You missed the crystals, Suzaku

.
And he has a point, Meowy. It doesn't matter what order you played the FF games in, or when you started playing them, it only matters what you recognize in them, and that you do!
Personally, I consider the FF series to have ended at X. That was the last game that to me says 'Final Fantasy'. To avoid some drama, I'll leave XI out of this entirely, both because it's an MMO, and because I never saw the full story.
Whether it was entirely due to him or not, without Sakaguchi, SE may be capable of making good games (i.e. XII/XIII), but not of making Final Fantasy's.
... and now I need to finish III. And play back through V... and maybe VI or IX.
Curse this nostalgia ridden thread! ;p