Is Final Fantasy IX better than Final Fantasy VIII?

[RedPouch]

Have you played Final Fantasy IV?

Of course! It was one of my favourite ones ever since I was a kid.

You might see in what manner I'm saying it would be simpler to have your party change in course with the story.

I'm afraid I don't see what you're saying though. I don't think it really complicates things. All the party members can be made to be quite useful in battle [I even went with Quina all the way through one run], so It seems pretty easy-going to me.

[Rantz]

Well, I don't think I can explain it any better than I already have, so sorry if you don't understand. It's a question of atmosphere rather than gameplay.

[McLovin']

They're both the best.

[Fynn]

Yeah, they are Though I loved VIII's story, system, FMVs and music, I found IX AMAZING! I mean, it's definitely in my top three (along with XII and VI). It had a great atmosphere, the characters were very varied and likable (I liked the characters of VIII as well) and even though it was rather light-hearted, it touched some big themes (identity, life and death and so on...). FFIX RULEZ!

[abrojtm]

Yes, yes it is.

[joerevs300]

Considering I played FFVIII for 30 minutes and have played through FFIX a few times, including many of the sidequests, and my answer is resoundingly FFIX. It's really tough for me to even choose between FFVII and FFIX, because both introduced different things. I think the story of FFVII is stronger, but I think the gameplay is very similar.

FFVIII is definitely the "love or hate" game of the FF series along with FFV and FFXII for the PS2.

[Bolivar]

I look at it like this: FFVIII took many more risks, FFIX played it safe, but delivered an extraordinary experience in the process. I consider VII, VIII, IX, and sometimes X as all candidates for the best in the series, and on any given day I could say that any one of them is the best.

I also have to note just how damn corny FFIX is. When I read some of the dialogue, or think about the situations, I feel like I'm playing a children's game. The scene where Caraway shows you the assassination plan in FFVIII delivers a sharp contrast, with Squall thinking to himself about how complicated the real world is, whereas IX jumps headfirst into simple-story absolutes.

It's also a pet peeve of mine every time I hear someone say "FFIX stuck to the roots", "goes back to the roots", "roots, roots, roots & root beer". On one hand, yes, it goes back to cartoony-styled characters (not bashing it, IX's designs were awesome) and is stylistically perhaps more analogous to the earlier ones. However, it takes its cue from the work done in FFVII and FFVIII - 2d pre-rendered backdrops positioned at different angles as the background for the field screen, 3d battle screens as opposed to horizons, 3d world map with rotating camera. Final Fantasy could have transitioned into 3d in any number of ways, but FFVII set the precedent for its successors. Also, if big castles and pretty princesses are what you need to define the roots of FF, I think that's a really shallow way to discount some of the other games. It also overlooks how you battle mechanized warriors, with robots running around operating computers in the wind shrine in FFI, the highly digitized dungeons in FFIV, the advanced race and technologies in FFV. I love FFVII and VIII because they took the series to explore different sub-genres of fantasy, VII resembling the harsh irreconcilable aspects of nature & technology, with VIII showing the two in harmony.

[Marky Tee]

yes but id say 8 is argueably the 2nd best in the series

id maybe go as far as to say ff9 is the best game ever but its realy difficult to make that claim

[Garnie]

I'm not sure. I love them both.

[Quindiana Jones]

Have you played Final Fantasy IV?

Of course! It was one of my favourite ones ever since I was a kid.

You might see in what manner I'm saying it would be simpler to have your party change in course with the story.

I'm afraid I don't see what you're saying though. I don't think it really complicates things. All the party members can be made to be quite useful in battle [I even went with Quina all the way through one run], so It seems pretty easy-going to me.

The way I understood Rantzien's post is that it's the question of "What have I missed by not choosing X?" that complicates matters. Sure, you can choose your favourites, but what if you accidentally miss some cool scenes or dialogue? If your party is chosen for you, you can be sure that nothing is missed. I don't think he was referring to difficulty in battle.

[Rantz]

Something like that, yeah. IX is pretty damn easy to play, I'm not contesting that.

[Rocket Edge]

IX is awesome, but VIII is the greatest game ever made.

[Laddy]

Play the Sci-Fi RPG's. They are very good.

IX is better than VIII, imo. FFIX characters are more unique, diverse, and have more battle-based individuality. IX has beautiful music, a touching storyline, and great combat. And IX is the absolute best in terms of side-quests.

VIII is a good game in its own right, though.

[Marky Tee]

i think its IX's cast that make it so great
i mean the story is awesome but not terribly ground breaking
the cast on the other hand are the most amazing and memorable in the whole series
IMO

[G13]

Having said that, I'd like to throw in on the side of Tetra Master. That card game is epic. Screw you haters.

Seriously. Triple Triad is fun but too predictable, Tetra Master is where it's at.

You two seem to have pretty stout heads on your shoulders.

IX is much better than VIII IMO. Certain qualities of VIII are lacking, like grabbing my attention span and not letting go. IX has a much more intriguing storyline and characters. Granted I did play IX before VIII, but that has nothing to do with why I like it better... I think. VIII just isn't as interesting as IX.

I agree with Bastian that FF title's are incredibly awesome when they're like IX, but they are equally as good as IX when they aren't like it. If they made everything the same, s#!% would get boring quick. That said, Bastian man, you should play the others, they're equally as badass with the machinery.