Funny, me being in the U.K. and I think VIII is better than IX in almost if not every aspect.
The game isn't hard if you know what you're doing. It just rewards good players instead of ones who equip the new weapon handed to them then wandered around for hours levelling.
Drawing isn't a neccessity by any means, another benefit given there are many, many ways to play VIII.
The game feels a lot more free because you don't get channelled everywhere, and get given weapons when and where you're told.....
I could go on for a LONG time methinks, but this isn't the place for comparisons.
