I've never played a single FF game, I've always wanted to check it out though seeing as people seem to love the series. My main problem is a really don't like active combat systems in these kings of RPGs, I'm a much bigger fan of actual turn based and also really don't like random encounters. This is one of the main reasons I loved Persona 3 and 4, that being said are there any particular FF games that roughly fit my preferred style? and if not I'd love to hear some suggestions of similar RPGs that do.

While not in the Final Fantasy series, your requirements fit Bravely Default (3DS) a whole lot more than a traditional FF would. BD has a more traditional turn-based combat system and you can change the random encounter rate. Need to grind? Up the encounter rate. Just want to get to town? Turn encounters off entirely. The later parts of the story are really hit or miss with people.

Edit: Also, you can switch characters to any class at any time (If you unlocked the class).

Well Final Fantasy XII lets you see enemies and choose to engage or not but the battle system is active, most of the games up to XII are random encounters with turn based systems so I guess you'll have to pick your poison if you really want to play a Final Fantasy game.

Edit.. As for other RPG recommendations.. If you have a DS or 3DS the Mario and Luigi games are great and there's Chrono Trigger, I'm sure there are more I can't think of.

Eh.. and this stage might honestly be worth hanging on for the FF7 remake, getting a bit of the historical and contemporary elements of the series, with a nice HD makeover and new unseen elements. The real FF diehard generally like the games prior to 7, I personally quite liked 8.

@zombiepie why don't you tell this user about the gateway drug that is FFVIII?

Honestly 4 and 6 are the two best Final Fantasy's, Before they had to fit in all those fancy cinematics they had time to fit in more story. Also they play great.

FFX has the most purely turn based gameplay out of any modern FF. It has random encounters though. In games like VII and IX (VI?) you can select an option to make the enemies wait for your input, even if their active bars are filled. More or less making it turnbased. Random encounters still though.

In XII you can see the enemies beforehand and avoid them if you want to, but the game is far removed from any traditional turnbased gameplay. You do however pause the game while selecting spells so it's not really stressful or anything.

@hark My girlfriend and I, a few months ago, came up with the idea to play every FF game in order. We (painfully) toughed our way through FF1, to the very last boss, and found out we were under leveled. We grinded mindlessly for a bit, then kind of never went back to it.

Then FF7 came out on the PS4, so we grabbed that. We got done with the first reactor before I had to throw in the towel, the game felt so dang outdated I couldn't handle it at this day and age. I'm not sure how my young self did, I guess endless time finds a way to be filled.

So then we picked up the FFX-HD collection for the PS4, and have gone all the way through that. It's still my favorite FF game and the HD remaster holds up for sure. It's still a bit dated, but compared to the previous 9, X is a modern masterpiece.

I would suggest play Final Fantasy X. It's turn based combat, like the Persona games, and it has a lot of heart and good moments and characters. If you end up liking it and sticking with it, then you could check out 12 and 13 (though I'd wait on 12 in case we do get a HD remaster). If those still keep your interest, then dive into the older ones. The older games have good moments among all of them, but to the modern gamer, they could very well require a ton of dedication and mental fortitude to see through.

Thanks for the responses guys

@instantryan that sounds cool but unfortunately don't have a 3DS so can't really check it out thanks anyway I guess I should have mentioned!

@citizencoffeecake Yeah I pretty much guessed it would be one or the other but I think I can get over that, I definitely prefer Active combat to random encounters, It just bothers me when you get interrupted. I bought XIII-2 on a whim during some sale, had no clue what was going on but as soon as I started walking around and enemies kept popping up I just stopped. Also can't really get myself interested in playing Chrono Trigger for myself after watching the endurance run.

@avantegardener@badseed I have looked through a bunch of people rankings of the FF games and 6/7 seems pretty well loved I might just go for that or X

@tobbrobb@takayamasama FFX seems most promising by the sound of it, what's the deal with the story, do you need to know any backstory? I owned FF8 on ps a few years after it came out I wish I had just played it then but 8 yo me couldn't get past the first hour or so.

If you play Final Fantasy VIII...you will exit as a changed man.

@hark: FFX is the first one I beat all the way, and don't worry about the story. It's good but doesn't require prior knowledge.

Combat's great, it is turn-based but there are a lot of tactical options to manipulate the order. Had a great time.

Be wary of recommendations regarding FF games. Keep in mind that most fans are selling you their ancient nostalgia, and haven't played the games again in the last decade or longer. Even as a person that likes FF I can't recommend any of them, because they aren't technically good in any way. I agree with the bravely default suggestion, it's like diet FF with some quality of life options. It even has the same terrible writing and voice acting as the other ones, so you will get the full FF experience. You could always emulate FF Tactics, it's a pretty tolerable product for its time.

@hark: No backstory needed. None of the numbered Final Fantasy games have anything to do with each other, they just use common themes and monsters. With a few exceptions, each one is it's own universe and world, in the same way that Persona 3 and 4 and probably 5 have no connections outside a dumb fighting game, they just share names like Jack Frost, etc.

This is different of course for X-2 and the 13-2,13-3 games, but those are direct sequels, so only look into those is you really, really like X or 13. They are super weird and not the most critically received, but I am super fond of X-2. I have yet to play 13-2 and 13-3 but I want to...I want to know where that crazy ass game ends up going.

Final Fantasy 13 is freaking weird.

@hark: Every numbered Final Fantasy game is a standalone story set in its own universe, so you can jump into any one of them and not worry about being lost. Or, well, more lost than someone who has finished all the other games.

I think IV and VI are great. And that's not childhood nostalgia, I played both only a year ago. Both have random encounters and active battle systems, though. You can set it to wait and go into a menu and nothing will bother you until you're out of that menu.

FFX has pure turn based combat, is super linear, and has random encounters. FFXII practically has an open world, you encounter enemies without going to an alternate battle screen or whatever, but the combat is active, though you can pause everything and reposition people and look over abilities and whatnot.

I think IV and VI are better ges but X and XII are probably more what you're looking for.

@hark: No backstory needed at all. Just know that FFX is a liiiiittle odd storywise. But then again, so are pretty much all of them after 6. If you like a good traditional story, IV or VI are the best bets followed by maybe XII.

EDIT: The incredibly short gist of FFX (without spoiling anything). It's basically a fish out of water story in a weird land where amazing technology once reigned, but now all the old tech is religious taboo. So it's kind of an odd mix of generally fantasy tropes mixed in with crazy sci fi stuff.

From early on you get a very clear end destination and purpose, and then most of the game is the journey there. Stuff happens, characters develop it's all k.

I'll note that the game likes to focus a bit more on the themes of the universe and the characters rather than the plot or the characters themselves. That's up my alley, but some found it offputting. FF games that focus more on traditional storytelling is the already mentioned IV, VI and XII. If X doesn't do it for you, I definitely think you should give XII a shot. They are somewhat polar opposite of each other as far as FF goes, so you'd see both ends of the spectrum.

i would go tell you to play ff6 as it's my favorite, but i'll recommend the X remaster mostly because it sits in that middle ground of older turn based combat with graphics that somewhat hold up(remaster update helps).

X sounds like the game for you, but like most Final Fantasy games, it has random encounters.

Final Fantasy is a bit of a weird series to give recommendations for since each game past the first 3 on NES have their share of proponents. I personally love FF V and its crazy job system to death, but its story and characters are kinda bland in spite of the game not taking itself all that seriously.

@zombiepie said:

This has my full backing.

For a more serious answer, I'd probably agree with all those who say Final Fantasy X as that's one of the more recent entries that still holds up quite well in terms of gameplay and visuals (especially with the remastered versions) AND contains turn-based combat. Honestly, more and more JRPGs are moving away from turn-based combat so a game with both turn-based combat and no random encounters is going to occupy a very small sample size.

Play FFX for turn based. It's not as bad as Jeff says.

Final Fantasy Tactics is the best game of all time. Turn based. Get in there.

There are a lot of things I dislike about FFX but I'm a big fan of the combat system, so if that's a major factor for you it might be worth considering.

FFIX is my favourite game of all time so I'm obviously going to mention it, especially since it's getting an HD release this year that sounds like it fixes the biggest issues with the game (annoyingly high encounter rate and slow battle speed). In terms of characters and world-building it's the best I've played, and the soundtrack is my overall favourite (and uematsu's too, I believe). It's also the best looking PSX game. I'm only slightly biased.