Since we keep arguing about it...

You can change your vote later, if you have to.

Aww, the poll doesn't seem to work.

My vote goes to FF1.

Works for me... are you getting an error?

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I keep getting this message.

What makes a Final Fantasy game awesome?

The brilliant plot and character development. The brilliant cutscenes. The brilliant music. Maybe the gameplay, for what it is.

So FFI to FFV - that's the foundation for the series. Good stuff, but nothing great. But it really set the foundation for what was to come. And the music, like the FFIV boss theme - truly remarkable...but just the beginning.

Now, the game that really set the benchmark was FFVI, which heralded a new era of Final Fantasy splendor. Most notably, between the release of FFVI and FFVII, Square unveiled unto the world a game called Super Mario RPG. Square was on fire at this point. SMRPG should have been a disaster, but somehow it turned out to be truly remarkable. What a recipe for disaster: Taking a handful of classic characters and introducing them to this non-canonical universe with a non-canonical storyline...and even adding new characters who play principal roles in the storyline. But it worked. At the end of the game, you were as invested in the characters and the plot as you were in FFVI. And the music - what a triumph. The two games were very similar.

FFVII. Not sure I have to say anything about this game. If we're just going to objectively evaluate the best, it's this game. It outclasses the rest of the series by orders of magnitude beyond human comprehension, as demonstrated by its popularity (and sales figures). In classic Final Fantasy style, it had the brilliant plot and character development and the brilliant music. But for the first time, we get to see the brilliant cutscenes as well, which have since become a Final Fantasy (and general RPG) staple. And the score. My goodness.

FFVIII...the gameplay was so awful I never really got into it. But I am all but certain that the success of this game was just residual success from FFVII. Don't even want to talk about it.

But my favorite (and "best") will always be FFIX. The aesthetic alone is simply timeless. Today, even FFVII looks dated - and just forget about anything that came before it. But I can still watch in awe as [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL0l3UKPUxY]the party arrives at Lindblum[/url]. When you have a brilliant aesthetic, you don't have to worry about obsolete graphics. The characters were all great, as usual. The plot was kind of wonky, but I was still enthralled at every turn. The music was brilliant - and you knew it the second you put the CD into the tray. That memorable menu tune, which really set the tone for the entire game. And "Melodies of Life" - wow. Just to see how the music has developed over the years. So I really think that this was the first (and maybe the last) game to really have it all - everything that makes Final Fantasy Final Fantasy.

FFX. I really enjoyed this game, but I really don't think that anybody is going to say it's their favorite. Awesome graphics, but a weak aesthetic. I loved the plot, but the characters were only okay. The score had some gems - some truly great gems, at that - but much of the rest of it was immemorable. And I think we can all agree that the voice acting was a mistake.

Pretty sure they made games after FFX. But I don't know anything about them.

Where is Tactics?

My personal favorite is VII, but I think the best storyline is in Tactics.

Also to sheer's post: Final Fantasy III was way ahead of its time and definitely ranks as #1 of the first five, hands down.

Hands down, six was the best. And there are many reasons this is so.

The later games have more iconic moments in cut-scenes that stick out, but the characters are rich in 6. Not to mention 6 has its iconic times too, e.g. Serpent Trench, approaching and leaving Vector, The Opera, the separate scenarios, the floating continent, the apocalypse.

The characters in VI have such sad backstories. Most of them lost someone they really cared about, or in Relm's case someone she never knew. And you have the option of learning more backstory for some of the characters.

The villain is a bit of a joke then he burns the castle to oh dang that was genocide to holy hell all those espers and cold murdering his allies and then the man becomes God.

The music is pretty amazing too.

Tactics was really cool too.

34% into X-2 is the point I stopped playing in the official series. I had a difficult time getting the palm of my hand unstuck from my forehead with that one. I feel XII and XIII deserve a try by me, but I don't know when that time will come. Still need to play V! Not playing II or III is understandable, but not playing V feels like I'm missing out on something, and I know there are many fans of that one.

I have to go with FFVI. FFVII was indeed a great game, but I am much more fond of VI.

I really liked the characters from VI. Great heroes, and quite a lot of them, and especially great villians. Maybe Gau, Strago and Relm could have been given more purpose, (Mog, Umaro, and Gogo are clearly extra characters) but they didn't take away from the experience. I find it interesting that FFVI's double sized cast compared to all other FF rosters has ZERO characters I hated or really disliked being forced to use.

Love Terra. Love Celes. Love Locke. Love Edgar. Love Sabin. Love Setzer. Love Cyan.

That's already the average number of FF cast members, now add that I:

Like Shadow and Gau. I may be indifferent to Strago and Relm, but I'll take under-utilized characters over annoying or rude ones any day. And the bonus characters... I'm fairly sure they were included primarily to pad out your parties for the split-up sequences. Nothing wrong with extra soldiers! Of course the main group of adventurers has all the emotional resolve and combined fighting experiences, but if Bigfoot himself wants to fight alongside you, let him!

Emperor Gestahl, Kefka and Ultros rocked my face off.

The versatility of the Esper system was very cool when I was a kid playing for the first time. "Whoa, you mean I can teach spells to anyone? Awesome!" It is easy to over-level while trying to exploit Espers, but it's completely up to you how you want to go about it.

I found the hunt for allies in the endgame an interesting and satisfying feature. I know some folks didn't like it but it worked very well for me. They failed, and in their seperation, came to a resolution on their individual, unresolved personal issues. They recuperated, and they decided a world without Kefka was still a world worth dying for the chance to realize. Together and against the odds, they defeated the horrible monster that forever defaced their planet.

FFVI was a satisfying experience all the way to the end. There wasn't a whole lot I didn't like about VI. Simply unforgettable.

I have played IX to completion, however I'd be hard pressed to recall what happens in it. I did enjoy it, but it didn't stick. I remember enjoying it more than X, but strangely, I can recall more of what happens in X and in what order. IX... Totally fuzzy.

IV was pretty awesome in it's heyday but it takes one too many logic dumps to take completely seriously (How the hell did the Red Wings get underground before you if you had the key to the underworld?!), along with suicidal drama (lol I survived!) and betrayal everywhere.

VIII gameplay experiments/angsty teen love drama/busy work simulator: The Game. And it sold incredibly well because of the successful hype FF7 generated. I don't hate it, but it is hella strange. I like the modern feel of the world and the card game was pretty neat.

X had an interesting leveling system and weapon customization, and great visuals. Terrible cast. Decent story, though I wouldn't play it again. X-2 was just a sloppy drunk.

Two responses since I started typing, lol could be worse.

I played the DS remake of IV. Absolutely hated it and sold the blasted game. Pretty much everything about it, from graphics to gameplay, totally pissed me off. However, it's possible that I'd enjoy the original SNES version.

I have the feeling I would really like VI if I ever summoned the stamina to slog my way through the whole thing, but it hasn't happened yet. One of the things about it that bothers me is that it's one of those games where only the characters in your party gain experience. Sure it's an older game, but this has always greatly annoyed me. Never played VII. Might give it a shot if it gets remade someday. As it is, the graphics make my eyes burn. I love how SNES games look but PS1/N64 games are very difficult for me to get through. I'm sure I'd feel differently if I'd had a PS back when I was a kid.

IX is probably the game in the series I'd be most likely to enjoy if I played it. But man, the only-party-characters-level thing comes up again here... X had nice graphics for its time and great, fun gameplay (and none of that stupid active time stuff, either) but the characters and story are often frustrating and dumb.

XIII epitomizes everything wrong with the modern Japanese RPG: it's little more than a computer-generated movie that only occasionally requires the player to do something. There's sense that you, the player, is actually in the game. You can't really control the behavior or personality of your character, and while Japanese gamers might be fine with this, after playing games like Dragon Age and Mass Effect, I simply can't go back to the virtual prison that is the modern, cinematic Japanese RPG in which you are barely playing, you don't really have any role in the story, and it's hardly even a game.

I find the Dragon Quest games more enjoyable than Final Fantasy in just about every way except maybe for music - they're fun, don't take themselves too seriously, and have terrific monster and character designs most of the time. Sure they're comparatively primitive, but it allows them to avoid most of the pitfalls of the cinematic JRPG. Give me a silent protagonist over a whiny guy who won't shut up any day. And Dragon Quest V had a much more moving story and characters than any of the much-flashier FFs I've played.

Dragon Quest V is .

Papas!! DDD;

I must be the only one here who loved ff8.


Sure Squall starts out as an ass, but he develops nicely, I think. The gameplay experiments were enjoyable for the most part, and several of the characters rank very highly in my list of favorites. (Laguna, anyone?)


But seriously, like almost everyone here, 6 is my favorite.

No Tactics, no vote.

[quote="Jono"]No Tactics, no vote.

[/quote]
Actually, I have to agree. I think that Tactics may be my favorite. The gameplay is just so damn good. I never tire of it. Tactics would be my number one choice, with FF1 as a close second.

TACTICS.

Then 7 and 6 and 4.

Don't hate on VII, you all know it was Squares favorite too.