I use a tier system to rank FF games for me, with each tier representing a large gap in quality. Keep in mind I am directly comparing how much I would enjoy playing these games today, not how fun they were for theiri time. Mine go like this:
Tier 1: FFVI > FFIX
Tier 2: FFIV > FFV
Tier 3: FFX
Tier 4: FFVIII > FFVII > FFXII
Tier 5: FFIII > FFI > FFII
You can also translate this into a grading scale, where Tier 1 represents an A, 2 a B, 3 a C, 4 a D, and 5 an F.
I know some people may be mad at me sticking all NES FFs at the bottom, but they really just aged very poorly. They were fun for their time, but I can't replay them right now, and that's what matters in the end. I can replay VI or IX anytime and enjoy them thoroughly. I will never replay anything below Tier 3 again, simply because I strongly disliked those games.
VIII is only above the other 2 because Triple Triad is awesome. VII is only above XII because I can't stand anything about XII >_>. Okay, that's not completely true. The moveable camera was great, as was the lack of random encounters. Other than that the game was ridiculously easy and played itself with the gambit system, the characters were awful, and the plot was a bad Star Wars rip.
