I can't vote, I like them both equally o:
Final Fantasy VII
Final Fantasy IX
I can't vote, I like them both equally o:
If you like them both equally, you should vote for IX, as that will give them a more equal number of votes each. VII doesn't need any help, it's got such a huge legion of followers. But think of the joy that IX gave you - selflessly without thoughts of gratitude or reward - and now it stands alone in the ring with the all time heavyweight champion.
You owe it to FFIX to give it a hand here. VII wont resent you for it. VII knows you're just levelling the playing field a bit. Go on, give IX a vote. Consider it your good deed for the day!
Well, in that case I'd say vote by taking other factors into consideration. Think about which was the most influential and better helped push the FF series forward. Which dared to try bold, new and radical ideas further pushing the envelope in and redefining what an jRPG should be. Consider which entry brought the series to a whole new mainstream audience that had never experienced it before, bringing over that same enjoyment and fun you got out of it not just to established FF fans, but to a whole new demographic and generation of gamers.
ItadakiAerith.jpg
Go on, put one for the flower girl...it's only one gil and she'll love you for it and Cid will also serve you some of that goddamn TEA
VII. And if chionos were correct, a lot of games would probably have progressed further, notably VIII.
Bow before the mighty Javoo!
On the contrary, I’d say that VII is a much better game all around. Gameplay is much better in it than it is in IX and the balance between story and gameplay is better handled as well. In IX you spend too much time watching stuff be it cutscenes, cinematic sequences, active time events and the like and it also has a lot of downtime, specially when you enter towns/cities for the first time. It is a case of the story taking over the gameplay as opposed to complementing it. During fights you do way too much waiting due to how slow (even at max battle speed and with hasted characters) the ATB implementation is and how long the transition from the field to when you can input commands in the the battle screen takes. Which makes each encounter a tad tedious especially as the random encounter rate in this game seems to be a bit higher than in previous titles.
In terms of narrative and pacing, right from the start IX gets off in the wrong foot with an overly complex and long introduction (which can amount to almost the first 2 hours of the game) and after that it practically meanders and plods during the first two discs to various locations seemingly at the whims of the scenario writers as opposed to the service of any greater plot. Everything from the battles to the plot progression feels slow in IX, even the battle theme itself takes a while to pick up the tempo and get going. A small part like the Midgar section of the first disc of VII is better written and paced than the entire first disc of IX.
The battle system and it's respective method of learning abilities is counterintuitive and not implemented all that well. While in VII you could buy new weapons and decide which one to use due to attack power, materia slots and growth it had, but you still had the ability to continue developing your materia and using it's abilities by transferring them to a new and more powerful weapon. IX basically makes it as if the materia were permanently attached to the weapons (and equipment) themselves, thus forcing you to stick to a low class weapon doing miserable damage to ever more powerful enemies or having low defence in the case of equipment if you wish to learn it's abilities (which take rather long to learn) or making you just go with the strongest weapon/equipment and let characters learn the abilities by chance (considering that most abilities are rather inconsequential, this is strangely the best option). In the case of characters like Vivi it leads to an imbalance, where you'll have Zidane doing, say, 400hp damage with his weapon whereas Vivi with his Fire spell does a measly 80hp damage because he has yet to learn a new level of the spell or because you just haven’t been able to buy the weapon that has it. The Trance skill is also a step backwards from what we had in VII and VIII (which X thankfully brought back) as it is very unreliable since once the gauge is full it activates and there is no way to save it up for later or any way to control it as you could in previous titles.
As far as characters goes, Zidane was so happy go lucky and one note as to be unrelatable and had practically no character growth or depth. Cloud was a far more intriguing and compelling protagonist with a better handled and fleshed out arc and he being an unreliable narrator was quite refreshing and further drew you into the story. As for the rest of the characters in IX, the only interesting one which showed any kind of internal struggle and development was Vivi but his arc is not really followed through once the bit about Zidane’s past comes in. Freya sort of got a bit of background during the part at Burmecia/Clerya but this line is basically shelved after that. Amarant’s arc is poorly paced with next to nothing happening for him for the most part and then some sort of rushed development happening at the last hour. Overall the game doesn’t really does a good job at tying up the characters stories.
If we think about what it is that has defined FF over the years and what has earned the series such a high reputation as a standard bearer of it's genre, it is not a checklist of things to include in each entry to the series (like crystals, chocobos, moogles, and the like); rather, the driving factor has always been about treading uncharted waters, trying bold new ideas, pushing the envelope and redefining the genre. Such was the case with IV, V, VI, VII and VIII. Each entry didn't seek to conform to some RPG formula or to return to some idea of the series "roots"; rather it went against those very notions, always building up from what came before with each entry progressively moving away from the accepted norms of jRPGs.
In that light, IX is a regressive title as it decides to play it safe in practically every aspect, undoing nearly every sort of advancement in things like character customisation and party formation that had been made in the series since IV. Back is the rigid leveling system with each character boxed, as it were, into their respective jobs with little to no customisation to be had. Back is the game not allowing you to switch your party members at will (until really late in the game) back is the 4 members party, which wouldn't be bad, but due to the lack of customisation, it suffers from the same thing that IV did (which allowed for 5 members) which is that there is in fact less room for strategy than in previous titles. It is like nearly every element of the game was put in simply for the sake of appeasing a false sense of nostalgia, even the slogan in the back of the CD case proudly proclaims “the crystal is back” (which only makes a last minute cameo appearance at the end of the game).
In the end, by trying so hard to be like what came before, IX simply ends up lacking a distinct voice and identity of it’s own; which is perhaps why it ends up falling into the background for most people when seen in light of other more daring entries into the franchise.
After heavy consideration between both games, which I both like, I have decided that I'm going with VII. I've not played very far into it, but I know that it's considered one of the best games, and plus I do enjoy the story and characters more than I do with IX.
Both are classics and some of the best FF experiences, but FFVII was something more than just a great FF game. It really defined an entire generation and changed the RPG landscape forever. It's a clear choice for me.
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