What was the most memorable Final Fantasy game, and where did I go wrong in my tier list? Please consider supporting me at www.patreon.com/xygorgaming OR through UA-cam membership by clicking the JOIN button above!
@Xygor Gaming - I really respect that you gave FF2 a better ranking than most. It actually had a good story and people often overlook it to complain about the leveling system, as if nothing else matters. Personally, I would have rated FF5 over FF4 because of the job system and story. FF5 tried to bring in some humor with its story telling whereas FF4 was kind of bland (in my opinion). Lastly, everyone always rates 6 & 7 as top tier and I think they are overrated. FF6 has the best story telling no doubt about it, but the lack of jobs really hinders it, especially later in the game. Once you have everyone leveled up, there really isn't a difference between characters. Once Sabin knows all the magic, how is he different than Locke? How is Celes different than Cyan once they know all the spells? FF7 is good, sure but it suffers from the same late game issues as 6 where the only things that really separates the characters at the end are their limit breaks. This issue becomes more glaring the further you get into the game.
My favorite is FFIV its shorter and not as big orchestrated as FFVI and FFVII, but i started with it to play Final Fantasy and have fond memories of it - and i think it was the first great Final Fantasy that made some noise and still got with Cecil by far the greatest protagonist i have seen in FF. Especially his story arc as dark knight on his way to become a paladin, he had to face people that he fought before and i have seen one of the best redemption tales ever and i am the kind of guy who does not even like redemption stories much, but this was too awesome! Its the first couple of hours of that game that made it really great! The rest of the game was solid, too. Its just awesome that the devs of this game made this happen as early as 1991/92 at this time i have seen no equal.
I love FF8. I just played the remaster version and fell in love with it again. Picked up so many elements to the story that I missed when I played it as a kid. One of my favorite games.
The draw system is a disaster. You can either take FOREVER drawing 300 of each magic and level up as normal, which inexplicably makes the game harder, or break the game by not leveling up, avoiding all random encounters and play cards to convert to powerful magic, turning it into a long drawn out boss rush mode. Neither way is fun. Interesting world setting and all that but the gameplay for me is the worst of them all.
@@armaniesingletary8979 well they let you cheat in the remaster by turning on max damage, but they didnt change anything regarding systems in the remaster.
@@TGFTH its not great relative to any rpg imo. The battle system is broken, the story is super dull, lots of boring locations, the laguna sequences are intolerable. It has good graphics and music. Thats it imo. The whole thing with edea being cids wife was the dumbest thing EVER in any rpg.
I used to hate FFX. It did such an amazing job for making you feel the depression and hopelessness of the world…which is one reason why I put it at the top now. Also great battle/leveling/summoning systems
The sphere grid is just a facade and introduces busy work. The leveling, ability/spell leaning system in X is just like IV. You fight battles and what you learn and what grows in stats next is basically predetermined, and there's nothing wrong with that in IV. In X, though, it does the same thing but pretends it has this unique and novel system when really it's just having you menu dive into a board game UI to move your position one node. It's a totally gimmick because the path is super linear and really doesn't give you many choices in direction until almost late game. I love X but the sphere grid is a stupid, time wasting gimmick. To do what they did but make it more fun, they should've just went with the simple system that is in IV since basically it's no different. I don't really like XII that much as a story/characters aspect, but at least the original release's License Board gave you freedom to head in any direction you wanted rather than a predetermined linear path. I wasn't a fan of license board, but at least it wasn't a cheap gimmick facade by trying to pretend that it gave you choice.
Actually playing through 8 right now lol. Aside from the junction system which I’m not a huge fan of, it’s a great game so far. Squall’s a badass and I like the story
@@Canada-1 my list is 5) FF7CC, 4) FF8, 3) FF6 (just edges 8 out barely) 2) FF7, and 1) FF7R (still have yet to play the others). Absolutely loved FF8 though, the love story was very heartwarming. The only thing I really disliked was the leveling up system. The Junction system was a mixed bag for me. The story was great. (Spoilers) I thought it was weird that almost the whole party lived in the same orphanage and then just happened to go on this grand adventure together but it’s whatever. Excellent game that gets very overlooked mainly because of the success of FF7. If they were to remake FF8 from the ground up, I think it would look gorgeous.
@Tyler Acuna my fav is 8 cause its the first one i played. I remember playing the demo when it came out on a gamer magazine and couldnt wait to get it. That said i recognize ff9 is a better game and 7 more iconic.
@@Canada-1 I feel u bro. Usually the first FF game that you play will end up becoming your favorite. The original FF7 was that game for it and the Remake blew me away
I think the big problem with FF13s Characters is the way how they evolve. Pretty much everyone beside of Sazh is not likeable in the beginning, they all have their flaws and are either jerks or just annoying, but that kinda is the whole point. They all have big flaws and that is why they fail so much in the beginning and pretty much play out like the antagonist wants them to play out. Every single one of them has big Charakter development over the story (well, maybe everyone beside of Fang) and that's why they succeed in the end. Lightning learns she can't do everything on their own, Hope learns revenge will never change anything, Snow learns he is not the main Character of the univers and needs to rely on others etc. While i think this is great Character development i think it's really bad writing. I can see while so many people drop it after a few hours because of the Characters. If you just hate everyone, it's not really fun. However: Once you finished the game once and replay it i think it's incredible good since you know where everything is going and you don't mind the annoying Character interactions in the beginning anymore. I finished FF13 like 4 times so far, every few years i just want to play it again. Only FFs i played more are FF7 and FF10.
I feel that FFXIII is a game that services its story too much. There are a ton of really good touches left to clue you in on things (a small example is that only Vanille has a third ATB charge in the opening because she's the only l'cie at that point.) But some of the gameplay decisions made in pursuit of satisfying that story make the game itself a lot less fun to actually play.
I don't think it's worth the time investment you have to put in to FF14 to get to the good parts of the story like in Heavensward. You have to complete like 80 quests or something including dungeons and trials just to get from ARR postgame to Heavensward, that's insane. I would not recommend picking FF14 if you're only in it for the story.
@@adamtideman4953 I had no real problems reaching HW. I do love World building and all the ARR and post ARR stuff is mainly world and character building which sets up all the stuff that comes later on. Plus, there are so many nods to all the FF games throughout that I think most fans of Final Fantasy series will have little problem getting to HW. So I’d have to disagree with you somewhat. As a casual fan that doesn’t really care much for Final Fantasy and is picking it up just because they heard good things.... they might have some issues with the early pacing.
@@adamtideman4953 arr story skip is like $10. also whether or not someone will enjoy arr is entirely dependent on the person. some love it, some hate it, some fall in the middle. that also applies for when the story “gets good”. If someone is only in it for the story I think ffxiv is a great recommendation. If they appreciate narrative then there’s a lot to get from ffxiv start to finish. the game as a whole is very story-first in its presentation. Defenders and enjoyers of ARR tend to be the more “in it for the story” type players (not all obviously) so I really think that someone of that nature would have a great time with ffxiv as a single player story experience. Especially now that almost all of the dungeons can be played solo with a party of AI (all xpacs have this except for stormblood which will have it by the end of EW)
@@adamtideman4953 as someone who played 14 since 2012, I can't get anyone to try it. Even final fantasy fans. ARR needs to be fully converted to a single player game to get anyone in at this point
I wasn't super hyped about XV at first, then I got it and ended up loving it way more than I expected to. It may surprise you if you give it a fair chance.
for me, FFXV could have been one of the best games in the series, like top 3, but they needed at least one more year, the game feel rushed in the second part, and there is a lot of half made sections that were discovered with some bugs.., also you need to play the royal edition because the original base was a disaster xD
The problem for me, is really the characters (which for me, look stupid, act stupid and talk stupidly). I didn't like the artistic direction in general. And there were some problems in terms of gameplay (admittedly, that's not reason I dislike the game). I wouldn't call it a bad game though, I just hated it personally.
Agreed. FFXV could have been top tier, excellent soundtrack too. I really liked the characters, and the world lore was incredible, but the game is unfinished… they did a relatively bad job of telling the story.
I haven't played FF8 yet but it seems to be the most divise game in the series. People either have it as their undisputed favorite or they hate it because of this infamous junction system I keep hearing about. It must be doing something right in order to garner so much love from so many.
I almost agree with you completely. Like some others said, I disagree about FF12. I didn't fall in love with it my first time through. I did my second time. Even more with FF13. The first few times I played it, I didn't like it either. By the third or fourth time, it made a lot more sense to me, and then I really liked it. I've tried multiple times to play FF15. I just have a really hard time getting into it. Maybe if I made it completely through, I might like it better. I just don't know.
There is no tier list which is wrong since it is your personal opinion and how much you resonated with every title. For me, FF7 is the most influential. Something beautiful comes up in the body when i think about it or hear any song of the game. Such a spiritual rich experience which made me appreciate nature and the planet more and see past the trauma of people.
FF7 had so many plot holes it was horrid as a story. If the game stayed in Midgard and was a fight with Shinra I would of put it at the top. However every hour since leaving Midgard the game got worse and worse. Every character outside of limit breaks and weapons where carbon copy. Every character could be a tank a heal or dps no character had a designed role. The shocking death I felt nothing for especially compared to phantasy star 4 Alys death. For me the game fell way short of what everyone wants to hype it up to be.
@@joshhowe3551 thats ok. Just because you didnt like it, doesnt mean it isnt any good. I feel the same way about octopath traveler 2 but i won't bitch about it.
@@FreeFlow__ not bitching about it I'm stating facts that fan boys of this game constantly ignore. I thought it would be the greatest thing ever too when it first came out yet it was a story telling nightmare full of holes.
@@joshhowe3551you're complaining about plotholes while octopath 2 is your favorite game of all time lmao, which does not even have an overarching storyline. And yes, you are bitching about it like a kid. Not your thing? Good, accept it and move on.
I find it interesting that the combat being planned and deliberate in FF was a sore spot for some, and yet I found it to be more engaging for that reason. Made battles more engaging than just mashing/holding the a button.
Final Fantasy 6 is still my favorite FF (and one of my favorite GOATs). That being said.......... I still vividly remember the years, months, weeks, and days leading up to the release date of FF7. My friends and I would read every magazine that hit the newsstands over and over. When we slept we would dream about it. Awake we would think about it. It would be the topic of conversation between us at school, at home, and on the weekends as we played other PS1 games to tide us over. We would wait with bated breath for the release of the newest issues of EGM, EGM2, Game Pro, Official PS Magazine, and any other video game magazine that even had a single photo of FF7. When Tobal no. 1 released with a playable demo we all put in some money so we could buy a copy and share the FF7 playable demo. To this day I do not think any of us every actually played Tobal no. 1, but it was legendary, and worth every penny. The anticipation the day before ff7 hit store shelves was nearly tangible. There were times when I thought I could cut it with a knife. Booting up ff7 for the first time became a generation defining event. Never before, and never since, have I seen or experienced hype that grew to such immense proportions. And due to the nature of living in the digital age this is something that can no longer be experienced in the same way. This level of hype is something that is almost exclusively 90's. Those who lived it will never forget it, those who didn't will never fully comprehend what it was like.
I actually really enjoy the combat in ff13. The story is nothing special but I love the paradigm system and the soundtrack. 15 is rough around all the edges but after watching the credits roll its one of the ones I remember most fondly. 7 remake is now probably my favorite combat system to date.
The best thing about 13 is the battle system and the graphics, other then that the game has nothing, it is the most woke RPG game i ever played. No one is likeable except for Hope and they made him kinda useless, snow was a jerk and Lightning was annoying AF. 13 and 15 are the 2 most terrible FF games in the series
Excellent tier list, I haven't seen someone's tier list so close to mine. I have a soft spot for ff8 and would move it right above ff12. I just love the atmosphere with the gardens and thought seifer was a top tier adversary. Other than that, I 100% agree with you!
To be fair , zodiac age is I feel to really enjoy the the game . 12 is my favorite but the original game I think fits in a good tier. That’s how much zodiac age jumps to be the best game for me . Also the game isn’t really that mmo as people think in my opinion.
@@Xygor I like 12 but it has a lot of weak points, one of the weakest soundtracks of the series especially which is really disappointing, and the least satisfying combat, worst villain, good characters but bad plot. FFVIII is just awful. The graphics are painful to look at, music is mediocre, the plot is absolute NONSENSE, characters are bland and forgettable (Irvine anyone??) and the actual combat mechanics and utter lack of any equipment make the meat of the game unpleasant, and MY GOD by far the weakest world design in the entire series- like seriously even FFXIII has a better world design than VIII. FFV is great - it def does have a far more trite story with poorer character development and a terrible villain - a shame asit was a real step back from IV there, and while I love the soundtrack overall and it has a classic yet distinct FF feel but I loathe the regular battle theme. FFIV does fucking EVERYTHING well, but the plot, the characters, and above all the SOUNDTRACK are untouchable. There is NO high fantasy video game with a soundtrack more epic than FFIV. VI is pretty much untouchable except for the generic combat and excessive easiness. VII is pretty untouchable in almost every way. IX I love but it def has several flaws - one of the worst villains. A brilliant plot in the first half but totally falls apart the second half. Queen Brahne and Kuja (thong boy?) Garland (out of nowhere) - some great charaters in Dagger, Zidane, Steiner, Vivi, Freya - Eiko, - then Quina and Amarant are total garbage. Great music, terrible final boss. Loved the equipment. I played FFXI for about 6 months and everything in that game is SO much work. Exhausting. XIII is one of the most superficial pieces of utter garbage ever made. As is 15. 16 is going to be crap as well. I have no idea why they didn't just continue to refine the combat system from VII remake which is excellent
I fully agree with your list. My only opinion is 7 is better then 6, but as far as where the games belong, it’s perfect! You should give 15 a try, I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy it.
i don't see what i'm missing with 6, i played through it and honestly think it's pretty meh. i liked 4 way more than 6. 4, 7, 8, 10 are all easily better than 6 in my opinion. i'm not sure why it's so highly regarded. it was pretty average to me. locke and celes were not interesting characters at all
In some ways the lack of story helped the original FF. Without even thinking about it, you make up a lot of the minor story beats and flesh out your own characters as you play through it
My personal ranks of those I've played: 1. 9 2. 14 3. Tactics/War of the Lions 4. 10 5. 12 6. Tactics Advance 7. 4 8. Tactics A2 9. 6 10. 7 11. 10-2 12. 5 13. 8 14. Crisis Core 15. 13 16. 1 I highly recommend 14. Yeah it's an MMO, but you can play it single player and it has one of the best stories in the franchise.
My tier list is Final Fantasy 6 ( PS1 preferred ,) Final Fantasy 7 ( original ) Final Fantasy 3 ( for DS!! ) Final Fantasy 4 ( PS1 ) Final Fantasy 5 ( PS1 ) Final Fantasy 12 Final Fantasy 8 Final Fantasy 1 ( Final Fantasy Tactics is the shizznits ... Final Fantasy Tactics 1 and especially 2 are great. FFTA2 is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Final Fantasy, The Four Heroes of Light for DS is incredibly under-rated and is also a very great game )
Oh ... I forgot about 9.... That one is 👁ight. I like it perhaps more than 8... but... both can kinda bore me ( That's just me! ) *** oh! And I meant, Not only is FFT great, but, both FFTA & especially FFTA2 for DS is S Class stuff. FFTA2 is one of the best RPGs I have ever played. Annnd, Ahem! .... Titus is the worst/ most annoying main character to ever exist in any game ever. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 ( NOT a fan of 10 ... but again... that's just me... ) The characters in 10... most of them... just make me go, 🤦♂️
I thought I wouldn’t like FF15 either, but as I played it more and more, I’ve developed a strong bond with the characters and the world…. The ending was very emotional for me, I would rate it the best of all even though I loved 7 and 6 too
11 and 14 are definitely comparable. Disregarding them because they’re MMO’s doesn’t change the fact that they’re main numbered titles that deserve a fair ranking. You should give 14 a fair try at least, it’s popularity and praise speaks for itself.
Pretty much agree with your ranking. 6,7, & 9 have always been my favorites. I kinda put the NES & SNES games in their own tier because they kinda laid the blueprints for good RPGs. It's difficult for a series to go on as long as FF has & not miss the mark here & there like I feel they did with 8, 13, & 15, in my opinion. Some good ones, some amazing ones, & not okay ones.
I don't think there's a single "bad" Final Fantasy game, just the ones you liked the most, and those you liked the least. My least favorite is VIII, but I would much rather play (and actually enjoy) that game than so many other games or series considered "good" by mainstream opinion. Hot take: I don't think you can consider yourself a "true" fan of Final Fantasy without having played them all and still be able to appreciate the best things, and criticize the worst. Because even the "best" Final Fantasy has some low points and frustrating issues.
We have the exact same list. I feel like the majority of people that grew up with the FF series have 6 as their favorite. I was born 1980 and I played all the US releases at release up to 13 which I never played, 14 which I didn’t play until I spent most of last year finishing up through the end of Endwalker and never played 15. I also hated the draw system in 8 and stopped playing somewhere on disc 2. Let me tell you this, you owe it to yourself to play 14. IMO it has the best Final Fantasy story and is up there with one of the best stories across all of gaming. I love those characters and villains so much. If you are tentative about group play, eventually the entire main story with be soloable with the trust system that lets the main NPCs join you in the story dungeons but that’s a little bit off in the future as they said they will add it to all the expansions over time. That said, the dungeons and trials aren’t that bad and if you are really worried about it just watch a 3 minute video on what the boss mechanics are for the dungeons/trials. It is so worth it. The music is S tier as well some of the best you’ll hear in an RPG. When I finished Endwalker my immediate thought was the entire experience is one of the best I’ve ever had across all entertainment. People complain about ARR being something you have to slog through to get to the good parts but I liked ARR too. It is probably the weakest section of the game BUT it world builds setting up the entire game and I love that type of stuff so if you are the same you will be fine. It’s also the weakest because the rest of the expansions are phenomenal. Whatever is holding you back from trying it... take a leap of faith worst thing that happens is it’s not for you and move on. Best thing is you play a fantastic game that will give you 100s of hours of entertainment. I picked up the complete collection which was everything through Shadowbringers for $15 last May right around this time actually, you would be hard pressed to find a better investment of $15 for entertainment especially if you are a FF fan.
This is one of those times that I was there from the beginning and essentially grew up with the series so I have a ton of nostalgia for some of the early titles. I hated FF1 the first 2 times I played it funny enough, but that's because I was young and had never seen a turned based RPG before, but once I read the strategy guide that I received because I had a Nintendo Power subscription, I became obsessed, and that obsession still lives today. I base my rankings on how much I've replayed the games. FF4 being my favorite. I'll never be able to capture the feelings I felt the day I first played 4. A. FF7, FF9, FF1, FF4 B. FF5, FF6 C. FF10, FF2, FF13 D. FF8, FF12, FF3
FF6 is the GOAT! My favorite game of all time! I mostly agree with the entire ranking as well. My only big disagreement would be with FF12, which I really love. It is quite different in how it tells its story versus what we were used to in FF, but it has some really cool aspects to its story, and the writing & dialogue is super good. I love exploring the world of FF12, and Ivalice in general just rules!
i don't understand what i'm missing with 6. i really did not think it was anything special. characters were bland, everyone says Kefka is the greatest because "he's so crazyyy!! Haha crazy clown!" and i just did not find the characters interesting. cyan was the only one. nothing was special about this game to me yet it's always rated so highly and I just cannot understand why.
personally, Id have 7,6,10 in excellent, in that order. Ten went deep with character personalities and the first time it was voiced and they nailed it as best as they could've. As you said, the game was beautiful visually and still looks good now. The world felt lived in and you could feel the culture and lifestyles in the game. 9, i played recently for the first time and i'd have it in 4th. Even though it was open world, It didn't feel as big of a game as 7, 6, 10. 9 was good and very very Charming. But I found myself favoring certain characters in battle and wish it wasn't rigid/restrictive if that makes any sense. One more character wouldve been great. Despite all that, I like how concise of a story 9 was. Great review of the games, your love for the series definitely shows!!
Honestly, you didn't go wrong with your tier list. It's your list afterall. I'd love to see a tier list for the "legendary RPGs" in general. Super mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, the FF games, octopath etc.
Say what u want about 13 but that ost is top 5. I would put 2 in horrid, 8 in good and 13 in bad despite the fact I actually thought it was decent and fun with it's combat. I would also switch 9 and 10's placement and put 15 in bad as well.
I can see why it's divisive. You have to enjoy certain aspects of the game to enjoy playing it. For me, I loathe the aspects you need to enjoy so for me it is in the horrid tier. I actually enjoy certain aspects of the things you can do in XIII, so it's a fun game for me. The only real annoyance of the battle system to me is that, if the leader dies, it's a game over. That's why XIII-2 is a really fun game because they fixed that dumb mechanic(and the soundtrack is really good).
For me IX is the best one. After that its: 2.- VII 3.- VI 4.- V for the gameplay 5.- IV for the story 6.- III 7.- I 8.- II 9.- XII 10.- X 11.- XIII Haven't played XV. I really disliked XIII and I was not a fan of X. Basically, for me the series ended at IX and after that, it's like a different series. No Sakaguchi and no Uematsu really changed it to something else, for me. And my favorite FF of all time is Zodiac Brave Story (FFT)
For me FFVI is one of the best games ever made. VII is great, but i feel it is needlessly confusing, and actually tries too hard with the Zack/Cloud backstory. I think i wouldve liked it better if they just cut Zack out and gave his story beats to Cloud
If we're strictly talking about OG FFVII, there's hardly any convolution with Zack at all. He was barely even a background character in the original game. It was the compilation that gave him a lot more significance, and retconned events to be a lot more convoluted then they originally were. None of that is the fault of FFVII itself though.
@@platinumconquest2365 i felt VII was purposefully convoluted with Clouds backstory and how he somehow had Zacks memories. That didnt make any sense to me
@@grennbalze Well, Cloud never gained Zack's memories. He never recalls events he wasn't physically present for. He never starts remembering black ops missions he couldn't possibly have known about, for example. Cloud's whole deal was that his mind had constructed a false identity as a coping mechanism. Hojo's experiments would've had an extreme effect on the brain's chemistry, making it more likely for mental illness to develop. The new SOLDIER identity was a convenient escape for a few reasons. Being in SOLDIER would've made him feel like he had more agency (who best to take down Sephiroth then another SOLDIER?) and enable him to sidestep his extreme feelings of inadequacy over never getting into SOLDIER and being a "failure". The other is to avoid the survivors guilt associated with Zack, a man who seemed to genuinely care about him and (perhaps in his mind) would have escaped if Cloud wasn't weighing him down.
@@grennbalze not to take away from how you felt, of course that's perfectly valid. But i think to most people it wasn't convoluted in any way and was actually presented exceptionally well, being amongst many gamers favourite plot twists/developments of all time. I was 11 in 1997 and I understood it without any issues and so did my friends. Again don't take this the wrong way as i'm not trying to sound harsh, but i think feeling it was purposely convoluted is definitely a 'you problem' (i mean that in the softest sense). I would highly recommend you replay the game playing close attention to all the details now that you're older and i'm confident you'd find it compelling.
Watching these kinda videos just remind me how old we've become growing up with all these gems haha :D But overall I'm glad we did. If I look at the current generation of video games then I prefer our time with all those classics anytime! As always great work on the video. As tier lists go for me I kinda dont think that there is a "bad" or "horrid" ff game. Yeah 8 and 13 are both weaker than the rest (i agree) but I wouldnt call them bad. The one thing that stands out for me is that FF IV is my all time favorite title. I have soooo many good memories of it and it simply blew me away back in the day. Yeah FF VI, VII & IX are awesome and the objective best titles ngl but IV has a special place in my heart.
I've only played XV and the original Vll, XV is one of my all time favorite games, Vll didn't click with me because of the combat but story wise is amazing, I recently got lX and I hope it suits my style since I'm a fan of medieval fantasy.
This is my list also except 12, it is and should be in the great tier but the least of those. I remember thinking Dragon warrior was so cool until the final fantasy series stole my breath away. Great list keep it up!
Good review overall. Thought 10 should have made excellent category. Also me personally, always liked 7 more than 6 but seen other reviews with 6 ranking better
@@armorvil Actually it is quite popular. Most people I talk to who played the game feel that way after playing it. Just because the story was trash when looking at it ad a whole doesnt mean it was a bad game but story means a lot and there wre things that didnt make sense. I didnt even mind the story until the end because it meant all the trauma Tidus had was fake and his character made no sense. This is an undeniable fact as you cant be the son of the villain and not even real at the same time.
@@SageOfLimitlessHands It's more a case that you and your friends didn't get it. Tidus and everyone / everything in Dream Zanarkand are like summons. Are you saying that summons like Shiva etc aren't real? His trauma was also perfectly real. It was also stated in-game that Jecht and Tidus became more than just summons when they came into contact with Sin. You should replay the game, everything makes sense and the story is friggin good. It was also clever on the devs part to make the player able to rename Tidus like they can summons, like a subtle hint. FFX is a masterpiece.
FF8 was a lot of fun and it was so much fun with how the controls were interactive and also it was amazing to see a futuristic game and also having lots of amazing limit breaks i will always love it
Pretty much exact same ranking I woulda done (maybe FFIII in Great though for its music)! But seriously you have to play FFXIV, its easily the best Final Fantasy game in terms of character, overarching story, and music. Having knowledge of the previous games elevates the experience even more. I'd argue it's even closer to the thematic roots of Final Fantasy than FFIX (crystals and warriors of light) so it's definitely a must play. It's even Hironobu Sakaguchi approved!! The guy's been literally spamming FFXIV on his twitter the last number of months since he started.
I went on to write a wall of text recommending 14 too, a final fantasy fan just can’t miss out on especially if they will get the bonus experience of recognizing all the Easter Eggs and music. I had a stupid grin on my face when the FF tactics save/load screen music just suddenly started playing as one of a ton of Easter eggs for veterans of the FF series of games.
Honestly this is a good list. The only thing I would change is 10. Id put it next to 8 probably. The music, battle system and graphics are amazing. The leveling system allowed me to over power Yuna and dominate which… wasnt too fun honestly. The story was a bit too easy to predict, the main character was confusing to me and honestly I think Yuna or Auron would have been better at it. Finally the final boss (not sin) made me feel like I wasted my time. Sin’s fight was AMAZING but wow was the after party terrible for me. If I put 11 and 14 in those categories: 11 topest tier and 14, great.
My personal list would be quite similar! Listed from best to worst, it would go: A: VI, VII B: V, XII, X C: IV, IX, III, I D: VIII, II F: XIII The main differences seem to be that I rate XII higher and IX lower. I agree that XII's story has problems, especially the ending (it very much feels to me like a Game of Thrones situation where the writing abruptly falls off a cliff due to the loss of Matsuno behind the scenes partway through production), but I found the Gambit system really engrossing and got obsessed with the monster hunts. I don't mind "the game playing itself" as a replacement for random battles where I would just be mashing A to dispatch enemies with my basic attacks anyway; I like it that the game let me delegate that mindless aspect of battling to my dudes. I found the art style and character designs in IX gross and off-putting, which makes it harder to get invested in the story/characters, and I don't see a lot of positives to the gameplay compared to the FFs I put above it. The combat is plodding and basic, with a horribly designed "limit break" system in the Trances; Quadra Magic is utter bullshit, yet the game forces you to win at it to progress at one point; and tying progression to specific items which can generally only be worn by a specific character just seems like the traditional system where each character learns abilities at set levels, but with extra steps. I've come to expect minigames in FFs to be mind-bogglingly frustrating and awful, but it doesn't have to be that way: the ones in VII and VIII weren't bad, so we have IX's Quadra Master, Chocobo Hot and Cold, etc. to blame for that bad trend which continued into X and X-2.
Very similar to my ranking of the series. One thing that'd be different for me is FF12 would be in top tier it's my 2nd favorite game of FF after FF6. I agree FF7 and 6 are some of the best entries. I'd probably put FFIV in top tier as well. FF9 I'd probably put in great because I feel the gameplay suffers a little since the characters mostly play the same throughout the game compared to other entries where you have more character customization. The load times in FF9 also can be a bit of a issue too. The story, music and everything else in 9 was top notch though. I can tell you with FFXV to me personally you missed nothing skipping on it. FFXV was one of the most disappointing games of all time for me and I have told myself I will wait for reviews and not buy FF16 until reviews come out because of how FFXV was. With FFXV if other people like it that's cool, but it just wasn't for me unfortunately.
I can't fathom seeing 8 ranked under 12, I was able to sigh and shake my head until that point. The story of 12 is disjointed and uninteresting, the "main character" in Vaan is just....a hard flop for me. He's outshined by basically every other character but the game continues to follow his perspective. The mmo-lite style of open world combat felt boring and uninspired. The junction system in 8 was a pretty unique and interesting system for power progression along with leveling and gave a nice ability to customize skills for your party. The combat, limit breaks, and guardian forces(summons) were exceptionally well done with the added interactivity in the waning age of ATB turn-based combat. The story was fun and at times heartwarming. If im understanding his description right, he was so disinterested of 8 after 6 and 7 that he didn't finish it, I'm left wondering if he'd feel different if he revisited it now. Of course, his video and his opinion, which he has a right to. I was generally fine with the rest of the list.
I agree with you... ...except with your take on 12 haha. I mean, I don't disagree that 12's story and characters suck, but 12 is another genre altogether. It's like a Diablo game / a dungeon-RPG so you shouldn't play it for its story. I disliked 12 after finishing it for the first time too because I went into it expecting a pure FF, with a deep and emotional storyline, but when I replayed it knowing what to expect and tried to kill every mark on the hunting boards, then it clicked and I've absolutely loved the game since then. It shouldn't have been called Final Fantasy though. I feel the same as you about 8 anyways, for all its faults it has tons of good things and Junction gives it a lot of replay value, something 9 doesn't have (I don't understand the love for 9 btw... ...it's good but top-tier? Nah). Oh, and I would have put 10 in the Excellent category, I can never choose which is better between 6, 7 and 10.
I know it's not thematically in line with the others in the series, but I would have like to see where you rated Tactics. Agree with 6 being the best. Agree with 7 taking the 2nd spot, out of the base FF games. If you factor in War of the Lions, though...I'd have to say 6, then Tactics WOTL, then FF7. Tactics was just so fresh, engrossing, and interesting it single-handedly renewed my faith in SquareSoft and the franchise.
@Nicholas Graves Exactly, with all the jobs, side quests, and even little nuances to the story that can be missed on the first playthrough, the replay value is seer-E-us. I agree, it is a masterpiece. Honestly, I'm not sure there is a better story in any other rpg, to this day. The only thing it was missing is a little Game of Thrones-esque death of a protagonist. Though, the situation with Delita, at the end, was close. Not exactly a protagonist but it was still a death that was like "HOLY SHIT!!!"
@Nicholas Graves Like, if Agrias or T.G. Cid kicked the bucket. Mwah! Chef's kiss. That would have actually been the way to go. The old, withered, weary warrior, the hero of yesteryear fighting one last war and sacrifices himself to save his son or the group or the future queen. It would have been emotional and a shock in terms of general play. The game became so easy after you acquire Cid. You become so bold and arrogant cutting through battle after battle only to have a fight where Cid makes a sacrifice. The sudden loss would be a blow to your emotions but will also have you out your mind cuz tou just lost your strongest character.
Storywise, 14 is comparable or even surpasses the other mainline games. Especially Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Compelling settings, memorable characters, unforgettable villains, and a soundtrack that brings it all together
@@SageOfLimitlessHands If by original, you mean the scrapped 1.0, sure it was not good. As A Realm Reborn is the only way to play the game now, I would think that it is the one to compare to. Also, its expansions are a direct continuation of the story and I would compare not including them to not changing FF7 discs and only including the first one. If one now tried, they couldn't even buy "just the main game" and would wind up with the whole package anyway.
@@umerna well if you paid attention to the guy he specifically said he was only comparing original releases to the mainline versions, not remakes, remasters, or dlc. Hence why ARR would not be included as that is not the original.
@@SageOfLimitlessHands I guess I missed it, tho ARR is not remake, remaster nor dlc of the original. I'm fine with whatever definition people want use in their tierlists, just feel weird having a game that literally doesn't exist.
@@umerna It is literally a canon remake. Ad the original game was a universe that no longer exists and was reset for a canon reason, as a reflection of how bad the original was. So it is both literally and metaphorically a remake....or is the term A Realm REBORN somehow not mean remake?
For the most part I think he nailed it. I was so excited for XIII when it came out. A linear game where I could start a battle, put the controller down, and mow the lawn and come back to a win is not what I was happy with.
I find it common for ppl to feel like 1 had issues due to the attacks being ineffective, yet as someone who played this one the most, there is something to be said for making the battles more involved by the tactic of needing to plan out who hits what for roughly a certain amount. I see the need to plan out my attacks better than just mashing A as a positive. The biggest issue I see with 1 was that magic was so limited, instead of using an MP system, and all lower spells being useless once the battle use items are found.
How dare you rank *my* installment in the series only in the Good tier! "You impertinent fool!" (Just kidding! Long time fan of your channel Xygor and so glad that put together this tier list. Keep killing it with the great content. Cheers!)
You can play these forever.. It’s a tremendous series.. Best is kinda subjective.. Even I can’t figure it out especially being I haven’t played them all.. There’s also lots of spin-offs.. I was checking out Type O earlier tonight..
They ruined her in X-2 though. I don't buy that Yuna's character evolution from X includes hot pants and a cleavage window. She lost all of the modesty and class that she once had.
@@clearspira I do think that if we were to look at her as a psychological being, they did press her a bit further than she likely would have been realistically. It made sense that she let go just a little bit due to Rikku and Tidus' influence and the fact that she now sees a future where she is no longer bound to her duty. The proposed X-3 brings Yuna back to a more recognizable state, which honestly is something that would happen given the character's true self. She would ultimately settle into some area in between her X and X-2 self, likely leaning closer to X as this is how she likely presents in her formative years.
Top of my list would be FF III FF IV and FF V. I need to force myself to play some of the later games. Something about them just never grabbed me the way the other ones did. I was amazed with FF III. The first time I played it on an emulator, I was blown away by the graphics and I fell in love with the job system. I really like the PSP remakes, wish they would of done 3 that way, as Im not crazy about the DS version.
Pretty solid list. I'd put 12 higher but only because I loved FF Tactics and Vagrant Story so I'm biased. V would be in the good category for me. A robust job system but it lost strong characters in the process. A harder grade would be including revisions. 4 for the SNES was good not great. The DS' play was leagues better but I get not liking the chibi style. The new remaster may be the best way to play it but that would rank higher than the SNES version.
I'm happy seeing FFII on the good tier. I really think that it gets too much hate, that it doesn't deserve. As you said, the combat system is polarising and really exploitable I may add, but story-wise it's really really good and interesting!
I have skipped XII back in the day. But I started playing XII Zodiac Age on the PS4, because I always wanted to try it and I’m on the hype for XVI, and man it really does it for me. I really like the diversity of the world, the game mechanics are different from the usual FFs. My personal Rank is this: FFVII/FFVII Remake, FFXII Zodiac Age, FFVIII, FF Tactics, FF VI, FFIX, Stranger of Paradise FF Origin. Those are the ones I’ve played and enjoyed.
It's real funny to me, in the conversation of FFIII, I always heard that endgame was really hard and when I played the PR I thought "really? Did they make it really easy then?" (Which in a lot of cases, yes, the PRs are definitely easier than the originals and remakes) then I played the FFIII 3D Remake right after.... yup, I had to grind so much that I could practically one-shot every enemy through the crystal tower and beat Xande as quick as possible! Then bring 99 potions and hi-potions so I didn't waste spell slots on healing after the crystal battles!
Tier lists without 11 and 14 aren't really tier lists imo. I just don't see how you can leave two mainline games out. Yay they're mmo's but 14 is basically the closest thing an MMO can be to a single player experience and 11 now adays can pretty much be solo'd. Also if youve played all the mainlines you're really really really doing yourself a diservice by not playing 14, it has some of the best storywriting in the series if not the best, and considering you played 11 when it was released I can 100 percent attest its nothing like that grindfest 11 was
They are, because it’s harder to play these games. Non MMO games are easier to get and to access. I’ve never played an MMO in my life and I don’t know how it works. So I don’t count them as real games. Only makes sense to me to leave them out of a tier list.
@@Livingtree32 Harder to play? You can access 14 on PC, PS4, and PS5. You've never played one or know how it works? How exactly can you criticize it without actually trying it or its gameplay systems without actually playing it? 14 is basically soloable at this point, theyve made the main story in such a way as most FF games are made, it's just longer and has more content. But ya know......not a real game.
@@xeroskillzxiv77 I didn’t criticize them? Just said it’s not as easy as just buying the game and starting. One needs to sign up for an online service probably or something. I didn’t criticize the games as such. Also I have neither PC, PS4 nor PS5.
I can't believe how invested I am with this dumb series of games. When I think of how many hours I spent playing and how many times I've replayed these games, I have to shake my head. Wonderful rankings. I agree absolutely with every single one.... Except one. Lol. I was with you till FF12. I love that game. My personal favorite to play. As the rankings for best goes, personally, i would have placed it just below FF10 in the great column. And I don't like 10 very much, lol. I may love playing FF12, but it had quite a few faults. Definitely think it is better than good. I am happy you put FF 10 where you did. So many people put that one at the top, and it frustrates me. Solid game but the negetives were too hard for me to ignore. Plus, bitzball sucked. Lol....... (I've frickin played FF10 from beginning to end 3 times. God, the choices I've made) Thanks for the vid
Blitzball beat me down so bad I had to understand it, I then came to even love it. X was on 80% on rails but one of Square's best roller-coasters. Easy to see why it is held so high.
Well thought out list! My one disagreement with you is FF8, I absolutely LOVED that game. For me it's on the same level as 6 and 7. The junction system is confusing at first but it's really fun how you figure it out. The soundtrack was superb. I also saw myself in Squall so that helped lol.
Plus the junction system gave the game quite a lot of replay-value, contrary to FF9 which leaves you almost no choice but to have the same experience everytime you play. And FF8's card game was great. I agree it has problems (I didn't like drawing magic either) but I would have put FF8 in the Great category on the far right side or in Excellent on the far left. As for FF12 I understand why he rated it this way, it's just too different / another genre. I was disappointed too the 1st time I finished it. It's an awesome game if you're into dungeon RPGs / Diablo-like games though, one of my favorite games ever (Mark-hunting is where it's at). Forget the story, you play 12 for its game mechanics.
Using same guildines but before seeing his list..(never played first 3 in original format though). Prob some spicy takes here. Edit... apparently I pretty much agree with him, even not playing 15 lol 4)A 5)A 6)S+ 7)S- 8)D- 9)A- 10)B 12)C 13)C+ I sort of gave up and didn't play 15 past the tutorial
These tier lists for the FF games are fun when people give their thoughts to the placement of each game, rather than just worrying about the ranking itself. Everyone has their own tastes for the series -- I'm that rare FF heathen that likes FF9 the least out of all mainline FFs (and yeah, I've been playing since the original NES release of the first game). But always fun to hear others thoughts, good vid.
I agree with your list! Almost spot-on. My only variance is that I never found myself immersed in the storyline of FF9. I suspect it is because I have somewhat of a fanaticism for 6 and 7 that I am too afraid to give 9 a chance!
Maybe the only thing that I strongly disagree with is FFXIIIs OST not being strong, aside from that I mostly agree. Trying to remember which rendition of the FF main theme that is playing at the end of the video!
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Excellent video. My personal opinion is mostly aligned with yours. FFXII I put a lot higher as it's probably the closest I'll ever get to playing an MMO, and I found it supremely entertaining - especially the remaster. FFXIII I didn't find as detestable as you did, but I'd still rank it Bad. Probably the game I'm least likely to ever play again. In the end I go back and forth between FFVI and FFIX being best in series. FFVII being third place in my book (the remake IMO is better than the original, but I reserve judgment until the final entry in the episodic series is released). Thanks for reminding me it's been awhile since I played some of these!
Some comment on FFII: I never played it, just watched reviews and gameplay, but i did play Final Fantasy Legend I and II on the GB, FFL just appeared right after FFII and had the same level system. Its because of Akitoshi Kawazu who made the Sa-Ga series that were kinda a spin-off of the FF series. Solid games with amazing stories, i personally liked the level system its not bad its just very different. FFII is basicly Sa-Ga 0 from what i gathered. The lead design of the games mechanics is just too much like those of the Sa-Ga series.
FF8 had an amazing feel and set of gameplay mechanics + visual style. I like the idea of the Gardens and the differing types of limit breaks the characters had. Gunblade was cool, Diabolos, Doom Train, Eden. LOVED the FF8 airship. I can kind of agree about the characters not being fully fleshed out though, they each had a unique and cool aesthetic but they aren't quite as "defined" in personality as Barret, Aerith, Red, Vincent, Cait etc. Although it had cool spells like Meltdown and awesome summons, you're 100% right about the Draw system... that was needlessly tedious and should've been balanced against the incentive to just grind 100 stacks for optimal stats. Makes for boring gameplay but then you feel like an idiot if you don't do it, and it also feels bad to spend spell stacks unless you really need to. Doubt it'll happen but they could make for a great remake with some rebalancing if they actually just fleshed out the characters a bit more, stuck to the story but then fixed up some of the weird timey-wimey elements. I imagine they could do some really cool stuff with the gunblade in a newer action combat / atb hybrid FF7 style.
Final Fantasy X is my all time favourite. Getting to meet James Arnold Taylor (Tidus), Tara Strong (Rikku) and John DiMaggio (Wakka and Kimarhi) was one of the greatest moments of my life.
I must be one of the very few that never liked 9. Way too much time spent watching instead of playing in the early game to ever get invested. FFXII, though, will always be in the top 3 for me. Amazing game and the gambit system was incredible.
Don't like FF9 either , really unsatisfying battle system (art animation/attacks/speed) , It all feels like a retread of an era done better In most areas. World feels boring and somehow smaller than FF8/FF7 , and the plot and most of the characters and villains don't do anything for me execution and personality wise... there's just no Immersive motivation for me to really care.
@@fawkkyutuu8851 wait what? FF9’s world is smaller than FF7? I mean you actually left Gaia for both Terra and the Crystal World. The continents were LITERALLY bigger than FF7’s, and it’s no exaggeration to say that you can actually travel around FF7’s world in less than 2 seconds. Everywhere in FF7 looked the same. Very boring setting. Terrible graphics, terrible translation, messy story and the characters all work the same in combat. U say the villain doesn’t do anything throughout the game? U must have confused Kuja who is MULTI-DIMENSIONAL, unlike Sephiroth who just stays in his cocoon throughout the entire game. FF9 is the most complete JRPG out there with a perfect world, perfect story, perfect characters and perfect soundtrack. I will never be able to understand how someone can dislike FF9 but like FF7.
@@badmeetsevil6163 easy, most ppl who grew up and played them liked 7 more.nothing to it. Sephiroth is a way more complex and immensely better executed villain. The main cast blows 9 away and the sci fi/ steam punk world fealt way more lively than 9 could ever hope to achieve. There's no way 9 is better than 7 in reality. 6 maybe 10 but those are it lol
@@chrisfoy6034 The graphics and translation alone are enough to make FF7 10 times worst than FF9 already. What's more is that 90% of the places in FF7 looked the same. The cities, continents, everywhere else...you barely even know the name of the place you entered, because they never even showed it. Yeah that's just an inexcusable flaw. With FF9, you had places like Alexandria, Lindblum, Treno, Dali & Black Mage Village which all looked incredibly different. Then compare the characters - Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, Dagger, Freya etc. who looked the same? There's almost nothing to differentiate the FF7 characters in battle outside of their limit breaks. FF9 pulled your heartstrings throughout the entire story, and it actually looks like a proper Final Fantasy game. FF7 is Metal Gear Solid RPG with all its guns, motorcycles, rockets etc. Yeah the only way anyone can put FF7 above FF9 in reality is their nostalgia glasses. Metacritic, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu all put FF9 above FF7, so FF9 is objectively better than FF7. Also, you putting FF10 above FF9 is an absolute joke lol.
Your tier list is perfect, excepted the Final Fantasy VIII on "bad", I really don't understand all the hate about it, for me that's definitively a great game !
Isn't the furthest to the left supposed to be the best in like any other tier list? I don't understand why you did it backwards to how their lists work.
I'll just copy my list from the community section comments: Here's my personal ranking, all just my opinion: 0. Final Fantasy Tactics (better than any of the mainline games) 1. Final Fantasy 8 (yes, I know, and I don't care) 2. Final Fantasy 6 (a true masterpiece) 3. Final Fantasy 9 (a stellar end to the Sakaguchi era of FF) 4. Final Fantasy 7 (a turning point for RPG history) 5. Final Fantasy 5 (a greatly balanced and fun game) 6. Final Fantasy 3 (a precursor to 5 in many ways) 7. Final Fantasy 15 (better than most people think) 8. Final Fantasy 4 (good, but unpolished) 9. Final Fantasy 2 (probably the best story on the NES, but the gameplay is flawed) 10. Final Fantasy 7 Remake (there are many good moments, but a lot of stuff is blown out of proportion) 11. Final Fantasy 13 (some good ideas are buried under dubious presentation) 12. Final Fantasy 10 (I just don't dig it, though the music and the love story are great, but the gameplay and overall story don't really appeal to me) I've never played 11, 12, 14 or any of the official sequels. And I don't consider any of the games that I placed low on the list bad, I just enjoyed them less than those that I placed higher. The lowest ranking game in my list is still better than many others games. Thank you for expressing respect to those whose opinion differs from yours, and of course I respect yours too. A great tier list!
FF8 main problem is that you don't want to use magic because draw is a nightmare. I don't mind to grind 100 of each spell (since xp/level don't really matter) but don't let me waste those draw on magic. Yes you can extract from card but it just break the game and make it worst.
For me, I'm much more of a SquareSoft era guy: FF6 > FFT (the original, not WotL) > FF8/4 > FF10. I respect FF7, but while it's an iconic game, I never bonded with the characters (and I think Sephiroth is a boring villain) like I did the above games. FF9 was great. FF12 wasn't bad, but it's when the series started going off-the-rails for me. FF13 and 15 I just have to pretend don't exist. FF14 is the only SE-product that I have faith in.
Hell yes!! ANYTHING FF and I’m watching it, every time I see your videos I want to dust off the snes and play them again. 1 of the best things in gaming history that made me 100% love this game was when you could wait till time almost ran out on the flying island and save shadow. Completely blew my mind
It’s amazing how different opinions are with final fantasy 4 ds are. It is my favorite way to play FFIV and I really enjoy the increased difficulty. It has much more depth than any other version it as well. I’d tell anyone looking to play FFIV that enjoys a challenge to play the ds version.
When you’re ready to come play FFXIV, let me know. It’s a ton of fun, and can be enjoyed solo for a lot of it, if you prefer. You probably ranked FFVII more objectively than I would have (I couldn’t stand it then or now), though you ranked VI on top, which I agree, so kudos for that. I’m excited for XVI and hope it will live up to my expectations.
You‘re in a lucky position to not have played FFXV so far - it was a bummer with good moments when it released. Years have passed and imo it has been updated to greatness. Watch Kingsglaive, give the Animes a try and play the game - it suffers in combat gameplay BUT it has heart, fantastic graphics and imo the best music and ending in any single player FF. Plus the DLC gives it so much important context that the vanilla experience missed.
13 and 15 get too much hate! Both have good soundtracks too imo. I would put 13 at lowest end of Good tier and even though 15 has a lot of flaws, I'd probably put it in the great tier. FF Spin off tier list next?
I think 13 is better than 15 if we’re talking about the base games when released but royal edition. 13 felt like a complete game 15 felt it was missing huge parts of its story and I think the music is better in 13 too. I would say the characters are better in 15 though
going into this i feel like the tier ranking is more or less universal after all this time for the first 10 - the only debatable one was going to be 8, and - 9 was either going to be S tier for some or A tiers for others. - 7 is undeniable S tier even if someone didnt enjoy it - 6 was major shift in the direction of the golden era, which makes it rank right under - 4 and 5 have a special place in peoples hearts but they cant be ranked above the others - and nobody talks about 1 - 3. - X i guess is a grey area but not as divisive as 8, X is the transition out
Ngl, I opened the video and paused instantly and then just liked the video and then started watching. I already know I'm going to enjoy this. Without seeing what you said about each Final Fantasy I still love FF6 the most story wise out of all of them. Though others may be mechanically better I just love FF6's story.
In all honestly though, what is really so bad with 8? So the draw system was pain, the GF summon was a dumb addition to just regular summons, and yeah leveling up was a joke...but when it came out it was the shit! The music was epic, the story wasn't horrible. IDK I guess it's one of those ones where youd only have a chance to like it if you played it when it first came out. 🤷♂️
@@industrlbeatnik It was leaked a month before official release here where I am and I played it then. Story wise, I can't rem much now, but I still rem disc 1 and 2, squall didn't give a shit about rinoa, and suddenly disc 3,he's willing to risk his life for her.
Did FF8 dirty. Without historical context, that is to say judging on actual comparable content and not importance to series history, there is no way it falls below the NES and some of the SNES titles. Really downplayed the OST too, for sure better than FF9's and at least nips at the heels of FF7's. FF6 as top choice is a quality pick, though FF9 being so high is completely out of it's league.
It's weird how i don't think you got anything wrong really, but at the same time my personal tier list would look totally different :) That's fair because ranking these games really depends on how invested you were when you first played it, at what age, in what stage of your life and things like that so it's normal that it changes dramatically from one person to another
I love how people still bash FF8 because of draw grinding when - sure that's something you can do, but much easier to amass stuff you need off refining from enemy drops. I 100% get why people don't like the game even though it's in my tops, but I always find the draw/grind argument ridiculous.
I know that Final Fantasy VI is supposed to be the best game ever and it has received so much love over the years. And I’ve tried on more than one occasion to play it… but I could never get through that game. I thought the characters were very generic and uninteresting. They all had these disjointed motivations too. I lose interest in it every single time.
I’ll never understand why people like 9 so much. The combat was ok but the trance thing was terrible. The characters models were so ugly and weird and they made no sense to make it feel like a world with races of people. The story had some really great points but also dragged a lot at times. It’s a solid good or C game. Oh and 4 is excellent.
I think 8 is good, not bad. If it wasn't attached to the franchise I think many of the features would have been applauded to a much higher degree, and many of the deficiencies would have been judged much less harshly. The one major negative to me is the grinding as you mentioned, but many of the games in the good category also either demand grinding or heavily reward it.
What was the most memorable Final Fantasy game, and where did I go wrong in my tier list?
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I think most would agree with your list. Shoulda included the tactical FF games, at least War of the Lions.
All opinions and preferences.
It's interesting to hear what we all have to say / what we personally feel
@Drone Adventures I love SNESDrunk, he's an awesome guy that makes amazing content, but yeah I love 6 and like the large variety of characters!
@Xygor Gaming - I really respect that you gave FF2 a better ranking than most. It actually had a good story and people often overlook it to complain about the leveling system, as if nothing else matters. Personally, I would have rated FF5 over FF4 because of the job system and story. FF5 tried to bring in some humor with its story telling whereas FF4 was kind of bland (in my opinion). Lastly, everyone always rates 6 & 7 as top tier and I think they are overrated. FF6 has the best story telling no doubt about it, but the lack of jobs really hinders it, especially later in the game. Once you have everyone leveled up, there really isn't a difference between characters. Once Sabin knows all the magic, how is he different than Locke? How is Celes different than Cyan once they know all the spells?
FF7 is good, sure but it suffers from the same late game issues as 6 where the only things that really separates the characters at the end are their limit breaks. This issue becomes more glaring the further you get into the game.
My favorite is FFIV its shorter and not as big orchestrated as FFVI and FFVII, but i started with it to play Final Fantasy and have fond memories of it - and i think it was the first great Final Fantasy that made some noise and still got with Cecil by far the greatest protagonist i have seen in FF. Especially his story arc as dark knight on his way to become a paladin, he had to face people that he fought before and i have seen one of the best redemption tales ever and i am the kind of guy who does not even like redemption stories much, but this was too awesome! Its the first couple of hours of that game that made it really great! The rest of the game was solid, too. Its just awesome that the devs of this game made this happen as early as 1991/92 at this time i have seen no equal.
I love FF8. I just played the remaster version and fell in love with it again. Picked up so many elements to the story that I missed when I played it as a kid. One of my favorite games.
The draw system is a disaster. You can either take FOREVER drawing 300 of each magic and level up as normal, which inexplicably makes the game harder, or break the game by not leveling up, avoiding all random encounters and play cards to convert to powerful magic, turning it into a long drawn out boss rush mode. Neither way is fun.
Interesting world setting and all that but the gameplay for me is the worst of them all.
@@trenken i think they fixed it in the remaster but i tottally agree if theu didnt
@@armaniesingletary8979 well they let you cheat in the remaster by turning on max damage, but they didnt change anything regarding systems in the remaster.
FF8 is not a bad game but when you compare to other legendary FF series. It is bad game
@@TGFTH its not great relative to any rpg imo. The battle system is broken, the story is super dull, lots of boring locations, the laguna sequences are intolerable. It has good graphics and music. Thats it imo. The whole thing with edea being cids wife was the dumbest thing EVER in any rpg.
I used to hate FFX. It did such an amazing job for making you feel the depression and hopelessness of the world…which is one reason why I put it at the top now. Also great battle/leveling/summoning systems
Well, people hate various versions of FF, but, in reality, ALL OF THEM are good, even "bad" ones.
Such a great game that holds up to replays
The sphere grid is just a facade and introduces busy work. The leveling, ability/spell leaning system in X is just like IV. You fight battles and what you learn and what grows in stats next is basically predetermined, and there's nothing wrong with that in IV. In X, though, it does the same thing but pretends it has this unique and novel system when really it's just having you menu dive into a board game UI to move your position one node. It's a totally gimmick because the path is super linear and really doesn't give you many choices in direction until almost late game. I love X but the sphere grid is a stupid, time wasting gimmick. To do what they did but make it more fun, they should've just went with the simple system that is in IV since basically it's no different. I don't really like XII that much as a story/characters aspect, but at least the original release's License Board gave you freedom to head in any direction you wanted rather than a predetermined linear path. I wasn't a fan of license board, but at least it wasn't a cheap gimmick facade by trying to pretend that it gave you choice.
@@pauldavis7318 expert grid is a thing.
Final Fantasy VIII would be much higher on my list. I think it gets a lot of hate for being the follow up to VII (My favourite game).
Actually playing through 8 right now lol. Aside from the junction system which I’m not a huge fan of, it’s a great game so far. Squall’s a badass and I like the story
@@TylerA52903 where are you on the game? Its my fav ff
@@Canada-1 my list is 5) FF7CC, 4) FF8, 3) FF6 (just edges 8 out barely) 2) FF7, and 1) FF7R (still have yet to play the others). Absolutely loved FF8 though, the love story was very heartwarming. The only thing I really disliked was the leveling up system. The Junction system was a mixed bag for me. The story was great. (Spoilers)
I thought it was weird that almost the whole party lived in the same orphanage and then just happened to go on this grand adventure together but it’s whatever. Excellent game that gets very overlooked mainly because of the success of FF7. If they were to remake FF8 from the ground up, I think it would look gorgeous.
@Tyler Acuna my fav is 8 cause its the first one i played. I remember playing the demo when it came out on a gamer magazine and couldnt wait to get it. That said i recognize ff9 is a better game and 7 more iconic.
@@Canada-1 I feel u bro. Usually the first FF game that you play will end up becoming your favorite. The original FF7 was that game for it and the Remake blew me away
I think the big problem with FF13s Characters is the way how they evolve. Pretty much everyone beside of Sazh is not likeable in the beginning, they all have their flaws and are either jerks or just annoying, but that kinda is the whole point. They all have big flaws and that is why they fail so much in the beginning and pretty much play out like the antagonist wants them to play out. Every single one of them has big Charakter development over the story (well, maybe everyone beside of Fang) and that's why they succeed in the end. Lightning learns she can't do everything on their own, Hope learns revenge will never change anything, Snow learns he is not the main Character of the univers and needs to rely on others etc. While i think this is great Character development i think it's really bad writing. I can see while so many people drop it after a few hours because of the Characters. If you just hate everyone, it's not really fun. However: Once you finished the game once and replay it i think it's incredible good since you know where everything is going and you don't mind the annoying Character interactions in the beginning anymore. I finished FF13 like 4 times so far, every few years i just want to play it again. Only FFs i played more are FF7 and FF10.
I feel that FFXIII is a game that services its story too much. There are a ton of really good touches left to clue you in on things (a small example is that only Vanille has a third ATB charge in the opening because she's the only l'cie at that point.) But some of the gameplay decisions made in pursuit of satisfying that story make the game itself a lot less fun to actually play.
You can virtually solo the entire ARR storyline solo now in FF14 , which makes for a great single player experience, I'd give it a shot at least
After finish ff14 EW, skipping this game its like say no to main course during fine dining.
I don't think it's worth the time investment you have to put in to FF14 to get to the good parts of the story like in Heavensward. You have to complete like 80 quests or something including dungeons and trials just to get from ARR postgame to Heavensward, that's insane.
I would not recommend picking FF14 if you're only in it for the story.
@@adamtideman4953 I had no real problems reaching HW. I do love World building and all the ARR and post ARR stuff is mainly world and character building which sets up all the stuff that comes later on. Plus, there are so many nods to all the FF games throughout that I think most fans of Final Fantasy series will have little problem getting to HW. So I’d have to disagree with you somewhat. As a casual fan that doesn’t really care much for Final Fantasy and is picking it up just because they heard good things.... they might have some issues with the early pacing.
@@adamtideman4953 arr story skip is like $10. also whether or not someone will enjoy arr is entirely dependent on the person. some love it, some hate it, some fall in the middle. that also applies for when the story “gets good”.
If someone is only in it for the story I think ffxiv is a great recommendation. If they appreciate narrative then there’s a lot to get from ffxiv start to finish. the game as a whole is very story-first in its presentation.
Defenders and enjoyers of ARR tend to be the more “in it for the story” type players (not all obviously) so I really think that someone of that nature would have a great time with ffxiv as a single player story experience. Especially now that almost all of the dungeons can be played solo with a party of AI (all xpacs have this except for stormblood which will have it by the end of EW)
@@adamtideman4953 as someone who played 14 since 2012, I can't get anyone to try it. Even final fantasy fans. ARR needs to be fully converted to a single player game to get anyone in at this point
I wasn't super hyped about XV at first, then I got it and ended up loving it way more than I expected to. It may surprise you if you give it a fair chance.
I agree i feel like he has to give it a chance i felt such joy traveling thru the world picking up quests and lost in the world
for me, FFXV could have been one of the best games in the series, like top 3, but they needed at least one more year, the game feel rushed in the second part, and there is a lot of half made sections that were discovered with some bugs.., also you need to play the royal edition because the original base was a disaster xD
The problem for me, is really the characters (which for me, look stupid, act stupid and talk stupidly). I didn't like the artistic direction in general. And there were some problems in terms of gameplay (admittedly, that's not reason I dislike the game).
I wouldn't call it a bad game though, I just hated it personally.
Agreed. FFXV could have been top tier, excellent soundtrack too. I really liked the characters, and the world lore was incredible, but the game is unfinished… they did a relatively bad job of telling the story.
I haven't played FF8 yet but it seems to be the most divise game in the series. People either have it as their undisputed favorite or they hate it because of this infamous junction system I keep hearing about.
It must be doing something right in order to garner so much love from so many.
I love the sci fi elements, music, and some characters from 8. Definitely one of the few in my friends group who doesn't hate the game.
I almost agree with you completely.
Like some others said, I disagree about FF12. I didn't fall in love with it my first time through. I did my second time.
Even more with FF13. The first few times I played it, I didn't like it either. By the third or fourth time, it made a lot more sense to me, and then I really liked it.
I've tried multiple times to play FF15. I just have a really hard time getting into it. Maybe if I made it completely through, I might like it better. I just don't know.
There is no tier list which is wrong since it is your personal opinion and how much you resonated with every title. For me, FF7 is the most influential. Something beautiful comes up in the body when i think about it or hear any song of the game. Such a spiritual rich experience which made me appreciate nature and the planet more and see past the trauma of people.
Well said, and you make a good case for it.
FF7 had so many plot holes it was horrid as a story. If the game stayed in Midgard and was a fight with Shinra I would of put it at the top. However every hour since leaving Midgard the game got worse and worse. Every character outside of limit breaks and weapons where carbon copy. Every character could be a tank a heal or dps no character had a designed role. The shocking death I felt nothing for especially compared to phantasy star 4 Alys death. For me the game fell way short of what everyone wants to hype it up to be.
@@joshhowe3551 thats ok. Just because you didnt like it, doesnt mean it isnt any good. I feel the same way about octopath traveler 2 but i won't bitch about it.
@@FreeFlow__ not bitching about it I'm stating facts that fan boys of this game constantly ignore. I thought it would be the greatest thing ever too when it first came out yet it was a story telling nightmare full of holes.
@@joshhowe3551you're complaining about plotholes while octopath 2 is your favorite game of all time lmao, which does not even have an overarching storyline. And yes, you are bitching about it like a kid. Not your thing? Good, accept it and move on.
I find it interesting that the combat being planned and deliberate in FF was a sore spot for some, and yet I found it to be more engaging for that reason. Made battles more engaging than just mashing/holding the a button.
Final Fantasy 6 is still my favorite FF (and one of my favorite GOATs).
That being said..........
I still vividly remember the years, months, weeks, and days leading up to the release date of FF7. My friends and I would read every magazine that hit the newsstands over and over. When we slept we would dream about it. Awake we would think about it. It would be the topic of conversation between us at school, at home, and on the weekends as we played other PS1 games to tide us over. We would wait with bated breath for the release of the newest issues of EGM, EGM2, Game Pro, Official PS Magazine, and any other video game magazine that even had a single photo of FF7. When Tobal no. 1 released with a playable demo we all put in some money so we could buy a copy and share the FF7 playable demo. To this day I do not think any of us every actually played Tobal no. 1, but it was legendary, and worth every penny. The anticipation the day before ff7 hit store shelves was nearly tangible. There were times when I thought I could cut it with a knife. Booting up ff7 for the first time became a generation defining event. Never before, and never since, have I seen or experienced hype that grew to such immense proportions. And due to the nature of living in the digital age this is something that can no longer be experienced in the same way. This level of hype is something that is almost exclusively 90's. Those who lived it will never forget it, those who didn't will never fully comprehend what it was like.
I actually really enjoy the combat in ff13. The story is nothing special but I love the paradigm system and the soundtrack. 15 is rough around all the edges but after watching the credits roll its one of the ones I remember most fondly. 7 remake is now probably my favorite combat system to date.
The best thing about 13 is the battle system and the graphics, other then that the game has nothing, it is the most woke RPG game i ever played. No one is likeable except for Hope and they made him kinda useless, snow was a jerk and Lightning was annoying AF. 13 and 15 are the 2 most terrible FF games in the series
Excellent tier list, I haven't seen someone's tier list so close to mine. I have a soft spot for ff8 and would move it right above ff12. I just love the atmosphere with the gardens and thought seifer was a top tier adversary. Other than that, I 100% agree with you!
Thanks for the feedback, I know a lot probably disagree with me on both FF8 and FF12 for sure.
Agreed. I’d move 8 to the good tier. I haven’t played anything beyond 10, but the rest of this list is spot on. Nice work.
yes I loved 8, 9 and 12...8 deserves to be higher but like you said thia is your list... : )
To be fair , zodiac age is I feel to really enjoy the the game . 12 is my favorite but the original game I think fits in a good tier. That’s how much zodiac age jumps to be the best game for me . Also the game isn’t really that mmo as people think in my opinion.
@@Xygor I like 12 but it has a lot of weak points, one of the weakest soundtracks of the series especially which is really disappointing, and the least satisfying combat, worst villain, good characters but bad plot. FFVIII is just awful. The graphics are painful to look at, music is mediocre, the plot is absolute NONSENSE, characters are bland and forgettable (Irvine anyone??) and the actual combat mechanics and utter lack of any equipment make the meat of the game unpleasant, and MY GOD by far the weakest world design in the entire series- like seriously even FFXIII has a better world design than VIII.
FFV is great - it def does have a far more trite story with poorer character development and a terrible villain - a shame asit was a real step back from IV there, and while I love the soundtrack overall and it has a classic yet distinct FF feel but I loathe the regular battle theme.
FFIV does fucking EVERYTHING well, but the plot, the characters, and above all the SOUNDTRACK are untouchable. There is NO high fantasy video game with a soundtrack more epic than FFIV.
VI is pretty much untouchable except for the generic combat and excessive easiness.
VII is pretty untouchable in almost every way.
IX I love but it def has several flaws - one of the worst villains. A brilliant plot in the first half but totally falls apart the second half. Queen Brahne and Kuja (thong boy?) Garland (out of nowhere) - some great charaters in Dagger, Zidane, Steiner, Vivi, Freya - Eiko, - then Quina and Amarant are total garbage. Great music, terrible final boss. Loved the equipment.
I played FFXI for about 6 months and everything in that game is SO much work. Exhausting.
XIII is one of the most superficial pieces of utter garbage ever made. As is 15. 16 is going to be crap as well. I have no idea why they didn't just continue to refine the combat system from VII remake which is excellent
I fully agree with your list. My only opinion is 7 is better then 6, but as far as where the games belong, it’s perfect! You should give 15 a try, I didn’t love it, but I did enjoy it.
Fair enough!
15 is a 4/10 experience, once you reach endgame it shoots to 9/10 with the content they left laying around.
i don't see what i'm missing with 6, i played through it and honestly think it's pretty meh. i liked 4 way more than 6. 4, 7, 8, 10 are all easily better than 6 in my opinion. i'm not sure why it's so highly regarded. it was pretty average to me. locke and celes were not interesting characters at all
@@Dunkaholic18thank you! Someone finally said it
In some ways the lack of story helped the original FF. Without even thinking about it, you make up a lot of the minor story beats and flesh out your own characters as you play through it
My personal ranks of those I've played:
1. 9
2. 14
3. Tactics/War of the Lions
4. 10
5. 12
6. Tactics Advance
7. 4
8. Tactics A2
9. 6
10. 7
11. 10-2
12. 5
13. 8
14. Crisis Core
15. 13
16. 1
I highly recommend 14. Yeah it's an MMO, but you can play it single player and it has one of the best stories in the franchise.
I'm a little surprised you didn't do the sequel games but I appreciated the thought put into all your choices.
My tier list is
Final Fantasy 6 ( PS1 preferred ,)
Final Fantasy 7 ( original )
Final Fantasy 3 ( for DS!! )
Final Fantasy 4 ( PS1 )
Final Fantasy 5 ( PS1 )
Final Fantasy 12
Final Fantasy 8
Final Fantasy 1
( Final Fantasy Tactics is the shizznits ... Final Fantasy Tactics 1 and especially 2 are great. FFTA2 is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Final Fantasy, The Four Heroes of Light for DS is incredibly under-rated and is also a very great game )
Oh ... I forgot about 9....
That one is 👁ight. I like it perhaps more than 8... but... both can kinda bore me ( That's just me! )
*** oh!
And I meant,
Not only is FFT great, but, both FFTA & especially FFTA2 for DS is S Class stuff. FFTA2 is one of the best RPGs I have ever played.
Annnd,
Ahem!
.... Titus is the worst/ most annoying main character to ever exist in any game ever.
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
( NOT a fan of 10 ... but again... that's just me... )
The characters in 10... most of them... just make me go, 🤦♂️
I thought I wouldn’t like FF15 either, but as I played it more and more, I’ve developed a strong bond with the characters and the world…. The ending was very emotional for me, I would rate it the best of all even though I loved 7 and 6 too
11 and 14 are definitely comparable. Disregarding them because they’re MMO’s doesn’t change the fact that they’re main numbered titles that deserve a fair ranking. You should give 14 a fair try at least, it’s popularity and praise speaks for itself.
Pretty much agree with your ranking. 6,7, & 9 have always been my favorites. I kinda put the NES & SNES games in their own tier because they kinda laid the blueprints for good RPGs. It's difficult for a series to go on as long as FF has & not miss the mark here & there like I feel they did with 8, 13, & 15, in my opinion. Some good ones, some amazing ones, & not okay ones.
I don't think there's a single "bad" Final Fantasy game, just the ones you liked the most, and those you liked the least. My least favorite is VIII, but I would much rather play (and actually enjoy) that game than so many other games or series considered "good" by mainstream opinion. Hot take: I don't think you can consider yourself a "true" fan of Final Fantasy without having played them all and still be able to appreciate the best things, and criticize the worst. Because even the "best" Final Fantasy has some low points and frustrating issues.
FFII sucks.
@@RandalfElVikingo I liked it.
@@RandalfElVikingo Not as bad as FFXV
@@NabaniSaa or FFXIII lol
I think they're all good imo. Certain games are just so good that some pale in comparison due to high expectations they're set.
We have the exact same list. I feel like the majority of people that grew up with the FF series have 6 as their favorite. I was born 1980 and I played all the US releases at release up to 13 which I never played, 14 which I didn’t play until I spent most of last year finishing up through the end of Endwalker and never played 15. I also hated the draw system in 8 and stopped playing somewhere on disc 2.
Let me tell you this, you owe it to yourself to play 14. IMO it has the best Final Fantasy story and is up there with one of the best stories across all of gaming. I love those characters and villains so much. If you are tentative about group play, eventually the entire main story with be soloable with the trust system that lets the main NPCs join you in the story dungeons but that’s a little bit off in the future as they said they will add it to all the expansions over time. That said, the dungeons and trials aren’t that bad and if you are really worried about it just watch a 3 minute video on what the boss mechanics are for the dungeons/trials. It is so worth it. The music is S tier as well some of the best you’ll hear in an RPG. When I finished Endwalker my immediate thought was the entire experience is one of the best I’ve ever had across all entertainment. People complain about ARR being something you have to slog through to get to the good parts but I liked ARR too. It is probably the weakest section of the game BUT it world builds setting up the entire game and I love that type of stuff so if you are the same you will be fine. It’s also the weakest because the rest of the expansions are phenomenal.
Whatever is holding you back from trying it... take a leap of faith worst thing that happens is it’s not for you and move on. Best thing is you play a fantastic game that will give you 100s of hours of entertainment. I picked up the complete collection which was everything through Shadowbringers for $15 last May right around this time actually, you would be hard pressed to find a better investment of $15 for entertainment especially if you are a FF fan.
This is one of those times that I was there from the beginning and essentially grew up with the series so I have a ton of nostalgia for some of the early titles.
I hated FF1 the first 2 times I played it funny enough, but that's because I was young and had never seen a turned based RPG before, but once I read the strategy guide that I received because I had a Nintendo Power subscription, I became obsessed, and that obsession still lives today.
I base my rankings on how much I've replayed the games. FF4 being my favorite. I'll never be able to capture the feelings I felt the day I first played 4.
A. FF7, FF9, FF1, FF4
B. FF5, FF6
C. FF10, FF2, FF13
D. FF8, FF12, FF3
FF6 is the GOAT! My favorite game of all time! I mostly agree with the entire ranking as well. My only big disagreement would be with FF12, which I really love. It is quite different in how it tells its story versus what we were used to in FF, but it has some really cool aspects to its story, and the writing & dialogue is super good. I love exploring the world of FF12, and Ivalice in general just rules!
i don't understand what i'm missing with 6. i really did not think it was anything special. characters were bland, everyone says Kefka is the greatest because "he's so crazyyy!! Haha crazy clown!" and i just did not find the characters interesting. cyan was the only one.
nothing was special about this game to me yet it's always rated so highly and I just cannot understand why.
basically the same for me i would just switch 7 and 6 since i like 7 more but other than that this is awesome
personally, Id have 7,6,10 in excellent, in that order. Ten went deep with character personalities and the first time it was voiced and they nailed it as best as they could've. As you said, the game was beautiful visually and still looks good now. The world felt lived in and you could feel the culture and lifestyles in the game. 9, i played recently for the first time and i'd have it in 4th. Even though it was open world, It didn't feel as big of a game as 7, 6, 10. 9 was good and very very Charming. But I found myself favoring certain characters in battle and wish it wasn't rigid/restrictive if that makes any sense. One more character wouldve been great. Despite all that, I like how concise of a story 9 was. Great review of the games, your love for the series definitely shows!!
Honestly, you didn't go wrong with your tier list. It's your list afterall. I'd love to see a tier list for the "legendary RPGs" in general. Super mario RPG, Chrono Trigger, the FF games, octopath etc.
Agreed!!!
Say what u want about 13 but that ost is top 5. I would put 2 in horrid, 8 in good and 13 in bad despite the fact I actually thought it was decent and fun with it's combat. I would also switch 9 and 10's placement and put 15 in bad as well.
Man, that placement of Final fantasy XII really hurt me. I love that game. One of my top 4 entries in the series
I can see why it's divisive. You have to enjoy certain aspects of the game to enjoy playing it. For me, I loathe the aspects you need to enjoy so for me it is in the horrid tier.
I actually enjoy certain aspects of the things you can do in XIII, so it's a fun game for me. The only real annoyance of the battle system to me is that, if the leader dies, it's a game over. That's why XIII-2 is a really fun game because they fixed that dumb mechanic(and the soundtrack is really good).
FFXII would be in first or second place of my excellent tier, especially considering The Zodiac Age.
Ff12 has 💩 story
For me IX is the best one.
After that its:
2.- VII
3.- VI
4.- V for the gameplay
5.- IV for the story
6.- III
7.- I
8.- II
9.- XII
10.- X
11.- XIII
Haven't played XV. I really disliked XIII and I was not a fan of X. Basically, for me the series ended at IX and after that, it's like a different series. No Sakaguchi and no Uematsu really changed it to something else, for me.
And my favorite FF of all time is Zodiac Brave Story (FFT)
For me FFVI is one of the best games ever made. VII is great, but i feel it is needlessly confusing, and actually tries too hard with the Zack/Cloud backstory. I think i wouldve liked it better if they just cut Zack out and gave his story beats to Cloud
If we're strictly talking about OG FFVII, there's hardly any convolution with Zack at all. He was barely even a background character in the original game. It was the compilation that gave him a lot more significance, and retconned events to be a lot more convoluted then they originally were. None of that is the fault of FFVII itself though.
@@platinumconquest2365 i felt VII was purposefully convoluted with Clouds backstory and how he somehow had Zacks memories. That didnt make any sense to me
@@grennbalze Yes, in that respect, the game was very cryptic. I agreee.
@@grennbalze
Well, Cloud never gained Zack's memories. He never recalls events he wasn't physically present for. He never starts remembering black ops missions he couldn't possibly have known about, for example.
Cloud's whole deal was that his mind had constructed a false identity as a coping mechanism. Hojo's experiments would've had an extreme effect on the brain's chemistry, making it more likely for mental illness to develop.
The new SOLDIER identity was a convenient escape for a few reasons. Being in SOLDIER would've made him feel like he had more agency (who best to take down Sephiroth then another SOLDIER?) and enable him to sidestep his extreme feelings of inadequacy over never getting into SOLDIER and being a "failure". The other is to avoid the survivors guilt associated with Zack, a man who seemed to genuinely care about him and (perhaps in his mind) would have escaped if Cloud wasn't weighing him down.
@@grennbalze not to take away from how you felt, of course that's perfectly valid. But i think to most people it wasn't convoluted in any way and was actually presented exceptionally well, being amongst many gamers favourite plot twists/developments of all time. I was 11 in 1997 and I understood it without any issues and so did my friends. Again don't take this the wrong way as i'm not trying to sound harsh, but i think feeling it was purposely convoluted is definitely a 'you problem' (i mean that in the softest sense). I would highly recommend you replay the game playing close attention to all the details now that you're older and i'm confident you'd find it compelling.
Although we place 8 on the opposite end of tier, I appreciate the time spent making this.
Watching these kinda videos just remind me how old we've become growing up with all these gems haha :D But overall I'm glad we did. If I look at the current generation of video games then I prefer our time with all those classics anytime! As always great work on the video.
As tier lists go for me I kinda dont think that there is a "bad" or "horrid" ff game. Yeah 8 and 13 are both weaker than the rest (i agree) but I wouldnt call them bad. The one thing that stands out for me is that FF IV is my all time favorite title. I have soooo many good memories of it and it simply blew me away back in the day. Yeah FF VI, VII & IX are awesome and the objective best titles ngl but IV has a special place in my heart.
Pretty spot on list!! People in the comments saying FF8 and FF12 were good, but I tend to agree with your rankings.
Thanks, glad you thought so! I knew many would disagree with this so it's all good!
I've only played XV and the original Vll, XV is one of my all time favorite games, Vll didn't click with me because of the combat but story wise is amazing, I recently got lX and I hope it suits my style since I'm a fan of medieval fantasy.
This is my list also except 12, it is and should be in the great tier but the least of those. I remember thinking Dragon warrior was so cool until the final fantasy series stole my breath away. Great list keep it up!
Good review overall. Thought 10 should have made excellent category. Also me personally, always liked 7 more than 6 but seen other reviews with 6 ranking better
I wouldn't put 10 in the excellent category. Story wise it was super lame and the ending SUCKED!
@@SageOfLimitlessHands Your opinion is not popular
@@armorvil Actually it is quite popular. Most people I talk to who played the game feel that way after playing it. Just because the story was trash when looking at it ad a whole doesnt mean it was a bad game but story means a lot and there wre things that didnt make sense. I didnt even mind the story until the end because it meant all the trauma Tidus had was fake and his character made no sense. This is an undeniable fact as you cant be the son of the villain and not even real at the same time.
@@armorvil But my question is why did you even say that? What purpose does it serve.
@@SageOfLimitlessHands It's more a case that you and your friends didn't get it. Tidus and everyone / everything in Dream Zanarkand are like summons. Are you saying that summons like Shiva etc aren't real? His trauma was also perfectly real. It was also stated in-game that Jecht and Tidus became more than just summons when they came into contact with Sin. You should replay the game, everything makes sense and the story is friggin good. It was also clever on the devs part to make the player able to rename Tidus like they can summons, like a subtle hint. FFX is a masterpiece.
FF8 was a lot of fun and it was so much fun with how the controls were interactive and also it was amazing to see a futuristic game and also having lots of amazing limit breaks i will always love it
Pretty much exact same ranking I woulda done (maybe FFIII in Great though for its music)!
But seriously you have to play FFXIV, its easily the best Final Fantasy game in terms of character, overarching story, and music. Having knowledge of the previous games elevates the experience even more. I'd argue it's even closer to the thematic roots of Final Fantasy than FFIX (crystals and warriors of light) so it's definitely a must play. It's even Hironobu Sakaguchi approved!! The guy's been literally spamming FFXIV on his twitter the last number of months since he started.
I went on to write a wall of text recommending 14 too, a final fantasy fan just can’t miss out on especially if they will get the bonus experience of recognizing all the Easter Eggs and music. I had a stupid grin on my face when the FF tactics save/load screen music just suddenly started playing as one of a ton of Easter eggs for veterans of the FF series of games.
Honestly this is a good list. The only thing I would change is 10. Id put it next to 8 probably.
The music, battle system and graphics are amazing.
The leveling system allowed me to over power Yuna and dominate which… wasnt too fun honestly.
The story was a bit too easy to predict, the main character was confusing to me and honestly I think Yuna or Auron would have been better at it. Finally the final boss (not sin) made me feel like I wasted my time. Sin’s fight was AMAZING but wow was the after party terrible for me.
If I put 11 and 14 in those categories: 11 topest tier and 14, great.
My personal list would be quite similar! Listed from best to worst, it would go:
A: VI, VII
B: V, XII, X
C: IV, IX, III, I
D: VIII, II
F: XIII
The main differences seem to be that I rate XII higher and IX lower.
I agree that XII's story has problems, especially the ending (it very much feels to me like a Game of Thrones situation where the writing abruptly falls off a cliff due to the loss of Matsuno behind the scenes partway through production), but I found the Gambit system really engrossing and got obsessed with the monster hunts. I don't mind "the game playing itself" as a replacement for random battles where I would just be mashing A to dispatch enemies with my basic attacks anyway; I like it that the game let me delegate that mindless aspect of battling to my dudes.
I found the art style and character designs in IX gross and off-putting, which makes it harder to get invested in the story/characters, and I don't see a lot of positives to the gameplay compared to the FFs I put above it. The combat is plodding and basic, with a horribly designed "limit break" system in the Trances; Quadra Magic is utter bullshit, yet the game forces you to win at it to progress at one point; and tying progression to specific items which can generally only be worn by a specific character just seems like the traditional system where each character learns abilities at set levels, but with extra steps. I've come to expect minigames in FFs to be mind-bogglingly frustrating and awful, but it doesn't have to be that way: the ones in VII and VIII weren't bad, so we have IX's Quadra Master, Chocobo Hot and Cold, etc. to blame for that bad trend which continued into X and X-2.
Very similar to my ranking of the series. One thing that'd be different for me is FF12 would be in top tier it's my 2nd favorite game of FF after FF6. I agree FF7 and 6 are some of the best entries. I'd probably put FFIV in top tier as well. FF9 I'd probably put in great because I feel the gameplay suffers a little since the characters mostly play the same throughout the game compared to other entries where you have more character customization. The load times in FF9 also can be a bit of a issue too. The story, music and everything else in 9 was top notch though. I can tell you with FFXV to me personally you missed nothing skipping on it. FFXV was one of the most disappointing games of all time for me and I have told myself I will wait for reviews and not buy FF16 until reviews come out because of how FFXV was. With FFXV if other people like it that's cool, but it just wasn't for me unfortunately.
My 13 year old brother listened to this video with me, and he agreed with your ranking exactly.
Excellent!
I can't fathom seeing 8 ranked under 12, I was able to sigh and shake my head until that point. The story of 12 is disjointed and uninteresting, the "main character" in Vaan is just....a hard flop for me. He's outshined by basically every other character but the game continues to follow his perspective. The mmo-lite style of open world combat felt boring and uninspired.
The junction system in 8 was a pretty unique and interesting system for power progression along with leveling and gave a nice ability to customize skills for your party. The combat, limit breaks, and guardian forces(summons) were exceptionally well done with the added interactivity in the waning age of ATB turn-based combat. The story was fun and at times heartwarming. If im understanding his description right, he was so disinterested of 8 after 6 and 7 that he didn't finish it, I'm left wondering if he'd feel different if he revisited it now.
Of course, his video and his opinion, which he has a right to. I was generally fine with the rest of the list.
I agree with you... ...except with your take on 12 haha. I mean, I don't disagree that 12's story and characters suck, but 12 is another genre altogether. It's like a Diablo game / a dungeon-RPG so you shouldn't play it for its story. I disliked 12 after finishing it for the first time too because I went into it expecting a pure FF, with a deep and emotional storyline, but when I replayed it knowing what to expect and tried to kill every mark on the hunting boards, then it clicked and I've absolutely loved the game since then. It shouldn't have been called Final Fantasy though. I feel the same as you about 8 anyways, for all its faults it has tons of good things and Junction gives it a lot of replay value, something 9 doesn't have (I don't understand the love for 9 btw... ...it's good but top-tier? Nah). Oh, and I would have put 10 in the Excellent category, I can never choose which is better between 6, 7 and 10.
I know it's not thematically in line with the others in the series, but I would have like to see where you rated Tactics. Agree with 6 being the best. Agree with 7 taking the 2nd spot, out of the base FF games. If you factor in War of the Lions, though...I'd have to say 6, then Tactics WOTL, then FF7. Tactics was just so fresh, engrossing, and interesting it single-handedly renewed my faith in SquareSoft and the franchise.
@Nicholas Graves Exactly, with all the jobs, side quests, and even little nuances to the story that can be missed on the first playthrough, the replay value is seer-E-us. I agree, it is a masterpiece. Honestly, I'm not sure there is a better story in any other rpg, to this day. The only thing it was missing is a little Game of Thrones-esque death of a protagonist. Though, the situation with Delita, at the end, was close. Not exactly a protagonist but it was still a death that was like "HOLY SHIT!!!"
@Nicholas Graves Like, if Agrias or T.G. Cid kicked the bucket. Mwah! Chef's kiss. That would have actually been the way to go. The old, withered, weary warrior, the hero of yesteryear fighting one last war and sacrifices himself to save his son or the group or the future queen. It would have been emotional and a shock in terms of general play. The game became so easy after you acquire Cid. You become so bold and arrogant cutting through battle after battle only to have a fight where Cid makes a sacrifice. The sudden loss would be a blow to your emotions but will also have you out your mind cuz tou just lost your strongest character.
Storywise, 14 is comparable or even surpasses the other mainline games. Especially Shadowbringers and Endwalker. Compelling settings, memorable characters, unforgettable villains, and a soundtrack that brings it all together
But that is only if you include dlc and the original release was not good. Which is the version to compare
@@SageOfLimitlessHands If by original, you mean the scrapped 1.0, sure it was not good. As A Realm Reborn is the only way to play the game now, I would think that it is the one to compare to. Also, its expansions are a direct continuation of the story and I would compare not including them to not changing FF7 discs and only including the first one. If one now tried, they couldn't even buy "just the main game" and would wind up with the whole package anyway.
@@umerna well if you paid attention to the guy he specifically said he was only comparing original releases to the mainline versions, not remakes, remasters, or dlc. Hence why ARR would not be included as that is not the original.
@@SageOfLimitlessHands I guess I missed it, tho ARR is not remake, remaster nor dlc of the original. I'm fine with whatever definition people want use in their tierlists, just feel weird having a game that literally doesn't exist.
@@umerna It is literally a canon remake. Ad the original game was a universe that no longer exists and was reset for a canon reason, as a reflection of how bad the original was. So it is both literally and metaphorically a remake....or is the term A Realm REBORN somehow not mean remake?
For the most part I think he nailed it. I was so excited for XIII when it came out. A linear game where I could start a battle, put the controller down, and mow the lawn and come back to a win is not what I was happy with.
Glad you liked it!
I find it common for ppl to feel like 1 had issues due to the attacks being ineffective, yet as someone who played this one the most, there is something to be said for making the battles more involved by the tactic of needing to plan out who hits what for roughly a certain amount. I see the need to plan out my attacks better than just mashing A as a positive. The biggest issue I see with 1 was that magic was so limited, instead of using an MP system, and all lower spells being useless once the battle use items are found.
How dare you rank *my* installment in the series only in the Good tier! "You impertinent fool!"
(Just kidding! Long time fan of your channel Xygor and so glad that put together this tier list. Keep killing it with the great content. Cheers!)
say what you will about final fantasy xiii, but saying the soundtrack wasn't good is a WILD take
You can play these forever.. It’s a tremendous series.. Best is kinda subjective.. Even I can’t figure it out especially being I haven’t played them all.. There’s also lots of spin-offs.. I was checking out Type O earlier tonight..
X is definitely my favorite. Yuna is such a great character!
They ruined her in X-2 though. I don't buy that Yuna's character evolution from X includes hot pants and a cleavage window. She lost all of the modesty and class that she once had.
@@clearspira I do think that if we were to look at her as a psychological being, they did press her a bit further than she likely would have been realistically. It made sense that she let go just a little bit due to Rikku and Tidus' influence and the fact that she now sees a future where she is no longer bound to her duty. The proposed X-3 brings Yuna back to a more recognizable state, which honestly is something that would happen given the character's true self. She would ultimately settle into some area in between her X and X-2 self, likely leaning closer to X as this is how she likely presents in her formative years.
Top of my list would be FF III FF IV and FF V. I need to force myself to play some of the later games. Something about them just never grabbed me the way the other ones did. I was amazed with FF III. The first time I played it on an emulator, I was blown away by the graphics and I fell in love with the job system. I really like the PSP remakes, wish they would of done 3 that way, as Im not crazy about the DS version.
Pretty solid list. I'd put 12 higher but only because I loved FF Tactics and Vagrant Story so I'm biased. V would be in the good category for me. A robust job system but it lost strong characters in the process.
A harder grade would be including revisions. 4 for the SNES was good not great. The DS' play was leagues better but I get not liking the chibi style. The new remaster may be the best way to play it but that would rank higher than the SNES version.
Tactics is my personal favorite and Ivalice(at least in 12) is a world that seems more....alive than most of the games in the series
I'm happy seeing FFII on the good tier. I really think that it gets too much hate, that it doesn't deserve. As you said, the combat system is polarising and really exploitable I may add, but story-wise it's really really good and interesting!
Agreed!
I have skipped XII back in the day.
But I started playing XII Zodiac Age on the PS4, because I always wanted to try it and I’m on the hype for XVI, and man it really does it for me.
I really like the diversity of the world, the game mechanics are different from the usual FFs.
My personal Rank is this: FFVII/FFVII Remake, FFXII Zodiac Age, FFVIII, FF Tactics, FF VI, FFIX, Stranger of Paradise FF Origin.
Those are the ones I’ve played and enjoyed.
Final fantasy 13 had some of the most memorable music so that in itself warrants a good tier plus the gameplay was great so overall i would say great
It's real funny to me, in the conversation of FFIII, I always heard that endgame was really hard and when I played the PR I thought "really? Did they make it really easy then?" (Which in a lot of cases, yes, the PRs are definitely easier than the originals and remakes) then I played the FFIII 3D Remake right after.... yup, I had to grind so much that I could practically one-shot every enemy through the crystal tower and beat Xande as quick as possible! Then bring 99 potions and hi-potions so I didn't waste spell slots on healing after the crystal battles!
Tier lists without 11 and 14 aren't really tier lists imo. I just don't see how you can leave two mainline games out. Yay they're mmo's but 14 is basically the closest thing an MMO can be to a single player experience and 11 now adays can pretty much be solo'd. Also if youve played all the mainlines you're really really really doing yourself a diservice by not playing 14, it has some of the best storywriting in the series if not the best, and considering you played 11 when it was released I can 100 percent attest its nothing like that grindfest 11 was
They are, because it’s harder to play these games. Non MMO games are easier to get and to access. I’ve never played an MMO in my life and I don’t know how it works. So I don’t count them as real games. Only makes sense to me to leave them out of a tier list.
@@Livingtree32 Harder to play? You can access 14 on PC, PS4, and PS5. You've never played one or know how it works? How exactly can you criticize it without actually trying it or its gameplay systems without actually playing it? 14 is basically soloable at this point, theyve made the main story in such a way as most FF games are made, it's just longer and has more content. But ya know......not a real game.
@@xeroskillzxiv77 I didn’t criticize them? Just said it’s not as easy as just buying the game and starting. One needs to sign up for an online service probably or something. I didn’t criticize the games as such. Also I have neither PC, PS4 nor PS5.
ff8 was great. one of my favorites. my only issue is the story got out of control at the end. ff6 and ff8 had the best soundtracks imo
I can't believe how invested I am with this dumb series of games. When I think of how many hours I spent playing and how many times I've replayed these games, I have to shake my head.
Wonderful rankings. I agree absolutely with every single one.... Except one. Lol.
I was with you till FF12.
I love that game. My personal favorite to play.
As the rankings for best goes, personally, i would have placed it just below FF10 in the great column.
And I don't like 10 very much, lol.
I may love playing FF12, but it had quite a few faults. Definitely think it is better than good.
I am happy you put FF 10 where you did. So many people put that one at the top, and it frustrates me. Solid game but the negetives were too hard for me to ignore. Plus, bitzball sucked.
Lol....... (I've frickin played FF10 from beginning to end 3 times. God, the choices I've made)
Thanks for the vid
Blitzball beat me down so bad I had to understand it, I then came to even love it. X was on 80% on rails but one of Square's best roller-coasters. Easy to see why it is held so high.
Well thought out list! My one disagreement with you is FF8, I absolutely LOVED that game. For me it's on the same level as 6 and 7. The junction system is confusing at first but it's really fun how you figure it out. The soundtrack was superb. I also saw myself in Squall so that helped lol.
Plus the junction system gave the game quite a lot of replay-value, contrary to FF9 which leaves you almost no choice but to have the same experience everytime you play. And FF8's card game was great. I agree it has problems (I didn't like drawing magic either) but I would have put FF8 in the Great category on the far right side or in Excellent on the far left. As for FF12 I understand why he rated it this way, it's just too different / another genre. I was disappointed too the 1st time I finished it. It's an awesome game if you're into dungeon RPGs / Diablo-like games though, one of my favorite games ever (Mark-hunting is where it's at). Forget the story, you play 12 for its game mechanics.
Same, FF8 my favorite ps1 final fantasy.
Using same guildines but before seeing his list..(never played first 3 in original format though). Prob some spicy takes here. Edit... apparently I pretty much agree with him, even not playing 15 lol
4)A
5)A
6)S+
7)S-
8)D-
9)A-
10)B
12)C
13)C+
I sort of gave up and didn't play 15 past the tutorial
These tier lists for the FF games are fun when people give their thoughts to the placement of each game, rather than just worrying about the ranking itself. Everyone has their own tastes for the series -- I'm that rare FF heathen that likes FF9 the least out of all mainline FFs (and yeah, I've been playing since the original NES release of the first game). But always fun to hear others thoughts, good vid.
Thank you! Agreed, I love videos like this from others!
I agree with your list! Almost spot-on.
My only variance is that I never found myself immersed in the storyline of FF9. I suspect it is because I have somewhat of a fanaticism for 6 and 7 that I am too afraid to give 9 a chance!
i was with ya until 12 lol I really liked that system i think the first dragon age had a similar feel but not quite
Maybe the only thing that I strongly disagree with is FFXIIIs OST not being strong, aside from that I mostly agree. Trying to remember which rendition of the FF main theme that is playing at the end of the video!
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Excellent video. My personal opinion is mostly aligned with yours. FFXII I put a lot higher as it's probably the closest I'll ever get to playing an MMO, and I found it supremely entertaining - especially the remaster. FFXIII I didn't find as detestable as you did, but I'd still rank it Bad. Probably the game I'm least likely to ever play again. In the end I go back and forth between FFVI and FFIX being best in series. FFVII being third place in my book (the remake IMO is better than the original, but I reserve judgment until the final entry in the episodic series is released). Thanks for reminding me it's been awhile since I played some of these!
Some comment on FFII: I never played it, just watched reviews and gameplay, but i did play Final Fantasy Legend I and II on the GB, FFL just appeared right after FFII and had the same level system. Its because of Akitoshi Kawazu who made the Sa-Ga series that were kinda a spin-off of the FF series. Solid games with amazing stories, i personally liked the level system its not bad its just very different. FFII is basicly Sa-Ga 0 from what i gathered. The lead design of the games mechanics is just too much like those of the Sa-Ga series.
FF8 had an amazing feel and set of gameplay mechanics + visual style. I like the idea of the Gardens and the differing types of limit breaks the characters had. Gunblade was cool, Diabolos, Doom Train, Eden. LOVED the FF8 airship. I can kind of agree about the characters not being fully fleshed out though, they each had a unique and cool aesthetic but they aren't quite as "defined" in personality as Barret, Aerith, Red, Vincent, Cait etc. Although it had cool spells like Meltdown and awesome summons, you're 100% right about the Draw system... that was needlessly tedious and should've been balanced against the incentive to just grind 100 stacks for optimal stats. Makes for boring gameplay but then you feel like an idiot if you don't do it, and it also feels bad to spend spell stacks unless you really need to. Doubt it'll happen but they could make for a great remake with some rebalancing if they actually just fleshed out the characters a bit more, stuck to the story but then fixed up some of the weird timey-wimey elements. I imagine they could do some really cool stuff with the gunblade in a newer action combat / atb hybrid FF7 style.
Final Fantasy X is my all time favourite. Getting to meet James Arnold Taylor (Tidus), Tara Strong (Rikku) and John DiMaggio (Wakka and Kimarhi) was one of the greatest moments of my life.
I must be one of the very few that never liked 9. Way too much time spent watching instead of playing in the early game to ever get invested. FFXII, though, will always be in the top 3 for me. Amazing game and the gambit system was incredible.
I played FF9 and I didn't liked it as well. I didn't really like the storyline, sure they tackle dark themes but it wasn't just for me.
Don't like FF9 either , really unsatisfying battle system (art animation/attacks/speed) , It all feels like a retread of an era done better In most areas. World feels boring and somehow smaller than FF8/FF7 , and the plot and most of the characters and villains don't do anything for me execution and personality wise... there's just no Immersive motivation for me to really care.
@@fawkkyutuu8851 wait what? FF9’s world is smaller than FF7? I mean you actually left Gaia for both Terra and the Crystal World. The continents were LITERALLY bigger than FF7’s, and it’s no exaggeration to say that you can actually travel around FF7’s world in less than 2 seconds. Everywhere in FF7 looked the same. Very boring setting. Terrible graphics, terrible translation, messy story and the characters all work the same in combat. U say the villain doesn’t do anything throughout the game? U must have confused Kuja who is MULTI-DIMENSIONAL, unlike Sephiroth who just stays in his cocoon throughout the entire game. FF9 is the most complete JRPG out there with a perfect world, perfect story, perfect characters and perfect soundtrack. I will never be able to understand how someone can dislike FF9 but like FF7.
@@badmeetsevil6163 easy, most ppl who grew up and played them liked 7 more.nothing to it. Sephiroth is a way more complex and immensely better executed villain. The main cast blows 9 away and the sci fi/ steam punk world fealt way more lively than 9 could ever hope to achieve. There's no way 9 is better than 7 in reality. 6 maybe 10 but those are it lol
@@chrisfoy6034 The graphics and translation alone are enough to make FF7 10 times worst than FF9 already. What's more is that 90% of the places in FF7 looked the same. The cities, continents, everywhere else...you barely even know the name of the place you entered, because they never even showed it. Yeah that's just an inexcusable flaw. With FF9, you had places like Alexandria, Lindblum, Treno, Dali & Black Mage Village which all looked incredibly different. Then compare the characters - Zidane, Vivi, Steiner, Dagger, Freya etc. who looked the same? There's almost nothing to differentiate the FF7 characters in battle outside of their limit breaks. FF9 pulled your heartstrings throughout the entire story, and it actually looks like a proper Final Fantasy game. FF7 is Metal Gear Solid RPG with all its guns, motorcycles, rockets etc. Yeah the only way anyone can put FF7 above FF9 in reality is their nostalgia glasses. Metacritic, Hironobu Sakaguchi and Nobuo Uematsu all put FF9 above FF7, so FF9 is objectively better than FF7. Also, you putting FF10 above FF9 is an absolute joke lol.
Your tier list is perfect, excepted the Final Fantasy VIII on "bad", I really don't understand all the hate about it, for me that's definitively a great game !
Fair enough. Every list is different!
Isn't the furthest to the left supposed to be the best in like any other tier list? I don't understand why you did it backwards to how their lists work.
I'll just copy my list from the community section comments:
Here's my personal ranking, all just my opinion:
0. Final Fantasy Tactics (better than any of the mainline games)
1. Final Fantasy 8 (yes, I know, and I don't care)
2. Final Fantasy 6 (a true masterpiece)
3. Final Fantasy 9 (a stellar end to the Sakaguchi era of FF)
4. Final Fantasy 7 (a turning point for RPG history)
5. Final Fantasy 5 (a greatly balanced and fun game)
6. Final Fantasy 3 (a precursor to 5 in many ways)
7. Final Fantasy 15 (better than most people think)
8. Final Fantasy 4 (good, but unpolished)
9. Final Fantasy 2 (probably the best story on the NES, but the gameplay is flawed)
10. Final Fantasy 7 Remake (there are many good moments, but a lot of stuff is blown out of proportion)
11. Final Fantasy 13 (some good ideas are buried under dubious presentation)
12. Final Fantasy 10 (I just don't dig it, though the music and the love story are great, but the gameplay and overall story don't really appeal to me)
I've never played 11, 12, 14 or any of the official sequels. And I don't consider any of the games that I placed low on the list bad, I just enjoyed them less than those that I placed higher. The lowest ranking game in my list is still better than many others games.
Thank you for expressing respect to those whose opinion differs from yours, and of course I respect yours too. A great tier list!
FF8 main problem is that you don't want to use magic because draw is a nightmare. I don't mind to grind 100 of each spell (since xp/level don't really matter) but don't let me waste those draw on magic. Yes you can extract from card but it just break the game and make it worst.
True!
Ff2 had Skyrim leveling, players just werent ready for it yet.
For me, I'm much more of a SquareSoft era guy: FF6 > FFT (the original, not WotL) > FF8/4 > FF10.
I respect FF7, but while it's an iconic game, I never bonded with the characters (and I think Sephiroth is a boring villain) like I did the above games.
FF9 was great. FF12 wasn't bad, but it's when the series started going off-the-rails for me. FF13 and 15 I just have to pretend don't exist.
FF14 is the only SE-product that I have faith in.
What's wrong with WotL?
Hell yes!! ANYTHING FF and I’m watching it, every time I see your videos I want to dust off the snes and play them again. 1 of the best things in gaming history that made me 100% love this game was when you could wait till time almost ran out on the flying island and save shadow. Completely blew my mind
5 is my Favourite. I put it as Excellent in your tier. 💪 6 is mediocre to me. So it'll be just Good in your tier.
It’s amazing how different opinions are with final fantasy 4 ds are. It is my favorite way to play FFIV and I really enjoy the increased difficulty. It has much more depth than any other version it as well. I’d tell anyone looking to play FFIV that enjoys a challenge to play the ds version.
Fair enough!
@@XygorI love your content, keep up the great work.
When you’re ready to come play FFXIV, let me know. It’s a ton of fun, and can be enjoyed solo for a lot of it, if you prefer.
You probably ranked FFVII more objectively than I would have (I couldn’t stand it then or now), though you ranked VI on top, which I agree, so kudos for that.
I’m excited for XVI and hope it will live up to my expectations.
The action battle system of 16 scares me (give me back turn-based systems dammit!) but I admit the latest trailer made me excited for its story.
FFXII TZA would definitely be in your Great Tier at least, that version of the game made FFXII one of the best games in the series.
You‘re in a lucky position to not have played FFXV so far - it was a bummer with good moments when it released. Years have passed and imo it has been updated to greatness. Watch Kingsglaive, give the Animes a try and play the game - it suffers in combat gameplay BUT it has heart, fantastic graphics and imo the best music and ending in any single player FF. Plus the DLC gives it so much important context that the vanilla experience missed.
13 and 15 get too much hate! Both have good soundtracks too imo. I would put 13 at lowest end of Good tier and even though 15 has a lot of flaws, I'd probably put it in the great tier.
FF Spin off tier list next?
15 definitely isn't great
@@wiseguy240Winston that's like, your opinion man
I think 13 is better than 15 if we’re talking about the base games when released but royal edition. 13 felt like a complete game 15 felt it was missing huge parts of its story and I think the music is better in 13 too. I would say the characters are better in 15 though
going into this i feel like the tier ranking is more or less universal after all this time for the first 10
- the only debatable one was going to be 8, and
- 9 was either going to be S tier for some or A tiers for others.
- 7 is undeniable S tier even if someone didnt enjoy it
- 6 was major shift in the direction of the golden era, which makes it rank right under
- 4 and 5 have a special place in peoples hearts but they cant be ranked above the others
- and nobody talks about 1 - 3.
- X i guess is a grey area but not as divisive as 8, X is the transition out
Ngl, I opened the video and paused instantly and then just liked the video and then started watching. I already know I'm going to enjoy this. Without seeing what you said about each Final Fantasy I still love FF6 the most story wise out of all of them. Though others may be mechanically better I just love FF6's story.
As long as 6,7,9 is rated one of the best and 8 is rated as one of the worst, i agree with your list.
In all honestly though, what is really so bad with 8? So the draw system was pain, the GF summon was a dumb addition to just regular summons, and yeah leveling up was a joke...but when it came out it was the shit! The music was epic, the story wasn't horrible. IDK I guess it's one of those ones where youd only have a chance to like it if you played it when it first came out. 🤷♂️
@@industrlbeatnik It was leaked a month before official release here where I am and I played it then. Story wise, I can't rem much now, but I still rem disc 1 and 2, squall didn't give a shit about rinoa, and suddenly disc 3,he's willing to risk his life for her.
Did FF8 dirty. Without historical context, that is to say judging on actual comparable content and not importance to series history, there is no way it falls below the NES and some of the SNES titles. Really downplayed the OST too, for sure better than FF9's and at least nips at the heels of FF7's. FF6 as top choice is a quality pick, though FF9 being so high is completely out of it's league.
13 better be buried under the bottom of the chasm of the abyss of this list. Probably best to not even include it, actually.
Tune in to find out :)
It's weird how i don't think you got anything wrong really, but at the same time my personal tier list would look totally different :) That's fair because ranking these games really depends on how invested you were when you first played it, at what age, in what stage of your life and things like that so it's normal that it changes dramatically from one person to another
True!
My life is way to busy and stressed to do any youtube at the moment, but seeing a FF Tier list, my curiosity always creates a way
I love how people still bash FF8 because of draw grinding when - sure that's something you can do, but much easier to amass stuff you need off refining from enemy drops. I 100% get why people don't like the game even though it's in my tops, but I always find the draw/grind argument ridiculous.
I know that Final Fantasy VI is supposed to be the best game ever and it has received so much love over the years. And I’ve tried on more than one occasion to play it… but I could never get through that game. I thought the characters were very generic and uninteresting. They all had these disjointed motivations too. I lose interest in it every single time.
I’ll never understand why people like 9 so much. The combat was ok but the trance thing was terrible. The characters models were so ugly and weird and they made no sense to make it feel like a world with races of people. The story had some really great points but also dragged a lot at times. It’s a solid good or C game. Oh and 4 is excellent.
Great list, glad to see FFVI on top, and I also got XIII on day one, trying to get back into FF, but it totally failed, was very linear like you said
What's wrong with linear? Every Final Fantasy is technically linear to some extent...
@@SpaceCat1111 It's how they executed the linearity...
@@Player-jh4ko I enjoyed the way they executed it. Made sense for the story. Just like in FFX.
@@SpaceCat1111 It's not that simple. FFX was linear yes, but it had a lot of customized. FFXII had next to none in the first 20 hours of the game...
The fact that you put 1-3 above 8 is insane 😂 the 8 hate is real didn’t even bother watching the video when it’s that bad
I think 8 is good, not bad. If it wasn't attached to the franchise I think many of the features would have been applauded to a much higher degree, and many of the deficiencies would have been judged much less harshly. The one major negative to me is the grinding as you mentioned, but many of the games in the good category also either demand grinding or heavily reward it.
Fair enough, I know a lot of people that like 8.