The way it should be done, in my humblest of opinions.

[GenjiLeisureSuit]

I was way back in 1990, and I was 5 years old. I had an NES, and my cousin bought me Final Fantasy 1. I was open to the light. I played it. I loved it. I played it again. I beat it. I beat it at level 99. I beat it at level 99 with four BM's.

So, two years later, I wondered where my FFII was, dammit.

My NES broke shortly after (damn neighbor kid thought it would be a good idea to clean it with a dirty q-tip and some rubbing alcohol,) and my fascination with Final Fantasy was put on temporary hiatus. I was limited to having reminescent memories once in a while, completely unaware that Square was making other Final Fantasies.

Then, many years later, it happened again. That same cousin came to me and brought a shiny (well, matte) new cart of FFV and plopped it into my lap. Well, I played it. It seemed good. Translation was bad. Ooh, I like what they did with the class system. Mode7 graphics are lookin' sharp. Yeah, the story is kinda crud, but, DAMN, ifn't they haven't improved on the music. The ending came to me, and I felt like that 5 year old kid again. My lust was renewed.

Then, due to Square's lack of faith in the American market and my reluctance to hop on the Sony bandwagon like so many other clowns, it was put on hold again... until the beginning of the year 2002.

I discovered the joy of emulators and ROMs.

First, for that oh-so-nostalgic feeling, I fired up a game of FF1. Sweet.

Then, to try and follow the order of things (my mistake), I booted up a game of FF2. Quit shortly thereafter. Eck.

To make matters worse, the next game I attempted was Mystic Quest. Yeah, it's mildy entertaining, but IT'S NOT A FREAKING FINAL FANTASY.

So, my faith in Square began to waver, until, at the advice of a loyal friend, I started a game that was little-known to me at the time... Chrono Trigger. Astonishing. Like a Final Fantasy, only not as dark, depressing, or gloomy, but with the fantastic characters, battle system, and music intact. CT swept me off my feet, and made me see what kind of beauty Square was capable of. After I finished it, I said to myself, "It doesn't get ANY better than that." But, it did.

The next game I tried was FFVI. Incredible. It managed to trump CT in every way. Fantastic storyline, spot-on battle, terrific music, perfect length, just the right amount of non-linear gameplay, but the best part were the CHARACTERS. My goodness, FFVI was really the first time I viewed any video game as a work of art. Each character (All 18 or 19 of em') were, vibrant, had sincere personality, and made you care for them an understand their story. I nearly wept when I saw Shadow's flashbacks and Shadow's ending. I felt rage alongside Cyan. I felt heroism (and a bit of stupidity) alongside Sabin. I laughed at Mog and Umaro. I pondered the relationships between Celes and Edgar. The end of that game rolled around, and I just stared at my computer with awe. To this date, FFVI is the best video game I've ever played, bar none.

After that, I started up FFIII. Yes, it was a good game, but I had just come off my FFVI high, so it didn't seem to impressive. Props for kicking off the battle system.

Right now, I'm playing both FFIV and Breath of Fire. They are both excellent games so far, but I'm not going to hedge my bets. (IV is starting to feel like VI jr., and that's a good thing.)

So, what order did you play you FFs? And what order should I play the PS ones, when I get to them (eventually)?

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Here's what I did.
1997: Final Fantasy VII
1997: Final Fantasy VI
1998: Final Fantasy Tactics
1999: Final Fantasy VIII
1999: Final Fantasy V
2000: Final Fantasy
2000: Final Fantasy IX
2001: Final Fantasy II (tasted it and promptly vomited)
2001: Final Fantasy III
2001: Final Fantasy IV
2001: Final Fantasy X
2002: Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
2003: Final Fantasy II (swallowed it)
2003: Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
2003: Final Fantasy X-2
The best way to play the PS titles is to play them in the order they were released, I'd say.

[i90east]

In my opinion, after playing VI, no other FF will be as good. But that's me! I hope you have fun with the Playstation FFs.

I played 'em in this order:

FFMQ
FFIV
FFVI
FFVII
FFIX
FFX
FFV

I feel that VII is the only FF worth playing after VI. FFV is pretty cool so far. I think of it as FFVI Jr. :D After all, FFV uses some of the same sound effects as FFVI. Very cool. It amazes me how much of a leap the FF series took from FFV to FFVI. Suddenly the graphics, music and character development all went way up! Amazing. What caused it?

[Outsider]

1991: FF4... Beautiful... It still hold a special place in my heart. I'll never forget characters like Cecil, Kain, Rosa, Rydia, Yang, Palom, Porom... They are all great. And what a villain! Golbez was perfect for that history...

1993: FFMQ, and it entertained me, for a while...

1995: FF6 was amazing, it is the best game I ever played... I remember I loved all those characters so much that I actually cared for them... It is, just like GenjiLeisureSuit said, a work of art... And what a soundtrack! Every little thing about FF6 is great...

1997: Chrono Trigger, and it was beautiful... I remember at first I thought it was silly. I couldn't be more wrong, it has one of the most beautiful storylines ever... And characters that can really surprise you, once you give this game a chance. It is one of the best things I've ever played.

1998: FF7, and it was boring... I must play it again, and finish it, this time.

1998: FFTactics and I love it... Its history full of betrayal and backstabbing is insane, incredible...

1999: FF8, and it was disgusting...

1999: FF1, and I must play it again, and finish it this time... It is a good game, I liked it.

2000: Chono Cross... It was really disappointing, I hate it.

2000: FF5, it's a very good game, with a very good job system... It was good for its time, at least it shows that Square once was trying to create new things.

2001: FF9... It is not a bad game at all, but after the disaster of FF8 anything would be pleasant...

Then I started to replay the good old stuff... I'll try FF10 someday...

[Sasquatch]

In order...

FF2US (SNES)--awesome
FFMQ--not bad, but not exceptional either
FF3US (SNES)--greatest game I've ever played, by far
...(long time passes...I eventually buy a PSX so I can play the entire series, starting, of course, with IV and VI again...the rest were all mingled together throughout the next year and a half or so)...
FFIV
FFVI
FFVII--extremely disappointing...I wouldn't call it bad, but I certainly wouldn't call it good, and definitely not what it's made out to be
Chrono Trigger--pretty good
FFT--pretty good, although difficult
FFV--different system than I was used to, but good
FFII--not bad, just...very different
FFI--gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside, playing the one that started it all
FFVIII--not too terribly bad...but definitely not too good
Chrono Cross--again, disappointment, but not nearly as severe...not an extremely bad game
FFIX--not bad, just...interesting

If I'd have to rank them best to worst, they would be 6-4-1-Tactics-5-2-7-9-8

[DocFrance]

i'm pretty new to Final Fantasy myself.

2002 - FFIV
2002 - FFI
2002 - FFVI
2002 - FFV
2002 - FFII
2002 - FFIII
2002 - CT
2002 - FFVII
2003 - Seiken Densetsu 3
2003 - FFT
2003 - FFVIII
2003 - FFIX
2003 - FFT-A

BTW, Genji, I'm pretty sure that the highest level you can get in FFI is 50, and that FFV was never translated into an English cart on the SNES.

[Lord Chainsaw]

Originally posted by GenjiLeisureSuit
To make matters worse, the next game I attempted was Mystic Quest. Yeah, it's mildy entertaining, but IT'S NOT A FREAKING FINAL FANTASY.


Oh but it is. And I thought it was quite a wonderful little snack too. It also has some of the best music ever created for a video game. Ever get a load of that Dark King battle music? It's a lot like Guardian's Crusade for the PSX. A fun little break from the rest of the harsh RPG world. Even when I go back to play it today I still find it quite a bundle of fun.

The order I went was:

FFIV
FFVI
FFMQ
FFI
FFVII
FFVIII
FFV
FFII
FFIII
FFIX
FFX

[Danger]

My order:
Started in late 1980s:
FFI (not finnished)
FFMQ
FFIV
FFVI (dreaming about this game every since I seen the preview in a magasine)
CT
FFI (finnished)
FFL3
FFA
SD3 (if that counts, I think its Secret of Mana though and not FF, But I seen others write it down)
FFV
FFII & III FFL 1-2 (started... then quickly abandoned)
FFVII - 1999/2000 (something like that)
FFVIII - 2002 I believe
Rented a PS: FFIX (I got as far as I could in one night)
Played my friends PS2: FFX (one hour)

I think I followed the order fairly well. I don't have any advanced gaming systems (damn Square for going PS and not N64), so I haven't played the new ones.

[TheNeverlasting]

MQ
FFVII
FFIX
FFVIII
FFX
FFVI
FFV

Im about to start FFII

[Sephex]

FFI
FFIV
FFMQ
FFVI
CT
FFVII
FFT
FFV
FFVIII
CC
FFIX
FFX
FFII
FFIII
FFX-2

I am probably forgetting something but whatever.

[edczxcvbnm]

CT
FFVI(Thought the game sucked and quit after 7 minutes)
FFVII
FFVIII
FFIV
FFMQ
FFV
FFVI(actually play through the piece of shit)
FFI
FFII
FFIII
Legend of Mana
CC
FFIX
Xenogears
Xenosaga
Tales of Eternia

[Edgar]

I remembered long ago (about 6 or more years) I started the all-famous FFVII, which I never actually enjoyed for some reason, maybe I was too young then.

at around 2000, I found a CD and guess what, it hads 100+ SNES games! I went for FFVI and loved it but never completed it (accidentally deleted the save files)

Then I tried FFIV and began to love it but got stuck at the underground random encounter which I figured that the CD has a bug (mob keeps killing me). So I quitted.

Months later, I got the desire to replay FFVI but once I completed like 70% of WoR (same as the first time), the computer broke down with a virus and had to reformatt

FFVI replayed came again a month later, went to tower, but I remember I was playing another game and accidentally overwrited my FFVI gamesave!!!

FFVI replayed came again and no, something happened, I can't remember.

2001, FFVIII entered my life. My mind boggles at Junction system, played it without knowing wtf is junction (I'm impatient at tutorials lol) til Disk 3 and stopped.

FFVI replayed, heck I could remember every lines....but no, not yet completed.

FFVII replayed, kicked some asses, went far, but then, I stopped at the end of Disk One.

FFVI replayed, went to final boss, went up and up and up, but com crashed. BAH.

FFV attempted, but ROm was in Japenese =\

FFI came, random encounter kicked my ass lol.

FFVI replayed and FINALLY completed it with level 50 characters (except for Sabin who is level 87). Sabin was the...'trainer'...you see.

FFVII replayed, discovered omfg, Jenova at end of disk one (Life Jenova or something) uses water attacks! man, I thought they were purple fireballs! Equipped water ring, went far and maybe it's the polygons or my screen but I got lost somewhere. No offence you FFVII lovers :)

FFVI replayed omfg. Went to WoR, got every relic and Esper I could think of, killed Kefka at level 45.

FFVI replayed again, this time killing Kefka with 3 level 80 characters.

Chrono Cross came! Completed it, killed boss, win!

Chorno Cross replayed! Got more characters, killed boss, got all items I could think of, win!

Chorno Cross replayed! Got Marle, stop. lol.

FFTactics came! DIE GAFGARION! DIE WIEGRAF! DIE DIE DIE!!! UWEEHEEHEEHEEHEE!!!!!!!! Win.

FFIX! Lol, it was so funny killing the last boss with Auto Regen and Summons.

CT came, played halfway tho...

FFVIII replayed! understands junction, went far, got boring, quit.

[EveningCross]

For me it was:
FFVI: I loved this game!!! Opened my eyes to beauty that I'd never before known.

FFVII: Liked it a lot though not sure if I like it better than VI. It seemed kinda gloomy and hopeless. It was kinda too dark.

Skipped VIII

FFIX: I love this game but I know that it doesn't compare to FFVI.

FFV: Played it for like five minutes with a mod chip. Don't remember what happened though.

Isn't FFMQ and FFI the same game? I always thought that it was. If not, then there's been an extra FF floating around out there all this time that I didn't know about. For shame.

[Enoki]

OMG! You havent played FF7 yet?!?!?! *shock and amazement* FF7 and FF6 in my opinion are both on par with each other. You should also try Tactics. but anyway heres my order:

FF8
FF7
FF9
FF10
FF1
FFT
FFX-2
FF6

currently im juggling FF2,3, and 5 around

[black orb]

Played and beat..
2000
FF1
FFMQ..
2001
the same of above
2002
FF9
FF5 (Psx and Snes)
FF7
CT (Psx and Snes)
2003
FFO (just FF1)
FFT
FF8

Just played..
2002
CC
FF6 (psx and Snes)
FF4 (psx and Snes)
2003
FF3
2004
FF2
FF10

[ForeverZeroUltima]

order i played was

FFVII - first FF i ever heard about, and i loved it
Chrono Cross - my most favorite
Chrono Trigger - helped me to understand many things in Chrono Cross, so i like it too
FFVI - i was on a retreat to someone's house, and he programmed his XBox to play 3000 ROMS. i played FFVI for a few minutes and thought it interesting. then i got my own ROM later.

and WTF? this forum is loaded with CC and FF7 haters! what the crap??

[sephiroth21]

MY ORDER IS WAY STRANGER

ff 10
7
9
8
6
x-2

[HOOTERS]

FFMQ
FFVII
FFVIII
FFIX
FFVI
FFX
FFV (Got near the end and then realised I had been playing more snes games on my ps2 than ps2 games so haven't finished yet and thus haven't started FFIV.)

[Stayin Dizzy]

Played and beat in order:

FF7
CT
FF8
CC
FF1
FF3
FF4
FF6

and some other square games sice, but non ff related

And I've played ff9 to the beginning of disk 3 and my game messes up (bought it used)

Im at omega Weapon in FF5 and refuse to play any further until I beat him

I refuse to play FF2, in does not look like its worth playing and I havent heard enough good about it.

and right now i'm beating FF8 for the second time (i like to play FF games a few times though, to make sure I grasped the whole story)

[Flying Mullet]

FFI
FFIV (as FFI on SNES)
FF Mystic Quest
FFVI (as FFIII on SNES)
FFVII
FF Tactics
FFV (learned about emulators at this point)
FFIII
FFII
FFVIII
FFIX
FFX
FFXI

[Black Mage]

You got to level 99 on FFI? I reckon that's impossible, mainly because... it is.


Anyways, here's my order:

Final Fantasy
Final Fantasy IV
Final Fantasy II
Final Fantasy Mystic Quest
Final Fatnasy III
Final Fantasy V
Final Fantasy VI
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy VIII
Final Fantasy Tactics
Final Fatnasy IX
Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy XI
Final Fantasy X-2
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance

[Kirobaito]

2001
FF VII (on PC...strangely enough)
FF VIII (also on PC...didn't yet have a PS2)

2002
FFVI (on ROM)
FFIV (on ROM)
Chrono Trigger (on ROM)
Got PS2 for Christmas...started FFIX

2003
Finished FFIX
FFX
FFV (got to Neo X-Death and stopped...probably should finish it)
Chrono Cross (got to that holy dude named Marcus and couldn't beat him)

2004
Uh, Kingdom Hearts?

I've tried FFI, I don't remember when, but I couldn't stand the lack of a real plot. Atleast in my opinion. Don't try and challenge me on it, because I'm not in the mood.

[FEOK]

FFI [Good game, unbeaten]
FFII [Japaneese, hated it from it's innards to it's outers]
FFIII [Japannese, I LOVE THIS GAME]
FFA [Enjoying, not very far though]
FFL1 [I hate this load of crapx56]
FFL2 [Hasn't gotten much better]
FFL3 [THE ONLY GOOD FF LEGEND GAME.]
FFV [ Good game, haven't played in a while.]
FFIV [I didn't know the secret of the japaneese numbering so I thought 2j and 3j were relesed here, but a really good game]
FFVI [cheated beacuse it was so hard to raise your characters stats, haven't played it since]
FFMQ[Pretty good]
FFTA [another good game]
FFT [Alright, i'm leaning twords the hate side though]
FFVII [Stuck on, enjoyed it though]
FFVIII [Pretty good, also stuck]

[The Man]

2001-2002: FFVI (started in December, completed in January, if memory serves)
2002: FFV
2002: FFIV
2002: Secret of Mana
2002: Chrono Trigger
2002: Seiken Densetsu 3 (went on to replay it twice more)
2002: FFI, FFII, FFIII (but I got bored with all of them almost immediately, mostly because of the forthcoming remakes of FFI and FFII, which I still haven't gotten around to)
2003: FFVI (basically I didn't stop replaying it, actually)
2003: FFVII
2003: FFT (but I couldn't figure out the battle system on my own so I didn't get very far; I'll give it a solid try one of these days)
2003: FFIX
2003: Chrono Cross (and then I replayed it and now I'm on my third trip through the game because I liked it so much)
2004: FFX (started; I'd still be playing it now, but I now have Suikoden and Suikoden II, which I'm sure you'll understand take top priority)

I'd intended to play FFVIII sometime in there too, but I'd lost my copy, and then right after I found it I got the Suikoden games. I'm waiting for FFX-2 to come down in price before even buying that.

I also played Mystic Quest at some point for about five minutes, but I hated it so much that I've tried to block it out of my memory.

[Jebus]

[1995]FFVI-played for a few hours. I enjoyed, but not all that much. (I was 9, cut me some slack)
[1997]FFVII-played, got bored within a few minutes
[1998]CT-Enjoyed it much, finally got me back into RPGs, but I didn't finish it.
[2000]Re-played FFVII. Beat it, loved it.
[2000]Re-played FFVI. Nearly cried, my favorite game. Period.
[2000]Played FFVIII-Meh
[2000]Played FFIV. Liked it, but not as much as FFVI.
[2001]Re-played CT. Finally beat it. Many many times.
[2001]Played FFT- Loved the story, although when I thought about it, I think it was this game that actually got me thinking about my beliefs, and for the first time thought for myself
[2001]Played FFMQ-*vomits*
[2001]Played FF1 and FF2, still have yet to beat these
[2002]Played and beat FFV- Liked, but didn't love
[2002]Played FFIX-Liked, but nothing special
[2003]Played FF3 and got to the end, but didn't beat. Need to dig up my old save states
[2003]Played FFX-I enjoyed it, but its not my favorite.