Why is this in the Sony Discussion?

All have great storys and gameplay especially ff7

 quick respectful disagreement.

start with 7, then 8, skip 9(crap), then 10, skip 10-2, then 12, then wait for 13

Ok, since everyone is doing it:

VI is mandatory, best FF story
VII is a classic
X is the best FF ever

The rest are good as well, but don't play the NES ones unless you're a very experienced RPG gamer. But you can buy a FF without risk.
XII is not very good, though. I hope they'll go back to a more traditional battle system in XIII.

Because a TON of work goes into creating everyone of them. If you're new to the series and want to take the plunge, I'd suggest starting with FFX.

I would say the story and the relativly deep characters ... that would be my bet . Gameplay wise its not my favorite by far , but I cant say that I dont like them :)

Just read my sig. IV, VII, VII and IX are good too. I, however, didn´t like X and XII.

several reasons

1. story
2. gameplay
3. music
4. graphics

5. replay value and mini games

final fantasy main series have never failed deliver imo.

my favourite is 9, you should try it on your laptop(emulator) or your ps3. It looks really good on ps3 with the upscaling.

Everyone has differing opinions about the Final Fantasy series. I always considered them "Baby's First RPGs" - inoffensive mainstream games that you play to introduce yourself to the genre, before moving on to more challenging fare. For the most part, the FF games are extremely easy, take few chances with the genre, and - until recently - have demonstrated a dire aversion to any sort of gameplay innovation.

So, in other words, if you've already familiar with the world of JRPGs, I'd recommend giving them a miss and picking up a copy of Persona 3 or Shadow Hearts instead. If not, then take the advice of the above posters.

Final Fantasy series is not that good. It has a couple of great games, but the rest is only good/average.

FF1, 2, 3 - Archaic and outdated. Pointless to play them now.
FF4 - I heard it has a great story, but I can't remember well.
FF5 - Average at best. Outdated.
FF6 - Best FF story ever, with the best characters in a Final Fantasy. A must play.
FF7 - Aged badly, and it wasn't that great to begin with. Inconsistant story but the characters saved it.
FF8 - It has an inconsistent story but great cast (like FF7). Some of the mechanics hurt the fun. The character models are much better than FF7's though.
FF9 - Good cast, decent story. One of the best Final Fantasy.
FF10 - Average story, some boring characters with terrible voice-acting. The main character is possibly the worst one... ugghh. Do not play this. Good artstyle though.
FF11 - MMORPG, and a forgettable one. Just play WoW if you're interested in this type of game.
FF12 - Decent story, decent cast. A good and fun RPG, but not special or anything.

My advice is: Play FF6, FF9 and maybe FF4, FF12. Forget the rest.