Best Final Fantasy game to start with?

I've got an itch I never thought I'd have to scratch...after a lifetime of apathy toward JRPGs, I've got the sudden urge to play a Final Fantasy game. My experience with the series is limited to Crisis Core. What's my best starting point in the main series? Through a mixture of emulators, iDevices and consoles, I can probably play just about any of them except 8 and 9, though I will say I am mainly interested in playing one of the recent iOS re-releases, as I have a lot of travelling coming up pretty soon and would rather not be tethered.

@banefirelord:

Well if you are ok with 2d sprite old style I'd say IV and for 3D Modern final Fantasy I'd say maybe X?

Whatever you do I'd stay away from the NES era ones until you are sure you like the series ,they are pretty bare bones even the remake of III

Each of the games is pretty unique and not really connected, so it's really hard to make a good recommendation without a better idea of what you might enjoy.

@slag: I'm definitely fine with 2D art. In terms of what I enjoy, I'm fond of exploration and plenty of varied side quests, intuitive combat that's fun and doesn't feel like a slog 30 hours in (which should be standard in all games, but what can you do), darker stories that don't get stuck up their own asses and aren't slaves to tropes and fair difficulty curves. Not sure if that really helps or is relevant, but there you go.

Probably 9 since Ivalice captures the magical setting of Final Fantasy 9. Follow it up with X. How come you can play 7 but not 8 or 9? Wut.

Do you own a PSP, PS3 or a Vita?

@banefirelord: Judging from that... IV or VI. I found IV a shorter game with less grinding, though the story isn't as good as VI's.

6 for 2d 9 for 3d. Type-0 is fantastic if you have a PS4 or a CFW PSP to play it on.

If it has to be on iOS the only ones that got a good port are 3 and 4 because they are ports of the DS remakes. The rest made everything look worse.

That does!

In that case I'd say Vi.

IMO It hits pretty much every checkbox you listed. You can mainline it in under 40 hours, the combat is very intuitive and doesn't require extensive grinding, the story definitely gets pretty dark by FF standards and since it isn't voiced any potential translation tonal quirks aren't as jarring as perhaps they can be the PS2 onwards era Final Fantasies. It has a structure in the second half of the game that is pretty different from the rest of the series I think you may appreciate.

I started with X and it really got me. Got like 1/3 way through XII and loved it but stopped for some reason. They are two really interesting iterations, in my opinion!

@trafalgarlaw: FFIX isn't set in Ivalice. Maybe you meant XII?

@banefirelord: If you're looking for exploration-heavy entries with decent stories, I'd recommend VI or XII. They're two of my favorite entries. Both feature tons of exploration and some optional content. XII has more side stuff than anything else in the series. Story-wise, VI is superior, but I like the story in XII quite a bit as well.

It doesn't actually matter. They are mostly all independent to each other so when people tell you one it's up to which one's they like.

I liked 7, 9, and X myself. 8 was ok, too, but I remember the magic stuff being tedious in that one.

I think this all comes down to personal preference. All FF games are unique for the most part in their own way. I think it depends on what story and battle system you prefer. Any of them up until FFX and maybe FFXII are good.

VI, VII, IX, or X.

One of those.

If you don't mind the old school 16bit I would go with FF6 or FFVI whatever you want to call it. 9 is loved on this site for some reason but it is beyond skippable, as are 8, 13, and 1-3. 4, 5 (sorta), 6, 7, 10, and 12 are the best in the series.

I personally think of VI as the most Final Fantasy Final Fantasy game. It's late enough that they'd started getting serious with the story component (prior to that, the stories were fairly formulaic), but it's before the VII-XIII era, in which Final Fantasies started varying wildly in terms of their tone and content, and for that reason it is difficult to predict which of those latter games anyone will like. Six isn't my favorite, but it's solid and by god is it packed with stuff.

IV, IX or XII, depending on which era of video game's you're most comfortable with

I started with VII and loved it but it was a different era. I'd say FFX because it is old enough to not be complete shit like the newer games and it has an HD remake so the graphics look sharp. It is in 1080p on PS3 and even if it has less graphical effects than new games it looks good with new HD textures.

Part of me wants to suggest playing them, whichever those are, in chronological order as I find its easier to go forward than it is to go backward.

Just like everyone else in here, I'll tell you what I liked and thus, the ones you should play lol

DS remakes of 3 and 4 (its on iOS I guess). FF6, 7, 9, and 12. Maybe because you played Crisis Core, you'll find yourself more easily absorbed into 7. FF5 and Tactics (along with the MMOs 11 and 14) have the classic FF "Job System" but that is probably not what you are looking for.

9 is my personal favorite and, IMO, the culmination of everything that came before it into one great last game of the golden age of FF.

I agree with @seikenfreak, IX feels like the result of lessons learned from the games before it; it's my favorite as well. The characters are fantastic, music is great, and I enjoy the art--even if the fidelity isn't great. The one thing that I take issue with IX, as do many people, is that battles are a bit slow compared to other games in the series. This is particularly true with the transition from field to battle, but that might be faster on emulator?

Other than that, I really enjoy IV and VI, more VI than IV. IV has the DS/PC port with voice acting and 3D graphics but people seem to not like that version?

Start with IV, end with VI.

I've finished all of the non MMO ones. I think for newcomers open to 2d i'd start with 4 and then 6, though I mostly find 4 skippable if you have a long road ahead. Its important to play them in order so that you feel the advancement of the graphics, otherwise its slightly harder to get into the past iterations. 7,8,9 are the immortal ones that its a shame not every player has finished. I'm of the gang who prefer 9 then 8 then 7.

10 is a bit downhill but their summon system is quite cool, if you get the dark summons version, full completion requires quite a bit of grinding.

12 has the worst story/characters in any of the series. All characters can pretty much do everything equally well(give or take a few % points) which means that the party choice is just an aesthetic one. That said I do think 12 has one of the best combat systems which can be fun to play around with. I remember watching 2 movies by the time I finished one boss battle(everything was done automatically thanks to gambits), so one of the most epic boss battles in the world.

13 is mediocre on most fronts but the way the story progresses is just terrible(the linearity of it). People disagree on the combat, I mostly find that there's a whole lot of flash with no substance to it, and you mostly just press the autobutton and only need to change stances in like 30% of battles, the average input required of you except from just mashing the confirm button for the auto combat is about once every 20 seconds.

X is a good primer for Final Fantasy, in my opinion. It's definitely one of the more strange games in terms of setting and story (i.e. a monster whale with wings that can end the world, time travel, and names and terms that don't make much sense at all until they finally explain it (unless they don't)). The narrative is quite linear and the combat is not active time. Give it a whirl.

If you want a world and battle system more complex but still 3D, XII is good. There's a lot of depth there, but will take you a while to get there. Patience is key. Bear in mind, the story is mostly about fantasy-politics and fantasy-cultures. Also, the protagonist Vaan is a viewpoint character while the true lead of the game is one of the party members Ashe.

XIII has flaws: a confusing plot (at least in the beginning parts) and hit-or-miss characters being two of many. But there is something worthwhile about it if you're willing to look past the completely linear structure and the melodramatic/J-POP tone. It's a mixed bag.

VII is really hard to go back to, in my experience. You want to still play it and can look past the blocky character models? Go right ahead. There are reasons why it's so beloved. However, it's in the same vein of VIII and IX, so...

IV and VI are universally praised as the epitomes of 2D JRPGS. If you're going to play any of the old ones, play either/both of these.

I, II, III, V should only be played if you can't get enough of Final Fantasy. They are good in their own right, of course.

XI and XIV are MMORPGS. Either you like those kinds of games or you don't.

9 will give you a feel for the 16 and 32 bit Final Fantasies, which is the bulk of the series. Maybe the best starting point? I don't know. It's hard to say how much nostalgia factors into recommendations. None of the 16 bit era FFs do much for me, but I played the playstation one stuff during my first few years getting into RPGs.

12 is still the reigning champ for me because the battle system is just so incredibly rewarding. And the whole game has such weird, esoteric, Souls-like rules. And I remember the story being a breath of fresh air. Politics-driven, and characters that aren't played like crazy over-the-top anime weirdos. And it very easily could have fallen into a tired, forced love story, but it didn't. Ashe remains my favorite FF protagonist.

It really sounds like you'd like FFXII.

6

9's good.

It seems 9 is the early favorite. I haven't played it, so I can't comment.

Of IV and VI, I'd say VI is the superior game. I haven't played the rerelease, so my main complaint about IV(the translation) is probably fixed. That being said, the first NES game is incredibly charming.

I'd avoid VIII. The story is horrible, none of the characters are compelling and the Gunblade is the dumbest weapon in the series.

X is the last numbered FF game have the classic style of combat, but the leveling system is pretty bad. The story isn't very good, but the world is sort of interesting. The main character is an annoying brat who could be removed from the game with no consequence to the story.

XII has a similar protagonist problem. Vaan has barely anything to do with the story. The story overall is better than X, I thought. I can't remember much more about it.

VII hasn't aged well. From it's graphics to it's translation, it has a lot of rough edges. At the same time, VII has a good story(better than any to come after, except maybe XII) and compelling characters. Cloud plays an integral part of the game's story, unlike later games where the main character is an onlooker with few ties to the central conflict.

This is pretty much true but if you can find a copy of both the US release and the Japanese International version and don't mind emulating you can download a fan translation for the International version. The International version added the Job system and let you decide which job your party members take. It really adds some variety between the characters and also adds a lot of neat little game play features that improve the experience.

Gotta disagree about the story and characters though, its Shakespeare meets Star Wars and I think its pretty awesome, little heavy on the politics but that takes a back seat pretty quickly.

If I had to say which game to start with, maybe IX? It has that classic Final Fantasy feel with a more modern spin and a neat art style that I think has aged nicely. It also has one of the better main characters, Zidane, who is just a fun loving adventuring type that doesn't mope around the whole game. The story moves at a decent pace and they don't spend time over-explaining everything like the more modern games.

Final Fantasy X

VI is the most playable example of the earlier games, and X is the most playable example of the later games.

X was my first official FF game, but I did go back and play IX and that is one of my absolute favorites. So either or if you have a ps3 or Vita or PSP you can grab 9 for 10 bucks

From your checklist, I'd have to recommend 6 as well. If you'd really like a FF story that doesn't disappear up it's own ass, I recommend giving Final Fantasy Tactics a shot. The political intrigue is based off the War of the Roses (which also inspired Game of Thrones). Unfortunately, that one can get slightly grindy at the beginning.

The Last Story.

4, 6, 7, 9, and 12 are all outstanding. Final Fantasy Tactics is the best (game ever made), but it's a Strat-RPG, and that may scare you away.

Go ahead and start with 4 or 6, then continue on if you've enjoyed what you've played so far.

AVOID

• 1-3: Great for their time, but you can skip them.
• 5: This is debatable. They took another shot at the Job system, and I can't say they really got it right. They DID get it right in Tactics, which I recommend again.
• 8: Broken. There is a system (Junctioning) which allows you to combine spells to your characters stats, and is absurdly exploitable. Your characters will be ridiculously overpowered. That may not seem like a bad thing if you don't like the combat so much, but the story in 8 is only remarkable in how unremarkable it is. Bland characters in a mildly interesting world.
• 10: I cannot urge you to avoid this enough. What a tremendous pile of horse feces this is. The graphics were outstanding in their day, but this game is awful. Terrible characters, by-the-numbers combat, and don't get me started on the Sphere Grid. Steer clear.
• 13s: I actually liked FF13, but I had my undivided attention on its potential, not its obvious flaws. There are a lot of great things about the first 13, and a lot of bad things. Maybe give this a shot if you find yourself taken with the series, but definitely avoid until then.

I agree that Tidus is annoying in the beginning, but he's pretty essential to the plot of the game from what I remember, not to mention he's the "fish out of water" protagonist so we can get caught up with the game's world and story, a character Final Fantasy 13 desperately needed.

As for the original question, my suggestions are:

6, 10, or 12, they're all pretty solid games with fun combat. 4 is fun, but I found it to be extremely hard for a Final Fantasy game, though I heard the difficulty on the DS version was ramped up for some asinine reason. 7 is ok, I dug it when I played it a decade ago, but it wasn't the most amazing thing ever like people hyped it up to be. 13 is fun, but almost ALL of the characters are VERY annoying for the first twenty hours of the game, and the constant hallway cutscene hallway game design really drags after a while, but if you can get pass that, then you might find it interesting.

As you can see many people prefer some FF over the others ... but when I was younger I ws also anti RPG in general but Final Fantasy VI was a great introdution , then play VII since you already played Crisis Core ...... and if you still feel like it play XIIII because it is awesome and deserves more respect than all these naysayer have for it ... and yeah dont play IX that is the worst FF. (You can ignore the last sentences , it is the endless battle of the FF fans ... but really VI and VII are good introductions to the series and you can engange as much you want with them without having to min max or any sort of thing , you can finish them in around level 40 to 50 with no problems and they do have some side quests etc.)

I would play 6,7,8,9,10. To me, that's the golden era of Final Fantasy games.

If you want to play FF13 for whatever reason, don't and instead play 13-2. It takes the one good thing about 13, the combat, and puts it into a game that's merely ok instead of garbage. Also there's a pokemon mechanic that's pretty fun and you can put a dumb anime mask on a cactuar if that's a thing you want.

Don't take that as a recommendation though. I'm just replacing a bad decision with a slightly better one.

Tough to answer. My gut reaction is to say 6 or 7, but the latter ones become so different that even if you don't like 6 or 7, you may like 13 or 12. I also really enjoyed X and that's the first one I played all the way through. I wouldn't recommend starting with 1 or 2 unless you really don't mind older game design.

If you liked Crisis Core, you should probably play 7 as well. They tie into each other very neatly. Though I played them in the reverse order for obvious reasons.

You kind of can't go wrong with any of them as long as it seems interesting to you. The franchise has hit such a wide range of settings and themes that you are bound to be into at least one of them.

As far as your preference for exploration, side content and darker story beats. 6 is probably the best fit followed by 7 or 9.
EDIT: 12 actually slipped my mind, but that is a good fit on that description too.

FF VII, a great classic... may be a bit hard but its great in any case!