I was going to suggest this as a MacScene poll but I thought I'd gather some general views anyway. I just started Crisis Core: FFVII and got to thinking of the FF series in general. I'm really enjoying the game but I've never been a huge fan of VII. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a great game but I preferred the other PS1 offerings, particularly the widely critised IX.

I'd say my favourite is probably a toss-up between VI and IX, I'm also a fan of Tactics in its various permutations. How does everyone else feel? Is Final Fantasy not even your favourite RPG? I'd be interested to hear!

VI and X are my favourite Final Fantasy games, but Lufia II would give them a run for their money in my "favourite RPG" list. I'm not sure I could choose between those three games, though -- they all have strengths and weaknesses; each touched me in some way with their story.

Short story: FF6

My introduction to RPGs (EVER, not just video games) was actually Final Fantasy 1. The game was brutally hard not understanding equipment, etc. I was too young too car about learning it and I moved on.

Years later, I played FF4 (2 here in the states) at a friends house (and eventually the game I first ever played on an emulator) and it was just ok (at the time). I still didn't "get it" but my buddy taught me about RPGs and the mechanics and eventually I figured out that it was trying to earn the story.

Between this and 6, I got heavy into other RPGs. I knew how to play and master.

Then FF6 (3 in states)... Just a masterpiece. It was the culmination of everything I wanted. Each character had a story that was followed through. Each also had there own "special" move in battles. EVERYONE could learn Magic. KEFKA!!!!!!!! esper attacks. OMG I need to play it again. !!!!

i'd have to say iX because living in europe i never got to play parts I - VI until they were re-released on the GBA and PS1.
from the 2D-era I like VI most.

I suppose IX is partly my favourite for similar reasons stated so far. It's the first FF that I properly 'understood'. Rather than just watching my friends scanning through various menus, assigning abilities and equipment, running from town to town (usually quite a way through the game), I sat with a friend of mine who was just restarting the game after completing it and he talked me through all the different elements and explained the series to me. As soon as I realised how cool it was, I ran out and bought it! Imagine how I felt knowing there were 9 whole games for me to catch up on! Luckily, shortly after this epiphany, the earlier titles were released for Playstation, given that they were never previously available in the UK (right?).

Since then I've played most of them as much as I can stand, both in their original and remade forms (the DS remakes were pretty cool) but nothing has quite captured me like IX. The characters, the scenery, the music, the storyline, all of it just sends me into a strange dreamworld that I can't help but stay in for hours on end!

Excellent replies so far, keep them coming!

For the best of Final Fantasy, it's either VI or IX. Great stories and battle mechanics. I'd mention the music too, but all the Final Fantasy games I've played (I through IX) have excellent music.

FF6 is my favorite. The blend of good (but not head banging frustrationville) difficulty with a revamped ATB system that didn't suffer from input issues (like FFIV did, massively), and the best music to ever come off an SPC700 chip made it a clear winner. Sure later FFs have more glitter, but as far as I'm concerned each successive one has had less and less substance (with IX being the lone exception). And nothing since VI has given me things like being surprised at the absurdly evil ways of a fellow like Kefka, and only IX has come close in the gut wrenching department (I won't spoil that for anybody here).

On the flip side, the FF I hated most had nothing to do with storyline. In fact, I don't even know its storyline past the first city. So why do I hate it? It's one of only two games I never got past the first real areas due to piss poor control schemes. FF XII is that one I refer to. It not only had inverted camera controls, which I may have been able to get used to, but at the same time it also had inverted player movement controls, meaning you had to hold left to turn the camera right AND deal with player motion being inverted at the same time, making the realtime battles...well, let's just say that I uninstalled FF XII from my PS2's HD less than a day after installing it (I use HDAdvance 3.0 to run PS2 games off my HD; and yes, I own them all. Not that I ever got many games...). Thankfully FF XIII's dev team learned from FF XII's mistakes - you can use reg/inversion on either or both camera/movement controls. No such customization in XII.

For me it's 3 (American), 2 (american), 1. When 7 came out I was like WTF is this mass of garbage and have not played a FF Since. The GB games were fun as well even more so RPG than the early series it was almost like Dragon Warrior in a FF setting.

The gameboy games, despite their names, were not Final Fantasy games at all. They were part of the Mana series. Squaresoft kind of poohed the screwch on naming those games.

If you like FF2US, you may wish to give the translated Japanese FFIVHT a go. FF2US was identical to the second release of FFIVJ, which uses the EasyType ROM. FFIVHT is the HardType, and let me tell you, it's a real challenge. And it's the only of the three original SF/SNES cartridges to contain Cecil's Dark Wave move.

FFVI (3US) was by and large very enjoyable, though I would give anything to have a HardType version of it. In its original form it can be cheesed so easily. Many people didn't know, but you can get infinite EXP Eggs. Made leveling a lot easier for sure.

FFVII wasn't so much a mess as the graphics limitations of the time just made it look that way. The only change I'd make is for most of the materia to be more lenient in how much AP is required to level them. It wasn't leveling that was a grind. The grind came in leveling up your materia so your characters were of actual use outside One Trick Pony™ abilities.

FFVIII had very good combat mechanics, great graphics for its time, but its fatal flaw comes in the storyline at the end of Disc 2. This game has the most ghetto storyline of all of the Final Fantasies, outdoing the craptacular that is FFX-2 by a wide margin. Also, expect the card game AI to cheat - often.

FFXI's gameplay was more nostalgic than revolutionary. It retained the ATB system of FF8 mixed with the Limit Break mechanic of FF7, while utilizing the modern day (at the time) version of FFV's graphic style. The biggest challenge of this game? A head-bangingly harsh LV 1 Perfect Save challenge. Expect to wear out a PSOne or two with this challenge (or a couple DVD drives if you use an emulator and don't use ISO images of your real discs).

FFX was the first to have voice acting as a mainstay in its gameplay. With the graphic capability of the PS2, even in its early stages of life cycle, the story really did unfold pretty well (with a couple hiccups that could be forgiven). The downside to this game? It has just about every cliché you can think of in it, and getting from Point A to Point B took foreeeeeeeeeeeeever on the ground. This game would have seen much needed difficulty enhancements with an ATB system instead of its turn based combat system. It's got a few tear jerker moments in the story though, something of a rarity in video games.

FFX-2. Dress Up System. Um...yeah. I got about 20% through this game and said forget it. Feels like I'm playing Final Fantasy Barbie Fun House. Direct sequels can be cool. This was not.

I'm skipping over FFXI because it's an abomination and needs to DIAF.

FFXII had what I read to be a very well done storyline. Unfortunately for myself and likely many other players, the controls just could not be tolerated. Because of its new RTB (Real Time Battle) system, the dual inverted controls made for a veritably lousy play experience. So much so that I didn't even get past the first Field Map area before I promptly uninstalled the game from my system.

FFXIII is pretty. Very pretty. It has its moments of Slowdown Salad, but I expect that with such intricately rendered scenes (though most of the slowdown comes from too many player models onscreen at once). Storywise it's OK. The combat system uses a mixed ATB/RTB system in that it has the ATB command queue, but has no "Wait" option available, meaning you must make quick decisions. This is partially offset by the AI which controls your NPC comrades. Purists will hate how you cannot control (directly) your teammates, but with the design SS chose to use for the battle system it was the best compromise possible. The game's major downside is that until you get to Chapter 11, it is completely linear. We're not talking linear with a few things to explore as side quests, but instead Lunar: Eternal Blue type linear, where there is literally no exploration whatsoever. Until chapter 11 I felt like I was being led on a dog leash and spoonfed every last bit of detail on how to act during battle. Chapter 11 offered much needed exploration, but all you get is Hunt missions, not anything really story related in terms of side quests. In a nutshell, FFXIII went for All Glitz, Little Glamour. Unlike previous FFs, replay value on this one is absolutely nil. Thankfully I got it at $39 new while it was still $59 everywhere else. This game could really use an achievement system like Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope had, and a New Game+ of ANY sort.

I liked FF7...played it using VGS back in the day.

Also Final Fantasy Legend for Gameboy... as mentioned, in Japan it was released as part of the Sa.Ga series (I first played it in Japanese randomly enough) but to me it counts because it is the same style/author/company. The meat idea is really cool... unfortunately the English translation is rubbish (although that is sorta cool.) I like it because it was actually a challenge! To me FF7+ were more like movies where you have to plod the characters.

FF7 always reminds me of going to work in Japan. The trains are SERIOUSLY identical... bit of nostalgia I guess? FF7 is also special for me because it and Zelda (Ocarina of Time) are the only PSX/N64 or newer games I have gotten into in a big way. My first master's degree played a big role as I used them as an excuse to sit around doing no work... then at about 1am would go to McDonalds, get a McFlurry and start doing a solid 6 hours of work. Oooh the nostalgia. Now I eat healthy, don't play games and have better sleeping patterns.

I agree as I stated above the FF Legend series were outstanding. My fav was the second one (blue box and cart I think I'd have to dig it out). They really refined the game play and the world was enormous for such a basic handheld system.