Ah ha, Final Fantasy Talk. I shall abuse my right of speech and there's nothing you can do about it you nerd. Anyway, as far as Final Fantasy goes they've actually been hit and miss with me. Or I suppose I should say hit and "absolute couldn't hit the broad side of a barn". Either way, my number one would actually be Final Fantasy 12. Then after that would come Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Then third would be 7. Close fourth would be 3, and the actual 3 not what Japan tossed us lol.
Well, Final Fantasy as a franchise is a hit or miss franchise. And that’s due to every game being so vastly different from the next. They all share the same elements, all having magic, summons, chocobos, crystals, and of course most iconically the music, but every one has a completely different story with different characters and a different world. They’re tied together by theme and presence.
12 is a decent game, though most people don’t like it’s “MMO approach to single player”, which I can understand. The game is basically 75% sidequests and then 25% main storyline (Funnily enough, so is XV). The other half is that the story of 12 is pretty good, but most people agree that Vaan and Penelope have literally no purpose in the story. Everyone else has a good reason for being in the story, but the main character is like a side character you recruited for the fun of it rather than the main character heh.
I’m surprised though, that Tactics Advanced is one of your favorites, considering that most Tactics fans consider it the worst in the series. Mostly due to the fact that it doesn’t actually take place in the Tactics universe, but rather in a book that’s separate from everything else. That and the story is pretty basic all things considered. I tried it and never finished it, the game got too difficult and ‘placing lands’ down to continue the map was too confusing for me back then. I might go back and try it again one day though, just to finish it.
And when it comes to NES Final Fantasies, I can’t play them as they originally were. I always end up getting lost, confused, or bored. I love that they exist and their history, but if I’m ever going to actually beat them, it’s going to be in an updated remake form, and it’s probably going to be with me following an actual walkthrough strategy guide so I don’t have to grind later when I accidentally built a party that can’t beat 1 particular boss that wipes me because I didn’t raise my party ‘just right’ according to the games rules (actually did happen to me when playing 3 lol).
All in all, you can’t ACTUALLY go wrong with picking your favorite Final Fantasies, that’s just the nature of the series with every game being so vastly different. Everyone has different opinions about each game, and these are certainly mine hehe.