1. Started with FFVII: It was my first RPG ever and the story, world and characters just sucked me in. It took a little while to get used to turn-based combat, but the first 3-4 hours of story intense Midgar are some of my favourite moments of gaming. I actually borrowed the game from my friend for a weekend and got up to Kalm (where Cloud tells his story) and dreaded handing the game back. I ended up buying it the following Tuesday. Everything that followed was superb. I was doing my GCSEs (UK exams) at the time so my PS1 was taken away whilst I revised so it wook me much longer to complete than it should have, but I still made sure I explored and did everything the game had to offer.
2. FFVIII: I was really hyped for this and I quite enjoyed it. The story was a bit sappy and convoluted, but overall it was a good game. Became far too easy with the Junction system though and again I did everything the game had to offer. Unfortunately it just wasn't that challenging and the story was just way too romantic and sappy for my tastes.
3. FFIX: At the time the art-style, characters (except maybe Vivi) and fantasy setting were not really my thing. I enjoyed what I played and it had some brilliant moments, but it felt like a step back by going to a fantasy setting as opposed to the sci-fi cyberpunk world. Still enjoyed it, but would probably appreciate it more now (as I'm more into fantasy).
During 2 and 3 I also played FFIV-VI ROMs on ZSNES.
4. FFVI & Anthology: After I got a PS2, I noticed that FFIV-VI had been re-released in PS1 with FMVs so I bought them praising the backwards compatability whilst rueing the long load times. Played them for a while but newer games prevented me from completing any of the SNES games. Still think FFVI is one of the best JRPGs created.
5. FFX: Again, really hyped for this. Heard complaints about the lack of a world map and linearity but I didn't think it suffered too badly. It actually isn't that linear, it just doesn't have the illusion of freedom the previous games had due to the lack of a world map. Found a few characters annoying, but overall I thought it was very cool (especially Auron), and the graphics at the time were brilliant. The story was enjoyable, although not the best. Also, Blitzball was awesome :P
6. FFX-2: Hated it. Took the serious story and gave it a bizzare sequel. Gameplay-wise it wasn't that bad, but so many other aspects completely ruined it.
7. FFXII: Took a while for me to get into, and when I did it didn't flow as well as the previous (not X-2) games. I actually quite liked the setting and I thought the story could have worked well, I just didn't think they did a good job of conveying the story and some of the characters were just out of place. I mostly enjoyed it but it was a case of unfulfilled potential.
8. FFXIII: Another case of unfulfilled potential on top of development hell. People complained about FFX being linear but this was complete linearity. It started slow, but got quite fun in the middle, then lost it at the end. The base story was told well and was obviously a high focus (no pun intended) but the details of the story had to be read in the datalog rather than told throughout the world. Also, some of the characters seemed a bit weird (namely Hope) and the lack of proper side-quests really hindered the overall experience. Combat was fun, but overall it was a dissappointment.
