Aww... How dissapointing. I thought I was going to get to fight against Final Fantasy... Bummer!
You got that impression from the title too? lol...

I don't think any FF holds a candle to my beloved Xenogears. Even Xenogears' "sequals/prequals" can't compare in my opinion. Finding things that I like more than FFT is fun. The Shining Force series is by far my favorite for "strategy" RPGs. So much more on the fun factor. They don't complicate everything to the point of boredom. Then there's a little known oddity on the Sega Saturn known as Dragon Force which is kind of a strategy RPG. But not like FFT or SF. More of a fantasy war game. But even that doesn't do it justice. No other RPG has had me so addicted... I burned out my Saturn because I played it in like 8 to 12 hour stretches one summer x_X;; And then there is of course Lunar. Final Fantasy may be able to flesh out a character with a lot of personality these days. But Square is so determined to make them complex and deep that it's hard to relate to them anymore. And sometimes it's hard to understand and even like them. With Lunar you knew the characters. You loved the characters. And you almost feel a personal bond with them. Not so much as a player-to-character bond. It's like they could actually be your friends. It's an awesome feeling. And no I'm not insane. They just did that good a job of characterization in my opinion. Grandia is a lot like that. Simple and pleasurable. And last, but not least on my list is Legend of Legaia. Another simple game. Especially in characters. The atmosphere was awesome to me somehow. I'll admit the game itself didn't have much depth. That is... until you get into a fight. My god, I don't think I've ever enjoyed random encounters so much. You can string together moves so devistating and fun it's ... yeah. Awesomeness. And I HATE random encounters. So that's a feat in itself.