Thanks to a combination of staying power and general success ratio, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Final Fantasy has long cemented itself as one of the best RPG series on the market. And while it can certainly be argued that some of the more recent entries haven't quite lived up to their colossal legacy, we'd still say even the weaker installments have given us memorable protagonists.
168🍬澳洲幸运5开奖网: The 19 Best JRPGs Of The PS2 Era
JRPGs are alive and welꦑl. but there were just so many of 'em for PS2.
From mainline numbered titles to the myriad spinoffs, Final Fantasy has seldom given us a bland hero or heroine. Narrowing it down to our top ten wasn't easy, but we did it, anyway. Read on to see how much you agree!
10 Lightning (Final Fantas𓆉y 13) ꦬ
Not everybody loves Final Fantasy 13. Well, not everybody loves any Final Fantasy, or presumably any video game, for that matter. But as has seemingly become tradition among more recent mainline entries, FF13 is fairly divisive. Here's the thing, though. Whether we love it, hate it, or anywhere in-between, it's not really Lightning's fault that it's so flawed. Ditto the third and final entry in the FF13 trilogy, Lightning Returns, which fittingly involves Lightning's return to main character status.
Lightning herself has a razor-sharp wit, a memorable disposition, and a solid enough character arc. She's never given a plot worthy of her presence, nor a script deserving of voice actress Ali Hillis' excellent performance. But for all the lists out there from folks who never took to Lightning's games, the heroine herself is seldom a leading issue. Far more than the "female Cloud" that people called her pre-release, Lightning is a beacon of decency in a convoluted storm of stories.
9 C🦄ecil Harvey (🗹Final Fantasy 4)
Although Final Fantasy 2 is the first game to sport a named cast of heroes, it's Final Fantasy 4's Cecil who possesses the first full-fledged protagonist arc in the series. Beginning the game as a dark knight ordered to commit atrocities, Cecil cannot help but question the orders of his king. It is precisely that core moral fiber which allows him to become a paladin at a pivotal juncture in the story, thereafter serving as a more traditional lead.
We'd argue Cecil loses a fair bit of his flavor upon becoming a paladin, which is fine within the broader context of Final Fantasy 4, but does hold him back a bit on a personal level from triumphing in the uppermost echelon of our favorites. Still, he has a heck of a journey, even without late-game revelations about his origins.
8 Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy 9) 𓄧
We won't beat around the mist here - Zidane has a tendency to rub some fans the wrong way. His, uh, eagerness to pursue relations with women doesn't play so well these days. In one scene, clearly played for laughs, he outright surprises leading woman Princess Garnet by touching her inappropriately, so... yeah.
All that being said, and we don't blame anybody in the slightest for disregarding Zidane's better qualities, the hero of Final Fantasy 9 comes across as refreshingly positive after a string of more brooding central figures. It's this positive attitude that brings such renewed hope to his peers. Zidane's candidly carefree personality is eventually driven to its brink, but it's precisely the friends whom he has helped in his travels that bring him back to his happier ways. FF9 is full of heartfelt moments, and its greatest happens here.
7 Squall 🌟Leonhart (Final Fantaꦗsy 8)
Speaking of those more brooding central figures, here's Zidane's direct predecessor, and the most brooding of them all. But don't hold that against this hero. Squall is handily one of the most complex characters in Final Fantasy, with a story that sees him gradually open up to the people who care about him, but in a believably paced manner. The guy's cynicism is downright contagious, too - Squall's observations of society are both thought-provoking and frequently funny.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: 10 RPGs With The Fla🔴shiest Spells🔯
Destroy enemies and heal allies with these gorgeousl𒐪y flashy spells.
We do think Squall's characterization ultimately revolves a bit much around his love interest, Rinoa Heartilly. Now, don't get us wrong; we understand and respect that, at its heart, Final Fantasy 8 is a love story. We just think the sizable focus sort of usurps Squall's equally engaging dynamics with his more platonic relationships. Still, he never stops being cool, ⛦and coolness can go ♓a long way. Besides, look at that gunblade. Impractical? Yep. Awesome? Oh, yeah.
6 🥃 Noctis Lucis Caelum (Fina💖l Fantasy 15)
Final Fantasy 15 is likely to be as divisive across the fandom as FF13, albeit largely for separate reasons. The multimedia approach to the overall story clips its wings by giving the game itself an oddly underwhelmi🦩ng opening, and while patches and DLC have helped greatly, the grand adventure will always feel bizarrely half-baked at several points.
But like Lightning before him, Noctis doesn't need to be in a great game to be a great hero. Noctis is instantly likable, a 'bro among bros' with his lively entourage of best friends. The Crown Prince starts out on a low-stakes road trip to meet his bride-to-be, but even as things quickly go sideways and war erupts, he only ever loses his fun factor at times when it would be silly not to. This guy just wants to fish, sleep, and play a mobile gacha RPG, and we can forgive him for the third point when the first two are so relatable.
5 🌠 Terra Branford (Final Fan🐼tasy 6)
Meanwhile, in games with excellent stories, Final Fantasy 6's Terra Branford is our pick for protagonist amid a flurry of never-ending arguments on the subject of a game that's going on three decades old. After all, the second half of FF6's tale effectively stars Celes Chere, and what are we to do with that? Can we still call Terra the lead?
Yes, we do believe we can. Much of Final Fantasy 6's story centers on the relationship between two races, one of which being the all-too-unfortunately greedy humanity. Terra, the child of both peoples, drives much of the plot as an empire's enslaved tool who rebels and becomes a beacon of faith. Terra is understandably mixed about whether she's up to the task, but rises to the occasion, the very embodiment of hope in a world gone mad. Terra's quest is one of self-discovery, and it's delightfully well told.
4 𒁏 Clive Rosf♛ield (Final Fantasy 16)
Final Fantasy 16's marketing really made it seem like Clive Rosfield might wield a permanent scowl and a too-tough demeanor. We knew the plot's inciting incident (arguably all too well) by the time FF16 launched, and it's something that justifiably gives this hero his grim demeanor, but would that ever evolve? Thankfully, the answer is yes. Clive has one of the most dynamic character arcs in the series, as his revenge-fueled ways are shaped by the people closest to him, and he learns to fight for far better reasons.
168澳洲幸运5开奖网: ൲ 8😼 Best Final Fantasy Games For Beginners
If you're co𝔍mpletely new to the Final Fantasy series, these titles are great starting points.
It's a good thing Clive Rosfield is so rad, too, because FF16's plot almost completely revolves around him, to a degree not seen elsewhere in the series. Yet again, a more recent mainline Final Fantasy finds new ways to split fandom opinion down the middle, and this hyper-fixation is often cited as one of the major reasons that some have such tepid perspectives on the game. Regardless of our own thoughts on the matter, the attention to Clive is ultimately a success, at least where Clive himself is concerned, because it's handled so strongly.
3 The Warrior Of Light (Final Fantasy 14) ཧ
Of all our choices for best Final Fantasy protagonist, the Warrior of Light from Final Fantasy 14 was by far the hardest to rank. We knew they'd be here somewhere, but how far can a character really go, when they're not only completely silent, but only start to offer players chances to more thoroughly define them at a decent clip in more recent expansions? How can anybody posit in good faith that such a seemingly blank page for player progression is one of the best characters in gaming?
Somehow, Final Fantasy 14 pulls it off. The sheer number of events this person has been involved with is staggering to consider, and they've led to so many canonically deep friendships, rivalries, and more. These bonds between fully fleshed-out castmates have produced many of Final Fantasy's most timelessly terrific scenes. The Warrior of Light, no matter their species, sex, or player-dictated disposition, manages to have remarkably solid chemistry with their peers.
2 🌌 Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy 7)
Cloud Strife would still make this list even if the ongoing Remake trilogy didn't exist, but he wouldn't have nabbed second place. He's great in the original FF7. Don't get us wrong. But maybe not that great. Final Fantasy 7 Remake has imbued this guy with so many fantastic one-liners, while expanding on his famous characterization so deeply, that it's put him on another level entirely. We cannot wait to see Cloud's emotional journey continue in future installments.
There is much to be said about the meaningful psychological analysis on Cloud in the 1997 classic, but now we're seeing so many more of the bits that define his personality, 'real' or otherwise. Take the moment when Tifa realizes Cloud is in a dress, for example. "Nailed it. I know. Moving on." Cloud's English voice actor, Cody Christian, imbues the delivery with such deadpan, such a desire to dismiss the subject in a hurry, that the part has lived rent-free in our heads for years.
1 Ramza Beoulve (💖Final Fantasy Tactics)
When most fans think about Final Fantasy Tactics, the first person to spring to mind is the game's ethically questionable antihero, Delita Heiral. Delita's machinations, not to mention his sassy and sardonic attitude, elevates him to one of the most beloved characters in all of Final Fantasy. But, you know what, we still prefer its underappreciated hero, Ramza Beoulve.
Ramza endures complete ostracization from a society he was brought up to believe in. He's cast out from his own noble family, hunted as a heretic, and even his own elder brother tries to kill him. He's unsung in the legends that tell the story of the age he lived in, remembered bitterly, if at all.
Ramza never relents. He faces what is handily the most damning reputation within his world out of any protagonist in the series, and he faces it head-on, w🔯ith all the heroism instilled upon him first by his father, and later by the convictions he forges through all this adversity. And he accomplishes all this without ever coming across as unrealistic, but rather, as a haunted young man who can only move forward within a realm that childhood friend Delita treats as his own personal chess game. Ramza rules.
