Final Fantasy VIII or IX! Help!

Leedsboi86

Leedsboi86

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Hey everyone!

Hope someone can help me hehe.
I'm tryin to decide between playing Final Fantasy IX and VIII.
They both seem like really good games and due to not been able to play lost odessey at moment >.< damn Xbox 360 has gone for a cooling system upgrade!(Not risking RRoD)

Anyway any info that would help me decide between the two would be great!
I have had a lil go on both I got to 9's crash site and 8's Garden Party so pretty much near start.

So peoples experiences, likes and dislikes of each game would be good.
Or just some info that would help me decide.


Many thanks in advance!

Thanks!
 
I'd go for eight. The storyline, Junction system, gameplay and things to do in general seem a bit more appealing then IX's.

VIII lacks in a decent main party. They all have boring backgrounds.
 
Pretty much what Rulia said, I wasn't all that keen on IX tbh, although I am planning on replaying it once I have VI out of the way because it's been a good while.....

I just loved everything about VIII although I got a bit confused with the story a little later on concerning the main villain and the motives, but other than that I found it to be a really great game and I have replayed it more times than you could shake a stick at

I hope you like rescuing damsels in distress though because that might irritate you :wacky:

As for IX, well I can't really remember much about it tbh. It just didn't grab my attention all that much >_<

I'd recommend having a look round the VIII/IX discussion threads and possibly the reviews, see what you think ^^
 
FFVIII is better actually in my opinion, the characters are cooler and have a better storyline even though their background is boring like Rulia said.

FFIX it's like you playing in the babies world (in my opinion) storyline isn't that good actually.
 
IX a million times over. If you're not a graphics whore who thinks the 'chibi' style of the graphics is a put off, then you should have no problem. The storyline is engaging and very easy to follow. The characters are a hundred times more interesting and better written than the cast of VIII. The Ability system of IX is miles better and easier to use than VIII's junctioning system.

I guess it's a matter of taste. If you prefer a sci-fi feel, then play VIII, if you like a medieval/historical(*cough*better) feel then play IX.
 
The Chibi thing never bothered me.
I always thought that kinda style was cute.
I kinda think the storyline makes the game not the graphics.
 
They're both very good games. I mean, you do have both games, correct? And you plan on playing both eventually...? If so, then just play VIII first, I guess. I can't exactly choose which one is better because I love both games, and I believe they're unique in their own way.
 
I'd go for IX. It has a more developed xast and it's villain is pretty awesome, despite only wearing a jock strap and a cape.

VIII has decent everything, but the junction system is even more complicated than the tutorials put it off as. And they make it really complicated.
 
Judge Rulia pretty much hit the nail on the head! I really think the story line supercedes that of IX, but, hey! Zidane is pretty cute, so you might want to go for that one, (lol, but, in all seriousness IX has a more interesting party).
 
IX all the way, man. VIII has nothing on that game, except maybe a cooler weapon for the main character, but compared to all the other clear advantages IX has over VIII, even the awesomeness of the Gunblade can't bridge the immensely large gap between the two. First off, IX has a cast of genuinely likable characters with a lot of personality just in the team of playable characters alone. The main character, Zidane, is among my personal favorite Final Fantasy characters. He's got an interesting personality and backstory, and I can pretty much guarentee you'll grow to like him over the course of the game. I'm not saying I've got anything against the angsty bishounen protagonist common to Final Fantasies. In fact, Cloud Strife is another of my favorite FF characters, but Squall (the main character in Final Fantasy VIII) just wasn't done very well, I'm sorry to say, at least not when compared with such amazingly crafted characters as the aforementioned Cloud and Zidane. So, on the subject of the main character, there's just no question. Zidane>Squall.

The rest of the cast is just as good. Steiner is awesome, Dagger is awesome, Vivi is awesome, the whole cast is just freakin' awesome...except maybe Quina. You might not like him/her. Oh, yeah, and they all actually contribute something to the plot. You see, Final Fantasy VIII has the incriminating flaw of making 3/4ths of the main playable characters completely and utterly useless about halfway into the second Disc. After the event at the orphanage, the only characters who actually get any sort of backstory or character development are Squall and Rinoa. Everyone else is just about as bland as it gets, which is disappointing, too, because I personally thought that Quistis and Zell would've been great characters if the writers had bothered to expand on them AT ALL. IX, meanwhile, at least gives its PCs their own unique backstory that, in some way, shape, or form, ties into the greater scheme of the plot.

Oh, right...the main antagonist. IX has Kuja. Now, you might as well just buy Final Fantasy IX specifically for Kuja. He is, bar none, the greatest villain Final Fantasy has ever seen. Sephiroth? Kefka? Golbez? Wusses. There is only Kuja. He has everything you need to be a good RPG villain. He's ruthless, intimidating, powerful, charismatic, influential, and yet, despite all of this, he still manages to have an emotional impact and interesting backstory. I really can't praise him enough. He's not my all-time favorite villain (as anyone here can tell you, I believe the greatest villain of all time to be Vicious from Cowboy Bebop), but he's definitely one of my absolute favorite JRPG villains. Besides, the guy runs around in a thong and still manages to kick ass. How is that NOT great?

Final Fantasy VIII? You get
Ultimecia
. Notice how I put her name in Spoiler Tags. That's because you literally
do not see her until about thirty minutes from the end credits, depending on how fast you beat the final bosses. That's right, you do not see the final villain of Final Fantasy VIII until you actually fight her in the last battle.
Seriously, she may very well be the most disappointing villain in the history of RPG villains. She's got absolutely no backstory, no depth, and no personality beyond "Lawl I R EBIL!" All we know is that
she's an evil sorceress from the future
and that she wants to (you guessed it)...DESTROY THE UNIVERSE! And why does she want to destroy the universe? BECAUSE SHE'S EVIL! MWAHAHAHAHA! The fact that, before you face her, she gives the most cliche evil villain speech ever certainly doesn't help matters. I guess Edea was pretty cool, but she's only the villain for the first half of the game, so...

That ties me in nicely to my next point. The core storyline. Final Fantasy IX has a colorful world full of magic, monsters, and legends. Through its equally-colorful cast of characters and amazing villain, you're told an epic tale in many ways reminiscent of classic fantasy stories, except with the added element of depth. There's not a whole lot I can really say without spoiling anything, but I can promise you that you'll get an interesting story from FFIX. Of course, I'm not going to fool myself, here. There are a few boring parts of the game and several parts that could've been pulled off better, but I can honestly say that the good far outweighs the bad.

Now...I have to give credit where credit is due, as well. Final Fantasy VIII has what could be considered a very intriguing storyline at its core. Of all the Final Fantasies, VIII is probably closest to a genuine sci-fi story, though the elements of fantasy are certainly there in the sorceresses and GFs. There are some really fraggin' awesome parts of the story, too (such as the
Garden War and the assassination attempt against Sorceress Edea
). The problem? The storyline is so riddled with plot holes and a completely skewed conception of time travel that any awesome segments of the game are effortlessly overshadowed by them. Honestly, some people love to analyze the plot of FFVIII in an attempt to figure out all the crap that we see towards the end of the game, but they can never reach any sort of definite conclusion. What that says to me is that Square really didn't have any idea what they were talking about when they wrote the story for FFVIII. Added to that is the fact that, overall, VIII has a pretty bland environment, all things considered. The World Map just feels so...empty, you know?

Next up, the battle system. After all, the gameplay is what makes the game fun, right? Now, FFIX has a pretty standard battle system, but, in this case, there's real beauty in its simplicity. Skills and abilities are learned through equipment, each character has a unique set of attributes, statistics, and weapons available to them, etc. It's pretty easy to get the hang of, isn't overly complicated, and has a certain charm to it. I'm not saying that FFIX has a particularly innovative or exciting battle system. In fact, quite the contrary. As far as gameplay is concerned, it's a typical JRPG all the way, but I will say this: It's fun. And, really, that's all that matters, right?

FFVIII...Meh. I see where they were going. I really do. The Junction System is certainly very innovative, and, if you're looking for something new and different from the typical RPG, you might want to check it out. However, I have to say, I didn't really enjoy certain aspects of it. For one thing, acquiring Magic is quite dull and a bit irritating in this game. You basically have two choices: Drawing Magic from monsters or playing Triple Triad until you get enough cards to Mod into items which can, in turn, be Refined into Spells. So, yes, I do realize that there are other ways to get Magic besides Drawing, but really, those methods are just as bad as Drawing itself...Plus, this is one of those games where, through abuse of the battle system, you can make all of your characters identical outside of their Limit Breaks. Oh, and through further abuse of the system, you can make it so that you can literallly KO most bosses in a few hits.

In short: Final Fantasy IX is an underappreciated gem, and I can't recommend it to you enough. I really think you'll thoroughly enjoy the experience it offers provided you can get past the chibi style it uses (which you said you don't mind, so it shouldn't matter). Honestly, it's my favorite FF game, with FF7 and FF6 tied for a close second. As for Final Fantasy VIII...despite my relentless deconstruction of it, it's really not THAT bad a game, but it's probably my least favorite Final Fantasy.

So, yeah, my opinion summed up in two words and one Roman Numeral: Final Fantasy IX.
 
it depends on what you are more into. ffVIII is a little more relateable i guess because they are kids essentially in school, ffIX is more majestic and fairy tale like. im not saying anything that happens in either of these can really happen in real life, but you know. also, junctioning isnt as difficult as people make it out to be, i like it more than FFIX's, which is much more straight forward. also the card game in both is addicting as hell ive spent more hours in ffviii on the triple triad game than the game itself.
 
I prefer IX. It's got the old job class, a simple and effective way of learning abilities (as opposed to a cumbersome junction system where everything is dependent on your equipment and the summons you have equipped) and the character development is one of the best in the series.

It's a fairly easy game, the story isn't all that unique (although the main villain is a nice departure from the stereotypical crap) but it's charming, as is the fantasy world. I prefer it over the sci-fi setting of VIII and its overly melodramatic characters and sappy love plot. Not to mention Rinoa is easily one of the most annoying characters to ever grace a FF, even moreso than the Nethicite-obsessed Ashe.
 
I would say FFVIII, although you should know that both are great games. You may want to play FFVIII first and then FFIX.
 
Final Fantasy 9 is really fun.final fantasy 8 is way harder! ff8 is so hard you would be stuck on the first stage!anyway i recommend final fantasy 9!
 
Ok I'm Assuming you have both games already and will eventually end up playing both, which is why I would suggest you play VIII first, not because it is the better game. But so it won't be a disappointment compared to IX.

IX is a GREAT game, I won't go into details about it, as The_Oathkeeper pretty much covered everything. That's not to say that VIII isn't a great game either, but hands down I'd say IX is better and maybe this is just a personal thing but I always prefer to save the best for last so yeah play VIII first.
 
I personally love VIII the most out of the entire series. But it seems to be an acquired taste and not as many people like the game.

Therefore I painfully say IX because that is still an amazing game imo. I actually think IX is better then VIII, but VIII is my favorite. If that makes sense....
 
I would go with FFIX. There was just something about VIII that I didn't like. I enjoyed the characters and the junction system, but something about it put me off. I loved IX though, probably my third favorite after VII and VI.
 
I was ready to come in here and laud praises on IX and say you should play that one, but then I saw some people's posts saying you should play VIII first, so it doesn't pale in comparison to IX. I completely agree. IX is a WONDERFUL game. The only, and I mean ONLY complaint I had about it was the Trance. It was annoying when I would hit Trance during a menial battle and not be able to keep it for the boss fight I was about to get to. Eh, oh well. Everything else is great.
VIII, on the other hand, while it's a good game (I still haven't finished it yet!) gets extremely tedious drawing magic and whatnot.

But, it's up to you, they both have their good and bad points. :monster:
 
I'd say IX it's the better game out of the two in my eyes the characters are fun and entertaining, VIII just doesn't appeal to me as much as IX, for starters the leveling up system on VIII is pretty lame, why only 1000 points per level it's way to easy to level up once you unlock the harder areas.
 
I would go for VIII. But it's my favourite, and I'm biased.

I found the ending of IX was a little too 'cheesy' for me. Still, an absolutely amazing game, and one of my favourites, but just a little too cliche IMO. The rest of the story was fantastic though. Very interesting twists and moments.

As previously mentioned, the junction system in FFVIII is great, the scenes throughout are phenomenal, the side games/quests are fun, the character development is fantastic, the story is slowly fed to you throughout the entire game, and the build up to all the climaxes are perfection, as are the climaxes.

Still, there are a lot of great things in FFIX as well. FFVIII is my all time favourite, so of course I'm recommending it. As long as you intend to play through both, it really doesn't matter. They're both great games!
 
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