This Is How Japan Ranks Its Final Fantasy Games

NHK recently gathered the thoughts and opinions of 468,000 Japanese folks to ask this one important question: what’s the best Final Fantasy game ever?

Here’s the breakdown. If you’re expecting to be surprised by the country’s picks, well, you really don’t know Japan at all…

1. Final Fantasy X 
2. Final Fantasy VII 
3. Final Fantasy VI
4. Final Fantasy IX
5. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn
6. Final Fantasy V
7. Final Fantasy VIII
8. Final Fantasy IV
9. Final Fantasy XI
10. Final Fantasy XV
11. Final Fantasy Tactics
12. Final Fantasy III
13. Crisis Core – Final Fantasy VII
14. Final Fantasy XIII
15. Final Fantasy XII

Here are Japan’s top 10 Final Fantasy characters…

1. Cloud
2. Yuna
3. Aerith
4. Vivi
5. Zidane
6. Emet Selch (FFXIV)
7. Tidus
8. Lightning
9. Tifa
10. Zack Fair

….and their favourite bosses & Summons

1. Knights of the Round
2. Kefka
3. Hades
4. Anima
5. Omega
6. Valefor
7. Braska’s Final Aeon
8. Bahamut Type-0
9. Sildra (FFV)
10. Safer Sephiroth

They even listed down their favourite music tracks from the series:

1. “At Zanarkand”
2. “Battle at the Big Bridge”
3. “Eyes On Me”
4. “In Search Of Friends”
5. “Blinded By Light”
6. “One-Winged Angel”
7. “Aerith’s Theme”
8. “Melodies of Life ~ Final Fantasy”
9. “Main Theme” (Final Fantasy)
10. “Those Who Fight Further”

Some takeaways:

• More females love Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX within the top five.
• It’s a shame that FF Tactics isn’t in the top 10, but at least it’s still hanging with some of the big boys.
• Final Fantasy XI has been defunct for a while, which goes to show how revolutionary and impactful it was at the time.
• How in God’s name is FFXIII better than FFXII?
• Lightning and “Blinded By Light” are probably the only good things that came out of Final Fantasy XIII. The main game, that is; the sequels are fine.
• I’m not at all surprised at the Knights of the Round and Kefka taking the top two slot in the boss/summons department. They’re pretty badass.
• How did “Eyes On Me” rank higher than the bottom 7? It’s not exactly Faye Wong’s best song, you know…

If you want the correct list games-wise, head here. I know I’m right. Stay tuned this month for the correct listing for the best Final Fantasy music tracks of all time.