by majormitch
Over the years, I have written a number of lists ranking the entries in various video game franchises I have played a lot of. With the addition of tier lists to Giant Bomb, I am going to slowly but surely redo those lists in tier form! This is for a few reasons. First, I always wanted these lists to be tier lists anyway: my rankings regularly have to split incredibly thin hairs, and the ability to group games that are essentially equal into the same tier feels more accurate. Second, it makes it easier to include more games from each series, including ones I haven't played in their own tier. Third, it gives me a chance to re-evaluate and update these lists, some of which are quite old. One last important note about these tier lists: since I can't comment on games individually in this format, I will simply make some notes on any games that need it here in the intro section.
For my next tier list revision: Final Fantasy. While I've fallen off the series somewhat over time, it was a very foundational series for me, and still holds a large place in my heart. Pay extra attention to the notes on this one, for reasoning around which games I have included or excluded. That was a trickier process than normal! As always, I will add new entries over time as needed, and this list is based on my personal, subjective preferences alone.
List Notes:
This list was last updated on May 19, 2026.
Deciding what games to include/exclude on this list was tricky, but I settled on the following criteria:
Include all "mainline" numbered games. Meaning FF 1-16.
Include all direct prequels and sequels to said mainline games. This includes obvious ones like FFX-2 and Crisis Core, but also some more alternate ones like FF Origins and the FF7 Remake trilogy.
Exclude all mobile games. Because who cares about mobile FF games.
Exclude remakes, re-releases, and compilations. For the most part: is FF7 Remake really a "remake"?
I believe that leaves the FF Tactics sub-series as the main omission. Those games are great! But also feel a little bit like their own thing.
The MMOs get their own tier, as they are so different. I would have excluded them entirely (like I excluded Tactics), but given they are within the mainline numbered that feels weird? I don't know. I have little to no experience with them, however, so they just get their own tier.
FF games are notorious for remakes and compilations, but for most of these games I played their original release. The only exceptions are FF 1-3 and Crisis Core. I played the GBA Dawn of Souls versions for FF 1-2, the DS remake of FF3, and the "Reunion" remastered version of Crisis Core.
More than most of my tier lists, there are a lot of FF games I have yet to play; these are not short games! I do plan to play most, if not all, of the games in the "Not Played" tier someday.
Otherwise, I think the list is pretty self-explanatory. FF 5-9 is my favorite, most formative era of FF, and encapsulate a lot of what the series means to me. It has been pretty up and down since then, with the newest entries not doing as much for me: FF13 I found slow and dull (until it fully opened up later, as I do like it's combat), and FF15 kind of felt like an unfinished game in many ways (and I didn't like the combat). I do love FF12 though for its novel take on group combat, and interesting team-building options.
I think FF1 holds up fairly well, and I enjoyed playing it decades after the fact. FF 2-3 held up less well for me, with overly long and tedious dungeons (with no way to save) bogging down the back half. I also think both have frustrating team-building aspects: FF2 promotes a lot of awkward grinding, and FF3 appears more open-ended than it is. I spent a lot of time in FF3 theory crafting with the job system, only to hit roadblocks that require you to switch to specific jobs. That always annoys me in games like this.
