FFXI has the best atmosphere and universe than any other ff game.
FFVII is a great ff, though, because of it's awesome sci-fi theme. The medieval theme of Chrono Triger and the nes/snes final fantasys were cool. However, anime overkill hasn't served the most recent ffs very well.
FFX was fun, but very linear and didn't have much variety in the way of combat. I did play this game around 6 years ago, though, so my memory could be serving me wrong.
Wakku (or whatever his name was) was a character I would've preferred to not be so wacky. I felt Tidus wasn't very special. I mean, Cloud had his sword and military attire, Locke was a thief, Squall (I haven't played ff8 yet, other than the first half hour) had his bladegun and formal look. Tidus had... ? A vanilla sword and beachy hair. He also began the trend for "male leads with estrogen instead of testosterone" that annoys the hell out of me in the most recent FF games.
He was cool as a character, but presentation was 50% down the toilet in FFX. Many places were cool, but many were also too dreamy and random in its design. Maybe it made sense in regards to the plot, but I feel like the art design is more of a necessary evil rather than a pleasure.
I've beaten 90% of FF6/3. It was pretty great, but I find it hard for me to get involved with 2d games at this point. Well, it's not so much the 2d factor, as the combat is ace, but the field gameplay. Walking around on grids is a pet peeve of mine. Mother2/Earthbound, Mario RPG, and Link to the Past all got the field gameplay right.
FF6 had great music (especially the overworld theme), but I didn't like Terra. She felt like Aeris, a "divine plot device of godliness." Whenever she opened her mouth, I couldn't believe a word she said.
Locke was great. He was a regular Joe. Sometimes I couldn't help feeling he was JUST a regular Joe, but he definitely had a huge cool factor. Edward's spear gun was overpowered (lol) and his brother had fun attacking mechanics.
I felt the story was flat at some points, but it's likely just due to the whole medieval theme (which doesn't capture me as much as, say, ffvii's sci-fi theme).
I've played the first half hour of FF8, and the increase in graphics is nice (there are actual *gasp* TEXTURES! Not just gradients! lol). However, the hugely downgraded UI is disappointing. FF6 had a nice and cleaner UI, for fracks sake. My old rusty pc couldn't handle the overworld, so I'll probably play FF8 once I finish replaying FF7 since I have a new computer.
FF7 is my fave because it has captivating characters. They may not all have huge backstories or have character arcs, but these are not the traits of good characters. To put it simply: Barret was a bada*s with a big heart. Tifa was strong, both physically and mentally, and is such a "nice" person that calling her "hot" on account of her big breasts makes you feel bad. Aeris is a plot device, and relatively unflawed, but at least she was subtle and gave us a reason to care about her - her characteristics were those of a loving mother. RedXIII/Nanaki is an incredibly wise monk-like cat/dog who adds a wild flair to an otherwise urban sci-fi game, and his presence makes you feel like everything you're doing (even random encounters) is for a greater cause. Cid's big heart and childlike dreams makes him easy to WANT to have in your party - you want him to be a part of your success story and you want his dreams to come true. Cait Sith is one of the most original wacky characters I've ever seen and the only improvement they could have done is let the cat be the actual character rather than Reno, which I think robs him of lasting character value. Yuffie is spunky and energetic (Rikku is pretty much a copy of her, albeit more attractive in-game
) and, while she doesn't have much of her own story, you feel like Square made the right decision as her great personality would've robbed other characters of screen time. Vincent is emo, for sure, but he's got a da*n good reason to be, and he has more style than any other emo character (being victorian-esque and intelligent serves Vincent well).
Sephiroth could've been done much better, and they could've capitalized on his craziness rather than hardly justified emotions. I do, however, like that he had this serial-villain quality to him. He was off doing his own things by himself and the characterizations I enjoy of Sephiroth are the ones I invisioned myself. So, while Sephiroth wasn't presented in an emo-ish preteen-pleasing way, at least they didn't provide full closure on everything about him. They gave us room to fill in the blanks.
Advent Children pretty much ruined Sephiroth, as they made his emoness and preteen-pleasing appearance, behaviour, and dialog pretty much undeniable.
Shinra was pretty solid for an "evil corporation". They were fun as enemies, due to their great characterization (thanks to the characters that represented them) and simplicity. They weren't shown as media conglomerates or rich politicians like most other games/movies we see today.
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