I started playing Final Fantasy games with FF IV (was 2 here at the time) and started playing Zelda games with A Link to the Past both in the early 90's.

It basically boils down to the fact that I love Final Fantasy games and just like Zelda games. Zelda is fun but it is kind of like Mario games to me: fun gameplay but no real emotional investment. FF on the other hand has almost always at the very least made me feel something from the story if nothing else.

FF for me.

Lol, I remember the salt.

Well, both franchises have amazing games. But overall, I think that Zelda provides more consistent quality games.

Yeah, I wouldn't even consider FF to be an overall great franchise. There are some absolute gems, and there are some absolute turds. 1-3 are meh; 4-7 are amazing (well except for 5, never played it more than a few hours); 8-10 and 12 are good; 13, 11, and 14 are turd sandwiches.

hmm depends on the criteria. So much love/hate with final fantasy. I don't really have anything bad to say about Zelda, but there was a time that i would have said FF and it wouldn't have been close. I'd have to choose Zelda now, i can be pretty sure it's gonna be a great game.

This is actually a really hard question for most people, but not for me. I have a set of Zelda games on my top 25 list, but I have far more Final Fantasy games, and when I compare the two I just find Final Fantasy to have better story, characters, world, and virtually everything but gameplay. (and even then, we can't really compare because one is a turn based RPG, the other an action adventure game. Both are the pinnacle of their respective genres.

For comparison, here are my rankings for Zelda games in my top 25 list:

1 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
2 - The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker/HD
3 - The LEgend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
4 - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
5 - The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
6 - The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

I hated Skyrim sword, didn't much care for the first two, and was neutral on Ocarina of Time and Majoras Mask (I just don't see what's so special about them.) I loved Minish cap, and quite enjoyed the ORacle games and Link's Awakening. Did not like Phantom Hourglass or Spirit tracks. The Legend of Zelda is very hit or miss. the games I love, I LOVE, but the games I hate, I HATE. And lots of middling entries.

Final Fantasy, on the other hand, has been pretty consistently awesome. Also some games in that franchise I hate, and a few I am neutral on, but there are far more great games in the series. Here's my ranking of Final Fantasy games in my top 25 list:

1 - Final Fantasy VI
2 - Final Fantasy VII
3 - Final Fantasy X
4 - Final Fantasy XII
5 - Final Fantasy IX
6 - Final Fantasy VIII
7 - Final Fantasy IV
8 - Final Fantasy V
9 - Final Fantasy Tactics
10- Final Fantasy
11 - Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced

My hatred for XIII is legendary, I similarly hated XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. I hate MMO's, so I Avoided XI and XIV like the plague. I didn't care for II or III (their original or updated versions). Tactics A-2 was forgettable, and X-2 was fun but stupid (therefore ruining the point). So I'd say the ratio of FF games was better than the ratio of Zelda games, and I'd argue any day that the stories, characters, and world of Final Fantasy are ALWAYS better than Zelda (not to mention Zelda tends to slip into "I'm trying to be serious but am failing miserably due to art direction and characters" territory).

So yeah, I think Final Fantasy is the objectively and subjectively superior franchise,e ven though the games I hate from that franchise I hate more than anything I hate from Zelda. Even the Zelda games I don't like (Ocarina, Majora's Mask, DS games) I don't hate as much as the XIII saga and the online games.

As an additive bonus, the FInal Fantasy Side games (Dissidia, Kingdom Hearts), tend to be better than the Zelda side games (CD-I games and Hyrule Warriors)

If we're just talking about the early titles until FF7 (let's just say) I think it'd be close.

Legend Of Zelda (NES) >>>>> Final Fantasy (NES)

Adventure's of Link >>>>> (the actual) FF2

A Link To The Past >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Final Fantasy 3

Link's Awakening <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Final Fantasy 4

Ocarina Of Time >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Final Fantasy 5

Windwaker = Final Fantasy 6

Twilight Princess (many peoples favorite) to me would be <<<< Final Fantasy 7

And shit, since we only have one more LoZ to go:

Skyward Sword >>>>>> FInal Fantasy 8

5/8 in favor of LoZ overall and one tie. I know it's all opinion, but I think you'll have a hard time finding people who would prefer the actual first 3 Final Fantasies over the first three LoZs. They weren't that good. On the other hand, it's hard to find someone that doesn't love Legend Of Zelda and A Link To The Past (The Adventures Of Link had very mixed reactions, and I originally hated the game but grew to love it).

*Edit: I'm just saying if it were just early Final Fantasies and Legend of Zeldas, I have a hard time believing it wouldn't be at least close. Not that LoZ would win.

Couldn't we compair Dissidia and Smash? I think Smash would win that. And KH (while having FF characters in it) is not a Final Fantasy Spin off. 

Smash just has a Zelda character in it, it's not a Zelda side game.  That'd be like saying Marvel vs Capcom is a Megaman Game because Megaman and Zero are in it.  Smash is its own thing; if anything it's a mario side game.  Same with Mario Kart.  

and how is Kingdom hearts not a FF spinoff?  IT's Disney and Final Fantasy characters/worlds.  IT's more disney, for sure, but it's still got a lot more Final Fantasy in it than Smash has Zelda.  

Not to say either franchise or game is bad, I'm just not following your logic. 

Smash is a Nintendo franchise game and Link is a Nintendo franchise. Also Smash has Skyloft, Hyrule, Zelda, Link, Sheik, Ganondorf, and Toon Link

I'd say it has just about as much coverage as Dissidia has with its 1 to 2 characters per game.