FF generally did stories better than their competition. A lot of the older games' stories still stack up today, I think. None of them were totally flawless in execution, but even some of the weaker ones managed to be compelling because of excellent world-building and presentation. I didn't play VIII multiple times because it has a well told story, but the world design and a lot of the details that go into it made it compelling enough to return to over games that are technically "better".

FF stories that hold up today still, in my opinion? VI, VII, IX, X, and XII. Some are better executed than others, but I still think those five are generally pretty solid.