Never played a Final Fantasy game before. Which one should I start with?

[PikaBubbles]

I'm someone who didn't have a childhood and never even touched a Final Fantasy game (yet). I barely even know anything about the Final Fantasy series. All I know is that it's a JRPG and it looks kind of like a turn based strategy game. But now I'm starting to have some free time in my life and would like to play at least one, two, or even all the games if I'm really enjoying it. So my questions are...

Which Final Fantasy game should I start with?
Are there any bad Final Fantasy game(s) that I should stay away from? If so which one(s)?
Which Final Fantasy game do you think is the best?
Is the game fun?
Any tips for a first time player?

[Enkidoh]

Hello, welcome!

Firstly, the FF main series is not a strategy game per se - there is the spin-off Tactics games which are strategy RPGS (in the same style as Vandal Hearts and the Ogre Battle series), but the main series are RPGs, specifically, turn-based ones. As for which FF games to start with for a first time player, that's a hard one. FFVII would probably be the best choice, as it's the title that a great deal of FF fans started with (it still remains arguably the most popular and successful FF title, for good and bad). Even after 15 years it is still regarded as the benchmark for the series, and for that matter, JRPGs in general.

However, everyone has their own favourites and ones they despise though, myself included. Being subjective here though. my personal recommendation is follows:

Start with FFVII, then work your way through the rest of the series from there. I'd recommend VIII, IX, IV and VI, and then maybe V, X and XII. If you like MMOs and can spare the time and money, FFXI is also well worth playing too, but because it's an MMORPG, it's not for everyone.

The ones to avoid are probably the NES titles (FFI-III), as although not definitely unplayable, they are very basic by modern standards, and, especially in II's case, have a lot of niggly issues that make play a chore. But it's up to you.

FFXIII has polarized the community for all the wrong reasons. It's not terrible, but the 'play-on-rails' approach put off a lot of players, but luckily the sequel fixed much of the issues.

And FFXIV, well, was a train wreck of a game - the second FF MMO it had a disastrous launch and has damaged Square Enix's reputation so badly, they're completely rebuilding the game from the ground up which will replace the existing game at the end of the year, rendering the current game virtually worthless. So avoid that too unless you're curious or have a lot of time to waste.

In any event, because each FF title has it's own unique battle system (while still retaining the same basic ideas), I can't really give any real advice in a general sense, other than with each title, learn how the battle and ability system functions - usually there are tricks to manipulating each system to your benefit which aren't always noticeable, and will usually make battles so much more enjoyable.

Other than that, have fun!

[PikaBubbles]

Well thank you very much! I appreciate it.

[Nostalgia gamer]

Well thank you very much! I appreciate it.

I disagree on the original.FF2-3 originals? sure.Keep in mind the limitations back 20 years ago or more.When they came out, it was with the best tech they had.That would be like calling black and white movies shit, because we have cgi and colour now.We have to judge it by thens standards.

I'd recommend:FF1 nes,FF4 snes(I didn't do much ds cause it crashed )FF5 snes(psx port suffers from bad loading times) FF6, FF7(keep in mind the most popular doesn't make something good) its not a bad game at all, FFX if you can get stand tidus the crybaby, and long drawn out mini games that take forever .I'm a little ocd, so i went for it.

---------- Post added at 03:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 AM ----------

Pikabubbles
If you play FFX take a break when you are burned out.

I don't recommend FF8 unless you like being frustrated, and an over complicated system that just slows down the game.It has some interesting ideas that go terribly wrong.

---------- Post added at 03:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:53 AM ----------

Pikabubbles
If you play FFX take a break when you are burned out.

I don't recommend FF8 unless you like being frustrated, and an over complicated system that just slows down the game.It has some interesting ideas that go terribly wrong.