What's the most underrated main series FF?

Kermitu Kleric Katie · Mar 16, 2013

I'm going with VIII. I think any of these choices can have their reasons for being underrated, except VI, VII, IX(despite what a lot of fans seem to think, this game is one of the most popular, and isn't underrated, it just gets underrecognized by SE), or X, since they seem to be the most popular and the top 4 on FF game popularity polls is usually a combination of those 4. I :lol:

at anyone who votes for one of those. Anyway, VIII, is a great game, with great story, graphics, gameplay, music, and characters, yet there seems to be a good number of haters of it, a lot of them having stupid reasons to hate it. That's why it has my vote.

LicoriceAllsorts · Mar 16, 2013

Twelve. Fans often point the finger at XII as the game where the rot set in, but I love it. I find the characters much more engaging than the ones in X, and the story is just as deep. Fran is one of my all-time favourites. The music is beautiful, and aside from "I'm Captain Basch of Dalmasca" and the chop-fetch, there aren't too many annoying mini-games. The hunts are very satisfying to do.

The world feels complex and fully realised, with many diverse cultures and peoples interacting in a way that makes sense. You get a strong sense of a long history that informs everything the people do. In FFVII, it's as if everybody has forgotten everything that happened in the world before Shinra. Also, in FFXII the gameplay has been integrated into the world's economy. For example, in FFVII you fought monsters and they dropped money, but in XII you fight monsters, obtain products from them like horn, hide, and feathers, and trade them for money. This makes more sense.

Yes, I love this game. I even like Penelo.

Flintlock · Mar 16, 2013

I always think that Final Fantasy XII would have been a phenomenally well-received game had it not featured the words "Final" and "Fantasy" in its title. It was certainly different from what had come before, mainly because of the battle system, but it is undeniably awesome in so many other ways.

To determine which game is the most overrated, we have to consider how popular they all are, like Insane Cultist did. I think Final Fantasy fans, as a whole, rate VI and VII as the best games, followed by IV and IX, but after that, I can't say. The first three games don't seem to get much love, but all the others - V, VIII, X, XII and XIII - strongly divide opinions.

I'll vote for XII as well, though, as I'd put it in my top three. In fact, I already have.

Marcus · Mar 16, 2013

Was it just me or as soon as XIII was released everyone suddenly loved XII?

I would have to say VIII was really underrated, the junction system was my favorite system on the original consoles. 20+ hours of playing cards in Balamb and I was unbeatable for the rest of the game. The leveling system could of done with some work, having monsters and even bosses level up along side you meant you could play the game without any real need to grind levels.

The story was also very strong if you ask me, it seemed more realistic and focused on actual real world problems (Nations at War etc.)

Lex · Mar 16, 2013

V. How am I the only one that has voted for V.

I get why people are voting for XII, but it was never "officially" underrated. It was just shunned by some fans because it departed a bit too much. At least in the UK, it got 10/10 or 5 stars in almost everything it was reviewed in, and rightly so. There's nothing underrated about it.

EDIT: And I don't think VIII is underrated either. It was simply outshone by VII and IX on either side of it, and is often regarded as "that weird one". I loved VIII, perhaps even more so than I like IX, but I wouldn't call it underrated for the same reason I wouldn't call XII underrated. Slightly ignored maybe, but V still wins for me.

ForceStealer · Mar 16, 2013

Five. No contest.

Ⓐaron · Mar 16, 2013

What Lex and Force said. V has the best gameplay in the main series by a mile and it gets almost no mainstream recognition whatsoever. The soundtrack and characters aren't bad either.

LicoriceAllsorts · Mar 16, 2013

Well, Five is the one I haven't played. I know almost nothing about it.

AvecAloes · Mar 16, 2013

Also have to go with V. I played it last year and really loved pretty much everything about it.

Lex · Mar 16, 2013

LicoriceAllsorts said:
Well, Five is the one I haven't played. I know almost nothing about it.

^And this is one of the chief reasons it is underrated. People don't ever really think "oh I should play FFV" when they think about FF titles, because it was never really marketed in the west and only made an appearance with the FF anthology. Which in the UK, contained FFVI which already had a massive buzz about it, so the majority of people who actually bought that never bothered with V and went straight to VI.

None of that is proven fact, I'm just going by what I've read over the many years. V is left to be ignored because aside from III it's probably the least played game in the west. I remember someone telling me the story was crap once, but when I played it I completely disagreed. The plot is a bit thin with respect to where the characters get their motivation, but it's just as twisty and intricate and eventually as emotionally engaging as the best of them.

Not to mention, it's the game that introduced a lot of the series staples. Boco, Gilgamesh, etc. I saw a mind-blowing list somewhere once.

Lic, grab an emulator and play it through one day when you can. I don't think you'll regret it.

Ⓐaron · Mar 16, 2013

The thing about V's plot is it doesn't really make that much sense on a first playthrough because there are a lot of things that only get explained after they happen. A large amount of the plot isn't revealed until midway through the game, which means that a lot of perfectly sensible events initially seem nonsensical. On a replay, the game makes a lot more sense and the plot is much more enjoyable.

null · Mar 16, 2013

I've always wondered why Square decided no one outside Japan could handle V, but then released the most experimental game in the series to the world in VI.

Honorable underrated mention is VIII. Hey, someone had to come after VII.

ForceStealer · Mar 17, 2013

I never bought the idea that VIII is less positively regarded because it wasn't VII. I don't care for 8, but 9 was the first I played after 7 and I like 9 a lot.

Ghost X · Mar 17, 2013

Definitely FFV, followed by FFXII. If you haven't played FFV, you haven't lived.

Okay, maybe you have lived.

Flintlock · Mar 17, 2013

Prince Lex said:
^And this is one of the chief reasons it is underrated. People don't ever really think "oh I should play FFV" when they think about FF titles, because it was never really marketed in the west and only made an appearance with the FF anthology. Which in the UK, contained FFVI which already had a massive buzz about it, so the majority of people who actually bought that never bothered with V and went straight to VI.

Have to correct you there: the Anthology contained IV and V in Europe, while VI was a standalone game. My brother and I bought them both.

The reason I didn't vote for V is because I think most people would put it somewhere near the middle of a ranking of the Final Fantasy games, and that's roughly where I'd put it too. I would definitely have voted for it if I had been asked to name the most under-appreciated Final Fantasy, because, as you pointed out, many fans of the series never even play it. But those who do recognise that it's a really good game, whereas I know many people who played XII and strongly disliked it.

Sorry to be pedantic, but that's what debates like this one are all about, in a way

Lex · Mar 17, 2013

You're absolutely right. Here's why I got confused:

My copy of Anthology is the American version (a bootleg). I actually have that copy of FFVI too, as you can see.

And here's the more obvious bootlegginess:

The point still stands though. IV was more popular than V. This was the first time either of them were even released in Europe, granted, but anyone who was interested in FF had more than likely heard of IV over V.

Sprites · Mar 18, 2013

FFV definitely the most underrated

The job and ability system of FFV is one of the best in the series IMO, the story is brilliant and some of those soundtrack pieces are just absolutely beautiful,

These are the two that namely stand out for me as Nobuo Uematsu's finest in the FFV soundtrack.

Apart from FFIX which is my favourite of the lot, FFV is the one I feel deserves a proper remake.

Fangu · Mar 18, 2013

null said:
I've always wondered why Square decided no one outside Japan could handle V, but then released the most experimental game in the series to the world in VI.

From what I've read, IV was released as II and VI as III in the US. Japan were pushing out these games in a pace that didn't fit with the marketing in the US, or something. Waiting for VI to be released as III was more fit for their release schedule. With VII they scrapped the US numberings and went with the original numbering.

ForceStealer · Mar 18, 2013

There were several attempts to localize V around its release but they all fell through. I believe Gametrailers' FF Retrospective detailed it

Lex · Mar 18, 2013

I've just realised I need to obtain the European version of Final Fantasy Anthology or my collection won't be complete. I can buy it new from Amazon - for £150 >_>

Lex · Mar 18, 2013

Can I just... pelvic thrust at 0:06 (so sayeth YouTube)

This might be my favourite ever version of "Theme of Final Fantasy":

Awesome dungeon theme

What's the most underrated main series FF?

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