Just recently I got Final Fantasy XIII, and playing it has made me think about the past games in the series and how they relate to my view on gaming today.
being born in the early 90's my first view of the Final Fantasy games was like most other people FFVII, which I hated i can never really explain why but i guess it has something to do with my friend loving it and building it up to the pinnacle of gaming history only for it be fine. In retrospect i think my views on FFVII are filtered through a pair of the black tinted glasses of hatred. 
After taking a break from the series I finally gave it another try with FFX, which to date is my favorite Japanese RPG of all time. Now i know there are some things in the game that are really retarded, Tidus, Wakka, Tidus, Blitzball and Tidus come to mind, and the voice acting is god awful at times, and the whole game suffers from the need to over-explain everything, and Rikku is only 15 yet is the most sexualised thing in the game (if you ignore Lulu's boobs). But on a whole i really like the flow of the game, the fact that it is not until around the last 30 percent of the game until it opens up location wise, and it is a great idea, you know almost everywhere in the game before it throws you to the wolves.
Then comes FFXII, in theory i should love FFXII the game got rid of the crappy love stories, the main character is blatantly not the main character, and there is Balthier (AKA the leading man), however when it came to gameplay i hated FFXII so much, from the battle system to the constant need to do side quests. needless to say i didn't finish FFXII in fact i got to a point where I'm walking across stupid spires in a desert when i said enough.
Since the release of FFXII i have gone and played the FFII remake and FFIX both of which were fine, FFIX is quite a good game and really should not get the grief that it gets, but then i could see why people whoud dislike it after playing VII and VIII.

Just recently I got Final Fantasy XIII, and playing it has made me think about the past games in the series and how they relate to my view on gaming today.
being born in the early 90's my first view of the Final Fantasy games was like most other people FFVII, which I hated i can never really explain why but i guess it has something to do with my friend loving it and building it up to the pinnacle of gaming history only for it be fine. In retrospect i think my views on FFVII are filtered through a pair of the black tinted glasses of hatred. 
After taking a break from the series I finally gave it another try with FFX, which to date is my favorite Japanese RPG of all time. Now i know there are some things in the game that are really retarded, Tidus, Wakka, Tidus, Blitzball and Tidus come to mind, and the voice acting is god awful at times, and the whole game suffers from the need to over-explain everything, and Rikku is only 15 yet is the most sexualised thing in the game (if you ignore Lulu's boobs). But on a whole i really like the flow of the game, the fact that it is not until around the last 30 percent of the game until it opens up location wise, and it is a great idea, you know almost everywhere in the game before it throws you to the wolves.
Then comes FFXII, in theory i should love FFXII the game got rid of the crappy love stories, the main character is blatantly not the main character, and there is Balthier (AKA the leading man), however when it came to gameplay i hated FFXII so much, from the battle system to the constant need to do side quests. needless to say i didn't finish FFXII in fact i got to a point where I'm walking across stupid spires in a desert when i said enough.
Since the release of FFXII i have gone and played the FFII remake and FFIX both of which were fine, FFIX is quite a good game and really should not get the grief that it gets, but then i could see why people whoud dislike it after playing VII and VIII.

Nice blog post. I agree with most of the things you have to say. Especially with FF IX. Most of peoples hatred was toward the fact that they looked like kids. But I didn't mind. It brought back the nostalgia of back then. 4 characters, massive equipment, and airships. FF XII I like to an extent. It's the licensing system I like the most. The thing I like the most is that you can have any character equip anything and play any role. Everything else I don't care much for. Now FF VII, the reason why I like that is because of the materia system. It's the first time I ran into something that made a great combination system. For example, equip Knights of the Round Table with W-Summon and Mimic. Basically you're summoning the best summon, I believe, 8 times. All Final Fantasy's has their unique system. That's why I can respect Square. 
 
Oh a side note. Try to lay low on the Final Fantasy forum posts. I think a lot of people in here are beginning to get tired of the post.

I liked FFIX, FFX, FFXI, and FFXII a lot specifically for returning the series to its fantasy roots.  FFVII, VIII and XIII are like...Final Sci-Fi.

I can't really say why I don't like Final Fantasy XII. I think it's probably a bit less fantastical, more grounded than the average FF. The characters I just didn't find engaging at all

Couldn't stand XII. Drove me insane. 
I have yet to play XIII. I'm looking forward to it when i have the money.  
I'd rather have Final Sci-Fi than another half decent fantasy RPG. I think my love of the Xeno games has a lot to do with that. 
Blitzball was awesome though. 

" I have liked all the main series final fantasies up to XII. I've never understood people's hatred of IX. I absolutely love it! Is there any reason besides the fact that the characters looked like kids? "

" @Dtat said:

" I have liked all the main series final fantasies up to XII. I've never understood people's hatred of IX. I absolutely love it! Is there any reason besides the fact that the characters looked like kids? "

They don't just look like kids, they look like kid furries.  Shudder. "

In my opinion, Wakka rules and FF12 might have been the best in the series.