Final Fantasy - Which Game is The Best?

__________ As I mentioned earlier, the top 5 games of this list I'd easily recommend to anyone. These are not only some of the best Final Fantasy games, but some of the best video games period. What you get out of these games is down to personal preference, but they are all deserving of your time. Comments for each game are going to be longer from here on out too! __________

5. Final Fantasy VI

We start off with easily the best Final Fantasy of the 2D pre-PlayStation One era. FFVI was the first game in the series to successfully blend impressive story-telling with a solid gameplay basis. It delved much deeper into the realm of drama and emotion than any of the previous games, and in truth shares more in common from a story-telling perspective with later games in the series rather than with its 2D brethren. The gameplay doesn't exactly stand out, but it makes up for that by having a variety of fantastic settings and battles, memorably fighting on and with a ghost train and even fighting dinosaurs! The game starts out a tad difficult especially if you're not accustomed to RPGs, but gets easier the more you venture further into the game. The meat of the game here too, is the story. As one of the first games to have a poignant and engrossing story, it definitely stands out. The story does however show the limitations of the hardware it was on. You have to enjoy watching 2D sprites jumping up and down in excitement and exaggerated blushing moments too among other such things. The story of FFVI is told in an opera-esque fashion. From the opening scene until the ending credits, numerous situations point to the game as an opera performance. It's a brilliant take on gaming, and helps showcase the game's focus on story-telling. Some of it has been romaticised however, as certain events are hyped to degrees that I personally don't see fit. A good example being the Opera scene in the game, which while good, isn't great nor does it have a significant bearing on the game's story. Another moment is Kefka's rise to power. A supposed integral moment is somewhat laughable as Kefka gets stuck between statues while the party escapes. Overall though, it's still a decent tale. Kefka is a memorable villain, although in the second half of the game, during the World of Ruin stage after Kefka gains power, he is no where to be seen except at the end, where he suddenly becomes metaphorical and randomly asks the party 'what is love?' and about the meaning of life and so on. The main party is pretty big too, although Terra and Locke are the main two of the group. There are some cheesy moments in the game, chief being Locke and Celes' blossoming relationship, but it's all still very charming. The second half of the game is a bit slow and not as interesting as the first half since the main plot takes a back seat to character side-stories ala Mass Effect 2. FFVI is one of the few games in the series I'd like to see remade in 3D. Although I'm not sure if pure fans would take kindly to a serious remake, perhaps preferring a FFIX-esque remake where all the charms and silliness of 2D sprites are relived in 3D (ie characters jumping up and down to express joy/turning bright red when blushing).