The last mainline game I needed to play (though IX remains the last I need to beat, technically, or at least try to beat considering that I'm dropping this one). I'd put this one off and been wary about it because of its notorious reputation as the longest and slowest game in the series, and now that I've played it, that reputation is well earned, and also perhaps even an understatement.

This is a tough one to rate because technically it really isn't that much worse than VI or IV, which are flawed games and previously sat at the bottom of my ranking, but have some positives in their favor. This game is just...really bland to me. The episodic design is unique for the series, but I didn't find most of the stories that compelling, and honestly even found some of the recurring themes to be a little off putting. Otherwise, it has all the slowness and flatness that I found troubling in VI, but drawn out even further. It's a game that's roughly as middling, but thrice the length, and that's just hard to justify.