[Shirley BEltran]

My favorite FF games are FF6, FF9 and FF12, in that order. So those are the ones I recommend

And I'm no fan of FF10 or FF13, at all. So if you like those games, my recommendations might be poor for you.

FFXIII was alright, it seemed to repetitive for me, not enough variation, just run->combat->run->combat->run->cutscene->combat. I think I'll try to get FFXII now that both of you have recommended it

EDIT: Hmmm i thought FFXII was on the PS3? but its on the PS2 :shrug:

[Queen Bitch]

Final Fantasy IX is my absolute favorite, Final Fantasy VIII a somewhat close second. Final Fantasy IV and VI (II and III respectively if you're looking at SNES carts) are also great.

[Dominic Vaughan]

FFXIII was alright, it seemed to repetitive for me, not enough variation, just run->combat->run->combat->run->cutscene->combat. I think I'll try to get FFXII now that both of you have recommended it

EDIT: Hmmm i thought FFXII was on the PS3? but its on the PS2 :shrug:

Nope, FF13 is the only one on the PS3 so far. FF12 does have cutscenes that look like a PS3 game.

[TWITTER.COM]

I'm currently playing through VII. It's my introduction to the series (and JRPG's as a whole). So far it's probably one of the best stories i've seen in games. I don't like the random battle system, it's so tedious. The story and characters though are awesome imo. Thinking about getting IX as well off PSN, is it similar to VII?

[Angel Torres]

I'm currently playing through VII. It's my introduction to the series (and JRPG's as a whole). So far it's probably one of the best stories i've seen in games. I don't like the random battle system, it's so tedious. The story and characters though are awesome imo. Thinking about getting IX as well off PSN, is it similar to VII?

It's somewhat similar, has random battles and is turn based. It's setting and characters are more old school Final Fantasy though, and (like most Final Fantasy games) has a different system for developing your characters' skills.

[sophie]

Thinking about getting IX as well off PSN, is it similar to VII?

As a general rule: expect all Final Fantasy games to be fairly unique. The main thing they all have in common though, is they're all long, story-driven games with a whole cast of characters.

[Adam]

I'm currently playing through VII. It's my introduction to the series (and JRPG's as a whole). So far it's probably one of the best stories i've seen in games. I don't like the random battle system, it's so tedious. The story and characters though are awesome imo. Thinking about getting IX as well off PSN, is it similar to VII?

As another general rule, never ask a Final Fantasy fan if any game in the series is good. Not because they aren't, but because the fanbase is so staggering, broken, and opinions are scattered all over the place, that you will never get an objective answer.

[Alexandra Louise Taylor]

Sooooo...
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/final-fantasy-xiii-2-announced/

I really don't know what they want to with that title. The story isn't concluded with anything mind-boggling as FFVII, or someone left with a deep desire like in FFX.
*sigh*
And their current best series is not going to get a new full game soon, with the team responsible working on Versus XIII.
Any opinions?

[celebrity]

I haven't beat FFXIII yet so I don't know if a sequel is needed, but I like my FF games so I wouldn't mind regardless.

[Kayla Keizer]

Sooooo...
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/final-fantasy-xiii-2-announced/

I really don't know what they want to with that title. The story isn't concluded with anything mind-boggling as FFVII, or someone left with a deep desire like in FFX.
*sigh*
And their current best series is not going to get a new full game soon, with the team responsible working on Versus XIII.
Any opinions?

I have plenty of opinions on this, but I doubt you'd like to hear them.

Suffice to say that I think FF13 was unnecessary, and this sequel is more unnecessary. X-2 was bad enough, hell FF10 was bad enough. Square needs to start respecting their fans and customers or just stop making games, the kind of content they've been making in recent years is disgracefull.

I'm not trying to flame anyone for liking the games, or put anyone down, but what Square is doing is wrong.

[Abel Vazquez]

[...]

Oh, if you search through the boards for my posts about that game, you'll know I'm not a person offended by that, quite far from it.

I think Squeenix have somehow lost their grip on great RPG storytelling. The only good thing they brought us since FFIX was Kingdom Hearts. X was mediocre, most characters unappealing, and only the battle system kept me going, and about the same thing could be said about FFXIII, if it were not for (at least in the Japanese version) more likeable characters than in X.
The twelfth incarnation I liked very much, and probably would have loved it if Matsuno wouldn't have had to leave the production half-way due to sickness, which turned the rest of the design process into a damn mess.
He's probably the most capable person available for the series at the moment, methinks.

At any rate, I hope they can get their stuff together. Surely the great outcry about the tunnel sight exploration and controlling only one character at a time, even in the Japanese gaming community, has reached their headquarters.

[Mrs shelly Sugarplum]

I loved Final Fantasy XII. :shrug:

I'm more excited about Final Fantasy Type-0 (because I haven't played XIII). It looks similar to Kingdom Hearts or Crisis Core's gameplay.

[Brian LeHury]

I lost my love for Final Fantasy with FFXIII.

[Nathan Risch]

Sooooo...
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/01/18/final-fantasy-xiii-2-announced/

I really don't know what they want to with that title. The story isn't concluded with anything mind-boggling as FFVII, or someone left with a deep desire like in FFX.
*sigh*
And their current best series is not going to get a new full game soon, with the team responsible working on Versus XIII.
Any opinions?

I'm excited for it, though I'm even more excited for Versus XIII. Seriously, http://www.siliconera.com/2011/01/18/tidbits-about-the-new-final-fantasy-versus-xiii-trailer/ was amazing. XIII's shortcomings were blown way out of proportion in my humble opinion, though the writing certainly wasn't the best.

Besides, even though I loved XIII, I see nowhere to go but up, and from what I've heard that's exactly where they plan on taking XIII-2.

They also say that the game will “exceed” Final Fantasy XIII in every way and feature an “evolved” battle system, but don’t go into specifics.

There aren't many ways to exceed no sidequests and linear level design.

Also, I assume you're referring to Kingdom Hearts as their current best series. If so, the series got a full-fledged entry just months ago in the form of Birth by Sleep, and is getting a similar treatment with http://www.siliconera.com/2011/01/18/kingdom-hearts-3ds-is-kingdom-hearts-3d-dream-drop-distance/ on the 3DS. Don't let the lack of "III" in the names fool you, these are being treated no different than Kingdom Hearts or Kingdom Hearts II.

[Avril Louise]

Also, I assume you're referring to Kingdom Hearts as their current best series. If so, the series got a full-fledged entry just months ago in the form of Birth by Sleep,[...]

I... wouldn't exactly call a ten-hour entry "full-fledged". Nevertheless, I want Versus done so they can start making KH3. With every extension the story gets nauseatingly expanded, we need Sora tie those loose ends up once and for all. ^_^

[Ally Chimienti]

I... wouldn't exactly call a ten-hour entry "full-fledged". Nevertheless, I want Versus done so they can start making KH3. With every extension the story gets nauseatingly expanded, we need Sora tie those loose ends up once and for all. ^_^

Eh, about 25 hours for all characters. Not much different than having to revisit a number of worlds in Kingdom Hearts II, which if you didn't do would be a significantly shorter game as well. I mostly meant in terms of production quality and story though. By far the best, most comprehensive Kingdom Hearts so far IMO. In fact, it put a lot of things into perspective and answered a handful of questions I had after playing through Kingdom Hearts, Chain of Memories and Kingdom Hearts II.

I guess I don't mind the expansion of the story though. The original game was good, but they've taken it to such a grand scale. It seemed like a complete mess, but once things begin to piece together it's just so satisfying. Seeing the beginning of that leaked KH:3D trailer has me curious considering Birth by Sleep's secret ending, but even so BbS made it feel like a conclusion was next on Nomura's list. He said his team was looking into tech for KHIII, and after Versus XIII wraps up I don't see any other projects for them to take on.

[josh evans]

[...]

Ten or eleven hours was what it took me, for all the three elemental characters. On the tough difficulty, even. Including the epilogue.

I don't mind the expansion either, it's just that a little nagging thingie in my brain always comes out to complain about them releasing it on, what's it now, six different platforms? PS2, GBA, DS, 3DS, mobile phones, PSP. Yup.
Seriously, people were stumped enough about Sora being in some mansion at the start of KH2, because that part of the story took place only on the GBA or in a Japan-only PS2 game.
It's only getting worse with all the Final Mix editions also being Japan only. This is one huge cluster-f-bomb of a plot.

[Gavin boyce]

Borrowing 13 from a friend, love it so far

Graphically stunning, and the most brilliant combat system in the history of ever.

[Roanne Bardsley]

Borrowing 13 from a friend, love it so far

Graphically stunning, and the most brilliant combat system in the history of ever.

The graphics are stunning but a pity that it is only 720p. Savour the first few hours and try to explore every section to it's fullest. You don't get to go back to the early bits.

[Kat Stewart]

The graphics are stunning but a pity that it is only 720p. Savour the first few hours and try to explore every section to it's fullest. You don't get to go back to the early bits.

Is it really only 720? I don't care, it still blew me away from the vid that plays before the start menu. I'd grown to love the way that a lot of devs have been telling stories sans-cutscenes, like Half-Life 2, any Bethesda game in recent memory, Dead Space, ect, but the complete beauty of what SE packed into those mini movies makes me grind through bosses and occasionally irritating dialog (Vanille...Hope...Snow...) for the sole purpose of seeing them.

I love the cinematic quality, I love the art style, the realization of the world, the dark, occasionally disturbing themes layered under almost Disney-esque cheer and colors.

[Jeremy Kenney]

Well I finished the Titan trial on FFXIII and maxed out the crystarium on all my characters

I just need to work on getting gil so I can do more upgrades on my weapons and equipment.

I'm looking forward to FFXIII-2 and might even possibly start a new game on FFXIII prior to it coming out to refresh my memory on the story.

I've also obtained a small collection of game boy advance Final Fantasy games. I'm actually impressed with FFII's battle system. It's almost like how they're doing with skyrim...No class system but it's determined by how much you're using particular skills. If you use a fire spell it's going to get stronger to be fire 2 and so on.

[Baby K(:]

I'm looking forward to FFXIII-2 and might even possibly start a new game on FFXIII prior to it coming out to refresh my memory on the story.

I've also obtained a small collection of game boy advance Final Fantasy games. I'm actually impressed with FFII's battle system. It's almost like how they're doing with skyrim...No class system but it's determined by how much you're using particular skills. If you use a fire spell it's going to get stronger to be fire 2 and so on.

I am looking forward to it as well. FFXIII-2 looks like it will be a lot better than FFXIII in my opinion.

FFII's battle system was very unique, and the first time I played it, it caught me off guard. I found it to be quite a fun game.

Right now I am playing through FFV. It isn't that special and doesn't really stand out in the old school FF games, and that is the reason why I wanted to play it.
I am just now leaving the Wind Shrine and about to really jump into the game.

[Kit Marsden]

I'm watching HCBailly's HD let's play of FFXIII (on YouTube), and really enjoying the visuals, character/enemy design, and battle mechanics.

Is much known about XIII-2 yet, or is it pretty much just the trailer?

[x_JeNnY_x]

I'm actually impressed with FFII's battle system. It's almost like how they're doing with skyrim...No class system but it's determined by how much you're using particular skills. If you use a fire spell it's going to get stronger to be fire 2 and so on.

I actually found the system to be horribly broken. For instance, to level up a character's MP, they have to use a certain amount each battle. During my time with the game it was leveling incredibly slow. I didn't have enough MP to make it through long dungeons and fight a boss. My spells were leveling up faster than MP itself, which in turn raised the MP cost per spell since you you no longer have the option to cast the weaker spell like in every other Final Fantasy. One aspect of MP management is simply not casting a spell, but because the game lacked a Defend option, the only course of action was for a mage to attack physically, raising Strength and lower Intelligence.

I see they added a Defend option in the PSP version, so I may give that a try, but as of now it's one of two games in the series that I hate, based solely on the leveling system. The story and characters were great though.

I'm watching HCBailly's HD let's play of FFXIII (on YouTube), and really enjoying the visuals, character/enemy design, and battle mechanics.

Is much known about XIII-2 yet, or is it pretty much just the trailer?

A few tidbits here and there. The game will be more fantasy oriented, compared to XIII's futuristic setting. The development team is attempting to flesh out the world and make it seem more alive, presumably by adding NPCs and such. There have been talks of towns, shops, etc. making a comeback, but no confirmation yet. The battle system will be an evolved version of XIII's.

[Darlene Delk]

Final Fantasy 2's battle system was one of my favorites. I could gain levels on spells by spending about an hour in the same battle casting spells on myself, and the enemy, while healing myself as well. That was probably the thing I liked most about it, but I'm odd. That was for the Gameboy Advance version. I also..pretty much enjoyed every Final Fantasy I played, the stories usually don't end up the same (for the most part) so it makes each one fun for me. But I disagree with X's story being mediocre, I really liked it. It had a sweetness too it. Also, it had Auron and he's awesome.

I still have yet to beat FF13 though, it just sits on my shelf..granted I have yet to beat 4, 5 and 6...