Which FFs would you classify as "dark?"

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hidachi4

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Kind of a subjective term when used in this sense, but I'm curious to see which FFs you all consider "dark" with the rest obviously being "light" (the opposite of dark!)

Without thinking about it much I think FF6, 7, and 8 are dark, with 4, 9, 10, and 12 being quite the opposite.

Keep in mind this is completely independent of how good the game itself is.
 
I agree with you except for IX, I think it is dark.

What Kuja did to the world(s) is quite evil and saddening.
 
Asides from FFVI and, to a lesser extent, FFIV, I've never really thought of any of the FF games as particularly dark - they're all quite light-hearted, in fact. Sure, there are maniacs out to destroy the world, but...well, they're pretty ineffectual. Each game has its ominous moments, but they are pretty brief and not wholly unexpected - with the exception of the two I mentioned above.
 
Most games have their "dark" moments - such as FFX touching on the concept of a spiral of death. FFVI certainly has dark elements as well, particularly if you look at the atrocities that the Gestahlian Empire and Kefka commit and some of the characters' backstories and plights - particularly Celes.

There isn't really any definite answer from me other than perhaps FFX and FFVI to an extent. Each game does have "light" moments to counterbalance the dark. Perhaps Versus XIII will give me a more definite answer when it comes out.
 
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Each have their dark moments but these I say have the darkest themes.

FFVI: Deals with suicide, genocide, torture, and destruction of over half the world. And something about all the espers dying was quite unsettleing.

FFIX: It appears to be light hearted at first due to it's style, but look closer. The whole game is about the fear of death and how death is unexcapable. (Heck listen to the music that plays when you are fighting necron. There is the sound of the dead wailing in the background). When people die, they become mist which is where the monsters come from or the mist is used to power air ships. Garnet's mother tries to kill her for her Eidolons and Eiko has lived much of her life alone with moogles because her race was destroyed. In the end, Freya's lover Frately never regains his memories of her. Even listen to Melodies of Life, it has an upbeat melody but the lyrics are sad.
 
There's just something about FF7 that marks in out for me. The dystopian city of Midgar and in which the game begins is fully characterised by the totalitarian government's repressive social control systems and brutal oppression of personal freedoms and individuality that is sadly and rather ominously still present in parts of the world today.

There's also the fact that Shinra are in a state of constant warfare and violence which imposes fear in the populace and reduces people to complete degeneracy and criminality.

The game also demonstrates how greed and lust for power can lead to deep sadness and sometimes irreperable damage, like when Shinra order the immediate destruction of an entire sector of slums to subdue a group of rebels (AVALANCHE) or how they drain the lifestream using Mako reactors. How humans could be so callous for their own gains is at times shocking and uncomfortably familiar.

Through the game's narrative the player is walked through the bleak and dimly lit streets, which sees no light under the steel pizza and smog ridden air. They're given an interactive insight into how these people live through more imposing methods like dialogue and cutscenes to the more subtle approaches of giving the player the environment and allowing the player's curiosity to do the rest.

In terms of graphics Midgar was executed perfectly for me. The shot of Cloud, hand on Bustersword, looking up at Midgar is probably the most iconic of the series. There's by no means an absence of colour in the shot, with the dirty neon lights of the city fully accentuating the dark shades used and I feel it gives that part of the game and indeed the game itself a special identity and a fondness that many fans, including myself, haven't been able to shake since.

Then there's the music. Nobuo Uematsu fully captured the bleak and at times resigned nature of the inhabitants of Midgar.

It was all these aspects that displayed Midgar and the imposing presence of Shinra throughout the game that created a 'theatre' of all that is dark and abhorrent of humans.

...but I guess that's just me.

 
As everyone has said, each one has their own dark element thrown in there. Some were more sinster then others. 7 depressed me to a point, I mean look at the slums. Yes we have that in the real world, but in a world of fantasy, it seems more haunting. We cant escape whats out there. As mentioned with 9, Garnets mother is willing ti kill her own daughter for her own ends.
 
TACTICS. I'm surprised no one has mentioned it. Heaps of war and moral ambiguity. Your primary enemies are your best friend and the founder of the prevailing religion. I mean.

Otherwise: VI definitely has its bleak moments, but it also swings back to being cheerful and at times downright ridiculous. It also has a literally dark color palette. VII also has a pervading sense of impending doom, especially if you relate its situation back to the real world. XII for war and political backstabbery, similar to Tactics that way, but not to the same extent. And... I'm going to go ahead and say that despite the cheery tropical settings, X is pretty dark. You're dealing with a world that has consigned itself to getting only a few months or years of real peace and prosperity every few decades. (If that. There are statues of four high summoners in the temples, five if you count Yunalesca. Over a thousand years.) You're also dealing with a heroine, and later a hero, that is quite willingly and knowingly walking to their own destruction.

And the borderline ones: IV flops back and forth between real drama and silly video game. VIII has some pretty dark themes, especially early on when the only reason your characters are involved is because they're being paid, but the whole school drama aspect kept me from taking it as seriously as some of the others. IX deals with the some heavy subject matter, but the overall feel of the game is pretty lighthearted.
 
I agree with everyone else. All FF games have their dark moments, but I think FFX is pretty dark almost through most of the game. Like it was mentioned above, people only get 10 years of peace before Sin comes back to do more killing. Then a summoner has to step foward and be willing to sacrifice his/herself. And I notice that the characters were pretty emotional which adds to the whole dark mood.
 
the 4th final fantasy was dark,you could see people dying in videos,its sad.

the 7th one was pretty dark,aerith is all light and she died.

the 10th one was kind of both,tidus and yuna light and seymour and jecht dark.

the 12th one,was kind of,the son killing his own daddy(they do that in the medeval times).
 
From the main series, I'd have to say VII hands down. There were only fleeting moments of any kind of joyous feeling throughout the game while most of the atmosphere revolved around death and vengeance and stuff. Soundtrack adds a lot to this feeling too with the obvious exception of the Golden Saucer.

I'd have to agree with the Tactics suggestion above. Totally good points that it revolved around war and death.

VI maybe? Couldn't find too many happy moments with that either.
 
Disregarding plots and focusing primarily upon the setting and atmosphere of the game--what kind of a vibe it gives me when I look at it--I think that VII is probably the darkest, with VIII coming in second. VII just has that dystopian feel to it, which is inherently dark.

X and XII seem to have much more lively, vibrant worlds that give off a lighter feeling. I was originally going to include IX in the "light" category, but I think it's somewhere in between.
 
I don't really see any of the FFs as dark. They definitely delve fully into the world of politics and governing systems in virtually all of them though, and how politics and government shapes the common people's lives.

I'll admit for the millionth time I've not played much of VI or earlier, so I'll leave others to discuss them.

VII was really only dark to me concerning Barrett's and Vince's sidequests. Admittedly, the main storyline that create Sephiroth and Cloud could easily be classified as dark, I never saw it that way. Maybe I watched too much X-Files and was expecting aliens and biology to be a part of it.

VIII didn't seem dark to me in the slightest. No way. It was standard baddy wanting to kill peoples, and goodies stopping baddy.

IX, haven't played too far... It definitely doesn't seem dark to me.

X, dark only in certain spots. Bikanel, Kilika... That's about it, really.

XII, please... Standard baddy wanting to kill people, and stuff, goodies stop baddy, etc.


On the otherhand, I don't see any/many light parts either.
 
The FF game that has the most dark element in it, would be FF7 because most of the music is dark and gloomy also FF6 has alot of dark, because it's war and kefka destroys the world and all. i think i would include FF8 also as one of the dark games because it's alot that happens like when Rinoa gets like unconcious and squall tries it all to get her back. and the rest of the FF games would be the light ones.
 
I think almost all the Final Fantasy games have great blends of light and dark, with one or two exceptions. FFV is probably the least dark of all the games; it's overwhelming tone is a lot lighter, but it is suitably dark and sombre where needed.

Other FF games present themselves with very bright colours and sounds etc, but are actually very, very dark, ie, FFX.

As I say though, in my opinion, they are all very dark in their own way.
 
FF7 and Tactics stick out for me. Tactics just because you end up rumbling with your best friend and 7... well 7 is just obvious.
 
XI was pretty grim, for reasons that many others have mentioned.
Although for me, if i was to choose something that was the darkest out of everything from the Final Fantasy franchise, it'll have to be Advent Children.

Clouds personality and how he conveys it has taken a shadowy/mysterious like feel to it. Sephiroth etc, story itself is pretty contankerous, but yeah.
 
I definitely agree that all have their dark moments. I don't think an FF game could exist without them because it's always good vs. evil etc. I guess it depends on what is the dominant feel that you get as you approach the later stages of the game. The recent ones I've played have been 4 and 6 so I'll give my thoughts on them. SPOILERS COMING
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4- Kinda like a classic "changing dark to light" game. It stays dark for a while, with several characters dying off, but then you find out none of them die (sans Tellah) and the "evil" villain you've been after the entire game turns good. Was happy times towards the end.

6- The WoR can explain a lot of it, and that's where you spend the 2nd half of the game, somewhat non-linear style.
 
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