reincarnator07 posted...4 is possibly the purest essence of the franchise. It's almost generic only because of how it codified so many elements of the franchise that are still drawn upon today.
Cait has said everything that needs to be said about 5. I've heard it described as your favourite person's favourite FF game and I think that sticks.
6 is still considered one of the high points of the franchise by people who weren't even alive when this game was made. The story is great, the characters are great, the artwork is great (if we ignore the mobile remake), the music is some of Uematsu's best and Kefka is easily a top 3 antagonist in the entire franchise. The team was firing on all cylinders.
7 is the most popular for reasons beyond nostalgia, it's another great game. The visuals have aged very poorly, but everything else about the game still holds up imo. It is kinda interesting seeing how the characters have changed as the setting got expanded. If you can get past the art style, this is actually another great entry point into the franchise. As a side note, the remakes are fantastic imo but I can't recommend them as a starting point. The story is still incomplete and they quite frankly do rely on knowledge of the OG.
8 hasn't been mentioned here and while I love it, it is hard to recommend to newbies. There are quite a lot of flaws and quirks. My personal favourite though.
9 is a love letter to the 2D games. It's absolutely a 10/10 game, but you may miss a bunch of the references if you've not played the others. That said, it absolutely stands on its own with some of the strongest characters in the franchise. This is the game if you want a traditional FF game in 3D.
10 is almost certainly the second most popular after 7 and again for good reason. It looks fantastic even today with the remaster, the music is once again nearly perfect and a combination of the PS2's power and voice acting really added a lot of depth to character interactions. The worst I could say is that if this is your entry to the franchise, it can be a bit jarring going back to the older entries. If you like JRPGs, this should absolutely be on your list.
Just wanted to say that I agree with just about all of this.
Personally, depending on the day, I'll call 5, 6, or 9 my favorite.
7 and 10 are also too significant to ignore.
And 4 and 8, I still quite like.