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00:07Welcome to MojoPlays and today we're grabbing you by the shoulders, turning you around and
00:11sending you towards a different title. I don't want to spoil this series for you because I love
00:15it so much. These are the 10 worst Final Fantasy games for newcomers. Don't touch these, go play
00:21Final Fantasy X. Before we continue, we publish content all week long, so be sure to subscribe
00:26and ring the bell to get notified of our latest videos. Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin
00:43Despite the title, Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is not really the beginner-friendly
00:48starting point it might appear to be. Yes, the story explores the origins of Garland and ties
00:53directly into the events of the original Final Fantasy, but the game is clearly aimed at players
00:57who already have some history with the series. For starters, the combat is far more demanding than
01:01many modern entries. While Final Fantasy XVI embraces action gameplay, it's relatively forgiving
01:07compared to the relentless difficulty found here. Success often demands mastering the game's deep
01:12job system, rather than simply mashing attack buttons and hoping for the best. The adventure's
01:16also packed with references to earlier games, with levels inspired by iconic locations from across the
01:22whole franchise. Exploring a Marko reactor or revisiting a version of the Flying Fortress
01:27is undeniably cool, but the nostalgia hits a lot harder when you actually know where these places come
01:41from. Final Fantasy XV
01:53Few games have a development story as chaotic as Final Fantasy XV. After spending years trapped in development, changing direction
02:00multiple times, and evolving from Final Fantasy X,
02:02Final Fantasy XIII into something completely different, it's honestly a minor miracle the game was released at all.
02:07To its credit, plenty of players ended up loving the adventure, myself included, particularly the road trip dynamic between Noctis
02:14and his friends.
02:14The biggest issue, however, is the storytelling. Important events often happen off screen, or are explained through supplementary material like
02:21the anime series and feature film, leaving newcomers wondering if they accidentally skipped a chapter somewhere.
02:26Because of this, the narrative can feel fragmented compared to some of the series' stronger entries. For first-time players,
02:32games like Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, or Final Fantasy IX often provide a smoother introduction.
02:38Final Fantasy XV has plenty of fans, but it's definitely one of those games that asks for a little patience
02:43before its strengths start to shine.
02:48Dissidia Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, might feature some of the most iconic characters in the series, but it
03:04is a surprisingly poor place to begin your journey with Final Fantasy.
03:07The entire game is built around celebrating the franchise's history, throwing heroes and villains
03:12from across multiple generations into one giant crossover battle. That sounds great,
03:16if you already know who Cloud, Terra, Cecil and Kefka are, but for newcomers, many of these
03:21appearances lack the impact they were designed to have. The story constantly references events,
03:25relationships and rivalries from earlier games without spending much time explaining them.
03:30Even the combat can be intimidating, combining fighting game mechanics with RPG systems in a
03:34way that takes some real getting used to. Dissidia works best as a victory lap for long-time fans,
03:39not for first-time players. Starting here is a bit like attending a family reunion
03:43where you've never met any of your relatives.
03:55Final Fantasy
04:08Right from the very first game, Final Fantasy established a tradition that the series still
04:13follows today, constantly trying new ideas. While the original NES release deserves respect for laying
04:19the foundation for one of gaming's most beloved franchises, actually recommending that version
04:23to a newcomer in the modern era would be pretty irresponsible. Between the slow-paced, dated
04:27interface and old-school difficulty spikes, it can feel more like a test of patience than an RPG
04:32adventure. If you've somehow never played the original, the PSP or the Game Boy Advance versions
04:37are much friendlier places to start. They preserve the charm and simplicity of the classic while
04:41smoothing out many of its rough edges. Think of it as experiencing gaming history without also
04:46volunteering to experience all of gaming history's frustrations at the same time.
04:55Final Fantasy X Part II
05:07Despite being one of the more accessible direct sequels in the franchise,
05:11Final Fantasy X Part II is still a difficult game to recommend as somebody's first Final Fantasy.
05:15A huge part of that, obviously, comes down to how differently it feels from both its predecessor
05:20and the rest of the series. For newcomers, it can feel like being introduced to a band
05:23through their weird experimental album instead of one of their greatest hits. The tone's much lighter,
05:28the pacing's faster, and the game throws players into a mission-based structure that can feel
05:31overwhelming if they're unfamiliar with Spira and its characters. While the combat system is
05:36excellent, and don't get me wrong, it's excellent, it's also surprisingly demanding, encouraging players
05:42to constantly switch jobs and adapt on the fly rather than relying on a single strategy.
05:47The three-person party is another major departure from the larger ensemble fan threat much of the
05:51franchise. These changes were clearly the result of Square experimenting with the formula,
05:55and many fans love the game because of that. Many fans also hate the game because of that.
06:02That's it?
06:05Final Fantasy XII
06:18If your first exposure to Final Fantasy is Final Fantasy XII, there's a good chance you'll come
06:22away with a completely different idea of what the series normally plays like. Rather than the
06:26traditional turn-based battles found in many early entries, or the fast-paced action combat of more
06:30recent games, Final Fantasy XII sits in a strange middle ground. Enemies roam the world freely,
06:35battles happen seamlessly in the environment, and characters often fight automatically based on
06:40instructions you've set beforehand. Much of the strategy comes from building effective gambits,
06:44a system that lets you program your party's behavior with conditional commands. It's a fascinating
06:49mechanic, but also one that can leave newcomers staring at menus wondering whether they're playing
06:53an RPG or secretly learning computer programming. The system eventually becomes incredibly rewarding,
06:58but it demands a level of patience that many first-time players may not be expecting from the series.
07:09Final Fantasy II
07:14FF2 occupies a strange place in the franchise. It deserves credit for introducing many ideas that
07:20would become staples in the series, including named characters, a more story-driven approach,
07:24and a world that feels far more alive than its predecessor. The problem is that it also contains
07:28some of the most divisive gameplay systems in the whole series. Instead of gaining traditional
07:33experience points, characters improve individual stats and weapon proficiencies through repeated
07:38use, which often encourages grinding in ways that can feel awkward and unintuitive. Exploration can be
07:44equally demanding, with dungeons full of near-identical rooms that seem designed to test your patience
07:48and sense of direction more than your combat skills. For long-time fans, these quirks are part of the game's
07:54charms. For newcomers, they can be a major obstacle. There's still a worthwhile adventure hidden underneath
07:59the rough edges, but it takes a bit more effort to appreciate than many other entries in the series.
08:05Final Fantasy VIII
08:13Most Final Fantasy games teach players that magic is a resource to cast, and equipment is what boosts
08:20your stats. Final Fantasy VIII immediately decides to ignore both of those rules. The game's junction
08:25system ties character growth directly to magic, allowing spells to be attached to stats like strength,
08:31HP, and magic. It's incredibly flexible once it clicks, but the game does not exactly hold your
08:37hand while explaining it. Many newcomers spend their first few hours wondering whether they should be
08:41casting spells, stockpiling them, or treating them like collectible trading cards. Then there's the enemy
08:47scaling. In most RPGs, getting stuck means fighting a few battles and coming back stronger. In Final Fantasy VIII,
08:52enemies largely level up alongside you, which turns one of the genre's oldest solutions into a
08:58surprisingly ineffective strategy. It is a fascinating experiment, and one that gives the game a unique
09:03identity, but it also makes Final Fantasy VIII feel like the series' eccentric cousin who insists on
09:08doing everything differently from the rest of the family. Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII
09:22is a bit like walking into a final episode of a TV series and expecting everything to make sense.
09:29The game wastes absolutely no time bringing newcomers up to speed. Within minutes, lightning is back,
09:34the world is ending, familiar characters are behaving strangely, and the story expects you to understand
09:37why all of this is a very, very big deal. If you've played the previous two games, that's exciting. If
09:42you
09:42haven't, it can feel like you accidentally skipped several hundred pages of a book. The structure is
09:47just as unusual as the narrative. Rather than a traditional RPG adventure, Lightning Returns
09:51revolves around a constantly ticking countdown that gives players 13 in-game days to save the world.
09:57Managing time becomes just as important as winning battles, making the experience feel closer to
10:01Majora's Mask than Final Fantasy. It's one of the franchise's boldest experiments, but definitely not
10:06one that's most welcoming for newcomers. So he got rid of them for us?
10:12Maybe he did, and maybe returning me to childhood was part of his plan too,
10:16but we can't expect to understand everything he does.
10:20Dirge of Cerberus Final Fantasy VII
10:39Imagine being introduced to the Final Fantasy VII universe, let alone Final Fantasy at all,
10:45through the one game where you spend most of the time firing machine guns at monsters as a brooding
10:49vampire with a gun for a hand. That's essentially what happens if you start with Dirge of Cerberus.
10:54While the game is technically part of the wider Final Fantasy VII story, it assumes players already
10:59know who Vincent Valentine is and why his past matters. The emotional weight of many scenes
11:03depends heavily on knowledge from the original game, where Vincent is not even a mandatory party
11:08member. The gameplay creates another hurdle. Instead of turn-based battles, character progression,
11:13and party management, Dirge of Cerberus is a primarily third-person shooter. It's one of the biggest
11:18genre shifts in the whole franchise, and feels nothing like the series around it. Existing fans
11:23can enjoy it as an extra chapter in Vincent's story, newcomers meanwhile may walk away wondering why
11:28everybody keeps insisting Final Fantasy is an RPG series, and why people keep insisting it's good
11:34because Dirge of Cerberus? Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from MojoPlays,
11:46and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified of our latest videos.
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