Based on those options I'd say the 3rd. Although I'd add FFX into that and call it the last one. It just isn't Final Fantasy anymore without Sakaguchi!

3rd Gen hands down! I love all 3 of those games and hope Square will remake FF8 and FF9 in the future.

I can’t answer that because it’s never going to be just one generation. If mainline, it would be a tight run between SNES and PSX, as each console has two games I love (FF4, 6, 7, and 8), but also one I dislike (FF5 and 9). But, if we’re including spin-offs, PSX era wins because of FF Tactics bringing up the score.

As a note, I’ve replayed the first ten FF games this year, so they’re all fresh in my memory. FF11 onward are more hazy.

I generally love the even numbered FF games (FF2, 4, 6, 8, X) and am not a fan of the odd numbered FF games (FF1, 3, 5, 9).
The exceptions are FF7 that I love, and FF12 which I don’t really like.

I also should point out I didn’t dislike FF1 and 3, just liked them less than 2, but there are versions of FF1 and 3 I dislike (such as FF1 Dawn of Souls and the DS FF3). The NES FF games aren’t my favourites, but they’re like 5-10 hours long, so I can get by the fact they don’t really have interesting characters or stories.

As some notes:

FF7 has some of the pacing issues I genuinely hated in FF5 and 9, but to a much lesser degree, and mostly in the latter half. and not as bad as either of the other two. But FF7 feels big and important, with interesting story/characters like the even numbered FF games.

FF2 has a bunch of empty rooms, which I think could have been removed in Pixel Remaster, but weren’t. Otherwise, even though there’s not really any character development, it might have the most advanced story of any NES era game outside the Dragon Quest franchise—Dragon Quest 3 and 4 destroy all three Final Fantasy games on NES.

FF12 to me felt half baked, and where that game failed, Xenoblade Chronicles succeeded. I think FF12 had potential, but the team that could have made that game wasn’t at Square anymore, they’re with Monolithsoft.

Generation 2 for me (SNES), as FF 6 is the only one I really, really liked.

I guess I would have to pick 3rd Gen since IX, VII, and Tactics are all in my Top 5. XIV and XVI are as well though, so I guess honorable mention to Gen 7.

As much as I like IX, VIII drags that generation down for me. The SNES generation wins it easily for me.

I will say that while Final Fantasy has had its ups and downs in the past 13 years, Dragon Quest has been amazing since the PS2. Dragon Quest VIII was tied with FFXII as my favorite PS2 game, and Dragon Quest XI was my favorite RPG of the past generation.

It'd be 2nd Gen. FF 4, 5 and 6.
For me, FF6 remains the very best of the franchise, FF4 is one of the better entries as well, and FF5 was solid. Theres no bad game between those 3.
3rd Gen would be my second place FF7 and FF9 are great. FF8 was... not great.
4th Gen is solid, FFXII is fantastic.

Final Fantasy 8 is my favorite so I voted 3rd.
But Final Fantasy 13-2 is also my favorite.

If I have to pick one system, then it's PS1 era. FF7 is my favorite mainline game and FF9 is my second favorite. (Although FF8 is the game I'd rate second worst.)

Overall, I'd prefer to say that SNES/PS1/PS2 era was Final Fantasy at its very best. It was my favorite video game series during all of those eras. I also really love FF1, and FF13 becomes a good game if you have the intestinal fortitude to endure the first 20 hours or so.