Summary
It is quite shocking when players look back at the launch date ofFinal Fantasy, one of the world’s biggest game franchises. The series came into existence in 1987, making it close to thirty-three years old. With multiple games split across three decades of its lifetime, the series is a cult classic.Final Fantasyis what people think of when they talk about JRPGs, and that is for a good reason.
The games have continually evolved the genre and made it better with every release. However, as good as the story and gameplay evolution has been, there’s something that hasn’t been as constant. The difficulty of the games is all over the place, with some games being relatively easy while others are incredibly hard to beat. Regardless of how tough these games are, players can rest assured that they’ll be occupied by these games for hours on end as they watch their amazing stories unfold right before their eyes.
Updated on June 18, 2025, by Ritwik Mitra:Final Fantasy is one of the best video game franchises of all time. The sheer number of ways this franchise has tried to innovate on JRPG tropes and norms is admirable, even if some people feel like this series isn’t at the forefront of gaming anymore. Still, there are many people who love Final Fantasy to this day, appreciating their larger-than-life stories that are amazing to play through. While the series isn’t necessarily known for its difficulty, there are still some fights and bosses that can throw players in for a loop if they’re not careful. With adequate preparation and maybe a bit of grinding, players should be able to get through these games after some struggles.
Thelatest entry in theFinal Fantasyseriesserves as a massive departure from the usual tropes of the series, letting players only control one character in a bold move for a franchise where party members were pretty much the norm. It helps that Clive is a strong protagonist who can single-handedly take out most enemies, although this does reduce the challenge factor considerably.
Players can makeFinal Fantasy 16even easier with accessories that allow them to automate everything from dodges to healing. The game’s combat can become downright rudimentary if enemies are pushovers, which is why most people recommend playing through the game without wearing any of these Timely accessories. Given how long the title is, it’s important tokeep combat as freshand engaging as possible so that players don’t get bored of it in the long run.
While some might assume that thedifficulty ofFinal Fantasygames has gone downwith time, it is not entirely true. However, in the case ofFinal Fantasy 10, the game is clearly on the easier side. The tenth entry in the franchise is a very good game based on the review scores, but it does lack the punch of difficulty the original games were known for. There are optional quests in-game that carry some difficulty, but the main game itself is pretty much painless.
Final Fantasy 10is one of the longest titles in the series,with its main storyclocking in at just under 50 hours. Those hoping to collect all of the ultimate weapons and beat all of the game’s super bosses should be prepared for a longer ride still, with the average completionist run taking a somewhat insane 150 hours. It’s well worth it, though, as the Dark Aeons and Penance are some of the toughest boss battles to ever grace the series.
Final Fantasy 13was a unique experiment, even if some people felt like it marked a turn in the wrong direction for the series. The game was decent but nowhere near worthy of deserving two sequels that came with its fair share of problems and didn’t do much to turn people around when it came toFinal Fantasy 13.
WhileFinal Fantasy 13-2is still a fun game for people invested in this universe, the combat has been significantly toned down in terms of difficulty. Sure, players can still perish if they play absent-mindedly, but the game is nowhere near as punishing as the first game.
Released merely a year before the popularFinal Fantasy 10,the ninth entry was more challenging than its sequel. The game was a PS1 title, so one part of the difficulty goes to the game’s old age. However, it was still relatively easy compared to many other games in the series. The game resembles a world more in line with the older titles, but the difficulty it packs is severely low in comparison. Except for the final boss and a couple of dungeons, the game proves to be relatively easy.
Clocking in at around 40 hours,Final Fantasy 9doesn’t demand too much of its players' time, at least not for the main story playthrough, anyway. Completionists should be prepared to allocate around twice that though, as getting hold of all of the weapons and becoming strong enough to take down thegame’s optional super bossescan be a very time-consuming process indeed.
Final Fantasy 5was launched in 1992 on Super Famicom and was not as well-received as many other titles. The reasons were many, including the fact that the game had a too high encounter rate despite its difficulty. This made the entire experience overly repetitive for many fans and critics. While the game isstill praised for its job systemand the feature to combine abilities, it is equally criticized for its storytelling and grinding experience.
Despite the occasional need for grinding,Final Fantasy 5is a fairly short game. Playing through its main story takes around 32 hours, making it considerably shorter than some of the series' later entries. As is often the case withFinal Fantasygames, though, a completionist run is nowhere near as straightforward and can take more than 70 hours to complete.
The remadeFinal Fantasy 7trilogy is proving to be a fun experience, even if some people feel that the game makes too many changes that sully what is already a decent product. Still, Square Enix’s attempts to reinvent instead of recreate should be lauded, especially withFinal Fantasy 7 Rebirthmaking a splash and letting people witness Cloud and Co.’s journey with a fresh coat of paint.
This entry captures some of the game’s most iconic moments and improves the combat significantly. With more options than ever before, fans can enjoy some cinematic set pieces as they slash, shoot, punch, claw, whack, and wallop their enemies to kingdom come while being careful about their HP and MP levels.
The first ever direct sequel in the history of the series,Final Fantasy 10-2is a great game that fans can check out if they want to explore the glorious world of Spira once again. Given how the dark and oppressive nature of the first game is done away with after the death of Sin,Final Fantasy 10-2is a more jovial and heartwarming experience that players will have a great time with.
Dresspheres make for a unique spin on the job system, but the initial dresspheres are pretty weak and don’t really do a great job of making players feel strong as they go through the early chapters of the game. This means that players can have a hard time with random encounters later on if they don’t spend their time grinding or optimizing their party dresspheres.
Final Fantasy 7 Remakehas been nothing short of a massive success, and fans can’t wait to seehow the story pans out in subsequent titles. TheRemakehas some fairly challenging moments, but players who get accustomed to the combat system will find themselves breezing past most encounters.
Even the bombastic boss fights of this game lose their luster once players realize that a combination of powerful attacks is all that is required to take down most of these foes. That being said,Final Fantasy 7 Remakehas its moments where it’ll challenge players, who need to be prepared for these difficulty spikes.
When the world of gaming was crowned withcult classics likeSan Andreas and Resident Evil 4,Final Fantasy 12was just the perfect game to release. The game brought a unique experience to the table, as people were pretty much used to playing 3D games at that time. It brought a much-needed spike of difficulty to the franchise and gaming in general. On top, the game was incredibly frustrating because of its repetitiveness.
Such is the amount of content that’s crammed intoFinal Fantasy 12that exploring all that Ivalice has to offer can take players more than 150 hours. Of course, a significant chunk of this will likely be spent trying to take down challenging foes like Yiazmat. Those just looking to soak in the game’s main story need only set aside around 60 hours of their time, which is perhaps a bit more realistic for most modern-day players.
With the re-release ofFinal Fantasy 4on the PSP, Square Enix decided to go above and beyond. Not only did they add additional content and clean up the graphics, but they also developed a direct sequel that let players enjoy some quality time with these beloved characters once again.
Sure, the game was nowhere near as nice, but both the original iteration and the 3D remake ofThe After Yearsare fun games for fans of this classic to check out for themselves. The combat can be pretty tough, especially in the 3D version that bumped up the toughness of the original game, too.
