ok...as that 7 and 9 are my favourite ff game's i've decided to see what you guys think...

i want you to vote which game is better in terms of:

story.

characters..

and gameplay...and say why you think whichever game is better!!

It's "IX", not "XI". That's eleven.

I prefer IX, because the characters are the best developed out of any FF. IX is probably slightly weaker in terms of battle/magic, skills, etc. system, but that doesn't matter, because the story is awesome. Unlike VII, which has merely average, fairly cliched characters.

And I know... some... people say IX just isn't "epic" enough, or something. But that's exactly what makes it interesting. I don't think it tries to be epic, it's something else, and it's a very good story told through an RPG. y'okay.

I'm with Udo here. FFIX.
The story is nicely gripping without being overly confusing, and the characters are well-developed, well-presented, recognizable and loveable. I'm much closer to them than I ever was to any of the characters of FFVII...
I don't care much for the battle system. But four characters is better than three. ;D

I like them both equally. They have their own quirky little strengths and interesting flaws. FFIX had a beautifully crafted ending, an interesting evil guy, sturdy character development even in the minor characters (Black Mages anyone?) Similarly FFVII had a strong battle system that was easy to get into and master, some interesting sub plots within the main one, some characters who locked my interest and others whom I hated with a passion.

*Shrugs.*

I'm going to have to go with FF7 on this one. I think the world was truely massive, Sephiroth is just the best villian ever, the storyline was superb, and I loved the characters. Its just amazing. And its not even a complete game (due to production times, they had to release it unfinished)

FFVII is a legendary game, really. The battle system was excellent, although some of the characters were fairly cliched (Barret the sweary black man, Aeris the frail woman etc) the story WAS good, and the game just allowed you to do things any other game never allowed you to do.

Although some people say that FFIX had a better story, and there's no denying that it was very good, the character design was also very... fantasy. You've got the traditional Black Mage, the Princess, the Theif, the Dragoon, the Knight, the Monk, the strange Blue Mage and the Summoner. And Hippos, rhinos, bears and rats as humanoids. I mean, really, the game would have looked less 'childish' (a word often associated with IX) if there wasn't this strange menagerie in the game. Plus, Cid's an oglop for most of the game. That's an insult to the good name of Cid.

Final Fantasy IX!. Its my favorite. ^_^ I think the story,characters,battle system,ability learning,sidequest,ect.. are the best.

I dont really like Final Fantasy VII all that much.To me,its boring once you get to a certain part. The beginning is fun. Its not my favorite though,but its not my least favorite either. That would be Final Fantasy X ;p.

FFVII is my pick out of these two. Seven seemed to just go way out on a limb and try to give gamers something they've never seen before, and I think they did a damn good job with it. Nine on the other hand seemed very conservative, everything they put into that game was very solid, but not great, with mostly no bad parts, but nine never made me just look at the screen in awe like seven was able to do.

On a side note I hated finding frogs for that blue blob to eat.

But....but...but.....Bastard!!!! Don't make me choooooooose!!!!!!!!! Egads!!! I reluctantly pick VII just 'cos it was my first.

EDT: Whoo, 900, movin' up in the world:D

heh.... iknow how you feel immortal....it's feel's like you just have to say 7 cos it was the first and original,but now i'm starting to see that 9 is a better game, 9 is like the perfect rpg to me....

I definitely believe that VII is my favorite just because of these reasons:

1.) As much as I hate it, I like the cyber-hi-tech worlds of FFVIII and FFVII more than the traditional ones like all of the earlier ones and IX.

2.) It was the first one I played and I didn't know that there were any other "types" of Final Fantasies.

3.) Even though I didn't get it the first time I played it (as in the storyline) I played that game for 99:59 or whatever and that really gets bonus points for me.

Interesting topic. I'd have to say Final Fantasy VII is still my favorite, but Final Fantasy IX definitely runs a close second-favorite. I really enjoyed FFVII for a lot of the mini-games, the replay, the music and just the genearl feel of it overall. But FFIX is also great in a lot of ways, from the chocobo sidequest (which I thought was just as cool as, if not better than VII's), the fantasy feel (I actually do rather that element), the characters (although some of my favorites aren't the typical ones, like Amarant, Eiko and Steiner) and more.

P.S.: I enjoyed frog-catching for Quina and s/he isn't blue!

yeah 9's mini games are the best, and ieatmako ment blue as in blue mage(enemy skill)

FF7:
Graphics: 7
Story: 10
Characters: 8
Music: 8.5

FF9:
Graphics: 9.5
Story: 8
Characters: 7
Music: 9

I cannot take sides on this matter. I just grade them.
1 being crappy.
10 being awsome.

VII all the way, best storyline yet, best character development and graphics were good at the time but it has the best battle graphics out of all of the ps1 final fantasys.

I would have to say ffVII mostly for the storyline,graphics, and the music. FFVII also had a wide variety of mini games and side quests. The story of Cloud not being about remember his past really grabbed me into the game and how Midgar was eating away at the planets energy. I liked how Midgar had two levels, for some reason it made the game better. I think Sephiroth is the all time best villian to ever enter the Final Fantasy Series.