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[D.Final]

My ranking of my favorite Final Fantasy, and best, is:
(list based on the feelings and emotions that every Final Fantasy managed to create in me)

1: Final Fantasy XV

Noctis, Luna and Ardyn.

One of the biggest, and most majestic, Final Fantasy ever made.
An extraordinary narrative universe, which deserves to be discovered by all those in search of a great story.
An excellent BS, an exceptional Lore, a wonderful OST, is the epic adventure of Noctis and his friends, in a wonderful world to explore, where the Astrals (the planet's Summon divinities) are considered true gods. Powerful and exceptional.
And a villan, Ardyn, so incredible, that I consider it one of the best, and on the same level as Kefka of FF VI.

A game that everyone should play from start to finish.
To experience one of the most splendid endings ever made for a Final Fantasy.
(and it's one of the reasons why I consider it one of the masterpieces of this generation of consoles)

Final Fantasy XV is a real Final Fantasy.
And he has contributed to bringing prestige and honor back to the Final Fantasy saga in this generation.

2: Final Fantasy VI

Terra, Locke (+ Celes) and Kefka.

One of the best JRPGs ever, along with Chrono Trigger.

3: Final Fantasy IX

Gidan, Garnet and Kuja

A splendid tribute to many Final Fantasy games.
In a splendid and exciting theatrical key.
(originally it was born [in phase of concept], if I remember correctly, like a game of the spinoff series Crystal Cronicles)

4: Final Fantasy VII

Cloud, Tifa (+ Aerith) and Sephiroth.

A legendary Final Fantasy.
He started the Final Fantasy in 3D.
With an exciting story, and iconic characters.
It represents one of the major leaps in the saga in its golden age.

5: Final Fantasy IV

Cecil, Rosa and Golbez
(+ Zeromus)

Cecil, and the evolution from a dark knight to the Warrior of light.
This represents only a very small part of all the narrative plot that links the characters to the game's plot.

6: Final Fantasy VIII

Squall, Rinoa, and G. F.

Despite a plot that over time (half CD 2 and CD 3) begins to leave traces of hasty narration, the stories of the protagonists are able to give special moments, and iconic, along with very spectacular CG scenes.
The BS, despite being almost totally based on stealing magic (and summon) from the enemies, is still an interesting system for me.
[although it is a system that, if used too much, breaks the game making it, in practice, very easy]

7: Final Fantasy X

Tidus, Yuna, and Sin.

Practically a story of a pilgrimage, with a thousand difficulties, which turns into a love story.
Beautiful and moving.
The game world is extremely beautiful to look at, but unfortunately it is also very linear.
Especially because of the narrative chosen for the game but which, however, manages to give interesting secrets and very powerful secret bosses, like the Dark Eons.

8: Final Fantasy XIV ARR

MMORPG born disastrously in version 1.0, reborn as one of the best MMORPGs in its 2.0 version.

It is a game with very technical gameplay, which requires a massive amount of time even to reach the highlights of the main plot.

Probably one of the major flaws is precisely in the way the plot is diluted between multiple missions that are essentially useless or irrelevant, with interesting mission sections (and even epic ones)

9: Final Fantasy V

Game with very interesting gameplay.
(with the most extensive and varied job system of all the offline chapters)
But the same cannot be said of the plot, unfortunately.
Because, despite epic moments like the sacrifice of Galuf, or the battle on the great bridge against Gilgamesh, the game does not shine.
Presenting a much simpler, and at times trivial, plot than its predecessor Final Fantasy IV.

10: Final Fantasy I

The most classic of the classics.
The first story of the Warrior of Light.
Although the plot is simple, it manages to shine for effective gameplay and a very varied world, especially for the time.
And Garland is one of the first icons to mark the beginning of an incredible saga.

11: Final Fantasy II

Really pretty and interesting story.
The gameplay, however, despite being very different from that of FF I, is also extremely more complex in the mechanics.
(making it difficult, or long, to increase the various characteristics of your characters, such as HP to the extent of attacks received in each battle and to enhance spells by using them multiple times in each single battle)
Interesting, but not for everyone.

12: Final Fantasy XII

Ivalice, a splendid world.
Plot and gameplay of the game, not as beautiful as the setting.
The characters, especially those who "should" be the protagonists, Vaan and Penelo, have a narrative depth comparable to a blank sheet of paper.
Only Balthier (for his charisma) and Bash (for his story) are saved at the narrative level.
But all the political plot of the plot results in multiple points of word and boring.
The gameplay, managed by Gambit, is interesting but totally driven.
Coming to perform very few actions in battle and, in many cases with the right Gambits, going forward without even needing to give any order to any character.
Resulting in a rich system, but which can easily break the gaming experience.

13: Final Fantasy XI

A rich and extremely varied world.
However, despite presenting some really interesting situations, it did not completely hit me.

14: Final Fantasy XIII

The most linear, and empty, of Final Fantasy.
Despite the generation (Ps3 and Xbox 360), and the technology used to make it, the game represents a step backwards even compared to FF X.
Since Final Fantasy XIII has no visitable city. It has no world to explore freely.
He has no minigame.

It also has an extremely driven and extremely fast BS.
So fast that the player doesn't even need to decide what moves to make, because the game decides the moves by itself.
While the "player" can only set the "role" of the characters in the team, while they fight practically all the battles in a pre-set way.
Without emphasis, and without total control over the team.
Probably the worst BS in the whole saga.
(and changed massively, under fan request, in the following XIII-2 and Lightnings Returns)
[and the Summon made as Transformers are really bad]

The plot is excessively convulsive and complex, and it is difficult to fully understand (even reading the reports, which narrate fundamental key points never mentioned in the plot, in the game archive).
But despite its complexity, it also has its beautiful or interesting moments.
But too few to justify such a poor game.

From my point of view, one of the worst chapters.

15: Final Fantasy III

Probably one of the most anonymous Final Fantasy games ever made.
And despite being part of the classics it is much more banal, at plot level, compared to FF I and FF II.

I say this because despite introducing for the first time in the saga the system of Jobs and Summon (obtainable only by buying them in stores, like magic), the plot of the game, and the protagonists of the game, are boring.
Not that at the time there had to be a big personal development of the characters, but usually the events of the plot had to try (or try) to entice the player to explore and / or continue the journey. And this doesn't happen much for me.
The BS is always very classic, with the difference that the magic system is even more limited, this time from magic units that you can use.
And the save point system is poorly managed, and this is especially felt in the last 2 dungeons of the game to have to complete each time, one after the other.
However, there is a vast world to explore in the game.

So why do I consider it my least favorite?
Because when I judge a Final Fantasy I do it mainly based on the sensations that the plot is able to transmit to me.
And honestly, the plot of Final Fantasy III didn't give me emotions.

For me all the Final Fantasy, especially those of the main series, deserve to be played at least once.
And everyone will always have his favorite, for different reasons.

P. S .: and those who judge a game only from the cover, or only from other opinions, must learn to play the games they want to talk about, and then they can give a vague opinion.
(because foolish opinions based on outfits, or on "trendy complaints" are not true opinions, and are just fake useless opinions and without any kind of sense)

 

[firegamer273]

i cant rank them since i have only played ff 15 and liked that one .
also im looking forward to try other final fantasy games .

 

[Rya.Reisender]

I really like that you asked for reasons too so this doesn't turn into a pure list thread.

Let's see.

1. FFVI - Great story, very cool battle flow, you cannot screw up your build (everyone can learn everything). I like how the game splits up party members and makes them get together eventually. The twist at the halfway part of the game was completely unexpected for me too and completely blew my mind as child. I also love the villain. It's one of the only FF games I played through twice.

2. FFVII - Pretty much same reasons as FFVI. I think FFVII and FFVI are actually really similar. I would still rate it lower because combat felt slower and only had 3 active party members.

3. FFIV - Pretty much the perfect traditional JRPG for me. No annoying menu browsing and decision making (like what skills to equip or which party member to take into the active party), still challenging and fun to play.

4. FFXIII - Really liked the music and combat flow in this and the fact that it doesn't have towns (I hate running around and talking to NPCs for an hour). Disliked that the dungeons were so linear, though.

5. FFXV - Really nice let's go on vacation with friends game. Didn't care for main story, but the exploration was fun. HOWEVER, this game kind of gets ruined by those military ambushes that were WAY to frequent and completely ruined your fun exploring.

6. FFIX - I liked that it went back to the roots after I was so incredibly disappointed by FFVIII, but it also felt that it just didn't manage to keep up with the three classics I loved.

7. FFII - I only played the "Easy Type" PSX version which was pretty good as it fixed the slow leveling problem. I mainly like it because it's the beginning of the SaGa series, though, which is my favorite game series.

8. FFI - Okay to play but nothing outstanding.

9. FFV - Don't really like job systems because I'm always having trouble with decisions, but out of all games with job system, this one was still the one I enjoyed the most. Also love how large and mysterious the dungeons were.

10. FFXII - Nice MMORPG feeling, but if you take online aspect away from MMORPGs, they are actually pretty crappy games, so... but I did like the large world and exploration in it.

11. FFVIII - Absolutely hated the gameplay in it. It's like always making the worst design decisions. The only thing I liked about it was the feeling of mystery and some of the dungeons.

12. FFX - Still have trouble understanding why people like this. It's 100% linear just following a road, did away with the cool ATB battle system, forced you to switch in all party members each battle so they get Exp, removed the thrill of finding cool weapons and armor in treasure chests, villain is completely forgettable, ... the only reason I still finished it was because of Blitzball and the Sphere Grid.

13. FFIII - As said I don't like job systems and while FFV was the one I still enjoed the most, this one was just mediocre.

 

[mcz117chief]

XIII-2: absolutely fantastic in every aspect. I can't think of a single thing that this game didn't get right. The fact that they managed to get Origa to perform is just a dream come true for a fan of GitS. Serah and Noel are still my favorite couple in FF history. Caius is also an absolutely amazing adversary, only Sephiroth comes close.

Type-0: the amount of work and care put into a psp spin-off is off the charts. So much interesting lore, characters and story development. I have never made such a 180° on a character in my life. The more you play it the more you get under the surface and there is so much there to experience. The only reason why it isn't number one is because the combat camera is low and makes it hard to gauge distance.

X: hard to choose my third favorite. I really liked pretty much all FF games I played, but I really liked Yuna, Tidus and Auron so I'll give it to X. Overall really nice game but there were so pretty annoying parts (like anything to do with Wakka). Amazing music for sure.

 

[KiteGr]

Top 5:

1. FF7. The jump from the SNES era to the PS1 was massive! Suddenly all dialogues and cut-scenes had good direction!
   • The plot touched aspects other games wouldn't dare
   • The graphics where amazing.
   • The materia system versatile.
   • Also it was the first FF to be released in Europe.
     It had some problems, but they where minor compared to the game's achivements!
2. FF9. A view at how would the old FF games would look if they where made "today". This is one of the most complete experiences you can find!
   • The story was great.
   • The graphics where great.
   • The system was great.
   • he fmvs where great.
     The only black spots where the slow battles and the mandatory card game on that 3rd disc.
3. FF6. What can I say... This game must had blew away anyone who played it on it's time!
   • Tons of characters where each has it's own sub systems and story.
   • The amazing Esper system.
   • The plot twists.
   • The music...
     The black spot here is the release. Not just the lie on it's western number, but also it's absent on the European market, so our experience comes by playing it in retrospect!
4. FF10. The best unfinished FF game! Oh... it's clearly unfinished! Once you get a deeper look, you'll start noticing a lot of hints to that...
   • signs that say "welcome to Auction House"
   • places you never visit
   • superbosses blocking access to normal items and limit breaks...
   • affection mechanics that effect 2 cut-scenes in total (one right after you recruit a character that you can't possibly have risen the affection with).
     Despite all that, the game was very enjoyable from beginning to end and a first look on the FF games of the future.
5. FF5. This is here because of the job system! There are just 4 characters, but each changes significantly because of the job system, and that levels up separately! FF10-2 has done the job system better, but that game sucks in all other aspects!

Bottom 5:

1. FF13. OMG, I've never seen so high production values being wasted in a big fat "Nothing"!
   • The Graphics and environments are amazing, yet the gameplay is non-existent!
   • The combat looks deep, but it's fully automated, leaving you only to play with a switch that changes between the 6 total jobs the characters can have.
   • The world looks beautiful, but there is nothing to explore!
   • The story should have been interesting, but to make heads or tales, you'll have to read an encyclopedia in the menus!
     What a wasted opportunity here!
2. FF15. Another incomplete game! But unlike FF10, this one shows it's flaws a few hours in!
   • The combat is poorly balanced.
   • The quests oversimplified.
   • The story is obviously missing chunks!.... Lots of chunks!... that SE then tried to sell you separately.
     This obliviously isn't a proper game, but rather a salvage attempt of a mess that they've put together in a couple of years.
3. FF12. What would you get if you had a story about politics and a battle system about Bureaucracy? A boring Game! Once a gain, all the production values go down the drain! This time the game was intended to be multiplayer, and was designed around an adult protagonist, thus the change in tone. Both ideas where shot down mid development and we see the results of a game that originally supposed to be something ales!
4. FF8. This game left me confused... I hadn't tried a bad FF game before, and like most at the time I didn't know what to think of it. For every good idea, it had a bad one to counterbalance it!
   • The story was very confusing.
   • The junction system encouraged hoarding rather than casting spells.
   • It was very easy to break.
   • Leveling up was pointless.
     It was like they've added stuff for the sake of adding stuff and didn't think them properly!
5. FF2. The one where they tried something new, and failed miserably. The idea of having your character's skills level individually was great, but the execution was poor. One would think that after the original FF where half of the spells and stat turned out to be bugged and not working, they would had learned their lesson and playtest the damn thing!

These opinions are pointless. I'm curious how many people are going to read this post after it get lost on all the answers...
Obviously I haven't played the MMOs... much. On that genre one can give his soul only to one MMO at a time, and I have given mine to GW2.

 

[Rya.Reisender]

These opinions are pointless. I'm curious how many people are going to read this post after it get lost on all the answers...

I once was in a community were list threads were against the rules out of this very reason.

 

[bobone]

I can't pick between 6 and 7 for my top. And I think we all know why those are so great.

I'm going to defend XIII as my 3rd favorite because everyone else seems to hate it.

It had the same formula as X, very linear, very cutscene heavy. But the battle system was great; and far superior to any before it. In my opinion at least.
Visually it was just as amazing as X was when it came out. I hadn't been impressed at all with XII; but I was blown away by the jump to the "next gen" consoles.
The voice acting was amazing compared to previous entries, and even tho people say the story was nonsense; I fell that way about literally every FF game. So that's not a negative to me.
I know they were trying to push Lightning as the next big character of the series, and I don't think they achieved that. But I think they were successful with the cast of characters; and overall it was VERY successful as a next gen FF game.

I don't think the open world formula fits FF well at all. I think its at its best when its narrative driven, character heavy, turn based, and full of beautiful cutscenes and epic boss battles.

 

[cartman414]

After I went all the trouble to get you your favorite drink...

Delicious. Here, have some Mountain Dew.