Summary
Being one of the most famous gaming franchises in history, theFinal Fantasyseries has become legendary with many gaming fans for the various inspirations it has had on the rest of the industry. However, there are some complaints that fans of theFinal Fantasyfranchise have had at different times due to the changing difficulty of the games.
Final Fantasyhas always been primarily about storytelling, creating amazing worlds and characters in which players can lose themselves. But for such long games, challenging combat is also a hugely important aspect, and as such, theFinal Fantasygames are often judged by fans for how hard they make themselves.
Updated October 23rd, 2023: There are a lot of fantasticFinal Fantasygames out there but some of them are much easier to get through than others. Over the years, developers have tried to create a more accessible lineup for RPG fans, and some claim this has made some of the latest installments too easy. To better showcase theeasiest games in the Final Fantasy series, the following list has been updated to now include a companion video on the subject.
7Final Fantasy 9
Many considerFinal Fantasy 9to be a lesser entry in the franchise, but it was a great return to what made the franchise great from the beginning thatstill deserves a remake at some point. It was a wonderfully fun entry that should be better remembered than it actually is within the franchise. Although it isn’t as easy as some of the entries which directly predated it, there is still a mediocre level of challenge to this edition.
Though there is a particularly tough final dungeon, the majority of the dungeons that players have to traverse are reasonably easy besides that. There are a few challenging super-bosses throughout, but the majority of the combat faced in this entry really won’t challenge most players, particularly those used to this style of play.
6Final Fantasy 12
Some entries in theFinal Fantasyfranchise find their difficulty in old-school combat systems and controls, but others found it in the grind that the combat presented. However,Final Fantasy 12is one of the entries where players have to traverse the largest number of enemies and still manage to not present many challenges.
Final Fantasy 12is one of the most interesting entries since the franchise was attempting to so completely change itself after other recent entries were criticized for being too similar. These changes made the game somewhat easier than some of the surrounding entries, though it still provided some level of challenge, the only real difficulty was in slogging through the many battles, and it would be exciting to seea remake come soon for this entry.
5Final Fantasy 7
The most famous entry in theFinal Fantasyfranchise isn’t as easy as some of the others, but overall this is such a well-beloved game because it reduced the difficulty from many of the other entries that came before it. Squaresoft wanted this game to be a hit in the West, so they reduced the difficulty, and it worked out well for them.
There was no particularly game-breaking aspect or method inFinal Fantasy 7, it just kept the general combat systems easy to learn and not too difficult to master. However, most fans merely suggest that the difficulty is a bit low overall compared to what they’d prefer, as opposed to being ridiculously low.The many different versions of this gamecontinue to lessen the difficulty even further additionally.
4Final Fantasy 6
The story ofFinal Fantasy 6helped level the franchise to a place where Squaresoft could bank on the reliability of the next entry, even in the West. However, this was definitely the entry that began to define the franchise in other ways, including a reduction in difficulty that mostly came from adding more party members and them making such a huge difference.
The party being larger meant that the entire combat system became a lot easier to deal with throughout the game from when players had just a few added to their party. Unfortunately, the balance between adding members and the combat struggle would perhaps never really be gotten perfect in the franchise’s later entries, though thepixel remaster of this one still holds upas a beautifully fun retro playthrough.
3Final Fantasy 8
The big problem with the difficulty inFinal Fantasy 8is that the developers attempted to add a Junction system that allowed players to augment their stats with magic. While this introduced an interesting level of strategy to a format that didn’t previously offer much in that direction, it made the game far too easy for players.
As soon as players began figuring out how to overpower their characters using this system, they found out thatFinal Fantasy 8was going to be a ridiculously easy experience unless they specifically geared their upgrades toward making it harder for themselves. This was unfortunate, and coupled with the enemies that leveled with the party, made much of the game a fairly silly experience.
2Final Fantasy 15
The challenge inFinal Fantasy 15is incredibly low, prompting a message from the developers that this is a game forFinal Fantasylong-time fans as well as complete newcomers to the franchise. Whether fans were really able to enjoy the fighting aspects with the difficulty so low is up to each fan themselves to answer.
Final Fantasy 15was a huge success and kept the franchise going comfortably, but players found themselves getting away with bad play a lot of the time without punishment.There were so many consumables availableand the healing systems were so crazily over-powered that it was unquestionably the easiest game in theFinal Fantasyfranchise
1Final Fantasy 16
Without a doubt, the easiest of the lot is the most recent entry in theFinal Fantasyfranchise. Continuing with the focus on accessibility that was exhibited greatly throughoutFinal Fantasy 15, many gamers that loved the JRPG franchise for the challenging combat found themselves frustrated once again by thenew entry which has just been released.
There are, as with any game, ways for players to make the experience more challenging for themselves, but there are options such as items that can be equipped that will automatically engage in complex move combinations for players without them having to do those themselves. This helps make the combat throughout most ofFinal Fantasy 16simple in comparison to many older entries, and for sure it is the easiest of the lot.
