Did not really work that way for me, or my group of friends (anecdotal yes). When XII came out we thought that it might even top X, and when X came out we thought it was the best game ever. VII was most peoples favorites though. Even now though FFXII does not get a lot of praise but I still think it was a pretty good FF.

Now when XIII came out, I scarcely remember anyone liking it. My roommate started FF on XIII and he hated it and all FF games based on that one experience. Me and a few other people kept telling him to try any other FF game and he tried VII and enjoyed it. I am sure a lot of people did like XIII though.

@ OP: I liked FFVIII the best, and disliked FFXIII the most.

FFII and VIII are the only ones I find "bad". They're just outright broken. In FFII, the system is a major pain in the ass and requires grinding and guest characters will always be underleveled. VIII just allows you to break the entire game with little to no effort. It's the only case where leveling up does not help you =P

Sure, sure. I CLEARLY remember that when FFXII came out, people HATED the game. "Worst FF ever", "Killed the series" and stuff. XIII won't become "amazing", but it's gonna be considered a "decent/good" game, while FFXV will be "awful". Just wait.

And by the way, here's a hint to the newcomers: the whole FF series as a whole can be very polarizing. I find VI to be massively overrated for example. Just because everyone hates II, VIII ou XIII, doesn't mean you should not play  the games. Play them, you never know. Although I really don't see anyone liking FFII nowadays, it's very dated...

And to the haters: stop stating XIII is ARGUABLY bad. You despise the game based on design choices, that others might not care or even - gasp - like. In fact, objectively and technically speaking, FFXIII is actually a good game. All the rest is opinion. Just had to get that off my chest.