What was your first Final Fantasy and what did you think of it?

[ItMe]

My first one was 1&2 Dawn of Souls for the GBA.
I'm a big fan of the NES Dragon Quest games, so I liked it quite a bit at the time (enough to play through each game a few times), though I've since cooled on it.
My favorite part of the collection was def the new dungeon they added to 1's postgame. It's 100 floors punctuated by assorted boss fights from 3-6, and one of the dungeon floors is basically a micro world map and to get to the stairs to the next floor you have to explore to find a canoe, boat, and airship to traverse the micro world.

[WhiteArchmage]

Seven, really. I HAD played games on my brother's NES but he never had an FF game, and we didn't have money for a SNES. I played the PC demo of FF7 and loved it; so when the PSX/PS1 came out, I begged to get one for X-mas. Luckily we could affort it by then. After I went 8, Tactics (my favorite), 9, 6, 5, 4, 10-2 (stores didn't HAVE 10 anymore), 12 (almost dethroned Tactics), 2, 1, 13, 3, 14, 10 (randomly on my local game store), 15. TA and TA2 at some point in-between.

Maybe I didn't start with the first ones, or even played them on release order, but damn if I stuck by them

[Alxyzntlct]

My first Final Fantasy was also the original from way back in the day, but what made it special for me was that it wasn't just my first FF game, but my first RPG. And oh my goodness, what an incredible experience that was!!!

It's what first made me fall in love with the genre as a whole, the idea of being able to learn and grow and become more powerful was just such a great concept unto itself, but then you could evolve your character into the next tier! *mind-blown*

Tactics. Loved it.

YES, thank you! I've played most of the FF games (even several of the JP ones when they finally got translated and released in the US), but to this day Tactics is still my one true love. Everything about that game was so amazing...
- Phenomenal multi-layered story from multiple perspectives and multiple storylines
- Great process of world exploration and finding / recruiting additional characters into your roster
- But mots amazing of all was the introduction to each character being able to train in multiple Jobs, AND mix-match skills!

[TaleraRistain]

For me it was the first final fantasy. I saw previews of it, after enjoying phantasy star on the master system. After that, the North American releases of 4 and 6(II and III). Then FFVII up to FFX. After that quit playing to play FFXI for far too long, missing out on other releases. I enjoyed the graphics back then, later on the story. I think 4(II in US) started to make me interested in the story by then, got hooked since. I do play other games to this day, and oddly Lunar: Silver Star Story is oddly one of my fav games still over FF, not sure why.

I adore Lunar

The original FFI NES was my first, too. I think I was like...7...8? I've had a lifelong love of fairy tales and fantasy and I think that first time the Warriors of Light cross the bridge and that music starts to play was a big part of that. That and King's Quest.

[Anienai]

FF1.

I loved it.

#ribbon

[Arillyn]

My first FF game was the original. Loved it and I've played most of the FF games since.

[Laphicet]

Bravely Default would be my first one... if that one can even be counted, being a spinoff of a spinoff and all that. I mean it has a lot of the classic final fantasy elements and is basically FF3 with more mechanics slapped on top of it gameplay-wise, so it counts in my book. And what a wild ride that game was... whole series is pretty good actually but doesn't get as much attention as it deserves. Great class system, amazing characters, great gameplay with the Brave and Default system adding a surprising amount of depth, and amazing art direction as well. Although, the audio could get a bit potato-y at times and I find it funny they borrowed the skit system from the "Tales of" series for more exposition and stuff... not that it doesn't work mind you, it works quite well, just a bit funny. Hell, that might become a Bravely-only thing if the BD series continues, with how Tales of Arise is shaping up to be such a departure from past games.

If we don't count spinoffs, it would be FF13, XBOX 360 version, but I didn't get very far and got stuck on the second fight that had a doom counter, mostly due to terrible stat investment and bad understanding of game systems... not a really pleasant experience and the game left me more confused than anything else. Sazh was a cool character tho, probably the best of the lineup (losing him the party split being another reason I never went back and gave it another try after getting stuck on that boss for an hour).

[Vahlnir]

My first one was Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. It was also the first one I finished. I had fun with it. I tried 2 and 3 I think but they didn't really get me hooked. When 7 came around and everyone and their mothers were crying to the heavens about how great it was I had to give it a shot. From that game onward I've been an FF fan, though I skipped out on 9 initially only to start it years later when my tastes seemingly changed. lol

[TaleraRistain]

IV is what I point to for when people complain about how linear XIII was.

The issue is being linear in different ways. X is also a fairly linear path to the finale. The difference with both IV and X is that you have freedom of exploration. You can go back (minus one or two memorable places) to where you were before or you can wander off the beaten path in many places. Exploration is a core component of Final Fantasy games and they both had that even with the linear story path.

XIII was just like hallways. There were almost no little nubs or alternate paths to explore. And you're being rushed through these areas that are so paper thin on details they feel like they're just backgrounds. Even with the story of fugitives on the run, they had plenty of room to do something like explore the dark underbelly of the areas and introduce you to interesting people and secrets. That's what made the linear path to the story worse. They didn't make the places you fled through feel real and alive. And you had firm walls where you couldn't go back.

[CKNovel]

I forgot which one was my first Final Fantasy.

Either the I on GBA, either the X on PS2. I think it was the GBA version.

I thought it was a cool RPG, especially loved how NPC would old informations about where to go next and you'd have to go around in town, talking to NPC.
Yes, I loved talking to NPCs, it was a time where I wouldn't want a single text bubble go to waste.
The additionnals dungeons were amazing, a chaotic labyrinth with many bosses.

The final boss, Chaos, actually impressed me with his backstory, the music was also great.
I was pretty fond of RPG, it was not as good as Golden Sun, but with X it ignited my love for the series.