The Final Fantasy franchise has been one of the most popular RPG series ever since it was created in 1987. The combat and story complexity has changed a lot over the years, yet it has remained a powerhouse of the genre. Many installments in the series have been console generation defining games, but none of them have the same quality.
There are nearly 20 mainline installments despite the most recent game being called Final Fantasy 16. This is because FF10 and FF13 both have direct follow up games. The franchise has gone through a lot of change in over 30 years. This list will rank every mainline Final Fantasy game based on their story, combat, and how much lasting impact they’ve left in the video game industry.
#18: Final Fantasy III
Ranking in last place is the third Final Fantasy game. The biggest differences that set it apart from its predecessors are the ability to Summon massive monsters to attack, and a slightly more intriguing setting. This game does deserve credit for being where Summons originated, but nearly every sequel improves upon it as a mechanic. Final Fantasy 3‘s story is its biggest flaw. It’s not unique enough to make it stand out from the other NES entries. Your main objective is still searching for the four elemental crystals, and most characters have minimalistic storylines.
Final Fantasy 3’s logo.
#17: Final Fantasy XI Online
The first Final Fantasy MMO was fairly successful for a console MMO. It received five major story expansions over the course of a decade, and still has dedicated players despite a newer Final Fantasy MMO existing. Final Fantasy 11 has some features that are very hit or miss for many players. Most notably is that you can lose experiment points when dying. This means it’s possible to level down if you lose to a tough enemy. FF11 also lacks FF14‘s accessibility, and has been topped by its successor in most aspects.
Final Fantasy 11’s logo.
#16: Final Fantasy II + Soul of Rebirth
The original release of Final Fantasy 2 was a little broken, and contains the same repetitive story flaws that FF3 has. The reason it ranks higher is due to the GBA Dawn of Souls remake. It fixes most of the bugs, thus making it a much more enjoyable experience. The remake also adds a bonus storyline called Soul of Rebirth. This additional narrative follows multiple characters who died in the main storyline as they travel through the afterlife. This concept is interesting enough to help the game stick out more than FF3 does, but it’s not enough to fully redeem the game’s lackluster main quest.
Final Fantasy 2’s logo.
#15: Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
The twelfth installments is one of the most unique in the franchise, for better and for worse. Some good qualities include the world’s size, having monsters in the overworld, and the narrative feeling very politically driven. The combat system is super customizable, but the way it’s designed rewards players for making many commands automatic.
The biggest cons are how straightforward most plot twists are, and half the cast feeling lackluster compared to past installments. Vaan and Panelo get a lot of screen time despite not really being that relevant after the halfway point. The story almost exclusively follows Ashelia’s goal and role in the world at that point. Overall, it is a game with many ambitious ideas, but fails to execute them in an appealing way.
Final Fantasy 12’s logo.
Revenant Wings & Tactics
FF12 eventually got a sequel on DS called Revenant Wings. This spin off adds more lore to the world of Ivalice, and even manages to flesh out a few characters more. There are also other games that take place in Ivalice, such as the FF Tactics games. All of these games are merely spin offs that don’t count for this list, but they are worth mentioning since they make the setting a little more interesting. Even with all these games taking place in this world, FF12 still manages to have less interesting lore than other installments.
#14: Final Fantasy XIV Online
Final Fantasy 14 is an ongoing MMO that has become one of Square Enix’s most profitable games in recent years. The free trial, updates, crossovers, and community support have helped the game reach massive success. Like most MMOs, there’s a lot to do in this game. Players can potentially put 1,000 hours into this game before completing the current expansions. There are currently four massive story expansions, and likely more to come in the future.
Final Fantasy 14’s logo.
FF14 certainly has some great qualities, but there are some flaws that hold it back a lot. The initial storyline of the game called A Realm Reborn has a very straightforward storyline, and players are required to get through all of it to reach more satisfying story segments. Needing to play dozens of hours to reach more intriguing narratives makes it hard for many players to stay invested, but those who do stick with it will have access to the most customization heavy game in the series.
#13: Final Fantasy X-2
Most Final Fantasy games are entirely standalone, but a few get spin-offs that are connected to them. FF10 and FF13 are the rare exceptions that have full blown sequels. Most FF13 games are of equal quality and were somewhat planned together, so it makes sense to rank them together. FF10 was, however, meant to be a fully standalone experience originally. X-2 was an afterthought created due to the first game selling incredibly well.
Final Fantasy X-2’s logo.
This sequel’s story is nowhere near as engaging, the cast is smaller, and they removed the excellent combat system that FF10 had. It’s a massive downgrade in nearly every way. That’s not to say there’s nothing good about it, because it does genuinely have some good qualities. Class switching in the middle of battle, a happier ending, and even small new overworld features like jumping add some value to the world that wasn’t there before. While it may not be an engaging standalone experience, it does do a fine job of being an extra packaged in with the HD collection. Players will likely enjoy this game more if they view it as a sort of post game slice-of-life extra rather than a full blown sequel.
#12: Final Fantasy VII Remake
FF7R is different enough from the original verses to warrant ranking it individually. 7 Remake stretches the first 5-10 hours of the original storyline into a 40-50 hour adventure. Some sections of the game benefited from this, while other parts were dragged out a little too much. Members of AVALANCHE getting additional backstory is a wonderful change, but shoving Sephiroth into way more scenes than he originally was removes how mysterious and menacing he used to be.
Members of AVALANCHE.
The combat was completely revamped to be action combat instead of the ATB system that most older Final Fantasy games used. 7 Remake has slower movement and less mechanics than other action-based Final Fantasy games like FF15 and FF16 do. The combat and story changes make this game more so a reimagining than a remake. FF7 Rebirth and the third part of the remake have a chance to improve this continuity’s placement, but as is FF7R’s continuity leaves quite a bit to be desired.
#11: Final Fantasy IX
FF9, 10, and 11 were all made at the same time for different kinds of fans. FF11 was made for those that wanted a multiplayer experience, FF10 for those that wanted an evolved formula, and FF9 for those that wanted something that celebrated everything Final Fantasy represented up to that point. This game may not have tried as many new concepts as the other two, but what it did offer was a story that made many fans of older installments happy.
Rather than copy and pasting the same story over and over like some earlier games did, 9 actually modifies the storylines that it references. There’s a villain named Garland in both FF1 and FF9, yet he in no one feels like a mere copycat. The same can be said about everything else that this game offers. It feels very similar to the Final Fantasy games that existed prior, but in an actually good way. Additionally, the cutscenes are some of the highest quality from any game from the PS1 era.
Steiner, Dagger, and Zidane in a cutscene.
FF9 ranks low on this list for a few reasons. Firstly, it didn’t redefine the franchise like 4, 6, 7, 10, and a few other games did. A lot of characters and storylines in the first half of the game are very flat. There’s multiple segments where you gain almost no world building lore due to nearly all of it being saved for the end. The final reason is that many emotional moments are over in an instant. Moments like Zidane learning the truth about himself should’ve been focused on longer than they were.
#10: Final Fantasy V
The fifth game in the franchise is often praised as the best game in the SNES trilogy by fans in Japan, while being considered the worst of the trilogy by most western fans due to it being a little more basic than the others. It being the least liked doesn’t mean disliked. Regardless of region, many players often consider it a well made game. It does repeat the same pattern of finding four crystals, but the two world setting and more interesting villain makes it a much better experience than both FF2 and FF3. The characters, visuals, and nearly every aspect outshines most RPGs from the previous console generation.
Exdeath boss fight.
#9: Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2, & Lightning Returns
The FF13 trilogy receives a lot of criticism for its linear corridors, lackluster storylines, and for not trying much new. While the criticism is mostly deserved, there’s also a lot of aspects about this trilogy that go underappreciated. For example: XIII-2 learned from the first game’s mistake. The world design is less linear, and the time travel themed story contains an interesting villain. Lightning Returns spices up the combat system, and is the fan favorite of the three. Altogether they create a story that may not be the best, but is good enough to outshine several of the very early games.
Final Fantasy XII-2’s logo.
#8: Final Fantasy VIII
The second PS1 era Final Fantasy game had to live up to the massive success that came before it. FF8 received a large budget to include high quality cutscene and more realistic character models. The game’s storyline is great at subtle foreshadowing and capturing emotional moments, but fails to explain things in a way that is clear. Most players aren’t even aware of the connection between Squall and Laguna despite them being two of the most important characters in the story. The sense of mystery created by the extremely subtle lore drops does make this entry more fun to theorize about than other games, but leaving players with too many questions is a bad thing.
Rinoa in space.
The final act of the game also gets a little nonsensical near the final boss, who is not quite as interesting as the other final bosses from the same era. Regardless, many scenes such as being in the space station make the game extremely memorable. FF8 may not have lived up to its predecessor the way that many fans hoped it would, but it remains a very solid installment.
#7: The Original Final Fantasy
The first game may be one of the most basic when it comes to combat, story, and other aspects, but it is also the reason the series exists in the first place. FF1 stood out from other RPGs that existed prior thanks to being able to choose classes for your party at the start of the game, having air transportation, and other features that may seem trivial today, but were revolutionary at the time of the game’s release. Final Fantasy 1 ranks high mainly for its historical value, not only to the series, but also to the RPG genre as a whole. It was an important stepping stone to getting the genre to where it is today. As a bonus; the game’s simplicity also makes it somewhat charming to revisit.
Final Fantasy 1’s logo.
#6: Final Fantasy VII
The original FF7 was by far the best selling game in the series, and contains some of the most recognizable RPG characters to ever exist. It’s the game that made Final Fantasy a mainstream franchise. It’s unquestionably one of the most important games in the series, and Square Enix’s diverse RPG library as a whole. The reason the game found such high success is due to visuals, story, and new combat features. The cast may not be as diverse as what FF6 had to offer, but Materia offered a lot of customization.
Iconic Final Fantasy 7 box art.
Crisis Core & Other FF7 Spin-Offs
FF7 has the most expansive continuity in the franchise. There’s the original game, a prequel called Crisis Core, a sequel called Dirge of Cerberus, a movie called Advent Children, a separate remake continuity, and multiple canon mobile games. The only two that really matter for this placement are the original game and Crisis Core. Crisis Core is one of the best spin-offs games that Final Fantasy has to offer when it comes to expanding a mainline game’s tale. FF7 would rank high regardless of this spin-off, but its incredible ending adds a lot of emotional value to part of FF7‘s backstory.
#5: Final Fantasy VI
The final SNES era game is the first to truly break away from the original game’s storyline. Finding four crystals is no longer the main driving force of an entire game’s narrative. Instead, there’s a killer clown who wants to destroy humanity. Kefka makes nearly every scene he’s in interesting, and gets much closer to accomplishing his goal than other villains in the series do.
Final Fantasy 6’s airship.
There’s a massive roster of 14 playable characters in this title, and many of them have a unique gimmick that sets them apart from everyone else. While some characters do get more forced screen time than others, there’s not really one central protagonist. Players can pick which characters to send on what missions which gives the game a lot of replay value.
#4: Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
Final Fantasy 15 was the series’ introduction to true action combat and open world exploration. Almost every part of the world is interconnected. The narrative isn’t as strong as some other titles, but it gets the job done. The real reason it ranks high is because it emphasizes emotional moments while also having a laid-back atmosphere. Despite the very serious situation that Noctis and co find themselves in, a lot of the adventure feels like a friendly road trip around the world. The cast is small, yet the feeling of them all being a close friend group makes it a satisfying party. The ending is an emotional rollercoaster due to how close the cast is.
Noctis, Gladio, Ignis, and Prompto group photo.
The Royal Edition of the game includes DLC that helps flesh out the game a little bit. Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis all get their own playable segment in this expanded version. Ignis’s story even adds an alternate happy ending to the game. The game’s main antagonist also has a DLC storyline, although it was left out of the game’s enhanced rerelease.
#3: Final Fantasy IV (3D Remake)
Very few NES RPGs had storylines or characters that were complex enough to be deeply invested in, and that rings true for the Final Fantasy franchise. The jump to SNES is where the series truly began to shine. Cecil is a protagonist that begins the game as an evil minion to a mad king. He goes through character development throughout the game until he becomes a noble hero. This makes him not only the first interesting protagonist in the series, but still one of the most entertaining to this day.
FF4’s party from the 3D remake.
The moon lore, bitter rivalry, and other aspects of the story all come together to create a narrative that would define the story quality that Final Fantasy is capable of. FF4 also introduced the Active-Time Battle system that every main installment used until FF10. The best version of FF4 is the DS remake which brings the game into 3D and adds some voiced cutscenes.
FF4 After Years
After Years is a sequel that suffers from multiple problems; backtracking, poorly executed episodic storytelling, and trying too hard to copy what made FF4 good rather than standing on its own feat. A bad spin-off doesn’t weigh the main game down, but it is worth mentioning since it can be a nice extra for those that just want to see what the kids of FF4’s cast are like. After Years does not affect FF4′s ranking on this list.
#2: Final Fantasy XVI
The most recent Final Fantasy combined many incredible developers to create a thrilling experience. Devil May Cry and Kingdom Hearts developers were brought in to craft the best action combat Final Fantasy has ever had. The story takes notes from Dragon Quest 5, while also putting a spin on some older Final Fantasy concepts. Final Fantasy 16 is a high quality modern entry that proves the series can continue to evolve while simultaneously paying tribute to what came prior.
Final Fantasy 16’s logo.
FF16 is the first M rated mainline Final Fantasy game, and it pulls no punches when it comes to its brutally dark storyline. It’s not the most charming installment due to this change in direction, but it’s not without cute moments. FF16 is a game that many older fans of the franchise who are looking for a mature evolution of the formula can fall in love with.
#1: Final Fantasy X
FF10 invented the Conditional Turn Based (CTB) battle system. It’s a combat style where every party member and enemy have their own individual turn, and certain attacks have a hidden stat that will dictate how soon that individual’s next turn will be. It’s a combat system that’s harder to master, but is extremely rewarding. The additional depth that CTB combat has to offer makes FF10‘s battles far more engaging and fun than what all previous games had to offer. The character interactions, romance, music, world building, and foreshadowing are all some of the best in the franchise too. There are some flaws still, such as the linear world design and a few overly difficult sections, but FF10 is the most well rounded game the series has to offer.
Tidus and Yuna in a lake.
