FF

You can start with VI, VII or IX. Those are probably the best starting points.

Avoid the VI HD edition though, it's grotesquely ugly. Can you get the regular one on Steam?

Yes, they are all excellent purchases. Don't worry about the emufags telling you are doing the wrong thing. Squeenix is still a fantastic company and you should support them bringing old games to new platforms.

>"Hey, guys! Please recommend a good place to start with a series that has possibly the most divisive fanbase in existence!"

Oh boy, yet another iteration of this thread. I'm sure this one will turn out well, contrary to the dozens of abortive shitfests that preceded it.

How about you do like the rest of us had to and play the games in order of release date?

Well asking FF fans what's the best one is like stepping on a landmine, it's usually a very contemptuous discussion since the series change so much throughout the years. I'd say your best bet is looking at which one seems to interest you most and go from there.

I'll say this though, even though V and VI are excellent games, absolutely do NOT get the steam """"""""""""""HD"""""""""""""" versions, they're such hot chinese garbage.

FF4 is probably the most borderline one to start with

>Steam

The re-releases are garbage. Poorly upscaled graphics, blurry backgrounds, bugs everywhere because they're all shitty half-assed efforts that were likely outsourced to a third-world developer. Don't waste your money when you can just emulate the original versions for free.

The fifth-generation remakes were okay though. Those fixed a lot of bugs and had redrawn graphics as opposed to the lossy upscaled shit in the "HD" ports.

1, do you know how to count?

Play them all and then decide which ones you like and go play those.

1, 4 or 7.
1 because it's solid and the most basic.
Six classes, and a party of any four means plenty of replay value.

4 because it's a refinement of the three pervious games. They found out what works, then they found out what didn't work, then they tried expanding on what works, and with 4 they put it all together with a decent plot with character progression.

7 because it's the most popular game in the series, and there's a damn good reason for that.
Overrated, but that's easy to do with a game of it's quality.
Also look into it's spinoffs.

And if you choose one of the older games, you need to research which release you want to play, because some of them are quite different, especially the variations on 4.

And don't forget to play the other games too.

>>3316347
thank you based anon, very thorough and helpful response

>>3316390
Unfortunately, 1 is a pretty uninteresting game. The only "strategy" is choosing your character's classes before you start the game and holding the action button to get through battles. Nothing in this game makes sense story wise and every challenge is a grind. I personally believe that playing FF1 will turn you OFF of the series.

Rather, I recommend FF5. FF5 is essentially a better FF1. It's got red mages. Red mages have cool hats.

Otherwise I agree with everything else >>3316347 said.

FF6 isn't a bad option either. Some people think it's the best. You could probably read a good analysis on it, somewhere.

Play 1, but don't feel obligated to finish it. It just brings you into the series. Then you can dive into the others that require a bit more dedication.

FF VII is a great entry game, it's both fantastic and accessible.

>>3316053
>The re-releases are garbage

I played V and VI on steam and honestly they are alright. played the GBA version as well so I had a comparison.

>>3316017
I've never been fan of FF, but nowadays I got into FF 9, it's great, with medieval/epicFantasy elements and some old character back (Black Mage and stuff). So, I recommend 9, but u can look for X/X-2 remaster too, if u wish.

I'll try to give a quick synopsis of the series based on my own playthroughs:

1 - Class-based, somewhat open world, no predefined characters, uses spell charges instead of an MP pool, can be fairly difficult if you don't know what you're doing, but it's otherwise a straightforward game. Average playthrough might be around 10 hours, although professionally you can breeze through it more quickly than that.

2 - Ditches the formulas from the first game and goes with something more similar to Elder Scrolls. Your characters have skills in all types of magic and weapons, and those skills increase on their own as they're put to use. Stats work the same way. Retains the tedious dungeon designs from FF1, but takes them up a notch. Much more story-based and has predefined characters. Sort of open world, but there are a few locations you can't reach without advancing the plot or obtaining key items. Sometimes considered the most difficult game in the series, but excessive grinding can make it a cakewalk.

3 - Returns to the class- and level-based mechanics of FF1, except you have four generic characters who can switch classes back and forth at any time. You just have to unlock more classes as the story advances. Spans multiple worlds and is by far the largest game of the original Famicom series. Much more linear by comparison though. Quite hard, especially in the final stretch of the game.

4 - All characters are predefined and stuck with a specific class. Story characters come and go a lot throughout the game, and the game never allows you to choose who's in your party at any given time. This game has a number of versions and re-releases. The original SNES version in the U.S. was dumbed down for Western audience, which means it's substantially easier than its Japanese counterpart. The PS1 port is based on the original Japanese version, so it retains the harder difficulty level.

>>3316617
5 - Once again returns to the class-based approach found in FF1. You have four (technically five) main characters who can switch classes at will, and just like in FF3, you unlock new classes as you advance the story. The difference is that you can now master abilities from each class, then equip those abilities upon changing to a new class. The setting is much less serious in tone compared to earlier games in the series.

6 - Like FF4, the characters have predefined traits and classes, but this time you get a party roster that allows you to swap recruited characters in and out. Even though each character has a specific class, anyone can learn to use magic thanks to the magicite system. The setting is extremely stark. I don't want to spoil it for you, but it's more on par with Fallout than your typical FF fare. Contends with FF7 for the status of "Best Game in the Series."

7 - Characters equip skills in the form of materia, and as you defeat enemies, your equipped materia powers up, unlocking more potent skills. You can freely swap your equipped materia around with other characters to form a very wide variety of skill combinations. The setting is more modern / futuristic than previous FF games. The story frankly pans out like a science-fiction novel, but the characters are fun and memorable. Reputedly the best game in the series.

8 - Tries to adopt a more realistic setting centered around life in a military school. Characters utilize skills by equipping "Guardian Forces," which are summoned beast that can aid you in combat. GFs level up alongside your characters, eventually unlocking new abilities. Characters can freely swap their GFs and corresponding skills around, lending to a high degree of customization. The mechanics are considered too dense by some, so you may have to pass a somewhat steep learning curve before you can get into the game.

>>3316624
9 - The game aesthetically tries to be a shout-out to much earlier games in the series, but you have characters with predefined traits and classes. Lots of emphasis on storytelling - there are cinematics and cutscenes every few minutes into the game. Considered too slow-paced by some, because the game's visual style frankly pushes the PS1 to its technical limits. Battle sequences have long loading times, skill animations are lengthy, etc. The story is frankly on par with something out of a Japanese anime, but some people seem to find the characters endearing.

FF Tactics - Square's take on a tactical RPG. Does away with traditional exploration in favor of being largely menu-based. For instance, you explore the world map simply by moving your cursor to a region and selecting it. Sometimes there will be random battles as you move from one region to another, and there will be several plot-based battles that advance the story and unlock new selectable locations. Retains the style of class mechanics found in FF5 - characters can master skills from one class and carry those skills over to other classes. Some people consider the game to have the strongest plot in the series, as there's a lot of political intrigue, and the game doesn't steer too far off course with sidequests or sub-plots.

>>3316624
>>3316626
This is the best so far, many thanks Anon! I salute you!

>>3316017
How can it be "Final" Fantasy, when there's so many chapters?

>>3316021
Steam only sells Square's crap ports from mobile and nothing else. Except for VII maybe.

I would advice trying out FFV or FFVI to get used to the basic system. FFV is more light hearted and not so story driven but the job mechanics is so diverse for it's time and let's you customize your party more.

FFVI is epic story with lot of characters but the first half might seem pretty railroadish experience. All in all VI has a nice big world and lots to do and find in latter half
.
If you like V or VI system, next step would be VII. I started with VII in 1998 and still think it's one of the best games in video game's history.

>>3316959
Final Fantasy 1 was a make or break game for Square.

>>3316017
IV, V, VI, VII, or IX would all be good choices, honestly. Choose one of those based on whichever of these >>3316617 >>3316624 >>3316626 descriptions sounds good.

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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned the X/X-2 remaster.

It's on Steam too. Is it because X is too new for /vr/, or does /vr/ actually not like X?

Anyway, the Steam versions are great for everything but V and VI. The Steam versions of those are certainly playable, but almost any other version is superior. V and VI's best versions are the GBA versions, but you can more easily obtain both as PSOne classics on PSN, and the SNES version of VI is also available under its original American name of Final Fantasy III on the Wii Virtual Console.

>>3317309
I like X and X-2. /vr/ tends to get a bit autistic about what is or isn't "retro", though.

>>3317309
Why are the GBA versions best? Isn't their music ruined by the GBA's shite soundchip?

>>3317309
>>3317324
I picked it up for my PS3 when I finally bought one last year. I never played it on PS2. The game is good. Tidus is terrible.

>>3317349

The GBA versions have inferior sound, but otherwise have better translations, additional content over their original versions, and bugfixes and stuff.

It's not a strict upgrade because of the sound issue, but in all other respects they are the best versions.

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>>3317350
I like Tidus. He's a small man in a weird world who got handed a sword after a lifetime of playing pro ball and got told "Here, protect Jesus."

That laugh scene, though...

>>3317309
>V and VI's best versions are the GBA versions

None of the GBA ports are worth OP's time. GBA games have a reputation for washed out palettes due to the original hardware not having a backlit screen. FF wasn't spared from this fate.

The games also have some really awkward relocalizations. Neither translation is particularly accurate, and both are even less accurate than Square's original efforts to localize them. All you really benefit from is a lack of censorship, but you can get that by playing the PS1 Anthology ports instead.

I wouldn't bother with the SNES / Wii VC version of FF3/6 since it's butchered by early Nintendo censorship policies.

>>3317375
>lack of censorship
They still censored the Celes torture scene.

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>>3316017

>>3317445
Reading this shit in the past tense is fucking surreal, man.

>>3317445
The two games with the worst cast in the series are the ones you recommend for storytelling.

Also, recommending Tactics to people who really liked XII is idiotic, especially when the justification for that jump is the setting, yet XII is recommended on that chart for if you want something gameplay focused.

Also, recommending playing IV: The After Years, X-2, or the fucking IOS game at all is terrible.

And any time this chart says "fans of this game also typically enjoy" you go on to say something completely wrong. Seriously, going from X to VIII doesn't make any sense. You go from a game that's a little to streamlined to a game that's a little too complex.

It's like you started with VII, then IV to trick people into thinking you were giving good advice, but fucked up by immediately recommending Crisis Core and destroying any credibility this image may have had.

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>>3317486
Lower the sodium, bro.

>>3317491
Yeah, I got a bit too worked up over that. But, like, wow. That was really bad advice. I just didn't want anyone taking it seriously.

>>3317486
Pretty much the only thing I agree with here is that Crisis Core sucked major ass. I grew up with X but it's impossible to enjoy without nostalgia goggles, I would honestly much rather play X-2 these days.

>>3317491
Nice filename, bro.

Might as well ask here.

Trying to play FF4 on my snes, should I do FF2-USA or FF4-JP with the J2E translation? Or some third option?

>>3316017
I suggest you start with Final Fantasy 4 on the SNES. If you do play 5 or 6, I'd still suggest to play them on the consoles they were made on (SNES still) rather than ports, as in try Emulating them~

Okay, play any of these:

FFIII (NES English Fan Translation)
FFIV (SNES)
FFV (SNES English Fan Translation)
FFVI (SNES)
FFVII (PSX)
FFIX (PSX)

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>>3316017
Never ever ask this question unless you are willing to go through hundreds of posts of autistic manchildren trying to force their opinions to you and each other.

Here is what you should do: Do some light research of the games, try the one that seems most interesting to you out and if you don't like it try one of the other games in the series. You aren't going to miss anything from playing the games out of order as they aren't really connected apart from sharing similar names for items, monsters and some characters and sometimes having some small references to the other games.

tl;dr: play whatever you are most interested about and never ever be in contact with the series' fanbase unless you want to get infected with cancer.

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Here is an opinion that ISN'T someone telling you to start out with their favorite FF or the first one they played:

Start with the SNES version of FFIV (called FFII) and play FFVI and FFV next in that order.
Now if you liked FFIV the most play FFIX next. (Both games mainly focus on their stories, have very linear gameplay and barely any optinons for character customization due to their characters being locked in their job classes)
Now if you liked FFV the most play FFVIII next. (Both games have a focus character customization and if you actually care about their stories it IS there but requires some exploration to fully figure them out)
Now if you liked FFVI the most play FFVII next. (Both games have roughly egual focus on story and character customization)

Still want more? Play through the other two games mentioned and FFX. You have now seen where the series reputation came from and what was so good in it. Now as for the NES games they are decent but unless you grew up with NES you probably aren't going to enjoy them.

>>3317506
>That was really bad advice
In your opinion. Stop being so uptight.

>>3317678
Not that anon, but that chart is shit.
All the text bleeds together making it incredibly confusing, it's way more complicated than it needs to be, and the middle portion all links together so much that it negates the flowchart entirely.

>>3318035
Okay. I didn't particularly like the layout of the chart either, other than the jokes on the extreme edges of it, but saying that the suggestions contained within it are bad is completely and totally based upon opinion.

Seems to me that you're just arguing to argue at this point.

>>3316458
I think 6 gets its praise, not by being better than 5

But by being so damn memorable.

the hero's, the villan, the soundtrack, the opera house, ultros, use of mode 7 etc, etc.

if you grew up during that time playing FFVI. its a nostalgiafags wet dream