Final Fantasy Ranking
Final Fantasy Ranking (Mainline + Spinoffs).
FFXIV online is meant to represent ARR and all the 2.X content. Expansions and DLCs will also be ranked on their own, but in the case of something like Remake and XVI, will also contribute to how their main game is ranked.
FFXIV online is meant to represent ARR and all the 2.X content. Expansions and DLCs will also be ranked on their own, but in the case of something like Remake and XVI, will also contribute to how their main game is ranked.
23 Games
A genuine piece of poetry in game form. It's amazing how Shadowbringers all comes together like that. Still suffers from XIV's perpetual problems like pacing and quest design and whatnot, but those are nitpicks compared to the absolute triumph of poetic storytelling that is the MSQ.
1
Slightly beaten out by Shadowbringers, mostly because of my preference of ShB's more poetic structure, and how the problems with XIV are probably at their worst in this expansion. Not dissimilar to Shadowbringers is how much of a triumph of storytelling Endwalker is, despite the issues plaguing it. A fitting cap off to Square's second most ambitious saga, with tons of arcs getting some of the most satisfying payoffs I've seen.
2
Reflecting on Heavensward is really weird because, both at the time and now, I don't think anything from the MSQ aside from the patch content particularly stands out narratively. Heavensward isn't a story that'll change lives, feed families, or cause a paradigm shift in my thinking, but I just think that it's an overall really well-rounded, narratively and thematically sound expansion that's confident in what it is and what it wants to say. I don't think it reaches the highs of Endwalker or is as poetic as Shadowbringers, but where it excels is being the first expansion to truly bring out the best in XIV insofar as story and characters. ARR planted the seeds, but they never really started growing until 2.55. Take Alphinaud, who is pretty well established in ARR, but also relatively static and doesn't really grow. Now take Heavensward, which places pretty substantial focus on his growth, something that would continue well into Endwalker. All this is not to mention the plethora of other great characters like Estinien and Aymeric, as well as the patch content's reintroduction of Thancred and Alisaie, who, like Alphy, would go on to become among the game's finest. Heavensward's pretty great imo.
7
Best gameplay in the series. Story isn't as mid as some say, and it's the best iteration of the more lax approach to storytelling present throughout the NES era. Cast is surprisingly good and enjoyable, sharing many fun interactions and a couple of memorable moments. Gilgamesh is the goat.
9
FFX is a weird game. I have fond memories of it, it was the first game to make me cry, and thematically I think it's one of the best games ever. That being said, I have a fair number of issues with the game that I feel drag it down: First of all, I think the gameplay is not great. I'm hesitant to call things overrated because of how little that word means these days, but I genuinely think that mechanically, FFX is an overrated, imbalanced, unfun mess that I just didn't enjoy all too much. I also think that, in spite of some great moments that accentuate the game's ideas very well, the story isn't that great either. It's good, don't get me wrong, and I understand what it was going for, but for a world as conceptually and thematically interesting and dense as Spira, I don't quite think the story quite lived up to those established concepts. The cast is good but outdone by VI, VII, and IX's, nor does it reach the heights of a character like my beloved Squall from VIII. The presentation is also honestly just very weak compared to basically every other game, from the cinematography to the audio design, which is especially disappointing considering how Spira itself is such an interesting setting; better presentation would've been to its benefit. X is a good game and one I really really respect, and certainly one I'll never forget, but I don't quite think it's one of the series' best, let alone one of the best JRPGs of all time like so many normies who've only ever played Final Fantasy love to harp on about.
10
Biggest question is how did Maehiro go from writing Heavensward to this? Don't get me wrong XVI is a good game, but the writer fails to capture even an ounce of the nuance he did for Square's biggest mainline release than when compared to an expansion to a mid MMO.
That being said, I like a lot of XVI and the experience surprised me in many ways. Combat loop is easy, but quite fun when I really got into it. The cast isn't great, but I think it's quite good, same with the antagonists. All this to say, the game is good, and I think that's its biggest problem. I wish it were great, but instead of excelling at anything, it's a mostly good game with good writing and good gameplay, never really going beyond that. The major negatives would have to be the quest design and pacing, both of which are unfortunate holdovers from CBU3's experience with XIV, as well as the gear system, which might be the worst I've seen in any FF game. It's a huge letdown considering gear is an incredibly essential component to RPG progression systems, being just as essential as skill progression. If the game could have such a diverse skill and upgrade system, why not the gear? Massive shame.
I'll probably write more about this game in the future, but let it be known that I do indeed think it's a good game, but not the masterpiece many would've hoped that it was.
That being said, I like a lot of XVI and the experience surprised me in many ways. Combat loop is easy, but quite fun when I really got into it. The cast isn't great, but I think it's quite good, same with the antagonists. All this to say, the game is good, and I think that's its biggest problem. I wish it were great, but instead of excelling at anything, it's a mostly good game with good writing and good gameplay, never really going beyond that. The major negatives would have to be the quest design and pacing, both of which are unfortunate holdovers from CBU3's experience with XIV, as well as the gear system, which might be the worst I've seen in any FF game. It's a huge letdown considering gear is an incredibly essential component to RPG progression systems, being just as essential as skill progression. If the game could have such a diverse skill and upgrade system, why not the gear? Massive shame.
I'll probably write more about this game in the future, but let it be known that I do indeed think it's a good game, but not the masterpiece many would've hoped that it was.
11
XII has so so much going for it: a strong premise and setting, interesting characters, a fantastic combat system, especially once you get into the meat of it, and interesting side content in the form of hunts. All of this just makes how it panned out in the end quite disappointing for me. The story is interesting and definitely more politically intriguing than FFXVI, but it never evolves past its preliminary stages. Same can be said for the game's writing in general. Ashe, Basch, Balthier, and even Vaan are all good, but their arcs are not very well defined throughout the game, making them unfortunately feel like afterthoughts as the story rolls along. Progression and gameplay are great, but the endgame grind is a typical dumb JRPG droprate fest. I never ended up challenging Chaos, Ultima, or Zodiark, which is a shame because the rest of the summon bosses were all very good and interesting, and definitely more challenging than the game's main campaign for the most part.
12
Good when you don't have a bitch in your ear telling you it's mid.
13
Would've been lower but Rebirth made me see the vision. It isn't great, and I struggle to even call it good, but Zack, Cloud, and Sephiroth are all great and substantiated in different ways, all of which recontextualize and enhance both the original and Rebirth a ton.
17
Most overrated game of all time. A balanced experience and undoubtedly influential, but the story and characters, which boomers love to praise to hell and back, is the epitome of melodramatic mediocrity. In fairness, video game storytelling was in its relatively infancy, but I firmly believe the medium's evolution is something to be celebrated and "being good for its time" isn't a valid defense for the poor writing.
18
FFXIV reference????
21
Better than FF1 in many ways, but also worse in some ways too. Still, an improvement and I'm glad I don't have a fucker in my ear telling me it sucks.
22
Established the series' superficial identity with mages, knights, dragons, kingdoms, chaos, and more. I appreciate it, and more than anything, I certainly respect it, but I wouldn't call it a game I like by any means.
23