I've been playing Final Fantasy games for many, many years. But some months ago, I realised I'd never beaten most of them, especially the earlier games including three of my favourites (IV, V and VI). I decided to remedy this by playing all the games in the main series in chronological order.
Several games in, I decided to create this list to Track my Progress and share some thoughts.
I'd beaten the GBA remake of Final Fantasy I before. This time, I played the PSP remake. The PSP version is mostly the same as the GBA version, but with higher resolution graphics. I would highly recommend either version. I also played the NES version for a bit and found that it's aged fairly well, except for the whole missing when something else kills your target thing. The NES version is also a bit more grindy.
Mechanically, this game holds up. The class system is solid, and though the rest of the game is fairly basic, mixing up your party composition makes replays fun and potentially challenging. This time around I went with a party of a fighter, two red mage and a white mage. Not the most challenging party to use, but I do like them red mages. Next time around (yes, there will be a next time for me and this game) I'll probably try something more challenging.
I never got very far in the GBA remake of Final Fantasy II. It just didn't do much for me, mainly because of the levelling system. I picked up the PSP remake, which is once again basically the GBA game with different graphics. Both are pretty good versions of a mediocre game.
This was the first Final Fantasy that tried to tell a story and in that respect, it's an Important Game. It's a blueprint of Final Fantasies to come, with distinct characters and a plot. Unfortunately, the characters lack personality and the plot doesn't make much sense (once more, a sign of things to come ;-).
Because of the weird levelling system, characters don't necessarily grow into a specific role. In my game, all characters ended up as decent fighters with some magic. Firion wielded spears and knew a bit of everything, Maria wielded a club and knew lots of black magic, while Guy wielded swords and knew a decent amount of white magic.
I played the DS version of Final Fantasy III. A lot of work went into remaking this game and I appreciate the effort, though I would've preferred a 2D remake like the GBA and PSP ports of the previous two games. The DS remake (which was also ported to PSP) had a bit of story added, with four distinct characters rather than the original's blank canvases. It's nothing to write home about though.
What this game does have is job system. Lots of job system. In Final Fantasy I, characters grew from a job into an advanced job, but in Final Fantasy III, the player can have characters switch jobs pretty much whenever they want. It still makes sense to have characters adopt certain roles, like fighting or healing, and having them move up from basic to advanced classes that fill their role. But there's also some motivation (in the form of bosses with certain weaknesses and areas where you need to rely on magic) to have characters spend some time in different roles. Still, your characters' effectiveness depends mostly on their current job level, so in the end you'll want everyone to settle on one job.
In my game, Luneth spent a lot of time as thief, but ended up a ninja. Ingus went from warrior to dark knight to knight. Refia started as a monk and then became a dragoon. Finally, Arc was my white mage turned devout.
I played Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection on PSP. An excellent remake which includes The Years After and an interlude between the main game and The Years After. I've yet to touch The Years After, preferring to go straight through the main games.
While Final Fantasy III focussed on mechanics, evolving the job system from the first game, Final Fantasy IV is more like Final Fantasy II. There's no real job system, though each character is assigned a specific job. These assigned jobs play into the story, which is what this game is all about. The story is a big step up from Final Fantasy II, but with plenty of room to grow. The defining characteristic of this game's plot is the Lemmings-esque rate at which characters sacrifice themselves for The Greater Good.
The coolest part about this game is undoubtedly Cecil. The main character who starts out as a dark knight and then turns into a paladin fairly early in the game. While all the other characters have to make do with one class, Cecil gets two. And they're both awesome!
There's also a DS remake of this game, in the same style as the Final Fantasy 3 remake. Obviously the PSP version is superior, because sprites!
Final Fantasy V was the first Final Fantasy game I played. And I played it a lot (through shady means). I never quite managed to finish it though. I don't even think I ever made it past the second of three worlds. This time around, I played the GBA remake, which is excellent, but not as big a step up as it was the the NES games.
This game also has distinct characters and a (ridiculous) plot. But forget about all that, job systems are back! And better than ever. Where previously jobs defined characters, now skills do. Mixing jobs and skills creates the potential for truly unique characters, especially late in the game when you can turn your characters into mimics or freelancers and mix two to three skills along with passive abilities from all the jobs you've mastered. With 21 normal jobs (along with freelancer and mimic) and dozens of learned abilities, Final Fantasy 5's job system remains one of the most interesting to this date.
Yet another SNES game I played a lot but never finished. Once again, I decided to play the GBA remake, which is once again excellent but not essential.
Like its even-numbered predecessors (hey, I like patterns), Final Fantasy VI steps up the characterisation and storytelling in lieu of an explicit job system. Each of your characters comes with a predefined job, but there is plenty of room for character customisation through relics (which subtly but significantly alter your characters' strengths and weaknesses) and magicite (which teaches characters magic, further defining their role).
Update:
I've made it to the World of Ruin, gathered a party of Celes, Sabin, Edgar and Setzer. To be continued...
Never played it much.
Never played it much.
Never played it much.
Previously beaten, including most optional stuff in the international edition. One of my favourite Final Fantasy games.
Played a few chapters(?) and quit.
Previously beaten.
Previously beaten. Severely underrated game.
Played a few chapters(?) and quit.
