This month, we’re getting a major piece of Final Fantasy history. Final Fantasy XV is finally going to appear after 10 years of hard work. Only time will tell if it goes on to be one of the best Final Fantasy games ever. But one thing is for sure, it will be in good company if it does find its place among the best.
In fact, ahead of Final Fantasy XV ‘s launch, why don’t we go over some of the best Final Fantasy games you can play? I’m not just talking about the main, major entries in the series. We’re going over all of the best Final Fantasy games as a whole, spin-offs included. If you have one of these games in your console or handheld, you’re definitely in for a good time.
Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light
Bravely Default is a great series, right? It touches on many of those Final Fantasy hallmarks, what with its crystals and robust job system. And where did it get its start? With Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light . This DS JRPG was a breath of fresh air for all those people who were trudging through the Final Fantasy XIII era and wondering why Square Enix was trying so hard to make us like Lightning. It offered a rather open world, lots of jobs, freedom to put together a party of our choosing, and nostalgic throwbacks to the original Final Fantasy games. If you haven’t played it, pick it up.
Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
Listen, Ehrgeiz back on the PlayStation showed that Square Enix always wanted to see if some sort of Final Fantasy fighting game would work. It wasn’t until the Dissidia series emerged that we saw that yes, yes it could. Especially since it managed to have both standard and turn-based control schemes. How crazy was that?
The second game is unquestionably the best, especially since Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy is basically a better version of the original game with a prequel and more characters built in. It had a great soundtrack, pulled in our favorite heroes and villains, and, most importantly, is so much fun to play.
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call
There’s one undeniable truth surrounding the Final Fantasy series. It has fantastic music. Even the worst installments have amazing soundtracks (I may or may not be looking at you, Final Fantasy XIII ). Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call lets you go through all of these songs. You can do them one at a time. You can go on Final Fantasy -style journeys. You have classic party members, whose stats and builds help you proceed through tracks. There’s even multiplayer. It’s an incredible game.
Final Fantasy V
While Final Fantasy III introduced jobs to the series, it was Final Fantasy V that perfected the system. This entry, which sadly doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, made jobs really matter. With 22 in the original game and 26 in the GBA and PC releases, we were given an astonishing amount of choice when building our party. Two people might experience very different playthroughs, all because of the choices they made as they played. The strategic options were endless. It also introduced us to Faris, one of the most interesting Final Fantasy heroines, and deserves extra points for that.
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy IV was the first Final Fantasy to have a really compelling story. The first three entries in the series did their best, but the first didn’t have defined characters, the second never gave us a chance to connect to anyone, and the third had us using blank slates in its original iteration. Final Fantasy IV showed us the rise and fall of heroes. Cecil went from a Dark Knight to a Paladin. His love risked her life to rejoin him. The little girl whose village he destroyed was forced to grow up far too soon and face her destiny. His best friend became one of his greatest foes. With this entry, Square Enix was able to really show its storytelling chops, and the game become a legend because of it.
Final Fantasy X
Tidus’ horrible laugh aside, Final Fantasy X was another step forward for the series. It offered another take on the class system by allowing people to take characters along Sphere Grids to determine what skills and abilities they possessed. It showed us a well developed world with a mystery that only revealed itself as we continued along the trek. It offered incredible music, beautiful sights, and one of the best battle systems in the series. Plus, even though it did kick off the unfortunately linear pattern games like FFXIII and World of Final Fantasy would adhere to, it still offered people quite a bit of freedom after they put in their time. It was just a good, solid game.
Final Fantasy IX
Final Fantasy VI, VII, and VIII did interesting things for the series, but all pushed it forward into cyberpunk areas and adventures. Crystals became less and less important and job classes tended to fall by the wayside. Enter Final Fantasy IX , a love letter to the early Final Fantasy games. It offered us a storyline with class-based characters who were as intricate and lovable as the ones found in Final Fantasy IV . It brought back the crystals we’d known and loved from the first few games. We were once again in a fantasy world, one filled with characters from all sorts of unexpected races. It brought Final Fantasy back to the realm of fantasy in all the best ways.
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fantasy Tactics is one of the best strategic video games you will ever play. The story is appropriately epic and grave. It introduces us to the world of Ivalice, one which will reemerge in various forms in Final Fantasy XII and other Final Fantasy Tactics games. We watch as Ramza, a young man and military cadet, finds himself in the middle of the War of the Lions and forced to accept harsh truths about his world and the nature of power. We followed our troops, made up of characters we’d shaped over many battles, through turn-based fights on grids. We uncovered 20 jobs in the original release and 22 in the PSP release. That isn’t counting the 11 additional character classes available via special characters who join after certain points in the story. Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions is the best version, thanks to increased difficulty, additional content, newly added movies, and even multiplayer.
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VII is unquestionably the most famous Final Fantasy , and for good reason. It had a solid cast of characters. It gave us a huge world to explore. We had a flawed hero to follow, one who had to grow and overcome his failings to become the man we knew he could be. It had a solid supporting cast of heroes and heroines who were each interesting in their own right. There was an overarching villain who you could love to hate. There were antiheroes who were technically bad guys, but had their moments of goodness. We had a fantastic battle system, with all sorts of summons to unlock and acquire. We could determine what role each party member played, thanks to materia. And, for the time, it was pretty darn pretty. Final Fantasy VII had a perfect combination of things that could make it a success and has become a part of gaming history because of it.
Final Fantasy VI
The end is only the beginning with Final Fantasy VI . This was not only a groundbreaking Final Fantasy game, but a revolutionary RPG in general. 14 people join our quest to save the world in Final Fantasy VI , and each one manages to get his or her own time in the spotlight. The game is divided in such a way that everyone has attention paid to him or her, allowing us to know what drives and motivates each one. We see the secrets of their pasts. Then, when it seems like they’re about to go into the final battle, the game doesn’t end. We follow these characters before and after the apocalypse as they attempt to make the world a better place. It gave us two heroines as its primary protagonists, Terra and Celes, in a time when men were the more common leads. It addressed serious issues such as mind control and suicide. This was a huge, incredible game and the best Final Fantasy .