Why every Final Fantasy game is the best AND worst in the series

FF9 was always my favorite,, of all the FF's I've owned 9 is the only one I kept to replay again, I'm currently working through it again as the PSn is still down. Recaptha - 1968: inggents ?

Growing up with the nes and sega saturn about the closest i got to rpg's until FFVII was guardian heroes lol. Final fantasy was what made me fall in love with rpgs and while FF9 is my favourite i have to admit i played 7-9 multiple times. I enjoyed X aswell though i cant say i enjoyed it quite as much maybe because of Tidus' weak standing as a main character much like Vaan. I've gone back and played some of IV V and VI, VI having the better story of what i've played. I cant say i have any fondness for XII and XIII but i did give them a decent chance and played them to conclusion. XII's story felt stretched and XIII's felt squashed which was highlighted by the pages of text that your ment to read alongside playing the game. I'm not strictly a turn based rpg kinda guy but for the most part all my favourite rpgs were turn based bar the tales series. Personally i sorely miss the minigames of the playstation era something that SE has completely abandoned in favour of a purely Battle/Cutscene/Battle/Cutscene approach which i think is a shame because they were some of my favourite moments.

Hahaha, I started reading this article just thinking "How the heck are they going to say why FF14 was the best ever?" Ahh, I love you guys.

Yeah, FF XII is one of my favorites too! I can't understand why a lot of people didn't take to it!

An interesting and well put together list, but I totally predicted that last one.

Never really got into the FF series, but I did play FF6, the one on SNES, a lot and loved how you took control over so many people and participated in so many stories. I played FFXIII to the point of like 3/4th the way through the tutorial and said meh I'm going to play games like Mass Effect 2, RDR and Fallout 3 instead. I bought FFIII and FFIV for my DS, and I'm a little bit enjoying them but overall I would have been happier never buying those titles. I don't know what it is about Final Fantasy that sucks me in but then says hey we're Japan and we've not learned from our mistakes!

FFVIII is my first FF game so it is my favourite. It's diverse mini games have kept me glued to the screen and stunning graphic that still played in my head till today. Along the years I've manage to try FF1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and X-2 and among these I only finished FF1 because lack patience. I remember FF3 is quite hard, while FFX-2 is quite easy but get bored halfway. FF4 is quite fun too.

I hope no one kills me for admitting this, but... XIII is the only one I've ever played. And maybe that's why I don't love it or hate it; I didn't have any expectations linked to the previous games, but I was expecting something more from one of the biggest series in gaming. I've been meaning to hit up some of the classics on the PSN store for a while now, if only they'd put the bloody thing back online...

I loved III, VI and especially IX. I have never been more dissapointed with a game thaan XIII. Worst FF game I have played and I played them all bar X-2 and V. It felt more like an awful version of Streets of Rage than FF

I am a self-proclaimened die-hard Square Enix fan. ^^ Although I haven't played every game (I'm getting there though!), there's something that I like and remembered from every game that I have played, so it's hard to completely hate a Final Fantasy game. It's probably the same for everyone else...

Ah, Final Fantasy. The fact that the series brand name contains the word "Fantasy" is good enough for me. My first was six, and since then I've played 7,8, and 9. I'm currently chipping away at 5 and over the summer plan to start out 10 and maybe 12. This article summarizes why I love FF so much. As things stand, the core mechanics of all the FFs I've played so far are pretty dry, even if they do like to change some things up from game to game. The fact that each game has different art, pace, story telling style, and scale, is what I think is the sole reason the series continues to flourish. Personally, I don't like the whole MMO idea... it just doesn't seem anything "Final Fantasy" to me. If Square Enix had just called them something else it probably would have been fine though, how hypocritical of me. In any case, I have absolutely loved each and every FF I've played so far, and they all cycle through my favorite and most hated spot, as this article emphasizes. However, there is only one FF that defied my typical sickness. Normally, for most games, the beginning is by far my favorite part. Admit it, Midgard was the most exciting and interesting setting in FFVII, and seeing Balamb Garden for the first time was breathtaking (although Esthar city is probably one of the coolest game settings ever), and the first disc of IX suffers the same fate for me. But VI, VI captivated me the whole way through, so while I can't call it my true favorite, I definitely hold it at a different level. Would like to see a Final Fantasy that's more realistic... you know, tone down the general femeninity a notch for once, and set things in an at least 400s BC style world or in a plane of existence where the laws of physics and chemistry are totally wack. Cmon Squenix, you've got a few more FFs in you yet!

I don't get why the World of Ruin was bad, I thought it was ballsy,I don't remember a game putting apocalypse in the middle of the story, and it really gave FFVI a gritty atmosphere.

XD thirteen all the way, followed by 6 and then 7.

Number 7 all the way baby! I'm a lover of nearly every game in the series but 7 introduced me to the whole thing in a way that I doubt any other game in the series could have done. I loved 8's art style but it was a poor successor to 7 and imo, with the possible exception of 12, they've gotten steadily worse over the years and the less said about MMOs the better...

FFXII is definitely my personal favorite. i loved the lack of a huge world/galaxy destroying evil. i enjoyed every party member and what they each brought to the table in design, voices, and personality. the pacing to the story was great, the side quests were very well done (the only FF game i've achieved 100%) and i'm hard pressed to think of any enemies as bad-ass as the Judges. great article! i think i'll start up XII again...i've missed Fran's bunny-booty waggling in my face.

Older school FFs I haven't played, but I expect I'd enjoy them reading this. FF IX and XII are my personal favorites. Always have been a fan of the ways they contrast what I've personally come to view as FF archetypes while still retaining the feel and essence of the series. IX was on the lovably quirky side and I loved the political aspect of XII. Sure, when you break it down, it resembles Star Wars very closely, but the moment-to-moment storytelling is drastically different. And plus, a major Nolan North role where he doesn't sound like, you know, Nolan North; a bit of a fun change of pace for him.

sometimes i feel like im the only one who actually liked FFXII everyone else I know hated it :((

Great article and I loved the ending. FFVII is my favourite FF but it's only because that was the first FF game I played

I hate final fantasy but good article.

FF4 will always be my favorite entry. I'm actually in the "didn't hate FF13" camp myself.