What is the oldest FF deserved to be played today?

[eqmddlh]

I should say that the first FF that I played and ended was the seven. More came after this but only two older, the 6 and the 5. Today, several remakes for different gaming platforms have appear and the Retro player that also lives in me ask the next question:

What would be the first FF, remaked or not, that you would consider really deserving to be played? In which device? Why yes? Why not?

Some people has told that exists no reason under the sun to play the FF 1, for example. No matter how, it doesn't deserve, today, to be played unless you want to increase your list of retro games ended.

I'd like a lot to know your opinions.

Best regards.

 

[DrakeClawfang]

FF4 DS.

FF1's battle system is horribly restrictive and boring with a very open-ended quest. Without a walkthrough you *will* get lost.

FF2 has hands-down the most grind-intensive, boring, nonsense battle system in the series, and an okay plot but it doesn't withstand the test of time.

FF3 - better battle system and story than FF1, but not really memorable.

FF4 DS has a great story, and a simple but effective battle system, and isn't a game you can just coast through (unlike a lot of the games that have epic stories but are easy to beat, like FF6 and FF7). And Rydia, Kain and Golbez are awesome badasses.

So yeah, FF4 DS, check it out. I recommend the DS port because the Advance release has a much simplier and easier battle system.

 

[Geostigma]

FF4 DS is the shit, but after the first play through you can most definitly coast through it.
I beat it second time around pretty quickly iirc but then again all the extras helped alot too lol.

Gosh kain really was a bad ass though lol, i did the usual spam darkness+jump, save pheonix on him in case of a tight spot and win

Cecil was great but was never fond of his

Spoiler

paladin look lol.

 

[null]

FF4 is my favorite Final Fantasy and I'd say it's aged very well. It plays comparable to FFV but is much more polished.

When it came out, it was a masterpiece. Great music, great characters, great villains, very fluid and engaging story. Innovative as well; if I'm not mistaken, it debuted eidolons and the ATB system.

The DS port/remake is probably the best way to go. If you want a challenge, get ahold of the original Super Famicom FF4 (known today as FF4 "hardtype"). I recall still getting bitched around pretty hard at level 90. There's also some very colorful - and apparently, much more accurate - translation patches out there for it.

And Doc is right, it's too bad Cecil doesn't keep his awesome Dark Knight look. As a Paladin he's prettier than Rosa.

None of this glowing review applies to FF4: The After Years. It is beyond terrible and surpasses the FF7 Compilation in rehashing and ruining the original. In fact, what am I complaining about? It doesn't exist. La la la la la...

 

[ForceStealer]

I personally prefer FFIV Advance to the DS port, but its totally opinion.

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I personally prefer FFIV Advance to the DS port, but its totally opinion.

Agreed about the preference for the Advance version.

FF4 is my favorite Final Fantasy and I'd say it's aged very well. It plays comparable to FFV but is much more polished.

When it came out, it was a masterpiece. Great music, great characters, great villains, very fluid and engaging story. Innovative as well; if I'm not mistaken, it debuted eidolons and the ATB system.

'Twas III that brought in the Summons, but everything else is so true.

If you want a challenge, get ahold of the original Super Famicom FF4 (known today as FF4 "hardtype"). I recall still getting bitched around pretty hard at level 90.

I say just play the FF Chronicles version. It's basically identical to the original Hardtype version, except you can proceed through dungeons a little faster by holding the cancel button and being able to run.

That doesn't so much reduce difficulty -- the challenges of the gameplay are all still there; you're right on the money that some enemies can still fuck you up even at the highest levels -- as it does reduce a little bit of unnecessary drudgery.

None of this glowing review applies to FF4: The After Years. It is beyond terrible and surpasses the FF7 Compilation in rehashing and ruining the original.

Hard to believe, but totally true. They might as well have just called it "FFIV: The Slightly Alternate Universe Remake."

 

[Ite]

I've got nothing to say that anyone hasn't already.

You can pretty much play FFIV-FFX with a smile on your face. If you have a DS, I would recommend the GBA versions of FFIV-VI the old look is still impressive sometimes, to me anyway. Some of FFIV's humour doesn't really translate well to 3d or voice acting, and I find the load times painfully slow for a game with so many battles. One of the strong points of the SNES games were how quick battles happened, it was pretty high-octane for a 16-bit game.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Only Socialist pigs who are bad for this country and side with terrorists come into Final Fantasy without playing FFVI and then FFIV.

You're not a Socialist Terrorist...are you?

 

[looneymoon]

The DS port/remake is probably the best way to go. If you want a challenge, get ahold of the original Super Famicom FF4 (known today as FF4 "hardtype"). I recall still getting bitched around pretty hard at level 90. There's also some very colorful - and apparently, much more accurate - translation patches out there for it.

I actually managed to beat the whole game around level 50-60ish. The only thing I had to cheat on a little was the final boss. I exploited the weapons duplication glitch and constantly had Edge throwing the best weapons of the game at hm for 9999 damage

The oldest FF is FFIII which I didn't find particularly enjoyable. I'm gonna echo the FFIV sentiments. It has a really well-rounded cast of likeable characters and the plot s pretty intricate for. You can play the new shiny DS version for the pretty but imo you're missing out some of the charm if you don't play it in its original form. But that gamer snob talk, I'd probably be lured in by the shiny pretty version had I not already played the original.

 

[eqmddlh]

Socialist?

Only Socialist pigs who are bad for this country and side with terrorists come into Final Fantasy without playing FFVI and then FFIV.

You're not a Socialist Terrorist...are you?

Well, definitely I'm not a socialist, maybe a Liberal Democrat. Fortunately, I have no country or flag, so neither have I reasons to be a terrorist or even take a side with them.

Anyway, I'm trying to put out of me any suspect of this kind and I hope to begin playing the FFIV very soon. Still seeing which version.

Best regards.

 

[Celes Chere]

I personally prefer FFIV Advance to the DS port, but its totally opinion.

HELL YES. As much fun as the DS version is, I can't help but love it the OLDER it is. The original FFIV, will always be my favorite. Cecil looked so fucked up in those graphics, rotfl. I really wish they'd re-make IV/VI for something huge like the PS3//360. As I've said before, screw the VII re-make and pay the other games some damn attention. The opening for IV's DS version... I watched it like ten million times, because it looks so lovely. It sucks that you have to watch it on TWO SCREENS. PUT IT ON THE 360 DAMNIT. I would love to see achievements for a Final Fantasy game like IV. There would be some epic ones.

Kain... is like the most badass FF male character in the world, seriously, what a bamf. He is my favorite in IV, I mean, why can't more characters be as awesome as he is? xD Then again, I like him being one of a kind. :3

He still should have been in Dissidia, damnit.

 

[ForceStealer]

It's not even that I prefer graphics more like the original or whatever. It's just...if you're gonna remake something in 3D, why half-ass it? It's why I really hope the FFs more dear to me never show up on that damn platform. Also, as ite points out, the DS version is surprisingly slower.

 

[eqmddlh]

2D rules!

Well, doubtlessly I'm going to play the fourth game next. Thanks to all the advices about it. It would be nice to at least take a look on the DS edition because of the videos and other stuff, but I'm also a nostalgic of the old 2D RPG games (and also 2D fight games). Then, the advance edition looks to be my election.

Too, I'm going to a put an eye in the game boy editions not only of the main series but also those from the "tactics" and others.

Best regards.

 

[Ryushikaze]

YOU WILL PLAY FINAL FANTASY FOUR. IT WILL NOT BE NEXT. IT WILL BE NOW. YOU WILL THEN PLAY ANOTHER ITERATION OF THE GAME. THEN ANOTHER. YOU WILL STOP ONLY TO REST. YOU WILL EAT WHILE YOU PLAY. THUS IT IS COMMANDED. THUS IT SHALL BE SO

 

[Charles Xavier]

I personally prefer FFIV Advance to the DS port, but its totally opinion.

They completely left out the Lunar Ruins. That's the DS's only downfall, IMO.

 

[Username]

number 7, because i never played any of the others before that be it my age an all that shit. so i myself can only really say number 7, so it is ff7, no less or more, just the number 7.

 

[GodRoy]

Pretty much all ff games "deserve" to at least be tried if you haven't played them. But pre-merger games tend to be my favorites. =)

 

[Madame Mayor]

FFV is still one of my favourite games and I really hope they do a remake for the DS sometime soon.

 

[Dana Scully]

FF Tactics. It's tied with VII as my all-time favourite game, and I vastly prefer it's battle system to any other FF out there.

And not the shitty GBA Advanced version, with the snowball fights and the stupid rules. PS1 version, baby, all the way. You can get it on the PSN if you don't have PS1 handy.

 

[Makoeyes987]

FFT: War of the Lions is superior.

You might as well get the PSP version that has added content, better translations, and even better cutscenes.

The only thing I fault the PSP version for, is that it cut out the spell incantations for various magic attacks and special abilities. That was one thing I loved about FFT that sadly got axed to make room for the other stuff.

 

[Max Payne]

What is the oldest FF deserved to be played today?

whichever one you enjoyed the most when you played it.

end dumb question/answer

 

[Makoeyes987]

The FF game I recommend to someone who's never played FF before depends on how old they are, and how graphically dependent they are in terms of their game enjoyment.

If they're an old school gamer who can appreciate a game, graphics be damned, I give them FFIV, then FFVI.

If they're someone who needs at least some graphical stimulation but can enjoy the PSone, I tell them FFVII.

If they're one of those n00b gamers who can't sit through anything that has less than fully rendered character models, FFX is a good start for them.

So basically it's a toss up between FFIV, FFVII, or FFX. Depending on their sophisitication

EDIT: Why did my Thanks disappear when I corrected my typo? Godroy, thank me again!

 

[GodRoy]

So basically it's a toss up between FFIV, FFVII, or FFX. Depending on their sophisitication

I second this.


Damn those graphic whores who can't appreciate 8 bit characters and lego people.

 

[Dana Scully]

FFT: War of the Lions is superior.

You might as well get the PSP version that has added content, better translations, and even better cutscenes.

The only thing I fault the PSP version for, is that it cut out the spell incantations for various magic attacks and special abilities. That was one thing I loved about FFT that sadly got axed to make room for the other stuff.

Forgot about that, good point. Indeed, if you can get the PSP version then you may wanna go with that instead (though personally I almost always prefer versions that allow me to use a bigger screen).

 

[Cat Rage Room]

FFT: War of the Lions is superior.

You might as well get the PSP version that has added content, better translations, and even better cutscenes.

The only thing I fault the PSP version for, is that it cut out the spell incantations for various magic attacks and special abilities. That was one thing I loved about FFT that sadly got axed to make room for the other stuff.

Except for the slowdown for pretty much every spell/animation. You get used to them, but they're pretty godawful and the game has no excuse for them to be there!