Alongside Final Fantasy brand has expanded to include dozens of sequels, remakes, spinoffs, and even movies.
One of the biggest strengths of Final Fantasy is that creatures like Chocobos, Moogles, and Cactuars. For this list, we're going to take a look at the fourteen already-released numbered entries, as well as one particularly special spin-off which we just couldn't stand to ignore. With the long-awaited release of Final Fantasy XV right around the corner, let's take a look at Every Main Final Fantasy Game, Ranked.
15. Final Fantasy II
It's a testament to Final Fantasy's high standard of quality that its weakest entry still has a fiercely loyal fanbase. After the original Final Fantasy became an unexpected hit, the developers decided that the sequel should try to embrace new ideas. This philosophy, of not resting on laurels and always striving for innovation, has always been one of Final Fantasy's biggest strengths, but also an occasional weakness.
Final Fantasy II completely scraps the traditional XP and level-up system of the first game, opting instead for a game mechanic in which statistics would be advanced based on their use in battle. For example, characters who utilized physical attacks would become more powerful, and magic-casters would increase their magic stat. Unfortunately, the system didn't work particularly well, and players often found that the best way to increase their defense was to beat each other up during battles, instead of fighting enemies. On the other hand, the story was a noticeable improvement over the original, with more characters, dialogue, and unique situations outside of travelling strictly from dungeon to dungeon.
FFII first launched in Japan in 1988, but wouldn't see an American release until it was bundled with the original game in 2003's Final Fantasy Origins for the Playstation. To those picking up the game today, we recommend the PSP version, which features beautifully clean sprites, as well as a bonus dungeon, Soul of Rebirth, which acts as an epilogue to the game's story.
14. Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy games have always been aware of the line between sandbox-style exploration and more linear storytelling. Titles like the original FF and XII embraced the more wide-open nature of their worlds, while games like VII and X were more tightly focused and narrative-driven. X, in particular, didn't truly open its world to the player until the very end. Final Fantasy XIII, however, took this rigid linearity to an extreme, one which many fans still have yet to forgive.
FFXIII is a game which holds the player's hand way too tightly for the vast majority of the experience, imposing arbitrary level caps and keeping the player from choosing their own party much of the time. It tried to make up for it with an intelligent battle system, gorgeous graphics, and an interesting story, packed with momentum and exciting moments, but fan reception was decidedly cooler than Square Enix had expected.
While most gamers would have been happy to move on to a new setting after XIII's mixed reception, Square Enix saw fit to make two direct sequels to this polarizing entry in the series. XIII-2 was bogged down by nonsensical story and a distinct lack of challenge in its battle system. Lightning Returns brought back some of the magic with a new combat engine and a compelling narrative, but by then, the damage was done, and most fans were ready to put the whole XIII saga behind them.
13. Final Fantasy III
After Final Fantasy II's mixed reception, III served as something of a return to form for the series. XP and level-ups returned, as did the story structure of four Warriors of Light being chosen by the Crystal to defeat evil. The new twist to the formula was the introduction of Jobs, a class-system which changes the characters' abilities, as well as their sprites. It's fairly bare-bones, but it would later be elaborated upon in titles like FFV and Final Fantasy Tactics.
Unfortunately, the original NES version of the game never came out in the United States. North American gamers didn't get to play FFIII until it was rebuilt, from the ground up, for the Nintendo DS. This version featured 3D graphics and a host of new features, including characterization and names for the leads; in the original NES version, they were blank slates like in the first FF, but here, they all have unique designs and character traits. Overall, while it would be nice to play the original 2D version, the art style of the DS edition works well, and the new character beats are fun additions to the tried-and-true narrative.
12. Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy XI was Square's first attempt at a Massively Multiplayer Online RPG, and it proved to be a tremendous success for the company. The game first went live in 2002, and only just shut down its console servers in March 2016 (The PC game is still alive and kicking). Even when the XIII trilogy failed to impress a sizable portion of the fandom, players who were also MMO fans still had more than enough content to explore in XI. Over the course of its fourteen-year reign across PC, PS2, and Xbox 360, there were five expansions released for the game, as well as a number of smaller pieces of add-on content. Needless to say, the world of Vana'diel provided FF fanatics with hundreds, if not thousands, of hours of gameplay over its lifespan.
FFXI successfully combined Final Fantasy elements with MMO gameplay and aesthetics, creating a game which appealed to fans of both. In 2012, it was stated that Final Fantasy XI was the most profitable FF title yet. Time will tell if its successor, Final Fantasy XIV, will be able to match XI's impressive longevity.
11. Final Fantasy XII
In Japan, the twelfth mainline Final Fantasy title released in March of 2006. In North America, however, the title didn't hit shelves until October 31st, mere weeks before the launch of the Playstation 3. Perhaps this is the reason why the game is often overlooked by many casual fans. It's a shame, too, because FFXII is an incredible game, and a testament to the impressive power of the PS2 hardware.
Set in the world of Ivalice (which also featured in titles like FF Tactics and Vagrant Story), XII features a massive world to explore. Ivalice is among the rare videogame settings which doesn't just feel like a sandbox to play around in, but a fully-realized location which truly makes the player feel tiny in comparison. This sense of scale persists into gameplay and storytelling; XII broke away from Final Fantasy's tradition of random battles, with all encounters taking place on the "field map," without changing screens to a "battle map." Likewise, the story is larger than the characters themselves, and events are generally outside of the control of the player's team, echoing the similar approach taken years earlier, by FFVIII.
XII may be the underappreciated black sheep of the Final Fantasy family, but it will offer a shot at redemption to those poor souls who missed out on playing it the first time; Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age is currently on track for a March 2017 release date. This game will be a PS4 remaster of the Japanese re-release of the original game, including lots of extra content, similar to Square Enix's previous re-releases of FFX and the Kingdom Hearts games.
10. Final Fantasy XIV
Square Enix's second attempt at the MMO genre is currently beloved by Final Fantasy fans... but it certainly didn't start out that way. Announced for PC and PS3, XIV's original incarnation only saw release on home computers, and was immediately met with derision and disgust from players. Compared to XI, this new game was borderline unplayable, rife with bugs and burdened by an uncooperative interface. Part of the problem was that adapting XIII's Crystal Tools engine for an MMO was an exercise in futility. The game was doomed from the start, but was released anyway, in an obviously unfinished state. XIII is an unlucky number, indeed.
The Final Fantasy brand is strong, and capable of bouncing back and recovering from crippling blows. XIV's original incarnation was ended in dramatic fashion, with Bahamut literally destroying the world. The servers were shut down in November 2012, just two years after they had first gone live. One year after this, in 2013 (2014 for PS4 players), the game was relaunched as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. The game had been rebuilt from the ground up with a new graphics engine, and was essentially a whole new beast from the broken original. A Realm Reborn is what XIV should have been from the start, and its positive critical reception went a long way towards undoing the damage which had been done to Final Fantasy's good name. The 2015 expansion pack, Heavensward, was met with praise from fans and critics, and a second expansion, Stormblood, is poised to launch in 2017. At last, XIV has proven to be a worthy heir to the legacy of XI, and even superior to that legendary title in many respects.
9. Final Fantasy IV
During their initial lifespan, Final Fantasy II and III never came out in the United States. When IV was developed as the first FF for the Super Nintendo, it was released in America as Final Fantasy II, with numerous changes to its difficulty and script. In the Japanese version, Edward is never called a "Spoony Bard," among so many other differences.
Final Fantasy IV is legendary for adding a strong focus on storytelling to the series, telling a unique tale of redemption, with protagonist Cecil developing from a Dark Knight to a holy Paladin. The rest of the cast are colorful and quirky, from the dour dragoon, Kain, to the quirky twins, Porom and Palom. By today's standards, the story is ittedly predictable and rife with cliches, but at the time, it was far beyond what most games of 1991 were willing to explore.
On the gameplay end of the spectrum, FFIV was the first title to use the Active Time Battle system. This battle system would be used in every Final Fantasy title until X, as well as fellow iconic Square RPG Chrono Trigger. IV was ported to numerous systems in the decades since its release, including the Nintendo DS. Unlike the port of III, we find that the chibi art-style of the DS version isn't a great fit for the aesthetic of IV, so we'd instead recommend picking up the PSP version instead, which includes the episodic sequel, The After Years, as well as a brand new chapter, Interlude, which bridges the two eras of Final Fantasy IV.
8. Final Fantasy
The legend goes that Square was facing bankruptcy, and had only one shot to remain in the videogame business. As a reference to their predicament, they morbidly titled their new IP Final Fantasy, expecting it to be the last game the company would ever make. Fortunately for them, it became a hit, reversing the company's misfortunes.
Final Fantasy featured four nameless Warriors of Light, in any player-controlled combination of 6 classes: White Mage, Black Mage, Red Mage, Thief, Black Belt, and Fighter. These characters travel from town to town, righting wrongs, fighting the Four Fiends, and taking down the final boss, Chaos. There's not much to the storyline, but the game features a large world map to explore, and the sparse narrative and lack of hand-holding imbues the game with a unique sense of discovery when story beats do happen.
Final Fantasy has been re-released on pretty much every console imaginable. We recommend either the PSP 20th Anniversary edition, or any of the mobile ports of that version. The battle system is smoother and more balanced than the NES original, and the sprites practically pop off of the screen with stunning clarity, while still remaining true to the intent of the original art. Not like the iOS versions of V and VI... but we'll get to those soon enough.
7. Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy VII may have been the title which brought the series to 3D, but it was held back by extremely low quality character models and a distinct lack of animation. For the sequel, Square made sure to pull out all the stops to make VIII take full advantage of the Playstation hardware. Final Fantasy VIII, unlike its predecessor, used the same character models in battles as on the field screen, and they were of a much higher quality than those in VII. In addition, the FMV cutscenes were way beyond what VII was capable of, with detailed characters and more complex animations.
VIII's battle system was a bit esoteric, but hugely rewarding for those who cared to study its intricacies; characters could "draw" magic from their enemies, and "junction" those spells to their stats, boosting performance to gloriously game-breaking levels. However, VIII was the first entry in the series where enemies would scale to the player's level, meaning they would need every advantage to stay ahead of the curve. Simple level grinding wouldn't cut it this time.
The story was unique for a Final Fantasy game. The heroes are in charge of protecting the world and taking down universe-ending maniacs, but that's just background dressing for the real core of the narrative, the love story between Squall and Rinoa. Anyone who says they didn't tear up during the Eyes On Me sequence aboard the Ragnarok is a bold-faced liar.
6. Final Fantasy IX
Just as XII was the swan song for the PS2, Final Fantasy IX came out on the Playstation in November 2000, several weeks after the PS2 had already launched in North America. Likewise, its Japanese release was in July, months after the PS2 had launched in that country. Despite being overshadowed by powerful new hardware, FFIX still managed to sell over five million copies by 2003. Not as many as VII or VIII, but an impressive number, regardless.
Unlike the increasingly science fiction settings of VII and VIII, Final Fantasy IX was more of a throwback to the early days of Final Fantasy, complete with less realistic character designs and an aesthetic more in line with the older titles. From a gameplay perspective, the battle system retains the ATB method of the previous five games, and embraces its roots by adopting the rigid class system of entries like IV, where characters are locked into their roles from the start. Instead of just leveling up, however, characters can be grown by equipping certain pieces of equipment and gaining enough Ability Points. Unlike most RPGs where armor is constantly being switched as soon as a better piece is discovered, FFIX encourages players to hold on to obsolete equipment which can give characters special abilities.
Final Fantasy IX was recently re-released on Steam. Unlike the hideous ports of V and VI, FFIX looks identical to the PS1 original, with all of the original graphics intact. To those who wish to play the game in its completely original form, however, it is available to on the Playstation Store, as a "PS One Classic."