Only one! boom.

[TabbyTrap]

What, every title can't be explode-tastic

Soooo, I'm willing to try ONE and ONLY ONE Final Fantasy. Which one should it be? Give me reasons people!

[Jinx]

FFIX. Reasons? It's perfect.

But seriously, I think it captures the feel of the series well. The characters are fun and relatable, the story is great, the villains likeable, the areas very fun and unique, the music stunning, and there are plenty of sidequests to do if you need a break from the main storyline.

Or FFVII. I know a lot of fans have been introduced to the series because of this game (myself included) and it's great. The world is SO expansive, and there's SO MUCH to do and see. The world is very non-linear if you like to explore. And it has the best music of any entry, imho.

[Nightsintodreams]

Stay far, FAR away from anything before Final Fantasy VI, unless you are a classic JRPG fan. Those games are not a real good way to introduce someone to the series.

I echo Miss Tifa's Boobs above me, and say that Final Fantasy IX or Final Fantasy VII would be the way to go, though I would push to play Final Fantasy IX myself. Both of them are available for download for $9.99 from the Playstation Store Shop, and you can put them on your PSP or your PS3 to play as you wish! You could even pick up both games and pick whichever one suits you better.

[Shauna]

I would go with FF9 for pretty much the same reasons stated in the above post. It's fun, the world is great, the music is fantastic. Good characters, a good story with some genuinely touching and heartfelt moments which can often be followed by some ridiculous comedy... It's just overall pretty fantastic.

[WildRaubtier]

How can you say 9?? You don't even get to fight any cool robots.

For that, you'd want to play either 7 or 8. 7 has more, 8 has the coolest.

Escaping from Dollet and X-ATM092 - YouTube

[Fynn]

IX or VI. XII remains my favorite, but it's more like an evolution of the series into a newer direction. VI and IX are the ones that best encompass the feel of the series thus far.

[Quindiana Jones]

The man just suggested FFVIII. His opinion is meaningless.

FFIX, because it is the best FF ever made. It excels in every category one could ask from an FF. FFVII would be an acceptable substitute, if you're too much of a giant arse to play FFIX.

If you play FFIX, you will inevitably fall in love with the series and play all the others, which will make FFIX even better because you'll understand all the references next time you play it. It's a game that keeps on giving.

[Jinx]

The man just suggested FFVIII. His opinion is meaningless.

[VeloZer0]

I generally shy away from recommending FF9 as an introductory title to the series. The ATB element of the battles is set to agonizingly slow, something that is going to have a more pronounced effect to people who aren't used to playing turn based or semi turn based games. So unless you are introducing the series to the slim population of JRPG fans who have never played a FF title I think you can do better.

I would recommend FF6 or FF7. They are the FF titles with the most renown for a reason.

[Quindiana Jones]

Maybe so, though the Everything Else of the game is set to amazingly awesome.

[Cloudane]

If it's not already clear from the responses so far, everyone is different and has wildly varying views on FF games. One man's favourite is another man's most hated FF. So it's impossible to recommend one particular FF with so little to go on...

What are your preferences?....
Do you like a lot of battle strategy, or prefer to mostly hack and slash?
If you like strategy, do you prefer to strategise before or during battle?
Insane save-the-world stories or deep subtle stuff?
Want to know pretty much where you're going and be guided along, or a really open world?
Do you like love stories?
Battrout insane villains?
How bothered are you about graphics?

[VeloZer0]

Maybe so, though the Everything Else of the game is set to amazingly awesome.

If the gameplay turns you off I don't see how you can possible have a positive game experience. Remember, we aren't talking about best game, but best to introduce someone. You can't assume that they overlook flaws the same way fans do. Cloudane is right about needing to know where someone is coming from. Seeing as most other genres place a high emphasis on gameplay I don't think you can sluff this off to someone coming into the series.

[Wolf Kanno]

I will echo VI, VII, and IX as the best. Honestly I feel IX's battle system is more of a bother if you are used to the other versions of it, as a first game you won't really notice how slow it is cause you have no other entry to compare it to.

[VeloZer0]

No, but I have many non-JRPG fans remark about how they couldn't get into the genre because battles moved too slowly. If this is an obstacle I don't think we should advocate throwing people in to the worst example in the series!

[Wolf Kanno]

I felt the battles were too slow back when I was playing the games that don't really have the problem (VI and VII) Turn Base gameplay is like playing Chess, you have to accept it's not going to be lightning quick and honestly I feel the games with legitimately fast battle systems have their problems (X-2,XII,XIII). Besides, the player gets used to it unless they have some weird OCD for that kind of thing. IX is really slow for me in the beginning but by the end of the first disc, I stop noticing.