Board 8 > Gamespot's Official Ranking of Single Player Mainline Final Fantasy Games

(+) Yeah! (+)

Looks pretty damn spot on except why does everyone have such a hardon for Zodiac Age? Turning a 2/10 game into a 6/10 is a 300% improvement, but it's still a 6/10.

My personal rankings (and the version I played them)

Final Fantasy X (PS2, PS3)
Final Fantasy VII PS
Final Fantasy IX PC
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy IV GBA
Final Fantasy VI GBA
Final Fantasy XII PS2
Final Fantasy II GBA
Final Fantasy I GBA
Final Fantasy XIII
Final Fantasy III DS
Final Fantasy X-2 HD

I'm sure people will hate me for not liking VI all that much

imagine thinking xiv doesnt count as mainline, but 7 remake does

TomNook7 posted...

imagine thinking xiv doesnt count as mainline, but 7 remake does

If I haven't played it it's not mainline

It kinda makes me sad how many core ff fans will never play shadowbringers

its the messiah we were all waiting for

I haven't been waiting for one because I found it 25 years ago

TomNook7 posted...

It kinda makes me sad how many core ff fans will never play shadowbringers

its the messiah we were all waiting for

It's daunting! It's not like I don't understand. Before playing XIV I completely wrote it off for its genre and KNEW I wouldn't like it. Certainly never expected it would be the best FF game with the best story and characters.

TomNook7 posted...

imagine thinking xiv doesnt count as mainline, but 7 remake does

imagine reading

personally I wouldn't include VIIR though. I would group it with Crisis Core and Dirge or Cerberus and the like

16 not on the list, this is a joke.... and not a funny one either

GANON1025 posted...

16 not on the list, this is a joke.... and not a funny one either

It's #7

TomNook7 posted...

It kinda makes me sad how many core ff fans will never play shadowbringers

its the messiah we were all waiting for

If only there was a way to make an RPG that doesn't require a literal man-year of grinding to experience

foolm0r0n posted...

If only there was a way to make an RPG that doesn't require a literal man-year of grinding to experience

shadowbringers only took me like 80 hours not sure what youre talking about

You literally never grind in XIV during a regular playthrough.

In fact, the issue is that you get too much EXP, so if you don't change jobs during the story you're going to be throwing a bunch away.

Can you jump right to it?

TomNook7 posted...

shadowbringers only took me like 80 hours not sure what youre talking about

how long to beat A Realm Reborn, Heavensward, and Stormblood tho

foolm0r0n posted...

Can you jump right to it?

Technically yeah, but that would suck ass.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Technically yeah, but that would suck ass.

I'ma do it

If that's 20 bucks for the jump spend....!

Plus you'll immediately be forced into the $15 monthly fee. Otherwise the entire game is 100% free to play until you REACH Shadowbringers.

foolmo playing shadowbringers..... a GOAT playing a GOAT, you love to see it

MZero posted...

imagine reading

personally I wouldn't include VIIR though. I would group it with Crisis Core and Dirge or Cerberus and the like

No way. Remake is a way bigger deal than the Compilation material and is being treated by Square as mainline material.

Like if you want to argue it shouldn't count because it's a remake, that's one thing, but treating it like a spinoff? Nah, it ain't that.

Speaking of which, X-2 should be on here, too.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

It's daunting! It's not like I don't understand. Before playing XIV I completely wrote it off for its genre and KNEW I wouldn't like it. Certainly never expected it would be the best FF game with the best story and characters.

I have the beta downloaded on my series x and fuck me am I nervous to start it

I have a decent sized backlog. It isnt insane but its probably about 400 or so hours

ff14 is so long itll like double slash triple my backlog

Leonhart4 posted...

No way. Remake is a way bigger deal than the Compilation material and is being treated by Square as mainline material.

Like if you want to argue it shouldn't count because it's a remake, that's one thing, but treating it like a spinoff? Nah, it ain't that.

Speaking of which, X-2 should be on here, too.

Admittedly I've never played CC or DoC but I put them in the same category as X-2

Comparing CC to X-2 is an insult to X-2

pezzicle posted...

I have the beta downloaded on my series x and fuck me am I nervous to start it

The reason I started in the first place was the PS5 Beta, because I just wanted something to download and try. I caught Endwalker reveal stream on a whim because someone here made a topic about it and I thought the trailer was cool.

1300 hours later....

God speed.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

The reason I started in the first place was the PS5 Beta, because I just wanted something to download and try. I caught Endwalker reveal stream on a whim because someone here made a topic about it and I thought the trailer was cool.

1300 hours later....

God speed.

this is exactly why I dont wanna start it haha

I have a 10 month old and I am trying to get my backlog DOWN

Ill play it eventually tho. I think. I want to. It looks great. It just looks like a lot. 1300 hours is like 3 years of gaming for me.

plus Im knee deep in chained echoes on my switch and midnight suns on my series x right now and I need to play the cyberpunk DLC too

too much shit to play

Wait a second... Where's Final Fantasy 0(rigins: Stranger of Paradise)?

To be clear that's total time doing every noteable piece of content and maxing every single job.

Plaything though the main scenario you're looking at like 300.

Still real fucking bad!

It took me 6 months to beat Trails Into Reverie with 2 kids under 2

FFXIV ain't happening anytime soon

agree with the sentiment that ff7r is a spinoff of ff7, along with crisis core and dirge. ff7r is a side story / alternate timeline of the original. The original is still canon in ff7rs world, so why would ff7r replace it as the definitive mainline entry?

its interesting to think about, because i consider all the ff14 expansions to be mainline ff, so in that regard, yeah, ffx-2 and even the 13 sequels are more mainline than 7 remake lol

also @fool dont play shadowbringers without playing the others first lol

TomNook7 posted...

also @fool dont play shadowbringers without playing the others first lol

then get out of here with your "it's only 80 hours"

Leonhart4 posted...

It took me 6 months to beat Trails Into Reverie with 2 kids under 2

FFXIV ain't happening anytime soon

my hope is to start it before 2026 lol

I acknowledge that FFXIV is a good game that I'll just never enjoy due to the genre

XII - even with the Zodiac Age improvements - shouldn't crack a top 5 let alone a top 3

Well dang, I completely forgot there was a 16.
oops lol

foolm0r0n posted...

then get out of here with your "it's only 80 hours"

Shadowbringers is only 80 hours tho. Your original statement is patently fucking false lmao. If you played all four expansions, itd take you 350 hours to get through the main story with zero grinding - hardly a literal man year

Also assuming youve played the entire rest of the FF series, and theyre all 40 hours long, and you played a couple side games, youve already got like 700 hours into this series, so whats another 300 at that point

Remake isn't a "side story" or a "replacement" of the original (I guess it is for some people)

MacArrowny posted...

why's shine posting an article from september of last year anyways

why is Gamespot posting old content like its new

Mobilezoid posted...

Comparing CC to X-2 is an insult to X-2

Yeah so now I'm thinking this comparison makes sense lmao.

TomNook7 posted...

Shadowbringers is only 80 hours tho. Your original statement is patently fucking false lmao. If you played all four expansions, itd take you 350 hours to get through the main story with zero grinding - hardly a literal man year

Also assuming youve played the entire rest of the FF series, and theyre all 40 hours long, and you played a couple side games, youve already got like 700 hours into this series, so whats another 300 at that point

def would take me a full year (which I know isnt what you mean). I play about 300-400 hours a year

Id probably do a section of the game at a time to not get burnt out

TomNook7 posted...

If you played all four expansions, itd take you 350 hours to get through the main story with zero grinding - hardly a literal man year

I've heard 500-1000 hours for the full game. So quarter/half man year I guess.

foolm0r0n posted...

I've heard 500-1000 hours for the full game.

Extremely wrong.

500 hours probably covers the full MSW plus every single primary piece of side content.

Took me about 450 hours doing everything up to the end of Endwalker, including major side content. It's about 50 hours per expansion and 50 hours per patch cycle, so should be right around 500 by the time EW patches end.

MacArrowny posted...
and 50 hours per patch cycle

i mean patch definitely feels like 50 hours lmao but idk if thats quite right

Literally the last thing i did in ff14 was get right to endwalker, and i was like 380 hours in im pretty sure. But thats also probably like 40 hours of triple triad and a couple job quests and random side quests lol. Because you do gotta stop and smell the flowers in ff14 or else youll get burned out on MSQ quick

But that time includes 4 entire games, 3 of which are the best FF games since FFX, and includes some of the best characters, music and bosses in the entire series, so yeah as a lifelong FF fan fuckin worth it

I have about 250 hours in FF14 and I still haven't started Heavensward yet. :)

Yeah but you KNOW that's you fault!

I'm just playing the game as intended

I assume SHINE is minmaxing trophies

SHINE is doing every single one of the hundreds of standard sidequest in the entire map.

The ones people typically do, uh.....0 of.

Based on buzz and marketing, ff16 is more side content than FF7R

UshiromiyaEva posted...

The ones people typically do, uh.....0 of.

sounds like they're bad at the game

SHINE_GET_64 posted...

I'm just playing the game as intended

Out of curiosity, how do you find the quality of the side quests compared to other games? Or are all side quests the same to you?