I remember being a very little kid and watching my older brother play Final Fantasy VIII. I was mesmerized by the game, particularly towards the visuals. The gunblade, the signature weapon of the protagonist from VIII, has been ingrained in my brain since I first witnessed it. I’ve never marveled at something as much as I did with the gunblade.
The gunblade is just one of the many iconic weapons throughout the history of Final Fantasy. Another infamous example of a popular Final Fantasy weapon is Cloud Strife’s Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII. The Buster Sword is a huge blade that is shaped like a giant knife. The Buster Sword is often cited along with the Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda series as one of the most iconic weapons in all of gaming. Even non-gamers would recognize an image of the Buster Sword, it is that iconic.
Despite how well known the gunblade and Buster Sword are, anyone who has played the Final Fantasy games can tell you that those weapons aren't good. Both swords are your starting weapons, and both quickly become obsolete once you get bigger and better weapons. Though swords like Ultima Weapon and Ragnarok aren’t as well known as the Buster Sword, they are much stronger. There are a lot of overpowered weapons in the Final Fantasy games, most of which are a lot more useful than the Buster Sword, and I will be counting down the fifteen best. I will also be listing out the fifteen weakest weapons in Final Fantasy, so that you have a better understanding of what makes a weapon weak or overpowered.
30 Overpowered: Fusion Sword (Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children)
While there isn’t any numerical statistic to truly determine how powerful the Fusion Sword from Advent Children is, there is enough evidence within the movie itself to prove that the sword is super overpowered. The Fusion Sword is actually a collection of blades that are merged together to become a single sword. Throughout the motion picture, Cloud has been using the different components of the Fusion Sword to fight against the antagonists. It proved very versatile, especially when Cloud needed to cut a car in half.
29 Weak: Knife
The knife is considered a dagger, the primary weapon used by the thief class. Other classes can use them as well, like Warriors, but those other classes have better options. The knife has the lowest base attack of any dagger, and is only necessary if you want your thief character to have any kind of weapon. It is still stronger than just fists, yet only barely. Having a knife is also not the most fantastical weapon to carry in a fantasy setting.
28 Overpowered: Bhunivelze's Scythe (Lightning Returns)
Often or not, the final boss in a Final Fantasy game would be against someone with the powers of a god. You need to raise the stakes somehow. While most of the time the gods you face are simply villains who have attained the power of a god, Bhunivelze in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is literally the god of the XIII world. Bhunivelze may not necessarily be the hardest final boss in the Final Fantasy franchise, however since he is a god, you have to imagine his scythe is pretty overpowered.
27 Weak: Broadsword
As soon as you begin facing against stronger enemies, the starter weapons quickly become useless. While starter weapons vary among the different titles, the broadsword is generally the first slightly strong weapon you can purchase. Broadswords are almost always better than anything you start out with, but are much worse compare to literally everything else. Broadswords also don’t provide much stats boost outside of slightly raising strength. These kinds of swords are just generic weapons that you can easily buy in early parts of the games.
26 Overpowered: Death Penalty
Death Penalty is Vincent Valentine’s rifle in Final Fantasy VII. Vincent’s Death Penalty is his ultimate weapon, and it grows more powerful the more enemies Vincent eliminates. As long as Vincent keeps destroying enemies, the weapon will continuously get stronger. Theoretically, Vincent has the potential to defeat some of Final Fantasy VII super bosses with only a couple of shots. Of course, this requires gamers to grind a lot, since Vincent would need to eliminate an absurd amount of enemies to reach that state with the Death Penalty.
25 Weak: Harps
Harps are “special” weapons that Bards exclusively use. Bard is a job class that uses music to help the party. They would usually sing a song to boost the stats in the party, or maybe even heal them. Harps are capable of hurting foes (somehow?), but have very low attack stats. Bards are almost solely used as supporting characters, but there are other worthwhile characters and classes that fill up that role better than bards. Bards are some of the most useless classes within Final Fantasy, and the harp is one of the most useless weapon types in the franchise.
24 Overpowered: Zantetsuken
Odin is one of the more famous summons from the Final Fantasy series. Summons are special creatures that the player can summon into battle to damage their foes. Odin is a swordsman who rides a horse into battle. His signature move is the Zantetsuken, which also happens to be the name of his blade. It is a one hit KO; Odin will slice any opponent, instantly eliminating them. It is one of the most overpowered moves in the entire franchise. It, unfortunately, doesn’t work against most bosses, and even some very powerful enemies are immune to it.
23 Weak: Pinwheel (Final Fantasy VIII)
Sometimes the Final Fantasy franchise wants to move away from the typical weapons. Final Fantasy VIII is one of those titles that brought in new unique weapons. The blaster edge, Rinoa’s weapon from the same game, is still one of the strangest I’ve seen in any video game. It’s a bladed disc that shoots from the wrist, and it is one of the most unique weapons I have ever seen. Rinoa's starting weapon, which is called a pinwheel, is one of the weakest in the entire game.
22 Overpowered: Z Spear (Final Fantasy XII)
In the original Final Fantasy XII, the Z. Spear was considered to be the most powerful weapon in the game. It has since been outclassed by two new weapons introduced in the ZA versions of the game. This doesn’t undermine the power of the spear, which has one of the highest base attack stats in the entire game. Sadly, the weapon is a pain to get within the original game. To retrieve the spear in the original game, you’ll need to do some specific things in the early parts of the story.
21 Weak: Gilt Measure (Final Fantasy XII)
I still don’t really know what measures are supposed to be in Final Fantasy XII. Measures are labeled as a weapon class in XII, but they look more like random contraptions than typical measures you see in real life. Measures have low attack power, however, they completely ignore defensive stats, meaning the damage inflicted is based solely on the measure rather than the defense of the enemy. Gilt Measure is the measure weapon with the lowest attack power, making it the weakest measure in the entire game.
20 Overpowered: Anastasia (Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings)
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings is a spin-off title of XII that continued the adventures of Vaan. Revenant Wings plays more like the Final Fantasy Tactics game, rather than the gameplay as seen in XII. Anastasia is a blade that is provided to the player during the course of the main story. Anastasia’s stats can grow if the player fortifies it. To fortify it, the player would need to defeat the super boss called Yiazmat in Midlight's Deep. Every time Yiazmat is defeated, all of Anastasia’s stats are raised by ten.
19 Weak: Most Staffs And Rods
Staffs and Rods have always been important weapons within the Final Fantasy series. They are the primary weapon used by most mages within the universes of the games, and they provide additional MP boosts. With that said, when it comes to physical attacks, staffs and rods are literally the worse. Most staffs and rods have low attack stats and are only useful in exploiting the magical powers of mages. Some staffs and rods that are found in later portions of the games can provide some excellent stat boosts and status effects. However, those staffs and rods are few and far between.
18 Overpowered: Nirvana (Final Fantasy X)
In Final Fantasy X, each of the seven playable characters has their own celestial weapon. Nirvana is Yuna’s celestial weapon in X and is one of the most useful staffs in the entire franchise. Celestial Weapons are generally very hard to get, at least for the other six playable characters. Nirvana is actually fairly easy to obtain in the game though. Once Nirvana is at maximum power it gives Yuna the ability to cast any magic for only one MP. Yuna is a summoner and has one of the highest MP stats in the entire game.
17 Weak: Air Racket (Final Fantasy IX)
When I hear racket, I usually think of a tennis racket. Rackets in tennis are sports equipment that is used to hit a ball. Tennis rackets can hurt people, especially if you hit someone hard enough with them. However they are almost entirely harmless, and I can never imagine them being weapons. The rackets as seen in Final Fantasy IX are not the typical tennis rackets, but that doesn’t ignore the fact that they are still pretty ridiculous weapons. The air racket has the lowest attack strength out of all the other rackets, making the air racket the worst weapon among a whole class of terrible weapons.
16 Overpowered: Excalibur
The Excalibur is one of the most infamous fictional swords in the entire world. We all know the story of King Arthur retrieving the sword from the Lady of the Lake, and him using it to save Britain. Excalibur is a recurring name in Final Fantasy, often used to label a very powerful sword. Excalibur isn’t always the most powerful sword in the Final Fantasy games, however, it is one of the stronger weapons that can be easily obtained in the games. Similar to the real world, Excalibur has a mythical backstory to it. It is highly sought out, especially by the recurring character named Gilgamesh.
15 Weak: Eiko’s Flutes (Final Fantasy IX)
Like, I get that the Final Fantasy games take place in a mythical land, where the real world logic doesn’t always apply. I understand there is a certain measure of disbelief when it comes to these games. Nevertheless, I refuse to acknowledge flutes as a valuable weapon option in Final Fantasy IX. Flutes are the main weapons used by Eiko, a child with the power to summon creatures. The flutes have very low attack power, making them very useless when it comes to actual physical attacks.
14 Overpowered: Lightbringer (Final Fantasy VI)
Final Fantasy VI has a variety of extremely powerful weapons. Lightbringer is a sword with the highest base attack power, outranking the already strong Ultima Weapon and Ragnarok weapons in the same game. There is also a random chance that Lightbringer can cast Holy, a powerful white magic, when it hits an enemy. You can only get the Lightbringer if you bet the Ragnarok in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum, a battle arena where the playable cast can fight against enemies and earn rewards.
13 Weak: Wakka’s Official Blitzball (Final Fantasy X)
While I love Final Fantasy X, there was always something about the characters and weapon choices that always irked me. For example, Wakka is a playable character who uses a Blitzball as his main weapon of choice. What’s a Blitzball, you may be asking? Well, Blitzball is a fictional sport and is essentially underwater football. I’ve always thought the idea of using a sports ball as a weapon is stupid. With that said, it takes time to make Blitzball a valuable weapon. Wakka’s original Blitzball, the official Blitzball, isn’t that good, even in the early parts of the game.
12 Overpowered: Blood Sword
The Blood Sword isn’t actually a very powerful weapon. It is a very useful and cool weapon, however, it doesn’t generally have high attack power. The Blood Sword absorbs the damage you deal onto enemies, and the absorbed damage will transfer into you as health points. It is essentially a vampire sword. The Blood Sword is only really overpowered in Final Fantasy II. The Blood Sword in II drains one-sixteenth of your opponents HP. It doesn’t matter the opponent's other stats or maximum HP, the Blood Sword will always drain one-sixteenth for every strike.
11 Weak: Moogle Doll (Final Fantasy X)
Lulu from Final Fantasy X was essentially the black mage of the group. Usually, black mages use a staff or a rod to cast magic. However, Lulu had something more unique. She instead used dolls to conjure up her magic. It is certainly more creative than the typical stick. Nonetheless, Lulu’s dolls as physical weapons aren’t much stronger than rods or staffs in previous Final Fantasy games. Lulu is a supporting character, meaning she isn’t meant to attack enemies head-on. Her Moogle Doll, the first weapon she has in the game, is the weakest in terms of physical strength.