"The Last Great Final Fantasy"

[Pike]

Imagine, if you will, that Squeenix quit making Final Fantasy riiiiiiight now. No more FF games. Ever.

Now then... what would you say was the Last Great Final Fantasy game?

There is no right or wrong answer here, of course. And "great" means whatever you want it to. It could be your favorite, or it might be the last game in the FF series that you really liked or respected a lot. Or perhaps you feel that the series was top notch until the very end?

What would you say?

[Del Murder]

FFXI.

[Jiro]

Del Murder might very well be right, but as I haven't played it, I cannot say. My pick would be IX, perhaps X. IX was a perfect little package, while X did a lot of new, cool and interesting things but also had a couple of faults as well. Still, since then it has been all about even more experimentation and I don't think any Final Fantasy games since have nailed it.

[Raistlin]

Using "great" as having a really high standard, I'd say FFT. FFIX and XII were good, but I don't think were on the same level.

Though I also haven't played FFXI, so my response is limited to the single-player games.

[Alpha2099]

My guess would be either VII or X. There might be an argument for XII, but the opinion is so divided on that one, unlike VII and X where a majority of fans love each of those.

[Wolf Kanno]

I'd probably say IX, cause it was he last title Sakaguchi really worked on before he released his career ending movie. XII would be my second choice cause it was the last time Squenix released an FF that really embodied the spirit of the series.

[Del Murder]

Ok I am not on a phone right now so I can elaborate a bit on my choice.

FFXI brought the series back full circle to its roots. The first two decisions you make in the first Final Fantasy game is to choose the name and job class for your characters that will forever define them. Among the first decisions you make in FFXI are to name your character and choose your job. And, like in FFXI, your job is specific and will define how you play this game.

FFXI also expanded on FF and took it to a level it had never gone before: multiplayer. There was nothing left for FF to conquer in the single player genre. FFVI and VII already established themselves as the best, IX was your tribute to everything that came before it, and X was the showcase of updated graphical and voice capabilities. The only thing left was to take what you have and adapt it to the MMO world. And it was done successfully, including many aspects of old FF games such as a limit break-type system, weapon levels, using mastered job abilities on a different job. It also introduced many interesting things like a deep elemental reliance and weapon damage type differentials (which borrows from other successful games like Vagrant Story).

FFXI also had the most expansive world in any FF game as well as a deep and rich story and history that built upon everything that came before it.

FFXII was a good game and FFXIII was ok I guess but if they ended the series right at FFXI I would have considered it complete and finished. Not so if they ended it at FFX, with such a downer of an ending, or FFX-2 with such a crappy story and odd tone.

[Christmas]

FF VI

GREAT Laughter

FF VII

GREAT boobs and swords

FFVIII

GREAT love story

FF IX

GREAT appetite

FF X

GREAT overall story

[Quindiana Jones]

I'd probably say IX, cause it was he last title Sakaguchi really worked on before he released his career ending movie. XII would be my second choice cause it was the last time Squenix released an FF that really embodied the spirit of the series.

My opinion is pretty much this. I'd say XII as my definite answer, as it allows for XI which, while I didn't get to play for very long, seemed like an excellent game.

[Gamblet]

From all the FFs I have played, Final Fantasy Tactics had the best story and gameplay. So I say FFT.

[VeloZer0]

It is a toss up for me between whether I should consider FF9 to be a good or great FF game. Two years ago I would have said yes for sure, but I replayed it last year and found that it didn't quite hold up as well as I remembered it. But if I don't consider FF9 to be great then I have to accept that FF8 was the harbinger of the series decline, not just a one game lapse.

But if you then include FFT released shortly after FF7 everything else is massively downhill. So my long and rambling answer if FFT.

[Hollycat]

XII
or Crisis core, whichever came last.

[ReloadPsi]

IX. Had it not been for IX I would've gone with V. Not that I dislike VI, VII and VIII (much) seeing as VII was actually my first FF game and back then - being an unfortunate European who didn't get to play the first six outside of emulation - I didn't know what normally made an FF game. VI was the first to really depart from the usual formula and feel (it's almost like a Zelda game suddenly starring a different set of characters in a different setting) and by the time I played IX I had sampled the first six games before VII and realised it was a final return to form. It sickens me to think it wasn't originally meant to be one of the numbered ones because it's way more FF than anything that's come after it as far as I'm concerned.

XI shouldn't have been a main series game because it was an MMO. WoW isn't exactly called Warcraft IV is it? That Star Wars game isn't KoToR III. Some of us don't like having to pay subscription fees or having to be online to play a game.

To me every game after IX was just some different game entirely using the FF title and item/spell names, but that doesn't mean I don't like them. I eventually really grew to like XII despite thinking it didn't feel remotely like an FF game other than having the item and ability names.