Final Fantasy or Zelda - which has stood the test of time better?

Both of these franchises haven't had a truly great game in a long time. For me - FF10 was the last great Final Fantasy, and Windwaker was the last great Zelda. Hopefully the upcoming games change that. As for standing the test of time, I think Final Fantasy has produced so much more than the Zelda series has. Even with mediocre games, the series is still revered on a much bigger level than Zelda. What are thoughts on this very important issue, SW?

What? Skyward Sword was amazing. Then we have the new Zelda: Link Between Worlds. Also all the HD and 3D versions like Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask. All these games are still amazing today.

Final Fantasy for me up to 9 and a bit of 10. From there FF series became ...something different. I dont know ! So if you ask me in general what i prefer , ill tell you oldschool FF series but this very moment , with latest FF games like FF12 / mediocre MMOs and FF13 ? Zelda easily

Final Fantasy has fallen off a cliff lately

Zelda just had Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild

you do the math

FF13 and FF14 and FF15

VS LINK between worlds breath of the wild and wind waker etc

Legend of Zelda has appealed to me much longer, still appeals to me, though I admit it's in a pretty big lull at the moment. I've never been that big on Final Fantasy though. Not really big on either franchises' upcoming games, but LoZ edges out ahead.

FF, primarily because FFIX is the greatest game ever made

Zero effort at objectivity

I think it really depends on the individual games, the SNES Final Fantasy games still hold up very well and are some of the greatest games ever (Final Fantasy IV and VI mainly) but the NES ones aren't as good. The same applies for Zelda too with Link to the Past. However, in the PS1/N64 era, I don't really think those games in the series hold up that great (Ocarina, Final Fantasy IX, etc.). Lately, I'd definitely say that Zelda has been higher quality (loved Link Between Worlds). So in the past, I'd say they're about equal but currently, Zelda is fairing better. I am definitely looking forward to checking out Final Fantasy XV/VII remake and Breath of the Wild though.

Zelda has been more consistently good and even its worst games haven't seen the lows that the FF series has been through.

FF had a shaky start, didn't really start coming together until 4, had itself a SNES golden age (yes, FFV is a good entry too), still did well through the PS1 era even if the games were getting bloated, and has been incredibly divisive ever since.

When you look at the standings of both series today, Zelda still has a lot of goodwill from gamers whereas FF is more in the "I just hope it doesn't completely suck" territory.

Zelda especially since the handheld games for the most part are praised.

A decade ago, I would've said Final Fantasy. But FF has fallen so low over the past decade that I'd have to go with Zelda.

FF has had more ups and downs, at times reaching great heights (e.g. FFVI and FFVII) and at times hitting rock bottom (e.g. FFII and FFXIII). On the other hand, Zelda has been consistently good-to-great throughout, from the first game to the most recent, never hitting the kinds of lows that FF has hit.

Well Zelda has always been good and Final Fantasy never has. Not sure why you need to compare.

Zelda hasn't been good since Ocarina.

@Randoggy: yah but what about FF

13 was the worst FF

12 was just a crapload of meh

14 was broken and they had to redo the whole game and it still sucks

15 the main characters look like a boy band and that doesn't look like classic ff to me with kain and cecil and like sabin and knocking people that was FF tHTAT WAS FF

plus you had cloud and sephiroth and kefka and cecil dark knight and just wrecking orlandu

I just can't get behind this new crrew i can't im sorry

That's unfortunate.

I sometimes like new crews I loved the new star trek movie crew

I loved next generation crew i loved deep space nine crew

I DONT LIKE THE FF15 crew and i can have that opinion i dont like them

i liked cecil i liked sabin i liked ramza i liked those crews sometimes a new crew doesn't jive with me man crews really matter to me.

Yes, yes you can.

Well I never liked Zelda ( yes that includes ocarina of time) and the last FF I played was lightning return and it wasn't as bad as what most reviews said.

Zelda. Final Fantasy has become a laughing stock.

Most Zelda games stand the test of time really well, and while they have mixed quality, there aren't really any that I can say are "bad." Most old Zelda games are still easy to pick up as classic titles.

Old FF on the other hand is embarrassingly dated, and among recent titles, there are several games in the FF franchise that are total shit, or were total shit and had to be completely remade in the case of FF14.

Ehh... one tries too hard and fails harder. The other doesn't try hard enough and doesn't impress. Lose-lose scenario.

I think they're both on par with the number of good games. FF had at least 3, and Zelda had like 3 or 4?

Also this.

Yeah that's a fair assessment. FF continually tries to reinvent the wheel, Zelda just takes different spins on a tried and true formula... which ironically is what FF used to do in its heyday.

Played Final Fantasy (8) last year, it was shit.

Only redeeming feature was a milf witch women, beyond that you played a dick, surrounded by juvenile, annoying, mentally stunted teenagers and it refused to let you play the dam game, and when you did, literally every enemy could be better by using a guardian force. It's probably the worst dam RPG I've ever played.

In contrast I played YS, which was ported over, those games were awesome. Final Fantasy was just shit.

shit

Zelda

Turn based combat in FF bored me to tears.

Hard choice, but have to go with Zelda is better

I would say Zelda because of the great gameplay and nice level designs

Zelda is still great, ALBW was incredible.

It's been better and more consistent than FF throughout.

Zelda, FF went downhill since VII

Zelda has been more consistent. FF has taken a steep decline since FFX

Definitely Zelda. Breath of the Wild has me far more excited than FFXV does.

And while I didn't completely hate FFXII or even FFXIII, both were mediocre and neither game compares to Skyward Sword and especially not ALBW. The dissidia games are cooler spin offs than Tri force heroes though, and World of FF is promising I think, so there's that going for the FF series I suppose.

When was the last time they released a FF game that's considered good? FFIX? FFX? <--That was released 2001. I'd say it's pretty safe to say Zelda..

Just a week ago or so I replayed ALBW.

Beat it in a day. Which is a testament to how good it is. Got GOTY here for a reason.

Final Fantasy... well, I like Tactics. I despise 4, 6 was so cheesy you couldnt help but to like it and 5 had some good boss fights. 7 Had an interesting materia system, and was a great 5-6 hour run, only to fall downhill afterwards. 9 Stinks of FF4 so I am not touching it with a 10 foot pole.

And FF15... well, the combat looks like a banal ARPG and the cast of characters, they look so homogenized. Everyone looks so samey with a similar dress code.

Everyone is male
Everyone has a black jacket
Everyone, except one has black shirt underneath jacket
Everyone has black pants.

Compare that to the FF4 cast which had a much wider variety

Ignoring the last 3, there is still plenty of variety. Male, Female, Adults, Children, some are in armor, some are in robes, some are in clothing, some are in underwear and a cape, blue, green, red, some look majestical, others look practical and some look goofy. Cecil, in both his forms look nothing like edge, yet both attires work both looking believable while still very distinct from one another. Now I do dislike FF4, but I dont think its cast lacked variety.

Zelda? 1, 2, ALLTP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, TP, Oracles, 4SA and ALBW all ranged between good-GOAT material.

This man speaks the truth.

@Maroxad said:

Just a week ago or so I replayed ALBW.

Beat it in a day. Which is a testament to how good it is. Got GOTY here for a reason.

Final Fantasy... well, I like Tactics. I despise 4, 6 was so cheesy you couldnt help but to like it and 5 had some good boss fights. 7 Had an interesting materia system, and was a great 5-6 hour run, only to fall downhill afterwards. 9 Stinks of FF4 so I am not touching it with a 10 foot pole.

And FF15... well, the combat looks like a banal ARPG and the cast of characters, they look so homogenized. Everyone looks so samey with a similar dress code.

Everyone is male

Everyone has a black jacket

Everyone, except one has black shirt underneath jacket

Everyone has black pants.

Compare that to the FF4 cast which had a much wider variety

Ignoring the last 3, there is still plenty of variety. Male, Female, Adults, Children, some are in armor, some are in robes, some are in clothing, some are in underwear and a cape, blue, green, red, some look majestical, others look practical and some look goofy. Cecil, in both his forms look nothing like edge, yet both attires work both looking believable while still very distinct from one another. Now I do dislike FF4, but I dont think its cast lacked variety.

Zelda? 1, 2, ALLTP, LA, OoT, MM, WW, TP, Oracles, 4SA and ALBW all ranged between good-GOAT material.

The sad thing is there is ACTUAL people out there who like the newer FF's like FFX, younger people didn't play the older FF's so they think these ones are good.

They care too much about graphics and game being very linear.

Not all of them are bad though its just like movies some younger people like older movies, some like older games but a lot of them just like this new crap since its brand new and the game is markted to appeal to them especially if they are younger and don't wanna appreciate anything from the past.

You couldn't have chosen two more timeless games series than these two...

Imo, Zelda has been more consistent. The last great Zelda was Ocarina of time. The last great FF was 10 and, after that the quality in the franchise has decreased.

Zelda

SquareSoft/Enix has messed up Final Fantasy so bad over the years....6,7,8,10 were great games. Everything after that...meh.

Well.... it's hard to argue with that.

It's interesting how people claim that FFX was the last good one. The hate for FFXII is silly, that game was a masterpiece and when you emulate it on PC in 4k it's difficult to believe that you're playing a PS2 game.

Easily Zelda. Since FFX it's been all emo boy band simulators for the Final Fantasy franchise.... at least Zelda has stuck to its core gameplay and overall theme. That said I do prefer FF more as a whole...10 and the games before it at least.

I've played the "good" Final Fantasies (VI, VII, and IX), and I'd pick Zelda without any hesitation. I honestly don't get why FF is so highly praised, because jrpgs like Panzer Dragoon Saga, Chrono Trigger, Skies of Arcadia, and Grandia are a lot better.

@Renegade_Fury:

If you thought those were the "good" FF games, you were lied to, friend. VI and VII both are praised up and down by the masses, yet are among the worst entries in the franchise.

I do like skyward sword, but LBW and TP are bad

Even though Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, and Skyward Sword were atrocious, I thought Twilight Princess was still a good game. And Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild both seem to be a step in the right direction.

Final Fantasy X was good. But that was 14 years ago

What about Skyward Sword was amazing? The music yes. The dungeons and bosses maybe. The story, gameplay, characters, and overworld are all definitely a no for me.

@drummerdave9099: I loved every bit of it, its my favorite Zelda. Its also my favorite story. Gameplay was super addicting. Also some of my favorite characters.

@aigis: I dont think theyre bad, but i agree Skyward Sword is much better.

ZELDA by far.

I don't like Jrpgs and their Turn Based combat system, so I never was a fan of the FF series. TBC bores me to death.

All I've seen over the last 20 years is the complete opposite both in real life and the internet... so yeah. I don't think either of them are bad games though, just not anywhere near G.O.A.T status. Which ones would you say are the good ones then? Please don't mention VIII or X though, because I think they're trash.

@Renegade_Fury:

While I don't agree about VI and VII (former is just plain bad, I could write whole articles on the why; the latter is overhyped to high heaven despite being mediocre), if you found them to be okay that's cool.

I think FF is at its best when they focus on the gameplay over the horrendous stories. That's not to say all the stories are bad, but they do tend to place an emphasis on them and spectacle in recent years.

After playing all of them (several times a piece I might add, save for the MMOs):

• IV (melodramatic though it may be, the game is structured very similarly to IX)
• X (I know you said not to mention it, but even with its weak plot and bad voice acting the gameplay is one of the better takes on turn based combat)
• X-2 (yes the plot is ridiculous, but this is the best take on their Job System, far better than their last attempt with V)
• XII (the International release, which will soon be available on PS4, is a far cry from the vanilla version we got back in 2006)

IX is my personal favorite game of all time, but I am the first to admit its not a great game. It's slow, too easy, and despite a fun cast is not a great plot. If you ever want to try other FF games, try those I mentioned. If they don't do it for you, then the series is not for you. Which is fine, too.