Every mainline Final Fantasy game, ranked from best to worst

Final Fantasy IX is the very last “traditional” Final Fantasy game. It’s steeped in medieval fantasy, with knights, mages, princesses, and a few goofy characters to boot. This came just after Final Fantasy had been diving deeper into sci-fi and steampunk tropes and settings for several games, and it felt incredibly refreshing, with a deep story that took fans back to the roots of the series. It’s often considered the best Final Fantasy game by fans, though there’s plenty of room for debate. For this list, we’re saying Final Fantasy IX is the all-time best. Peak Final Fantasy.

The legend. Final Fantasy VII introduced an entire generation to JRPGs – people who didn’t even know what the genre was were suddenly drawn into a fascinating world and a story with multiple shocking twists and turns. Characters like Cloud and Aerith have become iconic in the world of gaming, cementing Final Fantasy VII’s status as one of the best titles the genre has ever seen. A bunch of that might be nostalgia, granted, but you can’t ignore the impact this game has had across the entire industry. An essential.

The first PS2 Final Fantasy game, and one of the biggest overhauls the series had seen in quite some time. Gone is the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, replaced with the Conditional Turn-Based (CTB) system in battles, changing up how combat flows. Summons have had a massive overhaul too, with the “Aeons” replacing your party in battle entirely, fighting on your behalf. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to reasons fans love FFX, and it’s worth finding out for yourself.

You can read everything you need to know about this game in our full Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth review, but the short story is that this is the second part of the FF7 Remake trilogy, and it's a masterful triumph when compared to the first. This is easily the best mainline Final Fantasy game since the PS2 era, with a sense of scale and scope that is genuinely breathtaking. Now to wait several years for the final installment...

Possibly the best of the classic 2D Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VI features big mechs and a deep story filled with political plots and mystique. Protagonist Terra is a slave to the Empire thanks to a mind-controlling device, and after being freed she seeks to discover herself and find out why she can use magic in a steampunk world where nobody else can. A brilliant story that caps off the classic era of Final Fantasy beautifully.

Controversial, as Final Fantasy VII Remake is actually just the first few hours of the original game’s story, stretched out and “enhanced” with a run time of 30 hours. Technically FF7R is a sequel to the original FFVII, but we’ll ignore the details for now. All you need to know is that FF7R is great fun, if sometimes poorly paced. It still might have the very best battle system of any Final Fantasy game, mind, so it’s earned its place in this list.

This is considered to be one of the very best by many fans, and it’s easy to see why. It took everything the previous Final Fantasy games did and built upon it, creating a unique, upgraded adventure. It’s also one of the only classic FF games to get a direct sequel in IV: The After Years. Though, the less said about that one, the better…

The very original. There’s a reason why Final Fantasy became the juggernaut series it is now, and it all started with the very first. It might feel a bit predictable now, especially if you’ve played many of the Final Fantasy games since, but the original game is still brilliant. It’s also been remade multiple times, making it easy to access.

Here it is, the latest game in the series. Final Fantasy XVI has a few ups and downs – the pacing really grinds to a halt in the latter half – but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s brilliant. The combat system here is excellent, with the limitation of only one playable character being one of the only things holding it back from showing up FF7R. The story is brilliantly anime, too, with the most explosive and extreme battles and cutscenes of the whole series. Make sure to read our full Final Fantasy XVI review.

Yes, the MMO. The game’s biggest fans would argue that this deserves a much higher spot on the list, but rest assured, someone would be upset regardless of the order. XIV had an incredibly rocky start, but A Realm Reborn breathed new life into the game, and all of the expansions since have been an ascent in quality, with it currently being regarded as the best MMO you can play right now. Have you heard about the free trial?

Final Fantasy XII, at the time, was a huge departure from what was synonymous with the series. This was the first time the combat had been drastically altered, moving onto the Active Dimension Battle (ADB) system, where you could have party members followed pre-programmed instructions with the Gambit system. This game was also a key part of the ill-fated Ivalice Alliance, a series of Final Fantasy games that shared the same universe. FFXII is divisive, mainly because there’s still a legion of fans that adore the game from top to bottom. It might not be the best Final Fantasy, but it’s still great.

Final Fantasy XV is maligned. The original game felt, frankly, unfinished, with a fragmented story partially told in other media, including an anime series, a CGI movie starring Aaron Paul and Sean Bean, and other video games. Even now, “content complete,” with all paid DLC and post-launch updates, it still feels like something key is missing. 

Despite that, what’s here is good. The world does not feel particularly Final Fantasy, but the road trip with the boyband is unique in the series, and the bonds you create over the course of the game are worth the journey, even if it still has some fundamental issues. It’s good! But not great.

When getting this far down in the list it’s worth a reminder: the mainline Final Fantasy games have some of the highest average quality of any JRPG series, despite being as long-running as it is, with as many entries as it has. So even though it looks like Final Fantasy V has been done dirty, it’s still a great game. It’s a classic turn-based JRPG, and Hironobu Sakaguchi once called his personal favorite Final Fantasy title. High praise.

Final Fantasy VIII is good, okay? It just doesn’t hold up to the incredible standard set by the other PS1 Final Fantasy games. Squall’s Gunblade is iconic, and FFVIII set a new standard for JRPG visuals at the time. But despite the step-up in terms of visuals, FFVII was still overshadowing it, and that remains true even now.

Most of Final Fantasy XIII’s stages are linear corridors with offshoots that lead to simple treasure chests. You simply walk forward, battle, and watch cutscenes. In the game’s defense, the visuals are genuinely outstanding for the era, the cutscenes are gorgeous, and the battles have dramatic camera angles, making the battles feel more active and exciting than ever before – this is what you were supposed to be imagining when sprites were hopping around the screen on your SNES. Lightning is still a fan-favorite character, but FFXIII is often regarded as a blight on the series.

Final Fantasy XI is a 2002 MMO that is still alive and running even now, more than two decades later, in spite of the fact that there has been a brand new Final Fantasy MMO since, which is enjoying immense popularity. FFXI fans are truly dedicated, and remain so even now. Is it worth playing? Um…

Final Fantasy III is actually pretty brilliant. It introduces the Job system, which became a long-standing staple of the series, had more fleshed out characters, and generally set the stage for the series going forward. It probably felt like a revelation at the time, though it didn’t release outside of Japan for years. In the modern day it’s decent, but with a story that doesn’t quite hit, and level design that is just… functional. It’s instrumental in making the series what it is now, and those innovations have since been vastly improved upon.

This might actually be the only “bad” game in the mainline series, depending on your perspective. Final Fantasy II is more Final Fantasy, but it’s just… more of the same, only not as good. Unless you’re determined to play through the whole series, there’s no reason to go back to this one specifically.