Damn, this makes me feel old. Only 36 though...
I started with FFI, watching my best friend play it over a summer break. He let me also try it, it just shattered all kinds of notions of what a game can be. I hadn't played an rpg before, though some games like Dick Tracy had a cool open world idea. I'll never forget FFIV, it legit made me cry. I love stories of self sacrifice, true love, and finding redemption so the whole thing was amazing. For me the era of FFVI going into the PSX gen was just phenomenal. Gaming progressed so much, it really was a magical time. So for me personally FFVII-IX were just top tier greatness. Story, presentation(such as transitioning from incredible cg's right into gameplay), gameplay, and especially audio were all excellent and consistent throughout.
Just what I love about quality rpg's man. Getting to know fun well written characters, discover new worlds, and go on incredible journeys, and then have to say goodbye. Filled with cool designs and emotional moments. Its crazy to think just how good the PSX was though. There are other titles there that I might hold in higher regard. Parasite Eve, Vagrant Story, Xenogears, Valkyrie Profile, Lunar 1&2. Back in '17 it was Xenoblade Chronicles 2 that got me back into Jrpgs. I've been procrastinating real bad in regards to actually playing and finishing some of my games, exacerbated by the fact that my freetime has dropped so much, especially this year. But I intend to finally get back into FFXV, XII and X(Tidus and the lack of an overworld killed my interest). I sincerely hope that FFXVI is a good game. It may not be much of a looker right now, but I don't care if the game itself is good. For me it looks a bit to similar to XIV with XV's combat. For how I dislike some of 7R's design decisions, I think I might be anticipating part 2 more as of right now.
Sorry for the long winded reply. TL;DR FFVII-IX