ひげ
What's the best of the mainline PS1/PS2 Final Fantasy games? I haven't played any of them other than 12 and I've never beaten that one.
None of these games have what I would call good combat except maybe X-2 and 12...maybe. I dunno the systems in those games are interesting at least. Balance is another can of worms and 12 has multiple very different versions of its class system (more if you include mods). X's battle system is delightfully snappy if nothing else.
Of the ps1 games, all built around the ATB system, VII is the least tedious (until/unless you start throwing out summons with obscenely long animations) and materia is fun to mess around with. I think VIII's draw system is kind of trash.
But all of that is to say you should probably play most of these games for the story. A lot of people really love X. I like VII, IX, and probably even VIII a lot more personally. But you should get around to playing it sooner or later so you can enjoy the bangers from the soundtrack.
@LittleTom i've always loved the soundtracks for all of these games lol, way before i even touched a final fantasy game period.
the thing with 7 is that i already know the entire story lol, so if i'm playing for the story that feels kind of like a formality. i'm most drawn to 10, but 8 and 9 seem pretty interesting too. i've heard lots of good things about 9 but man that art style is really offputting to me lol. i'd probably get used to it though.
@LittleTom i mean i've like, watched so much stuff about ff7 on youtube with all the lore and theories and stuff lol. i'm sure it would be different if i actually play it but i just don't think i'd get AS MUCH out of it. i've heard literally nothing about 9. the only things i know about 10 are that it has blitzball, tidus has a weird laugh, and he might be dead or something.
IX's character designs are kind of goofy. I prefer the aesthetic of VII and VIII by quite a lot...even with the lego popeye field models of VII...look, the characters look fantastic when you get into battle at least.