Topic: Final Fantasy VII, IX, X, X-2 and XII - Now with 80% more FF VIII

@Zeldafan79
You must use walkthrough to play Final Fantasy games, especially older series.
Otherwise, you will ended up by clueless and made permanent mistakes.

Btw, playing games without guidance is NOT fun at all. I don't want be surprised by nasty reality that i missed something or i have screwed up something. Better i prevent rather than experience with nasty surprise.
It's not cheating at all.

@Anti-Matter
Oh good that makes me feel better. I was watching video guides from a guy called HC bailey on youtube and his walkthroughs are really detailed and helpful. I try my best to figure out stuff on my own but i often play along with him so i don't miss anything. I felt kinda dirty about it though. Like i was wussing out with a let's play guide. Glad I'm not the only one.

Glad you got there, @NintendoByNature .... I played FFIII, IV & tactics advance originally before I had wi-fi in the place I lived, @Zeldafan79, so I had to do them without guides then But it's usually a good idea to look up some things for the games! At least in the older ones, there's some things that you'd be highly unlikely to stumble on or work out on your own It's why the official guides sold well enough, for those playing them back in the day

@Zeldafan79 I almost never look stuff up in games. If I do, it's almost always after an initial playthrough, when I don't have to fear spoiling myself. If a game is baffling enough that I feel like I just can't figure out what to do, I'll usually just stop playing it.

In general, old Final Fantasy games don't require any sort of external assistance to be fully appreciated. You might miss secrets/side-quests/etc., but the game will still lead you naturally through the broad strokes of the plot.

With that said, play these games however you like. No shame in using guides, especially if they help you to enjoy the game more than you would have otherwise.

I pretty much buckled down and used an annotated map with the original NES Legend of Zelda game after years of failing to get into it, and it dramatically improved my experience with the game.

I’m thinking of playing my first ever Final Fantasy game next up.

Final Fantasy X as I hear it’s a good entry point and it’s been in the backlog for a while.

I hear it’s quite linear so would that really need a guide? I don’t mind missing the odd extra. Any tips for someone who’s played a few rpgs but is completely new to the game and wider series?

It is pretty linear, @JoeDiddley .... What's kept you from playing them before? Anything in particular? There's missable stuff but none of it really matters that much, if you're not a hardcore completionist, tbh

@JoeDiddley
One important thing before you play final Fantasy X, especially the HD Remaster.
Make sure you must get Destruction sphere from every Cloister Trial inside the Temple. Otherwise, you have to face with Almost Impossible to beat Dark Aeon which guard every Temple. To beat all those Impossible Dark Aeon, use your Aeon Yojimbo, make sure you have called him oftenly and if you're lucky, you can kill any Dark Aeon with Zanmato (100% Instant Deth to any enemies including Bosses).
The linearity on FF X can screwed up you if you forget to pay attention with every tiny details. I have already warned you before playing FF X.

@JoeDiddley FFX was fun. Quite different from other entries, but that won't matter to you. I did enjoy it overall.

@JoeDiddley If you're not digging Blitzball, then don't fixate too much on it. It can be an incredibly minor part of the game.

One of my least Final Fantasy games, personally, but that's an unpopular opinion on my part.

Thanks everyone for tips!

@Ralizah uh oh as I trust your taste. But I’m still going to try it as I’m finally in the mood to give the series a spin and I’m in the mood for a console RPG (rather than the ton of 3DS and Vita ones in my backlog).
Blitzball did put me off actually. As I stopped playing Golf Story as I found the frisbee sections frustrating, not sure why that’s a comparison but that’s how my mind works! Good to hear it’s not necessary.

@Anti-Matter your comment makes me think I’m in way over my head. But I’m hoping it’ll make more sense when I get there and I’ll be sure to look back on your advice.

@BruceCM I’ve not played Final Fantasy as 30 years into gaming I’ve only been playing RPGs for about a year. I was into gameplay over story and liked linear experiences. In 2018 I was playing roguelikes like Dead Cells. I tried Into The Breach which got my interested in Tactics games. SMT Devil Survivor 1 then started mixing tactical with turn based gameplay.
So I’ve mostly been playing the SMT, Fire Emblem and Dragon Quest series. With games like Chrono Trigger, Earthbound and Ni No Kuni in between. Now also in rotation with trying some VNs (hybrids), so I’ve done a 180 from no story to a heavy story focus.

Final Fantasy hasn’t appealed to my personal tastes like SMT and Earthbound do. But I feel I’m missing out not trying the classic of the genre. Like Beethoven, objectively the best but might not be everyone’s favourite. The number of places to start can be a bit overwhelming too. X, IX and VI seem the most interesting to me.

@JoeDiddley It's an alright game. I just didn't care for the cast, the relentless linearity of the experience, the way it shoves water soccer in your face at first, or the way its legacy overshadowed Final Fantasy XII's for the longest time (the re-release on modern consoles helped it regain some visibility, though).

I really didn't like Final Fantasy IX (what I played of it, at least), and that has become one of the most beloved games in the series these days (years and years of people lavishing endless praise on FFVII on the internet recoiled hard, unfortunately), so you'll want to take my opinions on this series with a massive helping of salt.

Final Fantasy X's Vita port was actually quite solid, and in those dark pre-Nintendo Switch days, it was a cool example of a previously TV-tethered experience becoming fully enjoyable on a portable platform.

Now everyone's got me wanting to play IX 😋. I should take a break from a long game though. After 7 and playing animal crossing, some shorter games might do me good. Plus trials of mana comes out next week which I'm grabbing.

@Ralizah I hear XII was ahead of its time and potentially influenced the battle mechanics in Xenoblade Chronicles? Not sure if that’s right. If so though I’m looking forward to Xenoblade, although daunted by the non turn based gameplay (another tick for FFX, the most modern traditional one). If I like FFX and XC1 I’d be likely to give FFXII a shot. Any other FF games you recommend?

That's cool, @JoeDiddley .... I don't really like Blitzball, so I only play the one obligatory match & it doesn't prevent me enjoying the rest

@BruceCM
I don't like soccer at all and i don't like Blitzball too as they looks similar.
But....
The idea of Blitzball stadium design gave me ideas for my Anthro Avian Kickboxer stadium design.

XII had the gambit system, which I just finished beating the game, so it's fresh in my mind how amazing that whole system is. You can set yourself up for pretty much any (story) encounter pretty early on. It's extremely satisfying seeing your party members instantly react to status effects or whatnot. It also made grinding much much less of a pain, especially when combined with the newer 3x speed.

@TuVictus
Except the storyline on FF XII was flat boring.
I didn't even felt something threatening from general Vayne Solidor ambition to use Mist to take over the world nor best moments from FF XII.
I felt threatened by Barthandelus and Orphan on FF XIII as they want to destroy Cocoon. Or i felt threatened by Kuja ambition to destroy the Gaia.

@JoeDiddley FFXII's large (at the time) environments and interesting real-time combat system do feel very Xenoblade-y at times. A lot of people don't like the complex, grounded, politics-heavy storyline, but I thought it was a fantastic deviation from the "save the world" plots the series, and JRPGs in general, lean so heavily on. For my money, it also has a much more interesting set of characters.

I'd recommend FFIV - VII heavily. The games are undeniably dated, but it was the golden period of the franchise. Can't speak to VIII, as I've never played it, but it has its fans. IX and X... well, you know how I feel about them, but they tend to be quite popular. XII is an underrated high point in the franchise, imo.

I can't recommend any of the mainline games after XII.

If I could only recommend three of them, I'd say XII has the best gameplay, VI is the darkest and most interesting of the 2D games, and VII, while a bit rough as the first 3D entry in the series, is a really important entry in the JRPG genre that needs to be experienced. It was arguably the first blockbuster JRPG release, and it was the game that helped to really popularize the genre in the West.

FFIII isn't bad, either, and miles better than the first two. Especially if you play the DS remake. But there's not much story to it.

@TuVictus @Razilah XII definitely sounds worth checking out. VI I really want to experience too. I think even if I end up not enjoying X, I’ll still want to try VI.

VII has too much expectation to be the first for me to try. I’m not nostalgic for PS1 graphics, and it feels like I know so much about it already. IV (PSP version) I’ve heard good things about.

All this history and choice is a good thing, but also what has put me off deciding where to start! Even when you pick a game there is debate about which version to play.

@Ralizah
It's funny, because IX never used to be popular. I'd say only in the last decade has it gotten more praise from players. I remember when it came out people were really down on it. This was before pervasive internet forums and stuff, but all my friends disliked it and early internet culture was the same way. At the time, it was Final Fantasy's first trip back to a traditional fantasy setting in quite some time, and people weren't jiving with it right away. It's also exactly the reason that I got back into FF - I'm not big on the steam punk settings, but they're grown on me a bit over the years.