So while I've played all of the Kingdom Hearts games, I've yet to play any Final Fantasy. I assume they play very similar? I can remember, years ago, playing a demo for one of the original games on a Pizza Hut PS1 sampler. But that is as far as my FF gaming has gone. I would be interested in starting, however, but I'm wondering... does one need to go back to FF 1 on Playstation 1 to get the full story/experience? Dose the series 'reboot' at some point in the newer games? What's the best place to begin?
Might I suggest Final Fantasy 3. It has one of the best story lines. What it's missing in graphics it makes up for in game play. That's a good jump off point from a classic. From there you can work your way up through the Playstation versions.
Final Fantasy plays nothing like Kingdom Hearts, FF is a turn-based RPG and Kingdom Hearts is an action RPG. They do have some similarities in how things work sometimes but still very different games. You can start with any game, really, but I would recommend FF7 (though maybe you should wait for the remake, the graphics are very dated and the translation is pretty bad) or FF9 which are generally considered the best and both offer the two distinct Final Fantasy flavors; FF7 is the more sci-fi type like FF13 while FF9 is the more classic type like FF6. Final Fantasy 10 might also be a pretty good starting point.
The earliest you should start off would be 3 and move your way on up from there. I'd honestly say that the last decent FF game is 12. 1 and 2 are important to the franchise since they're what kickstarted the entire thing, but as the oldest games they haven't aged well at all and playing them is like pulling teeth and would be a complete turn off if you started off with them. A ton of people will say 7 because that was the game that got most people (and the mainstream) into the Final Fantasy franchise, however you have FF4 and FF6 which have pretty good storylines and memorable characters. (Cough Kefka, looking at you crazy sob.) FF9 was my favorite of the entire franchise so far. It was literally the best elements of classic Final Fantasy in one game. The beauty of the games is that each is a different story line so there's no need to keep up with an episodic plot. The only things that generally stay the same are moogles, chocobos, character classes, summons and items.
This is the most important part when getting in the franchise. FF1 and FF2 are painful to play nowadays, it's best to avoid them. The re-releases and such barely help, those need all-out remakes to be up to today's standards. But hey, I guess we can still thank them with the creation of the franchise, at least.
Okay, got it. So start at 3 and move on up. Good to know. Thanks! Anything else I should know before getting started? (Do the FF games have 'remixes' like KH does, where they have a couple of the games on one disk?)
X/X2 HD as far as I know for a multiple games on one disc release. The older games have been remade a few times for DS, PC and mobile. Steam generally has a Enix bundle sale during Black Friday/Cyber Monday and that's the closest you can get to a packaged deal.
Start with 1 & 2. There is no reason not to and advice to the contrary is just bad advice. They aren't hard to play or learn and easily obtainable, especially if you are willing to use emulation. There is plenty of freely available documentation for them as well.
I would recommend you to start with FF IX. The game is nothing like the previous ones and quite revolutionary in it`s own right, but you will have blast with it, and the storyline is one of the best of any FF game to date. If you want something more traditional, try FF VII or VIII.
Pretty much this, though I think Final Fantasy 6 would be pretty good, though I still like 8 the best (that card game is more addictive than Yu-Gi-Oh, damnit!). I tried playing 1 and 2 and I wasn't really that impressed with it. I believe the series really shows its colors from 6 on down, but that is just my opinion on things related to Final Fantasy...
I think one and two are decent places to start, but even with the modern remakes of the games, I still think they're kind of dated in this day in age. In my opinion, I recommend FF6 or FF7 to start, they're easy to get into and have aged quite well (Outside of the graphics, obviously.)
Anything that's not FF1-2 or 5. FF5 is good mind you, but the story is a bit lacking so you might have the wrong idea of how the games are. Oh and avoid FF11 and 14 for now, because they're online multiplayer games. They're good but they don't represent how the series actually is.
If you want to know why Final Fantasy is so highly regarded, then play 6 and 7. They are the two most well known, and for good reason. The story in each is great, but even I have to admit that FF6 has the best story and villain in the whole series. After those, you can come back to play FF1 and 2 to appreciate its root.
yeah, no... both FF11 & FF14 are full of references and lore that make them very representative of the series. The only reason to avoid FF11 is because there aren't going to be any major content updates to it.
I'm talking about gameplay and story. FF11 and 14 are completely different games in those regards when compared to the other entries. There are references because they're all in the same series, but many won't get them if they didn't play at least one of the games.
Actually there are a multitude of common elements in the game-play of FFXI and FFXIV that are consistent with the series as a whole. As for the story, it pretty much changes with each title. it's not like it is one contiguous series of sequels or something.
The story in FFXI and FFXIV are actually really good, and FFXI was one of the main reason that I bought a console. I actually waited for each update to come to expand the story, and they're doing the same thing with FFXIV. I would say FFXIV get an edge though, since FFXI is quite old (released in 2002). Actually, FFXI has one final update in 2015, altough I'm not sure if it has been released yet.
The last major content update to FFXI was released in November, so other than bug fixes and maintenance it is not being updated anymore. Also, anybody that plays an MMO through it's expansions over the years can tell you that the original release version and the current state of a game are often extremely different. This should be considered when looking at a games age.
Ah, in that case then there is no more updates from now on then, I stand corrected. I'd still say that FFXI is worth a playthrough for the story though, and now that all the expansion are out, there is no waiting period. Regarding later installments, FFXIV story is still receiving updates, FFXII is good but you'll see a similarity with a certain franchise in the story aspect and FFXIII triology is confusing, to say the least.
Many people started with VII, I'd say that's a good start, it still holds up amazingly well. Besides, I'd say everyone who is planning on playing the remake should play the original first, to truly appreciate it. Another option is FF XIII, I've started with that and now I love it, unlike most people.
