The way it should be done, in my humblest of opinions.
I was way back in 1990, and I was 5 years old. I had an NES, and my cousin bought me Final Fantasy 1. I was open to the light. I played it. I loved it. I played it again. I beat it. I beat it at level 99. I beat it at level 99 with four BM's.
So, two years later, I wondered where my FFII was, dammit.
My NES broke shortly after (damn neighbor kid thought it would be a good idea to clean it with a dirty q-tip and some rubbing alcohol,) and my fascination with Final Fantasy was put on temporary hiatus. I was limited to having reminescent memories once in a while, completely unaware that Square was making other Final Fantasies.
Then, many years later, it happened again. That same cousin came to me and brought a shiny (well, matte) new cart of FFV and plopped it into my lap. Well, I played it. It seemed good. Translation was bad. Ooh, I like what they did with the class system. Mode7 graphics are lookin' sharp. Yeah, the story is kinda crud, but, DAMN, ifn't they haven't improved on the music. The ending came to me, and I felt like that 5 year old kid again. My lust was renewed.
Then, due to Square's lack of faith in the American market and my reluctance to hop on the Sony bandwagon like so many other clowns, it was put on hold again... until the beginning of the year 2002.
I discovered the joy of emulators and ROMs.
First, for that oh-so-nostalgic feeling, I fired up a game of FF1. Sweet.
Then, to try and follow the order of things (my mistake), I booted up a game of FF2. Quit shortly thereafter. Eck.
To make matters worse, the next game I attempted was Mystic Quest. Yeah, it's mildy entertaining, but IT'S NOT A FREAKING FINAL FANTASY.
So, my faith in Square began to waver, until, at the advice of a loyal friend, I started a game that was little-known to me at the time... Chrono Trigger. Astonishing. Like a Final Fantasy, only not as dark, depressing, or gloomy, but with the fantastic characters, battle system, and music intact. CT swept me off my feet, and made me see what kind of beauty Square was capable of. After I finished it, I said to myself, "It doesn't get ANY better than that." But, it did.
The next game I tried was FFVI. Incredible. It managed to trump CT in every way. Fantastic storyline, spot-on battle, terrific music, perfect length, just the right amount of non-linear gameplay, but the best part were the CHARACTERS. My goodness, FFVI was really the first time I viewed any video game as a work of art. Each character (All 18 or 19 of em') were, vibrant, had sincere personality, and made you care for them an understand their story. I nearly wept when I saw Shadow's flashbacks and Shadow's ending. I felt rage alongside Cyan. I felt heroism (and a bit of stupidity) alongside Sabin. I laughed at Mog and Umaro. I pondered the relationships between Celes and Edgar. The end of that game rolled around, and I just stared at my computer with awe. To this date, FFVI is the best video game I've ever played, bar none.
After that, I started up FFIII. Yes, it was a good game, but I had just come off my FFVI high, so it didn't seem to impressive. Props for kicking off the battle system.
Right now, I'm playing both FFIV and Breath of Fire. They are both excellent games so far, but I'm not going to hedge my bets. (IV is starting to feel like VI jr., and that's a good thing.)
So, what order did you play you FFs? And what order should I play the PS ones, when I get to them (eventually)?
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After all, FFV uses some of the same sound effects as FFVI. Very cool. It amazes me how much of a leap the FF series took from FFV to FFVI. Suddenly the graphics, music and character development all went way up! Amazing. What caused it?
