I've never played these games and have felt liked I missed something not playing them. Now, as I search for the games, I am finding all kinds of platforms for them.

What would be the best way to play these games? I've been considering getting an old console or 2, but never followed through, yet.

Thanks for any ideas and help

Just get them for whatever platforms you already own; don't spend extra money buying an old machine and hunting down old copies of the games. Not only did everything released during the early 90's have a shoddy translation, but you're very likely to have a lot of problems with the cartridge-based games as those were saved on a battery-powered memory unit, which is not going to be in good shape after 20 years.

Yeah there good. Really good especially 7 through 10 because there in 3d graphics 1 through 6 are all 2D except 3 which was re released on the DS and has 3D graphics.

Yeah just get an old PS2 some are cheap on Amazon, Ebay etc. PS2 FF games are also cheap. If you have a PS3 you can download them on PSN, i think Final Fantasy 10 was re mastered or something like that.

Final Fantasy 12 is good as well. But for that one you will need a PS2. Unless you have a backwards compatible PS3. Never played 11 and 13 and 14 i saw some gameplay but never bothered trying them. I also never got to finish Final Fantasy X-2 nor Tactics. I also didn't see all the films i only saw the Spirits within and Advent Children.

But the remake of FF7 will be cool. FF7 is the best one of all the series. I would probably tell you to start off with a PS3 and download them on PSN there all there except 12 and 3. I woudn't bother with 11 cause that one was an online mmo nor would i bother with 14 that one is another mmo. lol

Ff7 remake looks absolutely terrible and is turned into a God of war hack n slash. Just had to get that out of the way.



As for the series, I think it's a great series that died at number 10. 1 through 9 are awesome. 6, 8 and 9 are my personal favourite.


I'd recommend starting at number 6 (or 3 if it's the American snes version) as that's one of the first modernized as opposed to the older ones and working your way up from there. They are all available on psn for download.


I'd also recommend super Mario RPG for snes, as it was made by the same team as the final fantasies and plays a lot like them.


And then there's squaresofts masterpiece, chrono trigger. It was made by the dream team of jrpg makers from squaresoft, and better than most final fantasies l, while being the same game creators. It also has my favourite original soundtrack in any video game and is available for ps1, snes, nds, Google play store, IOS, and on the psn network.

If you have a PS3, PSP or PS Vita, you can buy the PS1 versions of FF6, FF7, FF8 and FF9 on the Playstation Store and play them there. You can also buy the games on Steam and play them on PC (FF9 isn't on Steam yet but will be soon), but I actually prefer the PS1 versions.

The PS1 version of FF6 is a bit poor though, despite being a very small game, there are somewhat long loading times.

And for what it's worth, FF6 is my favorite FF game

Crystal Chronicals!

If you have a PC, you can get FF1 thru 9 on them. I highly recommend 7 (by far the most popular), and 8 (my personal favorite). 6 is also highly coveted in general by the FF community. 9 has a more classical style that pays homage to the originals (I-III).


After that, you need a console. For PS2 you have X, XI and XII. X is more linear than any of the previous titles. The community is very split on X (and X-2). You either love it or hate it (I hated it). For me the story was pretty boring and its a very linear world.


XI and XIV are MMOs.


XII has in-world real time turn based combat, and it's world is open but it doesnt have an overmap like previous titles. It's a giant collection of areas and mini areas. It is the title that you really saw major change in the gameplay since FF7.


XIII can also be played on PC. A linear title like X, and imo the 2nd worst of the series...behind X.



Now when it comes to the series, it doesnt matter where you jump in. None of stories are connected except for X and X-2. It really depends on your ability to go backwards in graphical capabilities. Many cant go backwards. If that isnt a problem for you, try to find some bundles. I'm sure someone sells them somewhere.


If not, I would suggest playing at least the "eras" in order. So FF7 would be a good place, then go 8 and 9. If you go earlier, you can do 1-3 or do 4-6.


Completely up to you. Just understand what generation you're going into, but those the chunks I suggest. My favorite series was 7-9 (8 being my favorite overall game in FF).




Also if you do get a PS2 for whatever reason, play FF7 first than you can get the spinoff...Final Fantasy: Dirge of Cereberus. Not a RP game, but a 3rd person action/adventure game.

Oh SquareEnix all we wanted was the original FFVII gameplay with Advent Children graphics upgrade. Was that to much to ask? Heck I would have settled for Crisis Core type gameplay.

I warned everyone that they weren't going to like the FFVII remake Square was going to make. The same Square that made the FFVII Compilation that made endless retcons to the original game's story and failed to capture its magic. The same Square that made FFXIII and its sequels. The same Square that made endless sequels to Kingdom Hearts across multiple platforms with increasingly more pretentious names, but couldn't ever be bothered to just make Part 3. The same Square that over-designs everything with excessive angles, zippers, belts, and tons of other weird [censored]. The same Square that kept missing its [censored] deadlines by years. The same Square that wrote off games that sold millions of copies as failures.

I warned everyone for the past decade that they really, really, really did not want a remake, but no one listened. You all made your wish and you got it.

You're right, now excuse me I'll go stand in the corner and think about what I've done .

Anyway I use to love Squaresoft/SquareEnix back in the day and got so excited when a new Final Fantasy game came out, but sadly only a few FF games ever made it to my library.

1: Final Fantasy IV on the snes, then later for Playstation, was my favorite in the series---till I started watching multiple LP's of the game and now I find it really boring (looks at HCBailly).

2: Final Fantasy VI is still a great FF game, no complaints here other than a REALLY easy final boss.

3: Final Fantasy VII was good just need better character models in the overworld and towns.

4: Final Fantasy IX was a pretty decent FF game.

5: I fell in love with FFX.

6: Enjoyed Crisis Core.

7: Final Fantasy XII was okay I just didn't like the voice actors, they sounded like they all had a cold on the days of recording.

8: Final Fantasy XIII is where I stop playing FF games and haven't bought a new one in many moons.

6 was always my favorite

The same square that decided Xenogears should not be Final Fantasy 7. And then cut the funding forcing the game to be released half-finished

And 9 and 12 are my favorites. And i don't think 13 is a crime against humanity

Well, that was long before Square officially went off the rails in my opinion, but yeah, the way that game was treated svcked.

I was lucky. I still have my old copy of FF7, so all I had to do was buy an old PS1 for twenty bucks and I was good to go.

Anyway, Square might have been great back in the 90s, but they wasn't really. They pretty much ignored Europe. Lots of Square SNES and PS1 games weren't released here, like Chrono Trigger, FF4, FF6, Brave Fencer Musashi, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy Tactics, Legend of Mana, Parasite Eve, Threads of Fate and Xenogears just to mention a few. And we still missing most of these. We did get the FF ports and the DS release of Chrono Trigger and the PSP release of Final Fantasy Tactics though.

Back in August 2011 Sony Europe allowed for PS1 US imports on the European Playstation Store, which made me so pleased. But how many PS1 US imports have Square-Enix released there since then? Zero, they still svck

Got all excited when i read that Xenogears was on PSN, should have known it doesn't include European PSN

Well, since every old (and new) Final Fantasy is now on Steam, maybe they'll put it too there?

Just make an American PSN account.You'll probably only need a zip/postcode and an address.

OT:

My personal favorite is Final Fantasy 6, though 4 and 7 are close seconds.

If you're going to start the series I'd recommend starting with 4.It's probably the shortest and easiest of the main series and you won't grow accustomed to the improved graphics of later releases. You can buy FF4 on the PSN store, or you could buy the PSP remaster.

If you have a Nintendo DS you should be able to attain a copy of FF4 advanced.

Thanks for all the help and tips! Darksun, your post was very informative! Thanks

Yea, yea... rub it in!

Thanks again, everyone. Now, the search commences

Well you can get the PC version on PSN for the PS4.

Wait... what? You lost me there

[EDIT]

Is this the PC version, or the PS4 version?

FF7? pretty sure its available on steam atm




now don't get me wrong, FF7 is a really great game.. just not quite as great as people make it out to be..

If you have an Android device, 1-6 is available on Google Play.

It really depends on the person playing. One person's greatest game is one that is hated by another. For me, it's my favorite RPG of all time. Other folks say theirs is Morrowind. Others say it's Gothic 2.


I really hope though, that no one says Quest 64 is the greatest of all time.

heres the thing though, there is a big difference between going "this is a great game, its my personal favorite", and going "this is a great game and my favorite, so it clearly does not have a single flaw and is absolutely perfect in every way"..



every product including games has flaws (there is an old saying they had at my old software development job, "perfection is only an illusion, because everything can be improved upon in some manner"), but many gamers (especially with cult classics like FF7) refuse to admit that their favorite game is not absolutely perfect in every way, and that there are actually some areas they could have improved upon during development..

I see that a lot with Morrowind here in the forums. Drives me nuts. Fallout New Vegas too.