So as someone who has legit played every instalment of Final Fantasy and has loved the brand since day one, I figured that for this week's column I would rank all 15 main entries and their offshoots/sequels. For the purposes of article space I will be offering my thoughts on my top 5 only, with a quick note on everything before them.
17. Final Fantasy I
16. Final Fantasy II
15. Final Fantasy III
14. Final Fantasy IX
13. Final Fantasy IV
12. Final Fantasy V
11. Final Fantasy XI & XIV
I struggled to get on with these MMO entries, mainly because the biggest draw of Final Fantasy games to me were always the stories and the MMO elements sort of negated that here.
10. Final Fantasy XII
I got this on launch but it was the end days of the PlayStation 2 and I upgraded to a 360 before finishing. I do have it on PS4 so it may get ranked higher on here once I've actually finished it...
9. Final Fantasy XIII and Lightning Returns
I've lumped part 1 and 3 of the FF13 trilogy together purely because they were ok but FFXIII-2 was head and shoulders above them.
8. Final Fantasy X-2
As someone who loved the world and lore of FFX, X-2 has to get some love for letting me return to Spira.
7. Final Fantasy VIII
Squall was great and the visuals were ground-breaking for the series at the time but I found myself playing 7 more when this game out originally.
6. Final Fantasy VI (or III on the SNES)
My sole justification for buying a SNES Mini.
5. Final Fantasy XV
Aw man, this was a great game. Seriously. The only issue I had was with the sluggish chapter towards the end that forced you to use stealth for a few hours and did nothing to enhance the gameplay. If not for this segment the game would have ranked higher.
4. Final Fantasy XIII-2
13 gets a lot of flack - and deservedly so. It took all of the fun, open world elements of the series and replaced them with a linear gameplay experience that only opened up on the third disc. It's sequel, however, was a delight. Multiple open worlds, a unique time travel element that altered areas and a Pokemon inspired capture system made for a very fun and different take on the franchise.
3. Final Fantasy VII Remake
This is a beautiful game. Visually this is easily the most beautiful game in the series' history. The story is great and the battles are awesome too, loved every minute of it. I just love the original more
2. Final Fantasy X
This was a difficult one. On any given day this and my number one pick could change places at the drop of a hat. The story of Tidus is one that completely hooked me (aside from that terrible laughing scene) and this was probably the game I played the most on the PS2 due to the sheer amount of things to do i.e. Celestial Weapons, Monster Arena, Omega Dungeon etc. Think I'm going to start this up again shortly once I've finished my latest run through of the following...
1. Final Fantasy VII
Back in the mid 90s (I want to say 97 but might be wrong) my parents bought my a PS1 for Christmas and with it came Tekken, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7. It was a while before I properly gave FF7 some time and when I did I was hooked. I had to do everything. I remember purposefully picking up a copy of GamesMaster magazine purely because it came with a guide to FF7 that boasted about the secrets of Chocobo Racing and the Nibelheim mansion, things that are easily discovered nowdays but in the mid 90s were impossible to know without stumbling on to them. This game has become the pinnacle of RPGs for me and it's something that I have to play through at least once a year, having now played it on the PS1, PS2 (Backwards Comparability Yo!), PS3, PlayStation Classic, Xbox One and PS4. For that reason it has to be at the top of my list today.
So that's my list, thanks for taking the time to read it and please let me know what your top 5 are in the comments section!
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