I'm going to give this series a shot. which one should I

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>>387505919
IV, VI, VII and IX are the most beloved games by the most fans, and the ones I could easily recommend to anyone.
Out of those, I'd say 7 is a safe bet for a beginner. It was a huge phenomenon back in the days, and it's still very enjoyable, atmospheric and even comfy game. The gameplay-mechanisms are simple enough for rookies, but hard enough to master, soo it keeps even experienced players interested. There's also tons of optional side quests, minigames, etc.

After that, choose your poison. Since the stories and worlds are (usually) not connected in any way, you can pretty much shoot blind. Different things appeal to different people, and that's also why there's so much arguments about various titles in the series.

I for example really liked the FF XIII trilogy as a whole, but I know that many bash it as the worst blunder of the millennium and death of the series.

The ones I would personally recommend skipping are the NES originals (1-3) and the MMOs (11 & 14). I also wasn't too fond of VIII and XII.

>>387505919
FF7 is for newcomers. Or FFX because it's my favorite.

VII does a good job of summing uo everything they learned making the first 6 games and encapsulates the early FF era pretty well. Maybe you could say it's overrated, but that's just a buzzword people use when they don't have a real criticism.

X, IV, VII and IX are good entry points and easily accessible

Look up a Synapsis online, since story will be a major poing of the game. The gameplay adds on top of it.

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>>387506430
...forgot to mention that 9 is my favorite one.
It practically encapsulates the history of FF up to that point, and what made the saga so great.
It's also top-comfy, very pretty and atmospheric game, and feels quite FF7-ish at times, and it's to my understanding that it was made by same director and team for the most part.

But yeah, 7 is kinda THE game you need to experience.

>>387506559
>Look up a Synapsis online
kiiinda bad idea in FF's case. For starters, most FF games' synopsis tend to sound very similar, and awfully generic.

It's the small nuances and how the plot starts to develop that makes them so different (or not).

>>387505919
Well I should say start what catches your intrest first. If it's a fantasy style setting go with the snes series except six to start, for scifi fantasy go 7 since that's a basic one and then try 6, that one is harder but snes graphics. Then try the rest, they don't connect together other than monsters are the same and spells

>>387506689

Yeah it's better to describe the diference in how the different games focus on gameplay/character customization vs. story.

FFIV - The prototypical JRPG focus on an ensemble plot with very little in the way of character customization.

FFV - A weak but lighthearted plot with a small cast, but tons of character customization. Completely changing your party composition is quick and easy. No two people will go into the final battle with the same setup.

FFVI - A heavier focus on plot, but splits the difference between IV and V with character customization. Does a good job giving all the members of a huge cast screen time and a unique feel.

FFVII - Better story pacing than VI, but also a weaker ensemble. Characters are more customizable, but at the expense of them feeling a little more like blank slates which may be better or worse depending on your preferences.

You can't really go wrong per se, f you start with one of the following: IV-VII + X. If you've sworn to play every FF no matter what, start from I and continue in order. If you've sworn to play only one FF in your entire life, make it IX.

Beyond that, do you want:
Gameplay? III, IV and V. Later VI, VII, X, X-2, Lightning Returns, Dissidia Duodecim and World of Final Fantasy.
Story? VI, VII and X. Later II, IV, V, IX and XIII-2.
Combination of the above two? VI and VII. Later IV, V, IX and X.
More western style? XII. Later XV and Type-0.
Medieval? I, II, IV and V. Later III, VI, IX and XII.
Renaissance/Steampunk? VI and IX. Later XII.
Dieselpunk? VII.
Modern/Futuristic? VIII, XIII, XIII-2 and XV. Later VII, Before Crisis (if you could play it), Dirge of Cerberus, Crisis Core and Type-0.
Atmosphere? II, V, VI, VII and IX. Later III, X, X-2 and Lightning Returns.
Good graphics? III, VI, IX, X, XIII, XIII-2, XV and World of Final Fantasy.
Music? VI. Later super majority of the rest.
Characters? V, VI and VII. Later IV, IX and XIII-2.
Strong themes? IV, VI, VII, IX and X. Later II and VIII.
Humor? V, VI and VII. Later III, X-2 and World of Final Fantasy.
Seriousness? II, IV, VIII, IX, X and XII Later VI, VII, XIII and Before Crisis.
Weirdness? VIII.
Completeness? VI and IX.

>bonus: which one is your favorite?

My favorite is Lightning Returns, but I only consider II-IX to be actual Final Fantasies. Out of those it's VI.

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>>387506559
upboat this list, when's my ff9 remaster

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>>387505919
Go with VII. it's easy to find since it's on fucking everything, and it's in the franchises top 5 best games easy.

I feel that it's important to emphasize that JRPGs can get fucking strange in terms of characters and character motivations. And the it's Japaneses law that the plot goes to shit around the last 1/3th of the game.

Tl;ddr: Come for story but stay for the combat, music and anime girls.

Fav: III,VI (playing XII again with the resmaster and it might be out III just maybe)

Best Girl: Fang

>>387505919
VI is the only one I give a shit about

I started with VII. Was good enough to make me play the whole series right after.

>>387505919
Start with 7, then 8 and 9

If you liked 8 more then continue with 10, 10-2, 13 trilogy and 15.

If you liked 9 more then go for 12 and if you are feeling really old school then 6 and 4.

if you are in to mmos play 14. 11 I think its still on but for what i have heard it was only good in its prime so move along on that one.

Play the rest if you just want to try the whole franchise but it will be mostly a shore to do so.

Stay away from spinoffs like type 0, crisis core and the rest of the shitty spinoffs those are not real FF games

Only good spinoff is Tactics but only play if you in to that sort of games.

>>387505919
I'm gonna be the only person in this thread to say this but trust me: start with I.

I is extremely simple, there's no fuss, no complicated plot, it's enjoyable, short, 12 hour at best and you're done with it.

I will show you the core of the franchise, the rest only adds fluff to it. Start with I.

>>387505919
Just play FFVII it is the best one the rest of FF is trash. It's the best videogame of any genre ever made aswell so you won't really be missing anything if you only play that.

>>387515421
1 is still one of my favorites in the series. You just have to make sure to play either the NES original or the PS1 version, because the handheld versions completely ruin the experience with a bunch of baby mode shit. I'd personally recommend playing the NES version on an emulator with bug fixes, but the best legit release is FF Origins.