So, yeah I've never ever played one in my 12 years of gaming....I'm kinda interested in playing one now. Which one should I start with?

The thing with Final Fantasy is that you can pretty much start anywhere. They all have their own story so you don't need to worry about missing out on anything.

I'll say that my favorite is VI followed by IX and you should check them out if you can.

FFVI is my personal favorite but don't know how sensitive you are to old games. 

As long as you go in with an open mind, you can start with any one of them! Considering how varied they are I'd tell you to try one with a setting you like. 9 is fantasy, 7 is cyberpunk/fantasy, 13 is all the way cyber. etc.

If you aren't used to turnbased combat or odd leveling systems, I'd say either 10 or 7 are the easiest ones. 13 is technically easy too, but that one won't give as clear a picture of the rest of the series, especially when it comes to combat.

Hmm, thanks guys! Now I just need to get my hands on some old consoles... >_<

@Dacnomaniac: If you have a backwards compatible PS3, you are basically set for 7-13. And 4 has been ported a billion times to everything. 6 might be harder to find, but there is always emulation.

Final Fantasy 7 or Final Fantasy Tactics

Be prepared for some JRPG tropes

6 'cause it's the best, 7 'cause it's the most talked about, and 10, to see how the series transitioned to 3D.

Hmmm...I'll try 6, might have to go the emulation route

@Dacnomaniac said:

Hmm, thanks guys! Now I just need to get my hands on some old consoles... >_<

You can play pretty much all of them if you've got a PS3. Only that you would have to go out of your way to play are 3,4 ,10 and 10-2

@believer258 said:

6 'cause it's the best, 7 'cause it's the most talked about, and 10, to see how the series transitioned to 3D.

This, and 13-2 because it best represents what modern Final Fantasy has become. (Also because I just beat it yesterday and feel the need to plug it.)

GAH! I live in the UK and for some fucking reason FF VI isn't on the PS3! Look like it's VII...

EDIT: Looks like i'll be busy for a while...quick additional question, how long is the average playthrough of FF game?

You can knock out FF7 in about 40 hours (I think that's the approximate time most of the FF's take) and if you want to go through all the extras you can probably add 20 hours on top of that.

Jesus Christ.

All of the ps1 Final Fantasies are available on the PSN store. (I also live in the UK)

Yeah, 40ish hours seems about right. Can vary wildly depending on what you do. As in, they could be longer. Don't expect shorter than that though.

@anywhereilay: O_o I cant find 6

@Dacnomaniac: 6 is for the SNES. 7-9 are the Ps1 ones.

@TobbRobb: I'm confuzzled here it says it was on PS1 O_O

@Dacnomaniac: It was ported to the ps1. As in, not the original version.

Ah ok :)

I've played 7 and 9 and I can confirm they are both really cool.

Start with 13. Since 7 a major point of playing FF is the wow factor and you're not going to get that from the older games. Then go back an play whichever one you want except for the MMOs.

I say go with Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy Tactics, and Final Fantasy 10.

I'd probably say FF6 or FF9 first. Both are fantastic games.

I really loved FF9, although it seems to be the black sheep in the series. Most of it was pretty fun, the combat and leveling up weren't overly complex, and the music was great. I'd say 9 or 12 is a good place to start.

You're not missing much, play Persona instead.