I’ve said before that I have played Final Fantasy since FF X on the Playstation 2, and that I have loved a lot of the characters that I have played as across those titles. For the sake of clarity, and because you can’t stop me talking about the franchise no matter how hard you try, I thought I’d list my favourite party members from the games that I have played. I am not counting primary protagonists in this list (Tidus, Lightning etc), and only those who are present in most cut scenes, but who don’t have the main story revolving around them from the start.
I’ll start by pointing out the obvious, Basch just looks cool. With easily the best, and best looking, Quickening attacks in the game, Basch is one of the most fun characters to use in Final Fantasy XII. With his complicated back story and determination to make the world a better place, I can think of few others (four to be precise) who deserve to have a spot on this list.
I won’t go in to end game spoilers to support these facts, but rest assured if you have any doubts of him during the main game, he probably has one of the best pay offs of a Final Fantasy character ever.
Sazh is the reason I finished Final Fantasy XIII, not least because of his role as the party Synergist (Makes the rest of the party stronger in fights) but also because of how well-rounded and entertaining his character is. His companion Chocobo chick and ability to summon a burning knight who is also a race car (Because Final Fantasy) made him my most used character in my 120+ hours in the game. He makes a brilliant sidekick to the broody Lightning at the beginning of the game, and his endgame ability with the awesome name ‘Cold Blood’ in which he just rapidly opens fire on foes with his handguns is a joy to use every time.
Yuna was my favourite character in Final Fantasy X, and now I can look back at my time with the game and appreciate the depth and self-sacrifice that went into her journey and story. However, when I first played the game (Thirteen years ago) the reason I loved using her was because of her role as Summoner, with the ability to call incredibly powerful monsters (Called Aeons in the game) to aid in fights. This was mainly fun as very few enemies in the game stood a chance against them, and as I like to completely obliterate obstacles in JRPG’s through typical over-levelling, there wasn’t a single time that she found herself on the unused characters bench (That Lulu never moved from).
Always ready with a new recipehhh or entertaining comment, Ignis is my favourite of Noctis’s friends / bodyguards in Final Fantasy XV. Charming and funny, there’s not a single line of dialogue in the game from him that anybody could have cause to dislike. His genuine care for Noctis, coupled with his precision and savagery in battle with his twin daggers, Ignis will be always be one of the greats of the Final Fantasy franchise and one of the best written characters of all time.
He might not be the leading man in his featured games, but to me, he’s always the leading man. Balthier is the suave gentleman member of the party in Final Fantasy XII who featured prominently in my play-throughs of the games as he is so fun to use. As his default weapon is a gun, and the guns suck in XII, I gave him a greatsword to act as my main, with Ashe on healing and Basch on buffs. His odd quips in combat and comments in cut scenes meant I would always pay the most attention to him. Add his secret past into the mix, that I won’t spoil here, and you easily have one of the best Final Fantasy characters (That I’ve seen) of all time.
Special mention to Reddas, also from Final Fantasy XII, as he’s a badass pirate with mutton chops who makes the game an absolute cake walk for the duration of the time he is a guest party member.
Those are my top five Final Fantasy party members! Let me know yours in the comments and you can find me on Youtube @ Void Euphoric Records. Thanks for reading and I’ll be back soon with more Final Fantasy related ramblings.
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