SNES - Act Raiser - It’s quite literally a mix of RTS and 2d action platforming. You build and manage your villiage while protecting it from monsters. Highly recommend!

N64 - Kirby 64 - Kirby is a game series that lets you eat enemies and gain their power. This one lets you combine powers! You can make fun combos, like rock + fire to make yourself a volcano, or electricity + bombs to make yourself into fireworks. Really fun and easygoing game! Worth playing through at least once.

PS2 - Parappa the Rapper 2 - A fun and weird game, Parappa 2 is a rhythm game where you have to repeat the raps your opponent dishes out using the face and L&R buttons. The setting and story make this game more than worth it, as you’ll be saving the town against shrink rays, a mad hairstylist, and a noodle-hungry maniac. It’s another fairly short game, you can beat it in two sittings if you’re good. There’s also a fun vs multiplayer mode.

Don’t know how drastic the game was changed in the pixel remaster (sounds like for the better), but all of the fun ideas fell flat when you played it on the Famicom. As good as the Star Wars story was, the dialogue system had waay too many key words to choose from when you talk to NPCs, so even hunting for the word you want, let alone guessing, was a nightmare. There were also tons and tons of rooms in dungeons that led to nowhere, and the progression system could easily be exploited by both the player and the CPU. Maybe the pixel remaster irons these flaws out, but it was not a fun experience at all the first time I played.

2? Better than 1?

CRAZY

As someone who tried them in order, I would say NO. The only real benefit you’d be getting is seeing how they evolve gameplaywise, but that could honestly be summed up in some article or video essay.

The games do not follow a single story. Each game takes place on a different world with different characters but use similar assets, like chocobos and moogles. Even characters named the same like Cid change drastically through each game. The main reason they still keep them numbered is to get you excited. They can always do Chocobo Kart or Theatrhythm or whatever spinoff, but when a mainline numbered Final Fantasy comes out, it’s an event, like a step in FF’s evolution. That roman numeral is like a stamp in history. It’s very exciting.

I’d say the best one to start with is the one that interests YOU the most. Do some minor research beforehand and pick which one you’d like to play best. Even if you want to just play the new one, go for it! There’s no tied story to the old games, so there’s nothing you’re really missing out on if you play XVI.

It’s the Final Fantasy 1 Pixel Remaster. You can buy it on Steam, mobile, Switch, and PS4. As a vet, I definitely recommend it because they try to keep the gameplay and visuals similar to what it used to while making it less frustrating and more modern. 1-6 have all been remastered in this way and they’re all very good.

My personal picks are V because of the multiclassing job system and VI for the incredible story. Despite its simplicity, FF I is a classic and I highly recommend it too.

Nice job! If you love this one, I would definitely recommend Final Fantasy III, which gives you a ton of further class customization options via the Job System.

Half Life 2 still looks and plays fantastic even nearly decades later