Am I an ass? Cuz I enjoyed VI, VII, X, and XII (heck, throw in FFT, Vagrant Story, and Chrono Cross too) all terribly much more than VIII and IX, both of which I considered to be the true dark age of the series.
I'm an ass, aren't I.
Just so that I can have some justification, I didn't like VIII because of the Junction system (Draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw, draw... draw...) and the lack of any interesting or unique characters. I was soured on IX for the opposite reason: a troupe of freaks and one barely pubescent girl. I also didn't really consider the so-called "return to the roots" as authentic. Frankly, none of the older sprite games felt as kiddy and ridiculous as IX. Sprites look kiddy because of the limitations of pixel art; to make kiddy characters when you have the freedom of polygons is inexcusable. Unless, of course, you're making a game for little kids.