Well, world maps are definitely something I miss these days, since we haven't really got one in an FF since FF9 I believe. (Hence why I made the topic in the PSFF section) And I was disappointed as hell with the release of 10, seeing as you couldn't roam around an actual map anymore, and you now just selected the towns to go to, instead of actually traveling there and all that. I mean it was nice in the old days, actually being able to run around endlessly, battling different enemies, and exploring through different regions and surroundings, etc. FF7, 8, and 9, all did pretty well with the world maps, in my opinion. But I was thinking back, trying to decide which world map was done the best, most detailed, most places to explore, and all that. I dunno, maybe 9's for me. Not too sure.

Anyways. All things considered, which game did you guys think had the most well-done world map? Going on settings, places to go, things to do, detail, etc.

Most well-done map? I think I would have to say FFVII with FFVIII next to it. FFVII has really alot of areas to explore and I think it did really well for being the first FF game on playstation. Moreover, the soundtrack for the worldmap for FFVII is really good. But what you say is true...the world map system is gone from FFX onwards T-T That really spoils the fun actually.=X

Lol, JD.
You don't select the towns you want to go to in FFX, unless you want to. (using the airship at the end of the game) All throughout the game, you actually do exatly what you said you don't.
You travel all the way there by yourself, crossing plains, woods, towns and mountains.
The Mihen highroad, the thunder planes, Makalania woods, Calm Lands etc.
That's pretty much the world map in the game, although unlike before it's a lot more linear and doesnt give you many options.

Not as much fun, in other words.

Anyway about the regular world maps in FF 7 - 9, I liked all three of them.
In FF8 I liked the world overall better, because it had a certain theme, or feel to it that I didn't get from the others. Although I had fun exploring the one in FF9 as well.
The Chocograph quest thing was fun, but it was lacking in optional hidden areas. I think there was only one?

I guess the best one would be FFVII's world map. The layout of the map itself and the design on the towns and all that was what I liked the most.
Also as Sasuke mentioned, the music was great.
And there were a lot of hidden areas to discover.

QUOTE (Athrun @ Mar 13 2005, 02:52 AM)

QUOTE

and you now just selected the towns to go to, instead of actually traveling there and all that.

Lol, JD.
You don't select the towns you want to go to in FFX, unless you want to. (using the airship at the end of the game) All throughout the game, you actually do exatly what you said you don't.
You travel all the way there by yourself, crossing plains, woods, towns and mountains.
The Mihen highroad, the thunder planes, Makalania woods, Calm Lands etc.
That's pretty much the world map in the game, although unlike before it's a lot more linear and doesnt give you many options.

Not as much fun, in other words.

You know what I'm talking about, so don't get technical. =p It's almost pure linear in FFX. Not much freedom or any real sense of being able to go "anywhere in the world", so to speak. More like only a selected path connecting the places together, and no freedom in-between, unlike the normal world map systems. Regardless of technicalities, it was more restricted, and I enjoyed the normal world maps way more.

Anyway. Yeah, now that you mention the chocograph thing, that was one more thing that made me enjoy 9's maybe a bit more. Then again, 7's did indeed seem more detailed at parts. And they did have probably the best world map musics in the series. So it's kind of a hard choice. x__x

Yeah, though I said that because most people think that FFX is completely without a worldmap, when it's not.
Games like Final Fantasy Tactics, or Suikoden 3 however, have a "world map" that's actually a map, with dots indicating locations.
Even though it has the freedom of chosing different paths, it's less of a worldmap than the one in FFX, because it doesn't have any traveling.

Not only that, You can't even pilot an airship or a submarine to travel! Argh, I miss those times...X___X'' Well, I think FFT still did a good job despite not having the exact map system like FF-FFIX Traveling around the worldmap, looking for towns and caves, that is what you can call an "adventure" xD

Imma be very disgusted with what imma about to say, but.. Final Fantasy 7 had the best world map on the PlayStation. It was just, so perfect. I could run around explorng on it forever. =D The rest in the other titles were jaggy.

And good topic, JD. I got tired of making them all the time. =P

I think I liked FF7's world map the best, since you had so many options as to where you could go at almost any given time. However, I liked FF9's overall "world" a lot better. I missed the more mideval setting in FF games.

Personally, I don't see what the point was of losing the world map in FFX. It didn't make the game better--in fact, it only made it much worse. Also, since you had no sidequests until right before you had to fight Sin and since there were FMVs all over the place, the gameplay was pretty much ruined.

Yeah the lack of a world map seems to be a problem in a lot of rpg's on the PS2 these days.
Not quite sure what the reason for that is. Wild Arms 3 did a good job with their world map.

It was funer to find hidden areas, lie some towns you dont normally get access to (dagurerreo in ff9) and lots of other places, like the chocobo caves and sage in ff7, and heaven and hell islands in ff8. ff9 also had vile island =p FFX made it a bit less fun, since all you do is input keywords and coordinates, takes out all the fun of searching

I loved the world map in WA3. Having to search out the towns and items on the world map was a blast. It was fun, and it added to the challenge. I also loved traversing the dungeons. Using the different tools to solve the puzzles was excellent. I wish more RPGs--including Final Fantasy--would incorporate that kind of gameplay.

No one mentioned the earlier maps? From the SNES FF's? I know they were not that great, but I seemed to like FFVI's map better than any other world map. Considering it had 2 world maps. Although the World or Ruins world map was rather bleak, it still had good exploring areas. I liked the way everything was layed out in FFVI.

I do agree FFX'w world map wasnt much fun after you got the airship. Hiku is right though, you did travel across the map once during the story, just like you said, I would of liked to do more of the exploring on foot.

I am currently playing Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy Tactics. I'll soon be able to roam around again with characters looking as if they are able to stomp a city judging by their size. I have not yet exited out of Midgar so I am still waiting to be able to enjoy the freedom.

I still loved Final Fantasy VIII's world map the best seeing as the other two gave me nightmares. In Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX I got lost a lot and did not enjoy the freedom so much. Final Fantasy IX's world map reminded me of spinach because all I remember is seeing green, I hated it. Final Fantasy VII had me hovering the tiny Bronco all over the map - headache. Although I remember Final Fantasy VIII's world map having shades of brown pixels for some of its land, it was better than the having to roam around aimlessly.

Graphically, I also think that Final Fantasy VIII was the coolest as I remember seeing the shiny Gardens and they looked so, well - shiny and high tech.

The music was cool for all of them and so I can't decide on that attribute.

FF6 had 2 maps..FF5 had 3 =/ well 2 but.. 3 at the same time. I liked FF7's because you get a bitchload of Vehicles. FF5's too. That airship could dig underground >_<

I dunno..... I think I liked 8's the best. It seemed to really give off a ton of difference between parts and different islands and things of that nature. It deffinartly well spread out and well designed. I like 7's alot too, but the contients all seem to be similar to each other. Rolling green planes and some moutains, minus the Canyon and the Northern Continent.

lets see, ffviii had a good one...but my fav is FF...i know that map by heart.

I think FFVII had the best map. I really didn't like the game all that much, but the world map for FFVII was incredible. The world map for 8.. I don't know. It was probably good, but I just never got into 8, so everything about that game seems to me to be mediocre. I loved FFIX, more then all the other FF titles, and the world map was pretty good too. I didn't like all the mist though. It gave the map a sort of "crowded" sense, and you could never really see where you were going until you got pretty close. Especially on disc 4, when the mist was the worst.

Oh and there were plenty of secret areas in FFIX. Chocobo's Lagoon, Chocobo's Air Garden, Chocobo's Paradise, Daguerreo, Mognet Central, Dead Pepper Treasure Locations, Quan's Dwelling, That mountain with the crazy old guy, and I suppose you could even count Qu's marshes.

i always got lost in the FF7 world maps. But i miss the world maps still. No matter how much you got lost.

Well im thinking that FF8 was a pretty good world map. It had total involment with the story, It was better than 7 in that sense. The only draw back of the map is that u dont get tp travel it enough in my view.

my fave is hard to choose!!i love ffVII cos there were so many secrets on th map. and you got to control the Highwind. but FFVIII was total class. with the island closest to hell/heaven and the deep sea reserch centre. and i loved the ragnorock. i liked the FFIX one but that mist was so annoying. and i was so dissapointed when i didnt get to use the airship in FFX. but that lil maps on FFV was cute!! thinkin bout this got me thinkin bout airships. my fave is the Ragnorock or Highwind.

My favourite world map is the one of FFVII as well because of all the things that have already been said

you could explore many MANY hidden places...
the towns are great IMO...
and it was well done as well that you could reach some places only by chocobo or submarine

and YES it is a pitty that there are no "maps" in those newer games on PS2...
I really miss them

my favorite is a toss up between 6, and 7. 6 was great because there were so many places to go and things to explore, and just when you think you know the whole world, it gets destryed and you have to re-discover every thing, and every one. ff7 was great because that was the 1st 3d world map i'v ever seen and it just blew me away when i first played it.

Topic stealer! =P I made this topic...sometime, long ago, before...uh...well very long ago.

Anyhow. Yeah, I miss the world maps from PS1 RPG's. One of the main reasons why I don't like the next gen RPG's that much is because most I've played don't give you any freedom on the world map, some not even having a world map to explore. :-/
Skies of Arcadia is the one RPG on a next gen console that had a world map you could actually explore that stands out, in my memory at least. Arcadia is also one of the best RPG's I've ever played, with the best damn airship in any RPG, The Delphinus.

FFVII has the most beautiful world map in any RPG, in my opinion. The first music that played on the world map was simply amazing.

I liked FFVIII a lot, but im gonna have to say FFVII.... the crater, the Chocobos, the way the river flows, the mountiains ,scenary, i think it was way better. FFVIII was nice towns and stuff, but world map FFVII wins

I thinkt he one is FF9 was the best. It seemed like it had more stuff to do on the world map. I mean you had teh digging, bubbules cracks, chocobo hot and cold, moogle swamps, and the regular dungeons and towns.

Wehre as FF8 had the regular dungeons, towns, side quest dungeons and chcocbo forest.

FF7 has the ergualr dungeons towns, and side quest dungeons, plus the chobobo tracks.

I think ff9 had more to do. as far as details go. I think FF9 had more detailed landscapes. It looked pretty too. plus some areas seemed to turn into night or sunset.

tarock

This is very hard. But, to my senses and my experience, I'm saying FF8. Sad that you didn't choose this, Laguna, but I say this. Full world travel around a 3D globe....and that interaction with it that goes with the story. Splendid.

Hmmm, wow, this is a tough one. See, I kinda did like runnin around from place to place in FFX. I liked the realisticness of it compared to going outside of a town and lookin like a friggin giant compared to the town it just too you about 2 hours to fully explore (midgar). But...I'm with the rest of you, I'd trade that back in in a heart beat to get back my personally piolted airship. That point and click crap disappointed me in FFX. I wanted to take the airship for a spin across the vast plains, over the mountains and what not and so forth. I mean, come on, who here hasn't takin an airship across the ocean just barely skimming it just to see the water moving under your awsome flying power? Honestly, I'd love to see them bring back an olden world map with the innovations and graphics of a next gen game. Maybe even seein' folks wave at you as you pass or getting into random fights with bosses like you did in the World of Ruin in FF6 (dude, I hated and loved that part of the game). I don't know, I just wanna look like a giant again I guess.

Oh, and by the way, 6 gets my vote for the best map. although I like them all except 8 cause of the lack of towns and such.

I hated the FFIV Map... ACK! you could get so lost on it just trying to travel from one town to the next. I wasn't too keen on the FFVI map.

FFVII introduced the map the best. You played through this massive city for quite a few hours. It was quite a dark atmosphere throughout the whole of the first part and it feels like you've accomplished so much (on your first go) and then suddenly your intoduced into this massive world and midgar looks so small (and not just because you look so huge). It really opens up the adventure, compared to say FFVIII where you just walk out of garden and thats it.

I dunno, I love the world map, I mean it always gave me the time to explore it and find hidden stuff, or far away islands, I love that kind of thing.

But FF X had a nice thing aswell, I mean it was pretty linear though, but still it was a nice feeling, as in the real world is not something like 4 cities and a major land of mountains and other stuff, of course there are roads, other people and other stuff, so yeah it gave a nice expression.

But I prefer world maps though.

I liked and hated both map systems for different reasons: First the good reasons =p.

In FF X, it was a nice change, and be able to actually talk to people while in the world map to sort of speak and the FF VII map cause it had loads and loads to explore.

Now for the bad things, the path was too linear in FF X. That game needed a few alternate routes sometimes =p, and the FF VII one, well, it didn't had what FF X had, people to talk too lol, but overall each with a different style were pretty good

ff7 had the best world map. you interact with the field more in ff7. the map in ff7 was just funner to explore. ff8 & 9's maps weren't as interesting as 7's. i didn't care for what was beyond that moutain or what was hidden over the hills in 8 & 9. the terrain in 7 was more belivable too.

That is an easy one for me, it has to be Final Fantasy VII without a doubt. I was pretty young when I played Final Fantasy VII and I can't believe that I found some the places that I did on my own. The world maps in Final Fantasy VII - IX are all well done and so the reason that it goes to Final Fantasy VII is cause it was the first Final Fantasy game to be converted to 3D from the classic 2D and they did a pretty fine job, to say the least.

There's nothing much going on, so I'm bringing back this old one.

I honestly have to say I liked FF8's map the most, though I kinda disliked the game (I severely dislike the Junction system, and if I can't fight right, the game gets ruined for me. The story was good, though).

Also, for a clarification, the only unbelievable part of the FF9 map was that it was very dry and steppe-ish, except for the archipeligo containing Daguerro and the entire Mist Continent. And even then, there may be a good reason why the terrains on the Outer and Lost Continents are so dry.

*Spoiler* though I'm sure every one of you have at least gotten to the third disk
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The Iifa Tree was part of Terra's terraforming project; it removed Gaian souls from the planet and replaced them with Terran souls. The Gaian souls then became Mist, which was able to power the airships: sounds kinda like, but most likely unlike, Mako. The Iifa Tree can be compared to one gigantic Mako reactor of some kind.

And destroying Soulcage stopped the Mist, because that creature was probably something like an OS for the Iifa biological machine.

FF7's world map was the best for me! Great music, hidden areas *spoilersuchasthewaterfallwherelucreciaisspoiler* and you could go underwater, in the air, on land, whatever. I also liked how it changed sometimes, like to get to the Ancient Forest by Cosmo Canyon, and the big hole in the earth near Junon. And I could fight for ever, and when I didn't, I didn't keep running into enemies constantly... Yup, I like it the most.

FF8 had a good map as well, but... I got tired of the music, and before you got the ragonark, you had to drive around in the horribly slow Garden...

FF9 had a detailed map, but too many enemy battles...

I miss the world maps! What was Square thinking when they took them out! Crazy people at Square... *grumbles off*

I actualaly didn't really like the maps from the older ones as much as 10 (X-2's sucks because you start off with the airship). In the older games, when I had my airship or spaceship and whatnot, I would set it to autopilot anyway. I liked 10's way of doing things because it felt more like an authentic journy to save mankind up until the airship was recieved. In 7, 8 and 9, I ended up re-visiting old areas over and over, and there was no pre-determined destination. I also didn't like how they scaled the cities down so that they were only double the size of a character. A final complaint I have about the world maps of the older Final Fantasy games is that they were so empty of cities. By the end of Final Fantasy 9, I beleive that three of the cities on the beggining continent were destroyed, one of them was infested with mist monsters, and the other two were small villages in the mountains. There is no explanation for the lack of cities throughout the rest orf the world, and it seems that the numbers dwindled to the point where there was only one entirely functional city left that was not part of the main continent. This city happened to be a hidden city behind a waterfall. At the end of 8, every single one of the seven villages was blocked off, and the only way to access shops on the fourht disk was to learn a Tonberry skill. Putting all of those complaints about the traditional retro Final Fantasy games aside, I preferred the way Tactics was set up.

I was not entirely fussy with it but now you mention it it has to be Final Fantasy VII as there are many places, many enemies and losts of terrain to explore and things to find (eg. Materia Caves with Mime and Knights of Round etc), also I like how the music changes when (Highlight following as this may be a spoiler to slow gamers)

>When meteor is summoned, how all the music goes creepy and yet cool<

Final Fantasy VIII is also good, but second to 7, as I only like it for the Ragnorok, how you can select a town and you automatically fly there, and I like the Ragnorok music, but I HATE the FF8 World Map tune