Every Numbered Final Fantasy Game. Ranked.

Polygon posted this yesterday and I found it interesting. I know these lists are all subjective but they do start conversations. I'm happy that they put VIII over VII, but I'm surprised that they put it above IX even though I agree. I know it's one of the fan favorites. I'm also a little disappointed that they ranked FFX so low. Other than that we're good. Thoughts?

16. Final Fantasy XIV (2010)

15. Final Fantasy II (1988)

14. Final Fantasy I (1987

13. Final Fantasy XIII (2010)

12. Final Fantasy III (1990)

11. Final Fantasy XI (2002)

10. Final Fantasy X(2001)

9. Final Fantasy XV (2016)

8. Final Fantasy VII (1997)

7. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013)

6. Final Fantasy IX (2000)

5. Final Fantasy VIII (1999)

4. Final Fantasy IV (1991)

3. Final Fantasy V (1992)

2. Final Fantasy XII (2006)

1. Final Fantasy VI (1994)

6 at 1

12 at 2

I approve

@enzyme36: 12 at 2 *pukes*. It also depends how you're ranking them, FF7 achieved so much for the genre, so even if you don't like it, it surely earns bonus points from that. FF6 I agree with, I'd have FF7 at 2nd though.

For me I'd have 12 and 13 dead last next to the original FFXIV. However, if I was making a list, as a website, and with a wider viewpoint than my own, then I wouldnt.

6 is a joke 7 and 10 are da best havent played 8 and 9

putting 8 over 7 just shows that polygon really doesnt know what they are talking about

Those made the list got shitty taste.FF VII,X,XII are Top 3,Period.

God Tier 4-10

Good 12 and 15

Okay 1-3

Trash 11, 13, 14

8 was pretty horrible. Junction, draw, crap. I would certainly rank that worse than 7 & 9

Was that always your opinion or did it change because of The Zodiac Age? The First time around FFXII was a bit underwhelming but this year The Zodiac Age made me realize just how great and ahead of it's time it was.

I don’t deny that IV & V are usually the most underrated in the mainline but they’re overrated here, along with XII (though not as much, I’d have it around the 5th or so slot). I still don’t understand why anyone who has played the FF games would think highly of VIII.

I also almost choked seeing FFXIV at the bottom of the list before realizing they distinguish it and ARR, which I think is cheating.

This game was great for me since day 1. I remember my ps2 fat crapped the bed a while back and I went and bought a slim just for this game as its swan song. Was not disappointed... its best in series for me, right behind 6, so I agree with the list.

The HUUGE open world was fantastic... the t-rex in the opening area that will rock you... the towns sprawled out everywhere all good stuff. I also enjoy the gambit system and setting up different parameters for when you want to hunt specific mobs in a crowd.

Farming for the Danjuro was one of those things a man can never forget.

I bought ZA out of respect and for the steelcase, but I dont feel like hooking my ps4 back up for it. Hoping for a steam port one day.

@enzyme36: Understandable. Everything you said is true and I did have a lot of fun playing FFXII: TZA this time around. When it came out I was pretty young so maybe the slower paced, heavily political storyline went over my head tbh

10 will always be my favorite although I'd be lying if I said rose-tinted glasses weren't involved.

I would say FF VII because was the first one I played, than later on I tried the other ones. I mainly preferred the older versions think was FF IV or FF V dont remember is been awhile. I only prefer those because felt less advanced. I dont know how to really explain it...

I have bad taste anyways so yea, most things I prefer my friends dont so yea. Not going to argue which one is best I just really choose things randomly and by chance...

@valgaav_219:

Final Fantasy 6 was rated waaaay too high. It's 5th place, tops. But 1st?! What a fucking joke!

Am I the only person that love FFXI???

Pretty much.

6 is my favorite all around game of the series, and 12 had my favorite gameplay and world.

Having FF5 in the #3 spot works as well. Not really one of my favorites, but it is easily one of the better playing games in the series.

Understandable. It is the fan favorite, though. Most people say it's the best JRPG ever made along with Chrono Trigger. My favorite Final Fantasy's are 8 & 10, though, so my opinion isn't really very popular. I'm currently playing FFVI for the first time on my PS Vita and it's so hard to get into because everything just feels so primitive. I'm trying to give it the benefit of the doubt because of all of the critical acclaim though lol

@valgaav_219:

Huh. Maybe you'll get through more of it than I could. I got 9 hours in and STILL couldn't get into it. It must have been for the people from that era. I bet they thought it was groundbreaking stuff back then.

You're nuts.

It's a tallest midget contest either way, no need to jump on others opinions lol.

6/7 are pretty much tied for first place for me.

4, 5, 9 are also good. 10 Isn't bad, but not great. 12 had a great world, but terrible story/characters.

13 is the load square enix should have swallowed.

@nepu7supastar7: I feel bad, though, because it's so hard to play. It makes me feel shallow because I had no problem playing games like that back then. And even in indie games these days with graphics like that the gameplay is much more polished. There must be a reason people say it's so great so I'm definitely gonna keep playing until I beat it. I play Final Fantasy's for the stories anyway tbh

I wont lie, I was all like "Oh this person thinks they are cute putting six at the bottom what a ..." then I noticed the one.

For me it is Six, tactics four, one, seven, meh. I don't care if tactics is not a number.

@valgaav_219:

There in lies the issue. Final Fantasy 6 has a story but it's scattered throughout the world. When you're not in the scenes, you're walking aimlessly from town to town trying to figure out where to go. This was my personal experience. It has a lot of potential but most of that gets washed down due to the lack of direction. But that's not its fault. That's just how games were back in those days. Fine for adventure games like Super Metroid but not rpg's.

I can honestly see where inspiration for FFVII came in, thematically speaking and in storytelling. But in every sense, VII beats VI. Better gameplay, storytelling and just overall. Then VIII went further on the needed improvements. I think VIII was the magic number. It kinda went downhill with 9 then up again with 10. And down again with 11 and slightly up again with 12 but then took a fucking nose dive into shit with 13. 15 was decent though.

I might try 6 again eventually but it's hard to see past its huge flaws and outdated rpg design. The indie games these days only take the graphics from back then but they know better than to keep the gameplay. Look at Hotline Miami. Just thought I'd warn you about what I saw playing FFVI.

@nepu7supastar7: I had the exact same issue and had to restart and waste a few hours because I didn't know where to go after trying to play again after a few weeks. And NPC's won't tell you. I learned that the hard way lol. I'm now playing again but if I don't know where to go I will just google a guide and find out where to go. Ain't nobody got time for that lol

lol every single time I get confused with these lists, despite playing around 7-8 Final Fantasy games in my lifetime. My favorite is at #4 it seems, FFIV(1991) the one with Cecil and Kain the Dragoon. Can't say much for the other choices, I loved all the FF games to be honest, they were each so different and the only one that stands out more is FF4 because I enjoyed the story and OST the most. FF9 would probably be my 2nd favorite.

I highly disagree with FFXII's position. That s*** should be put near the bottom as far as I'm concerned.

If I had to pick a worst, it'd definitely be FFIII. It's the only game in the franchise where I can't really think of any redeemable aspect to it or anything that makes it worthwhile. As for my favorite, it'd be FFVII. FFVI would be my next favorite though, so no qualms with it getting top spot.

I agree with most of the list, except for the top three. My own top three would be:

1. FF VII
2. FF VI
3. FF X

By the way, you forgot to post the Polygon link:

Ranking the numbered Final Fantasy games

It was written by Jeremy Parish, who is not Polygon staff, but is a freelancer writing for different publications.

@Jag85: Thx

XII > X > XV >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> XIII

these are the one I beat.

Polygon, they do it for clicks.

Same with reviewing shit games as good.

Well, obviously I disagree as everyones opinion is different. Putting FF7 into the middle seems like a poor attempt at trolling.

Putting 6 at the top is a fairly obvious choice - it's easily the best Final Fantasy has ever been, and it still holds up well today.

As for putting 7 in the middle...I can get behind that. A lot of people have strong nostalgia for 7, which often blinds them to the fact that the game had a really terrible script, ugly graphics, time-wasting gameplay, and bad minigames. It's still a good JRPG, but it has some pretty huge issues and has not aged well at all.

VI is the top ranked FF game on most recent lists.

I'm not surprised seeing FFVII in the middle. For years, it has been the target of hype backlash (due to the "overrated" label, as FFVII kept appearing near the top of GOAT lists). This led to growing nostalgia for FFVI, which has now taken FFVII's place as the most overrated FF game.

When comparing the two games, however, FFVII improved on FFVI in almost every way. There are a few areas where FFVI still has the edge, but FFVII is better in most other areas. In terms of gameplay, FFVII's materia system has greater depth and customization than FFVI's magicite system, FFVII has a much larger world than FFVI, and FFVII's mini-games blow FFVI's mini-games out of the water. In terms of story, FFVI has a better translation (Ted Woolsey was a better translator than the hacks who translated FFVII), but the storytelling and characterization in FFVII have more depth and meaning and are more well-developed and forward-thinking (but come across as "convoluted" because of the terrible translation). In terms of graphics, FFVI's 2D character sprites have aged better than FFVII's 3D lego field characters, but other than that, FFVII looks better in every other way (e.g. backgrounds, cutscenes, battle character graphics). In terms of audio, while music taste can differ, FFVII has the better audio quality and more complex musical arrangements. Et cetera.

The series is also 30 years old now.

This. FF7 is ridiculously overrated. The script was absolute crap. And it does not hold up well at all today.

6 is phenomenally overrated what a joke game

Really surprised they ranked V so high. I agree with VI being first place. It's an amazing game

1. VIII

2. IX

3. X

4. VII

5. XII

6. XV

7. VI

Yup i love viii way more than vii. And vi is not in my top 5 maybe because i played it after ffix

Typical LOLygon list. A non gamer list for a non gamer magazine.

VI at no. 1? I definitely approve. It's by far my favorite FF game of all time.

VII compared to VI has pacing issues, and its thematically all over the place, unlike VI. While VII does add more to what VI had, they also added more flawed aspects, like unnecessary story points, bad minigames, pacing issues (seriously, a snowboard section right after Aeris dies), and material grinding is far worse than esper grinding. And really, the less deep Kefka is a better executed villain than Sephiroth.

VI overall is a more balanced, better executed game. That's why it is being called the best. its not really about VII being overrated, it is about VI standing the test of time.

And really, the problems the series has now, is rooted in FFVII.

6-10 should be the top 5. I don't really care about the order, but those should be top 5.

Oh hey, another trash list from Polygon.

VIII is way too high and IX is being disrespected.