Final Fantasy VII vs. Final Fantasy VIII vs. Final Fantasy IX

[Draconomicon]

Okey, so I got me Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 9 (I didnt get 8 because I read how the spell animations do take an eternity and cannot be broken, which makes fights pretty repetive).

So, I tried out Final Fantasy 7 and got along with the graphics well enough (it IS some years old, after all), but the story just didnt grip me.
I played a while through CD 1 until I got Aeris into the party and left the train graveyard, but after that, I simply kicked the CD out and had no interest in going back. Honestly, the game just didnt grip me and I dont know why people think its so great.

Then today, I popped in Final Fantasy 9, and BOOM! That game gripped me! The graphics were of course a lot better, and I at once fell in love with the intuitive interface (its just soooo much easier to find stuff) and the cool characters (The black mage is my favorite!) also, the first 40 minutes were filled with an interesting idea and innovative developement (black mage joining some thieves to get into the opera, for example) and so, I am pretty much fallen in love with the game.

Now I only hope it'll last longer than a few meekly hours (I've read you can beat the game in 12 hours and it would suck, if it were so short), but I fear for the worst (same happened in Breath of Fire 4. BoF 3 took easy 55-60 hours to complete, BoF4 only around 20 :().

Tell me which is / are your favorite of those three and why.

[BcAugust]

Hmm. Actually, I have very different views on the games.

FF7- Good graphics for the time. materia is a nice touch, but most of the good ones are close to impossible to find without a guide(summons being the worst, as well as command). I personally like most of the stories, though Cloud does get a little annoying and some drags on. Characters... one of the nicest ones is one of the hidden ones(Vincent), and two are pretty close to worthless (Yuppie and Cait Sith)

FF8- The story is rushed toward the end, most of the characters are unsympathtic first playthrough, and there are some choices in story that will annoy the heck out of you. However, the game system itself is wonderful, as soon as you realize it's a reverse RPG. The gameplay is fun, and the card game is not only interesting to play, but actually helpful. Character wise... there are a lot of characters that needed more development, but showed promise. Fun/Useful: Squall, Quistis, Zell, and Selphie. Useless/boring: Irvine.

FF9- Love the story to tears. It's great stuff. Absolutely loathe the fact they went back to the job system, after the customization of the last two. Um, the twelve hour thing... ignore. That's skipping everything, plus expert level play. It's involved to get a special item. Every character is useful, though some are less so then others. Surprisingly, I'd put both white mages on the "close to useless" catagory. I also, after FF8's card game, truely disliked the random nature of FF9's, as well as it's lack of usefulness

[Alex Scott]

FF7: I think it's kind of overrated, myself. Whenever I try to replay it, I usually get bored with it and quit after I reach Cosmo Canyon. The scenes built on Cloud's psychological struggle with Sephiroth are the best in the game. The rest, however, is about two discs' worth of filler, in which you either (a) chase Sephiroth, or (b) try to get the Large Materia. Besides, its basic premise is essentially a reworked version of FFVI's story, which was itself a more intricate version of Secret of Mana's story, which was itself a vastly improved version of FFII's story. The gameplay? Eh, not fantastic. It's harder to level up your abilities than in other games, and a lot of battles can pretty much depend on summoning repeatedly.

FF8: I've always believed this game was drastically underrated, and I will still stand my ground. I agree with just about everything BcAugust said. Most people who complain about the summons taking too long just never figured out how to use the Junction system properly. When you figure out how to refine magic from cards and items, and how to assign magic, you can turn your characters into physical and magical powerhouses without the need to mash the square button while Ifrit's on screen. I adore it when characters have individual abilities that are more interactive than picking an attack from a menu. It's probably the most rewarding of the PS1 FF's, especially since it has one of the best endings in the series. I used to defend its story, but the same team did much better with FFX--I will say, however, that it gets better each time you play it.

FF9: I played it when it came out, and since then, have had no urge to play it again. I found the story mostly forgettable, meandering, and confusing. I missed the high level of customization that usually comes with the Job system, like in FFV and FFTactics, and found the battles overly slow after FFVIII's brisk fights, and hardly on the same level of interactivity as FFVI, VIII, or X. In my mind, this was guilty of some of the worst of FFVII and VIII's sins, despite its intent to go more "old school." Oh, and I personally thought the whole last disc felt tacked on (especially Necron).

[DrewTheXenocide]

Letsee... I've only played nine, out of the three, and the most memorable thing I can think of is Vivi and Zidane taking a leak from the wall. Oh, and that Blank guy.

[Chou Blaster]

I like 7. But when I replayed it realized it wa snot as good as the classic FInal Fantasy games. But still my favorite out of the *Pasy 6* games.


I HATED FF8 with a passion..


9 was too easy for me.

Tactics is the only game sicne 6, to truely come close to the Odl school Final Fantasy in terms fo greatness. In my book.

[Knightmare]

FF8: I've always believed this game was drastically underrated, and I will still stand my ground. I agree with just about everything BcAugust said. Most people who complain about the summons taking too long just never figured out how to use the Junction system properly. When you figure out how to refine magic from cards and items, and how to assign magic, you can turn your characters into physical and magical powerhouses without the need to mash the square button while Ifrit's on screen. I adore it when characters have individual abilities that are more interactive than picking an attack from a menu. It's probably the most rewarding of the PS1 FF's, especially since it has one of the best endings in the series. I used to defend its story, but the same team did much better with FFX--I will say, however, that it gets better each time you play it.

.

Wholeheartdly agree with that. FF8 was underrsted.

FF7: 2nd favorite in the seris after FFX. But I'm partial to 7 because it's the first rpg I sat down and was hooked to. It was juts a well put togther game. And Sephiroth is my favorite villian in a game ever.

FF9: I don't think it was good as 7. And it takes around 30-35 hours to beat if you take your time. Story and characters are good, I especially loved Vivi and Zidane. Side missions suck though, and the card game is just lackluster compared to 8 ( which was just damn addictive.). And the ending...that was ending I could be happy wiyth.

[Cyke]

As much as I love 7, I honestly enjoyed 9 a lot more. Though Kuja was a forgettable villain, Vivi and some of the music scores clinched it for me. I'll admit that 7 has the tighter plot, but 9 just felt more personable and sympathetic to me.

I haven't played 8, but I'll get around to it sometime :)

[Xero Kaiser]

FF7- it takes a while for this game to pick up. doesn't really hit it's high point until the 2nd CD. still I liked this game

FF8- I got this for my birthday because there was nothing better out at the time, and hated it. hated the characters (except Zell), the story was weak as hell and the last boss just came out of nowhere and had no clear motivation...or personality...or anything that would've made her interesting. I put 50 hours into this game and got some of my characters up to lvl 100, but I just couldn't find anything that made me wanna come back. I don't even remember what the ending was, I was just glad it was over

FF9- I like the characters, especially Zidane, who was a nice change from guys like cloud, squall or Ramza. don't remember too much about it, I just know I was surprised at how short it turned out to be, considering it was 4 CDs long. I still liked it though, good music too

before the game came out, wasn't everyone saying that Vivi was gonna be the main character? whatever happened to that? he's the only spellcaster I've ever liked in a RPG

[The Fury]

FF7: I think is one of the best games ever. Still play it and only last year was able to do everything. Great game play, great story.

FF8: This game was good, but easy. If you knew how to work the magic system you could become very powerful and defeat even the last boss with ease.

FF9: Although the game is fun in gameplay, and the graphics and magic system are good (Although i like the way FF7 and FF* any character could have any ability), I didn't like the story, I still don't get the end.

[DrewTheXenocide]

CAn somebody spoil the ending of IX for me? The last thing I remember doing, before I hadda give it back the person who lent it to me, was pairing up Steiner and Beatrix to fight worm... things.

[Pepsigirl]

CAn somebody spoil the ending of IX for me? The last thing I remember doing, before I hadda give it back the person who lent it to me, was pairing up Steiner and Beatrix to fight worm... things.

I loved that part, Beatrix kicks major ass.

[Xero Kaiser]

BoF 3 took easy 55-60 hours to complete

no it didn't

[Draconomicon]

no it didn't

It did for me.

[Sanagi]

While the PSX was perfectly suited to the new Final Fantasy style, there were some overall trends that I didn't like. Hideously long summon animations probably rank first. How I'd long for the days when Rydia would summon a monster and it would do its job and go away within five seconds. Another gripe was the removal of unique character abilities in favor of limit breaks which could only be used after taking damage or being low on HP. This made all the characters seem the same.

FF7 was a big deal when it came out but the 3D models are horrible to look at now and the materia system isn't all that great - the only different aspect it brings to the table, junction effects, don't really become interesting until late in the game.

FF8, despite a lackluster story, is my favorite of the PSX FFs(aside from Final Fantasy Tactics). I love the customizability of it, and the fact that you can wander away from the story for a while to look for items, or spells, or to play cards, and thanks to refining it all connects together. Also, since in FF8 you can actually make use of limit breaks as a strategy by junctioning your HP and switching menus during combat to reshuffle the odds of a limit break appearing, the characters seem more unique.

FF9 failed to hold my attention. I had been playing Final Fantasy Tactics which reimagined classic Final Fantasy in new ways, and FF9 just seemed like a step backwards from that. Plus the load times for battles were terrible.

[Sheldon]

Useless/boring: Irvine.

While he was plenty boring, he could do some major damage....his limit break/overdrive whatever it was called int hat game could do 9999 each shot, and you could get 5 or 6 shots off each time....pretty simple, boring, but a ton of damage.