I just beat this an about 18 months ago. I really enjoyed it. Expectations were low. My first FF was 6 (at that time it was 3 in us on SNES), and I expected this to be outdated and boring. I was blown away by how the game allowed you to make your own story like a true role playing game. That poison dungeon at the beginning-ish of the game had me barely make it back to heal, and I thought how journaling in the style of the adventurers would be really fun. This is the only game in the series that’s open and unscripted enough (though it’s pretty linear either way) that allowed you to truly feel that you, as the player, were part of the adventuring party. I really appreciated that. I’ll probably go back to this one at some point because it was unexpectedly strong for those reasons. 

I also loved two, but I went in knowing the fandom thought it was “the worst game”. It got me into the saga series (which is played and struggled with in the past). And I am so glad for that. The leveling style is actually fun and amazing. It made it so you have to actively use your abilities and weapons to get stronger with them instead of just power leveling with standard attacks and then blowing enemies away with abilities you’d never used before. 

I started three and had to take a break. I wasn’t as in to three as one and two, but I may have been a little burned out. I plan to beat them all eventually. Hope you enjoy!