The 10 WORST Final Fantasy Games
“Final Fantasy XII” (2006)
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In the last 10 years, RPG’s have begun moving away from the classic turn-based formula that was such a huge part of the genre. When Final Fantasy XII released in 2006, some players were not ready for the sharp turn the series took with its combat system. Over time people have returned to appreciate it as a transition game into the current RPG style seen in Final Fantasy 15 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake. But, scrapping the traditional turn-based style so immediately wasn’t something a lot of players were able to get over. The abilities the players were able to get often felt useless, most players opting into automated combat which made the game feel hollow. Save points were incredibly far apart, the camera was locked to inverted and the story felt a little too grounded for a Final Fantasy game. To summarize, BOOOORING!
“Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (Wii release)” (2009)
This is a difficult game to love. The bones of Echoes of Time are so solid, but the port to Wii is absolutely not. The original game released on DS was already plagued by one raw fact, it is meant to be played with 4 players. The game on its own is a 6.5 out of 10 with some awful friendly AI. Get 4 Nintendo DS players together and the game immediately becomes a 10/10. The Wii release was a fully priced game that was clearly a straight emulation as it included all of the system's legal loading screens and the dual screen gameplay. The resolution was terrible as it was meant to be on a screen as big as your hand, and the online functionality allowed you to play with DS players, but limited what you could do in the online world. Bad port, bad effort, bad Nintendo.
“Final Fantasy VIII” (1999)
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A handful of fans (including myself) actually really loved Final Fantasy VIII, but it doesn’t take a genius to see why the majority of Final Fantasy fans see this entry as the spoiled meat between the two beautiful fresh pieces of bread that were Final Fantasy VII and IV. The junction system is enough to justify the hate people felt for this game. It scrapped the importance of leveling up, adding a layer of customization that had good intentions, but unfortunately failed to deliver. It often felt convoluted, and added a second grind on top of the leveling grind. This game had more grind than Tony Hawk's Pro Skater... Shut up, that’s a good joke. The story, although very grand and fascinating, failed to give their main protagonists any real motivation which made the whole adventure feel a little forced. Let’s also not forget that throughout the game and just as you were getting into the story, you would be sucked out to play the Laguna dream sequences which on their own were fine, but when they stopped you from playing the story you cared about it was like being bear hugged by Ifrit.
“Final Fantasy” (1987)
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We can’t go too hard on Final Fantasy 1 on the NES, because it started one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. On the other hand, we can definitely go hard because it aged like fine milk and also I do what I want. Final Fantasy puts the ‘GRRR’ in Grind. With the appropriate amount of grinding and leveling up, the game can’t really be classified as difficult, rather just time consuming. The amount of effort you put in to get through a story that just isn’t that good to begin with means that Final Fantasy on the NES isn’t one of those entries that new players need to start with.
“Final Fantasy II” (1988)
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Although we’ve given Final Fantasy 1 a hard time, it’s important to note that upon release, it was incredibly popular. Final Fantasy II was rushed out in less than a year and upon release, it was not very popular. This is the game that could have killed the entire series, but luckily it didn’t. The leveling system was scrapped for the only time in the whole series, opting instead to focus on stat raising. Attack to increase your attack, use magic to increase your magic, get hit to increase your H... We mean that - the only way to increase your HP was to get hit and not heal. Assets were recycled from the first game and random encounters were bumped WAY up, we don’t mind a fight but let us breathe, please!
“Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus” (2006)
If you were to pick a character from Final Fantasy VII to make a spin-off game with, how far down the list would you have to get before you got to Vincent Valentine? Vincent is a dark, mysterious and easily forgettable character who never gets past his moody brooding phase. This makes him an eye roll in character design as the game has aged. ALSO, he’s a secret character so you can literally play the entire game without ever meeting him. Dirge of Cerberus tried to cash in on the FFVII hype with this 2006 entry on the PS2 that was an absolute task to play through. The combat was lazy, the movement was clunky, and the story blew chunks. Dirge of Cerberus has never been re-released, which we count as another win for the anti-cash grab brigade.
“Final Fantasy XIV (original release)” (2010)
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Not only is this one of the WORST Final Fantasy games ever made, but it also has one of the greatest video game redemptions of all time… But let’s save that for another list. Upon release, Final Fantasy XIV was destroyed by critics and gamers alike for its incredibly high system requirements, its long list of quality of life issues, and its gameplay. It had barely any features and extra content, and the leveling system was disgustingly difficult. Naoki Yoshida was brought in to rebuild the game from the ground up, which he did incredibly successfully with the game re-releasing 3 years later as Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. That was a close one.
“Dissidia Final Fantasy NT” (2018)
Dissidia Final Fantasy on the PSP was an absolute banger, it took all the fan favorite characters from the first 10 entries and combined them into a fighting action RPG with an overarching story that gave a loose context. Dissidia Final Fantasy NT was a highly anticipated return to the series with more Final Fantasy games releasing since 2009, and more options for characters. The game upon release was hated, and since then has remained hated with cluttered and busy combat that makes it incredibly difficult to just pick up and play. The biggest issues don’t even lie within the game, but rather the paywall character unlocks, the awful matchmaking system, and the writing that didn’t honor the personalities of the characters they were featuring. Dis-sidia? More like Dis-appointing game devs who don’t know what they’re friggin doing… Okay that’s a bit of a mouthful, let’s stick with Dissidia.
“Final Fantasy X-2” (2003)
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Another game that looked at the success of a previous entry and thought they could capitalize off of it. Okay, let’s not make the same mistake as Dirge of Cerberus, we’ll set it in the same map in the same style, we’ll have all our favorite locations explorable again and we’ll use fan favorite characters to lead the expedition. *insert Yuna singing* What the hell did you guys do? Final Fantasy X-2 was a slap in the face for fans of the previous game. It wasn’t (on its own) even that bad of a game, but it was trying to build off the hype of the previous entry but decided to change so many of the core mechanics that made Final Fantasy X so great. Final Fantasy X-2 crashed in its own hype, it should have been remembered as a true sequel but instead it was relegated to a “don’t worry about playing that one” game.
“Final Fantasy XIII” (2009)
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The constant and unending line you hear in defense of Final Fantasy XIII from those that enjoyed it, is this - “It gets really good after about 20 hours or so.” Are you joking? What kind of selling point is that? That’s like saying, “Hey that burger you’re eating is terrible I know, but it gets really good after the vomiting and diarrhea passes.” Final Fantasy XIII is incredibly slow, and it’s aggressively linear. The game takes 20 hours before it reaches the open world, this opening 20 hours being playfully labeled “corridors and cutscenes” by fans of the game. The main cast is incredibly unlikeable, which makes it difficult to invest in the story. It does seem however, that the story has some of the most interesting writing and plotlines that we’ve seen in the entire franchise... It’s just too bad nobody will ever get to it.
