The card game sucked in comparison to VIII though.

Very underrated game, probably my 3rd favourite Final Fantasy.

That's a pretty unique ranking.

I agree 7 isn't the best Final Fantasy.

How dare you? 7 is my favorite but I haven't played them all yet.....

FF7 is the best FF title. I already made a big post about this on another thread but the gist of it is:

It has good pacing, lots of mini-games to spice up gameplay, it has alot of bonus content and it has a solid cast of character and story, a strong and very customisable combat system aswell as length.

FFIX is a second place. It is a very original and compelling fantasy world and cast of characters, but the combat system is not as strong as FF7, it does not have the same ammount of pacing diversities like chocobo racing, strategy mini-games, slapping contest, submarine exloration, etc. Great things that made FF7 special.

Sorry, but i just disagree with you. I think logically speaking there is no way to refute the fact that FF7 is the most complete and therefore best FF game in the mainline series. FFIX is indeed quite good, but the compelleness of the fantasy world and the cuteness of the characters are blinding you to the obvious technical aspects where FF7 is superior.

Oh.. and FFX, not even a contender. Boring is the name of the game.

OP is wrong, quoted for truth!

IV, V, and VI for me.

I favor IV for its pure focus on story and not grinding, battle systems, customizing everything, and minigames getting in the way. Just pure clean Shakespearean tragedy.

FFIV is my gold standard for what a JRPG is.  

This man sees the light!

FFX is the best game ever, not just FF wise.

For me Final Fantasy stops at VI. I prefer to replay the first one, which I did last month, than finish FFVII for the first time (and yes I did play it almost to the end).