Fav ff

[Revenant]

Edit - I removed the comment where I tote FF5/FF3/FFT's storyline. Bashing one game is enough for a post.

By best storyline, you mean four guys coming out of nowhere and encountering random people? And then helping them for no apparent reason? Not to mention any of the characters had no backstory to them whatsoever so they're just there trying to light some damn orbs. Maybe they're some kind of deities that dedicate their nameless lives to walking around aimlessly and helping anyone that cries obscurely for help. They must be really famous though, cause in the towns people always know that they're the LIGHT WARRIORS.

Face it, FF1 had no storyline. Nada. Zippo. 0.
Whatever shards of it that it actually had is NOTHING compared to any other FF's storyline. I got a little nauseated after I found out what the storyline actually was (which was sitting right next to 'non existant'), the only reason I played it is to get a feel of the retro years of gaming. FFV, FFT, hell even FFIII's storylines are masterpieces compared to FFI's.

FFI's storyline can't even match the depth, complexity and emotional value that FFIV displays. It's not comparing apples to oranges. It's comparing nothing to oranges.

I'm not surprised at all that FFIV and FFI took the top spots. FFIV - Excellent storyline and dialogue. That's what made it shine - and it didn't suffer unlike many other future FFs by being too easy. Play the hardtype and you'll be playing one of the harder FFs.

FF1 is great because it's a classic, and because of how it 'started it all'. FFI wins in difficulty department - you'll have to use a lot of strategy and skills to be successful, unlike other newer FFs where it's a walk in the park and half your enjoyment and challenge is by getting through the FMVs.
However if FF1 was never released, and it was suddenly released today on GBA with the WSC graphics it would still bomb. Majorly. They'd treat it like FFMQ.
It's good primarily of its status in the Final Fantasy lineup, and it remained and would remain special to RPGamers for years to come.

How crass of me, I'll bet some oversensitive dude actually found that offensive. Hey man, train for the real world, cause this forum is as friendly as things will ever get. Peace!

[Spuuky]

I disagree with a lot of what you said. I think that FFV, for instance, has a lot more story than you give it credit for. It "sucks with the storyline"? Then you obviously haven't played it more than once. It has a really complex and cool story.

FF1 also has slightly more story than you give it credit for, and let me remind of you something - compared to every other RPG of the era, it did have a comparably great story. FFIV has a better story, certainly, and is far more in depth - but so did other RPGs of its time, which escaped a lot of notice by some gamers, apparently.

I think FFIV is really easy, even the hard type, which I simply breezed through. FF1 is challenging, as you said, and has a lot of class options - and the gameplay is really good. If it was released on a handheld system today, then it would be wildly popular. And it is. It would be regardless of its name, in Japan, where RPGs are life. It remains a great game.

And I think you're overlooking FF2. Having played through a lot of it, I see it as the first RPG with a truly detailed story, and I've noticed how it is sort of a precursor to FFIV in a lot of ways.

[Revenant]

You are correct, I went a little overboard on dissing FFIII, FFV and FFT as well. The little edit button should solve that. I have played and finished all three of those games - ONCE each. I plan to play FFV again to see what this cool storyline you speak of is, cause character changes allow for neat plot developments and that is what FFV lacks. Notice I'm no longer saying the lack of character changes hinder player development, but with it things can certainly be more interesting.

Notice what you said yourself -
You said it had a great storyline for its ERA, and yet you say it would be great if it was released today. I'm not sure I said it clear enough, but my comment on releasing FFI was as if FFI was never released before anywhere, and it was produced & released at this time.

Under those circumstances, honestly you can't possibly believe a game as outdated as FFI, even with new graphics and minor improvements, could sell well at all if it was released today. Nope. It's the name, it's the status, and the game itself is half of it. Games like that are not released anymore, and gamers expect a lot more than what we see in FF1. Only if it has the name "Final Fantasy" does it have a chance - and people would vehemently flame it for being a cash cow.
Wildly popular? Not a chance. Plus it isn't now, I'm positive FFVI and up (and probably FFIV as well) has had far more players than FFI will ever have.

Besides, I don't think an RPG can have a much simpler story than FF1's. Zelda somewhat treads along this line.

I overlooked FFII because my post and what I am responding to has nothing to do with FFII whatsoever. You see I'm not attacking the NES FF games, I'm specifically responding to someone else's opinion, the 'FF1 has the best storyline' one, which my last post explained why I disagree with it. And in summary of the above, I believe FFI has a very weak storyline and it is popular and good mainly by name and status as a fantastic beginning to a line of great games. I hope this doesn't turn into something silly like a flame war, there are some pretty big FFI lovers here. I shouldn't have said the above, but hey once you start you don't stop until things get out of hand.

It can also be better summarized - If you switch FFII with FFI, FFII is probably going to end up as popular as FFI and visa-verca

[Spuuky]

I'm a big fan of FF2. I think it should be more popular than it is, anyway.

As for FF1 - no, it wouldn't be popular if released for the first time today, except for several factors, I think:

1. It would be released for a handheld system, and the gameplay and such is enough that it *would* still be one of the best handheld RPGs to date.

2. Even if it wasn't named FF, it would still have the name "Squaresoft" on it. People buy Squaresoft games, regardless of the FF name, because they expect them to do a good job.

Yeah, it wouldn't be *that* popular. And certainly not in the US. But I think you underestimate the RPG fanaticism that abounds in Japan. Check out Kishi's sales numbers for the FF games in Japan, somewhere in General Squaresoft.

[CecilThePaladin]

in my humble opinion i think.......it no question about it it FINAL FANTASY IV (CECIL AND THE WHOLE GAME ROCKED) every ff game is good in its own why though i'm in personal favoring of the old ff's though more gameplay involved. Final Fantasy 1 was great in every way compelling fun and the ability to choose your own class i loved that specially when they changed again through the game.FF2 was fun but i never actally got into it i haven't found a good translation either maybe thats why.FF3 was great because of the job system. AND i agree with anyone that thinks ff 5 had more story and everything else than it was givin credit for . and FF 6 was in my opionion the second best ff ever. THANK YOU AND GOODNIGHT EVERYONE!

[The Amazing Spiderman]

Can't decide........FF1 or FF4.............damn......they were so cool!

[Book]

FF1, classic game that was the start of an era. Also no other game has made me come back to it again. I've made lots of notes on all possible party combinations and they're so many. It's simply put it a great game.

[Mgia]

Favorite? I'd have to say a tie between FF3j and FFIV...
I've tried 1 and 2, and just couldn't get into the games...
FFIV had the individual characters, and good storyline, and FF3j just had a very addictive gameplay as well as story. (That's my opinion anyway.)
^_^

[JayLeno]

ARGH

I know this a little off topic... but i had to vent my frustration somewhere...

I just died after killing the vampire in ff1... while returning to the town...

[Book]

yeap totally off topic but it sure is frustrating

[Rydia]

I can't believe so many of you guys love FF4 - I do too!! In other Final Fantasy forums everyone hates Final Fantasy 4.I absolutely loved it,its my fave Final Fantasy.Its the only rom I own that I actually bothered playing til the end

[Rude]

FF4 is my least favorite of all FF games... at the moment. The sole reason for this is because I've only played easy-type. I'm pretty much 99.8% certain that my opinion will change once I get around to playing the hard-type version.

[Rydia]

I've never played the Easy-type version of FFVI..........hey ppl,apart from the battles,is it any different?

[playaGAW]

Translation's a lil different.

[unfie]

I bought 1 when it came out.

Thank god I had the FF Strategy Guide from NP.... else I woulda been severely frustrated with the game.

Being limited to a tiny number of items that you could carry at once is kind of nice in that it's realistic.... but uhm, every RPG (if on paper on in computer) pretty much has a way around that (bag of holding, or being able to lug around 250 pounds of stuff per character anyways, etc).

FF2... I played a little of, but wasn't impressed.

FF4 I bought when it came out as well. Very satisfying. Borderline dialogy, but all good. About my only complaint about it is that it didn't require alot of leveling to complete the first 1/4th of the game or so (ie: you could run from everything and still manage to defend Fabul).

FF3 I recently picked up because a friend suggested it. I'm around lv40 after just a few days.. and have found the game to be generally pretty easy, although the cave of the ancients was challenging. FF3 allows more personality/style than the others, if you want to be, that is. Since the game only forces you into a particular job every once in a while (scholar/mknight)... you're fairly free to choose whatever class you want, but it seems that some classes 'were meant to be' while others just lack and can simply be ignored. I think I've used maybe 5 classes throughout my course of the game (stick with what works).

...

FF1 had the dragon warrior esque slow ass leveling and resource gathering. Time consuming, and highly irritating cause I always wanted the best equipment I could get as soon as it was available (steel armor anyone ? hall of giants for hours ?) ... but.... I kinda prefer doing that. To me, leveling and 'alot of fighting' as some of the younger players out there put it... is what the game is about, not mashing buttons every once in a while to progress through a deluge of text with an occaisional easy fight. I've played it through with a couple different parties.... and *every* single time I cross the Tiamat bridge, I fight WarMech. I mean, WTF, does that thing just love me ? .....

FF4 was generally too easy. A bit dialogy. But just fun to play. The secrets were obvious (kind of annoying), but there wasn't a whole lot of 'rat in a maze' (yay!). Zeromus was a bit disappointing as well (or at least the last fight was choreographed a bit weakly).

FF3 is proving to be too short. I love the lack of dialog (it could use maybe a touch more... it tries to build characters up, but theres not enough so it comes out like a bad fortune cookie), the generally fast leveling is kind of nice... since you can level if you want to (to gain that advantage), and it seems that my party stays overpowered offensively and weak defensively. Being able to have more than 8 spells per rank is a definate plus (although overkill right now... do I really need to be able to cast 120 spells throughout the course of one dungeon ?). Weak item descriptions is slightly annoying, and perhaps the only gripe I have with it in general is the inability to purchase Fenix Down's. It's amazing how much FF4 looks like a port of FF3.

FF3 being easier means I prefer it over FF1 for casual play.

FF4 being prettier means I prefer it (again) over the others for casual play.

FF3 is less dialogy, therefore easier to play casually than FF4 (IMHO).

FF1 has more sense of accomplishment, making it more *enjoyable* to play.

All in all, you could prolly convince me to play FF4 quicker than you could 1 or 3.

Between 1 and 3, I'd prolly pick 1, although it's a close tie.

</lengthy monologue>

-unf