Weekly /r/FinalFantasy Question Thread – Week of August 30, 2021

I am pretty sure that everything scales with you except for an optional boss that is always level 100 (and that's only in certain versions of the game).

I think you're avoiding experience more than I would on a typical playthrough, but this is a drastically overstated issue. Just don't actively grind levels and you'll be fine.

Enemies get huge bumps in power at levels 10 and 30. You're already past level 10, but it's nearly impossible to stay under that anyway, so I wouldn't worry too much. The game would probably be too easy if you did. The next leap in power happens at level 30, and you're still a ways away from that. Because of the way enemy level scaling works, you're still better off keeping your level low, but it's probably nothing to be too concerned about until you get into your late 20s.

Leveling barely gives you any power compared to the enemies that scale with your level too. Leveling isn't something you need to actively avoid, but don't grind levels without powering up otherwise at the same time. I know most stuff scales with you, but something might not, I don't actually know the game well enough for that.

I'd say just don't overthink it and make sure your junctions are good enough. Look up some of the best magic in the game so you know to get a ton of it when you come across it (I solved this by drawing max of everything but that's admittedly a bit tedious).

Did you sit through the entire end credits, I had to beat it twice because I closed the program about 2 minutes into the credits.

Gotta finish the credit i think.

Im doing a playthrough on steam right now!

Banishment powers up depending on how many ATB segments you've consumed before using Banishment. Consuming ATB via abilities or magic 3 times gives you Level 2. 6 times gives you a Level 3 Banishment when you use it.

It drops back to the regular Banishment (Lv1) after every use.

If you want a classic, retro feeling sort of game, try IV. If you think you'd want something with a different setting or with a more compelling story, try VI.

If you want a more modern feeling game, try X. If you want a REALLY modern feeling game, try XV (there are better games but it's really good as a modern sort of AAA world to enjoy)

If you want something more in the middle, try VII. If you prefer the fantasy setting, try IX.

If you want something nice and simple, try the pixel remasters of either I or III.

Since no one took the bait on the other end of your question, haha...

FF2 probably has the "lowest" reputation of the main line games. The original release was kind of buggy, it's a difficult game, and it wasn't available in English for a long time. Outside of that one... 7, 8, 10, 13 and 15 all have small to medium-sized pockets that dislike them, mostly because they do different things than other installments.

I should add, though - A "bad" Final Fantasy game is still better than most other RPGs, at least to me. Like, I'm not a huge fan of 2, 3 and 9, but I'd play them a hundred times over, vs. the TRULY bad RPGs on their era, stuff like Beyond the Beyond. Even the bad FF games still have interested ideas, concepts or visuals in them.

This is an extremely subjective topic and really comes down to the kinds of games you enjoy or want to try out.

FF 1, 2, 3 and 10 are turn-based RPG's, plain and (not so) simple. Of the original trilogy I'd go w/ 1. It's a classic, it's video game history and its the easiest of the first 3 to just 'pick up and play.' If you want a more cinema-esque turn-based experience instead, go w/ 10. It is, in mine and many other FF fans' opinions, one of the best entries in the entire series.

FF 4-9, 10-2, 13 and 13-2 use Square's patented Active Time Battle system (or variations of it), where battles are presented in turn-based fashion but run in real-time, meaning you have to act and react immediately to each encounter before the monster party wipes you out. These are my favorite FF games and imo epitomize what makes the series great and unique. If you're looking for great stories, worlds and characters go 4, 6, 7 and 9. If you're looking for interesting gameplay and character customization go w/ 5-9 and 10-2.

12 and 15 are unique in the series in that they use real-time action battle systems. 12 uses a variation of the ATB system (referenced above) called the Active Dimension Battle system. Basically it runs like an MMO in real-time w/ what's called the Gambit System, which allows you to customize your party's AI. In 12, you are basically the commander of an AI squad, programming them w/ conditional orders and occasionally (or always/usually if you prefer to play this way) jumping in directly to take control of a specific character.

15 is a full-on modern action RPG. I played it when it first came out and since then, as far as I've heard its basically a whole new game now, w/ the option to directly take control of any of the active party members (when I played only Noctis was available). If you like straight up action gameplay, then 15 is the way to go, though I would give 12 a try as well. 12 is not my favorite in terms of cast or story but it is def one of my faves gameplay-wise.

I know this doesn't really answer your question of best/worst, but again, that's going to be a different answer for everyone. I've heard it said that they best way to write a story is to start in the middle. I would say that's the best way to start the FF series as well, with the middle being any of the 4-9 games that use the ATB system.

Hope this helps and I hope you fall in love w/ this series as much as so many of us have!

Im an FFX fanboi. Played it through and through about 7 times.

if you want a classic style Final Fantasy, start with IV (i'd recommend the Pixel remaster coming out next week).

if you want a modern Final Fantasy, start with X.

also highly recommend having a controller even though you're on PC.

Yes, although some things may be a bit lost on you if you haven't played the original FF7. Although it's titled "Remake", it's not intended to be a replacement for the original and to some extent it relies on knowledge of it to give some context to what's happening.

That said, I'm sure you can still have a great time with it without having played the original.

Each FF game is a separate game. There are very small connections in between them.

Yes, it basically doesn’t matter where you start because each game is set in their own world with their own unique storyline and characters. Even the combat system is different in almost every entry. So especially with modern FFs it’s important not to expect another FF game to be similar to the one you played.

I never played FFVII lol because my favorite FF is FFVIII!!!

You need to actually own the spell to be able to use them. Just unlocking them on the board isn't enough. Try visiting the magick shops. Several spells can only be found in chests or as quest rewards, too.

Imo, V is the best other than VI, and like VI the current best version is the GBA version, which the Pixel Remaster should be a pretty big improvement upon. The other one that's worth mentioning is III, since that one has never had a 2D release in the west before.

gonna say V because of the job system.

prior to FF6 it always seemed like the FFs either focused on deeper gameplay or story. 6 has arguably the best of both. i'd say 5 has the best gameplay of the first 5 games .

depends on what your favorite aspects of 6 are. if you love the gameplay and customization of characters, I'd go w/ 5. if you love the story and the characters and the emotional/narrative journeys they take over the course of the game, go w/ 4. after playing 2 + 3 for the first time w/ these PRs I would say 4 is an improvement on 2 and 5 is an improvement on 3.

didn't try 13, but FFX sounds like a good start!

If you don't have much familiarity with other RPGs, 10 is a good "try it out" kind of game. If you do, then 10 and 12 are equally viable. If you like Action RPGs more, then you might prefer 13 over the others. And 8 is kind of its own thing - its combat system is so unique, it has people that love and hate it.

If you wanna go the safe route, just play the PS3 version. The PS3 version is limited to 30 FPS, but it's still a beautiful game and it's quite stable.

The fpsfix certainly helps reach 60fps for the Steam version, but a CPU that's decent at single core performance is still kinda required with that.

As for the Gamepass version, it's kinda early to tell but performance seems around the same as the Steam version, and if the fan made patches won't work for it initially, I would think that they'd be updated to work with it as well.

The original's leveling system is much, much worse than the PR. It's harder to gain stats and you can also lose stats after battle. Like gaining a strength point can cause you to lose an intelligence point, and sometimes you'd gain and lose a point in the same stat.

The remakes have really ironed out the system to make it much, much better.

10 was the first game with voice acting, which is something to appreciate even though it's obviously common now. The story is kinda basic final fantasy (evil threat, main character finds out twist that relates them to the villain, love story) but the characters are great and the twist is excellent.

It's also the last of the ATB system styled games, and makes pretty great use of the cast by letting you switch your characters at will in battle. The sphere grid (leveling system) is fun as well and lets you customise your characters after they've gone through their initial job / path.

12 was their attempt to move away from the early FF battle system. It can be a little confusing, but once you get the hang of it you start to feel very powerful and the game will basically play itself while you react to specific attacks and strategies. It lets you move around the field at will, but your characters act independently on a timed basis while you control one character, similar to dragon age, or FF7R without attacking and dodging.

The story is good, graphics are great, and if you get the most recent release (zodiac age?) there's lots of extra content and QOL stuff. Honestly one of my favourites, but it grew on me - I didn't really like it at first.

I haven't replayed 13 for a long time, but I remember finding the battle system engaging at times and boring at others, but I had a lot of fun with the end game hunting side quests. It's very railroad before that, but once it does open up it's great. The story wasn't amazing imo and some of the characters are insufferable to me personally, but a lot of others liked it. It's apparently much better in context with the other games in that self contained series (XII-2, lightning returns)

EDIT: if you enjoyed 15, try 13 first.

If you enjoyed 7, try 10 first.

If you want something different, try 12.

Not really. The more sci-fiy ones are VII, VIII, XIII and XV. Some others have a lot of steampunk style things, but don't really qualify as sci-fi, X in particular. Most entries have at least an airship or something similar.