Final Fantasy Creator Ends The Debate, Declares Which Game Is The Series’ Best

What’s your favorite Final Fantasy game? It’s a debate that’s raged for almost as long as the series has existed, with no clear frontrunner having been established. The Final Fantasy series often changes radically from game to game, and everybody has their own tastes – some like the groundbreaking Final Fantasy VII, while others prefer the 16-bit mastery of Final Fantasy IV and VI or the modern HD majesty of Final Fantasy XV. There’s no wrong answer – well, unless you say Final Fantasy XIII. Nobody likes that one best.

Well, after largely keeping his opinions to himself for years, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi has weighed in on the debate in a video from Twitter user SungWon Cho. So, which child does Final Fantasy‘s father favor?

Final Fantasy IX! Good choice! But wait, do I see some money changing hands? Payola! Scandal! Sakaguchi’s answer is disqualified! The Final Fantasy debate rages on!

If you’ve never played Final Fantasy IX, you really need remedy that, as it’s also my personal pick for favorite game in the series. With Final Fantasy IX Square took a surprising step back from the more realistic approach they’d been pursuing with Final Fantasy VII and VIII and made a game that heavily referenced the classic Final Fantasies of the 8 and 16-bit era. The result was a game that surprisingly holds up far better than its fellow Playstation entries. It was also the last Final Fantasy Sakaguchi was heavily involved in as both a producer and writer, so perhaps its unsurprising it’s his favorite.

Sakaguchi left Square Enix in 2003, and founded independent RPG developer Mistwalker in 2004. The studio’s most recent game is the mobile strategy RPG Terra Battle. A sequel, Terra Battle 2, is expected to hit PC, iOS, and Android, this summer.