I have heard countless testimonials from people who thought GF spam was the best way to deal damage in FFVIII. As such, it's clear most younger players did not understand Junctioning.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend FFXII or XIII to new players because both games are so radically different from their predecessors. It has nothing to do with quality - it's just that, even for a series that reinvents the wheel with each new installment, those two are very distinctly their own thing. Starting with them would give you bizarre expectations for the other games that will be shattered at every turn. Imagine going from twitch-o-mania FFXIII to FFX's CTB.

I agree with starting with VII. Good game in its own right and not that complicated.

The NES FF's should only be played by people who are already die-hard fans. So they're the worst.