[QUOTE="hakanakumono"]It's hard to judge where it's place is in the series, because typically the games are judged more based on story than actual gameplay. It's almost like there should be two different lists.
As far as gameplay goes, I think FFXIII is the best so far, maybe rivaled by FFXII.
But with story as the priority, I think it would go something like 1. FFX 2. FFVIII 3. FFVII 4. FFIX 5. FFXIII
Ultimately the story is "good," but it needs to be fleshed out. The actually storytelling in FFVII isn't any better than FFXIII nor is it in FFIX, but their stories are much larger, more cohesive pictures. But idk. Maybe I'm being unfair. The good news is that the story is better than IV, V, VI imo.
Edit: Thinking more on it, I might rank FFIX above FFVII if I'm to do it objectively. FFIX and FFXIII are very similar storywise imo, so I have a sense of wanting to group them together, but another part of me just seems to think that FFIX tells a more substantial story (lit. there's more).
caughtjoo
I think it had something to do with Text vs Cut scenes. The PS1 games felt more like you were reading a book than just *(no offense to the latter establishments, its the way the technology evolved)* watching T.V.I don't think thats it. With the PS1 games, cutscenes were longer than ever before (especially in VIII and IX) rather than the brief interactions present in VI and XIII. Sometimes the short cutscenes interpsersed thorughout FFXIII are it's strength, providing something the series has never been able to before - for example Lightning and Hope's journey just through the forest is one of the best storytelling moments in the series. It's amazing how the story is able to develop the characters and provide so much for the story amidst what would normally count as a filler dungeon.
On the other hand the short cutscene just doesn't work for things like meeting Cid Raines that needed to be longer, like the PS1 Final Fantasies would have made it. Things don't "steep" in FFXIII and that's one of it's biggest problems.
Of course, another problem with FFXIII is that it's fully voiced and in HD. The juvenile presentation is very similar to FFIX, but by nature FFXIII is more "in your face" about it just because of the way that it's made.
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