Again, we'll just have to disagree. I don't min/max, my appeal with RPGs isn't PRIMARILY the numbers and mechanics as yours seems to be. I do like the numbers and manipulating the systems, but it's not the main attraction.

That depends on the player. The Final Fantasy series only shares the name now and they find a way to put "Cid" in every game, but that is all.

I personally like FF 4, 5, 6, 9 and 12 the best. By far these are my favorites in the series. I despise 7, 8 and 10 (I haven't played 13 or 15).

If you like fantasy and the concept of swords and magic and turn based combat start and play 4, 5 and 6 first - you can also change jobs in 5 (the job system is what makes that game). If you like characters set in classes and a good story with memorable characters and a 3D world go with 9. Go with 12 if you like a 3D world, great characters, story and want combat that is real time.

If you like a 3D world, but not a fantasy setting and characters who are all whiny and detestable go with 7, 8 or 10 (Auron in FF10 and Tifa in FF7 being the only good characters in those three games). I have nothing good to say about these three games. Horrible characters, horrible stories, awful and dull boring worlds, and class/character development is atrocious in each of these games. And Waka having a "blitz ball" aka volleyball as his weapon and beach jams as his armor is beyond stupid.

My favourite is 12 (*not* the Zodiac version). Anything after 12 is crap.

Final Fantasy I & II: The PSP versions of these are the best in my opinion. The iPhone and Android versions are supposed to be based off the PSP version but I haven't compared them myself to find out.

Final Fantasy III: The NES version (played on an emulator with a English translation mod). Every other version is based off the DS version which changed things so much it doesn't even feel like the same game anymore. If you'd like to try that version, I'd recommend the Steam PC version.

Final Fantasy IV: The PSP version. It contains FFIV, FFIV After Years and a special Interlude Episode only available in the PSP version. Square also made 3D DS versions of FFIV and FFIV After Years similar to what they did to FFIII. Once again, if you'd prefer to try the 3D versions, get them on Steam.

Final Fantasy V & VI: GBA versions. This one is quite hard to recommend. On the one hand, the GBA versions have more content and faster load times but the PS1 versions have superior sound and video quality. Haven't tried the Steam versions but going off of the screenshots on the store pages, it looks like they really screwed up with the 2d sprite art style. Maybe there is a way through mods to get the best of PS1 and GBA on the PC version but I haven't looked into it.

Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and IX: Original PS1 versions

Final Fantasy X & X-2: PC Steam version. This version includes more content, an updated soundtrack, and better graphics than the original PS2 versions.

Final Fantasy XII: The original PS2 version. I know lots of people like the new Zodiac Age for PS4 and Steam but I prefer the old way the game handled character leveling by giving you full access to the license board instead of forcing you to choose only a portion of the board for each character.

Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2, Lightning Returns: PC Steam

Final Fantasy XV: PC Steam

Lulu's leather belt dress. :P

The thing is, even withourt min/maxing, in FF6/9:
* The situation with esper stat bonuses feels very ugly, and I think the game would have been better without them. (Without esper stat bonuses, the game still feels either reasonably balanced or still too easy.)
* The issue with time not stopping during animations is a major one. There are times when the queue fills up, so when you enter a command, it takes so long before the command is executed (assuming it does still get executed) that the situation could easily change by the time you actually get to act. The character you are trying to heal might be killed (or might not be revived), or the enemy you're casting that spell on could cast reflect. I have found mystelf entering a submenu (battle mode set to Wait) just to get the queue to run down, and it feels rather silly that I have to do that.

That may be true for 2, but I would disagree for 1. The PSP version is based on the GBA version, which changed things drastically. In particular, while it balanced the playable classes with each other, it did so by boosting the overall power level, and the enemies (excluding the final boss) were not rebalanced with the increased power level in mind; as a result, the game is far too easy unless you deliberately avoid experience points.

Actually, the later 3D versions of FF4 lack one feature found in the DS version; there's a new customizable summon called Whyt and minigames that let you power up that summon. Many find that summon useless, but I found that giving the summon a healing spell (and no other active abilities) can make it quite useful (the AI knows to target the character who needs healing the most).

On the other hand, the DS lacks the easy mode that the later 3D versions have. (I should point out that FF4 DS is actually very difficult, to the point of being unfair at times. This is unlike many other remakes (and very much unlike later versions of FF1).)

I disagree about the sound quality. The PS1 versions have some sounds and music tracks that sound *really* bad; this is especially true in FF5. (Compare the music in Lix/Rikks village; it sounds absolutely terrible in the PSX version.) I should also point out that FF5 PSX has an absolutely atrocious translation; there's even one dungeon that is much harder on a first playthrough because the translator messed up the hint, and I believe this is also the game with the "Y Burn" enemy.

Sp no, the PS1 versions do not have superior sound quality to the GBA version.

Also, it's worth noting that the original PS1 version of FF5:
* On a PS2, when going to save, you sometimes get garbled graphics.
* On a PS3, from what I've heard, the game can actually crash when you try to save.

That's why I don't enter commands during animations...? Not even a problem. And I never felt like I was missing out because I didn't have the right esper equipped. At least, I never felt like I needed to reload a save to get the stats I wanted. I just enjoyed the game.

Except that, by the time the animation has finished, another enemy has already entered a command, and you then have to wait for that attack to complete before entering another. If the animation is long enough and the enemies are fast enough, the first enemy might get to enter *another* command, and then you would be waiting forever (or, rather, until your party got wiped out).

This actually gets really silly in FF9, which has the same flaw but allows Regen effects to continue healing during the animation. Party (who has Auto-Regen) in dire need of healing? Just use a summon with a long animation and, by the time it finishes, your party is now at full health. Furthermore, if the enemy just cast Shell, it could very well have worn off by the time the summon finally gets around to dealing damage. (It's also worth noting that your strategy of not entering commands during animations will get you killed against FF9's superboss, who gets an extra action before yours whenever you enter a command not during an animation.)

Back to FF6, as I said, I really do thins the game would have been better without esper stat bonuses. In fact, whenever I do play FF6, I go out of my way to avoid getting them, as I find the game is more interesting that way, and character differences are a bit more pronounced this way. (Interesting fact; with this rule, assuming equal levels, Gogo can actually outdamage Sabin with the final Blitz because Gogo can use more magic power boosting equipment.)

(Speaking of waiting forever, once while playing FF6, I actually did get into a situation where I would have to wait forever; Gau and Umare were fighting an invisible enemy that only used elementatl attacks, both were out of my control, both were not using any physical attacks (Magic Urn rage), both were being healed by the enemy's attacks, and the game did not let me run away (that enemy was marked as "can't run from").)

It affects you far more than me. Again, you thrive on awesome mechanics and nitpicking/breaking the game systems. I don't. And as you already said the game is pretty simple. So enemies getting an extra attack or two isn't a life or death situation. Especially if you like to grind levels like I do. Your opinion is yours. You're not going to convince me that your problems with the game (that I've never experienced as a problem) are suddenly bad. I can appreciate that you don't like it. I know you don't like the soup section of Chrono Trigger. It's all good. It's not a real issue for most people. It's not for me. I love the game.

Actually, it sometimes is, and if it isn't, it's at the very least incredibly frustrating.

The soup section I do consider to be a serious problem, for a few reasons:
* It's a mandatory party of the game; you *must* clear it, or the game can't progress.
* It requires doing something that is not otherwise required by the game (mashing a button), and is not something everyone can do. Even for those that can do this, it can be incredibly painful or unhealthy, depending on one's condition.
* IIRC, you can't save right before this. I believe this comes after a boss fight and some cut scenes, so you can't even quit and come back later; you *have* to clear this part before you can save.

The thing is, it's a very bad segment of an otherwise well designed game, and it's enough to make me not want to replay the game.

Imagine if there were a game with one little mandatory segment where the player has to rely on audio cues to get through. Now imagine that you have to play with the sound off, or that you aren't able to hear in the first place. Wouldn't you have serious trouble with that part, and not be able to progress because of it?

There's other parts of games that have this type of issue:
* Insta-fail stealth sections in Zelda games. In fact, any insta-fail section can be incredibly frustrating in a game that doesn't normally have insta-fail mechanics.
* Action minigames in otherwise turn-based games. Not everyone who plays turn-based games can handle action segments; remember that players could be disabled in ways you aren't expecting.
* Difficulty spikes in games, particularly when they're only temporarily and when the come too early. For example, in The Guardian Legend, the boss of Corridor 3 is far stronger than what I consider reasonable at that point in the game, and unlike most boss fights, there isn't anything you can shoot for mid-battle health pick-ups. (Once you get past that boss, the game gets easy again until later on, when higher difficulty is to be expected.)

My question is, does that section actually directly affect you, or does it upset you because it affects others? It's a genuine question and a curiosity. Obviously, if you don't feel like answering, I'm not trying to compel you.

If something like that affected me, I guess I'd have to figure out a way around it. If I couldn't, then I'd let it go. There are games I can enjoy out there. I understand why it's an issue, I don't get why that is such an issue to you specifically. But that's your opinion. Just happens to be one I don't share.

Thanks for the responses btw.