The great debate - Final Fantasy 6 vs Final Fantasy 7

My best friend rags me all the time saying Final Fantasy 6 is better, and I still haven't played it. However, from an unbiased point of view I would have to say Final Fantasy 7 is better in the fact that it was the breakthrough that garnered a much larger fanbase of the series. I can compare it to a really popular song. It may not be the best song the singer ever composed, but it is the song that put them on the map. In the same way FF7 contributed most to opening up JRPGs to the western market. That's my two cents, anyways.

Old school jrpg snes games were always a niche. Along with many people I know, FF7 is one of the first jrpgs they have played. Whether it be through publicity or marketing, FF7 was hugely successful in bringing jrpgs out of their niche to reach a wider audience. I don't have specific data in front of me, but just look at the sales of FF7 compared to other jrpgs in the western market at the time. It makes them all look insignificant.

I will agree that because of 7, a larger audience was created see in as how almost 10 million units sold internationally. I couldn't find accurate ff6s numbers internationally, but 2.45mil units sold in japan alone. So im going to guesstimate roughly 4mil or so, so yeah, 7 had a lot of effect on rpgs as a whole. You'll notice 8-10 were all extremely high sales also, so no arguments there. Of course.. final fantasy 6 has a higher scored ranking than 7. ;) Final fantasy 7 GameRankings PS: 92.35%[68] PC: 86.30%[69] Metacritic PS: 92/100[70] 1UP.com A+[71] Allgame PS: 5/5 stars[72] PC: 4.5/5 stars[73] Edge 9/10[74] Famitsu 38/40[75] GameFan 100+/100[78] GamePro PS: 5/5 stars[76] PC: 4.5/5 stars[77] GameSpot PS: 9.5/10[3] PC: 8.0/10[79] IGN PS: 9.5/10[6] PC: 8.2/10[80] Official PlayStation Magazine (US) 5/5 stars[81] PC Gamer US 90%[83] PlayStation Magazine 5/5 stars[82] Computer Gaming World 4/5 stars[84] Computer Games Magazine 4/5 stars[85] Final Fantasy 6 GameRankings SNES: 93.96%[73] iOS: 92.14%[74] GBA: 91.02%[75] Metacritic GBA: 92/100[76] iOS: 91/100[77] 1UP.com GBA: 9/10[78] Allgame SNES: 5/5 stars[79] Edge SNES: 8/10[80] Electronic Gaming Monthly PS: 9.5/10[81] SNES: 9/10[82] Eurogamer GBA: 9/10[83] Famitsu SNES: 37/40[84] PS/GBA: 31/40[85][84] GamePro SNES: 5/5 stars[86] GameSpot GBA: 8.9/10[87] IGN GBA: 9/10[48]

I can't compare the stories between 6 and 7 because I haven't played 6, but both of them probably have really good content that is debatable over which is better. However, when you look at the two games as a whole, 7 has done better. Looking at the stats you provided, 7 has a higher average rating score. Compared with its huge ground-breaking sales in the west, even square-enix acknowledges it's success. I cant find the article but they said something like "We will do a remake of FFII after we can make a game that is is better". I don't want to go into a rant about how square-enix is dragging the series through a huge steaming pile of crap. (You can read about yoshinori kitase smack-talking them here, good read.) http://www.p4rgaming.com/final-fantasy-vii-director-says-he-will-approve-a-remake-only-if-square-enix-does-not-make-it/ I'm still going to go with FF7 because when you compare average review score, commercial success, and a borderline fanaticism following FF7 comes out ahead. Now my opinion on what game should get a remake? I might be siding with 6 on that one to give it the chance to make it big.

First off, love this topic. Secondly, It's going to be Final Fantasy 7. Why? Kefka was a clown and I hate clowns. Also FF7 was my very first RPG experience and it blew my mind when I played it.

He technically wasnt a clown, he was a general who wore clown-esque clothing (No idea why.. ) And shhhh arc, you weren't sposta average them up! Besides, some of them come from unreliable sources that dont give each other fairness! /nods. Yep, thats it.

I might actually favor FF7 more. It's hard to say, FF6 easily has way better characters to me, but I'm not a huge fan of the WoR portion (basically the second half). The plot kind of stops there and the ending is so bleak, I'm never sure what to think (same with FF7's ending though). Not that I need a happy ending, but there's always been something about finishing FF6 that never feels super satisfying to me. I've maybe just outplayed FF6 since it's the one I revisit the most. The more I replay them, the pickier I get? heh Gameplay wise, they are both insanely easy and super breakable. I might give the edge to FF7 here since I really liked the Materia system. Music, I'll go with FF6 overall. Villain, Kefka easily. I'm not that big on Sephiroth, but I've always liked the theory that it's really just Jenova pulling the strings the whole time. Who knows, I don't really care. I love FF7 mostly for the gameplay, the music, and the overall vibe, always a fan of weird fantasy/sci-fi mixes, I love the setting. Overall I like to say FF4-FF7 are my favorites. FF4 has the best final stretch to me, the coolest final dungeon and music, Zeromus doesn't mess around. It's a traditional game all around but consistently good. FF5 I am actually a huge fan of nowadays and go as far to say that ExDeath is honestly my favorite villain the franchise. Yes, I put him above Kefka. Kefka wanted to rule the world... okay, we've heard that one before. ExDeath? "THE LAWS OF THE UNIVERSE MEAN NOTHING", he wanted to bring the entire universe to nothingness taking himself along with it. That's just batshit insane haha. Anyways, it took me years and three attempts to really appreciate FF5, but I'm a believer now. Probably has the best gameplay too with the job system lending itself well to replayability, and the difficulty is consistent, you actually have to try a little in this one. But yeah, FF6-FF7 I've replayed countless times. So these four all balance out for me.

I think the thing with ff7 is really the marketing. For someone who started playing jrpgs with like chrono trigger, breath of fire I, and Final Fantasy 2 (4 in japan), I nearly had a heart attack when I saw a commercial for ff7 on US tv. No other jrpg had ever had a widely broadcasted trailer before. That being said, I like ff6 better.