Which aspects of any FF game do you like most?

[Locke4God]

Which aspects of any FF game in general do you find most important/ most fun/ most crucial to making it at a successful game in your view?

[Meigumi]

I guess the story plot and the music, kupo. Graphics never really matter to me, unless if it's shooting colors, then I would return it.

Usually it's music that draws me in FF.

[GypsyElder]

I really enjoyed exploring the different worlds and environments. I really like taking time to explore villages and towns. I liked it most in FF IX because there are so many little , interesting things you can find along with side events.(ATE) made the game that much more enjoyable.

I actually like when there are huge cities, I know a lot of people who hate it. Lastly characters and storyline of course...If thats not great the I usually don't care for the game to begin with...

[Yesha]

I think.. everthing of those aspects are reaLLy important to puLL off a good game, and specificaLLy, I can't choose which of those aspect are the ones I Like most since, I Love aLL of them.. but.. Mmm.. if I have to choose I think, the storyLine is what I Like most to FF, and that's the aspect I Like most, aLso it's one of my bases to choose which the best FF are.. :-)

The story is what I enjoy most of the time.. :-)

When a storyLine is exciting, Like the one in.. FFVII, FFVIII and FFX.. you got this awesome feeLing just finishing it and understanding the story.. :-)

[Xanatos]

Every segment of the game is important in his own way, but personally I found the storyline to be the most important element of the game and FF games always had great and exciting story. But besides that I highly doubt that FF games would be so great if the other element's would suck and fortunately FF games always have it all.

[Che]

I chose them all because I can't decide. But another you could add that I think would fit would be music.

[Locke4God]

Oooh I could have done music. I left that and graphics out, because it's almost like they are what they are. I've enjoyed each of them within the games but I don't think I like one so much more that it makes a game better. But you're right, that could have been in there.

I have to say that Storyline & Characters are pretty clear frontrunners. But after that I like the explorability, a vast world where you like to just go around and talk to people. Shenmu was a fun game for that reason.

[Che]

For some reason, I'm really tied in with the audio parts of movies and games. The music in Final Fantasy games totally adds to the experience, or develops an overall feel of the game for me.

I guess I could have chosen Storyline, but what's a storyline without the characters, or the feel of a new world to explore?

[bobbo087]

I believe that the storyline is the most crucial to any final fantasy game, without that it's just not a game worth playing.

[Ryu-Kentoshii Hirokima]

I voted for everything. It has to have all of those quallities in it. Everything you mentioned is what I look forward to in the game. It also has to have good Graphics too, but if it doesn't thats not that big of an issue, but I like Really Good Graphics on the Games I play. Especially if its FF...LOL That is just my Opinion. Anyway, Happy Posting

[Locke4God]

I tried to think of it in terms of what I could live without, if a game wasn't so solid. I couldn't live without a solid story, and I couldn't live without a great environment to run around in. And I'd love to say I couldn't live without Character's, but I had a lot of fun with VIII and quite honestly it doesn't have really great characters outside of the leads. And I really don't think IX had great characters either compared to VI, VII, & X, but I didn't like that game as much. Why? Because you didn't really a lot of free movement until really late in the game, and I wasn't that impressed with the side quests. The card game was mediocre compared to Triple Triad, and the Hide & Seek thing was passable. But a game like VII to me had great side quests. I don't have to have great character or weapon upgrades either. The early games where you just bought new weapons was just fine. I do need a fun battle system though. Either something like Junctions or Materia, or really unique characters like in VI or X.

[Dodie16]

The storyline is what draws me to any game, period. Final Fantasy is a series of games that have excellent stories, which means I'll always come back for more.

Characters are another big thing for me. You can have a great story, but if the characters aren't interesting enough, then it could totally kill it. I think that's why most people had a problem with FFXII. Many probably thought that the characters were just too underdeveloped.

Side quests and mini-games. I don't have love for them all, but I think that many of them are good. I think these are important because sometimes you need to take a break from the main quest and do some different stuff, and they can provide variation to the gameplay.

I love exploring towns and environments. I can spend hours just roaming around these places and chatting it up with all the NPCs. You can hear/read some of the funniest dialogue in the game that way.

I also wish you would have put music as a choice. Music can enhance the overall experience of the game. Final Fantasy has some great VG music, and there have even been live concerts devoted to these songs.

[Locke4God]

For me, I expect the storyline to be great already. Of course it's important, but it's almost a given with this series. I've not been dissapointed with any of them.

So what makes a great game for me are the details. A great and unique battle/character/weapon upgrade system. And also fun side games or quests.

The old games were great, but then none of them had Chocobo breeding/racing, tetra master, or Hunts. They did have great characters, but you basically bought weapons as you came to a new shop. There was no license board, materia, or manuals to build better equipment.

[Lt_Basch]

Although i do agree that a good storyline is vital, im a fan of the series and ill play it anyways.

Personally im a tinker, i love stats, and so having a good Battle system and set up (Materia,Sphere grid,Junctioning) that allows customisation gets me hooked. Thats why im loving playing through FF7 atm for first the time. I find im playing around with my materia plenty.

[MakotoKin]

When it comes down to it for me, storyline takes a huge piece of the cake. While playing Final Fantasy games I really loved to be immersed into the story. If games have an excellently planned storyline, that's a big part of the battle won. The other two things that are big for me would be characters, and exploration of dungeons, etc.. Characters are important because they are the one's to shape the storyline and give life to it, thus they need to suit the occasion. I also love when the characters have a lot of back story to them as well, it's makes the roots go even deeper in my opinion. Then lastly, as I said, having a lot of dungeons and great environments really makes it feel whole. There's no greater feeling then exploring more dungeons or just taking in greatly designed and well thought out environments within the game.

[Lionhearted]

Well I believe that everyone of those things is needed to make a really good final fantasy, I would have to say storyline. Without a good storyline its just not final fantasy, but also a feeling of uniqueness is important too. You don't want the same thing just re-wrapped, you want something new to explore and connect with.

[Freya]

I didn't have any other choice than voting for the aspect which got me into FF: Storylines.
I've played many games before and also many RPGs, but FF was the first to have such a great storyline. You always felt that the story was most important about the game, second would be character developement.
Especially all the twists I couldn't foresee in the games were great, in my opinion. FF always had a deeper storyline, not only the basic "I have to rescue the world" stuff. There were also often some philosophical aspects in the story (think about IX - the story was awesome!). Yet, sometimes it was TOO much. (Like in VII - too much story for such a short game. ^^")

Of course all the others aspects are also quite important, but I, personally, didn't like the Battle System first, just because I didn't get it. ^^" (My first FF was VIII.) You really need a lot of time to finally get into it if you've never played such a game before. And it's bad if you can't go on with the story because you suck at fighting. ^^" I wanted to know badly how the story proceeded, but I couldn't go on because there was a certain boss which beat me all the time.

[Locke4God]

You know, I have to be honest, I think the storyline thing is overrated. Aren't they all good? I just haven't been dissapointed with any of them, so while I agree that storyline is important, I really think that it's the details that makes one game great and another not so much.

Weapon upgrading and side quests are a huge factor in making a game more enjoyable. I'll manage with a sub-par storyline if these elements are great, because honestly a sub-par storyline for FF is still a pretty good storyline. So for me, it's all about the extras and how you're able to manage your characters.

GO LICENSE BOARD!!

[Xanatos]

You know, I have to be honest, I think the storyline thing is overrated. Aren't they all good?

Personally I don't think that every Final Fantasy has a good story, for example FF V had a terrible story and I'm also not quite satisfied with one from Tactics Advance. And no, the story is not too overrated, why do you think so many people still play the older FF games, sure not for graphics and extras. Unlike you I prefer the storyline over the other elements but I agree that the other elements are also important just not nearly as a good storyline - just my personal opinion.

[Locke4God]

@ Xanatos - Good points. The older games are purely story driven, but I also think the later games are better because there's just more to them. For me, IV is a perfect example of what I mean. It was a great story, and I loved it, but I would have liked it a ton and placed it along side the very best games if it had a more thought provoking weapon upgrade system. VI likewise, while I do place it among the top games, could have really benefited if the collesium or the auction house were even more interactive or relevant. VII was a great example of having numerous extra to play with, the Chocobo breeding and racing, using that to find a lot of extra spells, the Golden Saucer, and then finding little things like Vincent's backup story. Great extra's there that make the game that much better. X, of course was hit or miss with blitzball. I liked it enough, but it could have better, and there are few other side quests in that game outside of the ultimate weapons. I place X as my 3rd favorite game, but it is one, more than any other that I really wish would have beefed up it's NPC interactions. IX, I very much felt should have had a lot more side quests or mini games. It just had nothing and I was bored quite frankly. So as I said, the side quests, and weapon leveling, to me, take a game from good to great. The storyline is almost incidental unless its just really that bad.