The Darkest Entry

[Pete for President]

Final Fantasy Tactics. There's so much backstabbing going on it's definitely on the darker side of things.

[Colonel Angus]

yeah, Tactics is definitely up there. VII, VI & even VIII make the list. II you are relegated to beating your friends to near death for your own benefit.

[Forsaken Lover]

VII or X.

AlthougH X suffers from much less mood whiplash than VI or VII. I need to finish VI one of these days but all I remember from it was how bizarrely it could go from goofy to serious. The Ghost Train thing was absolutely absurd but then it ends with Cyan seeing his family and you're like well that kinda sucks.

VII was the same way. One minute you're an ecoterrorist and then the next you're crossdressing.

X was the most consistently grim and dreary.

[Bright Shield]

Tactics wins this easily. No other FF is even remotely close.

After Tactics, it's probably VI and IX.

[Forsaken Lover]

GHOST TRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

[Loony BoB]

FFVI had the darkest things happen in the game as far as I can recall. FFXII had the darkest atmosphere, although in a weird way I think Lightning Returns has many moments which challenge that. FFX after that, probably.

[metagloria]

No X-2? Have you guys played that game? The freaking Den of Woe? Holy crap was that grim, especially in contrast to the outward appearance of the game.

[Forsaken Lover]

Well you kind of answered your own question. The Den of Woe felt so grim because the majority of the game was very light-hearted. Therefore X-2 cannot be "the darkest entry."

Also this whole thing is rather subjective but XII never felt that "dark." For one thing, you were never out to save the world in the most conventional sense. Sure, Archadia was bad but compared to the antagonists in the other games, they are almost saints.

Worst case scenario for XII is Vayne conquers the world. Oppression of non-Humes, dictatorship, etc.

\Worst case scenario for X is that Seymour kills everyone or Sin keeps on killing for eternity.

The situation was much more bleak in Spira.

[metagloria]

Well you kind of answered your own question. The Den of Woe felt so grim because the majority of the game was very light-hearted. Therefore X-2 cannot be "the darkest entry."

Also this whole thing is rather subjective but XII never felt that "dark." For one thing, you were never out to save the world in the most conventional sense. Sure, Archadia was bad but compared to the antagonists in the other games, they are almost saints.

Worst case scenario for XII is Vayne conquers the world. Oppression of non-Humes, dictatorship, etc.

\Worst case scenario for X is that Seymour kills everyone or Sin keeps on killing for eternity.

The situation was much more bleak in Spira.

I think as soon as the veneer of "Hey, this is a chick game!" wears off, X-2 is very dark. And I agree with you about XII, I never felt an oppressive vibe from it at all.

[Wolf Kanno]

Well you kind of answered your own question. The Den of Woe felt so grim because the majority of the game was very light-hearted. Therefore X-2 cannot be "the darkest entry."

Also this whole thing is rather subjective but XII never felt that "dark." For one thing, you were never out to save the world in the most conventional sense. Sure, Archadia was bad but compared to the antagonists in the other games, they are almost saints.

Worst case scenario for XII is Vayne conquers the world. Oppression of non-Humes, dictatorship, etc.

\Worst case scenario for X is that Seymour kills everyone or Sin keeps on killing for eternity.

The situation was much more bleak in Spira.

You didn't do much of the encyclopedia logs for XII did you, most of your undead enemies are people trapped in the world due to dark magic still in the area or just the Mist itself bringing them back as a ghost. XII's lore preaches that Ivalice is a pretty smurfed up world on par with Spira though unlike Spira, there probably is no way to get a real happy ending eventually even if you come back wrong.

[Raistlin]

Final Fantasy Tactics. There's so much backstabbing going on it's definitely on the darker side of things.

FFT is the clear winner.

I would consider FFVI, VII, and X to all be pretty close in a very distant second.

[Loony BoB]

I don't consider the "high stakes" world plot as what makes something dark, I consider the atmosphere of the game and what themes are dealt with. For me, XII had a darker atmosphere than X because the characters were far more serious. X is a decent shout if only for the cult religion thing going on.

[chionos]

I don't consider the "high stakes" world plot as what makes something dark, I consider the atmosphere of the game and what themes are dealt with. For me, XII had a darker atmosphere than X because the characters were far more serious. X is a decent shout if only for the cult religion thing going on.

That's why VI and Tactics are up there. Suicide, murder, mind control, pedophilia, brother against brother, the deaths of siblings, revenge, corrupt religion, necrophilia, megalomania, world upheaval, the deaths of parents, execution killings, etc, etc.

[Bright Shield]

^Yep. An old man even rapes his step daughter in Tactics. No FF is darker.

[Formalhaut]

Of the Final Fantasies I have completed, I would say it is probably FFX. It has it's cheerful moments but it is very much a somber affair. FFXII had light-hearted sidequests but it's main story is fairly grim overall, particularly at Mt Bur-Omisace. From the XIII saga, Lightning Returns was fairly dark.