Which Final Fantasy Should I Play First?

A Guide for Series Newcomers

For clymax’s projects, click here.
This piece reflects the personal opinion of clymax only. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the FFV Central community or of any of its members.

It can be daunting to know where to start as a newcomer to the series in this day and age.

Enter ports, re-releases, and mods into the fray, only complicating matters further.

This post covers the series up to Final Fantasy X. Entries beyond Final Fantasy X can be the subject of a future post.

Banner credit: Genki_JPN on Twitter.

Where Should You Start?

With the following recommendations in hand, a new player can jump in with the very first entry in the series, Final Fantasy, before taking on the rest of the series in release order.

If open-world chest rando is not desired as a mod theme, a new player can instead start with Final Fantasy III on the PSP before taking on subsequent entries in release order. This skips both Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II.

Entry	Version	Mod	Mod Theme
I	NES	Headwind+	Open-World Chest Rando*
II	FC	Upwind+	Open-World Chest Rando*
III	PSP (3D Remake)	—	—
IV	SNES	Ultima Plus	Expansion
V	SFC	Whirlwind+	New Modes Galore
VI	SFC	T-Edition	Expansion
VII	PSX	Comprehensive ATB Enhancement	ATB
VIII	Remastered	—	—
IX	PSX	Comprehensive ATB Enhancement	ATB
X	HD Remaster	—	—

+ The post author is also the hack author, so take the recommendation with a grain of salt. Also, these are private mods only available via an event or via Game Jolt.
* Only if a heavily modernized and more chaotic version is desired. A loose patch may be available to turn off chest rando: place a help request in our Discord for assistance.

So, what do you think? Which entry and version would you recommend newcomers start with? Would you recommend a mod? Comment below, or check us out on Discord.

This post has been viewed 51 time(s).