Final Fantasy started as a franchise in 1987 as a last-ditch effort by Square to make a true hit, and it paid off. The series has now been around for decades, and it is assuredly not going to die off anytime soon. Most of the core games are available on modern consoles for anyone to jump in and enjoy at their leisure.
With sixteen main titles and even more Final Fantasy spinoffs, it can be daunting to try and get acquainted with such an illustrious series. For anyone who wants to sample the games that have made Final Fantasy what it is today, these are the entries that will give players the clearest insight into the franchise as a whole.
Final Fantasy
Where It All Began
The NES version of Final Fantasymay seem a bit archaic by today’s standards, and it is, but there are several better ways to play it nowadays. The very best version was on the GBA, but the Pixel Remaster is just as good at delivering players some good ol' 80s nostalgia.
There’s not much to the story, and instead, players are given the freedom to explore and fight monsters in a myriad of ways thanks to the starting character system. It’s important to begin at the start, so that each evolutionary leap will make sense, and innovations can be traced back to their origins.
Final Fantasy 3
See The Job System’s Inception
Final Fantasy 3was originally an NES game before getting a 3D makeover for the DS in 2006. This 3D version is still available on several platforms, the most prominent of which is on Steam.
This game is where the Job system was introduced, Final Fantasy’s version of classes from the playbook of Dungeons & Dragons. Players can find Crystals, get new Jobs, and then swap skills. It is another basic save-the-world story set-up, but the Job system is very important to the series as it moves forward.
Final Fantasy 7
The Turning Point Of The Franchise
Final Fantasy 7 was originally a PS1 game, and the first RPG that truly broke through to the masses. It’s impossible to describe the mania that this game created, leading Squaresoft, and eventually Square Enix, to greenlight multiple spinoffs, from prequels to full-blown movies.
It’s almost like the series was rebooted at this point. While the polygonal graphics may not be as groundbreaking today, the core gameplay and story could not be better, and it’s easy to play Final Fantasy 7 via its remaster with cheats on nearly every modern system.
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This article originally appeared on GameRant and is republished here with permission.
