The main characters in a game are very important. Afterall, if they're not likeable, who the hell wants to play? This was a hard category, considering that there are more playable characters in FF7 than FF8. However, in order to make things as fair as possible, I also added Laguna, Kiros and Ward to the Final Fantasy 8 lineup, since they are important playable characters as well. As for FF9, there are only 8 playable charcters, so I threw Beatrix into the mix since she's a playable character for some time. In FF6 there are *12*. So, I threw out Umaro and Gogo, since they're barely in the game. I also left out Shadow, even though I love him, because he comes and goes.  And since they're twins, I put Edgar and Sabin together. These are my *personel* opinions on the characters, and they may differ from yours.

Terra..........................................1.5 (She didn't bother me)
Locke...........................................................3 (Locke rocks!)
Edgar & Sabin..........................................3 (Luv 'em both!)
Celes...................................0.5 (Geez, leave Locke alone!!)
Gau................................................................2 (He was cute)
Relm.............................................1.5 (She was pretty cute)
Strago..............................................1 (He got on my nerves)
Setzer......................................................................3 (Rocks!)
Cyan..........................................................2.5 (He's awesome)
Total score: 18
 

Cloud.....................................................2 (Cloud's pretty cool)
Tifa...............................................................2 (I like Tifa)
             Barret.....................................................................2.5 (Barret rocks)
Aeris...............................0.5 (She's a flirt machine. Sorry Aeris fans)
           Red XII.....................................................2 (Red's cool. I use him a lot)
Cait Sith...................................................2.5 (Cait Sith is now cool)
      Cid......................................................3 (Cid's awesome. I love him.)
      Yuffie...........................2.5 (I have no problem with her, I find her amusing)
      Vincent...............................3 (Vincent is my favorite playable character)
Total score: 20

Squall.....................................................2.5 (I like Squall a lot)
Rinoa.....................................2.5 (Not a crack whore! I like Rinoa!)
Zell....................................................................3 (Zell rocks)
Quistis.....................................................1.5 (Quistis is okay)
Irvine............................................................3 (I *love* Irvine)
Selphie.................................................................0.5 (bleh)
Laguna........................................................3 (I love Laguna)
Kiros................................................................2 (I like Kiros)
Ward................2 (He doesn't really do much, but he doesn't bother me)
Total score: 20

Zidane.........................................................................3(I *love* Zidane!)
Garnet.......................................................................................1 (blah)
Vivi..............................................................3 (how can you *not* love him!?)
Steiner.........................................................................3 (he's *too* cool!)
Freya..................................................................................2 (I like her)
Eiko................................................................................2.5 (she's cute)
Amarant............................................................................2.5 (he's nifty)
Quina...............................................................................2.5 (qu's rock!)
Beatrix............................................................................2 (she's so cool)
Total Score: 21.5

All the games have great characters, but the characters from FF9 slightly edged out the FF7 gang and the FF8 gang, which are now *equal*, and FF6 trails (cause a couple of crappy characters ruined it for the cool guys!)

First Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+4)
Tied For Second: Final Fantasy 7 and 8 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+2)

ROUND TWO

Well, what do you want from Super Nintendo graphics? Of course it's not that great! Still, it was pretty cute when the characters laughed, and the new FMV's totally rocked. Still, I can't in good conscience give this a high graphics score, even if it can't really compare with the others.
+2

Looks cartoonish, and the characters are smaller than in FF8. Still, I like the colorful, sleek appearance. The towns are gorgeous, especially Kalm and Nibelheim, and all the cinema's that show Midgar. The other cinema's rock, even if the character's don't have mouths.
+2.5

It looks great, but kinda rough around the edges at times. The characters are big, which I like, and the cinemas absolutely rock. Especially the dance, when Rinoa is released from the Sorceress Memorial and when Squall drives the car in Deling City.  Not to mention Zell and Irvine's introduction sequences!
+3

Whoa. Can we say *beautiful*? Looks a lot like FF8, but the characters are a little smaller and more realistic looking, I guess. I love the evil forest squence and the end of disc 1 and 2 movies, but everything about the look of this game is great.
+3

Although I like the somewhat different looks of all the games, FF8 and FF9  are more realistic looking, and the cinemas show the characters more, which is another plus.

First Place: Final Fantasy 8 and Final Fantasy 9 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+2)

ROUND THREE

Let me make this very clear.
I HATE Kefka. I think he is the most horrible creation ever to hit a video game. He's a huge jerk with no motivation, and I couldn't wait to kill him. Also, his laughter freaked me out. That Emperor was a big huge jerk as well, but Kefka was the main villian, and carried his job out well. I HATE HIM! Still, nothing beats the next game's villians, so I gotta go with a...
+2.5

There are quite a few villains in FF7, the main one, of course, being Sephiroth. Let me be short and to the point. Sephiroth kicks ass. He's a great villain, just because of the fact that he as great motivation for doing everything that he did. Plus, try telling anyone in all black leather and a sword bigger than him he's not a good villain. He walked through fire for crying out loud!! And I love the way he talks too. He's so creepy.
Then of course there's Shinra, and they're considered villians as well. Shinra is great, every time they come on screen it's my favorite part of the game. Plus the Turks are just awesome.
The FF7 villians are the best villians I've seen in any game.
+3

Eh... The villains of FF8 leave much to be desired. Seifer's more laughable than anything else. He's pretty cool and he's hot, but he's not scary or intimidating in the least. Even when he had Squall strapped to the wall and was electricuting him I was like "go home to Garden". He's amusing, but he's a poor villian. Don't get me wrong. I love Seifer, I just don't respect him as a villian.
As for Edea, she was a little freaky, but I didn't find her all that cool either, and she wasn't a villian for too long anyway. And finally Ultimecia was just annoying, and not scary or any type of evil prescene at all.
The villians in FF8 are pathetic. They suck.
+1.5

Ah.....the villians of FF9. Queen Brahne was a good villain, but let's focus on Kuja here. I (kinda) HATE KUJA. I hate him so much, that I LOVE him as a villian. He (although that's iffy) is a *great* villian. Almost as great as Sephiroth. I have to say I like the annoying way in which he talks. I just wanna slap the crap outta him. Sephiroth was better though.
+2.5
 

The villains of FF8 leave a lot to be desired. The villains of FF7 however, are as good as you can ask for, and the ones from FF9 ain't bad either.

First Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 6 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+2)

ROUND FOUR

So what is Terra? Esper? Human? Both? And where did these Espers come from, and why is the Empire full of freaks? The story starts off pretty good, but by the World of Ruin the story's completely gone and you're just powering up and doing stuff so you can go whoop Kefka's ass. But those Shadow flashbacks did it for me ^_^
+2

Seems like a big game of "Where's Sephiroth?" at the beginning. Still, I like the flashbacks and all the little clues to the background they leave lying around.  I found it a bit confusing the first time, but still, I like how everything always gets screwed up, and thing with Shinra and everything.
+2.5

Mercenaries called SeeD's trained to fight sorceresses at a place called Garden? A place thought up by a sorceress herself? What? It's a great story, and although a lot gets resolved by the end, there are still loose ends hanging. This story is even more confusing than FF7 in some aspects, and you really have to search the whole world over and talk to everyone to get the full scoop.
+1.5

It takes awhile for the story to get going, and it starts out simple enough. That doesn't last long though, as the pieces start to fall into place during disc three. The story itself isn't as confusing as the other games, and while it's a good story, it was not as good as 7's.
+2
 

All the games have great stories, but neither is perfect. I don't like to be confused!

First Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 6 and Final Fantasy 9 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+2)

Well, I did have to start the game over at one point, but other than that, I like never ever died. Ever. The Esper system is really easy, even though some spells take awhile to learn, it's not really *that* bad. The enemies like barely even attack you. I flew through this game.
+3

I didn't find FF7 too hard to get the hang of. Basically the concept is simple: level up your materia and characters and you'll be a-okay. However, this is a looooooooooong process and your characters need more experience to level up with every level. Also, it takes longer to get your HP up. This game wins points for being easy to understand, but loses it cause it takes forever to max out your characters.
+2

The junction system is a bitch and takes forever and a day to learn. Once you get the hang of it though, it's easy to raise your characters HP as you get good magic. Also, the amount of experience you need to advance to the next level never changes. However, the monsters level up with you which makes it no easier....
+2.5

Can we say easy as pie? ("easy as---) I *love* the crystal system! It's easy to learn, and it protects your characters from a lot of bad status affects >.< The monsters don't level up with you, and you can raise your HP at a fairly good pace. It may take a lot of EXP to level up, but with abilities like "level up", who cares?!
+3

First Place: Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 6 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+2)

Too many when you don't want them, and too few when you do!
 +1

Too many all the time. But at least you have Enc-None. Eventually.
+1.5

Just like FF7 in this department
+1

First Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 9 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+2)

Summon materia comes right away (+3), but some use a lot of MP (+2) and you can only use them once each battle until they level up, which takes forever. (+1). And there's no boosting. (+1)
Total Score: 7

Some GF's take awhile to come, depending on your character's compatibility (+1). They can be KO'd and useless the rest of the battle (+1). Still, they cause a lot of damage and can be boosted (+2). Also, they can be summoned many time throughout the battle (+3).
Total Score: 7

Eidolens come right away (+3), but again, the MP factor is a blow (+2), but you can use them as long as your MP holds out (+3), they can be boosted, if you have the right accessory and enough crystals (+2), but it causes a lot less damage most of the time cause the whole Eidolen will not come. (+1.5)
Total Score: 11.5
 

This competition evens out because I basically like summons and GF's the same. The amount of time it takes most GF's to come, and the fact that they can be KO'd in battle makes it even with summons, which take forever to level up and drain your MP like mad. However, looks like Eidolens win the contest, cause even if they don't cause as much damage if the whole thing doesn't come, at least you can use them as much as you want as long as you have the MP to back it up, and they can't die! Espers come in second, cause they're similar to Eidolens.

First Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8 (+2)

Having magic level up is annoying, and it takes a long time, but at least once you have a spell it's yours as long as you have MP. Also, not everyone can have the same spells, as it depends on what types of materia you buy/collect.
+2

No magic leveling up and no MP, but finding certain spells can be annoying. However, you can also refine magic from items and refine it into more powerful magic. It's also a pain to draw high level magic if your characters levels are low and their magic skills aren't good.
+2.5

Not everyone *can* cast magic, which is kind of annoying. Learning spells doesn't take *too* long, and you can use whatever you want as long as the right item is equipped, regardless if they know the spell or not, but still, not everyone can cast magic, which kind of...well...sucks.
+1.5

FF8 really only gains the edge because it's easy for everyone to have the same spells.

First Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+2)
Fourth Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+1)

At least you just buy your weapons in this game. What a relief. As long as your Gil holds out, it's all good.
+3

You have to search the planet for items to remodel your weapons. I *hate* that. It takes forever and some items are next to impossible to get.
+0.5

Buy weapons and such and refine it into better stuff.  Whoo!
+3

First Place: Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 9 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+3)

Figaro Castle as a mode of transportation? Uh... But hey, you get an airship pretty early on, and then you get another one! Getting around is like never a problem. There are also chocobo stables in a lot of towns.
+3

There are no rental cars, but there are many places to find chocobos. Still, that can be hard sometimes, but once you get a chocobo there are no random encounters as long as you're on it. You still face random encounters in the buggy you get from Costa del Sol, the Tiny Bronco is basically useless, but the submarine is useful, as is the Highwind, even though you cannot land in most areas with it.
+2

No random encounters, while in any vehicles. There are rental cars, but if you run out of gas you're out of luck. Chocobos are a not available in most areas and are pretty annoying to catch anyway. The Garden is pretty useful, and the Ragnorok kicks ass, being able to land nearly anywhere.
+2.5

It takes *forever* to get any vehicles!! Well...at least chocobo's are super easy to catch. The Red Rose is a fine boat, the Hilda Garde 3 was an okay airship, but the Invinsible really takes the cake. You can land anywhere with that thing. Still, it takes forever to get something to ride in.
+1.5

First Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+2)
Fourth Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+1)

What tutorials? Oh, you mean those easily avoidable buildings? All right!
+3

The explanations on how to play in the context of the game aren't half bad. And they're always optional, so the millionth time you play through you still don't have to explain to Barret how to use materia.
+3

The explanations on how to play are confusing and hard to follow unless you already know how to junction. And the worst part is you have to sit through the same crap every time you play. There's no stopping it!!
+.05

Teach Me Mogster!...Or don't. You pick and choose, or just skip the whole damn thing. All right!
+3

First Place: Final Fantasy 6, Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 9 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+3)

O is the magic button. It's awkward, and it's different from most games. It can get confusing. Also, the buttons to run away are completly different from FF8.
+2

X is the magic button. Much more comfortable, as it is the main button in most games. The buttons to run away are different from in FF7, which has caused me much confusion and resulted in me yelling at the screen "why aren't you running?!"
+2

Again with the X, but things are still different, and it confuses my simple mind.
+2

The games should have the same button configuration. There's no clear winner here.

Four Way Tie (+2)

Can be used whenever the limit meter's full. Fills up more quickly when a character's in trouble. Plus, the limit breaks are powerful and level up with your character, even if that does take a long time.
+3

Can be used only when a character's HP is low, or when an aura spell is cast. It's kind of rare to get it otherwise, but it's possible. Your limits don't level up for the most part, unless you teach your characters new things or do some upgrading. Powerwise, the limits aren't bad, but they can't hold a candle to seven.
+2

Trance sucks. It gets wasted more than it gets used. Even though most trances are pretty powerful when they *are* used, some don't have any special attacks. Bleh...give me my limit breaks any day of the week!
+1.5

First Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+2)
Fourth Place: Final Fantasy 6 (+1)

ROUND FOURTEEN

You win Gil from fighting enemies, so you're always getting more, but it drains like crazy because everything is so freakin' expensive. I never have enough Gil to buy everything I want.
+2

You get paid while you're wandering around, and in good amounts. You almost always have enough money. Plus, you can get more money if you up your SeeD level by taking the tests. I always had more than enough money.
+3

I was very seldom short on money, but it still happened and I had to start selling stuff.
+2.5

First Place: Final Fantasy 8 and Final Fantasy 6 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 7 (+2)

Third battle with Sephiroth?! How cool was that?! The ending was a little disappointing. No Yuffie and no Vincent. Still, I liked the words at the bottom, and the 500 years later thing was kinda freaked me out. Still, it was disappointing. They should have had  a special ending with Yuffie and Vincent if you found them, plus they should have showed Reeve dammit!
+2

The ending would have made me cry if I was that type of person. Oh, it was beautiful. Touching and funny. That part with the video camera is the best! I'll take the 2 hrs to beat Ultimecia anytime just to watch the ending! I love it!
+3

The ending was really good, even though there wasn't enough movie stuff for me. Still, it's really long and very touching, and I thought it was well worth the 50 hours it took me.
+2.5

All the endings are great, but FF8 takes the cake.

First Place: Final Fantasy 8 (+4)
Second Place: Final Fantasy 9 (+3)
Third Place: Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 6 (+2)

Final Fantasy 6: 44
 Final Fantasy 7: 43
 Final Fantasy 8: 45
 Final Fantasy 9: 45

Well looky here! FF8 is no longer the champ! It's now tied with FF9! And my favorite game is *still* last! This makes like no sense whatsoever. Who knows...when I add the next game, I'm sure the standings will all shift once again.