Oh shit thanks for reminding me about that game, that game almost made me cry almost just the end man. 

Final Fantasy Tactics. The depth of that game is absolutely astounding. The politics, the deceptions, the backstabbing, the whole mess is glorious and crazy. Even the very premise, that history is wrong about everything, that it's all be white-washed and rewritten by certain factions, rings true.

Of the main series, Final Fantasy VI probably didn't have the best over-all story, but the smaller stories it told about the individual characters were so good that the entire tapestry it was wove was the most special and absorbing, in my opinion.

Final Fantasy VII isn't one I really get. I consider it the beginning of the trend in the series where they just gave up on making sense.

4 was pretty good.  5 was pretty good.  6 is the best.  7 was good too.  10 had a good story but the game sucked.  Never played 10-2.  12 seems like a pos but im going to play it anyway.  heard nothing but bad news from 13.

I have to say I was moved by the story of FF6, so for me it hold that special place. Also I really liked the whole religion thing in X and the ending was really good.

Last, as someone said, FF Tactics has one of the greatest story to me. And the characters, world and gameplay are superb.

X and IV. IV is beautiful classic fantasy story telling. It's a little bit Star Wars or LOTR. It's mostly serious and whismical. It doesn't hold up overly well over time because it is a bit cliche and the medium was limited at the time, but it was ground-breaking on release. X is more different and unique when it comes to story. There is a great mix of humour and sadness. The setting is bizzare but the themes very real. With great visuals and voice acting it would still be enjoyable for anyone experiencing it for the first time today. My two favorites.

best final fantasy story is the one about how the franchise came to be, to be honest.

FF6 no doubt, i think the reason the majority of people choose the later games is many of them just aren't old enough. I admit i've only played 1-10 though.

X.

Final Fantasy VII, VIII and IX had really good stories and they are among the very best games of the PS1. That might be the reason why they are still selling well on PSN today.

But with the start of the PS2 Square-Enix had to advance the storytelling to a further level. Final Fantasy X introduced voice acting and therefore more work had to be put in the character department. Final Fantasy X was an absoute masterpiece and on the PS2 it was my perfect game. I am truly looking forward to FF X HD, and it is still sad that no other company could bring me a game comparable to FF X.

Final Fantasy XII went away with the "main Character" vs "main villain" structure and had a very mature storytelling about politics. It was a nice experience that and a super games, but i liked Final Fantasy X simply more.

Final Fantasy XIII was a brilliant game. I love it and again there is no other company who delivered me a similar deep storytelling. It is a pity that people always complain about this game. I don't get all this complaining about Vanille... I mean just look a little deeper and think about her role in this game. She decided to become a monster because she was simply not willing to destroy cocoon, a world that she believed was her greatest enemy. This self-sacrifice and the melancholy of her was very strong storytelling.

All in all it is a tie between Compilation of FF 7, Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XIII.

Do I need to make choice? It's so hard to make a choice between IV, VI, VII, IX, Tactics and Crisis Core. But if I really need to make choice, it would be IX.