XI and XIV are divisive for me. I've never really been a fan of MMOs and the dialogue of XI was similar to XII's and more modern Final Fantasies which I felt was unnecessary. XIV is definitely an improvement on it but even with the better story, more interesting NPCs and updated engine I just couldn't help but get distracted by all the MMO stuff. I feel like you have to do so many fetch quests and side missions before you can get back to the actual story. That said XIV is one of the most popular MMOs right now and it's been going for several years.

We already talked about VI and IX so I'll just skip to X. FFX is my personal favorite. I loved the world, the characters, the story, the conspiracy, everything. I have to admit the updated graphics really helped with some of that haha. Also the game sounds better in its original Japanese where the infamous laughing scene makes more sense. The scene starts with Yuna noticing that Tidus is upset about something so she asks if he wants to scream but that won't really solve the fact that his dad's Sin. So instead she talks about the fake smiling and laughing stuff so what he's really doing when he's laughing like that is screaming. But the second time he does it it's implied that he's doing it for her benefit since it was revealed earlier that summoners will die at the end of their pilgrimage. It's a fairly depressing game with an underlying theme of fighting against fate.

Looking forward to seeing what your top pick is!