Do you recommend FFIX?

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

emo angst of 7 and 8

FFVII is not emo Cloud is just a complete prick there is a difference. Squall on the other is an emo as he thinks no one can help his problems and does everything by himself and no one gets him but he makes this work for him. Original FFVII is not emo. Cloud is however, Emoesque in Advent Children.

OT: Yes I would recommend FFIX. It is a bit more easy to manage given that all characters have certain jobs. It is also a throw back to the old FF days and is why so many fans or people who didn't like setting of VI, VII and VIII liked it so much. It is a bit more inflexible character wise since you can't change roles mid point and people are generally stuck in whatever job ie Vivi can only be a Black mage. Other than that it is fine and in FF games that should never really be a problem anyway. If you do play it and get to a point where you have to pick 1 party to stay at a palace and another to go to some wierd place about 1/2 way through game LEAVE ALL MAGIC USERS IN THE PALACE. My first time though I took magic users to the otehr place where magic is unusable....

I would also recommend trying FFVIII, It is not as dark as FFVII although I would not describe either of them as particularly dark just a bit heavy at times. The one thing that is a massive flaw in it though is the Junction system. While good and easy to use to max out attributes you are discouraged from using magic and magic can be a ***** to come by. It is still one of the easiest FFs to break mechnics wise by far. All boss fights can won by Aura-Meltdown-Rezokuken-Aura-Pulse Ammo-Repeat-Maybe Holy War/Heal. enemies also level up with you which makes grinding meaningless. You can also turn off random encounters with an ability. So other that Junction system it is a solid game.

 

[Phlakes]

see the Spoony Experiments, 11 part, over an hour long analysis for more detail [http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/final-fantasy-viii/].

I did see that, and that's why I'm thinking about IX instead.

 

[Sylveria]

9 has a lot of positives. I honestly think its one of the best playing FF games except for a few small gripes like the trance system being horrid, the carpal tunnel inducing chocobo mini game, and most of the world being brown. Now, with that said, the characters are fairly unlikable (IMO) and the art style is really polarizing. If you don't mind everything looking so cartoonish and all the characters having hydrocephali, it's one of the solid members of the series. It's certainly better 10, 12 and 13.

Honestly though, if you haven't done them yet, I'd recommended 4, 5 or 6 over 9.

 

[Sylveria]

see the Spoony Experiments, 11 part, over an hour long analysis for more detail [http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/final-fantasy-viii/].

I did see that, and that's why I'm thinking about IX instead.

Oh, don't take the Spoony Analysis too seriously. Yes he does bust its balls but it is done for the sake of comedy (he even admits this in some of his out-of-character vlogs and such). 8 has problems, they all do, and despite some of the emoness, magic junctioning and stupid plot holes/points, it plays well. I'm not going to say play 8 over 9 or vica versa. If you're starting to become a fan of the series, most of them both before and after VII are worth trying. And like I said above, the SNES era ones are pretty impressive on their own and many people will argue are far more enjoyable than the PSX and forward era.

 

[Stickman Sam]

Yeah, 8 and 9 are both really really good if you enjoyed 7.

IMO they aren't quite as absorbing, but that's not to say they aren't very absorbing and there's loads of stuff to do as far as sidequests go etc.

 

[Auron225]

Yes. Yes. Definitely. Yes. Go play it. This instant.

Its absolute genius - my 2nd favourite game of all time and its only marginally behind no.1. The story is incredible, the characters are well-made and likeable, the music is great, the combat... well its standard FF time-action-battle, the music is great. Its pretty long, but if you enjoy it as much as I did then you wont be wanting it to end!

 

[wolfy098]

FFIX is my favorite installment... it's actually the only FF after the jump to disc (FFVII and above) that I'd recommend.

And in my opinion, FFVIII is actually the worse of the bunch ... see the Spoony Experiments, 11 part, over an hour long analysis for more detail [http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/final-fantasy-viii/].

You know I think he liked VIII, he's said he played through it at least twice and he has those triple triad cards and the figurines...

 

[WorldCritic]

I have played and beaten the first eight Final Fantasies, but unfortunately I have never played IX. It better be good!

 

[Tarkand]

FFIX is my favorite installment... it's actually the only FF after the jump to disc (FFVII and above) that I'd recommend.

And in my opinion, FFVIII is actually the worse of the bunch ... see the Spoony Experiments, 11 part, over an hour long analysis for more detail [http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/final-fantasy-viii/].

You know I think he liked VIII, he's said he played through it at least twice and he has those triple triad cards and the figurines...

Wouldn't want to see him talk about a game he hates then!

 

[wolfy098]

FFIX is my favorite installment... it's actually the only FF after the jump to disc (FFVII and above) that I'd recommend.

And in my opinion, FFVIII is actually the worse of the bunch ... see the Spoony Experiments, 11 part, over an hour long analysis for more detail [http://spoonyexperiment.com/category/final-fantasy-viii/].

You know I think he liked VIII, he's said he played through it at least twice and he has those triple triad cards and the figurines...

Wouldn't want to see him talk about a game he hates then!

FFIX would probably be an example of a game he didn't like. He gives a reason which he admits is just personal taste and never mentions it again.

 

[Joe_Musashi]

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. I understand why people liked it, but try playing IV then IX.

To me, all IX will ever be is an expanded IV, with less memorable characters.

...At least VIII wasn't recycled Characters/Plot points/Aesthetics.

Go play V-VI. I'm pretty sure they will run really, really well on your totally legal comp-PS2! Or even for Wii!

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

FF9 is an excellent game, but very 'retro' - it's high fantasy rather than sci-fi like FF7.

FF8 is... well, it has a good (if confusing) plot, and a REALLY WEIRD mechanical system. FF8 would take a while to explain, but if you liked casting spells with Materia in FF7, you might dislike FF8's junction system. When I first played the game, back when it was originally released, I HATED it. I replayed the game years later, and enjoyed it alot. So... yeah. I was also coming off of FF7, so perhaps that is a good indication.

If you're using a less powerful system, I'd actually recommend FF6 (FF3 American) as similar to FF7 (in that it's Steampunk). Of course, the graphics are significantly less nice due to it being a SNES game.

Anyway, whichever you choose - enjoy!

 

[DreadfulSorry]

I actually didn't care for IX; I got about 1 hour into it and couldn't continue. I just couldn't get into the characters like I could for other FF titles. It seems to me though that FF IX is one of those titles you either love or hate, so I would give it a try, you might like it.

 

[varulfic]

I haven't played IX, but I've played VIII, and I want to warn you: FF8 is horrible.

Reading this thread kinda makes me want to try out FF9 though. It seemed sort of like the middle child when it came out, overshadowed by 8 before and 10 after, so I never payed much mind to it.

 

[Sixcess]

I'm one of those rare people who dislikes FFIX. I found it uninvolving and just couldn't follow the story at all. It felt like ones of those games where you feel the developers don't trust you, the player, not to fuck up the story, so you're left slack jawed watching cut scenes whenever anything remotely important happens.

(I realise that could be said of most RPGs, but it felt particularly blatant in FF9.) Since the OP hasn't played it I'll spoiler the next bit

Spoiler

Kefa (is that his name? It's been a long time and I forget) shows up and makes a big speech. Player panics because it's got to be near the end of the first disc and there's going to be a big fight and it's been ages since the last save point and... he zaps you all in a cut scene and then buggers off for the next six hours.

Or Garland (?) who shows up out of freaking nowhere (Who is this guy? Why is he in a spaceship (?) Why should I care what he's rambling about?) and does something in a big dramatic cut scene, and then buggers off for the next... well, you get the idea.

During the final disc I remember fighting increasingly powerful monsters and thinking 'I've no idea where I am, what I'm doing or what I'm supposed to be achieving." So I put it down and never went back.

 

[Tarkand]

/boggles.

I don't mind to insult your cognitive abilities, but FFIX's story is actually refreshingly straightforward as far as FF story goes (Again, a throwback to pre-PS1 FF area).

 

[Safaia]

I can't fucking stand VIII but I'd recommend IX in a heartbeat. As I said in the 'scenes that make you cry' thread that ending made me cry tears of joy. Like a fucking baby.

Actually what I really recommend is getting a DS and buying the DS versions of III and IV then finding a copy of VI for the GBA. All three are awesome.