The aim of this poll/thread is to determine once and for all which really is the most favored:

FFIX OR FFVII

Everyone says FFVII is the best game ever, but could this be an opinion that is purely subjective? For many FFVII was the first FF they played, and thus the most memorable.

Recently I've been hearing that many people now consider FFVII to be inferior to FFIX, and that FFIX, the most underrated game in the series, is actually the best.

Having played neither of them, (except the openings) I can't decide for myself. I don't want to waste time playing both, but would like to play one. Which one? you can help me decide, and settle this dispute between FFIX and FFVII fans.

Well the best thing about VII was the way you could use materia, you can make a lot off different combinations thinking of hundreds of tactics to use...

and in IX i didn't like the way you had to gain skills, just using a lowlife weapon just to get that skill, then move on to the next..

FF storylines are always great (except the first movie)
so i don't really make much differences on FF's there .

oh, and i didn't like the cartoony like graphics we had in 9, i liked the way 8 and 7 looked much more

How could you like the way 7 looked more than 9 if you didn't like cartoony graphics? FF7 was very cartoony. At least 9 was consistent about it though. 7 had three or four different versions of each character.

well in 7 we didn't see any better FF graphics yet...
but after eight we knew square could do it...
and yet cartoony in 9 :(

But it was at least intentional in 9. And, as I said, consistent.

And I don't see how the age of the game really matters. When you break it down to the nuts and bolts, they both had cartoony graphics, but 9's were better.

In addition, IX had much better controls and stable story progression going for it.

VII's controls were slow and clunky. Its story was rapid-fired at you during disc 1, then died sometime in disc 2. Very bad pacing.

I'm a bit exhausted of all these talks and comparisons. I don't think it's necessary or even possible to determine which FF game is the best. They are way too different to properly compare to one another. Each has its own story and its own fighting system and special bits, and every opinion on what is "best" is purely subjective.
I am yet to find a way to objectively judge which one of the FF games was the best.

Personally, I prefer FFIX, but my reasons are most subjective. They way I experienced this game was really very different from the way I experienced FFVII, and way more suitable for enjoying the story. I played FFIX without great expectations, without any knowledge about the story. That means I experienced it all the way it was meant to be, new, surprises really surprising, etc.
It was kind of hard to enjoy FFVII in this aspect, because all important plot twists had already been spoilered thouroughly in advance.
I guess I also generally prefer classic fantasy settings over gloomy semi-SF settings, and optimistic characters over depressed ones. I was also very impressed with Kuja, who had the most character development of all FF villains...

That's my personal experience. It's subjective, my opinion, my circumstances. I can't compare them in any other way at the moment. :( Though trying would be fun. One day.

Everyone doesn't say VII is a best. There are a lot of people who loathe VII on this board.

Anyhow, I did have fun when I played VII, but it's probably my least favorite FF. The characters are pretty one-dimensional, and the story sort of goes to crap after disc one.

FFIX on the other hand, is a masterpiece. The best FF of the playstation generation, in my opinion.

I like final fantasy VII the best, and this isn't an easy decision... I actually liked how you had to gainskills in IX, because it was different from the others, but I also loved materia in VII. The stories in both were great, and I loved the characters from both games. I guess VII is just a more interesting plot to me.

Originally posted by Ndi
Everyone doesn't say VII is a best. There are a lot of people who loathe VII on this board.

That's because everyone hates FFVII fans, i don't blame them. But if it wasn't for the fans, they would say it's atleast mediocre, and not hate the game as much, more so acknoledge and then ignore.

I prefer IX, and Tokiko said it best.

and IX is more challenging, better story, and better graphics, if it's the art the turns you off, then you need to mature, and if it's the oldschool style that drives you away... well, then I guess your not/can't appreciate oldschool. :-(

My only beef with IX is the weapon-ability system, if it wasn't for just that, I would play the game over and over, but I only played it once, because the weapon-ability system got on my nerves.

As far as I'm concerned niether one of those games is the best of the FFs.

But since the poll is very limited I'll be giving my vote to FFVII, although I am very biased in my choice. I've played through FFVII several times, and only played through FFIX once, with my first and second playthrough of Chrono Cross coming directly before and after FFIX.

To be honest they're both very good games with different styles to them, so I suggest you just pick both of them up and decide for yourself. Both are greatest hits, so that's only 20 bucks a pop, and you can probably find them at a used game store for less.

there are only 2 things that i enjoyed more about ff7. the materia system and the breeding of chocobos. besides that, it really wasnt too hot of a game. the world wasn't too convincing: although the environmental graphics were amazing, the characters and the setup of how the environment affects the game wasnt too great. 9 on the other hand had an amazing storyline, well involved characters both playable and non, kuja was a spectacular villan, and although some cosider this to be too cartoony, i really dont think the game could've been as great as it was if it were more seroius. Zidanes whole character was cartoony and so were numerous others. I prefer 9 to 7, as well as any other FF

Excuse me, I just want to know why people say " FF7' story goes clap after disc 1", I just didn't think so, tell me your opinions here.

I got into FF7 a lot but I tend to think FF that I play at the time is great and the best, so after playin many FFs I can't really decide which one is the best, but still FF7 is something.What I can say to others here is FF9 is enjoyable for everyone, but FF7 isn't.
I thought FF9 was sort of rolemodel of FF, it went back to its concept after releasing semi-SF FF???

Which FF have you finished?

This question kind of depends on it.

i liked VII which i did not play first and infact IX was my first and VII lasted longer and had a better story line despite the graphics and gameplay.

In different contexts, there have been perhaps a dozen of these threads, in the past few weeks.
I think it is virtually impossible to compare such games, they are totally different and stand out in their own right.
It is all based on opinion, not fact.

I should probably point out that Naphtali IS looking for opinions, not facts.

FFVII! Hands down! I like them both, but FFVII was the Final Fantasy I started out with and the character design is the best so that's why I like it! Alot of my friends here like that one the best too because that was the one they started out with. Alot of people I know like whatever Final Fantasy they start out with apparently. That's not a bad thing. My vote goes to FFVII!

Yep VII for me too. I just couldn't get into the storyline of IX

VII was the best for me, and yes it was my first so that might have something to do with it. I like the story better than IX, and I like the characters better as well. VII was just so unique.

ffvii had a great storyline.The materia system was great You could equip magic that would help you but it would put youre hp or strength down so it was a bit of a double-edged sword.The storyline was great and it was really sad when Aeris died

you revived a thread, which is bad, but random "X vs Y" threads suck and should be closed anyways.
plus, you can't talk about "the best final fantasy" without including VI.