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Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game From Worst to Best

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Nazarii Verbitskiy

Gaming - June 1st 2026, 22:00 GMT+2

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 2 — 16. Final Fantasy II (1988)

*Final Fantasy II* is the franchise’s first real swing at character drama, and you can already see Square trying to turn fantasy RPGs into operatic soap. The problem is the leveling system, which still feels like it was designed during a dare: stats grow through use, punishment becomes strategy, and the whole thing can feel more fascinating than fun. Its ambition matters, but playing it today is like admiring an old blueprint with coffee spilled on it. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 4 — 15. Final Fantasy IV (1991)

Putting *Final Fantasy IV* this low feels almost illegal, because Cecil’s redemption arc, the Active Time Battle system, and that revolving-door party basically helped define what cinematic JRPGs could be. It is also a game whose emotional beats can feel blunt now, with characters dropping in and out of tragedy so quickly that the melodrama sometimes outruns the writing. Still, even when it creaks, its influence is impossible to miss. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 1 — 14. Final Fantasy (1987)

The original *Final Fantasy* is less a polished classic than a brave little engine held together with crystals, menus, and pure survival instinct. Its Warriors of Light, elemental fiends, and job-based party building gave the series its foundation, but the adventure itself is rough, grind-heavy, and often more historical artifact than easy recommendation. Respect is mandatory; pretending it plays better than many sequels would be nostalgia doing overtime. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 13 — 13. Final Fantasy XIII (2009)

*Final Fantasy XIII* has one of the strangest reputations in the series, because it looks expensive, sounds gorgeous, and fights beautifully once the Paradigm system finally opens up. The trouble is getting there, through corridors so strict they practically file a tax return as architecture. Lightning and the cast deserved a world with more air in it, but buried under all that linearity is a sleek battle system with real bite. | © Square Enix

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 15 — 12. Final Fantasy XV (2016)

*Final Fantasy XV* works best when it forgets it is supposed to be a giant mythological epic and lets four friends drive, camp, complain, and pose for Prompto’s photos. Noctis and his road-trip crew carry a game that often feels stitched together from different visions, with huge emotional payoffs sitting beside missing story pieces. It is messy, stylish, oddly moving, and constantly one good patch away from greatness. | © Square Enix

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 3 — 11. Final Fantasy III (1990)

*Final Fantasy III* is where the series starts treating jobs like toys, and that sense of experimentation gives it a sharper identity than the first two games. Switching classes, testing party builds, and chasing the next upgrade still has a clean RPG pleasure to it. The story is thin, the difficulty can bite without warning, and the Crystal Tower remains a famous patience test, but its systems helped shape better games later. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 8 — 10. Final Fantasy VIII (1999)

*Final Fantasy VIII* is the franchise at its most beautifully unhinged: teenage mercenaries, memory twists, school politics, time compression, and one of the boldest romances Square ever built. The Junction system can be brilliant or completely broken depending on how much patience the player has for drawing magic and gaming the rules. Squall’s icy reputation also hides a surprisingly human coming-of-age story, even when the plot flies directly into the sun. | © Square

Anking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 11 — 9. Final Fantasy XI (2002)

*Final Fantasy XI* rarely gets discussed like the single-player entries, which is a shame, because Vana’diel gave the series one of its richest worlds and most demanding communities. This was not an MMO built for casual tourism; it expected planning, cooperation, patience, and sometimes a heroic tolerance for inconvenience. That old-school friction keeps it from ranking higher, but its atmosphere, music, and sense of scale remain quietly massive. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 5 — 8. Final Fantasy V (1992)

*Final Fantasy V* may not have the tragic grandeur of its neighbors, but it has one of the most enjoyable job systems ever attached to a JRPG. The story knows when to be goofy, when to get sincere, and when to step aside so players can create absurd party builds that somehow work. It is lighter on prestige, heavier on pure mechanics, and still a dream for anyone who plays RPGs like a toolbox. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 12 — 7. Final Fantasy XII (2006)

*Final Fantasy XII* feels like the series wandering into political fantasy, putting airships, empires, judges, class tension, and desert kingdoms ahead of the usual chosen-hero routine. The Gambit system remains a small miracle of RPG design, turning party management into something between programming and strategy. Vaan may not be the strongest lead, but Ivalice is so textured, elegant, and alive that the game rarely needs him to carry it. | © Square Enix

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 16 — 6. Final Fantasy XVI (2023)

*Final Fantasy XVI* trades party management for character-action spectacle, and the result is one of the boldest identity shifts the mainline series has ever made. Clive’s story gives the game a bruised emotional center, while the Eikon battles push the franchise into full blockbuster territory. It loses some traditional RPG texture along the way, but as a dark fantasy epic about power, grief, and revenge, it swings hard and lands often. | © Square Enix

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 10 — 5. Final Fantasy X (2001)

*Final Fantasy X* arrived with voice acting, a more intimate camera, and enough awkward laughing to become immortal on the internet for reasons both fair and unfair. Under the memes, though, Tidus and Yuna’s pilgrimage is one of the series’ cleanest emotional journeys, helped by a smart turn-based battle system and the brilliant Sphere Grid. Spira feels spiritual, doomed, colorful, and painfully human in a way the best fantasy worlds should. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 14 — 4. Final Fantasy XIV (2010)

*Final Fantasy XIV* should have been a cautionary tale, then somehow became one of gaming’s great redemption arcs. The original version collapsed under its own weight, but Square Enix rebuilt Eorzea into a massive MMO with rich storytelling, memorable raids, and expansions that often rival the best single-player entries. Its biggest barrier is time, not quality; commit to it, and the reward is staggering. | © Square Enix

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 6 — 3. Final Fantasy VI (1994)

*Final Fantasy VI* has the confidence of a game that does not need one hero because its entire cast is fighting for the spotlight. Terra, Celes, Locke, Sabin, Edgar, and the rest give the adventure an ensemble rhythm that still feels unusually generous. Kefka remains one of gaming’s most effective villains, not because he is complicated, but because the game lets his cruelty reshape the world. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy 9 — 2. Final Fantasy IX (2000)

*Final Fantasy IX* looks backward without turning into a museum piece, using castles, airships, black mages, and theatrical fantasy to say something surprisingly tender about identity and mortality. Zidane’s warmth gives the party a different energy from the brooding heroes around him, while Vivi quietly steals the entire game with one of the series’ most heartbreaking arcs. It is charming, sad, funny, and beautifully aware of the franchise it is honoring. | © Square

Ranking Every Final Fantasy Game Final Fantasy — 1. Final Fantasy VII (1997)

*Final Fantasy VII* is not just famous because it was many players’ first JRPG; it is famous because Midgar, Cloud, Aerith, Sephiroth, and that industrial-fantasy mood still hit with ridiculous force. The blocky character models have aged, but the storytelling instincts remain lethal: ecological anxiety, corporate horror, identity collapse, and a villain entrance burned into pop culture. No entry carries more mythology, and the game beneath the legend still earns it. | © Square

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Final Fantasy has spent decades changing its own rules, sometimes with brilliant results and sometimes with experiments that fans are still arguing about like the wound is fresh. From turn-based classics and messy cult favorites to modern action-heavy entries, ranking every mainline Final Fantasy game means weighing nostalgia against design, story, combat, ambition, and the occasional baffling decision. The franchise has earned its legendary status, but not every crystal shines the same.

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Final Fantasy has spent decades changing its own rules, sometimes with brilliant results and sometimes with experiments that fans are still arguing about like the wound is fresh. From turn-based classics and messy cult favorites to modern action-heavy entries, ranking every mainline Final Fantasy game means weighing nostalgia against design, story, combat, ambition, and the occasional baffling decision. The franchise has earned its legendary status, but not every crystal shines the same.