Most underrated FF?

[FFnock80]

So just like the title reads I would like to know what everyone feels is the most underrated Final Fantasy of all time. It doesn't matter if it isn't 1-14 it can be any one that you feel like is mistreated by the millions of fans out there. I will however not include either FF 5 or 6 since IMHO many believe those two to be the best....those of you who have played them know what I mean.

So I will go ahead and start by saying for me it is difficult since I absolutely LOVE FF9, but since I think it is the best and it being my personal favorite out of all the Final Fantasy titles, I will say Final Fantasy 10 is perhaps the most underrated. Yes with Tidus I was overwhelmingly annoyed with how whiny he was in the beginning, but in the end he got his sh....I mean act together and led his group of blitzing/magic using and stealing/"dead" on to fight the "immortal" Sin. Also Seymour may not be Kefka or Sephiroth, but he did make an excellent villain you kind of felt sorry for, but just loved beating up on him and Anima. Another thing that made me really like this game was blitzball, whether or not you liked it I thought it was perhaps the best FF minigame you could play.

So now that I have got it started I just want to know how everyone else feels...and remember you can pick any of the Final Fantasy games in the series....besides 5 and 6 of course. Just remember have fun with this.

[Xanatos]

Either Final Fantasy II or XII.

Final Fantasy II is bit rough around the edges, nevertheless its leveling system was way before its time. Modern games like TES V: Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas utilize it today although a lot more refined. First FF to have fleshed out characters.

Final Fantasy XII on the other hand was a breath of fresh air long after series became stale and predictable. It was a perfect mix of science fiction and traditional fantasy. None of the worlds before looked as beautiful and diverse as Ivalice. Distinct lore enriched by another great game in the series, FF Tactics. It introduced down to earth characters, some of the best NPCs out there, a brilliant villain ever so determined, one you could somewhat even empathize with, who actually did what he intended to do. Gone was finally a cheesy teen love story in favor of something more subtle. Non random battles, full scale world map, not to mention hardly any FF had this much content in terms of items, weapons and equipment. You had freedom to define how your characters would develop. Its strongest point though is just how customizable the AI system is, you could take complete control or adjust AI to work on its own, more games should have this.

Few years ago I would add FF IX to this list, but that game got insane amount of recognition. It holds highest score out of all FFs, it's Hironobu Sakaguchi's favorite title, saying that it's closest to his ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be. Only after I joined TFF I realized just how many fans it has. Sadly some still refuse to play this game due to its lighthearted design even though the story is all but lighthearted.

[Rowan]

As much as I thought FFXII was lacking in character and story, I thought it brought some very refreshing gameplay and battle system to the franchise. World map = amazing. I think its underrated simply because the elements of the game that made it worth playing are often ignored for other reasons which let it down.

[Fluffy]

As much as I thought FFXII was lacking in character and story, I thought it brought some very refreshing gameplay and battle system to the franchise. World map = amazing. I think its underrated simply because the elements of the game that made it worth playing are often ignored for other reasons which let it down.

I used to do this. I kind of felt the game was not that great upon playing it, and felt that way for a good while. This is because although I think the actual story is fine, it did a poor job of making itself present. I also found a couple of the characteres to be a waste of party slots, and the game would have actually been better without them. But looking back, I would consider the gameplay of XII to be one of the best in the series, and I love the gambit system so much. The world was also great.

I would have said IX a while back, but I feel as if in the past few years, that game's popularity has risen a lot. So I'll go with XII, because I think a lot of people still don't appreciate it because of other aspects of the game they may not like.

[Nauwiesbande]

I'd say XIII (and XIII-2), since it gets a lot of hate.
XII WAS the most underrated, but in the last years, it surely gained popularity. People even want a HD remake for PS Vita (like X got).

I predict XV to be the most underrated FF of the future, with the XIII series gaining more fans

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[HeroZero]

First off I would like to say I think FFVIII is one of the most under-rated (also my least favortie of the series but thats not important). It had an even heavier scifi feel to it that previous iterations and had a lot of unique gameplay mechanics (which i did not like but thought they were well done). The story had some silly bits in it but in terms of all the little things in it that added up to a lot of fun playing.

On the subject of FFXII The lack of a main protagonist actually was part of why i enjoyed it, Vahn was halfway between 'that silent protagonist' that you are supposed to imprint yourself onto and a real boy (i kid). But it was a story of a group of people not of an individual. Sum of the whole is greater than the parts kinda thing.

I do find it interesting that lately each new installment gets criticized heavily when released and then gains a devoted following after the hype dies down.

[B3atingu]

Ff9 it was the last ff I felt that had true ff magic to it.

[C.A.]

IX? meh...

I say V

[HeroZero]

IX? meh...

I say V

Why do you say V?

[C.A.]

Why do you say V?

gameplay.

[White Mage]

I really liked the leveling system in FFII as well, it was great for self-grinding. Being able to power-up and access really high level areas and earn money for really powerful equipment before even the second "dungeon" was a blast.

[Freya]

C.A., I'd really appreciate it if you could add more content to your postings. What is wrong with V's gameplay? Why do you think IX is not underrated? There is so much we'd like to know.


Though I'd like to say that XII is the most underrated (as many people didn't like it due to gameplay and story), I think the most underrated is actualy.... I. Yes, the first. I heard many people complaining that it lacks story, there are no real characters, the story is so boring (collecting crystals... yeah, we've seen that a lot in FF). But really? I like the story, due to the twist at the end, Garland has a pretty interesting personality, and Chaos was... yeah, he was the one creating the plot twist at the end. I liked that. Really. The only thing that really sucks is that the characters don't even have their own names. But that's pretty okay with me, as the story was great.
Still, I'm sure that hardly anyone played it. Most people I know started off with VII, continued to play the series, maybe went back to IV. I know, the graphics suck, it's an oldschool RPG after all. But if you haven't played it, you should give it a try. After all, it's the very beginning of the series you love so much.

[Zargabaath]

Though I am a big fan of FFXII & FFV, both in my mind under-rated. The opinion of FFXII has has fared better since FFXIII's release. My choice for most under-rated will be FFII, the "black sheep" of the series.

The leveling system was broken and still partially so even in the remakes on the gba & psp. What I feel is its best quality is the story for an 8-bit game. It has the grittiest tale in the series, a dark sword and sorcery flavor to the narrative. A down to earth struggle with fantasy elements.

No matter what the party accomplishes the empire has something more terrible waiting to be revealed. The destructiveness of the empire is constantly shown. The feel of war is real with the loss of party members to death.

[C.A.]

C.A., I'd really appreciate it if you could add more content to your postings. What is wrong with V's gameplay? Why do you think IX is not underrated? There is so much we'd like to know.

IX is not underrated. If you look at any video game's RPG lists or fan favorite, IX is up there. Not the top 30 , 10, 0r 50 but its up there. IX is not my favorite. I can't give my opinions about IX. It will be unfair to the fans of IX.

What is wrong with V's gameplay?

IX? meh...

I say V

I only said V was underrated. The game play was excellent despite a boring story about a tree. I will add that Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy IV underrated in a way. It was only IX that I gave my indifference.

[KainsBro]

I would say Final Fantasy X-2, I think that's probably the one I hear people say they hate the most...

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[C.A.]

I would say Final Fantasy X-2, I think that's probably the one I hear people say they hate the most...

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nah. Its Final Fantasy XIII for a reason. X-2 is okay. I don't get the hate of this game.