It saddens me to see FFVIII - X lumped in with my beloved classics. Personally, I'm playing through FFIV: The After Years right now and I'm enjoying it greatly. If only FFV and FFVI could receive the same treatment.

@menx -> I wouldn't mind being spammed with that at all.

Doesn't it make you proud to have played these games for some curious reason? I get the same feeling for all those I've played through.

And bouzane, I'm also playing the After Years. Even though it doesn't hold up to the original FFIV, it is still an experience I can enjoy.

Great thread idea HappyD!

I've been playing Final Fantasy since the very first one. I played all the America released non-online games in the series.

My favorite is Final Fantasy VII, I love the story, the characters, the Materia system and the great deal of stuff there is to do besides the main quest (Battle Arena, killing the Weapons, Chocobo breeding, getting Yuffie and Vincent, getting Limit Breaks and Ultimate Weapons, Snowboarding in the Gold Saucer, finding every Summon).

Final Fantasy VI(III) - Awesome game, with a great cast of characters, the best vilain ever in a video game and some truly memorable moments. The Esper system is great but does tend to make all your characters fight alike by the end of the game (although some characters are clearly better than others).
Final Fantasy IV(II) - Also a very good game, a bit short but I really like that every character has his own abilities and the way people hop in and out of your party throughout the story. I particularly like Kain's side of the story with him being in love with Cecil's girlfriend Rosa or Rydia's triumphant return as a grown up to save your ass underground.

Final Fantasy X - The first Final Fantasy with voice acting and I do think it was very well done. I really cared about the characters in this game, Auron was so cool and badass, Tidus was cheerful and positive (unless he talked about his father), Yuna was such a sweetheart and when it was revealed that she'd die using the Final Summon, I found myself thinking "No way I'm letting that happen" just like Tidus. The combat system is really enjoyable and you finally can include every party member in each fight! The sphere grid was a nice change to the traditional leveling system and kept everyone in their respective role for most of the game.

Final Fantasy X-2 - Fun battle/job system. Silly plot.

FF I - Had a bit too much grinding and interface problems (I played it on the NES, you had to buy your potions 1 at a time!) but it's still very enjoyable

FF VIII - Had a broken battle system, less relatable characters and a last boss that comes out of nowhere but there's a kick ass mini-game (Triple Triad) and Liberi Fatali

FF IX - I skipped this one when it was released and bought it later on PSN. I haven't finished it yet, the combat and upgrade system is good but I'm trying real hard to get over the fact the main character has a tail.

I'll just leave this here.

Few moments are as epic as that one. :'(

Poor FFVIII, I really like that one, but so little love from others.

I really do have to question: Is FFX able to be classified with 'Classic' Final Fantasy? I mean if so then X-2 is certainly also 'classic'.

I think FFX has far more in common with later entries like XIII than with the PS1/Snes/NES entries. I just can't really think of a single metric that would dictate FF-X being some sort of cut off point. The only slight possible one being that it was the last worldwide FF game to be published by Square. However FFX-2 was developed before Square-enix and published in Japan before square-enix.

So what exactly makes FFX the cut off point? Seems to me that 9 is the more logical choice. As after that you lost the traditional world map, voice acting came in etc etc.

So yea gotta say for me it's 1-9 is classic. 10 and later is new style FF.

That scene in the DS version is epic!

Poor Palom and Porom! Final Fantasy IV had it's share of characters sacrificing themselves. Palom and Porom stoning themselves, Tellah casting Meteo, Yang to stop the cannon, Cid jumping off the airship and bombing the crater shut.

But in the end, they all survive except for Tellah, that poor useless bastard!

He did appear as a ghost latter on.

I loved the final boss fight in VI. A multi-tired fight the required you to use each and every one of your characters you have recruited throughout the story. So saving Shadow and getting Gogo had more meaning then another 2 characters stuck in storage.

I've played all the FF except for 1, 2 and 9. That being said, my favorite FF is FFXII and I greatly enjoyed FFXIII. Not sure why a Final Fantasy fan would this dislike either of those, they are excellent entries in the franchise.

Don't forget about Umaro. He's an optional character too.