EoFF RPG Thunderdome 2020: Round 1 Match 5

[Wolf Kanno]

Maych 5 is up. Once again, it's all about that sweet sweet plot.

Final Fantasy IX
77287
vs.

Final Fantasy Tactics
77288

[Lord Golbez]

This is actually really tough. I think FFT has a great initial setup of a dark political story, but as the game progresses it tends to shift more to a standard save the world from the demons plot. The fact that the story characters basically drop from the plot completely once they join your party doesn't help matters either.

FFIX on the other hand has a plot that's more standard fantasy fare right from the get go but it really handles it quite masterfully, particularly in the introductory sections. The plot also tends to veer into being an homage to past game plots, but that doesn't bother me too much especially with the unique spin and charm characters like Vivi and the other black mages bring to the game. Much like FFT this story tends to devolve in the later sections, where at points it seems like nothing more is going on than an eidolon pissing contest. Still, I feel like from Terra on the story sticks the landing pretty well. I'm not sure I feel the same way about FFT, although the epilogue is on point.

Honestly, I'm not 100% sure, but I think when it comes down to it my decision is made by Vivi and his arc. I'm sure some people who like to pretend character and story are nice distinct categories would complain I'm deciding based on "character" rather than "story.". Those people are wrong, because character is not a distinct category from story. Characters make up a story and the journey a character takes is a pivotal part of the story. I'm going with FFIX.

[maybee]

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/57/70/79/57707996c2325fd57a1024e0863b7f26.gif

[remy5623]

I'm not sure it's fair for me to vote in this round given that I haven't played FFT and I'm only a few hours into FFIX. However, that said, I've been very impressed with the story of FFIX so far. Like Lord Golbez said, it's derivative in some ways, but the way it handles its characters is masterful (at least in the parts that I've played).

[Fynn]

IX has the most cohesive story of the main PSX games. But it still can’t really hit the absolute genius that is the FFT story

[WarZidane]

To this day I still haven't had the (supposed :p ) joy of experiencing FFT's story because I hate the gameplay. That being the case, I'll have to abstain from voting on this one. FFIX's story is pretty great but with all the praise FFT's story gets, I can't really vote against it without having experienced it

[qwertysaur]

This is a really hard choice :shobon:

[Raistlin]

FFT is one of the great RPG stories. Easy choice. It's a much more interesting, mature plot than most other games in the series. It does veer off later maybe a bit too much to the supernatural (it's FF after all), but it still beats the pants off of most of the rest of the genre.

[Del Murder]

Agree with Raistlin that this was an easy but very painful choice! FFT stands up as one of the best stories in gaming.

[Wolf Kanno]

I love FFIX, and I'm currently replaying it with all the nostalgic glory it has. But Tactics is one of my favorite FF games because of it's narrative. So as the tie breaker, it's going to be Tactics.