Never played any Final Fantasy games - where should I start?

[Deleted]

Title says everything. I would love to start my *journey* with Final Fantasy games but I'm not sure where to start.

Can you guys tell me which Final Fantasy games would you recommend for a *begginer* like me?

[Acidbaron]

Very few are actually linked together, actually unless it says "-2" they aren't. It's even so that combat changed around a bit after 8 i believe.

In this day and age, no idea 7 and 8 are great but dated and didn't age so well as the others, also you need to like the anime stuff a bit.

[Deleted]

What platforms do you have? Honestly I think Final Fantasy X is the most approachable and it is a very good game, even though it's not the best final fantasy. Then I would move to 7 -> 9 -> 8 -> 6

[Justin-Sane]

I'd go for final fantasy 10 on the PS2. It's one of my favorites, it's also pretty easy to play and there's no need to play previous games to understand the story.

[zealo]

There's not much point to playing the ones before 4 unless you really want to see the NES era, besides that its a free choice really, there's not much continuity between any of the mainline titles.

Personal opinion but I think 6, 7 and 9 is the best out of the bunch.

[Deleted]

I've started with X then X-2, recently picked up VI but it didn't really keep me entertained so I dropped it. Currently going through XII and freaking loving it.

As previously mentioned, it doesn't really matter where you start as they all cover completely different stories in completely different worlds. There is no "best" Final Fantasy (it is a never-ending debate on the interwebs), it all depends on taste and mostly nostalgia, like: "I've played that one first so it's the best".

My personal favorite is definitely Final Fantasy X (My first and most loved characters/story). If I were to give an opinion I'd say start with X, it has good graphics, amazing story and great character development. Anything below that runs on rather old engines, and honestly? It might turn you off if you're not already used to franchise.

[Dismack]

Final Fantasy 6 is by far the best in terms of Story, Character development, and the pure adult nature of the story. I would honestly start with either 6 or 4. Both are fantastic and are available on both IOS and Android platforms.

[Strangebrew]

Doesnt matter, just stay away from FFXIII and its sequels.

[Deleted]

Personally I'd say it also depends how important graphics are to you and whether you like playing games with a dated look - because I know this bothers some people and if so I'd definitely recommend perhaps starting with X... whilst I personally preferred a couple of the earlier ones they haven't aged that well in my opinion.

[Drakainen]

My personal favorites are 6, 7, 9 and 10. If graphics aren't that important to ya I'd go in that order because as already stated the earlier ones haven't aged too well graphically.

[Melancolie]

As others said, it all depends what kinda games you like and how critical you are about older games.

FFX got a HD remake, and i'd start with that, then go 9 -> 7. Personally those 3 are the best ones. 8, 10-2, 12 and 13 all depends on preference. I liked all of them, and thought they were def worth playing through, but Again, it's individual.

I'd save the pre-7 ones for last and see how hooked you get. I never really managed to like them much.

[Aruhen]

What systems do you have? Because if you have a PSP or PSVita then I would recommend playing all the PSP remakes such as 1-2-3-4 and then 5-10 on PS3 or Vita. The PSP remakes are incredibly well done with the remake for four being the best version of it.

I'd probably start with either FFX or 4 as the first one. Save 9 and 3 for the last few ones as those games have a lot going on (especially 9) and are probably the two hardest FF games. To be frank though playing them in the proper order isn't such a bad thing as people are claiming it to be. The first few games are incredibly short (1-2 can be beat in a few hours) and are worth it because they introduce you to some some of the background characters that become common in future games.

Again you can get 1-10 on the PSN easily if you own the proper systems.

[ro9ue]

7, 9, Tactics are the best.

[Migey]

7, 8, and 9 are great, but a bit dated. Personally I think the best starting point is 10, as it's the last unquestionably good Final Fantasy (although I do personally *really* love 12 aside from one or two MAJOR issues) which is also still playable today in terms of graphics and mechanics (also recently had an HD re-release).

For the more traditional FF experience, FFIII and FFIV which have playable re-releases on the DS are utterly fantastic, but kind of brutal. FFIV is one of my favourite FF's, but it's virtually impossible to complete without an exhaustive guide to let you know all the little secrets and locations of the pick-ups and the like. FFIII is easier. Not quite as good, but easier to actually complete.

I actually think 12 is very, very worth playing, even if it does have some issues. Don't touch 13 as an FF game: its a competent-ish JRPG but a piss-poor Final Fantasy. But yeah, 10 is probably the easiest good, approachable one to get access to and is a fantastic game.

Edit: Thing is, every FF game is incredibly distinct with a different flavour and feel. There's common elements that turn up in some games, and not in others (common themes include aeons/espers, crystals, a rather unique mixture of technology and fantasy, strange hairstyles, and androgyny). They also all play somewhat differently so it's hard to say, you may love some and not others. Irritatingly though, its very difficult to communicate what distinct feel each has.

[Rennadrel]

Dragon Quest 1

[Aori]

I think 10 is the best starting point with the HD re-release(I never got around to play X-2). I don't like 7, I don't see why people think it was the end all be all. 9 is probably one of my favorites, a lot of it for two reasons, Vivi and the game contains in my opinion what is probably one of the best cinematic scenes even to this day.

13 isn't a bad start either, you can get it on steam on sale fairly cheap nowadays, not sure why the hate on it but it is no worse than 7.

[deadman1]

There is more bad than good, and to be honest, if you don't have some sort of nostalgia the ones like FF7 aren't going to be that great for you.

[Gandrake]

the one that looks the best

if retro graphics dont bother you id say VI

[Fencers]

Final Fantasy II.

All of the FF games are ludicrously simple and easy to play. Being a new player to the series is a non-factor.

[OrcsRLame]

Final Fantasy 10 has the most noob friendly mechanics imo, while also being available on multiple consoles, including an HD remaster. Be aware most FF games are so old they don't have voice acting.

Also, take any opinion of them with a grain of salt. I swear FF games are as polarizing as politics. Hell, just on this page you have people saying that 6 is the best and that the 13 series is the worst, while I think the opposite is true. You'll be able to find haters and diehard fans for any FF game.

If you're really experienced with RPGs, you won't find much challenge with any of the games except for maybe 13. So if you're a good RPG player you can basically start wherever you want. FF7 is the first game in the series to move away from the 2D sprites. FF8 is the first game with actual 3D character models. FF10 is the first one with voice acting. 12 Was the first one to re-invent the wheel concerning the battle system, which is to say it plays very differently from the earlier games in the series. That's about the best objective information I can give you on the series.