5 criminally underappreciated Final Fantasy games that are worth playing before FF7 Revelation

Like so much of FF15 and the constellation of content around it, it’s a tantalizing glimpse at a future that never came true. Monster of the Deep is best enjoyed as virtual tourism rather than an actual game. FF15’s world of Eos was criticized back in the day for feeling too empty, but even today there’s no denying its beauty.

During the height of the trend, many VR games struck me as overly complicated, while the experiences I enjoyed most were more passive and exploratory in nature. I don’t expect Final Fantasy to return to VR anytime soon, given the lackluster response to Monster of the Deep. But if there was ever a laid-back, vibes-driven Final Fantasy VR game that let you visit iconic locations from the franchise, yap with your favorite characters, and listen to incredible orchestral music, I’d buy it in a heartbeat. — JG

Where to play: PlayStation VR (note: the game is not compatible with PSVR 2)

3

Final Fantasy 11

Image: Square Enix

Unlike modern MMOs (Final Fantasy 14 included) and open-world RPGs at large, Final Fantasy 11 thrives on friction in its design. The simple process of walking from one place to another can take way too much time. You can fail to collect loot from downed enemies. Tracking quests sucks. You can lose experience if you die too much. Quality-of-life features like NPC party members are locked behind complicated quests. The list goes on. And while all of these things can be frustrating, they are essential to a game that demands more of its players than we are used to.

The solution to these frustrations is community. Final Fantasy 11 was built to be played with real people and while the single-player experience has been improved over the years, it is still the best way to play. Nothing beats the feeling of completing a massive imposing dungeon in Final Fantasy 11 thanks to the kindness of strangers. A moment of celebration, perhaps a quick message of goodwill in the chat, and then the parting of ways.

For those brave souls willing to meet the challenge, Final Fantasy 11 reveals itself to be an impressively deep world, filled with numerous stories and awe-inspiring moments. That even includes climactic boss battles and emotional story beats you’d expect from any other mainline Final Fantasy game. Over two decades after release, Final Fantasy 11 persists because players can’t stop falling in love with it. — Willa Rowe

Where to play: Windows PC

4

Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin

This reimagining of the original Final Fantasy from 1987 was immediately reduced to a meme when its first trailer dropped, thanks to lead character Jack Garland. Stranger of Paradise’s protagonist is a grumpy edgelord obsessed with killing Chaos, a mission he mentions several dozen times in the trailer. But beneath all that Limp Bizkit energy is one of the most inventive action games Square Enix has made in years — perhaps ever.

Developer Team Ninja essentially turned Final Fantasy into a Dark Souls game. It’s got tough, deliberate combat with a remarkably fluid take on the series’ classic job system. Jack can instantly swap between two jobs, letting you combine fan-favorite roles like Black Mage and Dragoon with more novel options like Cyclic Warrior or Void Knight. That lends itself to playstyles that are genuinely distinct.

The trick is that you have to embrace the game’s aggressively corny tone. Stranger of Paradise eventually does something genuinely interesting with the original game’s very bare-bones story, but it is also a game in which Jack repeatedly interrupts a villainous monologue to remind us that he doesn’t “give a fuck.” The experience borders on abrasive, which can be alienating at times. But if you can look past — or simply laugh at — the edgelord exterior, and you’ll find a deep action RPG that understands Final Fantasy is as much about experimenting with jobs as it is trying to kill gods. Especially if they’re named Chaos. — Corey Plante

Where to play: PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X

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Final Fantasy 4

Image: Square Enix via Polygon

FF7 and FF10 are often celebrated for laying the foundations for “modern” Final Fantasy. But when it comes to studying the classics, Final Fantasy 4 was the first to introduce many elements that would become essential to the RPG genre, like dramatic storylines, rich character development, and a focus on the emotional relationships between the core cast.

FF4 is a pulpy save-the-world adventure with sky-high stakes, plenty of plot twists, and heaps of romantic drama. It features some characters you’ll love and others you’ll hate. Either way, you’ll certainly remember them in a way you wouldn’t with the RPGs that preceded it in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

While you can’t freely swap between your party members like you can in later FF installments, each person has a clearly defined role. The interesting thing is, some of them aren’t necessarily good at these roles right away. The young summoner Rydia can’t use any kind of fire magic for a substantial chunk of time because a fire destroyed her village. When Cecil decides to become a paladin, he reverts back to level 1. That means you’ll have to spend some time (carefully) grinding to build him back up to parity with everyone else. And then there’s Edward, the lovesick bard who’s terribly unsuited to any combat scenario and always, always sucks. You just kinda have to work around his awfulness every minute he’s in your party, but that’s what makes him memorable.

Yes, FF4 is historically significant. But unlike the very early Final Fantasy games, this one is still a delight to play, even today. The story is over-the-top in many ways — there are no fewer than seven fake deaths — and that’s a big part of the fun. I challenge you to show me another game where you fly the magic corpse of a dead whale to the moon. You can’t! — JG

Where to play: Android, iOS, Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X