Three answers is a lot of them to have for a question that you've only been asked once or twice.
In the elusive scenario wherein someone actually asks me which among the Final Fantasy games is my favorite, my first answer might be Final Fantasy VII, as it was my first and it's the one I've played the most. I have read several terrible novels and played numerous bad spinoff games to 100% completion because of my love for Final Fantasy VII. I might then correct myself to my most practiced answer: Final Fantasy X. It is my firm and solemn belief, after all, that Final Fantasy X is The Best One for a litany of well-considered reasons, and I find myself with a ravenous hunger for it at least once per year.
Ask me on my most honest days, however... in my tender darkness, when the mind is powerless to stop my heart, and I will tell you that my favorite is Final Fantasy IX.
Final Fantasy IX is the only one in which the ATB system Gets In The Way, and while I can dock a point for it, I will never be able to make myself care. Drag as they might, no battle in Final Fantasy IX can dampen my love. No, not even you end up queuing commands too far ahead and the battlefield changes in frustrating ways before your attack goes off. If it really bothers you so much, play on PC where there are mods to get around it. I truly do not think that it is enough to get in the way of having an incredible time with Final Fantasy IX.
I don't even want to talk about the story. If I have to explain to you why the story of Final Fantasy IX is good then you're not going to appreciate it anyway. Yes, it would be nice if Freya has one or two more spotlight scenes and Amarant wasn't such a transparently tropey Zidane foil, and it would be nice if trance were better integrated in ALL respects, but look... Final Fantasy IX is so good that it made me immune to Persona 3. It is the only game whose ending consistently forces me to cry.
If you like anything about anything Hironobu Sakaguchi has ever done and you haven't played FFIX, please just do it. He deserves that much.
In the elusive scenario wherein someone actually asks me which among the Final Fantasy games is my favorite, my first answer might be Final Fantasy VII, as it was my first and it's the one I've played the most. I have read several terrible novels and played numerous bad spinoff games to 100% completion because of my love for Final Fantasy VII. I might then correct myself to my most practiced answer: Final Fantasy X. It is my firm and solemn belief, after all, that Final Fantasy X is The Best One for a litany of well-considered reasons, and I find myself with a ravenous hunger for it at least once per year.
Ask me on my most honest days, however... in my tender darkness, when the mind is powerless to stop my heart, and I will tell you that my favorite is Final Fantasy IX.
Final Fantasy IX is the only one in which the ATB system Gets In The Way, and while I can dock a point for it, I will never be able to make myself care. Drag as they might, no battle in Final Fantasy IX can dampen my love. No, not even you end up queuing commands too far ahead and the battlefield changes in frustrating ways before your attack goes off. If it really bothers you so much, play on PC where there are mods to get around it. I truly do not think that it is enough to get in the way of having an incredible time with Final Fantasy IX.
I don't even want to talk about the story. If I have to explain to you why the story of Final Fantasy IX is good then you're not going to appreciate it anyway. Yes, it would be nice if Freya has one or two more spotlight scenes and Amarant wasn't such a transparently tropey Zidane foil, and it would be nice if trance were better integrated in ALL respects, but look... Final Fantasy IX is so good that it made me immune to Persona 3. It is the only game whose ending consistently forces me to cry.
If you like anything about anything Hironobu Sakaguchi has ever done and you haven't played FFIX, please just do it. He deserves that much.