I think for most people it would be between FF7 and 10. As far as popularity, quality , and the impact it had on you, which do you think was the series high point? 

FF12.

and saying it's peaked is a little... overzealous

Yeah, I wouldn't say it's peaked yet. A lot of fans of the older stuff might not like the direction it's going, but I personally think it's going in the right direction and will find something great soon enough.

Yeah, I wouldn't say it's peaked yet. A lot of fans of the older stuff might not like the direction it's going, but I personally think it's going in the right direction and will find something great soon enough.

So you're pretty much asking me what I think the best Final Fantasy is? VI. It has to be VI.

I'd say it peaked at 7. FF9 and FFX's battle system aside, it's all downhill from there.

VI

13  
That was a joke 
I really enjoyed 10 so that I guess

FFX probably. It's the last one I really enjoyed.

@BoG: I can see that, but I would definitely not put VIII up there, and a good amount of people seem to really like 12.

@SSValis: Sure, but I mean in terms of quality I think it can still go up, but then again I'm not a huge fan of the traditional FFs. In terms of what my favorite one is, and what will probably remain my favorite forever I would say Tactics. If you only count the numbers, well, I don't feel that strongly about any of them, but I would pick VI if I had to.

My favorite FF game was 9, so that's my answer. Didn't care for anything before that other than 4.

I totally think it has peaked. I was consistently going up, and peaked at VI. It stayed at it's peak until 10, where it dropped.

I think you need to separate the 2D from the 3D games in the series. The last 2D one released in North America was FF6 wasn't it? I think they perfected the FF formula with that one.  
 
As for the the 3D ones, although I never played it, I'd say FF9. I think Square learned from their mistakes with 8 (which was running heavily upon the hype from 7), but 10 and onward have been mostly downhill. I hear 12 is pretty okay. I have no real interest in 11 or 13.

Though I have appreciate some of what Final Fantasy's have done I have never played a lot of any of them (though I do try). The only Final Fantasy game which I have any real love for is Final Fantasy XI so I would have to say that, for me, that is the peak of the series since its the only one I can actually say I like. An argument could be, and has been, made that its not really a Final Fantasy game but I think its a fantastic game and one that im looking forward to getting back to with friends (with look soon as we are getting through WoW quickly).

XIV seriously if I had some mates that wanted to play I would, best single player one to me is XII, looking forward to XIII-2 tho as I liked XIII but the battle system in XII was just better for me

Tactics.

PSOne

Somewhere between VII and X.

3/6/you know what one I mean.

I'd say 12, but there was a brief period where you could expect a new entry every 2 years or so and that's probably their "high point". Where 12 was the beginning of the "wait about 5 years and in the meantime play a dozen remakes".

For me, right now is the peak. I've always thought the games were really crappy.

Final fantasy 10 was probably one of the best final fantasy game IMO, I t hasn't peaked yet!

Tactics.

FFIX was my personal favorite. Black mage Vivi, monkey-tailed pirate Zidane, clumsy knight Steiner, princess Garnet and more. Memorable characters abound. And the music ... man ...

Is there any way to get these emulated on a PC? I'd kill to play this again.

this one.

The series has peaked, sad as I am to say that. My personal favs will always be 7,8 and 10.

For me it was FF6. FF7 started becoming a different game.

Probably X cause that's the last time I enjoyed an FF game.

8

X

Between 7 and 10, probably closer to 8 than 9.

@FancySoapsMan said:

Tactics.

If the height of FF was a rebranded Tactics Ogre game then what was the height of that game's developer, Quest? When they made the first SRPG most people played or the only RPG worth playing on the N64? Oh also, Matsuno, who later went and made FF12 and was hopspitalized from migraines having to work with shitty modern Square Enix, was the head of Quest. So you might be more a Quest fan than a Square fan. They also did Vagrant Story which a lot of people enjoy. I think its important to call out the individual teams responsible for the good things attached to a big publisher so its less confusing when that big publisher starts to suck. SE sucks because indivuals who made great games moved on. And now everything is Nomura bullshit.

I feel like it peaked at 10, went way down hill with 11, came back up the hill a tad with 12, and then plummeted into a deep crevasse with 13 and 14.

@BoG said:

I totally think it has peaked. I was consistently going up, and peaked at VI. It stayed at it's peak until 10, where it dropped.

What about FF8? That game would have been much better if it ended on Disc 2 (or whenever the war between the two gardens happened).

6, 7, 9, 10, and 12 were all amazing, with 12 probably being my favorite, never played 4 or 8. Also, though I don't think of it as a traditional FF game, I really didn't hate 13 as much as everyone else did. All the complaints about it being linear are definitely fair, and I would have liked to get to Pulse about 10 or so hours earlier, but I liked the battle system and kinda dug the story. Plus I liked Lightning as a protagonist. Oh well, to each his own. Cautiously optimistic about XIII-2.

@FancySoapsMan said:

Tactics.

This. but if you were looking for a numbered one...i would say (personally) 7,9, or 10

9 hands down. 
The most memorable characters in any FF ever as far as I'm concerned. I'm still blown away by how much emotion they could convey (and in turn how much sympathy and adoration they got out of the player) without actually saying a single damn word, ever. Last non-voiced FF in the main series, going voiced was for the most part not such a great move. Best soundtrack, best FF world, best characters, best FMVs, etc. They don't make them like that anymore.
 
By far the best ending of any FF game, too.
 
  

I think my opinion of it being 13 is invalid since that's the only FF game I've played.

They peaked when they somehow convinced people that they were anything more than bog-standard, overwrought, generic JRPG crap.

So VII?

It stopped being good at the end of the PS1 era.

#6

I think X was definitely the high point for Final Fantasy. I feel like that was the last one they released where FF was still kind of a pretty big deal. As much as I enjoyed XI for what it was and loved XII, ever since X, the series has been grossly mishandled. After X was when they began experimenting too much with the core series and started their never-ending stream of spinoffs, remakes, sub-sequels, et cetera. Final Fantasy, even the main numbered games no longer mean anything to me. The entire franchise has just become this indecipherable, rainbow-colored, putrid  mishmash of pretentious nonsense. 
 
Full disclosure: X isn't my favorite. Probably not even in my top five. 

good thoughts everyone, I can't believe it has been 10 years since FF10. 

Was XIII that bad? Is there anyone that enjoyed it? Graphically it looks amazing there's gotta be something to that game does it really suck that bad?

@Goly said:

Was XIII that bad? Is there anyone that enjoyed it? Graphically it looks amazing there's gotta be something to that game does it really suck that bad?

As a Final Fantasy game, it was incredibly disappointing to many, including myself. It was crazy linear and it only ever "opens up" when you enter a big field full of monsters toward the backend of the game. And even then there isn't much to do at that point except fight monsters and do quests that require you to slay monsters. It has good graphics, good music, and a good battle system. While that sounds like it should make for an overall great game, it only makes for a decent game at best because the structure and pace of the game is so poor. Character customization is also incredibly basic for an RPG. But I was never a fan of the sphere grid in FFX, license board in FFXII, and so I'm certainly not a fan of the chrystarium in here.

I felt the series peaked at FFIX. If I remember correctly from the GT retrospective, Hironobu Sakaguchi said this was his favorite FF game and embodied everything he wanted in one. I didn't like FFX as much as everyone else. It just didn't feel like a Final Fantasy game to me.

7 is where it tech peaked;  Its been up and down from there...Mostly down.....Fuck 13 was awful...Still pisses me off.  Square actually has to win me back after the string of shit they have put out.

10 for me was where it peaked.. but 9 was and still is my favorite with 10 a close second. 12 was ok but meh, wasn't as good as the previous and 13's combat style is to far from what it used to be for it to keep me interested.. Hopefully they figure it out and go back to what made it awesome in the first place since i dont remember people bitching about how stale it was but rather how great the games were..