So, I'm almost finished with pic related. It was my first

Play the classics, then play 7 and onwards.

>>2826568
Go with V or IX. I really like II but it's odd and not everyone digs it.

I and IV are both pretty bad. Both are very straightforward with few interesting decisions to make and the stories aren't enough to keep them compelling.

>>2826568
>It was my first final fantasy and it was amazing.
I'm so happy for you.

It's my favorite, IX is my second favorite, but I guess you could go anywhere for a list of favorites.

Play any of 1-5 you find interesting (you'll hit more than you'll miss) 7,8,9 are good though 8 tends to be seen as a black sheep, beyond is not only not retro but becomes more controversial, it's up to you to continue but it starts to drop off after X.

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>>2826568
>I'm thinking either 4, 5, or 9.

play 4 5 then 9. 9 is my favorite and it stands perfectly well on it's own but you'll get a bit more out of it if you have a few FFs under your belt

>>2826853
I'd say it drops off after IX. Once you added voice acting to the game, it lost a lot of its initial charm. Especially since the voice actors weren't exactly of the highest caliber.

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>>2826568
Play 7. No matter what internet contrarians say, it's a stellar game that builds on VI and classic FF elements in many ways. Great way to polish off your introduction to the series.

Afterwards play 5. It has the best gameplay in the series bar none, but if you want story and "feels", you better look elsewhere. So it's better to cut your teeth first.

Play IV only when you've exhausted the alternatives. Unless it's your first JRPG ever, it is nothing special, and is very railroady. I was profoundly bored by it unlike the rest of the series.

IX I'd personally put below V, VII and probably VI for a few reasons, but it's definitely an extremely solid game worth playing. But like said above, it's better when you have a few classic FFs under your belt because it's basically a big love song to older installments and 90s RPGs in general.

>>2826568
I played 6 first on zsnes back in the early days of emulators. 5 wasn't even translated yet.

My next stops were 7 and chrono trigger, and that worked well for me.

4 is kind of restrictive after playing 6, as you don't get as many party members, you don't get to pick them and there's no skill customisation. It's a really good game, but I personally didn't beat it until I played the remake on ds, which adds in skill customisation and stuff. All versions are pretty dang hard too.

5 is fantastic. I played the first translation (no pirate-speak faris). Great story, great gameplay, unrivalled customisation with the job system. A good choice. Graphics aren't quite up to ff6, but still nice and the music rocks.

Ff7 is ff7 you should play it. Before ff8 or 9 or you might get annoyed at the cube people.

Ff8 is my all time favourite game, but look up advice on how best to play it before you go in. There was a thread on here but I don't know if it's still there so I'll summarise: don't use gfs in battle, don't worry about levelling, don't draw 100 of each spell the first time you see it, play triple triad a lot, junction junction junction.

Ff9 is an attempt at doing a 16-bit style game in 3d. It's a nice game and a good entry in the series.

To be honest you can't lose with any of the retro ones Except possibly with some versions of 2 and 3. Play the gba veraion of 2 for the love of god avoid the nes version it's a trap.

Tactics.

>>2826936
>avoid the nes version it's a trap.
I liked the NES version a lot. Yeah, the game is ridiculously cryptic on things like evasion and magic penalties, but once you look up how they work, it's a really fun game.

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>>2826901
>Afterwards play 5. It has the best gameplay in the series bar none, but if you want story and "feels", you better look elsewhere. So it's better to cut your teeth first.

I disagree. Galuf's death was the far more emotional than the flower girls

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>>2827060
I actually agree, Syldra also hit very hard. But compared to consecutive titles, FFV lacked the sense of "epicness" if you know what I'm talking about. It's just a silly goof-off shounen story about friendship for the most part. It has its emotional hard-hitters and is absolutely my favorite as a whole, but VI and VII had a good deal more gravity and pathos to their stories.

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>>2827082
>but VI and VII had a good deal more gravity and pathos to their stories.

6 maybe but all 7 had was an electric company and an asshole with a sword and an Oedipus complex

when I think epic I think 3 world spanning fighting giant monster trees made out of evil and hate in space long before I think drop a rock on the planet.

FF5 is by the actual definition far more epic than 7. By a huge margin

>>2826568
FF6 & 7 are really the standouts of the series. Everything else ranges from fun but not unmissable (FF5, 9), obsolete (1 through 4), shitty (FF8) and then divisive (FF10 & 12). I'd play 7 next and then jump on another series.

>>2826568
if you liked vi, play vii, viii, ix and x.
and while you at it, stay chronological for wow effect purposes of graphics and game design.

VI is an odd place to start. You may or may not like the older games, as they're not necessarily as developed as VI. You also have to bear in mind that FF games are sometimes mechanically very different from one another, so you can't go into other games with the same expectations in mind.

Honestly, just pick any order you want, because it's not going to matter. I will say that earlier FF games can be a slog with all their grinding and lack of story development, so maybe reserve those for last.

>>2827357
>with all their grinding
The only time you really need to grind in FF1 is to get enough money to buy Lightning 2 before the Marsh Cave. Otherwise the Wizards will eat your party for breakfast. Other than that, I didn't need to grind once, and finished the game at lvl 21.

My original play order was 6, 4, 7, 8, 9.
Four was SUCH a step back after playing 6 I actually quit several times while playing.
I'd say for your next Final Fantasy, play Chrono Trigger.
Then 7.
Then 9.

>>2826886
>Once you added voice acting to the game, it lost a lot of its initial charm.

>I'm not the only one who thinks this

What's it like to be my nigga?

Play Chrono Trigger. After FFVI, it will not disappoint

>>2827118
>throwing "epic" around, teh epik hella epik buzzword

Yeah, opinion discarded.

>>2827564
I don't think you actually read his post. I also don't think you know what epic means.

"heroic or grand in scale or character:
"his epic journey around the world" · [more]
synonyms: ambitious · heroic · grand · great · Herculean · [more]
informal
particularly impressive or remarkable:

a long film, book, or other work portraying heroic deeds and adventures or covering an extended period of time: "

So basically you're just revealing to us that you're someone who gets triggered by the word "epic" and pretending it had no use pre-internet memes, which honestly speaks a lot more about yourself than anyone else.

>>2826995
I tried playing it on the nes. If you don't get hit your health doesn't increase. If you play well the game punishes you for it.

Because I grinded a little (ie, let monsters punch me for a bit) to get enough health to fight a boss I ended up having no-one with enough mp to cast fire when I got it as their mp had descreased due to not casting spells.

Gba fixed all these issues, extended the game, enhanced the dialogue and ofc improved the graphics and sound. With remakes like ff4 it's easy to recommend the remake and the original. I honestly can't think of a reason to recommend ff2 on the nes except as an example of how not to do it.

Maybe you're right and if I had read up on all the game's odd stat systems beforehand I wouldn't have gotten stuck like that, but I still wouldn't recommend it to anyone when dawn of souls is around.

I play the FF8 and is so good. The characters are well done and the story too.

>>2827989

that's a good one. You really had the guy going there Ill bet

I'm thinking about going through the entire series. Is there any I should skip, or alternatively non-mainline titles I should play?

>>2828020

the series is kind of divisive. Id reccomend playing them all just to develop you're own sense of taste

>>2828020
Skip everything, play tactics.

>>2827118
>6 maybe but all 7 had was an electric company and an asshole with a sword and an Oedipus complex
You were facing an evil corporation that effectively ruled over the largest city in the world by sapping away the life of the planet itself, the remains of an alien monstrosity bent on eating the planet and a super soldier reborn into a god-like state using a cataclysmic meteor to finish said aliens job. It also all tied into an ancient magical race and giant monsters created by the planet itself as a defense mechanism who were so large your airship looked like a fly in comparison.

VII really bumped up the sci-fi elements in comparison to V and VI and broke away from the traditional fantasy epic structure because of that decision but you're really underplaying the games scale for the sake of your argument.

What's the best way to play IV, guys? PSP or DS?

>>2828020
>Is there any I should skip
II and III aren't very good and can easily be skipped with little issue, and XI is an MMO that's well past its peak so you missed your chance there.

Beyond that it just really comes down to personal taste. VI and VII seem to be the only games I've seen almost universally praised by the fanbase, so just explore the early installments to see what direction you prefer.

>or alternatively non-mainline titles I should play?
Tactics is a must-play.
Dissidia 012 is also a fucking great game, though with all the fan-service it has you should probably save it until you're more familiar with the series. Curtain Call is decent too if you like rhythm games and Uematsu's music.

If you get really attached to VII's universe I've heard Crisis Core is good, but I haven't tried it myself.

>>2828049
PSP is a more traditional experience while DS is a more experimental one most notable for its higher difficulty.
While DS has its fans most people seem to agree the PSP one is the better game, or at least the one you should play first

>>2828018
Er, not that guy, but FF8 is my favourite game. I like the characters, I like the story.

TL;DR = opinions

>>2828049
DS for japanese difficulty
PSP for bonus content and casual play

>>2828049
I personally couldn't get through ff4 until DS. It is nails hard though.

>>2828058
Crisis Core is up and down. There's a load of stuff about mutants and stuff that is utterly terrible, but all the stuff about sephiroth and zack without the new guys is great. I actually felt really bad for sephiroth and saw him as more of a character than his appearance in ff7. The fight on the bridge, oh my days.

>>2828020
Divisive question.

Most people will agree that 6, 7, 9, X, and Tactics are essential games to play. From a personal standpoint I'd also say they're easily the most accessible. Everything else your mileage may vary. The games are good, you just might not click with them.

Maybe you guys can help, the one page that references this seems to be down and I can't check it myself atm.

In Final Fantasy 7 there's a glitch that lets you pair Master Command with support materia. Does the combination of Steal+All work? Just trying to set something up and thought one of you might know off the top of your head.

>>2828058
>>2828181
>>2828403
>FF IV DS is hard
I still don't get this. Like hard overall, or just the bonus stuff?
Because right now I've restarted a file for the second time because I missed an augment I need to be able to max my stats, but that's only for Proto-Babel. Everything else is easy enough.

Which version lets you use the other characters later on? I've always been curious what Edward is like past level 20.

>>2828409
I loved crisis core- <3 zack

>>2826568
Play 5. It's fun as hell, don't expect the story being any better until 7 though.

Idealy you want to play more than one "classic" before IX as it has a shitton of references to older games, but you can play it alone just fine. Hell, it was my first.

>>2828517
GBA and PSP are the only ones with the ability to choose your endgame party. It also has a postgame dungeon with randomly chosen floors that have rooms exclusive to characters you beat Zeromus with.

>>2828517
>FF4DS isn't hard
>whoops I missed an augment and have to restart

FF4DS is only easy to people who have played through it on any previous version and know who's leaving the party and who should get which augments ahead of time.

If this is the first time you've ever played FF4 it will break you, since the game is tuned for the min/max crowd.

Is 4 the most anime Final Fantasy?

>>2828550
They also both have a cave made specifically for updating your character's weapons/armor, complete with boss holding weapons akin to the final dungeon that you can only fight with a certain character in the party. Kind of an awkward way to go about it, but it was fun and Thor's Hammer kicks ass.

>>2828517
>Edward
Apollo's Harp and the red armor isn't bad, but he only gets really good with his postgame accessory.

>>2828564
>using anime as an adjective
What do you even mean?

>>2828557
It's the third or fourth playthrough, not counting the ones I reset.
I didn't have any problems the first time. I died a few times against Golbez in the Dwarven Castle, and fighting Bahamut on the Moon, but it got done.
I only realized that I missed the augment in Kaipo when I had finished Mt. Ordeals and I didn't have enough to give to Porom and Palom to get Dualcast.

>>2828557
I played through it for the first time recently. I'm basically a JRPG novice (I've played Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger, though), and it was my first extensive sitting with a Final Fantasy.

FFIV DS is not hard. There are periods where it can be a bit brutal (the enemies in Bahamut's lair will fuck you up if they get first turn and you're low on MP, for example), and the very beginning can be trying, but for the most part it's relatively easy unless you're severely underleveled from running away from battles.

Just cast Slow to give yourself some time to use Protect/Shell or heal and you're good to go for just about every boss and most enemy encounters. Figuring out elemental weaknesses occasionally involve total guesswork, though, admittedly, but there's a spell for that too.

>>2828158
>one sentence is TL;DR
>Can only say LOLPINIONS

this is why people hate FF8 fans

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>>2828782

FF8 has fans?

>>2828787

a surprisingly large and vocal amount of them

>>2828846
>surprisingly small and very vocal about it
ftfy

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I'm surprised there wasn't as much FF2 hate in this thread.

Regardless, it's my favorite game in the series, being I'm more of a SaGa fan than an FF fan. I can nonetheless see why some people would get frustrated with it. FF2 is the type of games you may want to save for last - that is, if you still need an FF fix after having played most of the more popular titles.

I think it's also worth mentioning that some of the spin-offs are sorely overlooked. Crystal Chronicles was a great game in its own right, even if the single-player campaign is the only option available to you.

FF 4 7 9 are all top tier, 5 gets a warm recommendation as well

Ignore the rest until you played these

>>2828968
I think FFII gets more "worst game ever made" shit than it deserves, especially when the PSP remake is a perfectly playable game, but its just kind of boring.

Just like how FFIII is basically a prototype for FFV that's totally outclassed by it's successor I felt the same way regarding FFII and FFIV. It doesn't have much appeal beyond being a bridge between FFI and the SNES games in terms of narrative, and as a link into the SaGa series if you're curious about its roots. It's only worth playing as a piece of history.

>>2826886

Wakka's did a great job

ugh Lulu's though :(

>>2829524

well Wakka was Dimagio.

>>2826886
There's an undub floating around, just get that instead. The japanese voices are way better.

>>2826568
well Ive played 3-7-9-10-10/2-and I think 3 for DS and some of 2 didnt finish it.
out of the small number id say
1.) 6 + 7 cant pick either they both deserve top spot for me.
2.)9
3.)10
4.)3 for DS
5.)2
999.) 10/2 ( its not a final fantasy game after 10...)

>>2829683
>The japanese voices are way better.

they're really not. I know you weebs like to trick yourselves into thinking so but Japanese voice actors are literally on par with the english ones.

>>2829705
I'm no weeb or anything, i will admit some dubs are good. But FFX is an example of a bad dub.

>>2829721
>But FFX is an example of a bad dub.

and Im not arguing that. Im saying that the Japanese actors where every bit as bad.

>>2829727
May I ask why you were even playing the undub then? I doubt you've actually played the entire game in both japanese and english like I have.

>>2828782
Hating on me for liking a game you don't like? Why?

>>2829732
>May I ask why you were even playing the undub then?

Curiosity and a ton of free time

>I doubt you've actually played the entire game in both japanese and english like I have.

Really? THAT's what you're gonna go with?

>>2829836
Okay, that's good. I thought you based your opinion off some 5 second youtube video. Unless you're lying, what kind of horrible person would lie on the internet?

>>2829836
calling people weebs when you're the one playing games in japanese, lol what a fag

I am convinced no one used or even likes Setzer. Anyone in this thread want to prove me wrong?

>>2830051
I used setzer.

On my 3 characters only run. You don't really have a choice, it's celes, edgar and setzer.

On my first run I had him on one of the three final dungeon teams just for fixed dice.

>>2829683
>>2829705
>>2829721
>>2829727
>>2829732
>>2829836
>>2829841
>>2829932

Let's all just agree that voice acting makes games worse. There are very, very few exceptions to this rule.

>>2830279
Let's just all agree that we will never all agree on anything, ever. VO fits some games very well.

>>2830051
The main problem with him is he's introduced and then promptly tossed to the side. You're never given a chance to see if you actually like using him or not, so he remains a reserves member for like the rest of the game. Which fucks you some when it comes to WoR.

>>2828049
Id recommend playing a 2d version first to get a feel for the general mechanics and then play the 3D version as its quite a bit harder and features new mechanics.

>>2828049

PSP. The DS changes where shit and that's on top of looking like puke

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>>2830286
>VO fits some games very well.
Rarely.

>>2831441
I'm confused. Are you listing DQ8 as a good or poor example of voice acting?

>>2830051

I always played team grumpy old asshole: Setzer, Shadow, Cyan, Strago.

>>2831445
Oh oops, I should have clarified... DQ8's a good example of VO that "fits". Some people really hated it for some reason which I've never understood. Yangus was hilarious.

>>2831465
Maybe it's just me, but it seems to me that games with a most British voice cast tend to be rather great over all with the voice acting. DQ8 like you mentioned is good, but I'd also like to point out Xenoblade and The Last Story as a couple more fantastic voice casts.

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Deff play 9, it was my first one and my favorite. vivi and quina are awesome characters. stay away from 8 though, too much whiny crying bullshit, i always hated 8 because of the characters and not the junction shit.

if you dont have much time go for 9, if you have time do 4 5 then 9. 10+ is horrible, 10 is tolerable but only so much. 12 was political and boring to me, fran was hot as fuck though and my fav in that one. 13, 13-2 and that lightning shit was just a bunch of fuckin abortions.

IMO stay in the SNES and PS1 era of FF games. hell i like 8 better than i like 13's bullshit.

>>2830279
Hmmm. Last of us without voice acting... Everyone talks in text boxes? I think it might lose something...

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>>2828968
ff2 was only ff I had to replay from start because i run out of items during airship dungeon

literally every ff game besides 8 is complete trash

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>>2826568
If you're finishing 6 go straight into IV. Do not touch the THREE DEE final fantasies until you finish IV. Why? Because the average player typically has trouble going back and forth between 2D and 3D, seeing the series improve graphically is like reliving the 90s in a way.

I don't get the IV hate in this thread, the average /vr/ poster only played VI and IX through emulation so you shouldn't take their opinions too seriously. Eithout spoiling too much, IV has three giant overworlds, excellent characters, some of the best music in the series, and the best story. And it's a incredibly amazing story, a complete universe with well written out dialogue. Whereas in VI you're probably used to swapping characters on the fly and having them save one or two things depending on this situation... IV takes it a step further and has so many intellectual layers and motivation, you'll be cheering on and analyzing every character's choice (because they are so damn lovable). This game is also the smartest final fantasy game from a theatrical perspective (some IX fans might be offended by that comment, but once you play IX, you realize it's more like a circus).

Wait for a rainy day and get comfy when you get around to it OP because you're going to get immersed in a way that only a few games can do. This is coming from someone who's beat every game in the series.

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>>2831854
Listen to this nigga, OP. FF4 is really great.

>>2831854
FFIV reads like a soap opera.

>>2831953
And?

I is terrible because grindan and archaic everything
II is terrible because leveling system and dungeon design are broken as fuck
III is terrible because the class system is largely superficial for most part and gameplay is cryptic, grindy and archaic
IV is terrible because soap opera visual novel
V is terrible because the job system can be easily broken and no story
VI is terrible because split party dungeons I hope whoever came up with those committed suicide in a painful manner
VII is terrible because it ruined the genre
VIII is terrible in general
IX is terrible because holy guide bait batman and rushed madhouse storytelling, also Beatrix

Everything past this line is not Final Fantasy

Don't play FF at all OP, don't repeat my mistakes

>>2828968
Started up a new file in FF2 because of this thread. Got stuck at a certain spot and abandoned the game some time ago.

Unarmed seems completely broken and kinda renders using weapons pointless.

>>2832237
It is until you get to enemies who have stronger defense. Then it's useless.

>>2832252
Oh I know I shouldn't rely on it, but it's funny how I'm doing triple - digit damage 20 minutes into the game.

>>2831854
> IV takes it a step further and has so many intellectual layers and motivation, you'll be cheering on and analyzing every character's choice

lol. This is the game that kills characters off or has them temporarily brainwashed evil in order to open up slots in your party. It's goofy shit where you fly inside a giant's mouth in an airship and OH NO, he was my long lost brother after all!

It is, to be fair, comfy.

>>2832252
Not necessarily true, as long as you continue to gain unarmed skill, your fists will out damage most weapons.

>>2831953
They're all soap operas except 1 and 5.

1 has no real story to be had, and 5 is a generic anime.

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>>2832378
spoiler alert?