I fully agree with your take on Sephiroth and I feel that Alien is a solid comparison.

100% agree on the "open world". Such HUGE rose tinted goggles people have for them. FF7 railroaded you so hard. People remember it as if it was modern day Skyrim where you could just stumble across bandits in the woods or hidden caves every hill or cliff you see. It was not that at all. The world(worlds for that gaming generation) were 80% empty. I mean, just look at Wutai in 7. There is NOTHING on that land except one cave(which you can't get to until endgame) and the town itself ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ISLAND from where you land. Wow, such "exploration"

My hot take is that the Moogles in 7 Remake aren't as horrifying as everyone says. They're not my favorite, the teeth are weird, but they're fine otherwise

Always smile when I see you posted a new video ❤ love your essay material on the series, hope you’ve been well 😊 hugs, Jay

Fabula Nova Crystalis as an idea was really, really soldi. Unfortunately it was born out of Square's desire to reuse assets instead of a true desire to tell an episodic story

My First Final Fantasy experience was with The Spirits Within. I thought all of Final Fantasy was just like that for the longest time, and it took Kingdom Hearts and the first Dissidia game to convince me otherwise years later in high school. Thank goodness to Dissidia in particular - I owe it my entry into the heart of this amazing franchise. Also, I played 6 first but 9 and 14 are my absolute faves so first is your favourite? Nope, not here! Hopefully we start to see more male healers going forwards, too, since 14 gave us both Alphinaud and Urianger

I've explained the story of Final Fantasy XIII to several people who've never played a Final Fantasy game - mainly those who were curious about this particular entry - and they were absolutely fine. Even my little niece managed to follow along with ease when she first played it. The naming convention is fine. Now that's a true hot take. And Type-0 is very much a part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis universe, not some loose reference. It has retained much of the lore and themes of the mythos' flagship title and its sequels. Seeing these games side-by-side is quite eye-opening, because they greatly compliment each another while standing on their own two feet.

I'm going to add 2 of my hot takes: The first is that FF13 is unfairly underrated. Yes, I respect criticisms leveled at the tutorials for 50% of the game, the convoluted story, etc. But I've seen criticisms about the hallway structure, and the battle system being "automated" and too basic. The video hammers out the former well, but regarding the latter: I actually find the FF13 battle system and the higher level boss fights in general to be some of the most difficult BUT also the most engaging fights I've ever experienced in the series. The do-over mechanic -- which allows you to re-try battles immediately after failing -- is such a perfect addition considering success often revolves around trial-and-error in FF13. I get the sense that critics of FF13's battle system didn't get very far into the game itself? Also, I'd argue the end-game content (and the fact it's actually built into the story itself) is the best of any FF game. Which other title allows you to continue exploring canonically after defeating the final boss? As an aside, the soundtrack is also incredible. My second is that FF12's approach to abilities and ultimate weapons is not discussed very much, but deserves to be among the highlights of what makes 12 one of the better titles gameplay-wise. I recently replayed FF9 trying to (near) 100% the game, and I'm always disappointed by how little time you get to spend with each individual characters' ultimate weapons. Several characters' weapons can only be acquired in the final hour or two of the game -- so what's even the point when you don't get to enjoy them? Obviously, giving players access to the best spells/abilities and weapons in the game far too early would be game-breaking and a problem itself. That's why I love how FF12 approached this -- yes, you can get high-level XYZ item or ability early, but not without jumping through plenty of hoops and defeating incredibly challenging bosses. Take the genji gear for example: it's an strong set of gear for katana-wielding characters (literally end-game level build), and you can get access to one set of them somewhat early by defeating Gilgamesh in a long side quest. But he's incredibly difficult to beat straight-up prior to end game, and any time you sacrifice by deviating from the main story line to acquire the gear is going to be spent grinding levels and other necessary gear/abilities/gambits to defeat him. I guess what I'm saying is FF12 is very balanced in the way it allows you to deviate from the main questing to pursue late game builds, but not without pouring your time and resources into it wholeheartedly. It's not simply opening a chest hidden away on the world map, but spending the same 10-15 hours you might have invested in the main story toward leveling up and sidequesting instead. It's a very healthy system that lets you experience the game in an infinite number of ways.

I agree 💯 with the Tactics advance take. Learning skills from the equipment was my favorite aspect. Made it feel like nothing you obtained really went to waste during early progression.

Great video! Very interesting takes. Looking forward to more videos 😊

Warm take: FFV has the best job system and highest replayability

The statement of "art is subjective" is the pinicle of josephyr and why we should appreciate him. A true pillar of FF's community.

FF13's hallway structure makes sense if you consider the story. You're playing 6 wanted criminals that have pictures of their face posted everywhere. Due to this, your not gonna be taking a stroll through towns and shops. For the most part you're gonna be on the run and don't have time for interaction with the world

I love Tactics Advance so much. It’s completely overlooked most of the time but it was so fun!

11:32 DGenesis23 and EmpoleonNorton spittin facts there and I resonate. I have played FF3-9 and Tactics Advance. I have lived at three decades now and back in PS1 days, my most favorite title is 9, 8 and Tactics Advance for the longest time.......until I played XV. It instantly bumped FF9 from top to second as my most favorite. I acknowledge its major flaws. The game has SO MUCH cut contents that would've made it really great yet I was attached to bros more than I ever had to any FF character. In fact, FFXV is the only FF title that has made me cry. My only hot take is that I didnt like X. I just got bored with it. Really quickly. The farthest I got was when you met Yuna for the first time then I dropped it.

Don't worry, Joe, it's your right to be incorrect about Tactics :D That was a fun video!

It is wild how much of the perception of Sephiroth has changed from being mostly a mystery to what we now have where he feels like an obsessive ex to Cloud lol

I had so much fun playing FFIII-3D. Like just slapping the crap out of enemies as a scholar with two books kept me entertained for HOURS!

My biggest hot take is much more of a peeve than anything else and that is that I am sick of people making claims that a game sucks without finishing it. If you rage quit at a boss which I know many people have done on fights like seymour flux in 10, the dragon in 10-2, and barthandelus in 13 then your opinion is mute cause how could you have the insight nessecary to say something is bad. Its like watching a movie and saying the story is bad but you didn't watch the ending. Some games and even franchises I didn't like the first time but when I went back to the I found that the were quite enjoyable such as undertale, god of war, last of us(both part 1 and 2), resident evil, as well as final fantasy 1, 2, 4, 10, 12, 13, the after years, and dissidia opera omnia to name a few.

Good takes

Spicy, but a fun watch =)

Agree with the FF7 take that story wise, nothing new that has been added has been good for it. Closest I get is chapter 4 of remake (Jesse chapter), which I did enjoy, but at the same time it steals significance from Aerith to make it good. Aerith was the one who breaks through Cloud's hard shell and gets him to smile and soften up. Luckily Aerith is so good that she's still able to reclaim that role once her chapter arrives, but it's not as impactful as it could have been since they already started the process of Cloud opening up since chapter 4. So I really did enjoy chapter 4, but it comes with a detriment for another character so it ends up as neutral to me rather than an improvement. Everything else I've seen as a negative, including CC.

This is gonna be a doozy. 13, 12, 8, and 15 are all in my top 5. Tactics A2 was my favorite tactics game. 7, 5, and 9 are some of my least. favorites. 7's story, cast, and villain never resonated with me... I mostly only loved the Midgar portions, and Shinra was infinitely more interesting than Sephiroth to me (i haven't played Remake, that may change my mind). 5's job system felt stupid since it only let you have one skill slot, I feel FF Dimensions, Blue Dragon, Dragon Quest VI, and Bravely Default do this all so much better. And while I love 9's story and characters, it's gameplay was honestly the worst of the series imo. Still love them all tho! FF2 is better than 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9😬 FFX-2 is the worst in the series for me, as much as I love its take on the ATB system. It's sidequests, dungeons, and all that were awful. Loved the cheery vibe though. I think FF13's linearity made me love the game more. I could just enjoy the story and characters without annoying dungeons or towns. I loved the beautiful setpieces, it's for the same reason I enjoyed Octopath Traveler dungeons. I love the presentation and the lack of annoying dungeons like Marsh Cave, The Great Crystal, and all that. And Gran Pulse is lots of fun to explore, so... Not that I'd want every game in the series to be like this, but it fits the game perfectly. I loved the combat of 15. Never understood the hold X complaint. Sure, you can do that, but that's just a product of being bad at the game. Breaking FF2 and FF8 are NOT downsides to the games. The game letting you break the game is not an issue, as you don't have to do it. Lots of FFT fans hate these two games for the same reason they love FFT. How odd 😂 I love FFX's combat, but it's not top tier. Mostly because games like Blue Dragon and Octopath Traveler did the CTB system better. Hope and Snow aren't awful characters. They get character development. Shocking, who knew people develop due to the circumstances they are in. Their character moments in Chapter 7 at Palumpolum are honestly some of the greatest moments of the whole series. The Deathlord from FF Dimensions II is one of the best villains of the whole series. Change my mind. The character cast is also amazing in that game, with great skits. And the art is stunning! World of FF is one of the best FF games. I liked the FF15 complimentary media. While i wish the game was more complete, I like the idea of a multimedia project. Just wish it was planned from the beginning, and not a cash grab. FF13's story made complete sense. Just think of L'cie as demigods, Fal'Cie as gods, and the Purge as genocide. Honestly, the Datalog is completely unnecessary. However, i loved it, as it let you catch up if you took a break for a couple weeks. Magic in FF15 is kind of awesome! They definitely could've came up with a much better way of giving your crystals and gave more elemental variety and such, but the idea of craftable, single-use magic was actually pretty awesome. Just wish it was a bit more in-depth. FF13 has one of the best stories in the series. Junction system is just as good as Materia system. Love them both a ton! Personally, two of my favorites of the series. I think the Lisence Board in FF12:TZA is way more fun than the Sphere Grid. Having to grind for spheres is one of the most agonizing things in the series, imo. Idk, I just adored the License Board. Unfortunately, the Crystarium was quite the step back from both of them... I don't really have too many FF6 hot takes. All I can say is that FF6's World of Ruin and FF1 are the only true "open-world" non-MMO experiences until FF15. Makes me laugh when people say FF10 and FF13 suck because of their linearity when none of the games were non-linear. Sure, you can hate on the lack of labyrinthine dungeon design, but that's not the same argument. Haha. FF6 is one of my favorite FF games, but I do think that it'd be near the bottom without the World of Ruin. Still love the World of Balance, but I definitely couldn't say it was a better experience than 4 or 5 if they didn't have that extra development time. I think the first is the favorite argument is always silly. I played them in order from FF1, and I sure as heck do not think FF1 is the best game here 😂 Also, there's no objective ranking of the Final Fantasy games. That's literally stupid. You can rank them off sales, or by popular opinion, but one singular person claiming to make an objective ranking on any subject makes me wonder where the world's brain cells went. My ranking is absolutely not objective, nor is Billy Bob Joe's four houses down. Objective is a silly word unless looking at cold hard facts like sales numbers. I agree with all the hot takes in this video for the most part. I'll say that a party certainly helps the game, but is not necessary. FF16 does a great job including other characters, so I can't say it sucks. However, makes combat more stale. Whatever.

algorithm

Hot take, FF13 is the best final fantasy since 9

Final Fantasy 4, 6, and 9 are basically the same game

The Fabula Nova Crystallis falling apart doesn't really have anything to do with whether or not FFXIII specifically had strong lore/world building. Type-0 and XV even when it was Versus XIII were all set in different worlds, where the thing that connected them to the Fabula Nova Crystallis was a central theme of crystals that related to deities. The comment was referring specifically to just the story of FFXIII, and to that point you don't need any supplementary material to understand the world or mythos at play in XIII.