>> Which Final Fantasy Should You Play First? · All 25 Games Ranked
Final Fantasy is 25 games deep on Steam and almost none of them are sequels to each other. New world, new cast, new combat system, roughly every time. That's why "which Final Fantasy should I play first" is a real question, and why the answer is almost never "the first one".
Short answer: start with Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade if you want the modern, cinematic version of the series, or Final Fantasy IX if you want the classic turn-based one that ages best. Neither requires you to have played anything else.
One line on the numbers before the table: "beats 75%" means players liked that game more than 75% of the games they've ever played. Voter count is next to it, because a 75% from 34 people means more than a 75% from 3.
All Final Fantasy games, ranked
| # | Game | Beats | Voters | Good first game? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FF VII Remake Intergrade (2022) | 75% | 34 | Yes, best entry point overall |
| 2 | FF X/X-2 HD Remaster (2016) | 75% | 25 | Yes, classic pick, self-contained |
| 3 | FF IX (2016) | 75% | 19 | Yes, best classic-style starter |
| 4 | FF XII The Zodiac Age (2018) | 75% | 13 | Yes, if you like systems |
| 5 | FF VII Rebirth (2025) | 75% | 10 | No, play Remake first |
| 6 | FF VI Pixel Remaster (2022) | 75% | 10 | Yes, if you're fine with 2D |
| 7 | Crisis Core FF VII Reunion (2022) | 75% | 7 | No, it's a VII prequel |
| 8 | Stranger of Paradise (2023) | 75% | 6 | No, action spin-off |
| 9 | FF Type-0 HD (2015) | 75% | 3 | No |
| 10 | FF XIII (2014) | 74% | 21 | Only if you want linear |
| 11 | FF IV Pixel Remaster (2021) | 74% | 5 | Yes, if you're fine with 2D |
| 12 | FF XV Windows Edition (2018) | 73.9% | 41 | Yes, road-trip open world |
| 13 | FF XVI (2024) | 71.8% | 12 | Yes, if you want action over RPG |
| 14 | FF VII (original) | 65.5% | 31 | Only if 1997 doesn't scare you |
| 15 | FF XIV Online (2014) | 62.9% | 45 | No, it's an MMO commitment |
| 16 | FF V Pixel Remaster (2021) | 62.6% | 2 | Maybe, best job system |
| 17 | World of Final Fantasy (2017) | 62.4% | 3 | No, fanservice-heavy |
| 18 | FF VIII (2013) | 55.9% | 6 | No |
| 19 | FF XIII-2 (2014) | 53.6% | 6 | No, sequel to XIII |
| 20 | Lightning Returns: FF XIII (2015) | 53.3% | 5 | No, third in a trilogy |
| 21 | FF VIII Remastered (2019) | 51.3% | 3 | No |
| 22 | FF Tactics, The Ivalice Chronicles (2025) | 50% | 4 | No, it's a strategy game |
| 23 | Final Fantasy (Pixel Remaster) (2021) | 30% | 5 | No, despite the number |
| 24 | FF III Pixel Remaster (2021) | 25% | 4 | No |
| 25 | FF II Pixel Remaster (2021) | 25% | 1 | No |
Do you need to play Final Fantasy in order?
No. The numbered games share a few recurring names, chocobos, moogles, a summon called Ifrit, a character called Cid, and nothing else. You can start at IX, XV, or XVI without missing a thing.
The exceptions are the sub-series. VII Rebirth follows VII Remake, and Crisis Core is a prequel to the original VII. XIII-2 and Lightning Returns follow XIII. Everything else stands alone.
Which Final Fantasy is the best?
Six games tie at the top of the table, so there is no single winner. There are category winners.
Best modern entry point: VII Remake Intergrade
The highest-voted game in the series here, and the one that assumes the least about you. It covers only the first few hours of the 1997 original, stretched into a full game, so you get the famous setting without a 40-hour commitment to a 90s RPG.
Best classic turn-based: Final Fantasy IX
The one that ages best. Nine was overlooked at release, spent two decades as the connoisseur's pick, and now has the most agreeable spread in the series: 11 of 19 voters land it in exactly the same band. Almost nobody dislikes it.
Best story reputation: Final Fantasy X
The entry most often named when people talk about Final Fantasy stories, and the HD Remaster bundles X-2 with it. Linear by modern standards, which is either the appeal or the problem.
Best combat system: Final Fantasy XII
Gambits let you program your party's behaviour instead of picking every attack. It was the most divisive thing Square shipped in the 2000s. The Zodiac Age remaster seems to have settled that argument in its favour.
Best character building: Final Fantasy V
The job system that later games kept borrowing. Only two voters here, so treat the score as a rumour, but the design reputation is decades old.
Best action game: Final Fantasy XVI
Barely an RPG. Closer to a character action game with a dark fantasy plot attached. Pick it if turn-based combat is the thing keeping you away from the series.
Biggest time sink: Final Fantasy XIV
The most duelled Final Fantasy on the site with 45 voters, and the most split verdict of any of them. An MMO people either organise their life around or drop in ten hours.
Original VII or Remake?
Players give the head-to-head to Remake, but the original's votes are the most polarised in the series:
That split is generational. People who played it in 1997 and people meeting it for the first time in 2026 are not rating the same game.
Help fix this ranking
Several entries here are carried by fewer than five voters: Tactics, Type-0, V, World of Final Fantasy. Those aren't verdicts yet, they're placeholders.
If you've played any Final Fantasy, duel it against your own library and the numbers above get less wrong.
