Final Fantasy sale on PSN - need suggestions

I have just finished Bravely Default, my very first JRPG, and I am completely hooked. PSN is having the annual Final Fantasy sale, so I was wondering if any of you nice knowledgable people could suggest which of these games would be good to play as a somewhat 'noob'?

Thanks in advance.

Is Chrono Trigger on sale? If so, that should be a priority.

Otherwise, 6 seems to be the best starting point. A lot of people like the PS1 games (6 was originally a SNES game) and I can see their merit, but even 9 just looks extremely rough in spots and feels sluggish when I play it on my Vita.

Final Fantasy X would be a great transition. It's a lot different from Bravely Default but it is one of the best and most colorful of the series, however it is being released in HD for the vita soon. Another classic is 9. Once you start going back further you get a lot of variation in how well they age.

There's a Final Fantasy sale on PSN? In what territory? It doesn't appear to be on the US store.

Final Fantasy VI.

Final Fantasy Tactics.

As I understand it, Bravely Default uses something like the job system. Final Fantasy III, V, and Tactics all use it. I wouldn't recommend III, as it's one of the NES titles, and even with the updated version, it's very much a product of a time. (Personally, I grew up with NES RPGs and love them, but that may be nostalgia talking.) Final Fantasy VI doesn't use the job system, but it's a brilliant game and there's a reason everyone recommends it.

If Dragon Quest games ever have a sale, I'd recommend Dragon Quest IX. It's got a lot of charm.

My favourites are VI and IX, which I would highly recommend. V has a job system most like Bravely Default though.

This sale seems to only be on the european, I am from Denmark, sorry if I caused any confusion.

Chrono Trigger is not on sale.

I am planning to buy a Vita when X-1 and X-2 is released. Until then I NEED more JRPGs.

I have heard that V should be closest to Bravely Default as far as the character and job system. Is this correct? I know a lot of the US people most likely haven't had the pleasure of BD yet.

EDIT: I have a PSP and PS3 but will prefer to play on PSP.

I don't know if Vagrant Story is included in this sale, but if it is, then you NEED to buy it.

During the Final Fantasy Sale last year on PSN, I got FFVI, VII, VIII and IX along with Tactics. If you own a Vita or PSP then they definitely fit the platform perfectly. I think VII is probably a hard one to jump into at this point so I'd go with IX for the more stylized designs, and maybe then go into the other PS1 games. Tactics is a great game but isn't like the others at all. VI is a fantastic game and the closest to Bravely Default of the ones I've played. From a more direct standpoint, Bravely Default is arguably most reminiscent of V than any of the others, but people tend to think its the one that has aged the worst of the 2D Final Fantasy games.

Since you liked Bravely Default, I'm inclined to say you'd probably like Final Fantasy IX. The earlier games (IV, V, VI in particular) would also be good.

I agree VI and IX are the ones to get. I enjoyed my time with VII and VIII, but they're not for everybody. But IX is the most beautiful, to be sure, even with the somewhat dated graphics. And VI, well, VI is almost perfect if you're into JRPGs, although I am one of the few people who prefers the GBA update. However, V is the closest to Bravery Default, as it also has the Job system. VI doesn't really have one, per se.

Thanks for your input, everyone. I have just bought and downloaded VI and IX and will give them a try the next week or two while the sale is still running. Maybe I will buy more games before it ends.

Since I am completely new to the JRPG genre and not even that experienced with western RPGs (have so far only completed Mass Effect 1), I am afraid I may have a problem with the out-dated visuals. I hope this will not be the case. I am an old guy, a late starter to serious gaming (40 years - and haven't seriously played games regularly since the old Amiga days and early PC adventures). But the effect Bravely Default had on me (played my 127 hours playthough over just more than two weeks, and I have a wife and two small children, should be testament to how hard I was hit).

Thanks again for the input.

Based on what I played of the demo, Bravely Default is basically Final Fantasy V on crack, so I thoroughly recommend that one if you liked BD.

Yeah, sure. That was my thought but I wanted to stick to FF in this thread. But Vagrant Story.

Final Fantasy IV is certainly the best intro game (though it is rather difficult at the end with the battle speed turned up), with Final Fantasy IX being one of the worst (after the first disc the amount of guidance the game gives you is limited, and the seemingly empty world doesn't help much); amusing thread all told. Could see X being a good intro game as well, though once again it gets pretty difficult relative to the rest of the series. Vagrant Story is the best game ever made.

@fredchuckdave: Interesting points about the difficulty. Have you played Bravely Default and if so how can you compare to, say X? For some reason I am holding the X HD versions in front of my as the reason for buying a Vita.

I will give the games a chance and see if they grab me. I fear I will be to close to BD yet to not hold every game up against it. But, from what I understand there are many other great JRPG franchises out there for PSP, DS/3DS that I can amuse myself with. These questions regarding FF was only because of the PSN sale.

Vagrant Story isn't actually on sale but it is rather cheap with PS+ discount, so maybe I will give that a try some time next week.

as much as Bravely Default uses a lot of FF themes, it plays a lot like Dragon Quest. Because after FF4 the active time battle system just became the big difference. I'd recommend some DS Dragon Quest games, like 5 and 9 just to see. But yeah, sorry they are not on PSN, I'm shocked that Dragon Quest 8 isn't in there. That game is Wonderful!!!!

http://www.giantbomb.com/playstation-network/3015-2623/forums/eu-psn-final-fantasy-sale-january-22-february-5-20-1469148/

Six through ten, in about that order.

If you liked Bravely Default then you should definitely get 5, because from what I played of the demo, Bravely Default is hella similar. 5 isn't all that representative of the rest of the series though.

Final Fantasy IX is the best Final Fantasy ever made.

Thank me later.

Really? I think that's the first time I've ever heard that, I thought the general consensus was that's it's one of the easier entries. I'd say the only remotely difficult section of that game is the Omega Ruins but it's hidden and optional so I'd imagine most people wouldn't see it.

The main story is challenging, but not overly difficult. You have to grind a little bit at a few spots, but if you do that, you'll do fine.

However, if you got the international version, there were the Dark Aeons and Penance, which are insanely difficult and time consuming. They're almost certainly the hardest bosses in the whole series.

I think you made some good choices there. The PS1 port of FFVI is not the greatest, but it's such a good game that I'd still recommend it. A few other PSP jrpgs that I'd recommend are Crisis Core, Tactics Ogre, Persona 3 Portable, Valyrie Profile Lenneth, Trails in the Sky, and really anything you can find in the Y's series.