Ranking and Awarding the Mainline Final Fantasy Games (1-15) 

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NEV6Se0N99g.html Maybe I can interest some of you in a shorter video on "how we critique games". Rather than focusing on elements like gameplay and graphics, I wanted to explore adjacent or more subjective elements. It's not intended to accompany this video, but it might provide a bit more clarity on my rankings here.

Best party- FF7 Best Protagonist- FF16 Clive Best Antagonist- FF6 Kefka Best Story- FF10 Best Humor- FF9 Best World- FF7 Best Music- FF8

1. FFXIV - best story, music, best overall 2. FFIX - best setting 3. FFVII - most iconic 4. FFVI 5. FFX

FFII OST is so good and never gets mentioned.

Not sure how 15 isn’t the best party, the opening theme of a toned down tempo “stand by me” is such an epic foreshadow…it’s flawed for SURE but I go back to it over and over just because of the party. Just thinking about the crew now i get almost emotional. THANK YOU for your in depth video, and I loved the awards for specifically the reasons you highlight.

Great ranking, seriously, keep up, loved everything about this ranking, had a vibe a lot of these rankings don't have. Go small channels, we've got this!

The FFXII pick for best world is definitely fitting, I loved that game

I enjoyed your commentary, and the awards portion at the start was a nice touch. I said ‘Final Fantasy 4’ in unison with you for the first award, but I had different choice for just about everything else haha. While I would have ranked things a bit differently I enjoyed the video nonetheless. Good work 😊

I like how your list wasn’t the same as everybody else’s

I think 7 and 10 for me was the masterpiece's if i had to say had just the right amount of rpg elements and stories with all the characters we had Tidus and him finding out his father was sin to Cloud just trying to find his own way and becoming a better person a long the way and Barret just trying to provide for Marlene and her future, Wakka and him losing his brother, Kimairi and his tribe causing him problems,its just crazy with all the lore and story with these games.

Here I thought that my ranking was controversial. It's nice to see a fellow man of culture when it comes to appreciating Final Fantasy II.

I really wish Final Fantasy Tactics would always be included along with the "mainline" titles. It really deserves to be considered a mainline title with how good the quality of that game is especially its story. Seems so arbitrary that an MMO can be considered a "mainline" entry just because it has a number attached to its name but Final Fantasy Tactics isn't included only because it doesn't have one. Honestly if an MMO can be a "mainline" title then definitely a tactics strategy based game can. Also if we're being really technical, final fantasy 12 is a SPINOFF of TACTICS if we're being really honest. so then if FF12 is mainline, surely Tactics by nature should be as well.

Finally some love for 5! I like how your list is unique and emphasizes combat, customization, and overall fun. This may be a hot take, but I don't really come to FF for high brow character writing, and don't think it's a particular strength of the series. Ff5 to me is good old fashioned rpg fun from the lighthearted yet epic story to the amazingly creative gameplay such as mime and blue mage. It's one of the best, hands down.

In ff1 there is also the church theme. Very soothing

I really like this list. It's honest and shows what interests you have, even if they stray from what others think you should like. I'd also put 2 at the top of my list. 6 just has too much going on with characters. 7 grabs you but just feels overrated and didn't need a remake. 8 has weird segments in the story and enemies that scale with you in a bad way. 9 feels very slowly paced with the protagonist having narcissism. 10 is okay, but it's so balanced and calming that it puts me to sleep. 1-5 all have story and gameplay that keep me coming back to them. 12 and 15 are also very entertaining to play, but for 12 I would prefer the original over the Zodiac Age or IZJS due to being able to change your party make-up as characters drop in and out. 15 gives you story pieces that you put together, but the gameplay is super fun and engaging, especially with the other bros. 13's paradigm system feels fun when you get access to it, but the story is given to you in a pamphlet that I never bothered reading due to me playing a game and not a visual novel. 11 and 14 may be mmos, but 11 is relaxing with a decent story that's very fun to feel lost in, and 14's combat really gets you right in the action with the story having high and low points that sorta even out over time. Top 5 for me are probably 2, 15, 5, 12, and 11 because I find myself wanting to come back to these games moreso than others in the series.

Im i dreaming ? All this years and its the first time im hearing that someone liking firion !!! There is something his design, his name and the subtle melancholy depicted by amano (which i believe is a coicidence ) that just clicks with me. Something about him is refined and eleguant With more work on this character , he can be one of the best of the series !!!! And he is also the first true protagonsit ! Also, i took his french version as my nickname in a lot of websites (Frionel. It just sounds so beautiful)

Hey finally made it to the end and really enjoyed it. I have many fond memories with the Final Fantasy series and I cannot wait to dive into the world of 16. For me, just casually thinking of all the games I’ve played, my top 5 would be: Final Fantasy 8 Final Fantasy 15 Final Fantasy 9 Final Fantasy 10 Final Fantasy 7 Remake I really do enjoy this series and while i haven’t played every single entry, the ones I have played were all well made RPGs. Great video👍

Nice sincere vid. Im in the first 100 sub, dont forget! ;)

Havnt watched yet, but for me... my top 4 would be 1. Final Fantasy VI 2. Final Fantasy VII 3. Final Fantasy X 4. Final Fantasy IX Interested to see this list.

You gotta try 14, you can experience the game without it feeling like an MMO. Some battles you’ll need a party, but it’s great at queuing, and a lot of the dungeons you can play with story characters. It’s fantastic, and a true mainline game. Friends I’ve met playing it say similar things about 11, though it’s much more mmo sounding, I had not played it.

Interesting to hear someone else talk about my favorite series and have such different opinions than me. Mad respect however I have to go wash my eyes out with peroxide for seeing 9 and 6 so low and 2 at 2.

Best cast: 9 Best antagonist: Exdeath (splinter OP) Best music: 5 best track (battle on bridge), 7/9 OST Best system: 5 job system Best non mainline game: Tactics Best mainline: 9 (I’m disturbed by your ranking here lol) Best game that most people hate on: 15, I thought it was great. Also 8 Best game I never finished: 12

I sort of understand what you mean when you mentioned not counting 11 and 14, but like... 14 is massively successful and, in my opinion, one of the best FF games. It's kind of odd that you wouldn't count it...

Interesting order, but I can appreciate your justifications for doing so. My top 5 (of the entire series) would be: 1) Final Fantasy IX 2) Final Fantasy XII: Zodiac Age 3) Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions 4) Final Fantasy VII: Remake 5) Final Fantasy X

lots of very cool choices for the awards and i can definitely agree on some. would say more on your list but i dont feel like writing a whole paragraph right now but im sure we can talk more about it Best Party: FF6 (the overall party i really like and i dont dislike any character from the main cast) Best Protagonist: FF4 (always really liked Cecil a lot) Best Antagonist: FF6 (i know you wont like that pick lol) Best Story: FF7 (its hard to pick but when thinking about it i did really enjoy that journey on my first playthrough) Best Humor: FFV (the fish in my trousers line is just a tip of the iceburg lol) Best World: FFX (one of the most unique and creative worlds in the series) Best Music: FFX (also very hard to pick but i always loved this OST so much even some of the remastered versions are good to)

For me my favorites were put here from story/characters/gameplay/exploration/level system: 1: FFII 2: FF Tactics 3: FFV 4: FFX 5: FFVI Honestly, FFI would be on this list too however the story and characters didn't have much impact or development throughout the game.

Wow, so...thought I was an oddball. You've poked some very toxic fanboy cliques who are continuously high on nostalgia fumes. While I wholeheartedly disagree with you on many fundamental levels and are seriously questioning your taste, I can of course respect your choices. I started way back in 1990 with the original, so kudos for that. I think the three most important factors that determine which are your favorite are: 1. Whether you played the game on release or much later. 2. What you value most about roleplaying games, whether story (characters/setting/presentation) or mechanics. 3. Nostalgia and either the age you were when you played it/what sort of things you were going through at the time. Everyone places more or less importance on these factors, of course. For example, nostalgia *heavily* affects my decision for VI to be where it is in my list. That game was my everything when it released. It was my only escape from the trouble in my life at the time. But the other two factors more heavily impact my decision for placement of nearly every other game. And if I were to look at VI more from the other factors, it would lower my placement of it. I wonder how different many peoples' rankings would be if nostalgia was removed, and an attempt at objectivity was included instead. But these are factors that are hard to seperate. And the first one can't even be controlled in many circumstances. I like and dislike many different things about every Final Fantasy of course. But I always try to keep my mind open to the experience, and enjoy them for what the creators intended them to be, not what I expected them to be. Unfortunately some are either unwilling or unable to do that, and can make discussion and discourse about the games difficult sometimes. While I always go into every video like this expecting a hot take, I can say your favorites are incredibly unexpected and unpredictable. As a fan of the XIII Trilogy, I'm used to people taking a dump on my heart, especially LR, so that's pretty normal, but II and V that high? Wow. I do agree they're underappreciated. They're higher in my list than many others. But totally not expected. Just goes to show you that any given thing/idea/etc. can and will always be someone's favorite, even if rare. But you would probably feel the same way about me and my list, especially that I *adored* the combat in Lightning Returns. Best combat mechanics of the series, followed closely by X-2. Worst for me is VIII. But anyway. Hey, best of luck on this platform, it's a struggle. Wish you all the best. Thanks for your time and work. 👍🏻

I don't know if I should like it. You're a nice guy and really love the series, but you staggered me with some crimes in your rank. Unbelievable

I gotta be honest, I’ve never heard of someone putting final fantasy 1/2 above 6 lol. I’d say 6 (for its story and music), 5 (for its replayability with the job system and side content) and 8 (for its triple triad, music, and replayability with the junction system), and 13 (for its battle mechanics, story, and how it opens up during the ending stretch) are my favorites. I will say, however, I agree with you that 2 and even 8 get so much hate for being easily exploited and broken games. I never understood this criticism tho because you don’t actually HAVE to break the game. In 2, you just have to pick 1 or 2 weapons for each character to use for the rest of the game much like 13. 2s problem is that if you want each character to do everything, you’re going to be investing a LOT of time grinding, but if you just make each character proficient at certain things you don’t need to grind too much, the game will give you the stats you need. For 8, if you actually just kill enemies the normal way, they’ll scale up with you and remain somewhat a challenge. Plus, if you use the card mod ability and the various magic refine abilities, you can get magic and items easily throughout the game without needing to spend copious amounts of time draw grinding. Either way though, I appreciate you different opinion. Most people just say 7,6 or 9 are the best even though I think 7 is very overrated and 9 is very slow with the battle animations and movement on the world map. I’ll stay tuned for your Pokémon and Zelda lists as those are also some of my favorite franchises!

The recent remaster fixed 2's problems. Good thing you can turn off the random encounters. Those can be annoying. Some of the duegeons have empty rooms. Set the exp to 4x helped with the grinding. I might do a second playthrough.

FFIX was my first game of the series and remains my favorite of the bunch (that I’ve played). Story, characters and music were all superb. Overall psychology of the games character arcs creates a very realistic and relatable setting. I can only hope they remaster to the level of Project Memoria and revamp battle mechanics to at least match those of FFX, as well as flesh out the other 3 land masses outside of the Mist continent (even though the storyline nearly demands their near emptiness). They also need to finish fleshing out Freya and Amarant’s character as their arcs were nearly dropped at dead center. And if we want to talk about spin-offs… How is there not a game centering around Tantalus or Beatrix?!

Nice to have a refreshing opinion on here. My favs are 4, 6, 7, and 15. I have not played or finished 10, 12, and 13. 4 was my first and I loved the story and Cecil and kain characters. I liked Cecil story arc of going to the white knight. 6 was 4 but just more and bigger. I like 4 more for the characters. Kefka is overrated, I thought the story was epic though. 7 just had a really good plot movement and loved Midgard. I thought the open map area in the last half was just ok. Ff 15 had fun beautiful open world and fun awesome looking combat. Pretty epic story too. Also, fft is overrated too I think. Way too many jobs that should be combined and lots of grinding. Great presentation and everything else. Not really into srpg except for FE. I feel like it has a more organized battle system with jobs that feel more like chess pieces to put against each other and a balanced more clear strategy.

That’s a whole lot of final fantasies! I’ve only played a few of them my first being FF Explorers on the 3DS lol that doesn’t even count hehe. I like the story in FF7 a whole lot I think it’s fantastic but the overall game is hard to play without nostalgia. I’ve beaten 10, 15, and 7 remake, 😂 I have a lot of catching up to do. I really only want to play 6, 9, 12, 16, and the rest of the 7 remakes coming out. Got crisis core remaster too but I guess it also doesn’t count. Anyway great count down and fun video. Ah yeah 10 is my favorite for now.

1. VII 2. XIII-2 3. XIII 4. I 5. X 6. X-2 7. LR Best art style: FF XIII Best music: FF VII or VIII, can't decide Best Story: FF VII Best Party: FF VII Best Postgame: FF X

Any award for Final Fantasy 15 is insanity (best story? you mean the DLCs they added WAY after I beat the game? or are you referring to the Kingsglaive movie?) and you cannot tell me Final Fantasy 9 is light-hearted when that's the only one that really brings anyone to tears. Vivi's (and later Zidane's) story is emotional in many places. There's a lot of depth in that game. But yeah, man, no offense just a disagreement. Enjoyed the heck out of the video, but ranking my favorite game out of the top 10... you crazy for this one.

I’m thinking about playing 2 again. Right now, it’s in the bottom of my list due to not liking the gameplay. However, after playing Persona 5 Royal, I love the idea of building characters to make them overpowered. So now, I might enjoy 2 now.

Thanks so much for the video! Here's what I would pick :) Best Party: FFIV (love the leaving and rejoining, the party is so fluid the entire game and everyone is a joy to have, even if they suck like Cid) Best Protagonist: FFX (Tidus was just too funny for me, but Cecil is a nice runner-up) Best Story: FFIX (lots of personal stakes, lots of fun characters and charm, the endgame twists with Zidane and Vivi hit different for me) Best Humor: FFXV (the bros just are too good and it's so fun, the party is a party, the humor and vibe is the best part of an otherwise eh game) Best World: FFVI (though FFV also slaps, the World of Balance's amazing linearity and the opening up of the World of Ruin is just fantastic) Best Music: FFIII (the most controversial pick of mine I'm sure, but every song was awesome and atmospheric for me, nothing was underwhelming and my three favorite songs are in this game: Aria's Theme, Boundless Ocean, and that other ocean one)

9 will always be my favorite

I'm a firm subscriber to the "golden era" of Final Fantasy. For me, the later games have been too far removed from what I really loved about the classic FF games. My top 5: 1. FFVIII 2. FFX 3. FFVII 4. FFIX 5. FFVI I think that run from VI-X was the absolute pinnacle of JRPGaming. XIII - I really enjoyed the "paradigm shift" mechanic, and I like Lightning, but yeah, it could have been a lot better for most of the game. Although, I will say, I thoroughly enjoyed VIIR. I haven't included that in my top 5 as I see it as an incomplete story until all 3 are released. Otherwise, that game would make my top 5.

I consider FFVI and FFVII to be tied for best Final Fantasy game.

Final Fantasy Tactics has the best world and story in the series. As someone who just finished FF16, i think those two are the strongest stories.

FF2 is CRAZY GOOD, this list is based

The final boss music The Extreme is the best in the series, even better than Dancing Mad from FFVI and One Winged Angel from FFVII.

I think at some point you need to try FF3’s Pixel Remaster. It’s the original NES version with some upgrades and in my opinion it’s way better than the DS remake. As for my top games, FF5 and FF9 keep switching between my top 2, with 7 at a not so distant 3rd. There’s a lot of discourse on who is right/wrong but who cares? It’s your list and you are allowed your opinion!

Typed awards on a different comment, but here's my ranking of all the FF's I've played: FFX-2 FFIV: The After Years Final Fantasy Dimensions II Final Fantasy Final Fantasy II Final Fantasy Dimensions Final Fantasy Tactics A-2 Final Fantasy Tactics Final Fantasy V Final Fantasy III Final Fantasy VII Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy IX Final Fantasy X Final Fantasy VI

I don't want to go into too much detail on what my favorite games in the series are, even though many of them will be obvious because I want to make my own ranking of thee series at some point. With the awards though, I can certainly give my own take on those: Best Party: Final Fantasy VI Best Protagonist: Final Fantasy VII Crisis Core Best Antagonist: Final Fantasy V Best Story: Final Fantasy VI Best Humor: Final Fantasy V Best World: Final Fantasy V Best Music: Final Fantasy XII

Interesting ranking. I think 2 is egregious. I love V though. 8 before 7? Really? 6 as low as it is is a sin 😂

Absolutely wild takes lol

10 is the only one I know of that you dont have an actually numbered level

There's a video that Jontron put out a long time ago, "most overrated games" or something like that. I loved the video because it was super funny, but he had Final Fantasy 8 on that list. He absolutely hates that game, i never understood why he thinks it's so overrated. People who aren't even FF fans have seen the character Cloud somewhere, but if you show them Squall they will most likely not know who that is. I never touched the game because he made it sound so awful, but i finally bought it, and i love it. It's my favorite ps1 era FF game.

I disagree a lot, but still interesting to hear your opinion. I thought FF2 was one of the worst, but maybe that's because I played the original Famicom version with an English translation patch. I don't know how the Dawn of Souls version compares, but in the original famicom game, you could easily break the game very early on. Basically, fight a battle until only one weak enemy is left, then have your party members take turns hitting each other and healing. Grind like this for a few hours and all your characters will quickly have 9999 max HP and super high healing magic to recover 1000's of points of damage. I was able to do this after only the first few bosses! There's basically no challenge to the game after you figure this out, so the rest of it was pretty boring. I'm curious though, did the Dawn of Souls version fix this issue?

I think the reason Seifer isn't talked about is because he has always felt like a discount Sephiroth. He is the sword wielding foil to the main character, but isn't the main threat or main villain and he doesn't have the BITE of some of the other villains. 6,7 and 9 are the top 3 easy. Straight forward but rewarding progression systems that are linked to or make sense within the world. Memorable characters, great music, great stories with great themes. Bottom of the barrel goes to 8,12 and 2, though to be fair I didn't play 13 or 15 and I am not counting the spin offs. 8's progression system is easily breakable for veteran players and frustratingly time consuming for new players. Its story is hot mess with one of the most nonsensical plot twists of any game let alone any FF game. It's customization is false choices, because you are actively punished for using the magic you spend hours acquiring, because if you use it your stats go down. It is, by far, the worst customization system of any FF game. It boils down to get the cards convert them to magic equip the magic and then just use the attack and recover actions everything else is garbage. It different, but that doesnt make it good. 2 is similar in the break ability for veterans and frustration for newbies. But its story is great taking huge cues from Star Wars. Finally 12, the progression system and gameplay is disjointed from the world and story tearing me entirely out of it. Why do I need a license to use a weapon if I am fighting the rulers of the realm and why are the licenses not revoked when I do so. A big reason the story of 5 isn't remembered is because it is very straight foward and bland, as are the characters. It is basic plot, with basic characters put over a straight forward progression system that is amazingly well fleshed out. For excellent executed job system alone it hits my top 5. Edit: In all honesty I have noticed that FF breaks down into 2 types. Gameplay focused and character/ story focused. 1,3,5,8,12 are game play focused. Focusing on how you can customize characters and using a smaller often times blander or blank slate characters. 2,4,6,9 are character and story focused usually having a larger cast of preset characters with the customization coming from who you put in the party. While 7, and 10 are probably the most balanced of both. Vii with one of the most customizable progression systems and 10 with the mid battle party swap system, making for one of the most flexible and customizable battle systems. All the while still being incredibly character and story driven.

14 has the best story, the best villain and the best music. The protag is also the best. Don't know why people never put 14 in these lists, it's a mainline Final Fantasy.

Favorite Final Fantasy? Umm... Xenogears/Xenosaga, lol. Seriously though, five way tie in my opinion. 4,6,7,10 and....16.

Bro FF9, 6, and 4 are ALL in the bottom half of your rankings? Sadge. edit: and FF13-2 is above them?! omg

I think maybe I'm old. I played all of these games when they came out. I completely disagree with nearly all your choices. Cool video, but I was both confused and angry.

I definitely wouldn’t put it on top, but XV’s story isn’t bad, it’s just very poorly executed. Between having to watch a movie and an anime series to see important plot points/character development, cutting out chunks of game to be sold later as DLC, and needlessly making the game open world causing the already disjointed story to feel even more so, the game was doomed by bad decision after bad decision. I’m glad they learned their lesson for XVI.

Unique

Dude what the heck?!?!?! This poser didn't even rank Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King????? THAT GAMES NUMBER 1!!!!

Where's the dog!!!

I've forgotten to mention something TWICE now. FF15 has the most incredible summons in the series! Speaking of 15, here's my full review of it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-zsjTBOnsHOw.html

Hi leo you deserve it im going to subscribe to you my favorite final Fantasy games are vii ix x x-2 xv and xvi the rest of the mainline games sucks sorry

I will say that 4 and 7 are very overrated but 6 that’s the best one idk how people dont like that one Edit: I see to each their own I guess

Bro FFVI at 11 seems like blasphemy 😅🤣 dang you ain't wrong about offending people 🤣🤣

*sigh* another ranking that excludes the mmos even though they are both mainline titles. Oh well.

OMG FF9 on place 12? 🧐

- Ranking the mainline games - Includes spinoffs but not the MMOs, especially XIV, the best game in the entire franchise. Interesting choice. The rational of not everyone can have access to them also makes absolutely no sense since if you can play XV either on PC or PS4, you will have no issues accessing XIV on the same platforms, especially with the free trial up to the entirety of the award-winning Heavensward expansion. Makes no sense and seems more fear based than anything.

Another ranking that doesn't include 11 or 14. Not even when 14 can be played free

I feel like people who didn’t play 6 when it came out will never value it properly. Dropping it to 11th is pretty objectively…wrong 🤣

This man put FFXIII-2 above IV, VI and IX...

Wow. Contrarian much? 😂

This was the strangest FF ranking list I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing you ranked them in this way to generate comments and action on your channel. And kudos to you for that. But it seems like you dislike or disregard the aspects of final fantasy that make the games great, like story, characters, setting and immersion. And you really emphasize the things that most people just find annoying, like the battle system. The customization is a huge part of final fantasy and once they nailed it, like in tactics or FF12 or 7 remake, it’s been great. But FF2 is a broken game with ambitions that were not even remotely possible on the old hardware. FF2 is without question the worst of the main line games. It’s clearly got broken mechanics. The developers tried something different and failed. They’ve admitted as much on multiple occasions.

This new FF16 is Offically the worst FF I have ever played this goes to show I was right about the combat all along they just made it God of War or Devil May Cry like it's a Japanese role play game go back to Turn Based quick time battles like 13

one comment makes me wonder if u actually paid attention to the storys of what is beinf told..."GFs w/e they mean" the game tells u what they mean serval times through out the game it means Guardian Force

There are no wrong opinions. Except yours.

How can FFX simple story still be confusing to you... despite after looking through stuff? Some of ya'll are just smh 🤦

As soon as he said FF15 has the best story I stopped watching, this dude has to be trolling

Typical FF13 hate smh. FF13 was great. Way better than the garbage that were 15 and 16

Yeah, I thought this would be a great video. But not including XI and XIV because you don't count them, nope. XIV is the best FINAL FANTASY game too. Shame....

Title is wrong. So tired of people skipping FFXI and FFXIV.

I stopped watching when he said ff3 the worst mainline game

I was interested in the video, then he said he had a great time with ff15. I knew this was about to be terrible

Good lord how r u even an ff fan if u have never played the zodiac age or 7 remake????

Never make a list again 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Bad list