Greatest Magic System

[Nominus Experse]

Each and every Final Fantasy that I have yet played has implemented a magic system that is different than its predecessor. Due to this, I ask this question:

Which Final Fantasy had the greatest magic system?

NOTE: I have not yet played all of the FF's, and as such, I am automatically assuming that each Final Fantasy title had a different magic system. If it happens that two share the same system, than, well, just chose whichever one you enjoyed more...

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Tactics. It does most things better than any other Final Fantasy. And Charge time with area of effect spells and job points is a great system.

[Zeromus_X]

Well, is this how they're used in battle too?

FFI: Buy spells. Three spells per spell level. Spells are final, cannot be deleted for more spells, so make them count! Some spells target all enemies/allies.

FFII: Buy spells. Characters can learn a total of 16 (?) spells. The maximum level for spells, like weapons and shields is 16. Spells increase in effectiveness as they level up. All spells can target all enemies/allies by pressing 'left' on the edge of the enemy alignment.

FFIII: Buy spells. Only some classes may actually use spells, but you can teach non-mage classes spells to 'store' them. Spells can be deleted and 'restored' into spell books again, much more convenient. Summons are introduced. Higher level summons must be fought first, and once defeated, are available for purchase in Eureka. Some spells target all enemies.

FFIV: Only mages can learns spells, as they level up. There is Black, White, Ninjutsu, and Summon magic.

FFV: Buy spells. Only mage classes can use spells. As spells are obtained, they are simply available and any magic-user class can call upon them without having them individually learned. Blue Magic and Time Magic introduced. Blue Magic must be learned by having a Blue Mage or character with !Learn struck by the spell. Some spells can target all enemies/allies.

FFVI: Spells learned from Espers. Almost every character can learn magic, making for slightly unbalanced gameplay. As Magic Points are gained in battle, they are multiplied by whatever Learning Rate the spell has for that Esper to increase the percent of the spell by the product. Other characters have class-specific spells, Gau has Rages, and Strago has Lores (Blue Magic), etc. Also, this was the first game to just use the shoulder buttons to multi-target spells. Some spells can target all allies/enemies.

FFVII: Spells learned from Materia. The Materia for that spell must be equipped to use it, of course. With a paired 'All' Materia, it is possible to target all enemies/allies, and how many times a battle this is possible is dependant on the level of the All Materia. You can hit the shoulder button and target one enemy to conserve the number of times you can use the All to multi-target.

FFVIII: Magic is actually used to increase stats and offer elemental and status defense/attack. In this way, armor is completely uneccesary. As GFs (the game's summons) are Junctioned to characters, different stats become available for Junctioning. Spells are drawn from Draw Points and enemies to 'stock up' on; you can hold up to 100 of a spell. (The MP system is not used in this game).

FFIX: Only mages can use magic. Dragon magic is introduced by Freya Crescent, although this seems to be the only game with it. It offers many positive status effects and different formula attacks. Spells are learned like the other abilities in the game, and once mastered, are available forever.

FFX: Spells are learned on the Sphere Grid. Anyone can learn them, although the mage characters will have access to them first for a long time.

FFX-2: Spells are learned just like other abilities, available for that Dressphere forever once mastered. Certain spells can be available for non-magic using Dresspheres from different Garment Grids and Accessories.

FFT: Spells are learned just like other abilities in the game. Yin-Yang magic (status effect spells) are introduced as a separate category. Spells can target friend and foe alike, so be careful. Also, the Calculator 's Math Skill can be combined with different spells for devastating results.

FFTA: I assume it works like in Tactics, does it not?

FFCC: Two spells can be cast in the same targer area and be combined to create even more powerful spells if timed properly. Experiment with your friends!

I also like FFT's system.

Friendly Fire Principle (or, Final Fantasy Tactics Rule)
Any attack that can target both allies and enemies will hit half of your allies and none of your enemies.

[Remon]

FFT of course

[Slothy]

Final Fantasy Tactics. I can't think of a single class that wasn't useful in that game, and to me, it really struck the finest balance in general for all the abilities. This was one of the few games I've played where it actually helps to do more than spam things like Firaga or Ultima the entire battle. There's a lot of strategy involved in using magic in that game (not to mention the fighting in general). I'm surprised FFVIII is in second on that poll though, as it'd be my least favourite hands down. Don't get me wrong, I liked the Junction system to a certain extent, but the spells in that game were generally weak (weaker than regular and special attacks anyway), so there was next to no incentive to use them, especially since relying heavily on magic meant lowering your stats. My opinion might be different if they had struck a finer balance between the usefulness of the spells when cast and when used for junctioning.

[Angi-Kaiser]

I liked FF II's system. The fact that you have to work with a spell for it to be affective really apeals to me. You can't spam spells such as Ultima and Firaga without working hard to get them to a usefull level.

[ljkkjlcm9]

I liked FFVI, anyone can learn anything, and anyone can be a good magic user if you increase their Magic Power stat.

THE JACKEL

[Freya Coral]

FF8 was the best! You can exploit enemies' weaknesses while at the same time boosting your stats to the point of being demi-gods as well as protecting against every status effect in the book. (Which, in effect, renders Malboros harmless. )

[nik0tine]

I had the most fun casting magic in FFVI, but I don't think that was the 'greatest' magic system in any of the games. I really don't know what the greatest might be, but tactics can certainly give them all a run for their money.

[Qurange]

I was terribly fond of FFVIII's system; it was very dynamic, and lended a very strategic element to the actual use of magic. Magic had to be allocated in the proper Junctions, and it needed to be replenished--kind of like MP--if the Junction used was also a valued spell.

[Rocket Edge]

Junction System. Brilliant.

[Sefie1999AD]

Wow, FFVIII is leading, which is quite weird. I disliked drawing spells, drawing more and drawing even some more after that, and I didn't expect many people to like that. The greatest magic system... well, I'd say FFVII because of its materia system, but since you can have every character cast every spell and that way have overpowered characters that deal huge physical damage while casting Cure 3, Life 2, Big Guard, Ultima and Knights of the Round, I'm not really sure.

If not FFVII, I'll probably go with FFIV or FFV. In FFIV, white mages were good with healing spells, black mages were good with offensive spells. It was usually a good idea to have both in your party, so neither of them is a useless character. In addition, I thought FFIV was so hard that you needed to use every bits of strategy, so I used spells like Slow, Break, Toad, and Mini on enemies while using spells like Haste, Berserk, Protect, Reflect etc on my own characters. I find this a benefit for the magic system because normally I hardly ever use status spells, but in FFIV, most of the spells become handy during the game.

I mentioned FFV above. Why is that? It's because you can use the job system to mix spell types and have a character use different kind of spells, while still nobody is overpowered, and nobody is a carbon copy of another character (unless you really try and level them up the same way and use the same jobs and abilities). There's a plenty of good combinations. White and Black Magic together (Holy and Flare, healing when needed), Blue Magic and Time Magic together for some handy tricks (Haste 2, Big Guard and White Wind, anyone? Not to mention 1000 Needles / Blow Fish is one of the few things that can destroy Harpies and Skull Eaters on World 1), or one of my favorite combos, X-Magic, Summon Magic and Time Magic (Quick, Haste 2, Golem, Meteo, Bahamut spam etc). It's really fun to mix and match things in FFV.

[Omnislash07]

I liked the materia system most because instead of having to make each induvidual character stronger for them to get spells you just level up the materia and then put it on whichever character you want, I think this gave the player alot more freedom to use whichever character they wanted at any point in the game regardless of when they joined, unlike in 6, 9, and 10 where if you try to use a character late in the game they will be so underpowered that they will just get owned. Plus I used alot more spells in 7 than i did in most others like: Ultima, Contain materia, Comet, the Bahamuts, KOTR, Barrier, Haste, and Bolt, Fire, and Ice but only until i beat Lost Number then i got rid of those 3.

[ValiantKnight]

Out of I, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and T... hmm

Going to have to say VI or T

VI is very easy to use and nicely done..

T is very unique and thought provoking.

hmmm
VIII for me was ok.. I didnt use magic at all most of the time, and the magic was there to make my armor better.. but by no means was the magic system good.

The armor system was good, not the magic system just my opnion.


I'll go with VI.

[Psychotic]

FFVII and FFX-2 both had good systems, but if you ask me, FFV had the pick of the bunch.