I played 8 then 9 and later 7 and didn‘t like it. But it probably also didn‘t help that it was hard to not get spoilered if you hadn‘t played it already. I already knew some twists so I didn‘t get surprised and played through the whole thing while expecting it.

I loved 8 back then but 9 was just so fucking good I liked it even more. 8 blew me away with its story back then, but 9‘s gameplay resonated more with me and the graphics weren‘t as hard to look at (probably thanks to its comic-y style).

So personally I go 9 > 8 > 7.

On a sidenote, FF pretty much lost me after 10. I did play through all of 15 and I thought it was mediocre at best. The plot holes (you have everyone‘s fucking number but not your fiancees?!) were annoying, the gameplay hardly felt like a FF, the story in general didn‘t do anything (positive) for me. In retrospective I probably would advice myself to not buy it.

(Sick atm so apologies if this is just some confusing rambling)