Where does FFXIV rank among your favorite FF games?

[DragonHunterG]

I wanted to see what the response was here from FF fans. For me, nothing can really dethrone my top 2 FF games - FFIV and FFVI (in no order). After that, things can kind of shift around. FFXIV has got to be way up there though. I'd say it's in my top 5 without a doubt. What about you?

[Anova]

My favorite FF is still FF6, although I love the Ivalice lore and its focus on politics (FF12, FFT/FFTA series, and Vagrant Story) for a grittier world. FF14 is creeping up though, mostly because of the reveals in Heavensward and the fact it has gritty political elements mixed in with the high fantasy.

[Attelia]

My favorite FF is still FF6, although I love the Ivalice lore and its focus on politics (FF12, FFT/FFTA series, and Vagrant Story) for a grittier world. FF14 is creeping up though, mostly because of the reveals in Heavensward and the fact it has gritty political elements mixed in with the high fantasy.

I'm really surprised to hear that. FFXII is my favorite (also my first) for the same reasons. Also not a huge fan of turn-based combat. Tales of Symphonia spoiled that for me forever ago. I actually really liked the gambit system.
Most people I talk to hate on XII so much. The only thing I didn't like was the supernatural elements being turned up to 11 towards the second half. It almost felt like a completely different game, and was kind of lame, besides.

XIV is ranking the lowest for me lately because, gameplay aside, as a story it's just so damn scattershot, like it's trying to hit that target called "Final Fantasy" but has no idea what that target even looks like. Maybe it's just because the story is still ongoing, but I have yet to feel that sense of cohesion that I get from even the lowest ranking entries. It borrows a ton from other games in the series, but has yet to prove to me that it knows how to make them fit together.

But even low-ranking for a Final Fantasy is still way above most of the genre, so I'm not saying it's bad, just... missing that je ne sais quoi.

I think that might be a side effect of the MMO characterization. The only other MMO I've played is WoW. For Blizzard, the lore of Warcraft was preset; the World of Warcraft was just a means to explore pre-existing lore. As such, the "story(ies)" had some semblance of cohesion, while branching out the possibilities. I started playing FFXIV about 3 months ago, so I know basically jack-all about the lore. I feel like there is supposed to be a bigger picture, but it doesn't seem terribly interesting.

Basically taking the part I disliked most about XII and turned it into a central plot element. But the central part is, as you said, scattered. Idk. Maybe I should catch up to Heavensward content, but I doubt it'll start to make more sense.

[Amiaze]

Most people I talk to hate on XII so much. The only thing I didn't like was the supernatural elements being turned up to 11 towards the second half. It almost felt like a completely different game, and was kind of lame, besides.

I'm glad to see more FFXII fans around. I always respected its story, although I found it very boring due to the fact that I'd just come off of FFX and FFVIII, so I was used to minimal politics in my stories. It also had an entire cast of characters that I could care about and trade off at any time, whereas I always felt a strain in the other games. Either I'd be dying to get one party member that wouldn't come until later on in the story (Rikku) or I'd be dying to see someone's story and personality progress, but they never would (Selphie). I thought FFXII balanced things out very well in comparison.

I'm really hoping for an HD Remaster so that I can give that game a proper run and focus on what's happening.

[EA9Sol]

I'd have to say it's my fourth favorite Final Fantasy game. My first is Final Fantasy 4, then 9 and 12.

[Magistrella]

If you want to count MMOs - for me its:

IX > XI > XIV > VI > X

If i'd go by playtime it'd be:

XI > XIV > IX > X > VIII

But crazy stuff like rebuilding the whole sphere board in X shouldnt count xD

[Xanikk999]

FFXIV redeemed Square Enix in my eyes.

I was so disappointed with Square Enix with that abomination called FFXIII that I did not buy another game from them in years. I'm not even sure how that game got average reviews. It's by far the worst final fantasy I have ever played. Basically if you could take away everything good about most final fantasy games and make a game of the same name it would be Final Fantasy XIII.

[Xatsh]

My Order

1st) XI (preabysea)
2nd) VII
3rd) VI
4th) X
5th) IX
6th) XIV
7th) XI (Post Abysea)
8th) XIII

[Amiaze]

Hm...

1)FFX
2) FFXIV
3) FFXII
4) FFXIII
5)FFXIII-2 (for gameplay only)
6) FFVIII
7) FFX-2 >
8) FF Tactics: Advanced
9) All other FFs
10) All FF spin-offs
11) All FF remasters
12) Anything else vaguely FF-related
13) FF: Lightning Returns

I didn't rank VII or the others in any particular order because I've never finished them, so it would be unfair. I came in late to the franchise, just before FFXII was released, so I had a lot of catching up to do. I own some of them, but it's hard to go back and give them a fair run.