when it came to final fantasy's the first one i played was VII, then i got VIII but the discs were fucked so i only completed that a couple months ago when i got a lend off someone i knew who had it, then i never got IX but X was fucking amazing.
as for my favorite, it comes down to a VII/X split, both i just found both to be mind-blowing, a lot of people say VII's either shit or nowhere near as good as the others, from my experience, small as it is, i loved it, X just had everything at the time, great graphics, VOICED CHARACTERS

, a new battle system, while maybe not better, (i thought it was), it was still good to keep a fresh fighting system so it doesn't get stale, and the cutscenes were ridiculously good ands it's pretty cool to have a decent amount os side-quests, only annoying thing was the completely anti-climactic Yu Yevon fight where, not only can't you die, it'd be unlikely otherwise considering he's got all the style and attacking power of a floating melon.
Sephiroth was a much better final boss, but when it comes down to it, ruby weapon's just a bitch, i mean, you fight emerald, beat him and you think, 'damn i'm good, maybe i'll try beat ruby now, especially with those 2 levels i just got' and find yourself with a confused toad Barrett with yellow health and no possibility of beating the disturbingly endurant mountain he keeps spinning in front of. takes a damn bit of training but then look at Penance, that was the same deal, love both games, and i'll probably try getting back into it. was damn annoyed with X-2, but they did have loose strings. for getting back into the series, any suggestion on which to go for? XI any good?