what makes it the best?

FFX

This is mainly because I thought it had one of the best storys and the best gameplay out of any of the Final Fantasies.  I just sucked me in to the story and before you knew it I was playing X-2.

FF8

Great Story, Great characters! good music, and a good batlle system, but most of all, it has the best graphics for any PSone game

1) Final Fantasy VI

This game is the most underrated and best of all the Final Fantasy's that have been made. The graphics were amazing for the SNES and pushed it right to it's limits unlike a game such as Final Fantasy VII which did not push the PS at all and was rather second rate graphics. The music in this game was amazing, every song in this game I like. This is the pure example that music can make a game as much as some of the other attributes. I have found myself many a time humming to the tunes on the soundtrack. Masterpiece. Story was damn right the best story in a game ever yet alone in Final Fantasy. The large cast of characters all had their own unique personality and their really was no set main character. All the characters in this game have their own amazing back story and their development through the game really shows which adds so much and of course the wonderful Kefka is in this game, undoubtably the best villain ever. The gameplay is really the original fighting system but the real addition to this is the use of espers which was a fantastic new twist on the magic system. Not a lot Final Fantasy fans have played this game, many preferring to only play the 3-D FF's, but this is better than all of the 3-Ds and my favourite game ever. Play it if you alrady haven't!

FFVII

This is a game  (maybe one of the first) that made you really connect to character development. The story of Aeris dieing was powerful and even had stories of fans crying, protesting ect. When you involuntarily think and remember a character, like Cloud,Aeris and Sephiroth, that says something.When it first comes in your mind then you know its a masterpiece.  Character development is imo the reason why this is the best FFV. With all that aside I dont need to get into the great battle and materia system,with its awesome limit and summon presentations. I also think the story was excellant. The graphics arent the best but they are one of the first PS1 games. The music, story, battle system perfectly formulated into the character development makes it the best.

1) FFVII- I place this game first because this was the game that made me fall in love with the FF series. The story was mesmerizing and gameplay was excellent. The music for this game was also very innovative. It's AI (for monsters I thought was perfect). Some people found them to be tough, others pretty easy, but including the Weapons side quest made the game a perfect challenge. Side quests and mini-games were great for this game. The Gold Saucer was one place I had a very hard time stepping away from with the all the Chocobo Races, Battle Arena, and Mini-games.

2) FF Tactics- This game is truly the most underrated FF game of all-time. Since this came out shortly after FFVII, the hype for this game wasn't very big at all. But what this game great was an excellent story with innovative gameplay. It was one of those games that just made you think and plan out every action you take. The music for this game was also very, very good. There are so many options for this game, I spent over 150 hours playing this game and I could have spent more. It's one of those games that is difficult to get used to but as you play it more and more, it acts like nicotene, very addictive.

3) FFX- This game had the best music and side quests of any of the FF games. Blitzball was also very addictive to me and the ultimate weapons side quests were fun. This game did have some big flaws in it. Vocal acting and writing were somewhat weak, but did produce some great gameplay, innovating the "substitute" menu for FF. Definitely a worthwhile game that I spent over 200 hours playing and it was worth every minute. The sphere grid was very addictive for me.

Just so you all know, I've never played FFVI so that's why it's not on my list. From what I hear, it's a worthwhile game, but I just haven't had the opportunity to try it yet. It does appear to be a good game though.

FFVIII is my favorite FF to date.

This game really caught my eye the first time I actually played. It was so diffirent from other versons, It was like a new kind of game. First off the graphics were the best to date on PS, Plus the new way to custimize the charechters In the way that the player wishes through the Junction, This was a great new feture basically because It had never been used before. In addition to Junction, the story its self is reason enough to love this game, It had all the right elements, Romance, Action, And depth.

This is a tough questions.  However, i do think every individual ff have its' uniqueness, i can hardly rank each of them.  No one is the best.

FF I and II - (too old to mention it)

FF III and IV - most classic and fantasy

FF VI - best music and characters (not to compare with this gen's graphic)

FF VII - best story

FF VIII and X - best romance

FF X2- most funny and best custome

FFXII - best game play system

FF IX in my opinion is the worst.  I don't like the design of the characters that much. (Except Vivi, he is lovely)