Playing Every Final Fantasy Game In Order

As someone that’s barely played any of the Final Fantasy games

Final Fantasy is one of those game series that’s run incredibly adjacent to all of my favorite gaming things but has never fully captured my attention. That’s not to say I’ve never played a final fantasy game. For reference I grew up in the PS2 era of gaming and watched my neighbor play most of FFX(10) and X-2. Years later I went back and played FFX when it got remastered on PS4 just to say I had. I also have gone back to play everyone’s favorite FFVII(7). I guess my real divisive point with this series comes from the fact that I’ve definitely played XIII(13) and XV (15) and people seem to have really mixed opinions on those.

I’ve liked all of these games enough but never really felt like I dove into the series proper. Yes, I know each final fantasy game isn’t connected unless otherwise stated (like X and X-2) but I want to go back and experience these games that people hold so fondly in their memories just to say that I did.

Before diving into this experience I think it makes sense to talk a little bit more about what games I do like and why I’ve landed on the conclusion that I probably will really like most Final Fantasy games even tho I barely remember any of the pieces I have played. I’ve always enjoyed story driven RPGs; persona 5 and mass effect 2 sit atop a list of games I’ve absolutely adored. While it seems like most people complain about turn based combat when it comes to older FF games genuinely that’s not something I mind. I’ve replayed older Pokemon games over a dozen times each and genuinely enjoy the slower paced combat. I guess I should also mention that one of my favorite video game series of all time is the bastard child of final fantasy in kingdom hearts right? However, there was one other game that pushed me over the edge on wanting to go back through this series.

Last year, like most people, I was blown away by a little game called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. I won’t bore you with gushing about this game, everyone’s done it. Just know that it left such a lasting impact on me that I spent the next couple months talking to anyone and everyone about this game. It hit so many of the right notes for me as a perfect game that I couldn’t get enough. I ended up playing it three separate times and 100%ing it on both PlayStation and Steam. There was one thing in nearly everyone’s thoughts that kept sticking out to me. People kept calling Expedition 33 “the Final Fantasy game that square refuses to make but everyone wanted” so I had to know.

So I’ve typed all this out but what am I actually going to do?

I’m going to start from the beginning and play every Final Fantasy in order starting with 1 and working my way up to 16. I will likely be skipping any side games for now unless I feel really compelled to play them when I get to their place in the order. I probably will also not be playing the MMOs until the end of the list just because of the time sync. Every game I play will be the most accessible version of the original game so like FFI - FFVI will be the pixel remasters because I can get them on steam and they’re mostly true to form. I will be playing the original version of FFVII because I can pick that up on steam, perhaps I’ll go back and play the remaster once I’m done but I want to stay true to the form and get the proper experience out of the game. Once I finish each game I’ll share my thoughts here. You may also get some midpoint thoughts on some of the older games as well as maybe story predictions so we can see how wrong I am as we go.

Now I want to hear from you, which Final Fantasy game is your favorite and which ones do you think someone like me who is experiencing FF for the first time will like the most?