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borgmaster

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My Personal Final Fantasy Challenge

I never played JRPGs growing up, so that whole genre became a blind spot for me. To fix this, I decided to play all of the mainline games in the Final Fantasy series because they seemed as good a proxy as any for the genre. I've been sticking mainly to the numbered entries and I plan to fan out into offshoots if/when I get done with the main ones.

Update 1/2022:

I'm cleaning up and adding to this list. The PS1 games broke me. I am a shell of the man that I once was, but the modern games are far more tolerable and I should be caught up by the end of this year.

List items

  • Beaten 2012.

    Starting the challenge, I played the iOS version of this one mainly out of convenience. I was surprised both with the iOS version being perfectly playable and the game being as fun as it was. This is definitely the core Final Fantasy experience, with the stereotypical class set-up, magic system, and game progression being established. Add on top of that great music and a smoothed out difficulty curve and you've got a nice little game that isn't too shallow or too deep.

    Played on iOS.

  • Beaten 2012.

    I gotta say, I have a soft spot for this entry. Sakaguchi & Co. took the core of the game from the first one and had absolutely no compunction about experimenting and messing around. The 2 things that stood out to me:

    - The leveling system is the strangest I've ever encountered. I've played the Elder Scrolls games before, so I was used to the idea attributes leveling with use but this game takes it to the extreme. Character attributes, spell levels, weapon proficiency, HP, and MP all level up individually per character based on use. This led to the most unbalanced RPG I've ever played, and I loved it.

    - The jump in narrative sophistication between the first game and this was surprising. This might be one of the first instances of starting a game with a mandatory battle loss. After that the world and story that gets established are significantly darker and more fleshed out than the first game. The most interesting part of this is that the fourth party slot has different characters going in and out, with those characters usually meeting grizzly ends. There's a world state change most of the way through the game that I did not expect this early in the series, especially considering how dark it is. Finally, at the end I realized that my party had not saved the world but had only saved the survivors of a destroyed world. That's deeper than I had thought I would get from a NES era game.

    Full Disclosure: I played the iOS update of this game, which is much more playable than the original.

    Played on iOS.

  • Beaten 2013.

    Fuck this burning pile of trash....I suppose I should explain. I'm not sure about the quality of the original Famicom game, but the DS update of FFIII is complete garbage. The story that was added in to the update is boring, the game progression is badly designed, the endgame is infuriating, and most of all: the job system actively works to hinder the player through every step of the game. I could write an entire essay on how bad the job system is in this thing, but I won't bother with it here. This thing is an interminable chore and I'm getting angry just thinking about it.

    Played on Nintendo DS.

  • Beaten 2013.

    This might be my favorite FF game so far.

    Thoughts well after the fact:

    The jump in narrative sophistication that came with the jump in generation was very welcome after FFIII. Assigning a single job to each party member was a fantastic idea that made the cast more fleshed out, and having a 5 party member system was the best idea in the entire franchise. The rotation of characters in and out of the party kept me one my toes tactically while still remaining well-balanced. It has the least amount of necessary grinding that I've seen from this era of JRPG, which greatly helps the flow of the narrative. They took the apocolyptic conclusion from FFII and spruced it up a bit. Everything about this game works, even the infernal ATB system.

    I played the PSP remaster or the game and I would recommend that version to anyone.

  • Beaten 2013.

    I thought it was a good idea to play the direct sequel immediately after playing the original game. I was wrong. this thing is trash.

    Thoughts well after the fact:

    The reason this thing is trash is that the new characters are categorically uninteresting, the progression is wildly uneven, and there is just so much grinding. Not worth anyone's time.

    Played the PSP version.

  • Beaten 2014. fixes some problems from FFIII, but still not that good. A real let down from FFIV.

    Thoughts well after the fact:

    It made the job system form FFIII more functional and interesting, but it still relied on an inordinate amount of grinding. Add on top of that a large step backwards in narrative quality and the most insane difficulty jump for a final boss that I've ever seen and you have a recipe for mediocrity.

    I played the PS1 version if that means anything to you.

  • Beaten 2015. This game does so many interesting things with its storytelling, but its brought down a few glaring gameplay flaws.

    Thoughts well after the fact:

    This feels more like a sequel to FFIV than FFV. They took the design trajectory from that game and took it further: There is a larger cast of characters that have more distinctive abilities and rotate in and out more often, the dramatic moments are more dramatic and carry more pathos than anyone should expect from that era of JRPG, the setpieces are more elaborate, the apocalypses more apocolyptic, a way more memorable final boss, and they even threw in some sidequests for the first in the series. the major downsides are in the balancing of the setpieces for the different forced party configurations, the lack of focus that the main protagonist gets, and the burdensome amount of necessary grinding in the late game. This is still one of the classics of the series, but the experience is still lacking the tight design of FFIV.

    I played the PS1 version if that counts for anything.

  • Beaten 2016. I really liked the Materia system and really didn't like the writing. Definitely the easiest FF so far, as long as you know where you're going.

    Thoughts well after the fact:

    The story in this game sucks. It's bad. Like really bad, y'all. They tried to jump things up a notch for the generational shift, but ended up breaking out of the arch-fantasy tropes of the previous games and landing right in the dung-heap of Dystopian YA nonsense. With that said, the materia system is the best version of a job system out there and there is very little need for grinding, which would help the pacing of the narrative if it had any consistent pacing to begin with. other gripes include the visual nightmare that is Golden Saucer, Barrett being a problem, the sidequests sucking, and the fact that the most famous final boss in the series is also the easiest. Actual, that last point is just funny more than a complaint. It's still pretty playable, I guess.

    I played the original version.

  • Update 2019:

    I'm on the second disc and I just can't do it. This game is so bad on so many levels. I'm going to just give up on the PS1 Final Fantasy's for now. I can't do it. It wasn't even the terrible writing that got me, I actually enjoy that part. They ruined the gameplay. They found a way to run the whole thing into the ground. I'm just going to write off FF9 so that I can get out of this generation of games as fast as possible. Ugh.

    Update 1/2022:

    I have not completed this game. The spell management and progression system are so monumentally screwed. I can't. But I must. This might be the last one I beat. God help me.

  • Beaten 2021.

    If you could distill the essence of a shoulder shrug into a video game you would end up with this. There's a lot that could be said but it's just not worth getting into. From a visual design, combat design, scenario design, and writing perspective this game proves that its creators had completely lost touch with the core appeal of the series. This thing is a pale imitation of itself. Even the card game is worse than the one in FFVIII. The only positives I can think of are the impressive CGI cutscenes and Vivi. Vivi is a good kid and he deserves better than to be in this game.

    I played the Switch port for convenience and I used the built in cheats 3/4s of the way through because I stopped giving a damn.

  • Beaten 2021.

    This thing was like surfacing for air after nearly drowning in a cesspit. Firstly, the narrative is a major improvement over the PS1 era of games. Even though the dialogue and voice acting are hilariously stiff, I really appreciated the effort that went to establishing and building on the character relationships and the personal growth of the protagonist. The combat blessedly ditches the ATB system and is actually enjoyable. The world is bright but doomed, and everything reinforces that vibe. As far as complaints go: there are a few sadistic difficulty spikes spread randomly throughout which bring the whole flow grinding to a halt, but once overcome the game continues apace. Overall, this is the first one that I've genuinely enjoyed since FFIV.

    I played the remastered version on PS3.

  • Ongoing.

    Holy crap this thing is dumb. I'll get around to finishing it at some point. There's so little of value to latch onto.

  • Beaten 2021.

    I dunno, it's pretty good. I don't mind the single-player MMO style of gameplay, and the story was just engaging enough to get through without any hiatuses. I just really don't like the faces, there's something off about them.

    I played the Xbox One version.

  • Beaten 2022.

    Ugh.

    I played the Xbox 360 version.

  • Beaten 2022.

    The best of the trilogy, for what little that's worth.

    I played the Xbox 360 version.

  • Beaten 2022

    Along with Lightning, the dress sphere system makes it's unwelcome return. A wet fart to close out the wildly unnecessary FFXIII trilogy.

    I played the Xbox 360 version.

  • Ongoing.

    Trying to interact with this game gives me a headache.

    Playing the Xbox One version.

  • Original Content Beaten 2022

    Yeah, this is a good MMO. Everyone who has told you that is correct. The story progression is well done and the character, quest, and map design are all good. I dropped off when I got to the Heavensword content because I actively disdain the Ishgardians, except that one guy who's alright. I found myself on #TeamDraconian so I decided it was best to get out before becoming too annoyed.

    Played on the PC.

  • Ongoing.

    So far, this game is demonstrating that you can't be everything to everyone.

    Playing the PS4 version.

  • Beaten 2020.

    They actually made FFVII good. I was shocked. I unequivocally recommend this thing, and that feels weird to write.

    Played on PS4.
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