I know that Cane & Rinse never have, and probably never will do a podcast on Final Fantasy VII, but does anyone know of any similar discussion / video documentary on the game? It's one of my favourites of all time, and I've recently been playing through it again for the first time in at least ten years and felt the urge for a C&R style in depth discussion on the game - but no luck finding one so far, so I ask the Cane & Rinse community - does anyone know of one? Thanks!

There was a good Retronauts podcast all about it a few years back. You should the check that out.

Sounds good, thanks

Long story short, I have around 12 quid in my PSN Wallet which I have decided to use on the 25th Anniversary Final Fantasy sale. I have no RPG on my Vita and so these should fill in some time on my commute. I played FFVII at uni and loved it, so have some inclination to relive it. I also finished and liked FFVIII but am not interested in doing that again. In PS2 era, I enjoyed FFX but didn't play any of the others. I tried playing XII but it was the Japanese version and I wasn't up to the language.

So, what combination do you guys recommend I go for? I am thinking maybe FFVII, FFIX and then the War of the Lions for some variety.

richie_in_japan wrote:So, what combination do you guys recommend I go for? I am thinking maybe FFVII, FFIX and then the War of the Lions for some variety.

That sounds like a fine plan to me.

Yeah IX's definitely worth picking up for sure. I'd buy VII even if its just to know its there if you know what I mean

VI, VII, VIII and IX are all fondly remembered for different reasons. I personally loved what I played of FFVIII so I'd say that, but I think all of them will offer you the real "Final Fantasy" experience that doesn't seem to exist any more.
With you already having played VII and VIII, perhaps VI and IX are the ways to go?

I'd go for VI, IX and Tactics.
IV for the PSP is meant to be fantastic but it's £7.99.

I understand VII's importance but I only played any of it recently and I don't think it stands up to what I've played of I,III,IV & VI the only FF I've played that stands with the sprite based games is IX.

Definitely get FF6, it comes extremely close to being better than FF7. 9 is also an absolute must play, and the last Final Fantasy worth bothering with in my opinion. Every FF game after 9 has been a massive let down.

Just a heads-up, but the original SNES version of FFVI is available on the UK Wii Virtual Console, under its US title of FFIII. Unlike the PSN version of PAL FFVI it runs full speed and full screen.

Just to add my two cents, I hated FFIX. I absolutely loved 7 & 8. If it was me, I'd just grab 6 & 7, since you don't want to replay 8.

IX is my favourite, and it looks gorgeous on the Vita.

IX really divides people. Actually most of them do, but particularly IX.

Hijacking this topic for my own nefarious means, what about the same question for "a friend" who has never played a Final Fantasy game?

I'd still say start with 7.

Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of the Souls on GBA

Like with JRPGs in general, I've had a bit of a weird relationship with Final Fantasy. I want to like them, but the vast majority of what I've tried I've ended up hating.

iwatttfodiwwfa wrote:Hijacking this topic for my own nefarious means, what about the same question for "a friend" who has never played a Final Fantasy game?

Play Dragon Quest 8, the best Final Fantasy games are just too dated for someone fresh to the game today (the loading times alone will put "them" off most of the early 3d renditions and even psn versions of the 2d games). DQ8 distills everything good about the FF games into something much more appealing to play today, then play Ni No Kuni afterwards!

I love 6 and 7, quite enjoy 3,4,5,9 & 12 and can only say great things for tactics but only 12 and tactics feel fresh enough to start today.

If anybody has the ability to look past the graphics (which in term of design I still adore) I'd suggest playing 6 and 7, you really don't need to play anything else (excluding DQ8)! Tactics is something else and should be played but with the upcoming Fire Emblem and a huge collection of Disgaea games it's side-stepable.

Scrustle wrote:Like with JRPGs in general, I've had a bit of a weird relationship with Final Fantasy. I want to like them, but the vast majority of what I've tried I've ended up hating.

Totally reasonable, I'd heavily suggest you just ditch the ghost for DQ8 too. Having said that, I started with the traditional JRPG but I'm happy to get deep into SRPG's and tactics is well worth a try if you want a darker story than FF but an arguably more absorbing gameplay system to go with it!

iwatttfodiwwfa wrote:Hijacking this topic for my own nefarious means, what about the same question for "a friend" who has never played a Final Fantasy game?

Final Fantasy VII and VIII. Those are probably the two most iconic in the series. Several people will mention VI and IX, or even X, but everyone would probably mention VII in particular. So that one for sure.

XII is worth a shout as its OST and combat system are great plus there are some absolute bastard boss fights in there too