WARNING: VERY UNPOPULAR OPINION I actually liked FF9 better than FF7 and FFX. I've only played FF1 to FFX-2, and out of those everyone's favorite (FF7) is my least favorite. It was too dark and sad, and the story was confusing, with too much politics. Some parts of the game grossed me out. I also couldn't handle the sneak up and stab in the back parts. After seeing those kind of scenes anywhere, I am constantly nervous and watching my back. The story of FFX was too sad, and didn't quite make sense to me. Sorry, I don't get along with sad stuff. I think the FF games I liked best were FF4, FF6, FF8, and FF9.
I do, too, actually. For VII, the politics don't bug me, but there are some very poorly executed parts of FFVII in which characters do things that are contrived/don't make any sense. It's also... really poorly balanced, like... really, really badly. IX's biggest flaw, in contrast, is that it was clearly rushed towards the end. The game was clearly supposed to have more late-game content than it had. Unfortunate, because I think if it had been properly rounded out it would have been inarguably top tier for the series. As it is, it's still one of my favorites, though I don't think I'll ever play it again because while I was playing it, one of my relatives died, and the themes hit a bit to close to home to it all.