Should I play FFX - FFXIII?

[chazus]

I'm an avid Square and Final Fantasy fan, and I've played almost all the pre-PS2 games, in both their US and JP versions. However, I stopped playing after FFIX, largely because at the time I couldn't afford a PS2 at the time, and got sidetracked by many other games as well.

I'm wondering if FFX, XII, and XIII are worth it (I'm not bothering with XI and XIV since... online mmo... can't really 'finish')

What about the other spinoffs as well? (X-2, XIII-2, XIII-LR)

[Lyese]

I'd say FFX is definitely worth playing, FFX-2 if you feel you need more closure to the story. FFX, honestly, was the only ending to make me openly cry.

FFXIII is okay if you can wade through all the religious rhetoric, and the game doesn't really open up until 3/4 of the way through. FFXIII-2 is seen as the "definitive" version of that trilogy.

FFXII put me to sleep, but it honestly has a great story. The combat system is wonky, and the way they handle items/equipment is weird.

[Edge-]

Still need to play X/X-2, and need to finish XII, but as for XIII/XIII-2...

XIII I actually had a lot of fun with despite its insanely linear world and long, long, long, long ramp up time in terms of combat. I enjoyed the gameplay well enough and it was very pretty, though the story is batshit stupid and the ending is beyond idiotic.

XIII-2...well, combat is a lot faster in terms of changing paradigms faster, but the story makes even less sense and is even dumber. I thought I'd enjoy it more than XIII given that it's not anywhere near as linear and the combat ramps up quite quickly, but so much of its story was just aggressively stupid that I had issues with it. And I generally don't even care about story much.

If you can find those two on the cheap ($10 or less) I'd say they're worth it.

[Ghostile]

FFX and FFX-2

Can't say I enjoyed FFXIII anywhere as much as FFX.
FFXII was... a weird one, it didn't feel like a final fantasy.
FFX was the only game to leave a mark.

To be honest... of all FF games I've played, FFXIII is the one I enjoyed the least.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

FFXII was (and still is) my most favorite Final Fantasy game that I've ever played. Takes about 10 hours for the story to start rolling, though. After that; you get so invested into the plot and setting that you completely lose track of time. FFXII is also the most fleshed out FF world yet; with the deepest characters, tons of lore, and an extremely immersive world.

[blackblade]

FFXII was (and still is) my most favorite Final Fantasy game that I've ever played. Takes about 10 hours for the story to start rolling, though. After that; you get so invested into the plot and setting that you completely lose track of time. FFXII is also the most fleshed out FF world yet; with the deepest characters, tons of lore, and an extremely immersive world.

I can agree with all of the above, but goddamnit, the game can be so boring to play >.<

Do yourself a favor if you do start playing it and jack battle speed up to max - so it feels a bit less like waiting on the atb bars to fill up for the first few hours. Once you get your gambits figured out, it becomes even more of a snooze as the game basically lets you give rudementry "if this then do that" across your three party members, which let you automate a lot of the menu-stuff you need to worry about.

FFX, while I personally don't really adore the game, is pretty fleshed out gameplay wise, has the stellar soundtrack you'll come to expect from FF titles, and has a very flexible character progression setup.

[Shinzai]

What we need is FFXII's plot with FFX's battle system.

FFX is worth playing, FFXII is worth reading/listening to, FFXIII a bin.

FFXI was fun, but is now a near impenetrable mmo experience for newcomers.

[OrcsRLame]

I say, try them all and form your own opinions. There's enough contention on the subject between fans that I don't think people can really agree on any of those being objectively good or bad. I have good and bad things to say about all those games, and different games will appeal to different people.

So I say try them and judge for yourself.

Personally, the only game on that list I dislike is 12.

[Chiquihuite]

FFX: Gives FF7 a run for my favorite out of the series. All-around amazing game.
FFX-2: Far from my favorite member of the FF family. Mostly because it's *painfully* cheesy - and I *like* cheese. But the battle system is actually really good, and I'm looking forward to seeing elements of it in FFXV.
FFXII: I got bored to death and barely finished. It felt like they were trying to cram an MMO into a single-player game. And the controls/battle system was atrocious. That said, some people loved it, so you may as well find a cheap copy and give it a try.
FFXIII: I liked this game much more than most people. The story was a bit hard to follow, but it felt good. It was like watching a very pretty movie.
FFXIII-2: Solid gameplay. Atrocious, incomprehensible story ("we're getting hacked from the future!"). Probably the most beautiful game I've ever played visually, though.
FFXIII-3: Great gameplay. Story is shockingly decent. Especially the Snow/Yusnaan Main Quest. I would actually recommend this one as my favorite of the XIII series.

None of them are especially expensive at this point, and IMO you'd get your money's worth for all of them. May as well go for it.

[Tech614]

What we need is FFXII's plot with FFX's battle system.

Please no.

FFX is the easiest most noobified combat system in the entire series. The only thing that ever made turn based combat difficult is when bosses have rng on what they're going to use. For the most part in FFX this isn't the case you can predict almost everything that's going to happen and in the end makes the combat system a joke.

X-2, XII, XIII, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns all have superior combat systems.

[Barracks00]

FFXI can be "finished" in a similar way that FFX or other Final Fantasy games can be finished. The base game and each expansion is a full blown story with cutscenes and all that good stuff. The storylines are pretty fantastic and it's so unfortunate that most FF fans will never get to see them.

[Deleted]

If you like the FF series, try them all and see for yourself. Opinions differ. But don't be too disappointed with FF XII and FF XIII. But you should at least give FF X and FF X-2 a try.

[Ausr]

I'd say FFX... possibly FFX-2.

You will have trouble getting caught up to speed with FFXI, I think.

FFXII is alright. About an average game there.

FFXIII can die.

[Shinzai]

Please no.

FFX is the easiest most noobified combat system in the entire series. The only thing that ever made turn based combat difficult is when bosses have rng on what they're going to use. For the most part in FFX this isn't the case you can predict almost everything that's going to happen and in the end makes the combat system a joke.

X-2, XII, XIII, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns all have superior combat systems.

In what possible way is XIII's battle system good? Give a command, set the others to whatever mode and go afk. Get lightning to activate her special and go afk, 'cause it literally doesn't stop. AI is awful at controlling the other characters and makes some of the worst choices in combat ever.

X's conditional turn based system is still widely regarded as the best, X-2 uses a return to the ATB of old, which is very similar to X's design, though obviously with time itself deciding round length, rather than attack speeds. X had a highly tactical system because of the way casting spells would effect delays between a character's turns and obviously the fact that you could swap characters in mid battle.

If you think it's the most 'noobified' system in the FF games, you clearly have no idea what you're talking about.

[Aruhen]

100% worth it. FFX and X-2 have an HD remaster that usually costs around 25$ these days if you have a PS3. X-2 is okay and is mostly closure for the story but it has one of the more interesting battle systems in the series.

FFXII is one of my favorites and again worth a play though as the world of Ivalice is just beautiful with its landscapes and music. Has more of an MMO feeling though with its zone layouts.

FFXIII and XIII-2 are worth it especially considering you can find them for 15$ these days. I got them day one and never regretted the purchase. The music isn't the best in the series but it does have some really catchy tunes. The combat in the first game is a bit wonky at times but they improved upon it in the sequel. I haven't tried XIII-3 so far other than the demo which didn't resonate with me. I'll wait till that's down to 20$.

[Aethilus]

FFX -- I think is overhyped but still worth playing, it is kinda like a giant hallway to the end before bonus content.

FFX-2 -- I played it and got annoyed with it, common criticism is that it is nothing more than a dress up game (the job system is called "dress spheres" afterall). It does have an okay storyline and a bonus scene if you get 100% completion involving story from FFX.

FFXII -- I personally loved in graphics and story, combat as people have said is very meh but playing on active and limiting yourself to filler gambits makes it a lot more fun as opposed to those who wrote long, self-driving gambit lists to win against everything except the hardest optional bosses while afk (last boss of main story included).

FFXIII -- This suffers from the hallway syndrome far worse than FFX could ever even pretend to (albeit a very beautiful hallway), worse than any other game ever imo, the gameplay is kinda lacking and very long, the setting up paradigms is annoying as well.

I haven't played the other two after XIII yet.

[Ravingmad]

FFX relaunched the game on PS2 and it was IMO pretty good. FFX-2, the battle system was good, but I couldnt finish it as I was finding it too "girly", just travelling, etc. Wasnt my cup of tea.
I played about 1h of FFXII, then got cought up in another game, so I cant tell. But it begins slow...

[ProphetFlume]

Play remastered 10 and call it a day.

[Lyese]

X's conditional turn based system is still widely regarded as the best, X-2 uses a return to the ATB of old, which is very similar to X's design, though obviously with time itself deciding round length, rather than attack speeds. X had a highly tactical system because of the way casting spells would effect delays between a character's turns and obviously the fact that you could swap characters in mid battle.

As someone who beat the Dark Aeons and Penance, CTB is a joke when it comes to strategy. It mostly boils down to Auto-Haste + Quick Hit, with Quick Pockets or Use thrown in when needed. I had a different strat for beating Penance than most peoples' guides, which involved actually using Dispel to remove the Armor/Mental Break phase 2 would bring in, but I was still able to control the flow of battle by dismantling each hand before it had a turn then beating down Penance himself. As far as the "hardest boss in FF history," I agree. One wrong turn and it could set you back or even wipe the party. If you have a firm strategy in mind and execute it, though, it's pretty easy.

Of course, I could just prefer ATB.

[PuppetShowJustice]

FFXI can be "finished" in a similar way that FFX or other Final Fantasy games can be finished. The base game and each expansion is a full blown story with cutscenes and all that good stuff. The storylines are pretty fantastic and it's so unfortunate that most FF fans will never get to see them.

Yeah, the CoP storyline was amazing. ToAU felt like its ending was rushed badly though. The early stuff was fantastic.