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Part of IX problem was that it was based heavily on the earlier entries in the series and it came out after VII and VIII. At least in the US, the more fantastic sci-fish style of VII and VIII were what the series was identified with, so IX suffered lower sales because Americans didn't value the older games in the series quite as much.

 LordofHats wrote:
Part of IX problem was that it was based heavily on the earlier entries in the series and it came out after VII and VIII. At least in the US, the more fantastic sci-fish style of VII and VIII were what the series was identified with, so IX suffered lower sales because Americans didn't value the older games in the series quite as much.

Didn't help that FF9's story kinda got condensed, some characters were kind of useless storywise after a while if they weren't Vivi, Zidane, or Dagger (my poor Freya )

I never played any of them post VIII, and I disliked VIII for reasons both mechanical and narrative. I notice XIII is coming to Steam in October.

Would you all say it's not worth playing then?

9 is my favourite, but I got to the end and was pretty annoyed by it so I never really finished it properly. I loved the world they built and the sound track though.

I've only played 6, 7, 8 (which I didn't like), 9 and a short bit of 10. For me what killed it was actually the transition to voice acting. I could probably have put up with the main character from 10 if I had been reading his dialogue, but listening to him gurn his way through every conversation killed all desire I had to keep playing.

This game looks pretty joyless to me, to be honest. I am not wowed by anything I'm seeing here, but maybe I was never really a FF fan.

9 was a financial success, even if it didn't pull quite the numbers 7 did. Also iirc it not only had the best critical reception of any final fantasy title, there are a few folks who were on the development team who still consider it their best work.

 Chongara wrote:
9 was a financial success, even if it didn't pull quite the numbers 7 did. Also iirc it not only had the best critical reception of any final fantasy title, there are a few folks who were on the development team who still consider it their best work.

Yeah, but this is the video game industry (and worse, it's Square, the company that considered 7 million Tomb Raider copies sold not good enough) who has consistently been rather block headed when it comes to their profit margins

I really liked the aesthetic of XIV, but it could also be because it was a return to fantasy. If the end of IX wasn't so 'meh' it would be higher on my list, but overall it was one of my favorite. III/VI still holds the spot as my favorite as I am a man of exquisite and refined taste.

I keep seeing this crop up. The kid is no more annoying than Zell. And EVERY Final Fantasy has a car tucked away somewhere. You're mad because you get to drive one now?

I liked VI the most, as it has the best soundtrack, characters, and storyline of any FF game. IV comes in a very close second. For the same reasons.

XI is another favorite of mine, though I can't really measure it against the non-MMORPG FF games, since a MMORPG is different on so many levels to a console game. XI did have some fundamental design problems (level grind was worse than Hitler) and the story seemed kind of scattershot, but it let me play as a Red Mage, so I would forgive it for any transgression.

But the earlier comments that FFVI started a negative trend in the FF series seems to be accurate. As much as I liked FFVI, the fact that I could (eventually) give every character every spell made the characters feel a little less unique. That's not to say that I didn't have favorite characters; it just meant my favorite characters were my favorite based on their personalities/stories rather than their offensive skills (I did use the Sword Tech and Kung-Fu moves in the endgame fights, because they looked cool, but I can't remember anyone ever using the Sketch ability).

FFIV was more challenging, because the dungeons were designed around the party you were going to take inside. there were dungeons where you lacked offensive magic, where you lacked melee attack power, or where you had the Bard in your group. Each of these was difficult because of the forced composition of your party. You always had the tools to win, you just had to figure out how to use those tools (or, how to win in spite of having the Bard).

squidhills wrote:
I liked VI the most, as it has the best soundtrack, characters, and storyline of any FF game. IV comes in a very close second. For the same reasons.

XI is another favorite of mine, though I can't really measure it against the non-MMORPG FF games, since a MMORPG is different on so many levels to a console game. XI did have some fundamental design problems (level grind was worse than Hitler) and the story seemed kind of scattershot, but it let me play as a Red Mage, so I would forgive it for any transgression.

XI was probably influenced heavily by Everquest, which was the big MMORPG when it came out. Thus the level grind. And the multitude of classes. One of the neat things about it - and something that just about everyone else seems to not even try to do - is that the game has cross-platform servers. If an MMORPG is available on multiple platforms, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to play it with your friends even if you're using different systems to run it. FFXI allows that, as does FFXIV. The vast majority of online games (the just-released Destiny, for instance) do not. I find that puzzling, and annoying.

FFIV was more challenging, because the dungeons were designed around the party you were going to take inside. there were dungeons where you lacked offensive magic, where you lacked melee attack power, or where you had the Bard in your group. Each of these was difficult because of the forced composition of your party. You always had the tools to win, you just had to figure out how to use those tools (or, how to win in spite of having the Bard).

YOU SPOONY BARD!



FFIV is my favorite of the series.

See, I liked the flexibility with Magic in FFVI. Characters still had special abilities, which for the most part were useful. But I agree that one can see the point where characters started to become interchangeable.

But FFVII, as I have mentioned many times, pushed me away from the series. FFVI and IV are also my favorites.

Did anyone else enjoy Final Fantasy 13-2?

It had a neat monster catching aspect, and the time travel was a nice reminder of Radiant Historia. Even Hope had grown up a little character-wise, although he still had that silly boomerang.

I've just always wondered if FF 13 had poisoned the well for 13-2.