I'm going to assume you've all heard of the series and require no explanation.

I bought Final Fantasy 9 on PSN yesterday, and so far I am quite happy with it!

Out of the games so far, I've played the first one, FF3 DS, FF4 DS, FF9, FF10 (my first, I think), FF10-2, FF12, all the Chrystal Chronicles games, and probably a Tactics or two. Out of all these, I've beaten... 5 games, perhaps?

So, discuss here. How many have you played? What's your favourite job/class? etc.

Don't really know if I want to play the new ones, from what I've heard they aren't so great, and I was unimpressed with FF12.

I beat the original six FF games back in 2010. They were all enjoyable, but Final Fantasy VI is definitely my favorite of the bunch. FF6 has great music, an engaging story, and some of the most memorable characters I've ever seen in a video game. I wouldn't mind playing some of the newer FF games, but as my understanding goes, the newer games stray quite radically from what made the earlier games successful.

I always like the Fighter/brawler type (especially FF6's Sabin), although the Ninja/Samurai characters also tend to rank among my favorites.

It's probably my favorite series. I own at least one copy of all the main numbered games, except for the MMOs (don't really care for that type of game).

9's great, too bad it really didn't get much attention when it was released. In fact, I only got to play it for the first time myself only a year or two ago.

Favorite class I guess would be the time mages in 5, they were pretty fun.

You should at the very least check out 9, Bibby. The main design direction behind it was to make it like the older games, so if you enjoyed them you'd definitely enjoy 9. The other newer games are perfectly fine in their own right too, though.

I don't really understand the hate 13 gets? It seems to pick up where 10 left off, it's basically the same in linearity and even uses a sphere grid-like levelling system. It really doesn't make much sense to me.

I'm looking forward to 13 versus, but honestly I'm worried it'll never come out- it's been in development forever.

"Largely due to the emotional impact Final Fantasy games stirred among their fans, the discussion of the importance of narrative and artistic concerns in video games was ignited. The debate rages to this day; some people argue that video games are an interactive narrative art form, while others believe games are just games. But if emotional involvement is a measure of artistic value, then Final Fantasy [IV] and it's bretheren must surely be works of art."

-Scott Pelland, 20 Years of Nintendo Power


Anyway, I love FF games. I think FFIV is my favorite, well, actually, that's not fair to say, because it was my first and to date only FF game I've played, which is quite a shame. I first experienced the SNES version via emulation (naughty boy!) but I recently picked up the DS remake, and it rocks even harder. But god, is this a masterpiece among gaming. Someone seriously should've won an award for the story.

Yeah, Kesha, I think I'll try out 13 when I get the chance, then.

I'm on the second disc of 9 now, I recommend everybody play it! Not much more I can say, feel like I should finish it before I make a proper judgement.

Also, to answer my own question, Black Mage will forever be my favourite class.

The very final boss is just tacked on, it's terrible, but aside from that it's a great game. Only issue I had with it beyond that was the beginning is extremely boring really... I feel like other Final Fantasy games were great at putting you right into the action, and this one was just, walk around and figure out what's going on? It's not TERRIBLE but it's definitely something that might make people turn away from the game.

Wasn't one of the biggest complaints with FF13 - and a lot of the newer FF games - its rigidly linear design?

And yes, I should give FF9 a try, especially considering just how awesome the music is! I wonder if I could still find it at a GameStop or something.

You probably won't find FF9 at Gamestop, but it is one of the few PS1 games that are still in print (or at least was when I got it a year or two ago), so it's very cheap; but you'll pretty much only find it online.

13 is extremely linear- but it's really not much more than 10 was. 10 was basically you're going to some destination and there wasn't backtracking or anything like that and at the end you get an airship that lets you go back to older areas. 13 works exactly the same way as far as I know.

All of the games in the series are pretty linear though, just not to that extent. Sure FFVI gives you lots of options about when to reacquire which party member in the second half of the game but it's long after you have to go through the initial very linear first half of the game. (I'm hesitant to call it "half" of the game though, I'm pretty sure there's a lot less that goes on in the second "half").

About linearity: Yeah, that's a good point.

The second "half" of FF6 is almost as long as the first half if you finish all of the optional sidequests. Otherwise, the post-apocalyptic portion of the game is considerably shorter than the first act.

Also, this upcoming game is worth discussing. FF isn't Mario, and I don't know how well a spinoff can pull off hyper-cutesy, but they have made some keen choices with the music selections:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHqIsFHFGrQ

You took my hyping and used it for your own! Bibby, how could you?!

I'm going to buy the hell out of this, I don't even care. I like rhythm games, it's got a great setlist, and it's really cute.

It's coming out really, really soon, so I think I'm going to get this to play on my trip to Mexico. I've been looking at gameplay videos and such, and it seems pretty good.

Also, when I get back I'll probably rent FF13, then.