Okay I am going to talk about each game - I will start with FF:V
First, I have only actually attempted to "beat" this game twice...okay, I have attempted many times - only twice have I actually GOTTEN anywhere.
First was back in the rom hack days were there was no translation official, I did not get far.... but I watched the anime...
BONUS FF:V FACT!!!!!!!!!
Final Fantasy V was the only Final Fantasy game for the series history (for a long time) to have an actual sequel via. an anime that takes place 200 years after the events of FF5 with the decedents of BUTTZ - it was everything an anime should be, insane, convoluted and contrived, just like FF5!
and... it actually came out before the official FF5 American release
... anywho... the hacked rom didn't last long because it was annoying and the FF collection was to be released on PSX! and it had FFv for the first time in MERICUA
So I got that... attempt 2!
Loading time sucked buttz and I did not care for the game... I got stuck somewhere after you just got the dragoon and were fighting things in the air? airships or some-such other nonsense...
Okay...
So 3rd?ish 2nd continued was years later when I dusted off my ye ol PSX and I got to the stupid tree when everything was on fire...but I sucked because I cheesed through the above mentioned dragoon thing....
So now, I actually bought the thing on STEAM for like 5$ a few years ago...and I havent even gotten to the 3rd? crystal on this replay... buttz it did seem a lot "easier" on this version? and that it flowed better? I do not think steam "cloud saves" your games...so I have little umpha to restart.
Again I look at "themes" that Final Fantasy games hold - they are all very basic in nature and replicate over...what I will call the "classic" era FFI-X.
FF 1, 3 and 5 all hold very similar themes and where "things" that Square was trying to do... usually in this theory I skip 1 as it is just as it is and classic .. but it really does have the same ideas being played at.
You each get a choice of classes - this is done in 1 at the start and static after, while "jobs" changed this a lot - FF1 did try, you had a selection beyond pre-set or what your "party" can handle... then because you have variation in classes in all of them, the game is tuned to be more flexable and allows things to be done not in a specific way- FF1,3 and 5 all have "X playthru" and "Y playthru" etc. All warriors, all white mages, the above mentioned 1 job each crystal...
They each are based around crystals and the worldly balance and threat based around nature and the disruption/abuse etc. of that elements - this is the primary motivator for you/protagonists and the antagonist.
FF2,4 and 6 are all similar. All your characters are set in their "type" and character / jobs / skills - while 6 allows via espers everyone to be a demigod, each character is still at core "X, Y or Z" - "class". The battle systems, character interactions, dynamics and story elements are all based around these set classes "I am a dark knight, how can I be with a white mage..."
The overall theme of each is a totalitarian empire is out to rule the world by force and subjugation - each one has at least one character that is part of / was part of / joins etc. the empire and then returns or has an act of "coming back to the light" and helps our company of heroes.
2,4 and 6 each follow the hero's journey VERY well, and imo each hold some of the most classic, best told and memorable characters and story because of this - while their counters, 1,3,5 do not and have very convoluted contrived and "anime" plots and stories.
FF8 (barf), 9 and 10 are all love stories - 8 is an complete shitshow - 9 attempted to draw on "classical FF elements" while telling its modern story and actually managed to do a lot right, and honestly only a few small things wrong- yet those small things REALLY bugged some people... and FFX actually pulled off the love story damn well, it holds tons of emotional weight and even the "start game" screen is just a huge emotional hit from the start...and then when you GET to that location/event in game, damn... the "deep plot" of X is actually useless, but its there and its stupid and its overbearingly odd and gets cast aside for its following installments... the character plot is great, and I get that we needed something to move the characters along... but really the "BIG THING HAPPENING" could have been any of the prior FF game plots- the characters and the love story and emotion in X is what makes it a game worth playing.
"Dude Xad, you skipped 7"
Ahh FF7...
FF7 actually combines the two overarching story elements of 1,3,5 and 2,4 and 6 - AND actually holds on to the hero's journey enough that you have a decent thread of coherancy...yet the frills of that thread can easily lead you into a tangled mess of "anime-ness"
While it does not have jobs, it has plenty of characters to swap around in your 3 person party (boooo! I liked 4 and 6 tons of people party!) - the materia system is much akin to espers.
While 7 does... what many consider a "masterful" job in getting the two overall story elements of past FF games together, it adds in another that jumped sqeenixes shark, Love story.... and that makes them ride that fonzi shark down to the depths of 8....
