The best and worst of each generation!

[Rez09]

NES era:

Favorite: FF1 - I have a hard time picking between 1 and 3 for my second favorite title in the series, but I'll go with 1 here. I love the game's general level of difficulty, I love how game progression is based around your exploration instead of narrative guided direction, I love the ability to sequence break from the mid game onward, and I love how challenge-friendly the game is. It's probably the series' most pick up and play friendly game for me.

Also, it has a random dragon controlled space station with a War Mech in it. Why is that even a thing? I love it.

Least Favorite: FF2 - Probably my least favorite entry in the franchise, the game was wildly ambitious in all the ways that I love, but fell on its face continually in execution. The world feels small, leveling is tedious, weapons all feel the same, bosses are non-memorable, dead-end doors in dungeons make them the most irritating in the series, and the only characters I find myself liking only briefly accompany the party -- the game simply lacks anything to bring me back to it.

SNES era:

Favorite: FF6 - I have a hard time finding something I dislike about the title. I appreciate how much equipment and unique character abilities play into the game, the open ended second half, the music, and I don't think the game has a single character I actively dislike.

Least favorite: FF5 - I enjoy the battle half of this game, with great customization and some pretty memorable bosses and areas, but I am completely uninterested in the game's story and villain. Lenna is also likely my least favorite party member in the SNES era.

PS1 era:

Favorite: FF7 - Hard pick between this and 8 for me, though I find the Limit system in 7 was much better done than 8s, and I prefer the materia system to junctioning. I also tend to like FF7's cast more than 8s, though both have their duds.

Least favorite: FF9 - This is probably the only game in the series that actively makes me want to play OTHER games in the series while I play it. I do not enjoy my strategic options, the story, the minigames, or most of the characters, and the characters I do appreciate are generally plot irrelevant. I'd like the game less than FF2, but at least nothing about 9 is tedious and I can actually USE characters I like in it.

PS2 era:

Favorite: FF12 - I don't particularly enjoy the combat system, which is normally an instant fail for me, but I find gambits interesting and love toying with them, which keeps me invested. I also like most of the cast and find the story interesting.

Least favorite: FF10 - This game is like that ride Plucky takes with Hamton's family in the Tiny Toons movie, only you don't have to leave the park as soon as you finally get there. Select aspects of the combat and late game sidequests are the only redeeming elements of this game for me, and that's just not enough to make up for subjecting me to Yuna, Tidus, and Wakka for the whole trip there.