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Realistically:Worse ff story:

FF1:Back then they had no technology to really tell you complicated stories or maybe they hadn't advanced in their technique yet.

People can say whatever they want,but new games do have a story.

Character development:FF1 and FF3.

You know almost nothing about garland other than the plot part.

There are no grey zones and its pretty black and white.

FF3:The characters on the nes just like ff1:have no background at all.
They are a bunch of random kids saving the world and its not until the ds version was it? yeah ds that they actually give them different names and a little more background.

Problems:

There is really no excuse for the lack of detail when firion in ff2 on the nes had details.They could have worked harder on the 4 heroes to give them at least a little detail.

FF1 was old and like dragon warrior:these were times of simple story telling of save the princess kill the bad guy and save the world.

The dialogue was simple and not as much detail as there would be in the snes and psx era.

FF1 was a fun game for what it was:simple rpg from an antique era.

It should be appreciated because:hey:are you going to bash the graphics of the first movie made in 1890's? its old and primitive.

bashing these games for those parts is just silly.


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We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 16th April 2011 21:09)

It should be appreciated because:hey:are you going to bash the graphics of the first movie made in 1890's? its old and primitive.

I refuse to watch Nosferatu because it's pixelated!!!!!!!!

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www.youtube.com/blinje
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 10:03)

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 16th April 2011 21:09)

It should be appreciated because:hey:are you going to bash the graphics of the first movie made in 1890's? its old and primitive.

I refuse to watch Nosferatu because it's pixelated!!!!!!!!

Then your value in games holds no water and should be dismissed as you value graphics over anything else.

graphics are in fact the least important thing in games.

There are some old games that are amazing for their time.

Look at the very first dragon quest and final fantasy.

Yes ff1 and dragon quest was primitive,but it wasn't for its time.

The games did offer good fun gameplay and should be taken for what it was:fun game and amazing for its time.

I believe several people said this and i'l quote:yes people who defend ff7 religiously say it but i think this goes more for ff1.

The games should be compared to standards back then rather than now in limitations and graphics.

comparing FFXIII to ff1 now is just ridiculous.


This post has been edited by Magitek_slayer on 17th April 2011 14:29

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We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 17th April 2011 12:46)

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 10:03)

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 16th April 2011 21:09)

It should be appreciated because:hey:are you going to bash the graphics of the first movie made in 1890's? its old and primitive.

I refuse to watch Nosferatu because it's pixelated!!!!!!!!

Then your value in games holds no water and should be dismissed as you value graphics over anything else.

you never disappoint me, Magi.

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www.youtube.com/blinje
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 15:06)

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 17th April 2011 12:46)

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 10:03)

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 16th April 2011 21:09)

It should be appreciated because:hey:are you going to bash the graphics of the first movie made in 1890's? its old and primitive.

I refuse to watch Nosferatu because it's pixelated!!!!!!!!

Then your value in games holds no water and should be dismissed as you value graphics over anything else.

you never disappoint me, Magi.

going back to the topic since staying on topic is important:

FF1 may be ancient but people badmouth it because of its simplicity due to being so old and the remake being a remake of the original game that the series started with.

The new version did add new stuff so as long as it improves upon the gameplay in the remakes:i'm all for good remakes of old games.


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We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

I don't think it's wrong to compare FFXIII to FFI. Despite its limited technology, I know people that had a much greater experience with FFI than other games in the series, including XIII.

Whenever people have these discussions, it always leads to stuff like this: (FFVI vs FFVII) "FFVI has a better story, even though its graphics are primitive."

I think that's unfair. For one, games like FFIV, FFI and FFVI use pixels in an artistic manner. Take a look at Paladin Cecil, or Crono, Kefka. There are many art style around the world that use primitive motifs. In fact, there is a specific artistic movement called primitivism which uses tribal-inspired themes.

As for Nosferatu, the 1922 German Expressionist film: I would call it one of the greatest horror films ever made, largely due to its beautiful design.

Yes, graphics were extremely primitive at the time, but look at them, they're still beautiful, and the game, with limited technology, does tell a fine story.

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Praise Be To Helix!

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 17th April 2011 16:34)

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 15:06)

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 17th April 2011 12:46)

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 10:03)

Quote (Magitek_slayer @ 16th April 2011 21:09)

It should be appreciated because:hey:are you going to bash the graphics of the first movie made in 1890's? its old and primitive.

I refuse to watch Nosferatu because it's pixelated!!!!!!!!

Then your value in games holds no water and should be dismissed as you value graphics over anything else.

you never disappoint me, Magi.

going back to the topic since staying on topic is important:

UNSTOPPABLE.

Quote

FF1:Back then they had no technology to really tell you complicated stories or maybe they hadn't advanced in their technique yet.

I see what you mean here but I don't think that's really an excuse. Not having much of a story definitely isn't due to technology. As long as there can be text on screen there can be a story as quality as any book. The point about technique, yeah maybe. I think it might've been more to do with resources and staying within the confines of conventional games at the time, i.e. they weren't sure people wanted a great story in a game, as it possibly wasn't defined as that at the very early stages of game design. Or, like I said, resources were stretched thin and the focus had to be on other areas. I'm not necessarily disagreeing about technique of stories in games, but I don't agree at all with your point about the technology available.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Quote (BlitzSage @ 17th April 2011 17:43)

As for Nosferatu, the 1922 German Expressionist film: I would call it one of the greatest horror films ever made, largely due to its beautiful design.

Yes, graphics were extremely primitive at the time, but look at them, they're still beautiful, and the game, with limited technology, does tell a fine story.

Oh no man I loved Nosferatu when i saw it, I was just getting a rise out of ol' magitek.

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www.youtube.com/blinje
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens

Quote (Blinge Odonata @ 17th April 2011 19:37)

Quote (BlitzSage @ 17th April 2011 17:43)

As for Nosferatu, the 1922 German Expressionist film: I would call it one of the greatest horror films ever made, largely due to its beautiful design.

Yes, graphics were extremely primitive at the time, but look at them, they're still beautiful, and the game, with limited technology, does tell a fine story.

Oh no man I loved Nosferatu when i saw it, I was just getting a rise out of ol' magitek.

Yeah, I think it's a great movie, which is the point I was trying to make, and sweetdude was making too. Technology shouldn't be an excuse. But, to sweetdude's point, storytelling in games was virtually unknown at that point, so games of FFI's kind were basically pioneers. I would agree that, basically from FFIV on the games out-done the first three FFs, all of which were more gameplay-oriented.

But from a stylistic standpoint I think one could argue that the first three FF games had great design. And plus, think of all the elements that formed through those games. I think most people would agree that FFIV-FFXIII have done much more than those games, but I don't think they're bad games.

This really is the retro-graphics, old-new debate fundamentally. Honestly, I can defend SNES-era games, but I do find it hard to defend the Arcade-NES games. But of those NES era games, these I could probably defend more easily, even than the LoZ and Mario games.

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Praise Be To Helix!

Yeah such pioneering games mark the transition from the very temporary form of Arcade gaming, into home gaming. It must have been such a great experience to have the LoZ or FFI - with a more permanent sense of achievement rather than just plugging away at the same levels until your lives (or indeed, your loose change) ran out.

You actually had to find the story in FFI really didn't you, almost like a treasure hunt; stuff like

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

coming across abandoned technology like the robots in the desert, and the knowledge that there's technological advancements that had been left in the past. then at the end BAM! Time loop! wow...complicated stories from the birth of the series

FFI sure deserves praise IMO

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www.youtube.com/blinje
The victor sacrificed the vanquished to the heavens

Quote

I think that's unfair. For one, games like FFIV, FFI and FFVI use pixels in an artistic manner. Take a look at Paladin Cecil, or Crono, Kefka. There are many art style around the world that use primitive motifs. In fact, there is a specific artistic movement called primitivism which uses tribal-inspired themes.

blitzsage:

I actually prefer pixels over 3d.

I found it to be more artistic and the drawings looked spectacular.

Just look at the detail in the ff6 character portraits,i could almost see the pores in cyan's face.

I also really liked setzer's drawing and gogo's colorful outfit.

Quote

´I see what you mean here but I don't think that's really an excuse. Not having much of a story definitely isn't due to technology. As long as there can be text on screen there can be a story as quality as any book. The point about technique, yeah maybe. I think it might've been more to do with resources and staying within the confines of conventional games at the time,

Alright:what about ultima series? the story was actually very simple.

The ultima series started in 1987 and it started simple and improved upon itself.

Maybe they were experimenting and getting the hang of story telling.

You know:when richard garriot started out,he made akalabat and the game didn't even have graphics.

FF1 and dragon warrior/quest have your very stereotypical story but its the gameplay that i think defines the old games more.

Its not until ff4 that stories started evolving more.I mean:FF2 on the nes had a story but it was cliché and the characters were terrible.

What was his name? guy? the dark knight? anyways:he leaves you to conquer the world and you allow him in? its just terrible.

If someone left me to conquer my kingdom and tried to kill me i wouldn't trust them ever again.

What i loved about dragon quest was that really old mid evil times feeling with the old english dialogue and i had fun exploring and killing stuff.

I think for its time it was really good,but forcing players to grind constantly is a bad thing.

I say:lay off on the guys of squaresoft,they were obviously starting out and perhaps having a feel.

As for nosferatu:i've never seen it.I did see the original dr jekyl and mr hyde,
It was in black and white and also a silent film.




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We are stardust.Our bodies are made from the guts of exploding stars.

Neil Degrasse Tyson.

I myself have played FFI, II, IV(+interlude and TaY), V, VII(+CC), VIII, IX, X, XII, XIII and very little of VI. The reason I didn't play much of VI is because I just didn't like it. This is coming from someone who played through I, II, IV, V and VII when he was five years old(without help from anyone thanks ) and could really get why RPG's were so great. Now I'm one of the people who will tell you Final Fantasy VII is the best game ever, and will do until I either die or get my heart stolen by something better (Versus XIII perhaps, possibly Skyrim or Mass Effect 3?) comes along. I actually do have doubts about this, since game designers have already started to think rpg's need to have amazing combat sections, out of this world graphics and a killer soundtrack but can lack in story or just general playability...they can't.

That's the reason I didn't finish VI. I got up to the section with Celes singing in the theatre, then Final Fantasy VIII came out. I blasted through that and had a hell of a time, such a story was hell to keep up with for my seven year old brain which didn't yet know about the plauibility of extra dimensions and the non-linear depiction of time. By the time I finished VIII I was all FF'ed out, so VI would have to wait another couple of months for me to play again. When I finally picked it up again late 1999 I had to start again just so I could play it without having to stop and think "what'(s/re) (s)/he/(y) talking about". This time I got up to Ultros on the lake and got my ass kicked(somehow ) and had to restart about half an hour back. No big deal, I'd just start playing again tomorrow, right? Right, but I never did, and I just couldn't bring myself to because when I thought about it, it wasn't that great.

I just didn't like the forgettability of the characters, forgettable to me at least, in fact, I can only remember the basics of some of them.

I'm sorry if I droned on a bit there, I just thought I should explain a little why I didn't like what a lot of people consider to be in the top 5 games of all time.

I will say though if there is a remake on the PSP I will buy it; not because of improved graphics or arranged music, or even the possibility of extra content, just because if it comes out it'll give me a reason to procrastinate from studying for my undergrad exams.

Worst Final Fantasy? I won't include Final Fantasy I-III, since those three are basically excused, since they were from such an early time in the gaming industry. Those aside (also not including the online ones, as they don't exist to me), the worst Final Fantasy, in my opinion, is FFXIII. There was ONE good thing about it and that was the exceptional graphics. The story sucked compared to some of the earlier FF stories. As did the characters, even if the three main women are all HOT in their own way. Gameplay was too...cluttered. If that makes sense. It was a little TOO fast-paced. Way too linear also. Basically, I felt nothing about the game felt Final Fantasy-ish to me.

This post has been edited by Fatal on 11th May 2011 13:25

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My Final Fantasy Forum

^ Help me get started on my forum!

Quote (iSeizmik @ 11th May 2011 06:31)

I'm sorry if I droned on a bit there, I just thought I should explain a little why I didn't like what a lot of people consider to be in the top 5 games of all time.

I agree with you to a point, I thought the game was good, but not great until the last act. I'll try not to spoil anything here. I just about fell off my chair on a number of occasions playing the final sections of the game. It is that good, and there's nothing like it in any other game I've played. However like you I thought the majority (not a huge majority) of the game was not as incredible as a lot of people say it is. If you're wanting one of the best FF experiences my advice would be to get through it any way you can. It's very rewarding.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

To give context:
FF Games Beaten: I (NES and DoS), III (NES), IV (IIus, J2E-HT, ET, PSX, GBA, DS), V (SNES, GBA), VI (SNES), VII, VIII, IX, X, Tacitcs (PSX), TA, Legends I, and MQ.
Played a significant portion of, never beat: II, X-2, CC, Adventure.

I would say the worst story was VIII. While I do agree that I and III were very "bare bones" in their plots, the stories weren't actively bad. The FF series (for the most part) has this tendency to keep you engaged even if the story is bad, and that is the case here. VIII just happens to be the most W.T.F. in retrospect.
(Honorable mention: X for employing every bad storytelling device it takes to pull me out of the experience, but ripped Grandia II off enough to stay interesting).

The worst graphics are hands down VII. I don't really care if a game's graphics are at a certain level technically, what matters is how well they utilize the graphics they have and how those graphics mesh with the art design. I don't care about graphics in general as long as they don't get in the way of game play. FFVII is the only game in the series to do that. The whole game is a bunch of blobs blending into each other that on my first play-through, I missed probably a quarter of the items in dungeons, and I did an accidental grind in the beginning trying to figure out how to walk across a pipe in the slums because it looked like a bridge when it was really a makeshift staircase.

Worst overall gaming experience: FF X-2. This is the only FF game I've intentionally put down. I put this in immediately after finishing X, and decided it was so stupid I didn't want to play it any longer than I had to, so I started using a walkthrough to get me through the game faster. Then it got even more ridiculous, so I gave up. I often don't finish games, usually through putting the game down to play something else right before I get into the final dungeon or at the end of a late-game grind session. However, I usually intend to go back to those games, and just never happen to. I happened to decide that FFX-2 was an absolute waste of my time. There really is nothing redeeming about that game. I hate the class system, I hate the name of the class system, I hate the story, I hate the way it feels like all the worst things about a sequel to a movie that was clearly never meant to have a sequel, I hate how I can skip 30 hours of story by doing 30 hours of mindless grinding, and I hate how it all ultimately just feels dumb. I had a similar experience with TA, where I didn't enjoy it so much I just wanted to get through the game as quickly as possible, but I still finished it. X-2 was the one that was such a waste of my time, that I stopped playing it.

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"I had to write four novels before they let me write comic books."
-Brad Meltzer

Although I am generally the kind of person who respects everyone's opinions I simply do not understand why everyone dislikes the story of VIII so much. It isn't hard to follow, but keeps you guessing in most parts; it's very well explained, yet leaves room for interpretation and it has great, although pretty clichéd characters.

I can't say the same, for example, about Final Fantasy IV. Apart from being in my top 15 games of all time, FFIV wasn't a very enthralling story if you think about it. In comparison of two big plot 'WTF!!!!''s in the game I'd have to say:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

Finding out you've known 10/11 of the main characters since you were a child and your sister is telepathically putting you into the mind of your father so that you can end up causing a chain of events that musthavealreadyhappenedsincetimeisaconstantloopWTF!

beats:

Possible spoilers: highlight to view

finding out your arch-nemesis is your brother, you are descendant from a race of beings that originate from the moon and that he was being mind controlled by one of your race

My reason for this being that I can't think of a single story that uses one even similar to that of VIII. The closest thing to it is Doctor Who, which is based on time-travel so you can't really go anywhere but every-which-way. FFIV however uses very simple ideas...enemy is your brother, you're not human, higher power at work.

Obviously it sounds like I'm bashing FFIV but I'm not. As I've said it's one of my top 15 games of all time and has a fantastic story, but I still think that FFVIII's story is so much more original and while it may not tell it in the best way you could say the same thing about Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling is not anything like a fantastic author, but her imagination is superb.

my worst FF would have to be FF2.

in FF2 there was no job system, only skills you improve on which makes sense, but isn't ideal for the genre.

and don't be a hipster and say that it was "ahead of its time gameplaywise"

it made it so that everyone could be a basher with an axe with no healing or black magic. it just irritated me that there wasn't jobs. that's what made final fantasy the way it was in the early days.

FF2's story could only be furthered by keywords which make the AI's seem dysfunctional until you hit their memory banks with your keyword then they magically know what to say. its just infuriating to try to find the words to find and say to the right people that it became a huge time waster for me. (because i hate to look up guides my first playthrough.)

i give emperor Mateus props for messing stuff up, but to claim him best final fantasy villain ever is like saying black and white are the best colors of the color spectrum because they are opposites. but where is the flavor? the color? what makes a great villain is the fact that they have color! this character has none!

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Come closer, FEEL my wrath.

"fear not what you do not know or understand, for only fear is but one aspect of what limits us"
- Me

I've actually heard FFXIV would be the "Worst," partially because the job system was so terrible. I never got to play it, but I have not heard one positive review about it yet. With the job system, instead of just being things like Mage, Fighter, etc, you could also be a Blacksmith with like no melee capability, which is senseless.

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You're telling me that there's no hope.

I'm telling you you're wrong.

Since I've only played 1-10 this might be a little inaccurate, but I would have to say Final Fantasy 8. The story was just plain ridiculous and hard to follow, a vast majority of the characters are highly uninteresting, and the junction system is a cynical as it is flat-out broken. It was the only Final Fantasy game that I have played to which I have to try really hard to get enjoyment from it. I seriously believe that the NES Final Fantasies had better storylines than this. I can understand that they were trying to rush to live up to what Final Fantasy 7 did for them, but this result is just too grotesque for me to accept.

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Stay Free

x-2 for sure man

I'm no critic, I don't care if graphics suck, if story sucks, if everything sucks. if I had fun, it's a great game

x-2 was not fun. it was at first, but then I found out that you have to do certain crap in order and if you didn't you'd miss your chance at 100% completion and yadda yadda and I just wanna break it now

actually that sounds good, I'll do that after I hit post

R.I.P my x-2 game.... literally.

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looks like you finally got yourself a nice pair of DDs. wanna m8?

I agree with you man X/2 is the worse FF game that I have ever played I did not have fun at all It beats FFXIII for the worse FF game.

Hmm don't get me wrong X-2 is a pretty horrific game but the Blitzball was quite good. Not better than X unfortunately but still a half-decent time waster. Especially Auberine with that 99 shot. Whenever he gets the ball it's a guaranteed goal, assuming he shoots from wherever he is instead of swimming around and passing like an idiot. To X's Fifa Blitzball X-2 had the Football Manager Blitzball. It's not too bad. I think there's a niche for fantasy RPG sports games.

The point is that FFXIII had no all-round saving factors at all for me. When I thought I was enjoying a character, a piece of the story or some kind of game feature it would let me down shortly afterwards. At the 20 hour mark getting three Commandos to knock an enemy in the air and literally kick the shit out of him was pretty funny I must admit. That made the battles a bit more bearable but it didn't save them.

In the X-2 v XIII debate I think XIII is worse.

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Scepticism, that dry rot of the intellect, had not left one entire idea in his mind.

Me on the Starcraft.

Man, I totally enjoyed XIII. I mean, okay, maybe it wasn't that fun, but the story was so interesting to me. I'm in the minority I guess

also, I thought Blitzball could suck my nads. totally stupid game. I did enjoy my brother playing it in the background while I did something else though. the music was cool (X, not X-2).

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looks like you finally got yourself a nice pair of DDs. wanna m8?

A quick q for X-2: Have I already missed 100% or the good ending (I just read there are different ones) if I entered the 2nd chapter?