Final Fantasy vs. Other JRPG Series

[Forsaken Lover]

Let's throwdown.

FF is the most popular JRPG series across the world. But does it deserve that title? What of other series?

Suikoden?
Tales Of?
Shin Megami Tensei?
Wild ARMs?
Atelier?

And many, many more.

How does FF compare to all of them? Do you prefer any of these other series to FF?

[black orb]

>>> If we put everything on a balance, and by everything I mean: Graphics, Music, Gameplay, Art direction, cinematics, etc..
Final Fantasy is still unmatched..

[Wolf Kanno]

Comes down to taste really but I would argue that for me, Suikoden and Shin Megami Tensei have a better consistency record than FF does but at the same time, the series have other factors that makes this a bit unfair to FF since it has the longest running mainline series whereas the others only have a few for the mainline. Shin Megami Tensei does easily beat FF in terms of a franchise for me. There are only a few non-mainline FFs I really love whereas MegaTen has spin-off series that are on par or even better than the main series.

Suikoden is also a very different beast as well and a large part of the series appeal is the connected world that the series span, sadly its main story is aborted so we'll never have a real conclusion unless Konami makes some changes which will probably never happen.

The other series vary. Part of the issue I have with this question is that FF has been around long enough to finally make crap whereas the other series were largely struck down in their prime so its hard to make the comparison from that angle. It is also difficult when I think about how FF has so many good games while the others don't but FF has 14 main titles whereas many of the other series I like rarely made it to their sixth installment so its kind of hard to judge there either.

[NeoCracker]

Shin Megami probably has more spin off's then it has main titles, Hell SMT IV is a pretty knew game, and the Spin Off series Persona is already getting it's fifth title at the end of this year. I dont' know if we can really call any of teh SMT games a Spin off at this point.

Having not played pretty much any non US release SMT game, I can say the quality of these titles is easily more consistant then FF on a whole.

Atelier's heights may not reach that of FF or SMT, though they have found a consistant high quality that they rarely fall from, though it is targeted to a smaller audience.

And your lack of mention of Breath of Fire depresses me.

[Pike]

The only other JRPG series I've played besides Final Fantasy is Pokemon.

I think I like Pokemon better overall. Nothing against FF but Pokemon is just great.

[Forsaken Lover]

And your lack of mention of Breath of Fire depresses me.

I knew I was forgetting some series. There's also the Dragon Quest games. Or Dragon Warrior games. Or maybe they're different things.

[Bolivar]

I think the one flaw holding Final Fantasy back is challenge. Most games are either too easy or unfairly hard. FFV and IX are probably the only two that it get it just right, and maintain it throughout the adventure.

So as I've gotten older, Dragon Quest has given FF a run for its money, as I'm more willing to have a traditional story and cast, if it comes a long with a more substantive quest.

[Del Murder]

Dragon Quest and BoF are pretty great but for me FF is still the best by a mile.

Pokemon is pretty fun but it is essentially the same game over and over again with minor upgrades each time. That happens to be a really fun game to play over and over again but I wouldn't call it a great 'series'. Now when Pokemon creates an mmo we can start talking.

[Christmas]

The Chrono series?

Trigger and Cross are pretty neat games.

[Quindiana Jones]

Suikoden is also a very different beast as well and a large part of the series appeal is the connected world that the series span, sadly its main story is aborted so we'll never have a real conclusion unless Konami makes some changes which will probably never happen.

Man, could you imagine if Konami just took literally 5 seconds out of their lives to not be just the worst?

[Dr. Acula]

I love the Persona series and the Tales series, although some Tales games are just way too long.

[BG-57]

I love the FF series of course but each game is generally standalone and I adore how Suikoden I-V (and Tactics) build a large and rich world over the course of six games. I also like how a peripheral country in each game becomes the central focus in the next. If Tierkireis hadn't derailed everything we could have had a sequel set in Harmonia!

[Wolf Kanno]

Suikoden is also a very different beast as well and a large part of the series appeal is the connected world that the series span, sadly its main story is aborted so we'll never have a real conclusion unless Konami makes some changes which will probably never happen.

Man, could you imagine if Konami just took literally 5 seconds out of their lives to not be just the worst?

I will commend them for releasing gaming collections of their classics. Otherwise, I wish they would either sell their IPs or let their game development teams do more than mobile titles, ports, pachinko machines, and Yu-Gi-Oh!/Captain Tsubasa titles.

At least Eiyuden Chronicles is a thing...