Let's Play Every Final Fantasy Game In Order Of Release [Now Finished: Final Fantasy Tactics]

Edge isn't even the only example of the trope in the Final Fantasy series - but we'll talk of the rest when they come up.
The thing is, among the nearest next games, none of the flirty and/or "cool" characters are as shitty as this guy, and they have enough story time and reason to believably become someone better.

I would take Edward making a surprise "i got better, now let me help you kick ass!" comeback over whatever superfluous waste of writing Edge is. But I repeat myself.
 
The thing is, among the nearest next games, none of the flirty and/or "cool" characters are as shitty as this guy, and they have enough story time and reason to believably become someone better.

I would take Edward making a surprise "i got better, now let me help you kick ass!" comeback over whatever superfluous waste of writing Edge is. But I repeat myself.
You'll want the GBA version specifically then. The GBA has a moment later on where you can pick which party members from among the surviving cast you want in your party, as long as Cecil is among them (you have to go to a specific point on the map to ask folks to switch out, its not a menu thing).

The DS version instead has departing party members give you an equippable Augment that lets you give their unique commands to one of the final five (which I suppose kinda spoils which ones come back and which don't, but it was an older game by that point so they probably expected everybody playing to know or something). Has its own benefits, since it lets you use commands from folks that didn't survive too, but also downsides since it means you can't offload the party members you hate.

This one, being Original Flavor, has neither.

In the GBA one Edward turns out to be a fucking beast, easily outdamaging the rest of the party at high levels, boy's a flamboyant magikarp.
 
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I would take Edward making a surprise "i got better, now let me help you kick ass!" comeback over whatever superfluous waste of writing Edge is. But I repeat myself.
Considering I said before that I didn't think Edward was a bad character, merely one that didn't inspire me any strong feelings (for reference, I think the worst character in FFIV is Kain), you won't hear me objecting to that; Edward coming back would be a better development than Edge staying on the team. As for those in upcoming games, as I said, we can talk of them when they come up.
 
I mean, when I was a kid, I just thought Edge was cool. Because, you know, Ninjas, and the whole unnecessary half-mask thing and giant shuriken...

...I don't find him all that grating? Maybe he's less useless in the DS version, I didn't check.
 
I forgot how much I loved FFIV, FFV, and FFVI before this. Definitely looking forward to when you get to 5 and 6, because those are the best 2D games, without question. Honestly, they're better than most of the 3D ones, imo.
 
The important thing about Edge isn't his writing or character, it's that he follows these design principles:



Which, to a certain kind of 13-year old, might as well make him the coolest guy alive.
 
The DS version instead has departing party members give you an equippable Augment that lets you give their unique commands to one of the final five (which I suppose kinda spoils which ones come back and which don't, but it was an older game by that point so they probably expected everybody playing to know or something).
The real fun is the part where to get every augment, you have to metagame and give all the party members you'll lose for good several augments each in order to make them drop their augments when they go.
I forgot how much I loved FFIV, FFV, and FFVI before this. Definitely looking forward to when you get to 5 and 6, because those are the best 2D games, without question. Honestly, they're better than most of the 3D ones, imo.
And so the "when did Final Fantasy peak?" debates begin, as always, with "3D was a mistake FF6 is Best" :V
 
And so the "when did Final Fantasy peak?" debates begin, as always, with "3D was a mistake FF6 is Best"
I've expressed the sentiment before that FFVI is almost a quintessential 2D experience - as in, the game wouldn't work in 3D. I'm planning to point out every instance of the why of this once the thread gets there. But I don't think 3D is impossible to make work for the Final Fantasy series, since I believe that FFIX is actually the best game in the franchise. Overall, it's a good thing to have variety in a series, I think, and while I can see the arguments for preferring the 2D looks, especially with games who didn't take any real advantage of the 3D environment, I can think of many far better reason why the debates on "what is the best Final Fantasy" focus on the titles they do so much. 2D vs 3D seems like a very peripheral concerns, to my eyes.
 
And so the "when did Final Fantasy peak?" debates begin, as always, with "3D was a mistake FF6 is Best" :V
"Man, I can't wait for you to get to 5 and 6. Those are some of the best ones in the series, in my opinion."

"God, here come the 2D fanboys, talking about how much the 3D games suck and they've been going downhill ever since they switched."

Okay, bro.
 
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Without getting far ahead of myself, one thing I'm actually pretty interested in the PS1 era of Final Fantasy is that we often refer to it as "3D," but the way its 3D works - pre-rendered environments without camera movement - create a distinctive and unique form of 3D design that truly stands apart as kind of its own thing compared to the latter, free-camera 3D that would come to define the medium, if one defined by its own limitations.

(Notably, you can see that evolution most strikingly in the Resident Evil series, and RE4 basically inventing the over-the-shoulder camera style when all prior games had used static camera pre-rendered backgrounds was a seismic shift in gaming history, but you're not here to hear me talk about that.)

As far as I'm aware, mainline Final Fantasy games never used isometric graphics, did they? That's another really interesting approach to RPG visual design and storytelling, with its own strengths and limitations.
 
The important thing about Edge isn't his writing or character, it's that he follows these design principles:
The actual old official FF4 artwork for him is definitely a thing. Man is basically toting a whole ass comforter around his shoulders. That ain't a scarf or a cape, it's a king sized blanket. Looks like a pretty comfy one, too, for that matter.

also he ain't wearin' a mask, that thing's a veil

and
he be wearin' harem pants

not saying edge's a precursor to crossdressing link in BotW, but. You could make the argument.
 
"Man, I can't wait for you to get to 5 and 6. Those are some of the best ones in the series, in my opinion."

"God, here come the 2D fanboys, talking about how much the 3D games suck and they've been going downhill ever since they switched."

Okay, bro.
Sorry if it came off that way, I was mostly jabbing fun at how FF6 is often the first dropoff point in the series of "guys everything after this is BAD and AWFUL." Personally even if FF5/FF6 are easily some of my own favorites, I don't think there's really any major issues in the main games until like... FF12 onwards, and that one had some shit going on behind the scenes with the development cycle from my understanding.
 
The correct answer to which Final Fantasy is best is whichever Final Fantasy you most enjoy playing. It is a video game series, and as such it's primary purpose is to provide joy and entertainment.

The other correct answer is Final Fantasy XIV.
 
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I've generally enjoyed every Final Fantasy title I've played, to varying degrees, although the FF13 trilogy never quite hooked me after the first. Only played a bit of 13-2, and haven't competed either it or its sequel to this day. Had some nice character & world design, though! Fang and Vanille being Australian was neat too.
 
Fang and Australian for exactly one reason and one reason alone - the bad pun.

Gran Pulse was down under Cocoon.
Oh wow, that never clicked. I was just happy to see some Aussie representation in my Japanese jrpg, lol. Or videogames in general, really - we tend to just get European or USA voice actors for the English cast.
 
I guess there was nothing ninja related in my youth, so the ninjacool side of the Force never held sway over my emotions. :V

And so the "when did Final Fantasy peak?" debates begin, as always, with "3D was a mistake FF6 is Best" :V
As a hopeless FFVI whore, I can only call "ORANGES!" to that. FFIX will life rent free in my heart until the heat death of the universe, FFVIII has aged fairly well, and I doubt FFVII is still as loved by people for nothing.

And yes, there's a difference between pre-rendered 3D and full 3D games. But X I think still has a good rep, I've never heard XII to be considered Bad™️ despite the development drama, and the worse I've heard about XIII is that is weird for a FF (lol, ok). And linear. But I put that on the weird.*

They might not always hit a "10/10 would play again" mark for everyone and of course you might not like them, but there's always enough of something decent in every FF that saying any of them is a mistake... feels like just being contrarian just for the sake of scoring coolness points with your tribe.

I've expressed the sentiment before that FFVI is almost a quintessential 2D experience - as in, the game wouldn't work in 3D.
It could. That any studio can be trusted to do the job in this industry culture and time is an entirely different matter. Many wouldn't risk it.

I think I've read about Nomura being interested in remaking more FFs, but I don't see his style working for FFVI. Although going through FFXIV, sometimes I get the feel that YoshiP's team maybe? sometimes manage to give a vibe that could indicate being able to pull it off (and I'm not saying this because of the Omega raids).


*Most weekdays I also tend to consider Stranger of Paradise a main series FF and a good one at that, because screw you Flanders.
 
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Oh wow, that never clicked. I was just happy to see some Aussie representation in my Japanese jrpg, lol. Or videogames in general, really - we tend to just get European or USA voice actors for the English cast.
Xenoblade Chronicles 2 did the exact same casting pun, where the giant continent-animal whose inhabitants had australian accents was the fish with inhabitable innards that spent much of its time down under the sea.
 
Sorry if it came off that way, I was mostly jabbing fun at how FF6 is often the first dropoff point in the series of "guys everything after this is BAD and AWFUL." Personally even if FF5/FF6 are easily some of my own favorites, I don't think there's really any major issues in the main games until like... FF12 onwards, and that one had some shit going on behind the scenes with the development cycle from my understanding.
Nah, it's not a big deal. I had a feeling, from that emoji.
 
And yes, there's a difference between pre-rendered 3D and full 3D games. But X I think still has a good rep, I've never heard XII to be considered Bad™️ despite the development drama, and the worse I've heard about XIII is that is weird for a FF (lol, ok). And linear. But I put that on the weird.*

They might not always hit a "10/10 would play again" mark for everyone and of course you might not like them, but there's always enough of something decent in every FF that saying any of them is a mistake... feels like just being contrarian just for the sake of scoring coolness points with your tribe
A lot of people don't like X. Personally, I don't like XIII, to the point where I had to be literally bribed to finish it by a friend. And people might like XIV now but it was originally deservedly a giant flop that had to be massively reworked.

But, you know, they can't all be winners and I think you're doing really well if you have more than ten good games in a series.
 
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A lot of people don't like X. Personally, I don't like XIII, to the point where I had to be literally bribed to finish it by a friend. And people might like XIV now but it was originally deservedly a giant flop that had to be massively reworked.

But, you know, they can't all be winners and I think you're doing really well if you have more than ten good games in a series.
The popularity of XIII can best be described by the fact that I bought it for Xbox 360 at gamestop for $8. The Xbone hadn't yet come out at the time, so it wasn't a "try to get rid of the old gen games" sale either.
 
I'd also put FFXV on the chopping block in terms of often disliked/less liked Final Fantasies.

Honestly, without A Realm Reborn changing XIV to arguably the best game in the series from just the absolute worst, I don't think you could find a consecutive trio of numbered FF games liked less than XIII-XV.
 
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