]

I like your taste in games, APolaris. Make a few small adjustments (rank FFIX higher, put FFIV on the list) and you basically have my exact same rankings.

[APolaris]

I haven't played FF4, and the issue with FF9 isn't that it's a bad game (it's actually on my top 30 of all games) so much as that the ones ahead of it are so fantastic. 9 does have its own charm though and I've probably played through it 5-6 times. I like its gameplay, or rather I like its relatively grindless endgame and the fact that its optional boss is actually hard instead of just long/preparation-based. I guess it doesn't help that 6, 7, 8, and 10 all have more memorable soundtracks. But mainly it's just that in each FF game I've played, something stands out as memorable: for 5, it's gameplay and to a lesser extent emotional impact; for 6, it's literally everything; for 7, it's character development and its world's parallels to this one (particularly slums, Avalanche, Shinra, Mako); for 8, it's backstory development, particularly with Laguna and his impact on his world; for 10, it's emotion. The other games also: SD3 has actual non-story replay value and party variety; Evermore is the most ambient game ever made. I was asked recently what makes 9 memorable and I realized I couldn't point to anything specific that wasn't its sidequests.

[Gamblet]

In my opinion the only other Square RPG that is good as FF or even better : Vagrant Story, come on you are your own blacksmith. Experimenting with new weapon combinations and then try your fused weapon against the monsters is lots of fun for me.

I like FF IX for its classic battle system (not spamming limit breaks) and that it brings so much from older FFs into one. FF V is simply awesome because of its job system.

EDIT: What? I forgot that CT is made by Square *facepalm* CT simply runs FF over with a tractor.