Final Fantasy: Every Numbered Game Ranked

9. Final Fantasy XIV

Final Fantasy ranked
Square-Enix

Final Fantasy XIV is either the absolute worst game in the series, or one of the best, depending upon when you played it.

Upon its launch, Square-Enix's second attempt a Final Fantasy MMO was, putting it kindly, something of a shambles. The original online world of Eorzea might have been pretty to look at, but it was pretty awful to play in, a bug-riddled mess whose performance demands couldn't be satiated by even the most souped-up rigs. Add in the most cynically tedious progression and one of the worst interfaces imaginable, and you were left with a game nobody wanted to play for more than hour, let alone perpetually.

FFXIV was such an unmitigated disaster that Square-Enix took the drastic measure of expunging it in its entirety, replacing it with a new version built from the ground-up in 2013. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, is a complete triumph. The reprisal, directed under a fresh development team, addressed all the criticism of the vanilla effort to deliver a breezy, approachable MMO that is not just respectful of Final Fantasy's legacy, but comparable to the best on the market - in terms of both quality and popularity.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.