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The classic Final Fantasy games — 1 through 6 — are all timeless classics, for one reason or another. While the Square Enix RPGs had a pretty rocky start, they were nonetheless impressive video games and constantly innovated in the role-playing game genre. When it comes to how we’re ranking these, it’s partially by personal preference, and what these games brought to the franchise as a whole based on the original release.
Though this list is focused on the original six classic games, I want to highlight another in particular: Mystic Quest. That’s right, it’s a great game, even if it’s incredibly simple. In fact, that’s why it’s so great. It was a great introductory RPG with incredible music, simple gameplay, and a whole lot of heart.
Final Fantasy’s classic titles ranked from worst to best
6) Final Fantasy 2
- Pros: Featured a unique leveling system, offering gamers a fresh new way to grow in power. Lots of unique companions temporarily join the party.
- Cons: This system was also incredibly tedious. Your final party member shows up woefully underpowered.
Sorry, all you FF2 fans out there — Final Fantasy 2 is mediocre at best. It’s still among the most interesting RPGs I’ve ever played, but it’s incredibly clunky and frustrating. The levels system was pretty unique for the time, but it was also never clear what you do to level up your stats efficiently. Depending on what version you played, certain methods were available.
The story itself is perfectly fine. I like the characters and the world it presents. It falls flat on its face with the addition of your final party member. By the time he shows up in the game, your party is assuredly way beyond him, making him an anchor to weigh the party down instead. The game was remarkably unintuitive to the point of being infuriating.
5) Final Fantasy 1
- Pros: The first in the series, it had a huge world with plenty of party combinations to utilize.
- Cons: Virtually nothing in this game worked - Many of the spells, most of the special weapons. So much tedious backtracking in the beginning to slow the pace down.
I still remember getting the Final Fantasy 1 strategy guide in the mail, because of Nintendo Power magazine. I didn’t have the game, and wouldn’t for many years, but I did borrow it from a friend. What a huge game it felt like!
You could do so much with just a few party members, and it always felt like an epic adventure. However, it’s very dated if you play the NES version — the spell system is frustrating, the lack of MP restoring items makes it all tedious, and the pacing is all over the place.
Having to go back through the Earth Cave twice — once for the Vampire, and again for Lich, back-to-back remains one of my least favorite things in any game. The title is monstrously slow, but the various updated versions are far more enjoyable to go through — whether Pixel Remaster or the GBA version.
4) Final Fantasy 3
- Pros: The first job system in FF history. Players have a pretty vast, interesting world to explore, with a story that is deeper than the previous two entries.
- Cons: Leveling the jobs takes an extraordinary amount of time - or doing anything in the game that required serious grinding.
It took me a while to appreciate what Final Fantasy 3 did in the franchise. It’s a game I overlooked for years because I didn’t really want to play the NES fan-translated version. I eventually did, but first, I tackled the 3DS version. I appreciate everything FF3 did to add a cool job system and make many of the jobs feel worth having.
However, the overwhelming amount of grinding you had to do in this game was enough to break my spirit. I don’t mind grinding when it feels worth it. That wasn't the case here. However, everything else makes up for that. The story is solid, and the gameplay felt great compared to earlier games in the series.
3) Final Fantasy 5
- Pros: Improved job system. Tons of secrets and cool stuff to do. Status ailments actually work.
- Cons: The story is more than a little mediocre.
Final Fantasy 5 gets slept on more than perhaps any game in the entire franchise. That’s partly because it didn’t come to America until after the SNES days. While yes, the story is pretty weird and mediocre, it’s not bad. It is strange to have the big bad essentially be an evil version of The Giving Tree!
I adore so much about the setting, though. The status ailments actually worked! You could win boss fights with ridiculous methods, like math. You could adjust a boss's level in several cases and instantly make things easier. Furthermore, you had the introduction of the mighty Gilgamesh, who showed up in many other games, including FF7 Rebirth.
2) Final Fantasy 4
- Pros: The first serious, well-told story in the franchise’s history. Several well-developed, interesting characters, with beautiful visuals/music.
- Cons: Party is incredibly restricted. Characters leave the party in some ridiculous ways.
I adore Final Fantasy 4 — it’s my favorite game in the series. It’s the reason I wanted to write about video games for a living, after all. It told a beautiful love story, with other interesting elements as well. Themes like betrayal, and the nature of good and evil, were all wrapped up in this beautiful, colorful package. Many (not all) of the characters were well-rounded and had interesting story arcs.
You don’t get any say-so on the party makeup, except in certain versions of the game — and that’s typically at the end. This game is also incredibly linear, which isn't a bad thing, but some people hate hearing that.
I also think some of the characters leave the party for baffling reasons like Leviathan showing up out of nowhere to eat everyone. It’s a classic though, and one of the best entries in the series.
1) Final Fantasy 6
- Pros: Who is the protagonist? Almost anyone. Incredible Magicite system, a deep story covering a wide array of emotions and situations.
- Cons: Some of the party members are better than others. Some of the in-game situations players can be put in can be frustrating if you aren’t prepared.
Out of the first six entries, Final Fantasy 6 is hands down the absolute best title. It’s one of the games I always recommend people play first. It has a huge cast of characters, with many of them having arguments for being the main protagonist — though most will likely say it’s Terra, and rightly so.
There are a few complaints to make about FF6, though. That said, some situations are infuriating — waiting on Gau to come back on the Veldt, finding out that Shadow can leave your party if you recruit him early, and things like that. It tells a beautiful story and remains one of the few JRPGs where the main protagonist ultimately wins.
He shatters the world and spreads everyone apart, and you must find them again (or not — you can fight Kefka anytime you have the airship). Everyone has to come to grips with the world and find new reasons to go on living and fighting. It’s a beautiful masterpiece.
Each entry in Square Enix’s lengthy RPG series has something that makes it special — even the mediocre entries. With 16 mainline entries and tons of remakes, remasters, and side games, there’s something for everyone.
