[DaBackpack]

Originally Posted by ShadoWolfe

I played every Final Fantasy up to 9 as a kid, and never played 10-12.

Went straight from 9 to 13 and was kind of whiplashed.

Each of the earlier ones was incredible for different reasons

FF4 is legendary, dramatically changed the entire genre, and has an incredibly compelling story and world
FF5 had the job system that was super fun, but the story was lacking compared to FF4 and FF6
FF6 took all the good aspects from the previous ones and expanded on them, with one of the best gameplay, plots, playable characters, world, and lore of any game to date
FF7 is an incredible game, and brought the isometric "3d" style to the series. plot was incredible, characters were compelling, and it was fun. It was my favorite for a bit, but
FF8 blew it out of the water imo. just the best Final Fantasy in the entire series by far. stunning graphics for the time, an incredible plot that, to me, was more compelling than FF7. Everything in this game was masterful. Card collection, character adaptability with the guardian force system, draw points, junction system. Just amazing through and through. To this day I will hum some of the tunes from how much it stuck playing it as a kid.
FF9 was just 10 steps backwards imo

my man

(except for FF9, that game's tight)

FF10 is really good too, especially as an entry-level JRPG. my fav game is still FF6 after all these years

edit: historically, ff8 has always gotten kind of a bad rap, especially right as it was released. at the time people thought that Squall was just a lesser ripoff of Cloud because they superficially share the same archetype.

the game has started seeing attention again, possibly because of the remaster, and people are seeing it much more favorably now that time has passed. Squall is, IMO, a much more interesting and likeable character than Cloud--- and one written less sloppily. They might seem similar on the surface but the devil's in the details. (Won't elaborate here because spoilers)

I remember the story and music having me enamored as a kid. It still has some of my favorite scenes in the series, like Laguna meeting Julia, the scene in the spaceship where Squall finally lets himself become vulnerable to Rinoa, and that absolutely mindblowing and cathartic ending. The game as a whole is well-delivered but in a very subtle way. I have a feeling it would have been received much better if it didn't immediately follow FF7.

[With that said, I don't know if I would replay FF8, especially when I can watch the cutscenes online.]

"Just a little longer."

Even now I'm impressed by just how good the writing is. A very natural and compelling romance story