The JRPG genre has witnessed its highs and lows over the course of gaming history. There was a time when these games were coveted for their brilliance, with thrilling stories, enthralling characters, and a beautiful world driving the craze that most people had for this genre. Just take a look at the original PlayStation, which was graced with a bevy of JRPG titles that have remained in the hearts of fans to this very day. Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Parasite Eve — these are just some of the many titles that became major hits on the hoไme console and ended up becoming nothing short of legendary. The common thing amongst these three titles? Well, the innovator at the helm of the project was none o⛎ther than Squaresoft (now Square Enix), and one of their franchises was the sole reason why this JRPG boom happened on the PlayStation.

Final Fantasy VII was a landmark title that sparked an interest in more games like this legendary title. In fact, the entire Final Fantasy series became one of tཧhe most coveted JRPG franchises of all time, and for good reason — the fact of the matter is t♚hat these games have featured some amazing stories that have stood the test of time as some of the best tales ever told in any video game.

However, not all is roses and sunshine when it comes to these stories in the Final Fantasy universe — there are still several tales that have been less-than-stellar, ruining the gaming experience for many. Here are 15 such tales that have hurt the entire Final Fantasy series as a whole, coupled with 10 memorable 𝕴stories that made it all 🐷worth it.

It pretty much goes without saying, but there'll be some MAJOR spoilers fo𝓡r the entire series♈ from now on.

25 SAVED: The Reason Why Cl🧸oud Has Hazy Memories (FFVII)

We start this list off with the game that kickstarted the JRPG craze as we know it — something that has already been stated at the start of this list. The stories interwoven in Final Fantasy VII were absolutely beautiful.

At the center of it all was Cloud's hazy memories.

After surviving a traumatic event that resulted in the loss of his best friend Zack, Cloud — who himself was ill from Mako poisoning — lost his memories and adopted that of his fallen comrade. As the story unfolds, Cloud finally reverts back to his true self, w🌺hich is an absolute treat to waꦅtch.

24 HURT: Cait Sith's Backstory (FFVII) ⛦

However, not all is well with the most popular title in the franchise. While the story in Final Fantasy VII is amazing ifꩲ people look a the big picture, there are certain elements of this tale that can bore the absolute crap out of you.

Cait Sith's character is a great example of this.

The fact of the matter is that Cait Sith is one of the worst Final Fantasy party members of all time, and his backstory does little to nothing to redeem him in our eyes. He's just a robot conꦚtrolled by Reeve, who comes back even after sacrificing himself.

Honestly, we would've prefe💟rred if he remained lost forev𝐆er.

23 ꦐ 𓆉 HURT: Cid's Rumored Antics (FFVII)

Time to talk about an element of Final Fantasy VII that is certainly not kid-friendly. On🎶ce the party enters Rocket Town, a series of events will lead to them meeting up with Cid. While he might seem like a decent person at first glance, there's a dark side to his character.

The manner in which he treats his wife is nothing short of deplorable.

We say this because there are multiple instances where he swears and shouts at his wife. If this is how he treats his partner in front of other people, one can easily assume that ꦛthere's something even worse ha♏ppening behind the scenes.

22 SAVED: The Enti🔯re World Breaking In Two (FFVI) ꩲ

Final Fantasy VI is widely considered by many to be the best entry in the franchise, and one need only play thꦜe game to understand why this is the case. A cast of ensemble characters means that every person is important in his on her own right. This is coupled with a brilliant story that never pulls its punches when it comes to the story.

Case in point — there's a nerve-wracking scene in the game where the party needs to stop Kefka and Emperor 𒀰Gestahl from messing around with the Warring Triad statues. However, the party fails, and Kefka sends the whole world into ruin as entire continents split into two.

21 𒐪 HURT: The Gener𝔉ic Plot Of The First Game (FFI)

Square was in dire need to nail down a product as a last-ditch effort of sorts to redeem themselves and pick themselves out of the rut they were stuck in. Out came the very first Final Fantasy game, which was a 💯re🐼sounding success and put Square back on the map.

However, while the first game is definitely great from a gameplay꧃ perspective, the last thing anybody would commend the game on is its story. There's nothing really to write home in this regard, with a barebones plot that utilizes all the tropes available in the book of writing generic fantasy stories.

20 ⭕ HURT: A Decent Plot That Was Overshadowed By Weiꦓrd Gameplay (FFII)

After the runaway success of Final Fantasy, Square was more confident and willing to take creative risks. Thus, Final Fantasy II became a melting pot of ideas, which led to it becomin🎉g somewhat of a mixed bag that has proven to be quite divisive in the modern era.

While the attempt at a ser🤪ious story was actually quite admirable, this tale was hampered by a horrible gameplay mechanic. Basi🌌cally, instead of leveling up, your characters needed to do certain things to increase their stats.

Do🐈 we really need to state why this is a bad idea?

19 HURT: Going Back To A Generic Plot For No Reason (FFIII) 🎀

While Final Fantasy II did a lot of wrong things when it came to the gameplay, the attempt at telling a halfway-decent story was definitely a step in the right direction. However, once Final Fantasy III was released, it seem💃ed that Square just kicke📖d its gears into reverse.

We say this because Final Fantasy III is virtually identical to the first game in the series, featuring th🎶e job system once again while going back to a generic plot that just served as an excuse for more dungeon crawling.

Well, at lea🌳st the game introduced the ico🔥nic summons.

18 ⛄ SAVED: Sephiroth's Descent In🍸to Madness (FFVII)

Final Fantasy III was the last time Square would ever put its plot on the back burner — each successiꦕve title after the third one featured a grandiose story that has become a staple o🎉f the series at this point.

A great way to illustrate this would be to talk about the main villain of Final Fantasy VII, Sephiroth. While he started out as a regular run-of-the-mill SOLDIER, his mind broke once he found out that 🃏he was nothing more than a scientif𒅌ic experiment.

Cue one of the most iconic descents into m🐼adness, and the development of what might💃 be one of the most memorable video game antagonists of all time!

17 HURT: Using Guardian Forces Caused Amnesia (FFVIII) 🍸 🐼

Final Fantasy VIII is definitely a great game, but one can understand why it gets so much flack from the hardcore fans of the series. The tiresome Draw mechanic൩ might be one such drawback, but the worst insult has to be the story itself.

While this game might have its moments of brilliance, the "big reveal" that comes is one of the stupidest things ever. Basically, excessive use of the Guardian Forces' power — the summons of this😼 game — led✨ to memory loss, which is why the characters don't remember the following thing about their lives.

16 ꧑ HURT: The Fact Tha💞t All Of The Main Characters Are From The Same Orphanage (FFVIII)

There are two aspects to the "big reveal" in Final Fantasy VIII. The first one is something that we've already mentioned b🤡efore — the amnesia caused by using the power of the Guardian Forces led to the party members forgetting one crucial thing about their lives.

They all originated from the same orphanage, which is something that pretty much anyone 😼would find hard to believe. It's just too convenient that all these people who jus🦩t happened to travel together also share a childhood with each other.