It has been thirteen years since I played my first Final Fantasy game, and since that time I have grown very accustomed not just to Final Fantasies, but to Squaresoft and Square Enix's other RPG endeavours. The console ventures, at least, are always incredibly deep and complex, fun to play, full of replayability, and all too memorable for anyone's good. Here's a list of my top five favorite Final Fantasies.
5. Final Fantasy IX
Back when this Final Fantasy first came out, I was not a fan of its predecessor in the least bit. I had grown incredibly bored of the story and frustrated by its battle system by the middle of the second disc. Then came this game. Its claim to "return back to basics" did not affect me in the least bit, as I had only played VII and VIII beforehand. But it was a new Final Fantasy and the battle system seemed more "normal" to me. I never beat the game, but my brother did and I got to see long ending that way. Still, it was fun and I enjoyed my time with IX.
4. Final Fantasy X
My first experience with FFX came in the form of a trailer vid on a demo disc I received from a copy of the Official Playstation Magazine. It had my jaw down to the ground. It was love at first sight. That first released picture of Tidus had me intrigued. Then came news that you could swap out characters whenever you pleased in the midst of battle...and that each character had a unique function for battles (at least initially)...and that your stats and spells and skills were all increased or learned through something called the Sphere Grid. And then there was, you know, the graphics...and the music. Somehow, I got my hands on what I could effectively call a Sampler Soundtrack. Without seeing 99.5% of the actual game's content, those songs had my imagination going wild. And the love affair just grew stronger from there. I convinced all my closest friends (who all had PS2s of their own or bought them in time for this game's release) to buy the game, and they did. It came out right before Christmas '02, and my awesome parents let me play it before Christmas. Thus, it came to pass that the very day my high school let out for Winter Break, I had all my friends over my house for our own personal FFX Launch party. We literally sat in my family room and played the first five or so hours of the game, taking turns every once in a while. It was fantastic. Equally amusing is my memory of the day I came into school absolutely busting to tell my friends about the revelation at Mt. Gagazet's peak. Even though then and still today I feel the game was all too short compared to the three that'd come before it, the story was still wonderful, its sequel was equally as fun and entertaining, and I could not not include this game on this list, especially given my own history with it. :)
3. Final Fantasy XII
I'm going to go ahead and say it right now: The games in this spot and the #2 spot are essentially tied. That's an odd thing to say, given that I haven't played a single solitary second of FFXII. However, I've watched hours of gameplay and that's why this game makes it so high on the list, even above a game that I just spent two paragraphs praising like crazy. Any game (and actually, this is the first and only time thus far in my life, at least that I can recall (and I have a great memory)) that is absolutely mesmerizing and fun just to watch is a great game indeed. I'm never bored when watching someone play this game. I've watched my friend Steve play over fifteen hours of this game, for crying out loud. I just bought a copy for myself two weeks ago (reason? My old PS2 had been dead for years and I decided to finally buy a new one.).
What do I love about this game...the Espers. The song that plays while summoning or fighting Espers. Balthier. The open battle encounters. The MMO-esque battle system. The Gambit system. The License Board. Quickenings. The antiquated, magical quality of the settings. And yet, I haven't played a lick of the game myself. Funny, huh? I can't wait to, though. I just know I'm going to love it. Because back when I first saw the game in action, it was at my friend Mike's house, a mutual friend of Steve's and mine. He introduced the game to the two of us and we got to watch him battle two Espers, Chaos and Cuchulainn. It was nuts watching his characters' health fluctuate so much, so many near death experiences and close calls, seeing the Quickenings and the License Board for the first time. It was all just too awesome to grasp. That excitement still lives inside me. I cannot wait to play the game. I'm sure it'll be great.
2. Final Fantasy VIII
So I didn't like this game back in '99. But I was an eighth grader then. Perhaps the story was too sappy for me. Perhaps too complex? Perhaps it was the Junction system that was too complex for my younger self. When I visited the game a second time, deciding to give it a second chance, three years ago, it was a totally different game to me. I was in love.
There was nothing like leveling Squall to level 30+ before the end of the first disc, being able to draw Tornado from birds outside Galbadia (?) as a result, and waltzing into the final battle of the disc with over 6.5k health. Then, later on, having things like Recover and Mug and being able to Junction Death to a weapon for instant kills. The game, in every way, felt a lot more comfortable and enjoyable once I grew up a bit more. I still haven't beat this one, but I definitely look forward to doing so.
1. Final Fantasy VII
What can I say here that hasn't been said by many other people already many times over? Well, this wasn't my first RPG, so you can cross that off the list. It was my second. But it was my first Final Fantasy. I had never before experienced such an engaging story in a video game before. I had never experienced turn-based combat like that, nor did I previously experience such a wide array of weapons, armor, magic spells, or the awesomeness we know as summons. It was a whole new world and the gameplay, coupled with the soundtrack and very lovable characters, made for a genuine masterpiece that I have loved since I first bought the game. To this day, FFVII is the only game I've ever played that I can beat, watch all the credits of, and then want to immediately start right up at the beginning again. Only since I've downloaded the game onto my PSP very recently did I finally think internally about how dated the graphics are. But when the game itself is so fantastic overall, I still can't find fault with that.