Final Fantasy games in order, and which one to play first

Final Fantasy has sixteen numbered games, and almost none of them are connected. Each one has its own world, cast and battle system. Final Fantasy X is not a sequel to Final Fantasy IX in any way that matters, so the number on the box tells you when a game came out and nothing about what you need to have played.

The short answer: you don't need to play Final Fantasy in order, and most people shouldn't. Start with Final Fantasy X if you want a classic turn-based story, Final Fantasy VII Remake if you want something modern, Final Fantasy XVI if you'd rather have an action game, or Final Fantasy VI if you like 16-bit RPGs. All four are on current consoles and PC. The rest of this guide lists every mainline game, where each one is playable in late 2026, and the few places where order does matter.

Final Fantasy games in order of release

These are the sixteen numbered games. Years are the first release, which for the older games means Japan; several reached the West later, and Final Fantasy II, III and V took more than a decade.

PS4 and Xbox One versions run on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, and original Switch games run on Switch 2. Our backward compatibility guide covers the exceptions.

The Pixel Remasters are the easy way into the first six. They keep the original sprite look, with redrawn art by the series' original pixel artist Kazuko Shibuya and rearranged music supervised by composer Nobuo Uematsu. You can buy them one at a time or as a set of six. They reached Xbox Series X/S in September 2024, and Square Enix reported six million sold by December 2025.

Do you need to play Final Fantasy games in order?

No. What carries over between numbered games is a set of traditions: chocobos, moogles, airships, a character called Cid, summons like Ifrit and Shiva, crystals, and a few recurring pieces of music. The stories start fresh every time.

There are three exceptions, and they're all sequels or remakes that say so on the label.

• Direct sequels. Final Fantasy X-2 follows X. Final Fantasy XIII has two sequels, XIII-2 and Lightning Returns. Final Fantasy IV has The After Years. Play the numbered game first.
• The Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy. Remake (2020), Rebirth (2024) and Revelation (2027) retell the 1997 game across three full-length releases, and they have to be played in that order.
• The online games. XI and XIV are subscription MMOs with their own long-running stories. Neither is a good first Final Fantasy unless an MMO is what you're after.

Spin-offs follow the same rule. Final Fantasy Tactics, Crisis Core, World of Final Fantasy and this year's Final Fantasy Resonance all stand on their own.

Which Final Fantasy should I play first?

Pick by the kind of game you already like. These four cover most tastes, and none of them needs homework.

Final Fantasy X, for most people

Final Fantasy X was the first game in the series with voice acting and fully 3D areas, and it's still the cleanest introduction. Battles are turn-based with no timer, so you can think. The story moves in a straight line for most of its length, and the lead, Tidus, is a newcomer to the world, which means everything gets explained to him and to you. It runs roughly 45 hours. The X/X-2 HD Remaster includes the sequel, and it got a native Switch 2 version on July 23, 2026.

Final Fantasy VII Remake, if you want the famous one

If you know one Final Fantasy name, it's probably Cloud Strife. Remake Intergrade covers the opening section of the 1997 game, set in the city of Midgar, in roughly 35 hours, with combat that mixes real-time action and paused commands. It came to Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S on January 22, 2026, and Rebirth followed on June 3, so the first two parts are now on every current platform.

One warning: the trilogy changes the original plot in ways that are aimed at people who know it. You can start here and enjoy it. If you want the story as first told, the 1997 original is cheap, is on everything, and takes about as long as Remake alone.

Final Fantasy XVI, if you don't like turn-based combat

XVI is a character-action game with RPG trappings: dodges, combos, and enormous fights between summoned monsters called Eikons. It's also the most grown-up in tone, closer to a war drama than a fairy tale. It left PS5 exclusivity for PC in September 2024 and reached Xbox Series X/S on June 8, 2025. If menus and party management put you off the genre, this is your way in.

Final Fantasy VI, if you love 16-bit games

VI has a cast of fourteen, an opera scene people still talk about, and a villain who gets further than most. It's the one older fans usually name as the best, and the Pixel Remaster makes it comfortable to play on a phone, a handheld or a TV. If you enjoy it, IV and V are next.

And the others?

Final Fantasy IX is a warm, storybook throwback and a fine second game. XII plays a bit like an offline MMO and rewards tinkering. VIII, XIII and XV each have defenders and each has an odd system or structure that makes a rough first impression. II is the one almost everyone suggests leaving until last. If tactics games are more your speed, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, the expanded remaster from September 30, 2025, belongs on the list too, and our tactics RPG beginner's guide explains how that genre works.

What order should you play the Final Fantasy VII games in?

For the remake trilogy, the order is fixed.

1. Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade (2020; Intergrade 2021). On PS4 as the original release, and on PS5, PC, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S as Intergrade, which adds a short extra episode.
2. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (2024). PS5, PC, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.
3. Final Fantasy VII Revelation. Announced at Summer Game Fest 2026 and scheduled for April 8, 2027, on PS5, PC, Switch 2 and Xbox Series X/S.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion is a prequel about a character whose fate is a major reveal in the main story, so play it after the original or after Remake, not before. The original 1997 game stands apart from all of this and can be played at any point.

With Revelation five months away, now is a reasonable time to start the trilogy. Remake and Rebirth together are a long haul, well over 100 hours if you do the side content, so give yourself the winter. It's the kind of project our piece on whether video games are too long had in mind.

What changed for Final Fantasy in 2025 and 2026?

Mostly, the series stopped being tied to PlayStation. Final Fantasy XVI arrived on Xbox in June 2025. Both released parts of the VII Remake trilogy came to Switch 2 and Xbox in the first half of 2026, and Revelation will launch on all four platforms at once. Final Fantasy XIV added Xbox Series X/S in March 2024 and Switch 2 in August 2026, with its next expansion, Evercold, due in 2027.

There were new games on the side. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles won Best Sim/Strategy Game at The Game Awards 2025. Final Fantasy Resonance, an HD-2D role-playing game with traditional turn-based battles, came out on October 22, 2026, on Switch, Switch 2, PS5, Xbox Series X/S and PC; we went through its reviews in our Modern Warfare 4 and Final Fantasy Resonance roundup. No Final Fantasy XVII has been announced.

The series turns 40 on December 18, 2027, and it had sold more than 203 million copies as of July 2025, according to Square Enix figures cited by Wikipedia. That is a lot of games to choose between, and the honest advice is to pick one from the table above and stop worrying about the rest.

Sixteen games with Roman numerals blur together fast, especially once remasters and remakes share their names. In Perthro, you can keep a Final Fantasy list in the order you plan to play, log each one with its platform and hours when the credits roll, and add Revelation to your Interested list so April shows up in your release calendar. Our backlog tracker page shows how to keep a long series from stalling halfway.

Sources

• Wikipedia: List of Final Fantasy video games
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy VII Remake
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy VII Revelation
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy XIV
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy XVI
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy Tactics
• Wikipedia: Final Fantasy Resonance
• Steam: Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
• Steam: Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
• Steam: Final Fantasy XVI
• Steam: Final Fantasy VI (Pixel Remaster)