9 was great, I really enjoyed playing it after being a bit disappointed with 8.

It did have a couple of problems, I didn't like some areas of the game, just found them a bit of a slog and rather dull, and the random battles were too frequent and took too long to load.

Other than that it was a very good change of pace and I liked the characters immensley, much stronger personalities than some of the other installments.

I thought FF7 was the worst out of 7-12 series. While the story was interesting at first I got totally bored going from one city to another chasing after Sephiroth. Also I found the gameplay more boring than earlier versions so I end up trying to rush the game just to finish it.
I agree 9 was a lot better than 7. Like someone else has posted maybe it was all the hype around FF7 which lead to my disappointment with the game.

I loved Final fantasy 8 a hella lot , 9 was cool and really weird seeming i disliked 7 it was really boring to me.

FFVII > FFVIII > FFXII > FFX >........................................> FFIX

Agree. IX

FFIX was my first FF and its great, alot better then 12, but 10 is still the best.

 im fine with ur take on story, 9 didnt have the best.  gameplay was also kinda easy so ill let that slide.  BUT CHARACTERS!?!?!?!?!  are you high?  did the characters come out of the screen and beat you up?  jeez, the characters in 9 were amazing.  all of the characters u list are deep and quirky.  unlike cloud who reeks of flat, boring awesomeness.  im sorry for wanting characters that have feelings and dont just want to blow shit up.  

its interesting how broad the opinions on this thread are; some people agree with me, while others seem to flat-out hate the game. Actually, every post 6 final fantasy seems to be like that. Hated or loved.

As far as we're on characters....I think 8 had the worst of the series. I have to think hard to remember every character. They were all very similar, flatly developed, and inconsistent in their personalities. I like 8, but I really can't stand its characters:
My overall FF rankings?
6>9>4,7,10, 12>1,5,8>2,3

2 and 3 are okay, 1, 5 and 8 are good, 4, 7 and 10 are awesome, 9 is incredible, and 6 is transcendent.