The Final Fantasy series is polarizing even among fans, but it seems some aspects of it stand above the rest. At least in Japan.
Japanese public broadcasting station NHK polled Japanese fans about their favorites aspects of the Final Fantasy series. Fans were asked to respond with their favorite Final Fantasy games, characters, bosses and summons, and music tracks.
More than 460 votes were tallied for the survey, and the results are rather lengthy.
Japanese and Western fans have always had different tastes, but just how different? Below we’ll take a look at the 30 games ranked, the top 90 characters, 20 ranked summons and bosses, and lastly the top 20 Final Fantasy songs according to this poll.
Be sure to check the webpage out itself as it has some interesting age and gender-grouped polling data, and some rankings going a lot longer than I’ve translated here.
Top 30 Final Fantasy Games Polled by NHK
| 1. Final Fantasy X 2. Final Fantasy VII 3. Final Fantasy VI 4. Final Fantasy IX 5. Final Fantasy XIV 6. Final Fantasy V 7. Final Fantasy VIII 8. Final Fantasy IV 9. Final Fantasy XI 10. Final Fantasy XV 11. Final Fantasy Tactics 12. Final Fantasy III 13. Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII 14. Final Fantasy XIII 15. Final Fantasy XII | 16. Final Fantasy Type-0 17. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles 18. Final Fantasy II 19. Final Fantasy X-2 20. Mobius Final Fantasy 21. Lightning Returns Final Fantasy XIII 22. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 23. Dissidia Final Fantasy 24. Final Fantasy 25. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Ring of Fate 26. Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy 27. Final Fantasy Adventure 28. Final Fantasy XIII-2 29. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Echoes of Time 30. Final Fantasy Record Keeper |
Top 90 Final Fantasy Characters Polled by NHK
| 1. Cloud 2. Yuna 3. Aerith 4. Vivi 5. Zidane 6. Emet-Selch 7. Tidus 8. Lightning 9. Tifa 10. Zack 11. Sephiroth 12. Haurchefant 13. Noctis 14. Squall 15. Auron 16. Gilgamesh 17. Terra 18. Cain 19. Celes 20. Crystal Exarch 21. Locke 22. Vincent 23. Edgar 24. Shantotto 25. Bartz 26. Laguna 27. Rikku 28. Ignis 29. Balthier 30. Faris | 31. Agrias 32. Reno 33. Yuffie 34. Jecht 35. Rinoa 36. Ramza 37. Rydia (Adult) 38. Prompto 39. Galuf 40. Cecil 41. Shadow 42. Estinien 43. Kefka 44. Setzer 45. Garnet 46. Ardbert 47. Kuja 48. Hope 49. Sabin 50. Red XIII 51. Y’shtola 52. Beatrix 53. Wakka 54. Golbez 55. Eiko 56. Orlandu 57. Kurasame Susaya 58. G’raha Tia 59. Cid (FF7) 60. Alisaie | 61. Ace 62. Lulu 63. Arden 64. Lenna 65. Alphinaud 66. Ultros 67. Edge 68. Vahn 69. Lunafreya 70. Irvine 71. Minwu 72. Steiner 73. Selphie 74. Freya 75. Aranea 76. Cecil (Dark Knight) 77. Rydia (Child) 78. Rufus 79. Zell 79. Asche 81. Noel 82. Seifer 83. Porom 84. Palom 85. Aymeric 86. Serah 87. Kimahri 88. Firion 89. Quistis 90. Cait Sith |
Top 20 Final Fantasy Bosses and Summons Polled by NHK
| 1. Knights of the Round (FF7) 2. Kefka (FF6) 3. Hades (FF14) 4. Anima (FF10) 5. Omega (FF5) 6. Valefor (FF10) 7. Braska’s Final Aeon (FF10) 8. Bahamut Zero (FF7) 9. Syldra (FF4) 10. Safer Sephiroth (FF7) | 11. Shiva (FF10) 12. Bahamut (FF10) 13. Rubicante 14. Tsukuyomi (FF14) 15. Dark Cloud (FF3) 16. Ghost Train (FF6) 17. Odin (FF13) 18. Omega (FF14) 19. Titan (FF14) 20. Yazmat (FF12) |
Top 20 Final Fantasy Songs Polled by NHK
| 1. To Zanarkand (FF10) 2. Clash on the Big Bridge (FF5) 3. Eyes on Me (FF8) 4. Searching for Friends (FF6) 5. Blinded by Light (FF13) 6. One Winged Angel (FF7) 7. Aerith’s Theme (FF7) 8. Melodies of Life (FF9) 9. Main Theme (FF) 10. Those Who Fight Further (FF7) | 11. Suteki Da Ne (FF10) 12. Dancing Mad (FF6) 13. You’re Not Alone (FF9) 14. A Place to Call Home (FF9) 15. Someday the Dream Will End (FF10) 16. Eternal Wind (FF3) 17. Decisive Battle (FF6) 18. Prelude (FF) 19. Terra’s Theme (FF6) 20. The Man with the Machine Gun (FF8) |
Do you feel like your favorites were represented well enough in these results? I have to admit I’m glad Final Fantasy 5 gets as much attention as it does, but it seems Japanese fans aren’t too keen on Final Fantasy 12 — one that gets a fair amount of attention among the community in the West.
Let us know what you think of these results in the comments below. They could be a lot worse!
