Ranking EVERY Final Fantasy Game (That I've Played)

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Table of Contents:
0:00 – Introduction
1:39 - Number 14
2:23 - Number 13
3:19 - Number 12
4:52 - Number 11
6:15 - Number 10
7:33 - Number 9
8:41 - Number 8
9:56 - Number 7
11:05 - Number 6
12:31 - Number 5
14:06 - Number 4
15:49 - Number 3
17:33 - Number 2
19:24 - Number 1

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Sources:

[Aleczandxr]

Just in case it isn't assumed knowledge, big visual spoilers for all of the games listed here!

[comedygold]

Final fantasy 6 to 10 are all truly beautiful experiences sinking you into their beautiful worlds and character arcs

[hcook]

Something I love about Final Fantasy 9 is the music reminds me of Spice and Wolf, one of the most underrated series

[adamquenano]

Watching Aleczandxr finish FF14 on stream was a great watching experience.

[SnackerWolf]

I played ten years of my life FFXIV, , it was a journey who started in middle of a long time period of depression for myself, sometimes just thinking about playing some FFXIV at home gave me purposes to what I was doing. Now I stopped playing it, with Endwalker giving me the most satisfying ending for what FFXIV was for me, giving an end for all those characters I met, all the narratives I discovered when I was still a teenager, and even talking directly to me with the wonderful final act. I will never forget this journey of ours, ARR veterans, how we met, played, and saw our beloved game growing up with us, and more and more players discovering what FFXIV is.

Thanks Yoshi-P and CBU3 for giving us ten years of a journey, and a conclusion to it.

[snuggie]

As a huge fan of the series i always enjoy seeing these lists! Its always fun to discuss why people love certain titles. 9, 10 and 12 are my three favorites!

[hcook]

The first final fantasy I played was 13, despite what all the haters say that game has a special place in my heart. I could still replay it today if my backlog wasn't so huge

The sequels are a different story well lol

[DanielSantosAnalysis]

Some very surprising placements, I didn't totally agree but I understood where you were coming from.

[miki]

World building is most important for me, so I put 7 at the top. Character focus puts 6 in my number two spot. Similarities within 9 and 4 have them tied for spots three and four, but if I had to choose, I’d give 9 the edge. 10 gets my fifth spot. Solid game all around, but I find Tidus a little too whiny and childish, what with his “this is my story” nonsense far too often. It’s really Yuna’s story imo, but its mini-games and endgame extra content are top tier.

[espio]

Ah, yeah. I love FF5, it's one of my favorites, but if you're in it for the story, it will rank low for sure. In a way, I just look at it as a fun swashbuckling adventure, but that's about it.

[xelu]

FF8 is my favorite of all time, love the world, characters, music and anything else especially the ragnaork. Unbelievable game and super fun!

[Deode-dh]

FF14 is a juggernaut of a game and story. I started as Paladin and I wanted to be a dark knight, and that was my motivation to go all the way through all of Realm Reborn. The slow parts of Realm Reborn were not a problem because I wanted to be the edgy knight. And then 2.5 hit, and instead of wanting to be a dark knight, the game gave me a reason to need to be a dark knight.

That was just some personal story development I wasn't even expecting. Made for some fun roleplay.

[AhmedX]

My top 5 is VII, XII, V, VI, IX/X. If you add spinoffs/remakes, the order would become VII, XII, V, Tactics Advance, VII Remake/IX. I'd need to replay VI since I've had it as my favourite but also soured on it over the years due to its gameplay being lackluster.

Final Fantasy V has some optional scenes that flesh out its cast. Its plot still isn't as involved as the later games but it has some great moments. I can respect your focus on story over gameplay, the mix of both is why I rate V so highly, and the gameplay is one of the series' best.

I feel similarly to you on XII, it needed more character moments and the middle is where it slacks off, it picks up around the end game. However, the gameplay is insanely good in both the original and Zodiac Age, probably the single best in the series.

I prefer VII over its remake. I imagined that Midgar could be its own disc, but the remake took that idea too far and bloated it. The original doesn't waste your time and doesn't pull its punches. It also has some really effective environmental storytelling that makes Midgar feel dystopian and corrupt. The Remake's Midgar feels a bit too sanitized in comparison. Wall Market also felt like a sleazy den of debauchery in the original and it didn't in the remake; the remake's Market is saved by its new characters, especially Andrea. Jessie was too much and didn't feel like she fit AVALANCHE, though I appreciated the attempt to flesh her out since I liked her in the original. Sephiroth was no good in the remake, but he was the ultimate example of style over substance in the original, so I'm hoping the sequels make him menacing and compelling instead of Cloud's creepy stalker (at least he isn't JENOVA's pawn!)

The remake wasn't all negative: Tifa was top notch from minute 1 where she took some time to make a statement in the original, Aerith is fantastic until she gets involved with the meta plot, Barrett and Cloud were translated from the original quite seamlessly, the gameplay is awesome for all four characters and the graphics are amazing. If it was more concise and made Midgar darker (literally and figuratively), it'd probs be my fave even with the meta plot not being the best.

VII is my favourite if only because its story peaks really, really high. It's a bit lacking gameplay wise compared to V, X or XII and there are some slumps here and there with its pacing.

Tales of Symphonia does X's story and themes a lot better, but X's atmosphere and gameplay is still great. IX is the perfect distillation of Final Fantasy and the Active Time Events should have become an FF staple. It's also the most consistently good FF through Disc 2 (where I stopped), its only blemish is that Quina is just comic relief instead of a real character.

I only played a few hours of VIII but I really enjoyed the junction system and Triple Triad, and Squall, Zell, Selphie and Rinoa are neat so far. Quistis, Seifer and Laguna are pretty corny, though. We'll see if its rep as divisive is deserved.

IV is decent, but it shows its age. Cecil and Rydia are still great, Golbez was cool and Zeromus was an intense final boss, but the way it wrote off its characters didn't have the appropriate payoff. I didn't enjoy Tactics as much as Tactics Advance.

I also want to get through XIV since my experience was playing a bit and losing to the internet and FF Origin since I only played its demo and I'm a fan of Nioh 1/2.

This was a long comment, but I appreciate that you shared your thoughts in such a respectful way; it made low placements for games like V or XII much more palatable.

[hcook]

I just like final fantasy 15 for the opposite reason people dislike final fantasy 13. 13 was incredibly straightforward for most of it however, 15 was so large was so few fast travel. I probably spent hours on my phone waiting for the car to get somewhere

[SM-zgmi]

Final Fantasy IX is one of the greatest experiences I’ve had. The game had me hooked, I was so invested, had to explore everywhere, laughed hysterically and got emotional. Vivi’s journey is one of my all time favourite character arcs. It’s in my trio favourite games - Final Fantasy IX, Omori and Dark Souls

[hcook]

I think the general theme that connects them is most of the best ones start off with small simple plots even if they happen to be packed full of action. In most of the open world games until you get farther in most places are peaceful and happy, living despite the odds at least until the destruction becomes overwhelming

Even ones like 13 with questionable plots are still bound around Lightning and Snow trying to save Serah, but the plot failed on the rest of the cast because they didn't really have an aim besides not dying

[hcook]

FF7R was a complete surprise, I honestly expected the game to be mediocre at best and last about 10 hours.

To my surprise it was pretty fun and didn't stretch it much or add filler but truly expanded on the characters and lore, case in point who gave a crap about Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie before. I believe my thoughts as a kid were "Thanks for your sacrifice bro"

[boostedsess]

Amazing video tbh. my personal fave is and will be 12, it was my introduction not only to the series, but to rpg games as a genre.
Yeah it had flaws, like gambit, the main character, the slow phase at the end and more, but the graphics, the enemies, the cutscenes, b a l t h i e r, soundtrack and more make me just forget about the flaws. Without it I really doubt I would have gotten so into the genre, so I'm thankful it exists.

[SnowyTaco]

Thanks for giving 14 the credit it deserves. This franchise was meant to have a different favorite for everyone. Even with Zelda, it's gotten little predictable with Ocarina and Breath of Wild. With FF, it's a good thing everyone's Top 3 or 5 is different because there is so much to choose from and rightfully so!

[jereboy]

I've only played 9, 10, 13, 14, 15 and crystal chronicles (and theatrythyms if those count) and have to agree with your top 2. My top 2 are the exact same as yours. Going in i never expected 14 to be as amazing as it was.