Final Fantasy question: where to begin?

[owlmoose]

I was chatting with a friend about my Final Fantasy X replay (about which more at another time), and she expressed an interest in the series but was wondering where to start -- which makes sense, it's a huge series with no clear starting point since so many of the games stand alone. I have my own thoughts on this subject, of course, but I wonder what the rest of you think.

So here's the question: if you were to rec one and only one Final Fantasy game to someone who has never played anything in the series, which game would it be and why?

On balance, I think I would lean toward FFX, because of the depth of its story, world, and characters, with the caveat that they shouldn't expect the graphics and voice acting to be up to current standards. Although if I knew the player was a big fan of epic fantasy, I might rec FFIX instead, or if they loved political intrigue, I might suggest FFXII. So those are my picks, but then I've never finished FFVI, and my meh-ness toward FFVII is well known.

Update, Tuesday evening: it turns out that my friend doesn't have access to most of the platforms that have FF games made for them, so this discussion is mostly theoretical, alas. But thanks, still, for weighing in, and feel free to keep commenting! It's still an interesting topic and I've enjoyed seeing what everyone has to say.

Comments

[owlmoose]

FFX was the first in the series I played, and I actually really liked the Sphere Grid. I liked that it was a little bit flexible, and also that you can plot out people's paths in a visual way.

I actually didn't have too much trouble with the difficulty in FFIV DS, but then I have nothing to compare it to (it's the only version I've ever played). Now, talk to me about FFVI GameBoy and the boss battle on the floating continent that has no save point anywhere nearby. :P

[stealth_noodle]

I think some of FFIV DS's difficulty comes from the way it changes the strategies you need for bosses from the SNES version. The first time I fought the CPU in the Giant of Babil was a disaster; the SNES strategy gets you killed but good!

[lassarina]

See, it wasn't that that got me. It was the fact that most regular enemies seem to have doubled their HP.

[lassarina]

There actually is a save point right there! It's just hidden inside a mountain. XD

I'm a veteran of FF4 difficulty and probably part of my problem is that I perpetually get impatient with grinding and zoom through things which on a first run (without augments) doesn't go well. :/