For me it's:

1. Final Fantasy VIII
2. Final Fantasy X
3. Final Fantasy VII
3. Final Fantasy VI (VII and VI are in the same level of liking for me)
5. Final Fantasy IV

VA was great and cool. I don't see peoples' beef with it.

FF III = III (JP) or VI (JP)???

Thanks... for me it has the best FF until now... FF VI (JP) or FF III (US).

1. FFIX - Only going to bother really explaining this one, it was the only final fantasy that I decided to completely master and play more than once and actually finish it again, it had perfect music, great characters and possibly the best story I have seen in Final Fantasy. The battle and gameplay were also awesome and ATE made the game that much more awesome. They should so bring back ATE.

2. FFVI
3. FFTA
4. FFIV
5. FFT

1. 8
2. 7
3. 12
4. 10
5. 9

I don't like the lack of FFIV on people's list.

1. Final Fantasy VI
It's the best of the franchise without a doubt. All the peices that sky rocketed FF to worldwide fame with FFVII are present here and the plot is probably the best of the entire 16bit generation (with the only exception being Chrono Trigger)

2. Final Fantasy VII
What hasn't been said about FFVII? It was and still is one of the best RPGs ever made, the characters, detailed world, character development and combat systems, etc are all still some of the best of the series.

3. Final Fantasy VIII
While many people find flaws in FFVIII i never have, the story is top notch, a tale about fate that when really digested is amazing. add that with some of the most realized characters and the junction system (the best of an FF developmental system) and FFVIII really leaves it's mark.

4. Final Fantasy IV
This is the game that laid the groundwork for everything that Final Fantasy Became. The characters and world are beautifully detailed and the story unfolds in a way that really highlights its strongest points.

5. Final Fantacy IX
A return to the basics? not really. While the atmosphere of FFIX returned to early games in the franchise, the story and systems are as well designed and tight as ever. The only drawback i could find was the story kinda falls apart on disc 3.

Best: Final Fantasy 8 - It perfected what was started with Final Fantasy 7, had the best story sequences, the best music, best secondary characters, among the best primary characters. Graphically beautiful and revolutionized by mixing CG cutscenes with gameplay. It also took the AP system to a whole new level and added in multiple methods to power up characters (not sure why so many think drawing is the only way, and never use refine skills).

Runner up: Final Fantasy 6, second best music, best primary characters, really cool steampunk setting that became a staple of the series, Biggs (Or Vicks) and Wedge, had multiple main characters, a very dark second half.


I like all FF games, but those two stood out for me.

1. Final Fantasy IV: Great story, music, gameplay and characters. What I liked about the DS version was the little map on the touch screen. When you explored 100% of the dungeon, you get an item. I had fun doing that. More RPGs should have that. I did like the difficulty it offered.

2. Final Fantasy IX: Wonderful setting, great music, and good story & characters. Zidane is one of my favorite main characters in an FF game. He has great personality, and isn't emo *cough*Cloud*cough*Tidus*cough*. Vivi was also a great character. Battling in this game was fun.

3. Final Fantasy VI: This game has the best music in an FF game. Really loved the Terra's theme. The story was alright, but the characters were something else. Kefka is the best villian in an RPG, imo. What I liked about this game was that pretty much every character in the party got their screen time. They got great character development through their background stories and events through the game, and it felt like every character was important.

4. Final Fantasy XII: What made me love this game was the battle system. The battle system was both fun and fresh. I wish more JRPGs had this type of battle system. FFXII had an insane amount of things to do: hunts, new places to explore, the pirate den (I think that's what it's called), etc. I spent hours and hours just doing optional stuff. I didn't like the story or characters though. I found it boring; maybe it was the way it was presented? Oh and I for one loved the music.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics: Good story, characters and music. It was my first strategy-RPG game, and I really enjoyed the gameplay. It got me into the genre.