What is your favorite Final Fantasy game?

Tactics, only because it was a fresh approach to a big budget, story driven RPG with the best elements of Tactics Ogre attached.

I'm playing Shining Force 3 right now -- a title that came out at around the same time -- and it's so evident how FFT took the philosophy of games like SF and deepened it immensely.

FF6. I had played FF4 and loved it. I saw that FF6 was coming out and wanted it, but was a kid with no money. So I polished my parents entire brass bed frame to earn enough money to buy it. Then I went on to play through it multiple times. Even playing it 4 players so my friends could play in combat. Beyond the memories, I loved the story and thought Kefka was the perfect villain. Even though I had the map, waking up in the World of Ruin blew my mind. I thought the esper system of learning magic was better than most. I love that each character has their own unique thing. I could go on but this is already long

FF Tactics is a very close second. I had never played a game like tactics, so that alone was amazing to me. I thought the political story was amazing and one of the best in gaming. Also I find the job system near perfect and haven't found other versions of it near as good.

I have played 1, 2, 4, 4 DS, 5, 6, 7, 7R, 8, 9, 10, 14, Tactics, A2, Crystal Chronicles, and Dissidia all in some regard.

... I have not completed a single one of those games. I adore the aesthetic. I love Amano's style. I love the music to pieces. I love the weird mixes of mechs and magic. I love the lofty plots. I just cannot sit through the ATB system long enough, I stopped playing at Zeromus in 4 because I Action Replayed a bajillion Elixers to get to the end and he would wipe me out in one Big Bang, I lost to some endgame boss in 5 and just stopped, I found A2 to be horribly designed with the rules system, I died of embarrassment wiping myself on a Bomb in 14 in front of my friend, and I tried playing CC by myself... Eugh. I only really got into it via Kingdom Hearts, and when my friend bounced off the games he sold them to me for like $10 each, so I'd play the PS1 games every Saturday mornings on my PS2, and then stop after like. The first disc. No idea why, I guess I just didn't like the games themselves enough.

I still think 4's story is so wonderfully melodramatic (everyone's dead! everyone's alive!), 5's job system is the most fun thing within the ATB system, 7's aesthetic is unparalleled, Dissidia feels great, and I found 14's community to be so wonderfully social and easygoing. I'd say 7 purely out of nostalgia; I spent $25 on its soundtrack off iTunes (I wouldn't DARE keep the mp3 files off Galbadia Hotel for more than 24 hours, George Bush was watching), and I downloaded it over a period of 3 overnights on a 56k connection. Then I listened to the entire thing on repeat because I loved the soundtrack so much. Still do.

FF VII. First game I played on my won-at-a-raffle PlayStation, something I could never have otherwise afforded as a broke student. It was my first exposure to JRPGs, and the music utterly captivated me. Still get chills when I hear One-Winged Angel.

I don't think I can realistically say anything other than 14 at this point.

I mean, yeah obviously you can have a transcendant experience with a game that only lasts a certain amount of hours and then it has run its course, and have that be higher value than something else you played a lot more... unless you decide to speedrun it for years and years or something.

But we don't even have to get into the hypothetical because while I adore single player titles like FF7 and FF12, FF14 has brought me so much long-term joy, it has told me entertaining stories (and all I ever ask for is a good excuse to put me in an arena with a boss, at all difficulty levels, so even when narrative is not at its best there's still a whole lot of raiding to do when all the cutscenes are over), it has connected me with people all over the world, it has pushed me to accomplish things in gaming that I thought I might never have, and turned me into a more confident gamer overall. It turned me into a raider.

It's not just because of the hours, it's because these are quality hours.

I love this game!!!!!!!

2-way tie between FF Tactics Advance for the GBA and FFXII for the PS2 which has been remastered into FFXII: The Zodiac Age

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance: just hooked me on the story of Ivalice. The kids playing with snowballs. The little kid who was bullied IRL but then wakes up in a whole new world where he can do anything. It was an isekai before I even knew what an isekai even was. Pure nostalgia for me at this point and I still boot up a ROM of it from time to time. Endless customizations and options for characters and classes and jobs and missions and you even create your own map. I've tried the original tactics before but the story never gripped me like the GBA game did.

FFXII: I'll never pass up an opportunity to talk up that magnificent gambit system. Nowadays I'm sure there are plenty of games that do similar things, but like twenty years ago that shit blew my mind. It's basically programming in an RPG world. You have characters in your parties, and can use different abilities and weapons and skills and whatever, just like other FF games. But the gambit system allowed you to set certain rules for how those party members would interact with each other, enemies, and everything else. For example, on a very basic level you can set things like 'IF [enemy, any] IS WEAK TO [fire] -> CAST [firaga]' or 'IF [ally, any] HIT POINTS [<60%] -> CAST [curaga]'. But you could have tons of these for each party member, and the level of granularity you could get with this system was incredible. Endless hours of customizing my team's gambits to make use of everyone's skills in a way that ensured as little input from me as possible.

Oh and the gambits weren't just like options that you could just set from the get-go. They were items in the game that you had to find, buy, and unlock. So being able to craft the perfect team was just part of the fun and progression of the game, not just some menu that you set once and forget about. You are constantly editing your gambit loadout as you find new and better gambits that allow for an even more finely tuned and tailored system for your team.

Like I'd have one guy dual-wielding a katana slashing the shit out of everyone he could see and the rest of the team just standing back and perpetually casting things like berserk and haste on him while healing and protecting him from damage. My proudest accomplishment in that game was managing to create an endless loop of gambits when I realized that there was this one slime enemy that regenerated, so I set my team to only target that slime until it broke off into smaller slimes, but then only attack some of the pieces until the rest healed back up, thus gaining xp while allowing the main slime to regenerate from the leftover pieces and then rinse and repeat, then leaving my PS2 going while I went to school (I was like twelve at the time) and coming home 8+ hours later to find a massively boosted party that had gained many levels without me having to lift a finger.

Final Fantasy 7 for PC.

At the time it felt like a huge leap. The style brought something very different, and the scope of the world with all the extras to find was incredible.

I first played it one summer during a heatwave (Midwest US) and the extra strain on my graphics card would cause the whole PC to overheat and lock up. I ended up taking the side of my case off and setting a box fan next to the PC to keep it cool enough to progress. But it was 100% worth it for the satisfaction of calling in an airstrike using Cid's limit break. Epic.

I have quite a few runners up: FF4, 5, 6, 9, and Tactics were all great. And the original has a certain charm as well all these years later. But 7 would be my pick if I really could only choose one.

Final Fantasy IX

I got that game as a Christmas gift from a family friend. It was totally unexpected; I had no idea he knew that I liked anything like that, and I also didn't know IX had come out yet. He gave me that and the guide book, so I spent around three straight days just playing that game. I got to the end after doing other stuff for a day or two. Probably, honestly helped with learning how to focus on something and get it done over a long stretch (follow the guide book to see the game). I found myself relating to the characters to that one in a way I think everybody who plays Final Fantasy feels about one particular entry, in general. There's always one that just hits you for one reason or another if you're meeting them where they're at.

In IX, Vivi was always a character who stood out to me. I had played Final Fantasy VII, and a bit of VIII, but didn't really relate much to the characters in those. In Vivi I found that. Though I didn't grow up alone, I was very lonely, and as I was getting older the sci-fi novels meant I was pondering weird and large things. As a kid, I was someone who was trusting to a fault, pure in intent but often not able to see that such intent often gets used, getting pretty hurt when that happened. Vivi was like that. He didn't know where he came from, why he was there, and got suckered into stuff from time to time by folks who were just being shitty and self absorbed. The way Vivi meets up with Zidane, the way their friendship develops and the fiery kind of devotion Zidane has to his friends stuck with me. It was like seeing a glimpse of what could be, how things could work in a more detailed way than saying it that straightforwardly.

As a kid I'm not sure how I picked up on it but it stuck with me. I felt like I was like Vivi, and that I wanted to be someone like Zidane. I felt a lot like i was alone, misunderstood, and I could not stand getting led astray. I wanted to be someone who was brave, whose strength came from how much he cared for folks. The sort of person who is both, kind and strong. The game didn't set things in motion, but it gave me an image, is the way I want to put it. Like being told "yeah, that's a thing you can do", it's not that things immediately shift and change, it's that you remember when the question comes up. Remember, you can tell that person you think they're good, that they did a good thing, that you like who they are. Much of the raising what happened with me was about protection - what you do to avoid different situations, kinds of behavior, defend oneself, stay safe. What I experienced in school was folks trying to constantly get away with shit, who usually disappeared when I punched them in the mouth, but i hated doing that. It's been through these occasional glimpses, and later on my own deliberate effort, that has kept that sort of sentiment alive.

In some of the darkest moments, strangely it was something that hurt the most sometimes. That what I wanted to be and who I was were not coming together, they were driving apart. I would remember some of the same moments, and interpret them completely differently, which itself was not an easy thing to deal with. The process of undoing that never hinged on something like Final Fantasy IX - its role is small and accidental - but it would be wrong to say it was not part of my life in a significant way. It means something the others can't, so I can make all kinds of exceptions for it despite my significantly different and always changing taste. I don't really experience just the game when I play it: I remember things, feel old feelings, engage in something I don't feel like the word "nostalgia" adequately captures. Adding "deep" to it doesn't do the trick either.

Better translation too, that really makes a difference. VII was good and all but awkward sometimes in a way IX just doesn't do as much. I didn't particularly enjoy VIII. The music is nicer to me too, the instruments sound nicer and I enjoyed the more flavorful parts of it. I prefer when the music is more suited to the context with unique stuff for unique moments. I never got that much into Final Fantasy after IX, so it's kinda where I left the series. I think it happening at the right place and right time meant I couldn't really get into the others after I played it. I played turn based games for a long time after but never had an experience like that again. I had other significant experiences, just can't be 12 or 13 twice kind of deal.

My favorite to play is Tactics. There are mods for that game which tune the difficulty in ways that I like, so I've gotten a lot out of having that one around. I always have it, it's something I do when I have to wait in places for a while and share the save between devices. Just really good all around, in a fantasy novel kind of way.

FF6 was my favorite. As a kid from the suburbs without a car, it was my first taste of opera, casino / airships, rafting, mining and factory towns, etc.

The world building was truly magical.

Final Fantasy XIV, for sure, and it's because of the social element and the fact that I can literally play it as much as I want without running out of things to do. I try not to play it during the spring or summer time at all, because I'll get sucked in and end up not going outside, but in the winter when going outside is the absolute last thing I want to do, this game is great at keeping me from going stir-crazy. I'm interacting with friends that I actually know, which is a very different experience from social media. We're doing activities together, which is very different from just texting them. And the scenery does a decent job of reminding me of a beautiful, not-frozen world, with flowers and trees with leaves and things.

I'm pretty picky about video games. I spend quite a few hours playing them when the mood strikes, but I can count the actual titles that I've played in the past 10 years on my fingers. The Dragon Age franchise takes up most of one hand and accounts for several thousand of the hours that I've played. FFXIV scratches most of the same itches for me, with the added bonus of a social aspect.

Ok I'll say it, the black sheep 8 has to be my favorite. I think the way they weave the multimedia aspects available to video games within the plot creates a spectacular love story that couldn't have been told as well in any other way. The music is fantastic. I like the goofy draw and junction systems, though I understand the disdain for them too. Triple Triad is a top tier side mini game.

I consider 6 to be one of the most impressive titles though. The way they moved story telling forward within the constraints of the SNES is just awesome, in addition to the cast of characters, breadth of their exploration, and the way they flipped the script later in.

Notable mention for 10, it's really great. They took a huge leap forward with voice acting and did it well. To this day, I see JRPGs still struggle to incorporate voice acting and cutscenes near as well as 10.

14 gets a mention as a great MMO -- but the MMO aspects ultimately hold it back from being an exceptional game outside the genre despite some superb characters, story arcs, boss fights, and music. But, for all my criticisms, it is the final fantasy that I've put the most time in by far and has been the most impactful to my life. My raid group has been a valuable part of my life, we've met up multiple times, some of them moved coast to coast... I've been a member of a fair number of online gaming groups, but none has been as tight knit or dear.

At this point, I've played every mainline game except X-2, 11, 12, and 16 (though haven't beat every one of those I played).

My answer is constantly changing, but today I'm going to say Final Fantasy IX. It's an inherently nostalgic game -- a competent love letter to the playfulness of the NES and SNES era games, nestled in an era when the series was heading in a more self-serious direction -- and since my appreciation of the series mostly rests on nostalgia, this feels like the right choice.

I like that the characters were generally a bit more lighthearted. Zidane is maybe not my favourite protagonist, but his upbeat attitude was a worthwhile change of pace after the broodiness Cloud and Squall. There are plenty of memorable supporting characters -- particular shout out to Vivi and Steiner -- and Zidane fits in his setting.

I also appreciate that the characters are unique in terms of their abilities. In the games where any character can access any spell or ability, the party selection kinda just becomes about who had the Limit Break that does the most damage. In this game, there's some overlap with some characters, but each one has their role and some unique -- but not game breaking -- abilities.

And the music is, as always, amazing. Ukulele de Chocobo and Vamo Alla' Flamenco are the best Chocobo songs.

The Legend of Dragoon

Seriously though. Final Fantasy games of the time just weren't as engaging. I needed that button timing element that additions brought to make combat fun.

6.
I just love the large cast, and that they all get their time in the sun. The mid game "twist" is also fantastic and its got a satisfying ending. Oh and the gameplay is great (as is the Brave New World gameplay mod)

7 came out and suddenly they were almost all main character romance stories, which I like a lot less.

Final Fantasy 10 is probably my favorite game of all time.

I really like the lore, and how Pyreflies tie the whole game together. Pyreflies are these little particles of aether that conduct spirit energy, so they react to willpower and emotion. This forms the basis for most of the weird stuff in the game. Spheres, Aeons, Unsent, Fiends, Sin, its all pyreflies working in different ways. Each one is just a very slightly different application of the same thing, some done intentionally and some subconsciously. The whole game is about the power of belief and how it allows people to manifest their dreams and nightmares into reality. The game is written in this intentionally convoluted way so it all seems really confusing, but once you have all the information it fits together really elegantly.

Beyond that, its one of the best designed turn based RPGs, in my opinion. The Conditional Turn-based Battle system is the best way to do turn based combat, the equipment setup is very simple and easy to understand at a glance, status effects really feel impactful, and if you know what youre doing you can beat the whole game without levelling up at all just by taking advantage of all the other mechanics available.

The underlying plot about Sin and its commentary on institutional religion and generational trauma are really interesting and done in a subtle enough way that it doesnt feel too preachy.

And I love all the side quests and content, aside from Lightning Dodger.

I don't feel like I kept up with Final Fantasy enough to have a favorite pick.

• FFVI: Played an on emulator way back in the day. I don't really like playing console games with M+KB and couldn't hook up a controller at the time. I have some good memories but don't think I got very far.
• FFVII: Nearly beat the game but glitched myself a bit. If I remember correctly you are given a save point you can drop where you'd like. I accidentally dropped it on a ladder near a final boss. I was under leveled and couldn't leave or beat the boss. Did enjoy the game though. Still have my memory card and OG discs in the crystal case.
• FFVIII: At the time it was my favorite... mostly because Rinoa triggered a bit of an awakening.
• FFIX: Bought it, didn't get very far. I didn't quite like the change in style compared to VII and VIII
• FF Tactics: Absolutely loved the gameplay, story was good, I really liked the class system and the combat. At the time I was kid and kind felt confused because it didn't "feel" like Final Fantasy to me.
• FFTA: Really liked FFTA, maybe the only FF game I actually beat? Being on a handheld was a big perk. I still think about the move Beso Tóxico my sniper had. I can vividly remember the animation and dealing some sick damage with it.

I definitely messed around with FF games before these but I only experienced FFX second hand because I didn't have a PS2. Reading the above I guess I do have some decent Final Fantasy context. If I were to pick one... probably FFTA. I should revisit it, but it really pulled me in differently than the rest.

VII.

Years prior I had a birthday party, and my friend forgot his sleeve of PSX games. It was full of RPGs I tried, including Chrono Cross, Legend of Legaia, and the like. It also had the PSX ports of Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger. CT was easily my favourite game from then on. Final Fantasy IV, which it was bundled with, I tried playing for a bit and never got far. It didn't intrigue me very much.

Later on in 2004 or so, I ran into VII in a games store I frequented, and I remembered not finishing IV, but bought it on a whim. I was instantly floored by its presentation and the plot intrigued me a lot. It was like a more detailed, deeper version of CT. So I got my trusty English dictionary and braved it. The translation and the text's relative complexity made it challenging though.

The themes of the nature of life, how we relate to the world we live in and all the sci-fi aesthetics were captivating, and the complexity of the plot made it so I learnt something new every time in the future I revisited it. It's the most important game to me.

It's easy, and has a captivating plot and presentation, making it a good recommendation for people willing to try this style of game, though recently people expect games to be more technically demanding. Also, I love that fans have spent about 10 years giving this game a worthier English localisation.

I can find many things to love about most of the series. One of my favorite RPG series in general (especially the earlier ones - basically everything before X).

But, it's no contest- FF6 is by a large margin my favorite Final Fantasy. The story, the graphics, the atmospheres/settings, the sprites, the music... everything comes together to make it something absolutely beautiful.

The one where I buy it, play a couple hours only to get frustrated and move on to something else. So like 7,8, X maybe and a couple of the earlier ones (forget which ones, 4,5?) For some reason I can't get into them, I've played other turn based games and liked them, and I've played through all Dark Souls games to multiple NG+ levels so I'm usually up for a challenge, but so far not so much. Maybe I'll look at XIV after this thread.

Hmm, probably 6, 8, or 9. Those are the games I think did the best job of making the stakes more than just save the world, and they were filled with very compelling characters driving the plot. Everything beyond that felt too much like a movie, and in spite of the more realistic characters and impressive setpieces, it actually made them feel more disconnected from them. The last game actually bored me with how much it makes you stand around and wait for people to stop talking. That kind of thing can be great at times, but if I'm going to sink an untold number of hours into a game, I damn better be able to spend most of that time actually playing it when I want to.

I know everyone loves 7, but I thought it had tone issues, was extremely distracted by the terrible character models used outside of battle and at times rather clumsy presentation. It lacked the beautiful sprite art of previous games, and Square wasn't yet capable of the CGI wizardry they would later become famous for.

I have played all of the mainline FFs, except for I and II, I think. This includes the online XI and XIV, the latter which I'm currently playing. I've also played some of the spinoffs (FFT, Tactics Advanced, X-2, among others). That said, I haven't played them all equally, nor even beat most of them. For some reason, I get to the end and then just stop. That says something about me, Idk what, but I digress.

My favorite is probably Final Fantasy VI. Part of it might be the fact that it was first Final Fantasy I played, back on the SNES (as "Final Fantasy III"). But I also loved the steampunk setting of it. And that really set the tone for which FFs are my most and least favorite. I think it's because I like sci-fi more than fantasy. So if a game (or any form of media) can merge sci-fi with some fantasy elements, I'll be interested.

As such, my favorites in the non-online games are VI, VII (both original and remake), VIII, and XIII. XV should be in that list, but Idk, I couldn't get into it for other reasons. XV aside, that doesn't mean I disliked the others -- X and XVI were pretty decent; X's sphere grid has gotta be the best upgrade system in the whole series -- they're just not my favorites in the series. Unpopular opinion: XV aside, IX is my least favorite FF. Because it's a return to the more fantasy side of things.

Of the two online games, XIV hands down. One of the best MMOs I've ever played (and I've played/tried many). Those who've mentioned XIV elsewhere in this thread basically cover everything and why it's so good!

Played:
FF6
FF7
FF8
FF12
FF13(-2?)
FF13-LR
FF14
FFT
FFTA

Finished:
FF7
FF12
FF14(Started Dawntrail, but being an MMO the end goal always changes)

Not a lot, I know
But of these I liked FF7 the most.
FF14 needs its own thread.
FF12 I had expectations but I can’t see myself ever replaying it, it’s just Proto-Xenoblade, gambits are cool though.
FFT is my next FF that I want to finish, not counting Dawntrail.

sorry to resurrect this thread, but I just stumbled across it and I've been a fan of the series since the first game. I've played nearly all of them other than the MMOs, and it is really hard to rank some of them because how I feel about them now versus when I played them is obviously very different. I think my favorite is still probably FF6, it was a masterpiece and it has aged very well compared to the PS1 era games. After that I'd have to say FF7, FF9, and FF10 in that order.

I haven't seen many people mention FF16, but I really thought it was great.

If we're including non-mainline or traditional FF games, I'd like to give a shout out to Final Fantasy Legend 2 (aka Saga 2). I think I spent more time playing that game on my gameboy than every other game combined.

I've only played a handful of them but 6 was easily the best.