*Sigh* VIII or IX?

[ReloadPsi]

Well, this poll seems to be nominating FF8 as the black sheep of the series. TA didn't even get a look in. Man I hated that game.

[arcanedude34]

Well, this poll seems to be nominating FF8 as the black sheep of the series. TA didn't even get a look in. Man I hated that game.

TA has better gameplay than eight. By the time you figure out the junction and GP systems, you've already died on the same boss so many times that you never want to see Squall's wanna-be emo face again.

Boring cast (only FF since II to feature all human-cast [technically (SPOILER)Cecil was Lunarian and III doesn't really count]), unimaginative story, and frankly the worst grphics in any Final Fantasy to date (save X maybe)

Let me ask this- is there anyone in here who likes VIII more who's first FF wasn't VIII? The only way I can see ANYone liking VIII more is if they based their opinions for the rest of the Final Fantasy games on it. The other games are so different *coughbettercough* that VIII may have changed some people's views on the series.

Thats just my theory.

[Rocket Edge]

What the hell? FF9 is winning? You people suck!

Or perhaps my friend, we rock.

VIII is by out and far the best FF.

IX, IV, V & X closely follow.

[Darth Anarcus]

Let me ask this- is there anyone in here who likes VIII more who's first FF wasn't VIII? The only way I can see ANYone liking VIII more is if they based their opinions for the rest of the Final Fantasy games on it. The other games are so different *coughbettercough* that VIII may have changed some people's views on the series.

Yes, right here. FF7 was my first. I've completed FF1, FF7, FF8, FF9, FFX, FFX-2 and FF12, and so far FF8 still remains my favorite.

[Ryth]

FFIX completely destroys VIII.

[Ramza Beoulve]

I played FFVI and FFT before VIII, but I like more VIII than all others, except for FFT, that is my favorite Final Fantasy

[.:kerrod:.]

in reply to a lot of people's remarks: FFTA was good, its a refreshing change to the normal FF (excluding FFT ) and was worth playing, i must admit,however, that it got a little boring in the middle. FF8 was my first, but FFVII remains my favourite (i have only just started playing 9, so i cant make a fair choice) however, i mistook VIII for VII, so i accidently voted for it :riiight: X closely followed VII, and i maybe enjoyed it a LITTLE more because of the level up system and the graphics, etc.

EDIT: i own and have played VIII, just to let you know

[Bolivar]

It's funny I used to prefer IX much more than VIII, and thought it was maybe the best until a recent playthrough when i realized it's more of a tribute to a series than it is actually one of the titles in it. It doesn't stand alone nearly enough as VIII does, which is really distinct from the others. Obviously the Draw system didn't play out as well as the creators thought, but someone with moderate knowledge of it can find the game fun.

I remember when it came out they billed it as The King of RPG's, and i thought that was blasphemy then but now I'm starting to understand it.

[Frostwake]

It's funny I used to prefer IX much more than VIII, and thought it was maybe the best until a recent playthrough when i realized it's more of a tribute to a series than it is actually one of the titles in it. It doesn't stand alone nearly enough as VIII does, which is really distinct from the others. Obviously the Draw system didn't play out as well as the creators thought, but someone with moderate knowledge of it can find the game fun.

I remember when it came out they billed it as The King of RPG's, and i thought that was blasphemy then but now I'm starting to understand it.

*LONG POST AHEAD*

Bingo! FF IX is pretty good if you played the previous FFs and know about all the references, but on its own its pretty mediocre... Not to mention the superbosses are the worse ever except for Tantarian which in my opinion is the best FF boss ever, if fought on disk 2...

Since to me one of the biggest components of FF is challenge/fighting fun... I was horribly disappointed to know there isnt a single boss in FF IX that goes over 65 K hp.. its just lame.. yeah theres no 9999 hp breaker in this game, but all you need is 2 rounds to beat any boss assuming they dont kill anyone.. I always loved Emerald/Ruby/Omega fights because of the huge amount of hp that made them epic, unless you used cheap tricks like lucky seven or mimed omnislash/angermax, the fight was sure to last a few minutes...I hear many people saying Ozma is one of the hardest bosses in the series... Most luck based and pointless? Yes! Hardest? NO!

And Square was well aware of this since they pumped FF X bosses hp to the sky.. And having said this, the custom limit breaks of FF VIII also kicked major ass, specially Squall's and Irvine's.. you can argue that the limit system was borked because you could do it every round, but when the average lvl 100 monster had 60 K hp (malboros actually have 140 K), it was still fun as hell...

Also I never got why people say the junction system is so hard? ITs SO EASY to understand... it isnt any more complicated than FF V job system or whatever

Yet another point would be the card game... FF VIII card game owns, FF IX is pointless and stupid, AND based on how lucky you are to get decent arrows in the cards

Next, summons in FF IX are totally worthless, specially considering they are a major part of the plot.. When I first saw Ark I thought "damn this looks cool, I hope it is another 9999 breaker like Eden" ha! how wrong I was... I couldnt believe the 7500 damage after that huge animation

Last but not least, you get the best items way too late in the game in FF IX, late to the point that they are useless, including Hades synth shop.. Unless you go through memoria to get them and go back to the world map which is stupid, because if Im gonna go to the last dungeon it means I want to finish the game, not collect some item, which btw, with a 9999 cap and 50 k average boss hp, is pointless anyway... FF IX is a pretty good game for lvl 1 challenge though

So, story wise FF IX might be better, but gameplay wise FF VIII kicks it any time any day

For the record my favourite ff list is something like

FF VII/FF VIII -> FF V - > FFI/II -> FF IV and never played III

(why didnt I include VI in the list? I hate all the characters except for Terra, Celes and Edgar, plus it has a stupid "IM GONNA KILL ALL MUAHAHAHA" villain, one of the things I usually love about FF villains is that they have a point, instead of just being evil for being evil (and for the FF VII haters thats why sephiroth gets so much love, for being a villain that actually makes you go "he isnt all that bad, I wish we didnt have to kill him")

[Ashley Schovitz]

IX is better, but I like them both. To the above VIII and IX's card game's were almost the same you just didn't understand what the symbols mean the only difference between the two is that the ruleswere changed in different regions in VIII and you could plcae your card anywhere.I agree that ozmna was only hard for my firts three tries, but my fourth when I figured out how to make the thing kill itself, it became almost as easy as Yu Yevon. IX was my first by the way.

[Skyblade]

IX is better, but I like them both. To the above VIII and IX's card game's were almost the same you just didn't understand what the symbols mean the only difference between the two is that the ruleswere changed in different regions in VIII and you could plcae your card anywhere.I agree that ozmna was only hard for my firts three tries, but my fourth when I figured out how to make the thing kill itself, it became almost as easy as Yu Yevon. IX was my first by the way.

Wrong. FFVIII's card game was purely mathematical. FFIX's card game was based nearly entirely on your luck to determine the actual value of your cards.

[silentenigma]

(why didnt I include VI in the list? I hate all the characters except for Terra, Celes and Edgar, plus it has a stupid "IM GONNA KILL ALL MUAHAHAHA" villain, one of the things I usually love about FF villains is that they have a point, instead of just being evil for being evil (and for the FF VII haters thats why sephiroth gets so much love, for being a villain that actually makes you go "he isnt all that bad, I wish we didnt have to kill him")

Kefka was not evil for no reason. He was the guinnea pig for a scientific experiment to alter humans. The process was not perfected at the time, and it caused his mental health to deteriorate. Kinda reminds me of Sephiroth....


And FFIX is best. EDIT: of the two.

[Wolf Kanno]

FFVIII being more challenging than IX? The Junction system is broken, that's why the monsters had to have 65 k hp. There was no other way to get them to last past a single round. I never found the Junction system to be difficult to understand rather I found the system allowed me to build demi-gods from disc one onward. I never died in that game until I met Omega and he died after my second attempt. Not much of a challenge to me. IX was balanced not easy.

Hp isn't everything in a game. I'll agree that Ozmna was more luck than anything but it's not like previous uber bosses couldn't be taken down easily. (Ruby can be taken down in one round with the proper party and materia) Look at Pyrlaster in FFXII, HP wise, he's nothing to really worry about compared to Yiazmet or Omega Mark XIII but the fact he start one hit K.O.ing your characters halfway through the fight makes him one of the nastiest challenges in the game.

As for the debate itself. While I'm one to agree that IX gets alot of it's charm for being a homage I do feel it stands on it's own. I like VIII but I like IX better.

[NeoCracker]

Actually, pretty much every FF Is easy. Except FF IV hard, FF V(Assuming you dont' do the cheap Mime trick or Coin Toss), and Tactics. While FF IX is also quite an easy Game, It was just fun to play. FF VIII was not. I don't really Base games on Difficulty so much as fun factor and Story. Though Hard Games do get bonus points.

[Wolf Kanno]

That's true, ever since I got introduced to the MegaTen series, most RPG's are just ridiculously easy. But FFVIII makes it almost impossible not to be a demi-god. You're either so weak you can't win or you're a god. The real challenge with the Junction system is to try to be balanced.:rolleyes2

I like VIII for it's characters, especially Squall and Laguna. But overall I love FFIX cause they did everything almost right.