@Devil Rising

I agree with you. For me "Old School" is FFI-III and Golden Age is FFIV-VI.

Final Fantasy's golden age was 6, 7, 8, and X.

9, 11 and 12 were more like spinoffs.

Most games are about some bad guy trying to take over the world by awakening some evil god or through some sort of artifact.  Just because Ogre Battle March of the Black Queen makes mention of the zodiacs and all Ogre Battle games have that same niche concept, doesn't mean that it's not a Final Fantasy.   Ogre Battle 64 and the Tactics Ogre games don't make mention of the zodiacs.

Not only that, but the zodiac stones don't play an integral part of the story.  In Ogre Battle March of the Black Queen they actually play no part in the story other than a line of text here and there.  The black diamond alone is used call Diablo from the underworld.  The zodiac stones are supposed to be able to stop the ogres from being summoned.  You can go through the entire game without hearing about any of the zodiac stones except when Rashidi mentions the black diamond at the end.  Final Fantasy Tactics on the other hand, the zodiac stones hold the power of Lucavi.  They're not needed to get into the underworld, and only one is required for Alma to turn into Saint Ajora. 

With Final Fantasy 2 and 6, I generalized the main story because I'm sure you've finished them, but Final Fantasy 2 and 6 both have the empire at war with the other countries in the world and the rebels or returners.  In Final Fantasy 2, Emperor Palemecia summons Pandemonium, which as a gateway to hell he uses to summon demons in order to take over the world.  In Final Fantasy 6, the emperor and Kefka find the God Statues and after Kefka kills the emperor, he realigns the statues to destroy the world and gain a whole bunch of power.

So yeah.  No zodiac stones, but not much different really.

Except he lifts complete other concepts as well.... and the same guy wrote the game.  Who had numerous sequels already planned.

Again.  Look into the actual backstory of the Zodiac stones.  Damn near identical.  That isn't just some coincidence... it was written by the same guy.  If you'll note In FF Tactics... the Zodiac stones are supposed to have been created/came from heaven and given to the Zodiac Braves.  Just like in Tactics Ogre.

They are supposed to stop the evil demon who was summoned by a king via an unholy contract. (Just like Ogres can do.)  Again, it's the exact same story as Tactics Ogre.

Hell, compare FFT to the other "Ivalice" games and the whole thing becomes even more strikingly obvious... as FFT is way more similar to Ogre Batle then it is FF12 or FF Advance ever was in theme or tone.  (Though FF12 again uses similar Ogre Battle tones.)

Hell the Lucavi return in FF12... but as espers... what's that about?

The similarties are so obvious i'm really baffled at how you can't see the connection.  Espeically if you played both Tactics games on the PS1 within the short window of release time between each other.

(Yes TO was an SNES release, but only in Japan.)

Heck, there is a reason why fans pretty much merge the two settings together when doing fan made works... example

http://forum.rpg.net/showthread.php?695253-Building-a-Gameable-Setting-out-of-Ivalice-(Final-Fantasy-Tactics-FFXII-etc-)/page5

really at worst you could call it a spiritual successor to the Ogre franchise.

A longer... and yet, not comprehensive list of stuff.

http://geekluminati.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/the-ogreverse-connection/

That's without getting into the various ogre franchise refrences in Vagrant Story suggesting it was the same world.  (Though that COULD of been due to localization, since the translors apparently specifically stated Vagrant Story and Tactics Ogre happened around the same time.  Which... huh?)

For me FFX has the best story but FFVI has better characters

This thread makes me want to purchase the other FF games on the PSN (V, VII, VIII, IX). Always was planning on getting the X HD remaster.

I really like the world in FFVIII, the story is good too, altough it's not the best.

For story I personally love the one in FF tactics, but that is not a mainline game :P

So, for a mainline game I think the best story is from VII or VI , both are at the same level for me at least

FF7 has the best story by far in my opinion.

No one saw Aeris' death coming, what could really was. Theres twists and turn and really entertaining segments from a bitch slapping contest to a huge meteor beeing droped on the planet and weapons beeing rampant destroying the planet. That game had everything.

I wouldnt include FFX and FFXII in the golden era though. The golden era still had Sakaguchi and uematsu at the helm. That all changes with FFX onwards.

FF IV easily for best story. The entire game was nothing but a classic Shakespeare tragedy.

FF VI a very close second.

FF VII and on is where it started lacking story and traded narrative for flashy graphics and dude bro casual mainstream appeal.

For example, FF VI had a 1+ hour ending sequence and FFVII had all of a 30 second unfulfilling FMV...

square enix has been messing up thats what it is... i hope they bounce back on XV..... i really think they put 13-2 there just to fill up the title.... they didnt even put x-2 on the golden age