Final Fantasy sale.What should be bought /what should be skipped?

There is a big Final Fantasy sale on the PSN Store and am wondering what should be picked up and what should be passed on. I remember back when P3P was on sale for $10 and I promptly jumped on that deal, though I have yet to beat it. I'm somewhat seldom to JRPGs but I love the first Parasite Eve and P3P is extremely enjoyable from what I've played. I have never finished any mainline Final Fantasy and the one I have spent the most time with was 8. I have really spent more time with 10 but that isn't on sale. So what do you duders think?

If you are mostly new to Final Fantasy i would suggest Final Fantasy IX. It has the perfect mix of classic FF charm in its world, character and story and at the same time modern enough in design and gameplay that it doesn't feel like a 20 year old game.

@AcidBrandon18: FF IV to IX are the ones you want to buy. My advice is buy one from the SNES years and one from the PS years. Specifically IV and VII.

Then check the rest in the order you want

If j-rpgs are really something you are interested in getting into then I honestly don't think you should skip any of em. Each game starting from around V is so crazy divisive (especially once you start getting around VII through IX) and after 6 change are so different from one entry to the next that you really should try them all out and form your own opinion.

FF VII and IX are fantastic on the PSP still great looking games on that system.

@Pr1mus: Nah IX was a horrible game ... I just hate the monkey boy to no end.

VIII is awesome , but I would tell you to get Final Fantasy Tactics that my friend is tactical rpg at its finest.

The MUST PLAYS are 9, 8, 6 7, in that order although I tried playing 7 again last year and it is unplayable, its just so shitty to look at and so many mechanics seem to be missing, so its understandable if you want to skip it. 6 still holds up just fine because its 2d.

10 is great and so is 5. Then 4 and 12 are also good.

@Aetheldod: Monkey Boy > Mopey Emo

IMO, VI is the perfect Final Fantasy game. The squeezed some great personality and game mechanics out of that 16 bit cartridge.

IX and Tactics should be your priority. I would recommend VI as well, but I don't think the PlayStation versions of those SNES games are very good.

I feel like I should play whichever one had Cecil in it. Isn't that the one people usually rave about? Is that IV or VI?

Stay away from VIII, and play IX immediately.

All of em are great dude! Watch some you tube trailers and go from there because you really can't go wrong.

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Aetheldod: Monkey Boy > Mopey Emo

Fucking THIS.

@MutieLover said:

IMO, VI is the perfect Final Fantasy game. The squeezed some great personality and game mechanics out of that 16 bit cartridge.

This and Tactics are the best of the FF series.

Everything between, and including IV and X.

Excluding VIII of course.

Congrats, that's all the good ones

@Lukeweizer said:

I feel like I should play whichever one had Cecil in it. Isn't that the one people usually rave about? Is that IV or VI?

Yep, that's Final Fantasy IV. [EDIT: I mean FFIV is the one with Cecil. For many folks, FF VI is the one to rave about ] The $10 FFIV Complete version in the sale is no slouch. It has the SNES original, a recent direct sequel called The After Years (which I played on Wii and is actually alright) and a PSP exclusive of the... In-Between Years or something.

For anyone looking at the fighting games, SKIP Dissidia and go straight to Duodecim 012. All the characters in Dissidia are also in the sequel, and in fact the first Dissidia story can be unlocked for play in Duodecim.

5 and 6 are really good, but the PS1 versions kind of sucked. The transition from carts to discs added too much loading.

7 is great. 8 is bad. 9 is one of my favorites, but it's load times are awful. It pushed the PS1 pretty hard.

Tactics is great, but not a traditional jrpg. It's a movement/grid based strategy game. But it's maybe my favorite FF game and it got a PSP remake.

4 is solid. Not great, not bad. Vanilla gameplay. If you like the characters you will like the game. Also got a PSP version with extra content, that I've never seen.

Safest bet: Get 7 -> Pretend it's 1998 -> Find out if you like FF.

I would suggest not picking up VI because that version has some nasty load times on it. They aren't super game breakingly terrible, but they do hurt the pace and it gets annoying after a while. That delay when pulling up the menu will eventually drive you up a wall. Besides, there are better ways to experience that game.

My suggestions would be VII if you haven't played it before, because you need to experience for educational reasons and to help you understand the history of the genre. It is also a pretty solid game.

Pick up IX because it has probably the best characters and is the most charming entry in the series. Get Tactics as well if it looks appealing to you. It can be rough to get into but once you do it is super rewarding. Great characters, story, gameplay, and everything else.

Don't bother with the FFs that weren't on the PS1 - the emulation is horrible and the loading times are painful. If you like the PS1 games and have access to a Wii, you can grab the superior versions of the older titles on the Wii later.

I already bought the ones I wanted, VII and IX. I already own the PS One disc versions of Tactics, Final Fantasy Origins: I & II , Final Fantasy Anthology: V & VI and VIII. My preference is IX because of the character design, art style and I found the game to be charming. I also like that Zidane is not a brooding asshole like Cloud or Squall. One of the only problems that you might have if you have not played a J-RPG before is random encounters and grinding. One thing I regret about playing all those Final Fantasy games in not finishing them. Other than X, X-2 and XIII. It's a good time to take advantage of the sale. The price being charged for an unopened copy Final Fantasy VII is ridiculous.

@Aetheldod said:

@Pr1mus: Nah IX was a horrible game ... I just hate the monkey boy to no end.

VIII is awesome , but I would tell you to get Final Fantasy Tactics that my friend is tactical rpg at its finest.

Hell nawll, fuck Squall, brah'll! That guy pissed me off even when I first played it as a kid who was even into brooding main characters. He was just too much! And Zidane was only unbearable when he was brooding and moody.

Anyways, one monkey boy does not a game break. FF9 is still an amazing game with great humor, music, setting, characters and gameplay. Easily my favorite of the PS1 era Final Fantasies. But if you are looking for more depth in your JRPG gameplay, then FF8 does have FF9 beat in that respect. What with the junction system, GFs and GF abilities.

I imagine the SNES and PS1 games are the ones you want, though I am partial to V and VI more than anything.

I'd say FF6, FF7, FF12 are probably the most "important" ones.

I personally think FF4 was the height of the sprite era. I mean, FF5 was practically a patched version of FF3 (no offense) and FF6 had some interesting ideas but I didn't like what they did with the combat (why am I doing hadoukens or whatever in a FF game? etc.) so it's a matter of taste really. FF6 mixes up the setting as well and I really like the way the story starts off. Either way, it's worth owning FF6 just for the music alone.

FF7 went 3D and FF12 went (practically) open world and modernized the series (no random battles, not your standard turn based combat) which is why I think of those as important releases. Played a bit of 8, seemed fine. The level design of FF13 felt too linear and I got bored really early on. Maybe it opens up later on. I've no idea about FF9 and 10, but I think one of them introduced full voice acting which might be a pretty big deal as well.

Just stay away from 14 and I think you'll be fine.

All of them are shit.

All of them are awesome.

All of the are okay.

One of them are shit.

One of them are awesome.

One of the are okay.

Most of them are shit.

Most of them are awesome.

Most of the are okay.

None of them are shit.

None of them are awesome.

None of the are okay.

@Fattony12000 said:

All of them are shit.

All of them are awesome.

All of the are okay.

One of them are shit.

One of them are awesome.

One of the are okay.

Most of them are shit.

Most of them are awesome.

Most of the are okay.

None of them are shit.

None of them are awesome.

None of the are okay.

What about "I only like the one that's shit"?

Fuck Everyone who says FF8 is bad. By far still my favorite in the series.

@GreggD said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Aetheldod: Monkey Boy > Mopey Emo

Fucking THIS.

Fuck ya'll. Squall wasn't emo. He was an asshole. That's why he was such a more interesting character.

@Demoskinos said:

Fuck Everyone who says FF8 is bad. By far still my favorite in the series.

Yes, cretins, all of them.

@Ravenlight said:

@Fattony12000 said:

All of them are shit.

All of them are awesome.

All of the are okay.

One of them are shit.

One of them are awesome.

One of the are okay.

Most of them are shit.

Most of them are awesome.

Most of the are okay.

None of them are shit.

None of them are awesome.

None of the are okay.

What about "I only like the one that's shit"?

Damn, you're right. I do only like the shit ones.

@McGhee said:

@GreggD said:

@Bourbon_Warrior said:

@Aetheldod: Monkey Boy > Mopey Emo

Fucking THIS.

Fuck ya'll. Squall wasn't emo. He was an asshole. That's why he was such a more interesting character.

Yeah, Squall wasn't emo he was just a very pondering character who was initially very selfish and a bit of an asshole.

As I grow older, I feel like I understand Squall more. Perspective on myself as an introverted teenager makes me understand Squall as a introverted teenager. It's a game about a young adult overcoming abandonment issues. If that's sounds like something you'd hate, you probably won't like FF8.

FF6 is the best one, but I'd have to agree that the PSN version is not what you want to be doing. Does the VC version have the load times? Maybe get that if you have a Wii/WiiU.

The only good thing about VIII was Triple Triad.

@Lukeweizer said:

I feel like I should play whichever one had Cecil in it. Isn't that the one people usually rave about? Is that IV or VI?

Yep, that's Final Fantasy IV. [EDIT: I mean FFIV is the one with Cecil. For many folks, FF VI is the one to rave about ] The $10 FFIV Complete version in the sale is no slouch. It has the SNES original, a recent direct sequel called The After Years (which I played on Wii and is actually alright) and a PSP exclusive of the... In-Between Years or something.

For anyone looking at the fighting games, SKIP Dissidia and go straight to Duodecim 012. All the characters in Dissidia are also in the sequel, and in fact the first Dissidia story can be unlocked for play in Duodecim.

Skip the Final Fantasy games and just buy Grandia and the two Suikoden games, they're way better.

You know how the "teenagers save the world" trope seems so common among JRPGs? I think FFVIII does a good job of messing with that. Squall and his friends are soldiers at 17 years old. I'm biased because it's one of my all-time favorites, but when I replayed it recently I was surprised at how the story held up. I think it's really interesting. The "..." and "...Whatever" jokes about Squall are accurate but I noticed that it has a TON of inner monologue, more than any other Final Fantasy character I can think of. He struggles with things. I think it's like Catcher in the Rye - it'll really click with some people, and others will be turned off because the main character can come off as unlikable. It's also pretty quirky on the gameplay side. I think that, for a discounted price, and avoiding the ire of people who expected VII-2, there's a really interesting game in there. And it also has a really awesome soundtrack.

VII is still a fun game, but the translation is so bad that it can be tough to figure out intent from a lot of the lines. I don't mind the way it looks, but the characters don't animate well, there's no facial expression, and then combining that with text that very often makes no sense can make it tough to figure out just what the heck is going on.