What are the best versions of games?

It's not 2005 anymore.

Just be sure to stay away from the PSP version of Tactics.

Kill yourself.

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hipster

contrarian

faggot.

Yeah, Tactics is awesome just not really a part of the main series. I still haven't tried 12 but I will eventually, I am not going near 10 though.

Then why would you even bother posting it? It's dogshit. Anybody who wants to play FF5 should either play the SNES or GBA version, depending on how much Squeenix revisionism you can tolerate.

Apply yourself, user.

The PSP version of Tactics is the one with massive slowdown for no apparent reason right?

I feel like they made 10 because they wanted to make 7 again and forgot what made it good.

No instead they are remaking 7 because that's how shitty the original 7 was.

VIII is good. This VIII is shit meme was started by VII fans.

All PS1 Squaresoft games are pretty shitty, to be honest. The PS1 JRPG days were marred by awful animations and an increased focus on cinematics.

It should be noted that the 12 and Tactics have very different stories from the rest of the series. They have complex, highly political plots that are more event and faction driven then character driven. Excellent stuff, just get ready for whiplash if you are expecting a plot like the other games.

What's it like to be dumb and gay at the same time?

I think they both have that issue. The reason to avoid War of the Lions is the fucking garbage translation.

The War of the Lions translation can be patched at least.

You would know fucking spic faggot.

I don't remember a goddamn thing from FF12 except that I'M CAPTAIN BASCH FON RONSENBERG OF DALMASCA

I prefer Chrono Cross over Trigger

How about the releases on the original platform because that was the version of the games Square had to sell so that they could make a profit? Only exception I can see is getting IV Complete Collection just so you don't have to buy two different games.

Really, though, your choice is simply "Get the 'updated' version that has been fine tuned for mass consumption with bug fixes, graphical changes, additional content, and possibly story alterations so that the company can keep the series' name present in the market" or "Get the original version of the game that is broken and looks terrible, but has some actual charm because Square cared more about making games that sold back then".

FF7, 8, 9, Xenogears, Einhander, Ehrgeiz, Parasite Eve, Chrono Cross, and Vagrant Story are all good. Bushido Blade too although they only published it. Honestly having played pretty much everything they developed NES onwards I think they've put out consistently good games. Although its should be obvious to anyone that they're now stuck in the infinitely inflating AAA budget death spiral.

OP here, had to switch IPs

Thanks user, I'll check this out

Any series, franchises or games you'd recommend instead then user?

This is where my problem with the whole thing is, and also another problem arises
>story alterations can be hard to say because of aforementioned (((localization))) and it can also make the games worse if they end up referencing or being used as revisionism for a newer game
And it also begs the question
This is why I'm asking these questions though; I'm curious as to how highly anons value certain parts of games, ports, localizations and bugs, especially game-breaking ones.
Its hard to quantify "charm" but I love that shit dearly so… fuck.

I was referring more to the original original version of the games in general (Which is why I also included the Japanese covers). And, as far as localizations…

I don't think I'll be able and willing to learn japanese in my lifetime if I'm being honest.
What then? Do I just rely on fanslations? But those can get fucked with for the same problems couldn't they?
I wish a watchdog existed for this shit.

Legaia for PS1, the american version, has some shitty level progression and the money is so little, that it is best to just roll through the game without getting any of the spells and buying only the bare minimum of equipment.
Does anyone know if the japanese version is the same?

It may be a bit "elitist" of me to say, but you will never see the original "charm" of any of these Japanese games, unless you play it in Japanese. While translations in Latin-based languages do have much more of a cultural difference than an actual language barrier, Asian languages are a whole other beast. And, the translation that get's released is more dependent on the translator and their "life experience" than they're actual quality in translation (And, even then, we're just taking their word for it):

Screwed that up, that was suppose to be all one thing.

I'm well aware about GG's efforts, but that doesn't really cover or encompass shit outside of the worst offenders (NoA, NISA, 8-4, Treehouse) afaik unless I'm misremembering
I'm not a newfag m9 but thanks anyways, very polite of you

Those companies usually get the most attention because they're in the spotlight more often, and there are many people who will unironically defend these companies no matter how much bullshit they pull. GG do concern themselves with as much as they can (Such as defending Persona 5's okay translation), but some things can get through the cracks.

Also, have a splendid day as well to you, sir.

He's contrarian? You're the dipshit insisting 3J is good. He's basically listed the exact list everyone agrees are the best ones, if he'd added 10 to the list it'd be exactly the most often recommended games.

The best version of VI is either SNES (ignore this faggot , Woolsey's shit is classic) if you want the best audio or GBA if you want the extra endgame content. Avoid Steam and mobile versions at all costs.

Could you even play the extra content before beating the game at least once?

i prefer the PS1 rereleases of 4,5 and 6 but i hear some regions have longer load times but the 4/5 double pack 'europe edition' is known for having the cleanest sprites that look excellent on modern tv's while the SNES originals are a bit muddy and the steam/ios remake looks like hot trash.

wew lad

Oh, and this jackass is lying to you too. Steam versions of FFs 4, 5, and 6 are cancer. Avoid them, just use emulators. I played 5 on the GBA and enjoyed it, it has some postgame stuff that can literally make a character immortal to everything except Atomic Ray and Ultima if you still want more job system in your life.

1:
It's on every console and handheld since the NES, but just… don't play the NES version. The EXP and gold curves are kind of fucked and it takes forever to grind. Play the GBA or PSP versions.

2:
Don't force yourself to play it if you don't find it fun. Usually comes in a two-pack with 1 because they know if they sold it on its own no one would buy it, so play it on the same thing you played 1 on. If you're familiar with the progression systems SaGa uses, this is where it came from.

3:
Just don't. It takes a necessary half-step toward making the job system fun to use but punishes you for levelling too much too early, is hard as balls, requires grinding, and has some real pacing issues, including a final dungeon that is like four hours with no save points.

4:
I don't know, because every time I try to finish it I make it to the moon and put it down entirely. It's one of my least-favorite FFs and Kain is a shitty character. The original has a cut-down script, the GBA version lets all the dramatic sacrifices come back to life and join your party, the DS/PSP versions have extra content, longer scripts, and let you assign the abilities of the dead party members to your still-living ones.

5:
GBA has a better translation and more content.

6:
SNES has a more fun translation, even if it deviates from the Japanese quite a bit. It also has better sound quality on its excellent OST. GBA version adds some content that was dummied out, but the sound is a bit worse. Translation is still alright, and they fixed some of the major bugs from the SNES version; those bugs were not game-breaking as much as they were weird calculations that could be exploited. This is the one I recommend starting with if you're not sure which to play.

7, 8, 9:
Emulate PSX versions.

10:
From what I understand the HD rereleases were fairly okay, because they were more or less straight ports and texture/model updates. Otherwise, emulate PS2 version.

12:
The Zodiac Age if you have a PS4, otherwise emulate International Zodiac Job Version with the English patch. The original is still fine too, but once you have that L2 double speed button it's hard to go back. Or just wait because a PC port is pretty much inevitable at this point.

13:
I don't know.

This is not worth it. The effort you're describing is something I'd expect of, say, a Christian wanting to learn Greek to better understand the scriptures because they're literally the words of God. Not something you'd do to play derivative pulp fantasy shlock video games.

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Ignore every other post in this thread that I didn't even read, they are all wrong. I am the expert, I played most versions of most of these games, and only my factual opinion matters, especially concerning games that I haven't played since the 90s, because my memory is that reliable despite barely being able to remember what year it is, and I like rambling about Final Fantasy after not so few beers. I will probably type so much that it will take me an hour. Shouldn't do shit like that for free.

Starting out with IV, it's not a very good game, so I wouldn't care all that much. People think they like it, but they are wrong, and I will gladly take a big fat dump all over their muh childhood crap, because all versions but one of this game are definitely weak compared to the rest of the series. Go with the SNES version. The localization doesn't matter all that much, because who doesn't know that story by now? If you don't, go read it somewhere in five minutes, it doesn't matter. I tried every port because I'm that persistent, and they are all shit. Haven't played the original in a damn long time, but I liked it at the time, so it's probably better. Also, about the difficulty, I believe the original western version actually improved that and they toned down the bullshit. I can't confirm that, because except for mobile garbage, the original Sufami FF4 is the only version of the game that I never played. Regardless, I am one of the few people that don't like it. It's a stupid game with shit design that lets the story assrape the fun out of the gameplay and throws a mountain of bullshit on top of it all. Everyone but Cecil is inevitably underleveled and dying in one hit (and therefore missing out on even more experience), because you simply don't control who you want to use, and there is no job system either, and that is garbage (always a negative as far as I'm concerned). Hell, most characters are frail even if they aren't underleveled. Fixing your team later on takes a lot of really annoying grinding that takes forever, and the game expects you to grind for a long time. The lower difficulty on the western SNES version is probably what made it popular back then in the first place, so you should probably play it, since that's the one that made the game popular in the first place. The DS port adds more customization, but it's a dumb system because it just adds a bunch of shit that you can permanently miss and ruin your save. It's just a way for people to pretend that the game isn't stiff as hell. The port is also supposedly balanced around a perfectly customized team. And of course, you have to save it all for the end, because the game chooses your characters for you, because it wasn't primarily made to be a game, apparently, so fuck choice. People shit on FF2, but that's a fuckton better than FF4, and it's creative. Other than making it play itself, it could hardly be worse than what we got. The game might actually be better if you just do a challenge run playing only with Cecil, and just pretend that it's the first Dragon Quest (also better than FF4).

Part 2 of too long.

As for the rest of the Final Fantasy series, I would go with SNES for V, SNES for VI. As far as I remember, V is one of the best. I haven't played FF6 in a long time, and I should do it, but if it was shit the whole time, I will find out now, and it will be depressing, so I have been avoiding it. Playing FF4 again made me afraid of ending up just hating half of these damn games if I play them again. You can always play the GBA versions later for the extra content if you care that much. Haven't played III very much in a long time because I got bored almost immediately when I played it a few years ago, but NES as far as I know. I like the PSP versions of I and II. Some people don't like the cute sprites, but fuck them, they are fucking shit. PSP FF1 has the neat creative extra dungeons from the PS1 port. Haven't played the actual PS1 ports in almost two decades or something, don't even remember when exactly they came out, so I can't vow for their quality. I remember them being good and I played them a lot at the time, but that doesn't mean shit. VII, VIII and IX should be played on PS1, of course. VIII is the troublesome one that a lot of people hate, but it's worth trying. VII should only be played once, so make sure that you do everything in the game. It is an impressive game, but I tried to play it again after not touching it since the early 2000s, and it bored me to death because I just don't want to follow the story again. It's way too slow and boring for me to play again. IV lets the story get in the way of the gameplay way more than VII, but I suppose it's at least short. VII is definitely not a bad game, but honestly, there are a shitload of RPGs on the PS1 that are better. Star Ocean 2 would be one of them, and I believe it had a limited amount of success because it was released around the time that FF7 came out. I played that game three times in a row without stopping until the superbosses in the highest difficulty and it never got boring. Same kind of deal with Valkyrie Profile. But you couldn't pay me to play FF7 even twice in a row. Twice in my life is already too much.

Other than that, Tactics is definitely either the best or tied with some other games for best. X is good, X-2 is good, preferably the International versions of both, for the extra content, and XII (International Zodiac Job System specifically because if you don't like job systems in RPGs, you're a nigger) is one of my favorites. XII is some of the most rad shit in the series, and people that disagree are wrong. I guess it's more difficult to get into it, but if you do, it's fantastic. 100% that shit. Go for the Yiazmat kill. I don't know much about the Chrono Trigger port, but I think it has extra content. Play the SNES version and then the DS version later, or whatever. No one actually play that game for the first time on the DS. Also, it's not Final Fantasy either, but play fucking Vagrant Story immediately.

They should really make a FF13. Wonder why they are taking so long. Also always wondered why they skipped 11. Pretty strange.

Just because you played that trash hackjob of a translation as a child doesn't mean its worthwhile.

Nothing wrong with being picky, but do it correctly. If you want to have standards, play a good game.

Agreed. Localization is always inferior.

bugs/glitches really don't matter, you won't even notice them unless you're playing FFII. Just play the originals.

What a retarded line of logic to follow.

Does it?

btw if anyone is curious to starting the ff series, 12 is the best one, followed by 9, then 6, then 5.
7 is melodramatic emo shit, 8 is 7 on steroids. good stories if youre into that kinda thing.
4 has a meme of a story, and 10 is pretty decent if you can overlook the crappy character designs, confusing lore and forced romance.
3 is my personal favourite since it was my first one but its also the hardest (cant buy phoenix downs, no save spots in dungeons, job system is brutal) although i think the story is pretty good, traditional but nice.
13 is 13, you either like it or you dont (anime tier storyline and characters along with linear map design like 10 with no side content till the end. combat is pretty okay against the harder bosses and graphics hold up well today). 1 and 2 are fine if you want to see where the series started but you arent missing out on anything if you dont play them.
11 and 14 are mmos, which were pretty good mmos from what i hear.

ftfy

*tips fedora*

Drop 6 and 7 and add Tactics and II.

Some idiot might actually fall for this shit-tier b8.

He had the correct opinions, but since he properly spaced his paragraphs he is Reddit.

It does make sense, if you even want to call that logic. I hate every other port, but I haven't played that version in decades, and I didn't hate it back then (and it's the only version of the game that I have ever not despised). If it sucks, then every version of FF4 sucks and the whole discussion is pointless. Then it's all about what kind of asshole that you want the shit to come out of before you shove it down your own throat.

They are only if you care about the plot. Just skipping all the dialog is probably a better use of your time than trying to learn that nonsensical language. I tried to learn it once, and then I dropped it when I understood how retarded the language actually is (hiragana, katakana and their grammar did trick me into thinking that the language is coherent, but it's not), and I can't believe that someone actually invented a system that convoluted. I couldn't come up with something less practical than kanji even if I tried to do it intentionally. It's some horrendous bullshit that at least functions as a cultural defense mechanism, but as far as actual use goes, the Koreans made their only good decision ever when they got rid of this shit. Japanese is the second worst language ever created as far as I know, with Chinese being the worst. Maybe some sandnigger bullshit scribbles are worse, but I will never know.

I wouldn't recommend FF12 for beginners. I would probably go with the first, or V, maybe VI, or IX. Maybe Tactics as well, but that's not a normal Final Fantasy either.

I see where your frustration comes from.

you dumbshit, there was only one language ever 'invented' and that's Esperanto.
Languages evolve organically over the centuries and so they have odd quirks. Japanese learning English deal with the same thing, arguably worse.

One of the things that fucked me up pretty hard is that I learn languages (or everything, really) by using them, and Japanese is completely useless until you know at least every common kanji. I never had to study English in my life. It simply wasn't necessary because I could just look words up on the dictionary until I understood entire sentences, and over time that gave me an understanding of how the language is structured. It took a damn long time, but you can see that it did indeed work.

Anyway, I quit after I started feeling retarded for wasting all of my time memorizing stupid symbols that either don't mean anything or can mean ten different completely unrelated things for no reason when I could be playing games in a language that I already know and actually have fun. Japanese exclusives can just be ignored. Learning that was like having a second job, but without the whole 'getting paid' thing. There are enough games out there that it doesn't matter if I can't play a few of them. I also have a hard time learning systems that I can tell are really stupid and inefficient. That kills my motivation. Japan is still held back by their language. They can't even use a keyboard as naturally as we can. Typing in Japanese is annoying as shit, and I know that because I've done it. Hell, people only fully understand their own language on a basic level when they are almost adults, in Japan. That is an insane waste of time.

Translations can't be precise because the language itself isn't either. It only makes sense very loosely. Overall, I would rather just go learn another European language in a fraction of the time so that I can read more books. Learning Japanese just so that I can skip all of the dialogue in its original language is more than a little bit silly. Video game plots are stupid and don't need to be there in the first place. It's just padding. Even in most RPGs I tend to ignore most of it nowadays. I am interested in having a fun system to play around with, and that's all that interests me in video games, so as far as shitty writing goes, I only expect it to not get in the way. I was learning Japanese mostly for manga, but I can read a translation, and no matter how bad it is, as long as I can barely understand it, it's already the same thing that I would get from the original, but easier to read.

Of course, I won't support communist translations with my money, but I play very few recent games, so that was never an issue. Learning Japanese is not worth it for a hobby. If you want to learn it for real, you should probably live there for a few years so that you're forced to learn it.

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No it's literally a fucking lie.

Holy christ that dub. I hated watching nearly every second of that piece of shit, but no anime deserves that.

That's gotta be Funi, right?

For the most part when it comes to FF games pre-VII, the GBA version is best almost without argument. VII is probably best on pc/steam because of mods. Original PS version for VIII, and IX is kinda a choice between steam or PS. The steam port is very good, except for the fact that it does not support analogue movement. If you're like me and this tickles your 'tism, PS version may still be best.

All the rest are just whatever is shiny and newest.

as someone who played 4's remake but not the original; don't play the remake it's absolute cancer, the original must surely be better in every way.

pls no never ruin my day with these webms again

I have more…

they cant get away with this

IMO the PSP port of FFIV is the best to start with. It's the original experience with a good translation and some extra content.
I like the DS remake better, but it seems like it was made specifically for returning fans of the original. It was made much more difficult, but it gives you a lot of new or rebalanced abilities to compensate. But you really need to be familiar with the story of the game to get the most out of the augment system, so you don't waste the best abilities on anybody but the final five.

Really a strange situation where the best version isn't the one you should recommend to newcomers.

you're right its not emo, its worse - anime.

12 is also my favorite, but it is not for beginners, nor is it a good representation of the series.

fuck this game

steam version?

did he just say "dickless cuck?"

when did this dub get made?

The correct answer is emulate the psx port so you can throttle through the godawful loading times but still have a decent translation and difficulty curve

The original MGS3 release is the better version. The added camera functionality the new versions makes the game way too easy and adds all kinds of shit camos.

Wikipedia says it was indeed Funimation. They also had a line about "Gamergate creeps" in (I think) Prison School. Also some feminist shit in their handling of Dragon Maid, or something (it's been a while since I've seen it brought up). Not sure if whoever was responsible for putting those in (I'll say I have less faith in script editors than raw translators, but it could have been either) was properly reprimanded. Funi does seem to be getting worse and worse lately. I suppose at the very least there's not much they can do to fuck around with older series they acquire rights to for reprint, but I don't trust most of their new releases. Makes me wonder how close Space Dandy's official script actually is to its Japanese one. Also Drifters.

Wikipedia says the Japanese version started airing July or last year, so sometime after that I'd imagine. Not seeing any official western airdates listed, so I'd assume it was either an online stream-only dub (which seem to have replaced subscribed channels, such as how ADV used to have their own), or was stream and DVD/Bluray without any channel picking it up to be run on TV.

Holy fuck, you too? Finally someone else shares my opinion.

I liked NES 3j too but that's a harsh one to recommend as an intro to the series. Like, maybe the jap manual said something about what dragoons were, but how was anyone supposed to know at the time not being familiar with the as of that moment unknown series tropes about dragoons? I know dragoons use spears and jump hella high, but in 1980s? Japan, how the fuck was anyone supposed to know that at the time?

I am more and more convinced of the fact that one could write a doctoral thesis on the sociological perception of the quality, and popularity of Final Fantasy VII.

Whatever.

I have no words except these: Holy fuck.