I Have Never Played a Final Fantasy Game. Which One Should I Start With?

[SonicSynthesis]

That's right, not a single one,it's just a series i've never got round to experiencing. I've noticed that there is a large FF fan base on here along with a lot of the OCRemixers themselves and i'm feeling it's about time to give it a go.

Am i correct when i say that there is no continuing story throughout the series, each game has completely different characters in a completely different world? Do i need to play them starting from 1 and working chronologically or can i start on any one in the series without losing out on any story?

[Garpocalypse]

Final Fantasy VII

Best one.

Followed by IX.

[Swifthom]

That's right, not a single one,it's just a series i've never got round to experiencing. I've noticed that there is a large FF fan base on here along with a lot of the OCRemixers themselves and i'm feeling it's about time to give it a go.

Am i correct when i say that there is no continuing story throughout the series, each game has completely different characters in a completely different world? Do i need to play them starting from 1 and working chronologically or can i start on any one in the series without losing out on any story?

As bad as this sounds the PS1 era games have not aged well....

Whilst I applaud FF7 and FF9 for their MANY good points, they are long, involved, deep time investments and plumping for them when you don't know what your in for may be off putting.

My first FF game was FFX, which has a really well told story and (for the time) amazing graphics. For someone who hasn't played an FF game before (have you played any RPG before because if your familiar with Dragon Quest or something else like that disregard this) it's an excellent jumping on point.

Personally my favourite FF game of the series is FF12, followed by FF6 (if you like SNES/mega drive style graphics this is even better than FF7).

[Arrow]

Am i correct when i say that there is no continuing story throughout the series, each game has completely different characters in a completely different world? Do i need to play them starting from 1 and working chronologically or can i start on any one in the series without losing out on any story?

I'll let others give their suggestions (I'm most fond of the PS1 games, but I agree with Swifthom that they haven't aged well), but I wanted to tackle this bit. A few games in the series individually have their own sequels and prequels: 4 has a sequel, 10 has a sequel, 12 falls in line with several other games that take place in its shared universe, 7 has a buttload of prequels and sequels. But in all of those cases involving a mainline number, said number will be in the sequel's name too, i.e. Final Fantasy X-2. If you're just looking at the straight mainline numbers only, all 14 are their own things, unconnected to any others. And even in the cases of games like 7 and 12 that have technical prequels, you can still fully understand 7 and 12 without needing to have played any other games.

tl;dr = If it's a main number game and doesn't have a "-2" at the end, you can play it and understand it without having to worry about connections to any other game. It'll make sense on its own just fine.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Arrow

[PixelPanic]

If you've never played a jrpg before, you want the quintessential Final Fantasy experience, play FF4 or the Dawn of Souls remake of FF1. They are both games that run on relatively low story compared to giants like FF6 or FF10.

If you're familiar with the story-heavy nature of jrpgs, good ones to start with: FF1, FF4, FF6, FF7, FF8, FF10

[relyanCe]

X or VI

VII is passable for a first experience (it was mine), but if I could go back and change it, I'd probably have played VI first.

X will hook you from the first scene though.

[ectogemia]

Final Fantasy Tactics.

[Annie Felis]

It really depends on what you like. If you want a game that looks gorgeous, play 12. If you want a game that sounds gorgeous, play 6. Anyway you might want to decide what you like based off setting and plot synopsis (without spoilers):

FF4 - high fantasy series with swords, sorcery and flying ships. The story is about friendship, betrayal and redemption.

FF5 - medium fantasy with some mechanical technology. The story is about sacrifice and loss and....well, it's a good game but it's pretty dark and depressing so maybe don't start with this one.

FF6 - MAGICAL STEAMPUNK! The story is about repeating the mistakes of the past and surviving the apocalypse.

FF7 - Dystopian, modern society with many paralells to our own, plus magic rocks. The story is about the evils of corporate greed and how a product of their research pretty much fucks everything up.

FF8 - Modern-day world with magic added in. Plot is like an anime high school romance paired with some kind of crazy shonen mercenary story. Something about sorceresses too, I don't know. I only played because of Laguna and the music.

FF9 - Back to swords, sorcery and steampunk. Very much a similar feel to FF5 and FF6 (al the FF games before 7 really), and is intentionally made that way. Plot is...full of spoilers if I describe it too much so just accept that the main character is a smart-ass and the bad guy is a sociopath who dresses in drag and recites lines in iambic pentameter.

FF10 - Post-apocolyptic world that was once high technology and magic, now people are struggling to survive and have turned to religion to do so. If a JRPG ever took a jab at rome and the pope, it's here. Plot is the main character is dumped into this world, and spoilers spoilers plot twist spoilers. A great game, but the voice acting can get on your nerves even if Tara Strong and John DiMaggio in it. The guy who does most of the voices in Johnny Test is the main character, so...

FF11 - This is a MMO. Skip.

FF12 - High magic and high technology. Great acting and graphics, but the battle system is not like your standard Final Fantasy game and takes some getting used to. The story is really complicated and full of more plot twists since they decided they liked that somewhere around FF8, but it basically is about wars, evil empires, and the forces controlling them all.

FF13 - I don't know, I never played this one. I heard it's one long hallway and you hit the X button a lot.

[Cecilff2]

Mystic Quest!

[Nabeel Ansari]

Here are my favorites:

v

vi

vii

ix

Also, Annie, wat. VI is definitely darker and more depressing than FFV.

[DusK]

I'd definitely recommend Final Fantasy X to any first-timer to the series.

[nOkbient]

I would recommend IX. The art is beautiful, the characters are deep and well thought out, the story is involved and dramatic, the music is the best in the series... The one thing with this one is it's looooooong. You'll be lucky to beat this game without going over 100 hours of gameplay. There are tons of sidequests, each leading to some of the best items in the game, and many many many secrets. Very underrated, as it was overshadowed by the PS2 release. This is my favorite in the series and is one that sucks you in, but the length means that you probably won't finish it in one "run."

Personally I thought X was awful. I don't get why people like it other than it was the first one on the PS2. The voice acting is SHIT and it takes away from the experience. There are too many cinematics; so much so that it gets annoying because you just want to play the game, and the villain is just...stupid. X and on, the layout became much more linear too, forcing you to play the game in a certain way. Some will disagree, but compared to its predecessors, it gets blown away.

[Modus]

11 and 14. Seriously, they're fantastic MMOs.

I haven't played many main installment games either. X-2 confused me and 13 enraged me with boredom, so I gave up and played Tactics 27 times.

[Argle]

ITT every Final Fantasy ever is listed.

[Hollow]

I started with FF7 and it's my favorite out of the series, and quite possibly my favorite game ever. People rave over older ones such as FF6, but every time I try any of the FF1-6 I just can't get into them, not even the DS remakes. [if you STARTED with FF1, it would definitely be a different experience.]

My personal recommendation is to start with 7, then go up from there (I refer to 7-10 as 'the awesomeness.') But my personal recommendation also which trumps the aforementioned one is to listen to everyone else and not me, cuz , well , that's what I would do heh.

I think if I could go back in time and do it all over again, I'd probably try and start with FF4

[Chernabogue]

I'd definitely recommend Final Fantasy X to any first-timer to the series.

I support this too. FFX is a real pleasure, and a magical experience. My fav FF game.

[Meteo Xavier]

FFX is very far and away from the first Final Fantasy I'd recommend. It is way too complicated and all over the place for newcomers. A good game, but not one to start with.

Final Fantasy IV is the best to start with. It is the simplest of the series and showcases the best the series has to offer without ruining one's appreciation of others. No complicated systems, easy to follow story, reasonable difficulty, and a well balanced foundation that other Final Fantasies (even the first one) will build upon.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Meteo Xavier

[Final Kingdom]

I would recommend any of the older games 1-6 to start with. Specifically, you should start out with IV or VI since they're really simple compared to the other ones. You don't have to worry about changing your characters classes or deciding what stats to upgrade because the game does it for you. All you have to do is make the story unfold, which is what FF is all about. After either of those two, you'll have a good understanding of what the series is like, and you can try out the other games to see you like the franchise as a whole.

[The Damned]

Here's a crazy idea. You haven't played any FF games before?

Why change now? It's not like it's required by law in order to qualify as a gamer (which is itself a fairly vague and useless term).

There are lots of games and series that lots of people have never played, it doesn't make them any better or worse off for it.

[Gollgagh]

Why change now?

dang, guy; why play games at all?

maybe he just woke up this morning and said "I want to try a Final Fantasy!"

maybe he wants to see what all the fuss is about

It's not like it's required by law in order to qualify as a gamer (which is itself a fairly vague and useless term).

There are lots of games and series that lots of people have never played, it doesn't make them any better or worse off for it.

I know there are multitudes of game series that I want to try eventually; if I was looking for a suggestion for a specific one to start with, I wouldn't appreciate someone suggesting "oh, you don't need to play that series"

Edited November 20, 2013 by Gollgagh

[DarkeSword]

Here's a crazy idea. You haven't played any FF games before?

Why change now? It's not like it's required by law in order to qualify as a gamer (which is itself a fairly vague and useless term).

There are lots of games and series that lots of people have never played, it doesn't make them any better or worse off for it.

Because he's interested in trying out a Final Fantasy game. He explains that in the very first post.

Final Fantasy IV, V, or VI. Skip VII and go for IX if you want a great PSX one, and I'm personally quite partial to XII.

[AngelCityOutlaw]

I like X.

It has a turned-based combat system, the sphere grid method of leveling up was cool, the world was (in my opinion) a nice departure from the older games which were more inspired by Europe. This game is also far more linear and focuses on the adventure and plot rather than you just running around doing pointless crap on a world map for hours and hours.

[Sumie]

IV

It's the most stable, linear story. Not a huge amount of twists, but enough to keep you interested.

It flows really well for the most part (unlike some of the others) so you never really get frustrated with it.

I do have to admit, the battle system in this one didn't really make a lot of sense to me for the longest time, what with the damage and all the damn multipliers. The best part about that though is you can simply ignore it and equip the best stuff you have and be fine. I did finally dive into what makes the game tick, and now I have retardedly OP characters in a save, but it took some work to fully understand.

[Meteo Xavier]

XII is even worse to start with than X. Excellent game without question, but the gambit system can be really confusing for newcomers and the story is one of the hardest to follow in the series. I really don't think "basically wander around huge landscapes and auto-battle your way through the game" is the best representative of Final Fantasy either.

[DusK]

FFX is very far and away from the first Final Fantasy I'd recommend. It is way too complicated and all over the place for newcomers. A good game, but not one to start with.

I didn't feel like FFX was too complicated at all. I actually recommended it because I felt it's way less complex than just about any other FF game I've played. Though to be fair, I've only played IV, VI, VII, VIII, and XI.