Which ff to buy?

With Final Fantasy XVI on the horizon and seemingly poised to change up the series once again, we decided to look back at the previous mainline, numbered Final Fantasy games and rank our favorites. That means no spin-offs or directs sequels like Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, Final Fantasy X-2, or Final Fantasy Tactics are on this list.

Well, almost all of the mainline games--we left Final Fantasy XI and XIV off this list since they’re long-running MMOs (yes, Final Fantasy XI is still active) that are difficult to compare against their single-player counterparts. But rest assured many of us play and enjoy both and would list them high on our personal Final Fantasy rankings.

For the Final Fantasy games we did rank, however, we'll include recommendations for the best ways to play them on modern platforms.

And if you want to see how we rank other iconic video game series, check out our lists for the best Legend of Zelda games, the best Monster Hunter games, and best Mario games, too.

Every Final Fantasy game tries something new, and while some are more successful than others, Final Fantasy II bears the unfortunate reputation as the one that just doesn’t work. Compared to the original Final Fantasy, FFII’s story is bigger, and its bespoke characters are more interesting. However, the more sophisticated story is undermined by a messy leveling system where your party members' stats grow incrementally by using certain actions. It was a bold attempt to revamp the standard character progression mechanics most console RPGs followed at the time, and while many contemporary RPGs make similar ideas work, Final Fantasy II’s system is inelegant and confusing. Luckily, the various ports and remakes over the years feature easier combat that makes the game more approachable.

The Pixel remaster version on Steam, iOS, and Android is the easiest to find and play, but the Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls collection on the GameBoy Advance and PSP is often considered the best port of Final Fantasy II if you can find it. There are also ports of the Dawn of Souls version for Android and iOS, but support for modern devices is limited, plus a PSOne Classics version you can grab on the PS3 or Vita PlayStation Stores while they’re still active.

To be fair, it’s commendable that director Hajime Tabata and company were able to salvage and repurpose the misguided mess of Final Fantasy Versus XIII into the competent video game Final Fantasy XV ultimately is. Spinning the classic Final Fantasy rubric of four adventurers on an epic quest into a touching road trip between best friends is also a novel premise for the series, and the chemistry between main protagonist Noctis and his buds Prompto, Gladio, and Ignis is excellent. Final Fantasy XV also ranks among composer Yoko Shimomura’s best work.

Nevertheless, we can’t overlook FFXV’s flawed story pacing and bland combat system. Post-launch DLC ironed out some of these issues, but no amount of polish and bonus content can hide that Final Fantasy XV is held together by threads.

If you want to play Final Fantasy XV, we recommend the Royal Edition available on PS4, Xbox, and PC since it includes most of the DLC. There’s also a mobile version on iOS, Android, and Switch that tells the exact same story complete with the same voice acting and cutscenes, but with a chibi art style and more streamlined gameplay that’s quicker to play.

Final Fantasy XIII is one of the best-looking games from the PS3 and Xbox 360 generation, and its combat system was an interesting attempt to merge the series’ turn-based roots with contemporary action RPGs. But whether it was a successful attempt depends on who you ask, however. Similarly, players are also split on the game’s cast--led by the stoic Lightning--and its complex setting and mythology.

But what people find most contentious is Final Fantasy XIII’s structure. Final Fantasy XIII is painfully linear for the majority of playtime, until you’re finally set free in the open world well into the game’s third act. FFXIII also lacks many staple elements of not just Final Fantasy, but RPGs in general.

Still, plenty of players enjoyed Final Fantasy XIII, and Square Enix felt it was successful enough to warrant two direct sequels: Final Fantasy XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. All three games are available on PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, and are playable on newer consoles through PS Now and Xbox Game Pass.

Final Fantasy III is arguably one of the most important entries in the series. It was the first to incorporate iconic elements the series is still known for today, including the job system that would become a semi-regular part of the series, and the furry floating Moogles that are arguably the Final Fantasy mascot. And yet, it’s also one of the few games in the series you can safely skip. Final Fantasy III’s biggest sin is that it’s not Final Fantasy V, which built upon and refined the ideas that III originally introduced.

Final Fantasy III famously skipped the NES, but there are several easily available ports you can find today, including the Pixel remaster on PC and mobile and the 3D remake on PC, DS, and PSP/Vita (if you can manage to find it).

While some see the original Final Fantasy as a simplistic relic of early console RPGs, we find it to be an elegant and enjoyable adventure that still holds up today. It only takes a few hours to complete, but the ability to customize your party's jobs from the very beginning makes it easy to try new builds each time you play, and the game's story uses a timeloop as its core conceit, so replayability is built right into the narrative. Like the original Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy is a fun, if archaic RPG you can knock out in an afternoon.

If you recently worked your way through Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin and want to see what happens next in the story, fire up the recent Pixel remaster version on Steam, iOS, or Android. That said, if you can get your hands on the Dawn of Souls collection for PSP or GameBoy Advance, we highly recommend it that version because of its rebalanced difficult, quality of life features, and excellent sprite work.

Depending on who you ask, Final Fantasy IX was either a return to form, or a regressive detour. While returning to a medieval fantasy setting populated with cartoony characters was a contentious choice following the successes of Final Fantasy VI, VII, and VIII, It didn't help that the original PS1 version was bogged down by long load times and spotty performance during battle scenes either. Still, Final Fantasy IX's story is one of the most compelling in the series. For as cute as characters like Vivi, Zidane, and Freya are, they grapple with deep philosophical and ethical questions that go beyond genre tropes.

Well, at least some of them do. Final Fantasy IX notoriously underutilizes a few of its core party members and has one of the most anti-climactic final boss switcharoos in the entire series. It also foreshadowed the series' more linear turn, and lacks a lot of the exploration and side content that define many of the Final Fantasies that came before it.

We still recommend playing Final Fantasy IX based on the strength of its core cast and life-affirming message, however. An HD remaster is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS, as well as many other devices like the Nvidia Shield. All versions include helpful optional features like turning off random encounters or making your party invincible--though you can of course playthrough without those features as well.

Many fans consider Final Fantasy IV their favorite, and it's easy to see why. For starters, it was the first to introduce the ATB (active time battle) system, which would act as the series’ core battle system for the next decade. Final Fantasy IV also features one of the most memorable stables of playable characters, and a narrative that outshines the games that came before it. It’s a tale filled with heroic sacrifices, triumphant victories, and shocking twists (even though some are undermined by last-minute mulligans). FFIV even incorporates aspects of Final Fantasy III’s job system into its story, marking character growth with literal class changes.

All that said, Final Fantasy IV shares a similar fate as Final Fantasy III: it became overshadowed by future games that improved upon its ideas (in this case, Final Fantasy VI). That said, Final Fantasy’s unique story still makes it worth experiencing. The most accessible modern version is the Pixel Remaster version on Steam and Mobile. There is also a 3D remake with voice acting available on PC and Nintendo DS. For existing fans, there is a sequel, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years also on Steam, though it wasn’t well received.

Final Fantasy VIII is a weird game even compared to later entries that stray more aggressively from the Final Fantasy formula.

VIII was the first game in the series to go full-on science fiction, and the character designs were inspired by modern fashion rather than fantasy. The gameplay systems were equally disruptive, dispensing with traditional mechanics in favor of experimental ideas like the Junction System, where character stats are primarily affected by summons, magic, and special skills you equip, instead of leveling up or gear. The game also encourages playing the minigame Triple Triad (yes, that Triple Triad) to collect better cards that can be turned into stat-boosting spells.

As strange as these elements are, they make sense in-game and make for one of the most unique--if polarizing--games in the franchise. But if the mechanics click for you, it’s an excellent adventure filled with tons of side content and deep gameplay grounded by one of the series’ best love stories. These days, the best way to play Final Fantasy VIII is the HD remaster on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.

If we were handing each game its own special award, Final Fantasy VII would win “The People’s Choice” award. It’s a cliche to bring up the monumental impact Final Fantasy VII had on gaming, especially in the west, but that success is also why this game is so fondly remembered. It took Japanese RPGs from a niche corner to one of the PS1’s flagship genres, and solidified SquareSoft as the system’s most important third-party developer.

Let’s be fair, though: for as important FFVII is to the success of the series, and to the popularity of JRPGs overall, its gameplay is shallow compared to most of the other games in the series--both before and after. The characters and story, on the other hand, are among some of the best (despite the uneven localization), and the soundtrack features some of the most memorable pieces Nobuo Uematsu ever wrote.

Final Fantasy VII has seen numerous spin offs over the years, to the point you could almost define it as its own separate franchise. You can play the HD remaster today on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and mobile.

Final Fantasy V doesn’t have the most memorable story, but we feel its gameplay is the best of the early titles. FFV builds upon the job system introduced in Final Fantasy III, adding more Jobs to unlock and skills to master across five unique characters for near-infinite party combinations. It also iterates on the ATB battle system first introduced by its immediate predecessor, FFIV. Factor in all the optional content in the game, and Final Fantasy V is one of the most replayable games in the series.

It’s unfortunate Square didn’t originally release Final Fantasy V outside of Japan. While subsequent localized rereleases and remasters over the years have expanded its global audience, it’s still a criminally underrated JRPG. The best way to play today is through the Pixel Remaster on Steam or the (ugly) mobile remakes, though many die-hard fans still swear by the GameBoy Advance version if that’s available to you.

Despite our “no sequels or spinoffs” rule, we made an exception for Final Fantasy VII Remake--which is technically the first part of a multi-game reimagining of the original Final Fantasy VII that expands upon the source material in surprising ways that should be experienced first-hand.

While we love this reimagined version of Midgar, we included Final Fantasy VII Remake on this list for reasons beyond its relationship to Final Fantasy VII and its expanded universe. The fact is, there are several lessons we hope future Final Fantasy games learn from VII Remake. For example, Final Fantasy VII Remake is the first Final Fantasy game to successfully marry elements the classic ATB battle system with action combat, something other entries in the series have struggled to achieve. Final Fantasy VII Remake also isn’t afraid to embrace the weird and humorous elements of the original. Humor was an important part of the series for a long time, but the recent single player adventures took a much darker, self-serious tone.

Frankly, we think the Final Fantasy VII Remake sets the standard that all future Final Fantasy games should follow, and we're eager to see what the next chapters have in store. Final Fantasy VII Remake is playable on Playable on PS4, PS5, and PC.

There’s a stark difference between the Final Fantasy games that came before after Final Fantasy X, and those that came after, and Final Fantasy X has a foot planted on each side of the divide.

Final Fantasy X was the first mainline Final Fantasy to ditch an overworld map and made radical changes to the battle system. It was also the first in the series to feature voice acting. At the time, fans felt these changes made Final Fantasy X a major departure, but in hindsight it’s more accurate to call it the last hurrah for “classic” Final Fantasy, as it was the last to feature random encounters, turn-based combat, and the last time series composer Nobuo Uematsu would handle the majority of a game’s soundtrack.

Final Fantasy X is available in an HD bundle along with X-2, a game that is criminally overlooked and definitely worth playing for lovers of FFX. You can grab it for PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

At the time of release, some fans saw Final Fantasy XII as a radical and unnecessary departure that felt out of line with the rest of the series. In hindsight, it’s easier to see XII’s design decisions were actually informed by some of the best Final Fantasy games that came before it.

For example, Final Fantasy XII features a deep, tactical battle system that melds elements from Final Fantasy XI Online, Final Fantasy Tactics, and the classic ATB system from the SNES and PS1 games. Final Fantasy XII is also set in the same world as the Tactics series, Ivalice, which is arguably the most well-developed Final Fantasy setting outside of the MMOs. And the Zodiac Age version adds in the iconic job system found in many other Final Fantasy games.

Final Fantasy XII also introduced mechanics that influenced future Final Fantasy games, notably the Gambit system which provided the basis for the AI Trust party members in Final Fantasy XI and XIV. Its large explorable environments, real-time combat, and MMO-like questing also had a major influence on RPGs in general, paving the way for other large-scale games like Xenoblade Chronicles.

The best version of Final Fantasy XII is the Zodiac Age which adds the aforementioned job system, plus quality-of-life improvements, enhanced visuals and soundtrack, and bonus side content. It’s available on PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Nearly 30 years after its release, Final Fantasy VI remains the best Final Fantasy game. It was groundbreaking at the time of its original release on SNES for combining the story-focused approaches of Final Fantasy II and IV with the systemic depth of III and V into a single game brimming with powerful storylines, deep character customization, and a vast world to explore. It also deftly balances an ensemble cast of 14 main party members--all of which have fully-realized character arcs and unique gameplay mechanics--plus numerous guest characters and NPCs. And, of course, Final Fantasy VI features the series’ best villain: Kefka.

We won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t played this one yet, but suffice it to say that few Final Fantasy games--and few video games period--attempt the mid-game narrative and gameplay pivot that Final Fantasy VI does. And even fewer manage to nail it like Final Fantasy VI.

The point is: if you’re only going to play one Final Fantasy game, we think it should be Final Fantasy VI. For now, the Pixel Remaster version on Steam and mobile is the most widely available, followed by the (ugly) 2014 mobile version (which is also on PC). Sadly, there's no official way to play Final Fantasy VI on modern consoles, but we're hopeful a port will appear one day--or better yet, maybe even a full-on remake.

It’s one of the most common questions we see from people yet to dive into the series, and a hotly debated topic online - ask five fans and you’re likely to get five different answers.

The actual ‘correct’ answer, of course, is… any of them. After all, almost every game in the series acts as a standalone adventure with its own distinct world, characters and even gameplay mechanics. There really isn’t a wrong or right place to start.

But we also realize that’s not particularly helpful for new players, who have a lot of options available - particularly with re-releases and new FINAL FANTASY pixel remaster series.

So to lend a hand, we’ll run through the mainline FINAL FANTASY games that are available and give you a sense of what to expect from each adventure.

Then, you can simply choose the game that most appeals most to you - we’re confident that whichever you pick, you’ll have a good time.

This is the game that started it all - and it’s better than ever in the pixel remaster edition.

FINAL FANTASY follows the Warriors of Light, who set off on a quest to defeat four fiends and restore their tainted crystals back to their former glory.

It may be the first, but it immediately established many of the elements that would come to define the series - vast, sprawling worlds, deep strategic combat (turn-based in this case), creative character and enemy designs and sublime music.

The pixel remaster edition updates the game with amazing new 2D art, quality of life features, such as auto-battle, and a rearranged soundtrack that’s just… *chef’s kiss.

The second FINAL FANTASY game focuses on four war-orphaned heroes: Firion, Maria, Guy and Leon. The group becomes embroiled in a conflict between the hostile Empire of Palamecia and the rebel resistance, with the fate of the whole world hanging in the balance.

Combat is once again turn-based, but even in this early stage, FINAL FANTASY was a series that innovated. Rather than sticking with traditional leveling, FINAL FANTASY II introduced a new proficiency system, in which characters’ skill with weapons and abilities increased the more they used them.

The pixel remaster offers the definitive way to play this classic RPG. As with the other pixel remaster games, it features new 2D art that’s beautiful in HD, a rearranged soundtrack and more!

When darkness falls and the land is robbed of light, four young heroes are chosen by the crystals to head off an exciting journey across a vast and hostile land.

This critically acclaimed entry in the series introduced a flexible job system, which lets characters change their roles in combat at any time. It was also the first to introduce powerful summons, including series mainstays Bahamut and Shiva.

The pixel remaster edition is out now, and brings with it a number of improvements to the original game, including new visuals, new music and more.

FINAL FANTASY IV innovated once again, with the deepest narrative and most beloved characters in the series so far.

After questioning some troubling orders from his King, the dark knight Cecil is demoted and sent on a simple delivery job with his friend Kain. The shocking events that follow send Cecil and a group of heroes on a dramatic journey of betrayal, love and redemption.

As well as delivering one of the most powerful stories in the series, FINAL FANTASY IV was the first game to feature the Active Time Battle system, which combined turn-based and real-time elements together to create a faster, but equally strategic, battle system.

It was already a true classic, but the pixel remaster makes it even better, thanks to its new visuals, music and gameplay features.

The world of FINAL FANTASY V is reliant on elemental crystals with the power of earth, water, fire and wind. These crystals bring life to and prosperity, but they have lost their power and are on the verge of destruction.

Four characters are driven together by fate: Bartz, Princess Lenna of Castle Tycoon, the pirate captain Faris and the deeply mysterious Galuf. Together, they embark on a journey to save the planet.

As with its predecessor, FINAL FANTASY V features the ATB battle system, but expands the possibilities dramatically with an incredibly deep and flexible new class system that lets you customize your characters with 26 unique jobs.

FINAL FANTASY VI is one of the most popular entries in the FINAL FANTASY series - acclaimed by fans and critics alike.

This game introduced several interesting ideas, including a story with strong characters, but no central protagonist - each member of the party gets their own moment center stage and you can choose who to control for much of the game.

It’s set in a world where magic has vanished, and humankind has embraced the power of iron, gunpowder, steam engines and other technologies. But one still does have the power of magic - a young woman named Terra, who is enslaved by the evil Empire.

An encounter with an Esper - an ancient being of incredible power - frees Terra from the Empire’s clutches and sets off a chain of events that touches countless lives, and leads to epic and terrible consequences.

And, of course we should mention that FINAL FANTASY VI features Kefka - regarded by many as one of the greatest villains of all time…

FINAL FANTASY VII changed the face of gaming forever.

It’s inspired a legion of fans thanks to its epic story, legendary characters and unsurpassed presentation. It’s gone on to inspire spin-offs, movies and even a full-blown remake.

The story starts in Midgar, a city controlled by Shinra Inc - a less than ethical multi-conglomerate that is absorbing Mako energy and destroying the natural resources of the planet.

Cloud, a former member of Shinra’s elite SOLDIER unit, joins AVALANCHE in a daring mission to bomb one of the city’s reactors, but in the chaos that follows, he makes a discovery that will change his life, and the world, forever.

The game also made waves with its cinematic presentation and innovative Materia system that essentially lets you slot abilities and magic into armor - this allows for an incredible level of flexibility in how you set up the party.

The version available now on current platforms features a number of useful features, including the ability to speed up time, turn off random encounters or even boost your characters to full health.

The most recent game in the series reimagines FINAL FANTASY VII and the iconic city of Midgar for modern platforms.

The story follows the same storyline as the original game up to the party’s escape from the city but the game uses the increased fidelity and scale to deepen the already-beloved characters, add new scenarios and even additional story elements.

The battle system is especially noteworthy, fusing real-time action with menu-based commands to create something that’s exciting, fast-paced and agreeably strategic.

Add in amazing minigames (Motorcycle battles! Dance offs! Competitive squatting!), loads of side quests, battles and challenges to complete, stunning graphics and a truly incredible soundtrack and you have one of the greatest games in the series to date.

Let’s just say there’s a reason it won ‘Best RPG’ in the 2020 Game Awards.

If you have a PS5 or PC, you can get FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE INTERGRADE, and the new FF7R EPISODE INTERmission. This new story takes place concurrently with the main tale and follows fan-favorite ninja Yuffie Kisaragi as she embarks on a dangerous mission in Midgar.

(Note: PS4 owners who own a copy of FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE can upgrade to the PS5 version for free. FF7R EPISODE INTERmission must be purchased separately.)

In FINAL FANTASY VIII, the militarized nation of Galbadia has formed an alliance with the Sorceress Edea and is making a bid for world conquest.

Amid the conflict, Squall Leonhart and a group of fellow students from Balamb Garden’s mercenary force, SeeD, are dispatched into action. But Squall’s universe it turned upside down when he meets the free-spirited Rinoa Heartilly and starts to dream that he is a Galbadian soldier named Laguna Loire…

FINAL FANTASY VIII upped the ante with presentation once again, with more detailed characters models, jaw-dropping cinematics and one of the most adored soundtracks in the series.

It also innovated in terms of gameplay, with more real-time elements like timed button presses to enhance damage in combat, and the strategically deep ‘Junction’ system, which lets you enhance your party’s stats with magic. Also, it featured the card game Triple Triad - one of the best mini-games in the series to date!

FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered is an updated version of the game with enhanced visuals, and useful boosters, such as the ability to speed up time!

FINAL FANTASY IX is an epic story of love, war and betrayal. The game begins with an elaborate plan by the roguish Zidane and the Tantalus Theater Troupe to kidnap Princess Garnet, the heir of Alexandria.

But to their surprise, the princess wants to be kidnapped, and make her escape from the castle. Before long Garnet, her personal guard Steiner, have joined Zidane and a colorful cast of misfits, including Vivi, Freya and Quina, on an unforgettable journey across a dangerous land.

This game marks a return to the series traditional fantasy roots, after the sci-fi inspired worlds of the prior two games. More than that, it operates as a love letter to the FINAL FANTASY series as a whole. The game contains lots of references that serve to reward series veterans, while introducing many elements of the franchise to newcomers.

FINAL FANTASY X tells the story of Tidus - a talented blitzball player, who journeys with a young summoner named Yuna on a quest to save the world of Spira from an endless cycle of destruction wrought by the colossal menace Sin.

The game features exciting turn-based battles and introduced the sphere grid system of character progression.

Rather than characters levelling up automatically as in prior games, in FINAL FANTASY X, you manually build their stats and abilities by inserting orbs into a massive grid. It’s very simple system to use, but it gives you greater control over how your party develops than many of the older games.

FINAL FANTASY X|X-2 HD Remaster is available now, and updates the game with high-definition visuals, and a remastered soundtrack. The collection also includes the sequel FINAL FANTASY X-2 - a memorable game in its own right - as well bonus material and extras.

FINAL FANTASY XI was even more of a departure for the series - rather than an epic single player adventure, the game was a massively multiplayer online RPG (MMORPG). Still pretty epic though.

It’s set in the vast world of Vana'diel, and allows players team up to battle, explore, chat and trade their way through a huge number of quests, full of drama and intrigue.

With the game set to celebrate its 20th anniversary soon, it's clear that this game has staying power!

Available on: Switch / PS4 / Xbox One / PC

The world of Ivalice is at war. The small kingdom of Dalmasca has been conquered by the Archadian Empire, leaving Princess Ashe the one and only heir to the throne. Meanwhile, Vaan, a street urchin and orphan, dreams of flying freely in the skies.

The two will join forces with friends, pirates and warriors to form a resistance, find a way to restore Dalmasca to its former glory, and maybe even save the world.

FINAL FANTASY XII’s biggest innovations were in the critically-acclaimed Gambit system, which allows players to set the behaviors of your party to an incredibly precise degree, enabling them to act automatically in battle.

The ZODIAC AGE edition of the game - available on most platforms - expanded the options further, with even more gambits and the ability to give characters a second job in combat. It also features improved HD visuals, a remastered soundtrack and the ability to speed up time.

A deepening crisis threatens to plunge the floating world of Cocoon into chaos. A powerful and dangerous being called a Fal'Cie has been discovered, and in the aftermath a group of unsuspecting strangers are branded enemies of the state.

With the terrified population baying for their blood, and the military eager to fulfil that request, the group has no choice but to run - but will they be able to escape the destiny that has been thrust upon them?

One of the best things about FINAL FANTASY XIII is the paradigm system - fast paced, strategic battles in which characters must change roles on the fly to suit the constantly changing conditions. It also introduced popular characters like Lightning and spawned two direct sequels.

FINAL FANTASY XIII (and its sequels) can be played on PC and Xbox One via backward compatibility.

Available on: PC / Mac / PS5 / PS4

FINAL FANTASY XIV Online is a massively multiplayer game set in Eorzea - a realm embraced by gods and forged by heroes.

It has everything you could want from a FINAL FANTASY game - an intricate, engaging storyline, fantastic graphics, and a deep job system that lets you change roles as much as you want. It also includes one of the most welcoming MMO communities out there for newcomers. The game eases players in gently to the adventure, and features a mentor system that helps new players find answers and get up to speed quickly through interacting with veterans.

Even better, it’s getting bigger all the time. The most recent expansion, FINAL FANTASY XIV: Endwalker is out now, and it adds loads more content, including two new jobs, new areas, new storylines, and more.

It’s a game with hundreds of hours-worth of quests and content to sink your teeth into - not to mention some of the most compelling stories in the whole FINAL FANTASY series.

After years of fighting, the nations of Lucis and Niflheim agree to an armistice.

As a symbol of the peace, Noctis, crown prince of Lucis, plans to wed Lady Lunafreya of Tenebrae. Joined by his friends and bodyguards - Gladiolus, Ignis and Prompto - the young prince sets off on a road trip towards his bride to be. But the group is unaware of the many dangers that lie ahead.

FINAL FANTASY XV opens with a statement of intent - “A FINAL FANTASY for Fans and First-Timers”.

It offers up a large world, filled with quests to complete, vicious monsters to hunt and secrets to discover and - for the first time for a numbered FINAL FANTASY game - a spectacular action-oriented battle system.

It’s an unconventional FINAL FANTASY game in that respect, but the core of the series shines through - wonderful characters, a compelling story, exciting battles and incredible presentation.

FINAL FANTASY has been around for a long time, and has spawned direct sequels, like FINAL FANTASY X-2 and FINAL FANTASY XIII-2, as well as spin-off games like STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN, FINAL FANTASY TACTICS or WORLD OF FINAL FANTASY.

But to be frank, this article is more than long enough already. Maybe we’ll cover them in a future post, but much like the main numbered titles, each is designed to be played standalone, so you can’t really go wrong.

As we said at the start, there’s no right answer to where you should start with the FINAL FANTASY series. As each game is its own unique entity, you really can begin wherever you want. Hopefully the descriptions here will help you make that decision.

This enormous JRPG series has changed a lot over the years, and its history on PC has been rather patchy to say the least. For years, anyone wanting to play any of the NES and SNES-era Final Fantasies on PC had to make do with Square Enix's inferior, years-old mobile ports, whose terrible sprites were outright banned from the previous incarnation of this list because they were more or less like having your eyes scorched by one of Ramuh's lightning attacks. At long last, though, we now have the complete set of Pixel Remasters at our disposal, making it high time we revisited this list for a proper re-ranking.

In the (likely) event that the Eternal Argument about the best Final Fantasy game keeps on raging, you can summon your own opinions in the comments. But please remember to be a good adversary. Talk about the part in Final Fantasy Z where you go Crystal sledding, or the village of the Carrot People, or that bit where Corupcion falls into a TV studio and you have to play the minigame where you pretend to be one of the Empire's weather presenters. Man, why isn't Final Fantasy Z on this list? In the mean time, though, here are the best Final Fantasy games on PC, ranked in perfect, undisputed order.

Final Fantasy XIII is often decried as the 'corridor FF game that only gets good after 30 hours', but re-evaluating it in the cold light of today reveals this simply isn't true. Final Fantasy XIII is an absolute stunner on PC, impressing from the off with its lush visuals, gorgeous soundtrack, and its constant, dogged dedication to keeping players on the tip of their toes, throwing together different character pairings and battle techniques every couple of hours so that no two sections ever feel the same. And besides, it's no more of an endless corridor than Final Fantasy X was several years earlier, so why all the hubbub? It deserves better, is what I'm saying, and is absolutely worth revisiting as we begin our list of the best Final Fantasy games.

Sure, its cast of characters is a somewhat mixed bag (for the record, stoic badasses Lightning and Fang and tired chocobo dad Sazh sitting at the top of pile, while perpetual wet blanket Hope can rot in its interminable Coccoon for all I care), but its greatest triumph is its active time battle system. Not only did it ditch dedicated character classes for a more malleable set of roles known as 'paradigms', but it also introduced the concept of staggering enemies before really laying into them - a concept that's since been pinched and pilfered in a variety of JRPGs ever since. I cannot tell you what the plot's about, or how its key concepts of l'Cie differ from its fal'Cie (we need not concern ourselves with such arcane nonsense), but as we'll soon discover, most Final Fantasy plots are utter bobbins when you really sit down and think about it, so with that in mind, let's move on to our next entry.

I came to Final Fantasy IV - or II, if you're using US numbers - quite late in the day, so I've never actually played it in its original form (now available, minus some original fonts, as the Pixel Remastered version). Instead, my first taste came from the 3D remake on the Nintendo DS, which you can still buy on Steam today. To be honest, I'm all for this particular version of the game, because anything that makes the classic 'YOU SPOONY BARD' moment of mistranslation even funnier is a good thing in my books.

Final Fantasy IV was the first one in the series to do a proper story with proper characters you actually liked and loathed, with relationships and personalities often reflected in their job class and character skills. There's moody old dragoon Kain and his unrequited love for white mage Rosa, Cecil's transformation from conflicted dark knight to righteous world-saving paladin, super cool ninja Edge who disappears when he gets embarrassed, the slightly useless bard Edward who just can't get his act together to confess his love for his dear Anna, and the mischievous mage twins Palom and Porom who you decide would make brilliant additions to your travelling party despite the fact they're just five years old (social services clearly need to get their act together on this version of Earth). And who could forget Rydia, the child summoner who's sort of rubbish for the first half of the game but then becomes the greatest beast tamer of all time once some STUFF HAPPENS. Did I mention you also go to the moon on a whale?

Final Fantasy XV is an absolute mess of a game that has no right to be as good, polished or genuinely affecting as it is after a decade of development. Its flaws are too many to count, from its bobbins story to sticking all its important bits in DLC, films and an anime TV series. Despite this, though, it's still one of my favourite games in the series and a large part of that is down to the boys themselves: sullen prince boy Noctis, beefcake muscle man Gladio, squad dad chef Ignis and dear old Prompto.

When you get down to it, there is simply no greater depiction of companionship in the whole of video games. This feeling of camaraderie is constantly being forged and reinforced throughout the game, too, whether it's Ignis' campfire cooking and Prompto's end of day photo collection cataloguing your progress, or the way they riff off each other's attacks in battle and chat incidentally as they're ambling through the countryside. Forget about getting married and saving the world; I just want to hang out with my mates a bit longer - and oogle at Ignis' cooking, because hot damn that Fat Chocobo Triple Decker sandwich looks so damn tasty.

A long time ago, in a fantasy far, far away, a dusty street urchin teamed up with a roguish airship captain and his rabbit-eared first mate, to take a backseat in the story of a freedom fighter and warrior princess. Twelve years later, they all arrived on PC and once again the halls of games journalism were filled with the cries of: "Hang on, this is Star Wars!" and, "Actually, it's not bad!"

Storywise, Final Fantasy XII tramps around in the middleground of the series. There's a war, an empire and a princess. Crystals, knights and monsters. Perhaps the only distinct thing about this tale is that you aren't playing as a very important person. Vaan and his pal Penelo are just two street kids who get swept up in a larger story, and only end up fighting big Judges in scary armour because the rest of the characters were doing it first. It's oddly refreshing, as is the fighting system. For the first time, Square threw away the standoff-ish system of menus and little white gloves. They filled the overworld with enemies to walk up to and batter in real-time, giving Vaan and his compatriots the Gambit system to help program all your characters' moves in advance. Healers would heal, tanks would tank, rogues would stab, all according to the rules you created yourself. It didn't stick around, but this was a turning point for the series and ought to be appreciated for throwing off some of the most concrete traditions, even if it is unmistakably familiar in many ways.

At long last, a version of Final Fantasy VI that's worth playing on PC. Yes, the Pixel Remaster fonts aren't... brilliant, but honestly, I'll take them over the awful old mobile port any day of the week (which is thankfully no longer on sale now this superior remaster has arrived). And what a game it is. Widely regarded as the best of the retro Final Fantasies (that is, FFs I to VI), this remake of the 1994 SNES classic is pretty much what you'd get if you put Final Fantasy and Gundam mechs into a big blender. Sort of.

Set in a steampunk post apocalypse where magic has been replaced by hulking great machines, the evil empire in charge of this new world order starts to feel a bit hot under their large metallic collars when a mysterious woman called Terra shows up bearing strange, magical powers. What follows is a tale of war and rebellion of operatic proportions (I'm not kidding, there's a big iconic opera scene right in the middle of the game), and it remains one of few Final Fantasy games to really put its iconic summon monsters centre stage. They (and your 14 playable party members) play an enormous role in Final Fantasy VI, and you'll need all the help you can get to take down its actually terrifying, demented clown villain Kefka Palazzo. I would have warned you off playing this on PC before now, but thanks to the spit and polish of the new Pixel Remaster, this once grubby gem has scrubbed up really rather nicely.

It's easy to see why so many continue to rally behind this colourful, characterful tale of heisting actors and clown-faced queens. Gone are the frowning strongmen and hormonal teen mercenaries of the previous games, replaced with a jokey thief, a bumbling bodyguard, an anxious puppet and a sad princess. Ah, Final Fantasy. From fairytales ye have arisen and to fairytale ye shall return.

The battling system, the world map, the potion shops... It's all fairly traditional, only here you accrue new moves by equipping weapons or armour and 'learning' their powers by heart, which does let you spread the most useful abilities around just by taking turns with the same equipment. Final Fantasy IX was also the last in the main series to have those crafty static environments. Let's not grieve overlong for those blurry bits of scenery, but we can still remember them with fondness. There was a peculiar feeling to mapping the different scenes in your head, and an obsessive joy in roaming around the edges of the scenery, mashing the action button to find chests or trinkets hidden behind immovable props. In hindsight, a game about a troupe of dodgy actors is a fitting end for those theatre-like sets.

Final Fantasy VII Remake only tells part of the story of the much-loved 1997 original (for now, at least), but as an exercise in nostalgia (and the thwarting thereof), it is a wonderous and magnificent thing. As in 1997, you start as a half-hearted eco-terrorist, fighting against a vile, planet-sapping corporation. Then you fight for revenge. Then you fight because there's a bad man in a long cloak. Then some terrifying otherworldly force comes to... destroy the world? Oh god, it's nonsense, isn't it? It's all nonsense. But psst, here's a secret. They're all nonsense.

So let's remember the atmosphere of VII, if not the daftness. Let's remember wandering around the steamy, dirty, semi-robotic city of Midgar. Its factories and slums, its skyscrapers, tunnels and highways. This was a big city, and VII Remake made it even larger and more sumptuous than the one you've got lodged in your head. Remake also has arguably the best modern Final Fantasy battle system of the lot, combining the real-time slashy-slashes of XV with the tactical pause of its active-turn-based origins. It's the kind of Remake I wish Square Enix would give all the PS1-era Final Fantasies. I don't care if I'm 102 when they finally finish making them. I just need them like I need to keep breathing.

Final Fantasy XIV is one of the greatest comeback stories in the history of video games. After a disastrous initial launch in 2010, its revamped A Realm Reborn incarnation has since risen to become one of the best MMORPGs in recent memory, and it's all down to Square Enix wunderman Naoki Yoshida (who's also one of the key driving forces behind the upcoming Final Fantasy XVI, too).

Starting out today is, admittedly, a bit of an enormous undertaking, with what four major expansions now under its belt, all of which will last you several tens and hundreds of hours. But if you play Final Fantasy for the depth and scope of its stories, this online behemoth should not be missed. Indeed, we called it "one of the greatest FF tales of all time" in our Endwalker review last year, and with further updates putting an even greater focus on single-player content, there's never been a better time to drip your toes in.

Final Fantasy loves to do exposition, but Final Fantasy X is arguably the only one to do it convincingly. You play as a sportsball player who has been eaten by a whale monster the size of a city and pooped out in the future. As such, you need to have everything explained to you by your new pals - a ginger man with a Jamaican accent, a walking lion, and a goth lady obsessed with belts among many others. In fiction, this a common enough way of introducing you to a new world, but Tidus has just enough personality, history and curiosity to make you go along with it. When he's learning about the weird anti-technology religion that governs the world of Spira, so are you. When he's asking about monsters, so are you. When he's crying like a big crybaby in a crybaby's nappy, or laughing like an actual loon, so are you. Okay, maybe not that last part, but you get my point.

It's probably the last best fully 3D Final Fantasy game as well, bar the unstoppable MMO that is Final Fantasy XIV, of course. Nothing has quite lived up to X's scale and ambition since, and the fact we now get the also very good X-2 bundled in with the HD Remaster is just the icing on the cake. Call me crazy, but seeing Yuna swap her staff for a pair of guns and kick some ass with her equally bad-ass new haircut was exactly what 15-year-old Katharine wanted from games way back when, and a light-hearted venture into the realms of FF5-style class-based dress-up, power ballads and lost loves was arguably just what the series needed after the heavy themes and general seriousness of its predecessor. It finally gave Final Fantasy X the conclusion and closure it deserved, too, provided you whistled three times facing east in the netherrealm and clapped your hands twice while rubbing your tummy correctly, of course. That's how all good game endings work, right? RIGHT?

• Final Fantasy VI (1994)
• Final Fantasy IX (2000) .
• Final Fantasy VIII (1999) (Square Enix) .
• Final Fantasy IV (1991) (Square Enix) .
• Final Fantasy XV (2016) (Square Enix) .
• Final Fantasy XII (2006) (Square Enix) .
• Final Fantasy V (1992) (Square Enix) .
• Final Fantasy III (1990) (Square Enix) .