Why Final Fantasy is the Biggest RPG Series of All Time

Final Fantasy has dominated the JRPG landscape for over 30 years. But just how much gil has the franchise stacked up?

[Sophisticated_Chap]

The best one was the first one on the NES.

[phoenixwing]

maybe for it's time but you would have to be insane to consider all the qol improvements and graphics improvements as nothing better.

[nitus10]

No! Try playing Final Fantasy IV, V, and then VI.

All the Final Fantasy games are good although they do have their strengths and weaknesses.

[darthv72]

I've always been more of a phantasy star fan than final fantasy fan. That could also be because I preferred Sega to Nintendo back then.

[esherwood]

As someone that loves rpg’s and never owned a PlayStation I was excited to try them. After getting playing 15 on Xbox and 10-2 on switch I was pretty disappointed. I wonder how much of the love is just name and nostalgia. I did like tactics on my phone though

[phoenixwing]

tbh final fantasy 6-8 are my favs the rest are ok i guess. I haven't played the remake but it should be good. The thing about the worst final fantasy is that it's at least decent quality wise for its time. I can't really say any of them are actually terrible or not worth playing for the time they released.

[L7CHAPEL]

I have tried two different ones, (20-25 HOURS RESPECTIVELY ON EACH ONE*) I just can't get into the approach/ the art style/ the different combat styles/ it just does not appeal to me, although I will say for the art style, that's the most impressive thing, they are incredible to look at.

I'm really happy though, honestly,
it's nice to see a lot of people that are really in love with a franchise, get something they absolutely are in love with (7remake) so that's a beautiful thing, but yeah it's never been for me,
I just didn't get the hook...
maybe it's because I didn't get into gaming until I was older,
and I love some RPGs, but a lot of Japanese ones I just cannot follow the eccentricities of, it's just not my style, I loved Mass effect, I loved kingdoms of amalur,of course Fable the original and the second one, Witcher 3, I can name quite a few others... Just not FF...

[nitus10]

Personally I could not get into 10-2 (still have the game) and I could say the same for FF15 although it is still on my to-do list. I have liked all the FF games from 4 onwards although I have yet to play 9 (go figure).

I will definitely give you kudos for "Kingdoms of Amalur". IMHO that was a really good game, it is a pity that the developer went out of business. Of course, the Witcher 3 is IMHO a classic but I do strongly suggest playing the game on the hardest difficulty and not changing it since the game becomes so much more than a hack and slash adventure.

[Razmiran]

Did you try 10 on switch? Or just 10-2?

[ShadowWolf712]

Frankly, you picked two very poor representations of the series at its peak.

VI and IX are two of the best, imo. Would recommend giving those a try.

[PhoenixUp]

“Biggest RPG series of all time”

Pokémon: “Is someone talking about me?”

[franwex]

No. We aren’t actually.

[Tross]

Baby's first JRPG? Heck no. Sure, Pokemon is technically a JRPG with some of the staples of the genre, but most of its appeal lies in the collection aspect. I respect it for being the most successful franchise that involves summoning and battling creatures, but I think it's a mistake to approach it as a JRPG.

Random encounters do have meaning, I'll give it that. However, as far as turn-based battle systems go, I find it quite lackluster. I've just seen battles done better countless times by many a JRPG with far more nuance. It's also the only series I know of where you can technically run from what is essentially a boss battle, or where you can run back and heal up after every mini-boss (it takes longer to play that way, but it's doable). I get that it's designed to be easy for people of all ages (especially children) to play, and it can be engaging, but I certainly try not to think of it as a JRPG...even though I've clearly analyzed it from that perspective. *Reflects on people complaining that the latest games took a lot of the "challenge" out of Pokemon and LOLs*

For the record, I do have respect for Pokemon...but I really don't approach it in the same way I would a Final Fantasy, or even a Persona game. It's more than the sum of its parts, and I don't think it was ever meant to be approached in the same vein as those other games. I just happened to analyze it from that perspective once, and the results were...informative to say the least.

[PhoenixUp]

@ fran

You can’t talk about the biggest RPG franchise and not bring up Pokémon

Not only that, but Pokémon is the biggest multimedia franchise of all time.

@ Tross

Technically? Pokémon is by any definition an RPG franchise. Trying to discredit it in that genre is ridiculous, especially by saying that the collection aspect means it can’t count as one. By that logic Shin Megami Tensei isn’t an RPG series since it started the monster collecting aspect.

[Tross]

Read my post. I'm not saying it isn't a RPG or trying to discredit it in any way. Just that it's not what I would point to if someone were to ask me for a game or franchise that exemplifies the quintessential JRPG, let alone label it as anywhere near one of the greats in the genre. In other words, don't break a game in the series down into its components and examine how one particular component of the game compares to other examples of games that revolve around similar mechanics.

I don't think Pokemon is a great JRPG series, and I stand by that. Lucky for it, it's more than just turn-based battles and random encounters, which I maintain are done better elsewhere. The monster collecting aspect is clearly the focus of the game, and the rest of the gameplay is likely kept rudimentary on purpose to accentuate that, while also allowing even inexperienced players to get the most out of it.

A game that played much like Pokemon with none of the collecting aspect would probably be a terrible bore to play IMHO. But hey, hollow bones are helpful in keeping birds light enough to fly, and maybe a similar principle applies when analyzing what makes Pokemon work as well as it does. That doesn't make its bones any less hollow though.

[PhoenixUp]

Read my OP. I’m not talking about the quintessential RPG series, I’m talking about the biggest RPG series.

You can say anything you want about Pokémon, it still doesn’t take away the fact it’s the most successful franchise in its genre

[Knightofelemia]

I never got into Final Fantasy until 7 my first snes rpg was Chrono Trigger man I miss those old Squaresoft days. There are a lot of Final Fantasies that have touched fans in so many ways from the awkward laugh Tidus and Yuna do in FFX the death of Aerith in FF7. Nobuo Uematsu is a great composer and brought a lot of memorable tunes to the Final Fantasy world. From Rinoa's theme which I like Yuna's theme, Aerith's theme, Tifa's theme the opening tune to FF7. Yoshitaka Amano and Tetsuya Nomura are some great artists also in the Final Fantasy world as well. FF is a great series I got into with out other companies following the same road as Square we would never have other great rpg's like the Tales series, Legend of Dragoon, Wild Arms, Grandia, Breath of Fire, Alundra, to name a few titles. Its always great to see what FF games a fan likes and what they hated about the FF game of their choice.

[Tross]

It was instrumental in helping shape the genre into what it is today with multiple entries in the series being influential for their time. Of course it's famous. More recent entries haven't been nearly as influential IMHO, but the series still has that legacy that it built up over the years, and that's why it will forever be among the most successful JRPG franchises.

[Chaos_Order]

For me the best aspect of the series is how it has reinvented itself constantly. While the first few on NES/SNES work pretty much the same, anything past that has been different every time. Tons of other RPGs have the same battle systems, levelling systems, art style, same world etc with just some minor tweaks with each title. FF tries something different every time, which I guess is why there's so much disagreement among fans over which games are best.