My favorite is 13-2. Its probably my favorite FF game period. I love the time cop aspect, the two main characters played really well off each other, there were a lot of cool scenarios and alt history stuff, and Caius is one of my favorite villains of the series. Plus it has the heavy metal chocobo remix, which is objectively peak
XIII-2 is definitely a game I'm considering trying out but haven't carved the time to play. I heard they fixed a lot of people's gripes with XIII, especially its linearity. I never had a problem with that though.
@@BacklogBattle it's not super long (how long to beat has it at 30 for main and 40 for side, think mine was in-between the two) and mostly catches up everything you would need to know from 13 proper. It reminded me of the Majora's Mask vs. Ocarina of Time. Not in terms of quality obvi (I did not like 13) but in terms of the strangeness compared to the original, both story and gameplay wise. I feel like the story is a lot better paced as well. 13 had a lot of parts I would consider to be drags, and Lightning didn't super help those allegations, because she is kind of a drag for most of the first half. Serah is a much better protagonist to carry the story around, and Noel is a much better foil than Hope was.
I know it’s not an actual spinoff but Bravely default 2 was an amazing spiritual Spinoff for the series, I really enjoyed that game and brought me back many FF feelings
Final Fantasy really taught me not to underestimate or look down on a game for being a spin-off, most can stand toe-to-toe with the main series. Tactics itself is responsible for getting me into the entire genre, and many of the games on this list are ones I'm eager to play through
So many people underestimate the non-mainline FFs just because they're not officially numbered. There are so many incredible games there that are worth playing!
The FF7 compilation got me into FF in general…Like really REALLY into the franchise.. before then I just dabbled with their games: ff8,ff10,ff6 ironically I played the OG FF7 too, but my wee elementary brain was too young to understand the nuances of the series. It was only after playing FF7 crisis core (which was during college days) that it really started to click. And ever since then, I’ve been a huge fan of all things Final Fantasy.
Final Fantasy Dimensions is my all time favorite ff spin off, and the fact that square marketed saga and mana as final fantasy games plus the lead to team Asano games make me think of all those series when I think of ff lol
Oh man, the presence of SaGa 2 here made me smile to no bounds! 😊 I've been digging into the series lately (even before the Saga Emerald Beyond announcement) and I feel like this series is a real mystery to most people and deserves more attention! And yes, I say that knowing full well that I've been struggling in two games over some overly difficult boss fights for the past few days 😅 I really hope SaGa Frontier 2 gets a remaster sometimes in the future, I completely missed the game back on the PSX and it's quite expensive to get a decent copy with only the disk right now. Plus the recent SF1 Remaster was very good and its NG+ addition made playing all the scenarios much more enjoyable. Yes you'll need to get on your A game to finish your first scenario, but you'll be rewarded with the possibility to carry everything over and have OP characters on the other scenarios! It was so fun! Ok... I'm gettin sidetracked. Thanks for the video Alex!
You're welcome! And yes, I'd love to see SaGa Frontier 2 remastered with its crisp hand-drawn sprites and painted environments all beautifully rendered in high definition!
@@BacklogBattle it looks so good! Even the recorded footage I saw looked great for a twenty five years old game! I can't imagine how well a remaster would turn out to be. I know it's a hard series to get into, heck 25 years is what it took me to get into it myself despite multiple tries over the years, but it really clicked earlier this year and I've been on this journey since. Haha, I could gush about this series all day long, it's been my latest obsession!
Out of the ones I've played, X-2, XIII-2, Tactics and VIIR I rank in the high tier of FF games and are easy to recommend. I liked Type-0, World Of, Crisis Core Reunion and LR and have them as mid-tier, with specific elements that stand out as interesting or unique. I plan to play Strangers of Paradise at some point.
Tactics, one of my favorite S-RPGs, even though it's quite easy, I loved to play with the skills and class system. Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings, a solid RTS on Nintendo DS if you're into the genre. Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates, I spent many hours playing the multiplayer/hard mode with every class, it's a lot of fun even though the story isn't great.
It’s a shame that nobody gave FF13-2 a fair shot because the internet told them 13 is “too linear”. 13-2 is better in every way. It’s a much more light hearted adventure and the portal system of opening up new areas creates quite the excitement to push further into the game, the same way Chrono Trigger did. The battles are shorter and don’t require you to break every small enemy so it never feels grindy. I just hope that when the inevitable FF13 games remaster comes out more people will give 13-2 a fair shot because there’s lots to like there.
The answer is a spoiler, but as I mentioned in the intro, it's part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy, which are a collection of media that follows the events of the original game.
I still think Final Fantasy Tactics is just a worse version of Tactics Ogre. Its job system is incredibly grindy and it is a very unbalanced game that is way too easy to break accidentally. I had no idea holy magic would just become a one shot button cuz i went in blind, so it was very jarring. Never understood why people like it so much.
@BacklogBattle of course! Love all the content you make covering different games. Do you think FFT is grindy as well to level up job skills? Or is it maybe something you like because you do lots of the random battles? I always want to hear more about why people like it because I've bounced off it like 5 times trying to beat it.
@@joshjulrich That's a very good question! I haven't touched the game since I played it on the PSP years - maybe even a decade ago (egad), but I remember enjoying leveling up jobs and unlocking skills and making combinations that could just decimate enemies quickly. That said, I cannot see myself actually going back to that game given how much the genre has advanced over the past several years. If they were to make a remake - which has long been rumored - I would like them to retinker its systems so that it still delivers an in-depth experience but does away with some of the nagging problems that make it feel old. Tactics Ogre Reborn did something like that and it turned out to be an incredible change, some might even say a definitive one!
@@BacklogBattle that's a great point! Since I got into FFT after newer games, that probably added to it feeling worse. Makes me hopeful that I will enjoy a remake if they do make some changes! Thanks!
FF Tactics Advanced is my pick. I sunk soooooo many hours in my Gameboy Advance riding in the car as a kid. The gameplay, the world and the characters still stick out to me. FFTA2 just could not recapture the magic
My favorite is 13-2. Its probably my favorite FF game period. I love the time cop aspect, the two main characters played really well off each other, there were a lot of cool scenarios and alt history stuff, and Caius is one of my favorite villains of the series.
Plus it has the heavy metal chocobo remix, which is objectively peak
XIII-2 is definitely a game I'm considering trying out but haven't carved the time to play. I heard they fixed a lot of people's gripes with XIII, especially its linearity. I never had a problem with that though.
@@BacklogBattle it's not super long (how long to beat has it at 30 for main and 40 for side, think mine was in-between the two) and mostly catches up everything you would need to know from 13 proper.
It reminded me of the Majora's Mask vs. Ocarina of Time. Not in terms of quality obvi (I did not like 13) but in terms of the strangeness compared to the original, both story and gameplay wise.
I feel like the story is a lot better paced as well. 13 had a lot of parts I would consider to be drags, and Lightning didn't super help those allegations, because she is kind of a drag for most of the first half. Serah is a much better protagonist to carry the story around, and Noel is a much better foil than Hope was.
I know it’s not an actual spinoff but Bravely default 2 was an amazing spiritual Spinoff for the series, I really enjoyed that game and brought me back many FF feelings
Final Fantasy really taught me not to underestimate or look down on a game for being a spin-off, most can stand toe-to-toe with the main series.
Tactics itself is responsible for getting me into the entire genre, and many of the games on this list are ones I'm eager to play through
So many people underestimate the non-mainline FFs just because they're not officially numbered. There are so many incredible games there that are worth playing!
The FF7 compilation got me into FF in general…Like really REALLY into the franchise.. before then I just dabbled with their games: ff8,ff10,ff6 ironically I played the OG FF7 too, but my wee elementary brain was too young to understand the nuances of the series. It was only after playing FF7 crisis core (which was during college days) that it really started to click. And ever since then, I’ve been a huge fan of all things Final Fantasy.
I won’t stop telling ppl how good Lightning Return is until it gets its due.
Final Fantasy Dimensions is my all time favorite ff spin off, and the fact that square marketed saga and mana as final fantasy games plus the lead to team Asano games make me think of all those series when I think of ff lol
Very unpopular opinion, but I really liked Final Fantasy Explorers on 3DS and I wish they'd remaster it on switch. It loved playing that more than MH.
I think it's worth it for SE to revisit that concept again!
Explorers was so much fun
Me too
My favorite non mainline FF games are FF7remake, FFX-2, FFTactics, Theatrythm Final barline and World of Final Fantasy. Looking forward to FF7Rebirth!
Same! I can't wait to play it!
Dissidia, dissidia 012 and FFT on psp were my first entry to the series and i loved them. My fav one is FFT, so im looking forward to a remake
I totally forgot to even bring up the potential FFT remake!
Love the Final Bar Line love - it’s so good!!
Damn this video is filled with nostalgic music!
Oh man, the presence of SaGa 2 here made me smile to no bounds! 😊
I've been digging into the series lately (even before the Saga Emerald Beyond announcement) and I feel like this series is a real mystery to most people and deserves more attention! And yes, I say that knowing full well that I've been struggling in two games over some overly difficult boss fights for the past few days 😅
I really hope SaGa Frontier 2 gets a remaster sometimes in the future, I completely missed the game back on the PSX and it's quite expensive to get a decent copy with only the disk right now. Plus the recent SF1 Remaster was very good and its NG+ addition made playing all the scenarios much more enjoyable. Yes you'll need to get on your A game to finish your first scenario, but you'll be rewarded with the possibility to carry everything over and have OP characters on the other scenarios! It was so fun!
Ok... I'm gettin sidetracked. Thanks for the video Alex!
You're welcome! And yes, I'd love to see SaGa Frontier 2 remastered with its crisp hand-drawn sprites and painted environments all beautifully rendered in high definition!
@@BacklogBattle it looks so good! Even the recorded footage I saw looked great for a twenty five years old game! I can't imagine how well a remaster would turn out to be.
I know it's a hard series to get into, heck 25 years is what it took me to get into it myself despite multiple tries over the years, but it really clicked earlier this year and I've been on this journey since. Haha, I could gush about this series all day long, it's been my latest obsession!
There is also the chocobo games
Out of the ones I've played, X-2, XIII-2, Tactics and VIIR I rank in the high tier of FF games and are easy to recommend. I liked Type-0, World Of, Crisis Core Reunion and LR and have them as mid-tier, with specific elements that stand out as interesting or unique. I plan to play Strangers of Paradise at some point.
Tactics, one of my favorite S-RPGs, even though it's quite easy, I loved to play with the skills and class system.
Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings, a solid RTS on Nintendo DS if you're into the genre.
Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fates, I spent many hours playing the multiplayer/hard mode with every class, it's a lot of fun even though the story isn't great.
It's a shame that I am sure a lot of people skipped out World of Final Fantasy because it was released close to Final Fantasy XV (only a month apart).
Wonderful list! Stranger of Paradise is one I oddly want to check out haha
It's easily one of the games that people underestimate because of first impressions, but it's actually legitimately a good game!
The FFT intro music has the same effect on me as the FFX-2 music has on you
It’s a shame that nobody gave FF13-2 a fair shot because the internet told them 13 is “too linear”.
13-2 is better in every way. It’s a much more light hearted adventure and the portal system of opening up new areas creates quite the excitement to push further into the game, the same way Chrono Trigger did.
The battles are shorter and don’t require you to break every small enemy so it never feels grindy.
I just hope that when the inevitable FF13 games remaster comes out more people will give 13-2 a fair shot because there’s lots to like there.
Probably FFTA and A2 game,FFT,and to some extent game like Mystic Quest and FF Explorer
Props for mentioning Mystic Quest!
Why is FFVII remake a side Game? (I have never played the original).
The answer is a spoiler, but as I mentioned in the intro, it's part of the Compilation of Final Fantasy, which are a collection of media that follows the events of the original game.
I still think Final Fantasy Tactics is just a worse version of Tactics Ogre. Its job system is incredibly grindy and it is a very unbalanced game that is way too easy to break accidentally. I had no idea holy magic would just become a one shot button cuz i went in blind, so it was very jarring. Never understood why people like it so much.
Thank you for such a unique perspective on the game! Probably the first I've encountered of this type.
@BacklogBattle of course! Love all the content you make covering different games. Do you think FFT is grindy as well to level up job skills? Or is it maybe something you like because you do lots of the random battles? I always want to hear more about why people like it because I've bounced off it like 5 times trying to beat it.
@@joshjulrich That's a very good question! I haven't touched the game since I played it on the PSP years - maybe even a decade ago (egad), but I remember enjoying leveling up jobs and unlocking skills and making combinations that could just decimate enemies quickly.
That said, I cannot see myself actually going back to that game given how much the genre has advanced over the past several years. If they were to make a remake - which has long been rumored - I would like them to retinker its systems so that it still delivers an in-depth experience but does away with some of the nagging problems that make it feel old. Tactics Ogre Reborn did something like that and it turned out to be an incredible change, some might even say a definitive one!
@@BacklogBattle that's a great point! Since I got into FFT after newer games, that probably added to it feeling worse. Makes me hopeful that I will enjoy a remake if they do make some changes! Thanks!
I still have yet to beat world of final fantasy maxima.... I cant get pass the rock paper scissor cactuar mini game to get to the end game.
Maybe it's time to revisit and try again? 👀
@@BacklogBattle I just tried it last night T_T lol
FF Tactics Advanced is my pick. I sunk soooooo many hours in my Gameboy Advance riding in the car as a kid. The gameplay, the world and the characters still stick out to me. FFTA2 just could not recapture the magic
No secret of mana or anything like that? They are also FF spin offs
Technically that’s only the first game, which is Final Fantasy Adventure. I didn’t play that one.
No type-0 😢
Sorry about that! I didn't like it as much as I wanted to!