I´d probably say FFIX is the best one. It had a cool old-school feel to it´s characters and story that I appreciated. FFVII and FFVI comes close behind though, and I will always have a place in my hear for the original game.

Final Fantasy Tactics is one of my favorite Final Fantasy games. The stories in these games are very well written, better than any other FF (in my opinion).

The FFT Series is completely overlooked, mostly because it's not your typical Turn-Based RPG.

I honestly haven't played an FF game that I didn't completely love. It's hard for me to choose which one is best.

I'd have to say six. A large part of it is probably because that's the first FF game I really got into. I'd played FFIV (or "two" as we knew it in those days) and FF Mystic Quest, but I didn't wholly understand how either of those two games worked and made the mistake of not bothering to read half the text because I wanted to get to the killing. Six really engrossed me in the world of Final Fantasy, and I stuck with the series pretty faithfully up to Eleven. By that point I had beaten every Final Fantasy game released in America of the main, numbered series. With Eleven being an MMO, though, I didn't really have the time/patience to play the game enough to get to the "ending" (I understand there was one, which is odd for an MMO...), and I dunno, after that the magic just kinda... faded. I still haven't played XII. And with XIII being a PS3 exclusive, and me not having the money for a PS3 any time soon (hell, I haven't bought any games in months) I doubt I'll be playing that one either.

Just wait Inky, there'll be another $100 price drop soon.

Oh yeah, and I forgot, there WAS one I didn't like.

X-2 aka Magical Fairy Dressup.

X-2 had the potential to be good, but they didn't push the system far enough. The combat system was good, but they never did anything interesting with it. Plus the story really rubbed the American audiences the wrong way. It's kind of disappointing because the character models were actually better animated and the graphics were a little better than the previous game. Plus, like I said, the combat system had some good potential to be something fairly strong and fun to play, but they didn't push any of the unique elements to make the game worth it.

As for the best one I've played, six had it's charm, but I still like a lot of what was in nine. While the story left a bit to be desired later on, I liked the characters, I liked the presentation, I liked the return to the four character party system and defined classes for the characters, I even liked learning abilities from items. Probably the best part about it, though, was that it was more difficult than the previous two games. You couldn't completely cheese the system like in eight (where you could max out your characters by the end of disc one with little effort) and they didn't use the typical method for upping the difficulty (i.e. raising the HP and damage of monsters) opting for adding attacks that straight out kill party members making that final approach to the end boss a truly painful experience. I hated the fights in eight. Play th egame right and you'll be dealing max damage in no time and enemies can't fight back. Get further in the game and fights just get longer, not harder. You end up spending ten turns to down an enemy and the whole time you're using no spells and taking no damage. I got bored of it increadibly quick and the storyline just couldn't keep me interested.

Dresspheres...

D:

This isn't a universal rule, but in my experience I've noticed that one's enjoyment of FFX-2 tends to be directly proportional to how much one gives a damn about FFX.

I played X, I enjoyed it, I took the time to unlock most of the spiffy ultra weapons and the hidden Espers (or whatever they called them in that game). But in the long run I didn't really care about Tidus (or, in the case of my game, was named "Hesche" ) or Yuna. So seeing her turned into a pseudo-magical girl who goes on wacky adventures and sings J-pop when not giving soft-core massages to her underdressed rival didn't really bother me.

Final Fantasy 8.

The music. The characters. The junction system. I loved every thing about it.

It's a tough call between FFIX and FFVI. On the one hand, IX was my first Final Fantasy, so it wins nostalgia points on top of being a great game with great characters and plot. On the other hand, VI has awesome characters, AWESOME bad guy (Kefka is love), a wonderful plot and a good overall gaming system.

If I had to rank them, it'd probably look like this*:

1. FFIX/FFVI
2. FFIV
3. FFV/FFXII
4. FFVII
5. FFX


(*Keep in mind that I haven't played FFVIII.)

For me, which ones ended up high on the list have a lot to do with plot-content and visuals - I'm not too fond of the futuristic thing in VII, simply because I'm more of a fantasy/steampunk fan, and FFX's main characters (Tidus and Yuna, that is) really rubbed me the wrong way. And, artist that I am, and therefore attracted to pretty visuals like a moth to a laval lamp, FFIX ranks just a little higher than FFVI, only because of the graphics.

Like isukun, I appreciated the ability-system and difficulty in IX, as well as the four-party system. It was, through and through, a very good game. There wasn't a single character that made me want to scratch their eyes out (no, not even Eiko), like have occasionally happened with other FFs, the plot was lovely, the graphics were - as stated - beautiful, and I liked the little extra easter eggs they'd put in - like how you could get music from FFIII to play on a grammophone in the game, and so on.


FFX-2 was, for me, a disappointment. The main plot - Yuna-goes-looking-for-shiny-things-because-she-misses-her-imaginary-boyfriend - was sort of blah, and the side-plot with the Gippal-Nooj-Baralai politics conflict was really interesting and should have gotten more space to develop, and I just really couldn't bring myself to care about the characters. At all. Not even in a "laugh-when-they-die-messily" kind of way. :/


.... And now I've babbled too much. Final Fantasy really gets me rambling, as you might have noticed.

Final Fantasy Tactics.
PS1 version introduced me to a great game system with the most delightfully convoluted political storyline ever. Then the PSP version gave that storyline a team of writers who are great with Shakespeare. Double win.

FF VII.

It's a classic, the most well-known FF game, and the first FF I've played (though I've only played a few others besides).
I quite like the storyline and, eh, I dunno, I just love it the best. From what I've played, anyway.
...I need to play more.

(*Keep in mind that I haven't played FFVIII.)

Judging by what you've said you hated from other Final Fantasy games, it sounds like you'd do well to avoid eight like the plague. I think my biggest problem with the game was just that it was WAY too easy. Difficulty was artificial in the game, the characters were either boring or annoying, the story was ludicrous, and I hated how they removed a lot of the character customization options from previous games. Magic was pointless except to boost stats or give immunities. Nobody would actually be foolish enough to USE magic in FFVIII. The only thing that even kept me playing into the second disc was that annoying card game. Nothing else seemed even remotely important in the game and I certainly wasn't going to stick to it for the storyline.

Final Fantasy 1. Yeah, that's right. First RPG I ever played, and very few have come close to it. Then it would probably be Final fantasy 3, then 5, then 7, and 9. I likes myy ff games in numerically odd increasing numbers. Holding out for ff13..

Eirikr
Holding out for ff13..

Well XIII LOOKS like it's going to be excellent, though it is a bit strange that Shiva is a motorcycle. I have no idea what kind of crack the guy who came up with that must have been on.

isukun

(*Keep in mind that I haven't played FFVIII.)

Judging by what you've said you hated from other Final Fantasy games, it sounds like you'd do well to avoid eight like the plague. I think my biggest problem with the game was just that it was WAY too easy. Difficulty was artificial in the game, the characters were either boring or annoying, the story was ludicrous, and I hated how they removed a lot of the character customization options from previous games. Magic was pointless except to boost stats or give immunities. Nobody would actually be foolish enough to USE magic in FFVIII. The only thing that even kept me playing into the second disc was that annoying card game. Nothing else seemed even remotely important in the game and I certainly wasn't going to stick to it for the storyline.

I suspected as much. See, out of sheer curiosity, I read the parts of the script online, to get some sort of grip on what it was about and suffice to say I have little desire to play it. Rinoa annoys the ever-living heck out of me, even though I've never actually played it, and the story seemed really, really stupid.

I'll just go order a new copy of FFIX (since I played the last one so much that it literally went to pieces on me) and make do with that instead. :)

My first FF was IX. I loved to bits. My favorite party layout was Zidane, Dagger, Vivi and Steiner. I hardly played the other characters at all. I even dubbed them "the original four". The only drawback was the fact that in the end I had these super powerful quartet and then these other four who couldn't do jack. Jack was of course very saddened. I am curious to know if anyone else did the same.

I also have fond memories playing FF Anthology(FF IV+V) and FF IV.

Also played FFX. Meh. Not as good as the others except graphically of course.

Tactics and it's remake are by far the best. However, the other inclusions in the tactics series are best ignored. I'm not much of a FF fan at all. 7 was great, 10 was ok, but the others are just painful to me.

You know. FF7 was one of those game that I just never got the chance to play. Everyone keep telling me how I'm missing so much. Isn't that new FF movie based on that game?

As long as the current Final Fantasies feature J-pop idol wannabes with bleached hair and J-ghetto pants, I will not touch them.

Nine. I really can't stand the others, but Nine has the perfect combination of charm and interesting characters to make me ignore what I usually hate about RPG's.

I loved the Black Waltz, and Beatrix (think that's her name, haven't played in a while).

FF7 was a amazing experience for me.
Perhaps it was because it was my first real RPG game, i don't know, but as far as I'm concerned none of the FF games after that could really match FF7. I had a lot more time back then as well to really get into a big RPG, time that i don't have now.

I was hyped about FF8 but ultimately it was such a disappointment that i never even completed it.

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My first FF was IX. I loved to bits. My favorite party layout was Zidane, Dagger, Vivi and Steiner. I hardly played the other characters at all. I even dubbed them "the original four". The only drawback was the fact that in the end I had these super powerful quartet and then these other four who couldn't do jack. Jack was of course very saddened. I am curious to know if anyone else did the same.

My super-squad was Zidane, Freya, Amarant and Vivi, in that order. My Steiner was completely useless (and let's not even talk about Quina Quen). Which was of course a bit of a problem later on in the game, when I was forced into a two-man team with Quina.

I am pleasantly surprised to see the large concentration of FFIX-fans here - we're hard to find elsewhere, as we tend to drown in the squeeing crowd of FFVII brats (who unfortunately make up a large part of FFVII's fanbase and drown out the more reasonable and sensible fans.)

:(

I seem to be the only person on Earth who liked FF8.

Frostflowers
My super-squad was Zidane, Freya, Amarant and Vivi, in that order. My Steiner was completely useless (and let's not even talk about Quina Quen). Which was of course a bit of a problem later on in the game, when I was forced into a two-man team with Quina.

Your build lacked a summoner and a healer. Didn't that make your gameplay more difficult?

Steiner is much more useful when teamed up with Vivi. He then gains access to spell sword abilities where Vivi uses Steiners mana to charge up a spell effect into his sword. The enemy therefore got effectively hit by a spell and his sword at the same time. And if you knew which spell effect the creature was vulnerable to then you could normally kiss that critter quickly goodbye. The list of spells available to Steiner, mirrored the spells Vivi could cast. The stronger Vivi got, the stronger Steiner got.

Having Dagger with you gave you access to summons and she was a decent healer. Sure, Vivi could heal but he was much more effective as a battle caster.

When facing tough opponents I had Dagger summon eidalons that targeted multiple opponents or heal if need be, Vivi cast his most powerful multiple target spell and Steiner and Zidane focus on the most powerful enemy on the field. It normally worked without any complications.

Ahhh... Good times.

9, I loved 9 because for once Zidane wasn't the typical moody/annoying Cloud/Squall type of hero.

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Frostflowers
My super-squad was Zidane, Freya, Amarant and Vivi, in that order. My Steiner was completely useless (and let's not even talk about Quina Quen). Which was of course a bit of a problem later on in the game, when I was forced into a two-man team with Quina.

Your build lacked a summoner and a healer. Didn't that make your gameplay more difficult?

Nope - once you got Amarant the right equipment, he learned Chakra and Aura (Cure/MP restore and Auto-Life/Regen, respectively) as well as Revive, and Freya had Reis' Wind (Regen on the entire party), so it wasn't like I was without a healer. 'Sides, Amarant's No Mercy ability kicked serious behind, even if it could only target one enemy at the time.

Also, when Trancing, Freya's Jump command was really, really good.

I never really needed a summoner later in the game - though early on, I favoured Dagger, since she's got more eidolons available than Eiko. Even if Eiko does have some kickass eidolons at her beck and call.

Steiner is much more useful when teamed up with Vivi. He then gains access to spell sword abilities where Vivi uses Steiners mana to charge up a spell effect into his sword. The enemy therefore got effectively hit by a spell and his sword at the same time. And if you knew which spell effect the creature was vulnerable to then you could normally kiss that critter quickly goodbye. The list of spells available to Steiner, mirrored the spells Vivi could cast. The stronger Vivi got, the stronger Steiner got.

Yeah... but I never really levelled him up, so even if he had the Spell Sword thing, he was underlevelled and therefore weak for me. His Excalibur was nifty, though, and Climhazzard is possibly the most awesome thing I've ever seen the rust-bucket deliver - but like I said, since I rarely used him, he remained underlevelled.

Aside from Vivi and his insanely useful array of spells, I've never been the sort of player who prefers to use magic attacks in Final Fantasies - I'm prefer the phusical brawlers/monks. Isn't it interesting how differently it's possible to play the same game? :)

Ah.. I forgot Freya's Reis' Wind thing. That was a nifty thing. Her jump attack thing was never my style though. Sure no one could attack her in the meantime but that just meant that my other party members got attacked instead. Also Amarant a healer? oO
He certainly did not look like a person who would bandage someones knee. More like the type that would brake it some more.

Frostflowers
Isn't it interesting how differently it's possible to play the same game? :)

Aye it be my lass. Aye it be.

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Ah.. I forgot Freya's Reis' Wind thing. That was a nifty thing. Her jump attack thing was never my style though. Sure no one could attack her in the meantime but that just meant that my other party members got attacked instead.

It was nifty on bosses - without her Trance Jump, I wouldn't have beaten Beatrix on my first playthrough, for example.

Also Amarant a healer? oO
He certainly did not look like a person who would bandage someones knee. More like the type that would brake it some more.

That is so totally part of why I did it - sheer hilarity. :) He didn't give a damn about people, and yet he has more party-healing abilities than Zidane does!

mlai
Final Fantasy Tactics.
PS1 version introduced me to a great game system with the most delightfully convoluted political storyline ever. Then the PSP version gave that storyline a team of writers who are great with Shakespeare. Double win.

lefarce
Tactics and it's remake are by far the best. However, the other inclusions in the tactics series are best ignored. I'm not much of a FF fan at all. 7 was great, 10 was ok, but the others are just painful to me.

Aye! I love you both, I guess we're the only ones who agree that Tactics is the best. I can't wait until Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 (for the DS). If the gameplay doesn't get you, the story and it's character development will.