1st FF VII
2nd FF IX
3rd FF VIII

Theres a several that I love, but here they are in order.

VIII - Excellent underrated story in my opinion.

X - Another excellent story as well.

IX - Very good story, fun to play, sorta brings you back to the old FF days.

VII - Great story, I enjoyed playing it. However, this one just didn't appeal to me as well as the others did.

10 for me i loved it but 9 is second

IX.

Characters are essential to plot and IX had really the best of those. Especially Kuja.

Well, I definitely have to go with Final Fantasy VII here. FF7 is my idea of an absolutely perfect game. I couldnt ask for anything more, I had an amazing storyline, each character had a huge background which had alot to do with the game in their own aspects. There were SEVERAL little side stories, such as Clouds Past with Tifa, or Vincents past with Lucrecia and Hojo, or Sephiroths Past with Cloud, Cloud and Zack, Red XIII and his father, etc. etc. 7 had tons of side games that were totally fun like the snowboarding which I loved so much and still do and play every time I turn the game on. It had the 'best' (meaning baddest) villain(s) ever, alone with a continuous plot that kept you wanting to see what would happen next. "whats gonna happen with cloud and Aeris, whats gonna happen with Sephiroth, is he going to win? What about Shin-Ra and the WEAPONS, will thye stop the team?" Etc etc, you just wanted more and more and the mysterious black materia kept you wanting to see what it was and what it did. It had marvelous characters and a great world to explore. The materia concept was really awesome it was simple but powerful if you knew how to combine this and that, and some materia were totally bad ass (4X slash, slash all, Knights of the Round of course).

I see alot of oyu saying you like VI alot, I wish I could play it, I cant find it anywhere, Im going to get my cousin to let me borrow it so I can see how great it is.

Id put X in second place, X had an excellent storyline, with great characters that were all usable. For example, I had problems with some characters from other FF's. Like in IX I really dont like Quina, thus never using...her/him....it. Or in VII I always used 3 or 4 certain characters, never using the others. In X I could use all characters without a problem because they each had specific jobs to do in a sense, Wakka could take out flying enemies, Lulu took out the gel things, Yuna helped with the toughies. Tidus was for quicker enemies, Auron dealt the damage, Kimahri was an all around character. Rikku stole stuff and her limit breaks could be pretty devastating if you knew em. On top of all that, the celestial weapons kicked ass dealing over the damage limit was really cool to see 99,999 pop up on that screen just makes you feel invincible. And the monster arena helped you battle the ultra hard monsters with your ultra weapons. It was a great game all around, and the characters each had somewhat of a history, although nowhere near as much as VII.

Id put VIII third, right behind X. I loved VIIIs love story, and alot of the stuff was great too, for example, when you go into the ship in space and fight off those bug things in pairs, with Squall and Rinoa, and when they get into the cockpit and share their little love thing, was made so much more intense because it was just Squall and Rinoa, none of the other team was there and the music and everything. There were somethings I didnt like about VIII, like some of the things that happen during the story, and the CONSTANT battles that you get every 2 STEPS.

Regardless of what place they are in, all great games, all great stories.

And at least in FFVIII later in the game you at least get the chance to junction ENC-NONE to avoid random battles.

Well VIII had loads of random battles, not that the others dont, but they happened more often in VIII than in VII or X. IX has alot of random battles too but VIII had them everywhere. And there are plenty of items to not battle in other games. In VII you have that materia that helps you get less random battles, and in X theres a no encounter effect you can put on your armor so you dont get any battles.

I also like VII .The storyline was great and it made more sense .Atleast I think it does.