@Tjuz Yeah, honestly there’s a very wide range of opinion on the Final Fantasy games. You’re right that 6 and 10 often get mentioned as among the best/favorites. I think there are such wide variance of opinion because of the generational gaps between games. I never played 1-6, because I started with the PlayStation missed that whole era of 2D gaming. And so I think my generation tends to not appreciate 6 and the retro 2D games as much. 10 is also a generation watershed game when the gameplay and open world took a step forward. And then 13 changed to a little more linear, and then with 15 and 16 gradually adopting more action combat.
The reason I say that 10 may not hold up to a modern player is because the presentation is from the awkward PS2 era when a lot of games were making a leap that at the time felt revolutionary to full 3D and open maps, but they feel antiquated now. PS1 games have a classic retro feel, often are 2D with sprites and intricate art used for scale, and are more timeless and less janky. The PS2 tech really took over to three-dimensionalize games but the movement, rendering, and navigation have been far surpassed even just one generation later on the PS3. It’s the Resident Evil 4 thing all over again (another PS2 classic) like we discussed before. Going back to play the original version feels so stiff and frustrating, imho. Fortunately FF10 combat is turn-based and so still is fun and approachable, but the exploration, character interactions, story telling, and overall presentation are very much of its time. Playing it back on PS2 as a lad, I absolutely loved it and put it up here with FF7 at the time. But when I look back at it, I haven’t been able to muster the desire to re-experience it. I don’t think 2026 Sol would enjoy it like 2006 Sol did.
Nevertheless, you can see why people say FF10 is a reasonable jumping in point because it is the first of the series that will have a familiar open world exploration that we are accustomed to today. It’s just not implemented with as much elegance as we’re used to.
And that’s some of the reason FF9 is likely to hold up better, because it feels a little more timeless. Some of it is the art style with the chibi characters, but also the game world with more pre-rendered backgrounds. It also has a few gameplay wrinkles that were well-received.
At the time, I remember people liked FF9, but they also liked FF8, but nowadays the public perception changed and people really don’t like 8 and yet 9 has risen in prestige over the years.
Speaking of, I’ve never played any from the series but Octopath Traveler looks like an old school FF game, giving FF6 or FF9 vibes. I’ve considered getting OT2 for a while, because it’s so highly acclaimed and looks interesting. It’s on sale right now and I’ve been tempted. I just have such a large backlog that I don’t think I’ll get around to it very soon. But I’d really love to hear how you get along with it when you play it!
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution I hadn't considered the generational gaps in how much variety of opinion there is regarding the best games, but that makes a lot of sense. Combined with the fact that any long-running series like this is always going to have people agreeing to disagree! And to think it all started with a game that was supposed to be just a final hurrah for a video game director. Have you gone back to play some if not all of the early games with the pixel remasters? They always seemed very well done from the little gameplay I've seen of them, though I doubt I personally would manage to get into them even if I tried.
I'm surprised to hear Final Fantasy 10 was their first foray into ''proper'' open world. For some reason, I got it into my head that the open world philosophy only really started with 15. I thought all the rest before that were fairly linear experiences to begin with outside of having some space to walk around for random encounters and such. Though, I'm sure the term open world is more loaded in modern times than what it actually means for the older games. Maybe Xenoblade Chronicles would be a good comparison there with it technically having a lot of open areas to explore, but you're still linearly led through specific journey. I did recently see the opening of Final Fantasy 10 when I watched PlayStation Access UK's first episode of their playthrough. Never in a million years would I have guessed this game centered around a star athlete known for... underwater dodgeball? Whatever you want to call it. At least you still have fond memories of it, whether or not you'd feel the same way if you'd experience it for the first time nowadays.
I can't say I know much about the ninth entry, but Googling it just now, I can see what you mean with the art style holding up better. It sounds like the franchise was rather on a roll from 6 to 10 at least! It feels like these later entries haven't really been able to live up to the prestige of that succession of entries. I do remember people highly praising 16 when the demo first dropped and full reviews initially came out, but then it felt like the reception overall was rather lukewarm. Something about the tone of the game being fairly depressing, yet not very subtly written if I remember correctly. Maybe that one will rise in prestige over the years as well since people initially had such a positive response to it. I'll let you know if and when I get around to playing Octopath Traveler II! I have actually played the demo when it first came out and instantly bought it only to not have touched it since. Given, I was still in my slump back then, so it says less about the game itself and more about my behavior with games in that time. I need to make time for it since it did clearly impressed me at the time even in that mindset!
@Tjuz Ooh, I wonder if Octopath 2 still has a demo available… I sometimes forget about demos. That would be a really good one to try the demo since I’m on the fence about it. It’s unlikely I’ll get to it before the sale ends in 2 days but I’ll keep it in mind for the future.
I’ve had a mixed experience with demos. Sometimes they are really good at selling me on a game and sometimes hey they’re a turn-off. I suppose it depends on the game and whether the developer just give you some modified version of the first hour as part of the demo or whether it’s a carve out from the middle of the game. One of my favorite demos was the BioShock demo back on PS3. It was the first of the game and it really made me feel a cliffhanger about what was this interesting underwater world I just crash landed by? It was effective at selling me on the setting, story, and mystery of it all. As opposed to the gameplay heavy demos I’ve tried that tend to make me more frustrated than anything because you’re just dropped in without context or much tutorial and it feels a bit empty. That’s how I felt about the Forspoken demo, and even the Stellar Blade demo. At least the Stellar Blade one was the beginning of the game, but I still felt a bit rushed with learning the combat and so when I really struggled with the boss at the end it just didn’t feel fun to me at all and I didn’t want to take a chance that I would not get into the combat. Anyway, I digress into tangential topics…
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Back to Final Fantasy, I’ve never played any of the early entries from FFI-FFVI. I started (as a lot of people did) with FFVII. The Pixel Remaster collection would be an ideal way for me go back and try those, but I don’t really feel a drive to, except for maybe VI. I have so many modern games in my backlog that I’d prefer to spend my time there instead of with retro titles. The only mainline entry I skipped between 7 and 16 (like how I’m flip-flopping between Roman numerals and Arabic numerals? 😂) was 15. And also I never played the online MMO entires 11 and 14. And I never played 13-3 Lightning Returns, if you consider that a mainline entry. So if I were to go back, I think I’d like to first dust off 15. But even then, my hands will be full with Rebirth for this year most likely and by the time I’m ready for a new FF game I expect we may have FF7 part 3, and/or FF17.
As far as the open-world aspects, yeah it really is a broad term with a continuum of meanings, so to clarify - the FF7,8,9 have a world map and kind of a fast travel but it’s a top down view of the map that you can do a little roaming around between set pieces, but when you enter a town it’s a separate loading screen into the area, where with 10 they started having the towns are contiguous with the map and you wander about in ‘real time’ with a map that’s at scale rather than a miniature representation of the areas between locations. There’s some exploration when going from place to place usually, rather than it feeling like loose connections of isolated areas. But still, it’s not really on the level of RDR2 or Witcher 3 or Spider-Man or Elden Ring or any of the modern open worlds that have so many things to do and see. As I recall (and again, it’s been a long time so I might be misremembering), there’s random combat encounters in the open world and some occasional side area or activity but really not much and the game is still quite linear in scope, by today’s standards. Still, as I mentioned before, it was a step forward.
In contrast, FF16 is more of a true open world and you can approach locations and quests with some individual preference and do a lot of optional side activities if you want and there’s some value in exploring. With FF7-13 there’s optional content too, but just a handful of secrets, optional bosses, etc. whereas 16 has the exploration a little more core to its build. Again, I can’t comment on 15, but I think it’s still linear-ish compared to today’s true open worlds. I think I read you drive your car from location to location without much to do in the open areas between.
You’re correct about 16’s reception. It reviewed fairly well (87 on Metacritic) but the public perception was mixed. Part of it is the narrative being a little more gritty and ‘Game of Thrones-like’ but honestly I thought it wasn’t all that dark. It’s not depressing like a Dark Souls game or other intense and brutal games set in a medieval backdrop. It has splashes of the FF and JRPG goofiness like moogles and lots of magical beasts and histrionic NPC’s. But yes, it’s much more grounded in its narrative than other entries, like you mentioned with Tidus in FFX being a Blitzball (aka “underwater dodgeball” 😂) player. Honestly though, the Blitzball minigames are some of my favorite minigames in any video game I’ve played. And if you think an underwater star athlete as a protagonist is corny, you should see what happens with FFX-2 where you play as members of a girl pop-star musical band. It was K-Pop Demon Hunters before it was a thing! 😂
But yeah, with FF16 I think the main complaint was the combat, rather than the narrative. The combat is a large departure from the turn based and active time battle roots of the series and has a ‘Devil May Cry’ feel to it. So that was a turn-off for long time FF fans. Personally, I really liked it. I think it was my second favorite game I played in 2024, right behind Dark Souls 2.
@Th3solution I think the demo should still be there! Square Enix is usually pretty good about keeping them available as far as I know. If I remember correctly, you're able to play the opening chapter of any of the eight protagonists you choose to start with, so no modified shenanigans where you'll be disappointed once you get to the real game. Might be wise to be careful in considering whose story you find most interesting when picking just to give the game the best shot possible at impressing you! I tend to avoid demos simply because I have a pretty solid grasp on what I am or am not going to enjoy. And even if I do end up choosing poorly, I'll usually only realise it and give up on the game after a demo would've already ended. They're definitely a useful tool to help with indecision however! Even more so when you're on a very limited budget like I was back in my teens.
It always shocks me that there are three games in the 13 chronology when by all accounts... it's one of the more maligned entries into the series. I don't know if that perception has come with time or if it was always this way, but it seems like an odd entry to triple down on. Makes sense you'd prioritise 15 above all if you give any of the unplayed ones a shot though! It's a lot to ask to go back to the pixel remasters so longer after they were initially released. Especially since you already know for yourself that you have issues getting into games with outdated design philosophies! Why did you end up skipping 15 when it first came out? Did it have to do with the fact that it was rather unfinished?
Thanks for the clarification on the open worlds. Got it! I honestly think I wouldn't hold the more linear open worlds of 7-9 against them, simply because I don't get along with huge modern open worlds either. Red Dead Redemption 2 is the only game in my eyes that did modern open world design properly. Any other game has never impressed me on that front or turned me off of it more than anything. Random encounters is actually something I have never gelled with and find equally off-putting, which is what made me put Octopath Traveler II on the back-burner eventually. I've gotten more used to JRPGs since though, so I might be more inclined to look past it and not feel like I'm getting harassed in my travels.
Haha, is ''underwater dodgeball'' maybe the wrong term for it? I don't know! I'm not a sporty person, so anything with a ball can be any sport to me. It could've been underwater quidditch for all I know! I do like the sound of a more grounded narrative with 16. The public perception there hasn't necessarily put me off at any point. I was just surprised by how the criticism of it turned as soon as it fully released. I'm glad that it didn't disappoint you at the very least! It makes sense that for long-time fans such a change in combat would've been disappointing. As someone who got into character-action games over the last year or so however, the sound of that actually appeals to me!
I gotta say though... I have never been more interested in 10-2 than you telling me the stars of it are a pop-star girl group. Like, I cannot evoke to you how much that tickles my fancy. Guess if I do end up getting to 10 at some point, I'll have to suffer through the sports to get to the (for me) more appropriately ridiculous part of it, haha.
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