Final Fantasy Girlfriend help!

[Ultima Shadow]

Are you going to play the game together, or will she be playing it completely by herself?

If the first, I would actually suggest FFVIII personally. It's easy to get into and is very newbie-friendly as soon as you actually do get the hang of the Junctioning system. The only problem though, is the complexity of the Junction system at first. But if she gets some additional help in learning it, I think FFVIII can be a great choice. Most of the FF-playing girls I know (who aren't hardcore gamers/been gaming for many years) has prefered FFVIII over many others in the series.

If not that, though, I'd absolutely say FFIX.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

Definitely IX. Course, you don't even need to ask me. Just lookit my name. But I would say X would be a close second, and VIII would be a bad choice. The junctioning system is very complicated, drawing magic sucks, the story is so jacked up, and it doesn't have any real sort of Final Fantasy feel to it, other than Shiva and Ifrit. If she started with VIII then went to another one, it would feel like a huge genre jump, instead of going from IX, X, or VII. So, yeah, IX for sure, and play multiplayer. Have her be player 1 so she can explore what she wants, and then have you control the healer and Steiner so the battles aren't too difficult for her.

[Jessweeee♪]

FFVIII was my first FF and no I didn't really get the hang of the Junction system at first. I relied on GF spamming and got stuck at the missile base before the Playstation was smashed under a TV. But it drew me into the series!

[Miriel]

No love for VII? I think that's a great intro game although X is pretty newbie friendly too. FFVIII was balls and I hated it, but I knew a lot of girls who were hardcore into that game when it first came out. So I suppose it does appeal to the female demographic.

Meh, just start with VI and have her work her way forward.

[Cloud88]

Are you going to play the game together, or will she be playing it completely by herself?

The plan is that I'd be playing it with her, so I'd be able to show her the ropes as needed.

I would start with 7, but it seems a much more hardcore game than VIII, IX or X, and I don't want to instantly suggest to her that THIS GAME WILL EAT UP DAYS OF YOUR LIFE!! You know?

These three games have always been up as my three favourite FFs of all time, and I've never been able to choose a favourite, so it's difficult for me to choose one.

AHH! The choices!

Edit: Miriel, I've never heard of VIII hatred being described in such a succinct way. Straight, and to the point.

[Flying Arrow]

Is you girlfriend a big gamer at all? If she doesn't have experience with RPGs, I'd... steer her away from FF8. That game is absolutely not newbie-friendly unless you have working knowledge of RPG stats and how they work in the game. Plus, you'll be reverse-introducing her to the series by sticking her with the most black-sheep entry mechanics-wise. How is 7 more hardcore than 8? If I were picking an introduction game from the two, I'd say 7 is a lot more newbie-friendly. It's basically just a souped-up SNES game. Even if you're playing with her with 8 you'll have to stop her every time she opens her menu and outright lecture her on how that trout works.

Of your choices, I'd go with either IX or X depending on her tolerance for older graphics and freedom. If she can find her way around an RPG and doesn't mind PS1 models and camera angles, I'd go with IX since she'll be able to handle all the locations and tons of people to talk to. If she's completely new to games, go for X because it's pretty hard to get lost in that one.

[Cloud88]

She's not a very big gamer at all, but she plays Pokemon and Sims like a religion. So she has some experience with games.

Just in my head, VII seems to require more effort than VIII, IX or X. It did and still does for me. VIII, IX and X just seem easier to play imo. Maybe VIII isn't a great idea. At least she wouldn't have the chance to roll her eyes when she discovers the link between most of the gang.

[Goldenboko]

Go with X.

Reasons:
1. Pretty boy hero. Chicks dig pretty boys.
2. Easy to get battle system. Seriously, no crazy explaining necessary
3. Love story
4. Love story
5. The laughing scene. If you can sit through that unbearable moment with your girlfriend, you should probably go ahead and get married.
6. Sphere Grid: If your girlfriend can't figure it out, you'll know to dump her. It's more of a weeding out device really.

[Rostum]

Definitely IX would be my first choice. I got my girlfriend, who is a non-gamer, to play it and she really loved it. She had no trouble with the battle system either, though I had to help her with some things as she didn't want to level-grind.

If not that, then I'd suggest X. It seems to be a lot easier to get in to for people new to the series, at least from what I've read of people's accounts.

I disagree with what you're saying with VII. It's definitely the easiest game of the PS1-era series.

[Miriel]

I absolutely don't think that FFVII is more hardcore than VIII, IX or X. I found the materia system to be incredibly straight forward and easy to learn.

As a girl who loves Pokemon and Sims, I vote VII!

IX has the cuteness factor, but my god are the battles sloooow.

[Flying Arrow]

I disagree with what you're saying with VII. It's definitely the easiest game of the PS1-era series.

I'd agree with this, it's much more straightforward than VIII (which is probably the easiest of the games if you know exactly what you're doing) and much easier than IX to not die (which is probably a result of IX having so much control over your party make-up and being able to balance the game as appropriately as possible).

Aside from the graphical step-down from VIII and IX, I'd say there's no reason to exclude VII.

But to give you my definitive answer based on your SO playing Pokemon, etc: Go with IX.

[FFIX Choco Boy]

Go with X.

Reasons:
1. Pretty boy hero. Chicks dig pretty boys.
2. Easy to get battle system. Seriously, no crazy explaining necessary
3. Love story
4. Love story
5. The laughing scene. If you can sit through that unbearable moment with your girlfriend, you should probably go ahead and get married.
6. Sphere Grid: If your girlfriend can't figure it out, you'll know to dump her. It's more of a weeding out device really.

Wow Boko. Just wow. Although, on a side note, I have three female cousins who played X, and between the 3 of them they couldn't figure out the Sphere Grid. I had to explain it like 3 times, and then the next time I went over to their house, they had screwed it up again. I told them to just go back to Kingdom Hearts. >.>

[Sylvie]

I disagree with what you're saying with VII. It's definitely the easiest game of the PS1-era series.

I'd disagree. For a first-timer, IX would be my choice as the easiest. FFVII gave me some trouble as a beginner (without a walkthrough, most new players wouldn't think to use the Manipulate skill on the Beach Plugs to get one the game-breaking E. Skill.)

[Shiny]

Hmm...I would say FFVII, but the storyline might be kinda hardcore for someone just playing the game and they may get turned off by the polygon ass graphics. When I began the FF series I was in Toys R Us and was eyeing FFVIII and FFIX. I went with FFIX first, because gothic slightly bondage Squall (on the cover) didn't seem like it was appropriate for a ten year old. Incidentally I was right. Game was highly inappropriate at the time. FFX is also kinda inappropriate at times.

But she's older than I was so I'd say go for FFX because quite frankly it's the most straight forward battle system though I think starting her off with a talking one will make her less thrilled when she tries out most of the other games in the series since most of them do not have voice acting.

[VeloZer0]

Another option would be to give her a quick* rundown of each with a screenshot or two and let her pick. She might be more invested in the whole process that way.

*quick in the sense of a non fan, not quick in the sense of people like us who talk about FF games all day.