Which Final Fantasy has your favourite magic system?

[Cannon_Fodder]

I'm generally not a fan of magic in RPGs, but there are some I liked more than others:

IX - I'm a sucker for IX's ability-learning system, so it's on the list automatically because of that. In addition though, every magic user has different strengths, and some notable spells are more interesting takes on your standard "does a lot of damage" type. Doomsday, for example, hits your party as well as the enemy.
XII - the variety in spells is great on its own (with some oddballs like reverse getting good use), but using them also felt rewarding. If nothing else because you could set your mage to use gambits so you don't personally have to wait on spell casting time too often.
VII Remake - it might just be recency bias, but this might be my favourite. Materia provides flexibility, but character abilities add unique spins that really sell Aerith as a mage. The double-cast glyph, for example, never got old to me.

 

[Starlatine]

V

its not character limited, introduces blue magic, some really fun hybrid classes too

but i'd vote V for anything final fantasy so shrug

 

[TheJollyCorner]

I'm old fashioned, so I'll go FFIV.
I liked specific mage characters- got your healer, got your offensive magic user, got your summoner that can do a bit of everything. I appreciated the individuality of the character classes and I liked the excitement of learning new spells when leveling up (or the crushing disappointment of NOT gaining a new spell after leveling up, lol). Oh- and TWIN MAGIC, baby!

 

[GamerJM]

It was definitely the coolest in the Tactics games, and extremely versatile.

 

[Genz]

FFXIV has barely anything that can reasonably be called a "system" so it should be fair to include them. Thus FFXI has best magic system, especially blue mage : lot of various spells, and it gets passive traits depending on which spells are "equipped" so it's a very versatile job.

 

[Ferrio]

FF8.

Really not a fan of mages in FF games, so being able to use magic just to make my characters godlike was a nice change of pace.

 

[Deleted member 13560]

I'm going to have to say VII and Final Fantasy XI had the best magic systems. XI had such a huge emphasis on timing magic in attack chains to get optimum damage. It was always so satisfying with Skill Chains and Magic Bursts were completed correctly.

 

[Tolby]

Final Fantasy X
Spells instant-kill regular enemies before postgame, and there are builds that make doublecasting Ultima better than attacking with Quick Hit.

 

[Zen_Master]

VII and VI were the best for me. They just felt so satisfying to learn and use. VI may edge it for me with the sheer variety of spells and the multiple possible ways to approach battles that result.

 

[FinFunnels]

Tactics/Tactics Advance for visual appeal. As others have mentioned, the animations for casting magic and summons was so dope.
XIII for gameplay. Because chaining magic to stagger the enemy, then switching to physical attacks is so much fun.

 

[NuFrontier]

Like others have said, FF IX had a great system along with XIII. Though, as a FF XII fan I will say that I still really enjoy the unique core mechanics of XII and how robust it was for its time.

 

[Mr. Genuine]

The answer is 7, man.

 

[Dogui]

FFXIII is the only game where non cure magic is actually important. In other games, i use black magic either for roleplay, like in IV/IX/X, or it's just whatever like in VII/VIII(Aside Aura, triple or meltdown)/XII.

Edit: Tho you need black magic for flan enemies in X, and FFXII Zodiac gets a lot better at it if you want, but still not comparable to XIII.

 

[Deleted member 43657]

FFIV.

Your black mage learns black magic/summons.
Your white mate learns white magic.
Your paladin learns a combo of both.
Your dragoon is attack-focused.
Your thief duel-wields.

Every character has a role and learns skills based on leveling up. I sincerely miss the days of simplistic progression.

 

[Kientin]

It´s not my favorite FF, but FFIX. I love systems where you learn things from gear and I´m a massive hoarder in RPGS. It´s a natural fit for me.

 

[Aimi]

FFVIII - Gaining ability points for your GFs was great, the basic idea of draining magic from your opponents was cool. I used to spend hours on the menu, being creative and shuffling magic and GFs around, just figuring out the best balance of stats and need of use.

It had its drawbacks, and it can be a bit of grinding pain, but I feel the game balances this out with the GF level up and magic transferring.
But then again, I loved grinding for XP and stocking magic for hours, so there's that.

 

[Ghostfacedon]

I kinda enjoy each FF magic system for what they are. But my faves are 6 with the Esper system and 7 with materia.

I still think materia is the most brilliant system SE has used in a FF game.

Gotta throw in 15 just for the spectacle. First time I summoned Ramuh, wowzers. Also, I literally drained Adamantoise to death with that magic ring.

 

[Deleted member 54073]

Materia system in FFVII is king.

 

[fourfourfun]

IX, which also had the worst limit skills for me.

I like how IX managed the progression, but a bit of effort could get a few early items.

 

[WolfeTone]

IX was my favourite because it gave a purpose to gear and equipment beyond defence numbers go up and repeat at next armor store. I also liked that each party member was distinct and learned mostly unique magic and skills.

I liked the variety of magic in XII but it's tough to make full use of it without constantly switching up your gambits or manually issuing orders.

 

[Crossing Eden]

7r's magic system was pure bliss for me.

I liked 13's for being the most balanced, even if the game did a lot of the planning for you. All the different techniques in that game felt like they had a clear purpose compared to most FFs where the vast majority fall into obscurity because of resource allocation or funky management systems.
X/X-2 similarly had nice methods of making all methods of attack balanced so would choose that for similar reasons.

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Magic breaks FFXIII's combat so hard that the final boss is beatable in less than a minute if you spam debuffs

 

[Weltall Zero]

Final Fantasy Tactics.

Nothing else quite matches the splendour of summoning gifs.

And in general, the job system that lets you mix and match job skills lead to a really enticing amount of customisation and progression.

Oh! And geomancy. 'Nuff said.

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Tactics would be my pick, but summons are, if anything, a point against it. They were so underwhelming even back then, compared to e.g. VII's.

 

[Rubblatus]

I'm going to Lay Down the Law™ and say no MMOs since those will win...

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It's true though. 14's the king because it makes exciting magic rotations while feeling like it's taking a lot of aesthetic cues from SNES-era Final Fantasies. That game's combat aesthetic is seriously top-notch.

Otherwise FF13 takes it. Buffs and debuffs are absolutely worth using which catapults it near the top from the jump, but I love how normal attack spells are balanced against melee attacks in regards to the stagger bar. Having magic spells give you huge chunks of stagger that decays quickly vs. melee only giving you small chunks of stagger while significantly reducing that stagger bar decay (Which feels like a enemy debuff that can stack up a LOT with lots of physical strikes going out). It ends up giving you a lot to work with in moment-to-moment gameplay as you min-max the shit out of that bar.

 

[OsramTaleka]

I think IX off of the top of my head! Always useful and with great animations.

 

[bwahhhhh]

Materia system, but with more advanced combinations (maybe even a triple link for maximum bustedness on one of the late-game weapons/armors)

but I'd like to have permanent stat boosts like with the Esper system

And maybe have the elemental materias be less common early game, so that I can't just have 3 people casting thunder fairly early in the game

 

[Deleted member 3040]

The XIII games are the only ones (to my knowledge) where magic debuffs and buffs actually feel like they matter in combat, so they win by default. So nice you can actually give bosses status effects.

 

[ILikeFeet]

I don't think I played an FF where I used magic extensively. it was always more worthwhile to just attack. unless you're Garnet/Eiko. then you just didn't get used unless I needed heals

I guess 7 then? probably 13 as well, but I didn't like that game

 

[ventuno]

XIII made every spell truly matter so my vote goes to that alongside the materia in VII, it really felt like the next step after magicite. I liked the idea of customizing your abilities via magic in VIII, but as mentioned, I didn't really want to use much of it as a result.

 

[OdjnRyu]

I loved IX's. Learning spells and abilities by equipment was fun.

But I actually don't mind the buying of spells in I - III and V.

 

[SilentSoldier]

V

its not character limited, introduces blue magic, some really fun hybrid classes too

but i'd vote V for anything final fantasy so shrug

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Well that's because the class system is the best gameplay system in FF and V is the best version of that within the main line games.

 

[Jimmypython]

FF9 learning from weapon is so good.
FF10 is pretty neat as well.
For FF12, buying or treasure chest aren't fun but gambit system made it super fun to play.

 

[Astral]

Definitely VIII. Equipping shit like 99 Ultimas to become broken as fuck was so fun.

 

[Mercador]

Which Final Fantasy does it better? Everytime, FFVI.

 

[Rellyrell28]

I'm gonna go XII only cause in that game scathe was amazing unlike it's useless XIV counterpart.

 

[kamineko]

vi is definitely my favorite, beyond the materia magic there's the way it affects leveling up, you can build any character out the way you want

the built-in skills for characters add another dimension, many use magic for damage calculation, plus Terra and Celes's abilities

 

[Mib]

1 and 2. I've only played a couple of FF, but the spell slot and skill level system of 1 and 2 is super fun to work with/around as busted as they are.

In FF1 you have DnD style spell slots instead of mp. So for instance: say fire1, thunder1, and blind are level 1 spells, while cure, fire2, and ice1 are level 2 spells; instead of using mp for each individual spell, all the level 1 spells would use 1 point from a pool of lvl 1 spell points, and the lvl 2 spells from their own separate pool. As you level up the number of spell slots and spell points increase based on class (i.e. at level 1 a white mage might have 2 lvl1 slots with 3 uses total, while at level 30 they would have 3 lv1 slots with 30 uses, in addition to lvl 2-8 slots). It's super limiting in some ways, but flexible in others.

FF2 introduces mp, but drops character levels. In FF2 every stat, including the stats which govern stat growth, increases with use. So rather than buying fira from a store, using fire x number of times in y fights upgrades it to fire2 (then 3, all the way up to 16) with the mp cost being the spell rank (fire cost 1 mp, fire5 cost 5 mp). You gain a chance to gain mp by burning through a set percentage during a fight, and you have a chance to earn intelligence any time you use magic. If you don't know the equations (and bugs) that govern them, it's probably pretty awful, but knowing them creates a fun metagame that let me turn the obvious back row healer into a bare-handed dps with ridiculous magic and physical damage. It would be cool to see that system return in a balanced game with modern design sensibilities.

 

[Síriocaz]

Draw
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Draw

Thank God for the speed booster in the re-release.

 

[Bulebule]

I love Final Fantasy V. The job-system is neat, Blue Magic is great and the fact you can break elemental rods to wreck early/mid game bosses easily.

 

[cyappu]

I don't know about favorite, but I want to stick up for the magic system in XII. I loved how many different types there are (White, Black, Time, Green and Arcane) and there was a lot of creative stuff you could do with different magic and the gambit system, such as having one character cast oil and another target oil-afflicted enemies with fire spells. There were a lot really use buffs too, like haste, bubble, bravery, etc. It was a bit annoying to have to both buy a spell AND unlock the license for it before you can use it, but not so bad compared to other systems.

... Now I want to try an all-mage run of FF12 TZA.

 

[Hope]

It's a tie for every Single ps1 FF.

 

[Jakisthe]

I'd also have to go with Tactics. It's just so layered. Of course, on the surface, this starts with the question of targeting and charge; whether you want to tie your spell to a character - and risk having it also hit friendlies - or tied to a location - and risk having it miss in a few turns. That alone, plus the classic FF stuff like "elemental weaknesses" makes for an appropriately tactical choice; far beyond the standard ask in an FF.

Then it starts introducing things like faith and brave, zodiac signs, and the various debuffs.

And then it starts to throw entirely different schools at the player. Sure, there's the black and white magics, the summoning, all of that. But before you know it, we get introduced to the mechanically distinct stuff like dancers/bards, geomancy based on the terrain of the battlefield, the samurai draw stuff with the various swords, being a calculator...

It just felt like every one was not only useful, not only practical, but worked in an entirely separate way that wasn't just "add damage/status effect". That the player had to consider the specifics of how the magic actually worked to have it be successful. I absolutely adore systems like that.

 

[Poltergust]

I'm gonna go XII only cause in that game scathe was amazing unlike it's useless XIV counterpart.

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Shades of Black -> Scathe happens so often in that game lol.

 

[signal]

I don't know about favorite, but I want to stick up for the magic system in XII. I loved how many different types there are (White, Black, Time, Green and Arcane) and there was a lot of creative stuff you could do with different magic and the gambit system, such as having one character cast oil and another target oil-afflicted enemies with fire spells. There were a lot really use buffs too, like haste, bubble, bravery, etc. It was a bit annoying to have to both buy a spell AND unlock the license for it before you can use it, but not so bad compared to other systems.

... Now I want to try an all-mage run of FF12 TZA.

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Good old Float.

 

[Quinton]

In terms of the usefulness and splendor of spells, FFXII: The Zodiac Age ranks supreme. There's a decent degree of depth involved and it's fun strategizing for magic-heavy optional battles. Worst here is probably VIII, for the same reason many others have mentioned.

On the other hand, the systems built around the gaining and strengthening of magic peak in FFVII. Spells are bought or found, which is part of what makes games like FFV and FFXII cool, and then they level up over time. It's stylish (materia orbs are visually satisfying) and kind of addictive.

I hate FFVI's, ngl. On paper, the notion of permanent stat growth at level-ups courtesy of equipped Esper is rather cool. In my personal experience, it's just a lot of frustration. I'd like it more if I didn't feel the urge to time everything at least passably well so that I don't wind up with suboptimal character builds I didn't intend to create. This urge leads me to micromanage the heck out of my party as their levels climb. FFVI's battle system isn't engaging enough to support that menial dryness.

(I know my critiques re: FFVI's system are entirely subjective.)

 

[Chucat]

Draw
Draw
Draw
Draw
Draw
Draw

Thank God for the speed booster in the re-release.

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The thing about 8 is that you don't have to go around and draw spells from every enemy. The only two things you're going to use spells for are casting them and junctioning them, and well, 100 Fires (for example) isn't useful for either of those things on any level. It's only useful if you have this urge to completely fill out your spellbook for some reason. Most of the spells you can get you can either get through cards, or are located on roughly 4 boss encounters, so you just draw from that and then you're done.

Last time I played, the amount of time I spent playing Triple Triad to get good magic and ultimate weapon materials early completely and utterly dwarfed the amount of time I spent drawing from enemies over the whole game.

PS. High magic makes you draw more iirc.

 

[Kain]

Yeah you just have to draw GFs in VIII, all your magic can be refined from items, cards and other magic. Really I miss VIII brokenness

It's also true XII is great. Once you set up a powerful mage with high mp recovery and fast cast (Penelo and Ashe are the prime candidates for this) and have the appropriate gambits they just fucking obliterate everything in their path and only bosses with palling (fucking Zodiark) can stand a chance. They are just stalling at that point but it does get annoying.

Samurai berserk Basch + BM Ashe + WM Balthier is the mvp team

 

[ffvorax]

FFVII, I love materia system

 

[Dreamboum]

FFV, FFVII, FFT and FFXII are my favorite for several reasons.

FFV for their usefulness, FFVII for the materia matching, FFT and FFXII for their huge numbers and tons of situational uses and how STRONG mages are.

 

[Acidote]

VIII. Broken stuff is fun to exploit.

 

[DrHercouet]

At first, I was going to say exactly this :

FFV for their usefulness, FFVII for the materia matching, FFT and FFXII for their huge numbers and tons of situational uses and how STRONG mages are.

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But really, I'm leaning toward this :

VIII. Broken stuff is fun to exploit.

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RPGs are cool, but they are absolutely amazing when you play to find how to break the game, and I feel like FF8 was "Break me : The Game". There are so many ways to be ridiculously overpowered and the magic was at the center of each of them. Magic has never felt as important in a game than in FF8, otherwise it's mostly my buffs and debuffs reservoir. But using magic in FF8? It felt like hacking the game, and THAT was a great feeling!