Final Fantasy series on Steam - Recommendations?

The Final Fantasy series is on sale on Steam. I've never played any of the games but I tend to like JRPG's and I'd like to experience on them since it's so legendary a series.

Does anyone have any recommendations for which one to choose?

The modern polish on games is nice but ultimately I'd rate a well-told, moving story over graphics, as long as the game-play is decent. I don't, however, mind if the game is brand new or old, or whether it even follows the pattern of FF in general, but the game itself.

List on Steam:

FINAL FANTASY III
FINAL FANTASY IV
FINAL FANTASY IV: THE AFTER YEARS
(FINAL FANTASY IV Bundle)
FINAL FANTASY VII
FINAL FANTASY VIII
FINAL FANTASY® XI: Ultimate Collection Seekers Edition
FINAL FANTASY® XIII
FINAL FANTASY® XIII-2
LIGHTNING RETURNS™: FINAL FANTASY® XIII
FINAL FANTASY TYPE-0™ HD

FF7 is always a choice that people go with, yeah it is a great game but literally it comes to a point wherte you have to race the Chocobos constantly to level up and it gets a bit long in the tooth.

I enjoyed 13 and 13/2 but they are pretty linear.

I would personally say go with either X & X/2 bundle or go with FF8, bit easier to actually get into.

However can I throw out another suggestion.

Currently there is Tales of Zestiria which is absolutely amazing and is sitting at £16, reason for this is the combat on it is more free flowing rather than the take turns to wallop each other like the Final Fantasy games, there is also Tales of Symphonia which is a mere £6 and when originally released on Gamecube was considered one of the best JRPG ever made (some would argue this still stands).

So I would personally go with Zestiria and Symphonia, also look at the Y's series (you can get 1&2 for £3 at this very minute), they are pretty fun also and I rate those above FF and below Tales of series

By the way FFXI is an MMO that has a monthly subscription

http://store.steampowered.com/app/351970/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/372360/

http://store.steampowered.com/app/223810/

Out of the FF games I've played, I'd rate them;

FF - My rating
IV - 7/10
V - 8/10
VI - 9/10
VII - 9/10
VIII - 9/10
IX - 10/10
X - 10/10
XII - 8/10

Clearly I've enjoyed some FF games more than others, often on the strength of the story element, but I think every FF game is worth playing.

One thing to note, the Steam versions of FF VII and VIII have crummy MIDI soundtracks rather than the original PlayStation soundtracks - at least at the time I played the two. If the soundtracks haven't been updated yet, there are mods available which restore the soundtrack to that of the PlayStation which I think are absolutely essential.

FF IX and X are on Steam now, I've briefly played them to see if the 'original' experience has been preserved and I'm pleased to say that it has.

I'd recommend you play Final Fantasy VII, IX and X (stay the hell away from X-2).

FFIV remains one of my favourite. Yes, part of it might be due to nostalgia, but I also liked it better when characters class were pre-defined according to the story.

No point buying 7 as the remake is in production.......

Of the recent titles, I quite enjoyed Lightening Returns (13 part 3)

Although it was just announced for the ps4, expect the FF12 remake to hit PC a year or so from the ps4 release.

And when it does, make sure to check it out. Such a good jrpg.

I've always had VII and VIII to hand on PS1 and PC for as long as I can remember. I grabbed IX not so long ago on steam and it's not a bad port at all, even faithfully recreates the huge loading time between scenes..!

No gfx options (as expected), but you can set the resolution and everything is nice and sharp.

I played pretty much all the chapters of the series from the 5 to XIV (Eagerly waiting the 30th of september for the XV).

Out of them all, my favourites would be the VII for the gameplay mechanics (loved the materia system) and VIII for the story (though I never really liked much the junction system, I tended to accumulate magics and never use them in fear of lowering my stats).

Pardon the semi-resurrection of this thread but just for a little follow up...

Having let the FF option slide last time I've just picked up the FFX/X-2 HD Remastered combo on Steam.

Not played it yet, it'll be my first ever FF game(s). So here's to wandering into the world of FF. Hoping it'll be a good one.

Thanks again for everyone's recommendations.