Best Final Fantasy

Would be nice if we can say which one we've played and make a list out of that, rank 10 and under are mostly games I've never played.

Also, for the Rank the Protagonist, FF12 is fairly subjective, since Vaan wasn't originally the protag, but Bash however they switched to him to appeal to their JP base more. Though I feel Ashe is more of the main protagonist along with Balthier by the end of it.

And for villains, I didn't exactly play FF11, but I don't think Shantotto was ever a villain from what I read around. But you should add Doctor Cid for FF12 villain though, now that was a great villain, also Vayne.

Well, I filled out the survey, sorta. I didnt understand what one of the questions was, "Fight (If any)" or something like that. and I really didnt like the format. Should have been a tick box, Select for favorite 5 (or whatever) in order of preference. This numbering the entire list thing was kinda dumb. I did the first few then just left the rest, mostly cause they didnt rank to me and I wasnt about to shuffle them just to fill it out. While KH and BD are kind of off shoots of the FF series in a small way, I wouldnt qualify them as a FF title. Even Tactics and Crisis Core are kinda pushing it (although I'm glad they were there, I liked them both a lot). but by the same token, some were missing if you are going to have those in there. No Chocobo Dungeon, Theatrythm, etc.

Anyway, those were just nitpicky things, you can ignore me if you like. Thought I would provide some feedback in case you decide to do something like this again. Personally, i would have made it for the main ones specifically, no sequels or spinoffs, then do a separate survey that is for the extras and spinoffs. Especially when doing such a broad sweep, it helps to keep your options down, the list for the girls was ridiculously long, i kinda did my top three and then said fuckit. lol.

There are so many aspects to consider when picking the best FF.

In terms of exploration and combat, I have to choose FF12, by far the most attractive imo.

In terms of story, it is undoubtedly FF8.

All of them are great games with something unique, it would be unfair for the rest to only choose 1.

To many options. to rank everything. My data near the end is really bad.

Also there needs to be a N/A as Basiclly all the non numbers games I haven't played. Or kingdom hearts.

Too much work to number them for every question. I gave up (aka got too lazy) by the third one. I also did not play all the FF titles.

Best FF is FF9, followed by FF10 then FF14 IMO. However when it comes to story FF14 is the lowest number. I don't enjoy the story at all. Way too wordy - they sometimes have one or two paragraphs for something that could be summed up in a short sentence. Just not my style. Never will be. I will forever esc through all the cutscenes.

I know it is hard to rank them all but it is necessary. I'll give you an example from the current results. (I will next reveal the standings at 100 responses)

Combat. The winner is Final Fantasy VII as it gets consistently higher scores. However only 4.63 % think that it actually has the best combat. Compared to the 9.30 % for IX (third place overall). Tactics also has 9.30 percent of the votes, yet it is the 22nd on the list.

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Originally Posted by Balipu

I know it is hard to rank them all but it is necessary. I'll give you an example from the current results. (I will next reveal the standings at 100 responses)

Combat. The winner is Final Fantasy VII as it gets consistently higher scores. However only 4.63 % think that it actually has the best combat. Compared to the 9.30 % for IX (third place overall). Tactics also has 9.30 percent of the votes, yet it is the 22nd on the list.

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Couldnt the results be acquired through a "Pick 5 favorites in order of preference" instead of "Rank all 28 of these options in the order of preference"? I would wonder if your results might be skewed a bit because of people like myself who only ranked a few then left the rest in whatever order they fell in. Or do you only really pay attention to the top 5 results anyway? I just feel the way you did it was a little overwhelming for choices, some of which werent well labeled (Sure I remember most of the Characters and what FF they were from but the Cid list was one I would have had to outsource, instead i skipped it altogether, skewing your results.)

You commented that even though Tactics is far down the list people still picked it and its among the top. Again, its only around the top because people like me went through and picked it but still only picked like the first 5 or so we liked then left the rest. Now i'm no survey expert or good at data collection and interpretation but as a survey form filler outer, you gotta take pity on us man...

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Originally Posted by MageBlack

I would wonder if your results might be skewed a bit because of people like myself who only ranked a few then left the rest in whatever order they fell in.
That's a possibility. It would have been nice to ask at the beginning which of the 28 you actually played and only ask about those, but I don't hace acess to that kind of tech.
Or do you only really pay attention to the top 5 results anyway?
Nah, I check them all. I just don't go over them all. But if you want I'll give out the full list next time.
I just feel the way you did it was a little overwhelming for choices, some of which werent well labeled
I thought hard about that one but when you have to type in Final Fantasy random roman numeral for the 300th time you get lazy.

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If it's any solace to you, me torturing all of you is not senseless as the results are pretty interesting.

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Originally Posted by Balipu

If it's any solace to you, me torturing all of you is not senseless as the results are pretty interesting.

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For sure! i bet you have some nifty results, at least you did try using a poll system, not like another post I saw. Even just limiting it to the Main numbered FF's then having a secondary poll for the spinoffs would have helped reduce the amount of choices for the poller and make it easier for you too. Thanks though for the poll. I know my favorite one of all would have to be Tactics, followed by FF6, FF4, and FF9. Best of luck to you and I hope you didnt take my criticism too hard, it was more a friendly suggestion, no malice included! Take care!

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Originally Posted by dragonflie

Though I feel Ashe is more of the main protagonist along with Balthier by the end of it.

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This is what I keep telling people but no one will believe me.....

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Originally Posted by AskaRay

This is what I keep telling people but no one will believe me.....

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I believe you. It's just...Vaan is the point of view character.

I'll just add the debate:

Final Fantasy VII is highly overrated and most people only list it as their favorite because they went "meh" for the SNES ones and when the series came on the PSX they went "OMG THE GRAPHICS, THE SUMMONS, IT'S 3D OMFG I NEED TO PLAY THIS", effectively making VII the first Final Fantasy for an entire generation. So, it gets all the nostalgia. Also adding to this effect it's the fact that the PSX was a much more popular system than the SNES, making FFVII the first Final Fantasy of everybody whose 1st console was a PlayStation (AKA a vast number of people).

That being said, FFVII is a nice game. However, it's NOT the "best Final Fantasy ever made. Not even close." story-wise FFIV and FFVI were much superior to FFVII, and gameplay-wise FFIX and FFX are also superior to VII.
Flame away.

Each to their own. I didn't think FF4 was anything special in terms of story(although its kind of unfair comparing) and that was the first one I started with. Overall I'd probably say 6 is my favorite out of the main series with 7 and 5 trailing behind it. FFT is my favorite FF game if you include non numbered FF's

Final Fantasy X - that's my choice!

I always loved the judges design in ffxii. When i saw lidia, nero etc i was like ooooooo. Then i saw the crocs from it too xD
Liked ffxii better than ffx.

Tidus was just meh, u so fake bro like dont even mann.

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Originally Posted by AlexionSkylark

I'll just add the debate:

Final Fantasy VII is highly overrated and most people only list it as their favorite because they went "meh" for the SNES ones and when the series came on the PSX they went "OMG THE GRAPHICS, THE SUMMONS, IT'S 3D OMFG I NEED TO PLAY THIS", effectively making VII the first Final Fantasy for an entire generation. So, it gets all the nostalgia. Also adding to this effect it's the fact that the PSX was a much more popular system than the SNES, making FFVII the first Final Fantasy of everybody whose 1st console was a PlayStation (AKA a vast number of people).

That being said, FFVII is a nice game. However, it's NOT the "best Final Fantasy ever made. Not even close." story-wise FFIV and FFVI were much superior to FFVII, and gameplay-wise FFIX and FFX are also superior to VII.
Flame away.

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I totally agree with you. FFVII is really overrated but it did have a decent progression system, combat system, and I loved the materia system. Golden Saucer was another great place to waste time and there were a lot of really memorable moments for me. So there are some legitimate reasons it can be listed among the top FF's aside from a poorly translated story for its day. I think a better translation and a remake with FFXIV style graphics would really do wonders for the game.

But as things stand and taking them as they were upon their original release (i dont judge any of these games on remakes or remasteries) FFVI and FFIV were much better story wise and overall presentation. Even for its day I didnt like the Popeye Arm graphics, at least the backgrounds looked nice. But to take the cake for the Best over all Final Fantasy, I think it should go to Tactics. It had the best character models, the best story, the best combat system, the best character progression, and the best hidden side stuff.

Just MHO though, flame away!

For me it's gotta be VI, there's hardly any dead weight in the roster, no real lulls in the pacing and the OST is godly. I'd put IX here as well if the cast was as perfect as VI's

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Originally Posted by AlexionSkylark

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Actually VII was already over a decade old when I played it, so I get to avoid the graphics and the nostalgia stigma. I agree that the story of VII is not the best. It has a very rich backstory, but most of the time you are running from one place to another chasing Sephiroth. Gameplay wise I think it's still the best. Not necessarily combat (that would be either X or Type-0) but it had a very diverse gameplay with lots to do. In most of the games your options were combat or combat. VIII had triple triad, IX had tetra master (which I don't like) and X had Blitzball. In VII I speant hours after hours just with basketball. This is important for me. But I understand that not everyone has the same preferences and priorities.

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Originally Posted by MageBlack

But to take the cake for the Best over all Final Fantasy, I think it should go to Tactics. It had the best character models, the best story, the best combat system, the best character progression, and the best hidden side stuff.!

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Don't forget the best job system, it's not present in all FFs but it's in most of them.

Okay, we got to 100. It is still a relatively small number, but it is our first milestone. I will adjust a few answers after this, but won't reset again.

Sooo, after 100 answers:
VI has the best story A good 3 percent ranked VII as number one, but VI wins overall. The worst out of the main series is the XIII trilogy, just below Tactics and above Kingdom Hearts.
Apparently VII has the best combat. IX got the most number one votes but is overall only the fifth. The big looser is Final Fantasy XIII-2, ranked below Dissidia and above Kingdom Hearts, followed by Tactics.
XI got the most number one votes for progression and customization, but the overall victor is VII. The lowest ranking from the main series is XIV before the armory system.
XIV got the most number one votes, but the victor is yet again VII. For a change the worst numbered game is not an installment of the XIII trilogy, but XII.
Squall won the most number one votes, but the overall victor is Cecil, who was everyone's favorite heroine, before it was revealed that she is in fact a dude. Serah is the worst main series protagonist, slightly below Vaan.
Kefka won the most number one votes with an overwhelming majority for coolest villain, but lost overall to Garland (this compelled me to more clearly label him as the original FF I Garland). Nael is still the top rated FFXIV villain, while Lahabrea is the least cool main series villain just below Bhunivelze and Caius.
The fight list is dominated by Garland again, with Kefka, the majority number one vote holder, at third place below Sephiroth. Lahabrea is the loser yet again, ranked below Xehanort.
Terra is the leading lady both in terms of number one votes and overall. Prishe is still ahead of the Scions. Yugiri went from the highest rated from XIV to the lowest in the main series.
Cid Highwind is still the best Cid with 53.33% of the number one votes. Cid of the lufayne from Dissidia is the worst.
The Final Fantasy I version of Gilgamesh took the lead, with his adventures in Dissidia ranked the lowest.

9 and 10 are the only two I've played multiple times. I've played most of them once though. X is probably my favorite but it's a hard choice between those two.

I haven't played anything after X until XIV though. I tried X2 and I just kept losing interest.

12, despite it's flaws. It's just so much in Ivalice to explore, alot of lore(bestiary was the best I've seen in the entire series), great side-quests/hunts, and no-screen freezes/real-time combat. Most of the flaws it had was fixed in the International version, just need an HD remaster of it in English.

The whole main story was mediocre, I will admit though. But I actually thought it was pretty decent IMO up till Vossler's death, and then it just fell apart. It's an unfinished masterpiece, but I can still appreciate it regardless.

I like 3 & 5 for their job systems.
FF1 has a weak story IMO. (Granted, it is a pretty old game and the amount of text space available back then was limited.)
FF2 has a weird "leveling" system and a very high random encounter rate.
FF4 was fun for me for one play through. I have no desire to play it again though.
FF6 was pretty fun. No real complaints about it.
I never actually finished FF7 because of how boring I found it. Whatever the appeal of it is, I don't see it.
FF8's combat system is annoying. Drawing magic is tedious and leveling up is actually not a good idea. :/
I've never played 9-13.

FF4, because it has Rydia. Otherwise 13-2, for most interesting plot and gameplay features.

Okay, closing off the survey as survey monkey only allows a maximum of 100 responses. If I find a platform that enables more responses and longer questions I will create a new one, with all the suggestions taken into consideration. Untill then, here are the full results:

Story: Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII compillation
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IV and sequels
Final Fantasy X, X-2
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy XII and Revenant Wing
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy tactics
Final Fantasy XIII trilogy
Kingdom Hearts series
Final Fantasy Type-0
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Bravely Default
Final Fantasy Legend
Dissidia Final Fantasy

Combat: Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XIII
Dissidia Final Fantasy
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Kingdom Hearts
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Type-0
Final Fantasy XIV
Bravely Default
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy Legend

Progression and customization: Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XIV now
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XIII
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy XIV before the armory system
Dissidia Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Type-0
Bravely Default
Kingdom Hearts
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Final Fantasy Legend

Soundtrack: Final Fantasy VII compillation
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy IV (and its sequels)
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy I
Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy III
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy X, X-2
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XIII trilogy
Final Fantasy XII and Revenant Wings
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Type-0
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles
Kingdom Hearts Series
Dissidia Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy Legend
Bravely Default

Protagonists: Cecil
Terra
Zidane
Cloud
Firion
Warrior of Light
Squall
Zack
Bartz
Onion Knight
Tidus
Lightning
Ramza
Vaan
Serah
Sora
Roxas
Marche
Tiz
Luso
Ace
Aqua

Villain coolness: Garland (Final Fantasy I)
Kefka
Sephiroth
Golbez
Cloud of Darkness
Emperor
Kuja
Ultimecia
Exdeath
Genesis
Gabranth
Shantotto
Seymour
Nael van Darnus
Barthandelus
Gaius van Baelsar
Caius
Bhunivelze
Lahabrea
Ultima, The High Seraph
Xehanort (and all his variations, Heartless, Nobody, etc.)
Queen Remedy
Cid Aulstyne
Chaos (Dissidia)
Airy

Villain fight: Garland (Final Fantasy I)
Sephiroth
Kefka
Emperor
Ultimecia
Cloud of Darkness
Golbez
Kuja
Exdeath
Genesis
Seymour
Shantotto
Gabranth
Barthandelus
Nael van Darnus
Caius
Bhunivelze
Ultima, The High Seraph
Gaius van Baelsar
Xehanort (and all his variations. Heartless, Nobody, etc)
Lahabrea
Queen Remedy
Rursan Arbiter
Chaos (Dissidia)
Airy

Girls: Terra
Aerith
Rydia
Maria
Leila
Tifa
Rosa
Celes
Faris
Yuffie
Lenna
Krile
Yuna
Rikku
Rinoa
Quistis
Garnet
Selphie
Lulu
Fran
Prishe
Lightning
Ashe
Fang
Paine
Vanille
Yda
Y'shtola
Penelo
Serah
Edea
Yeul
Moenbryda
Minfilia
Yugiri
Agnes
Deuce
Cater
Cinque
Rem
Seven
Sice
Kairi
Queen
Namine
Cosmos
Celestia
Aqua
Xion

Cids: Cid Highwind (FF VII)
Cid (FFII)
Cid Haze (FF 3)
Cid Pollendina (FF IV)
Cid Previa (FF V)
Cid Fabool IX (FFIX)
Cid del Norte Marquez (FF VI)
Cid Kramer (FF VIII)
Cid (FFX)
Cid (FFXI)
Cid nan Garlond (FF XIV)
Cidolfus Demen Bunansa (FF XII)
Cid Raines (FF XIII)
Cidolfus Orlandeau (Tactics)
Cid Randell (Tactics Advance)
Cid Aulstyne (Type-0)
Cid of the Lufayne (Dissidia)

Gilgamesh : Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy IV: The After Years
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy XII
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XIII-2
Final Fantasy Type-0
Dissidia Final Fantasy

Enjoy.