I love both almost equally but I was thinking the other day which one is better or which one most people prefer.
This isn't suppose to be a flame thread or anything as I enjoy both of them a lot (but hey I like FF9 best anyway). The thing is there is one I enjoy more than the other and I will detail in full why I enjoy 1 more than the other.

FF7 is a great game, one of the best FF's. But to me I enjoyed FF8 just a little bit more and I do have my reasons. First of all I start with the story, a lot of people critisize FF8's story... And with good reason there's many odd plotholes and other rubbish that makes the story almost silly. I'll show you an example for instance all the characters knew each other in an orphanage, this remove's any distinct individuality in the characters, forget them being different classes or from different regions. There all from the same place.... But that's ok it showed comrodirty and friendship as well as there close feelings to each other. Still It's all a bit odd and coincidental that there all from the same place even the baddie. Then there's Seifer who is a plothole in himself, why is it that a human can defeat Odin someone who can usually instant kill things without thinking? I never got that part of the story....
Still if you can complain about FF8's story and plotholes then you could complain about FF7's nagging begining in Midgar, FF7 starts off boring in my opinion. The drab poluted Midgar is a poor place to start a flashy RPG in my honest opinion, and you spend hours there.... Then there's the complicated plot twists and the whole Mako poisoning segment were Cloud acts like a retard for much of the game. Point is we can point out shitty storyholes in both games but FF7 and FF8 didn't have FF6's quality in storyline. Sorry I still think that FF6 is the greatest FF for story. But if we can compare gameplay then I think I can explain why I like FF8 more.

FF7 is great for gameplay and has some very good over the top battles thanks to the materia system. But I think part of the reason why people hated FF8's gameplay was cause of the complexity in the junction system. Which turned me off at first and I hated it but once I got use to it I enjoyed it more than FF7's simplistic stick gem to armor gameplay. It didn't hurt that FF8 had superior graphics and magic. I enjoyed the summons in FF8 more so than FF7's. I might also point out the challenge.... I've yet to play a last boss in a FF that is harder than FF8's last boss. I've finished FF4, FF6, FF7, FFtactics, and FF9 and none of them had particularly hard bosses. FF8's boss doesn't die in one hit like Kefka, Seperoth, and many other FF bosses hell the only boss I can think of who's a decent challenge was FF4's last boss. FF8's dungeon was also a pain in the ass. Of course I like challenge... FF7 was almost boring with its lack of challenge, about the only challenging part of FF7 was chocobo breeding which was more annoying than hard. Well all in all I'd have to say FF8 is better to me than FF7 but that's only because of its challenge, graphics, and unqiue system. FF7 is great but after a couple of playthroughs it felt kinda drab and stale. FF8 was fresh, had amazing CG character models, a new system, and a huge world full of great stuff to explore. I dunno I guess I'll go with FF8 but I'll say one thing about FF7 I liked the characters in FF7 more....

Either way explain which one you liked best because I want to know why you enjoy it. Please no flaming we can all have a favorite without flaming please...

FF7 was a FU to fantasy settings. It's battle system was reminicint of FFVI. The plot took a u-turn half way though and rubbed you face in it.

FF8 was a FU to teenage heroes. It's battle system is the most unique one. The plot was nice until it seem to keep saying "But wait, there's more!"

Both are good games and I'd recomend either one.

7 is good with a rabid fanbase.

8 is shit with a lesser rabid fanbase.

I wanna know why people like FF7 so much more than FF8?
Isn't FF7 kinda drab? The whole setting seemed drab, dark and kinda depressing. FF8 seemed much more uplifting. And I'm not saying that because of graphics because graphics don't make a game, still the characters in FF7 were very interesting. I enjoyed FF8 more but there both masterpieces.

7 is good with a rabid fanbase.

8 is shit with a lesser rabid fanbase.

Both are equally awesome.
Isn't this thread just begging for a flame war?

Isn't this thread just begging for a flame war?

XD, That's was the first thing that came to my mind when I saw this thread.

In FF7's defense, I'm surprised people dislike the atmosphere so much. The presence of Midgar and Shinra, the inhumanity of Sephiroth, genetic engineering, and the mind fuckery of Cloud are deliberate choices by the developers to try something that doesn't involve a straight cheery fantasy. In my mind, it is what makes the characters shine, seeing how they react to the oppressiveness, and how their good sides triumph over it all. It makes those good moments stand out all the more when the rest of the story is so dark. And I think it is why Cloud makes such a compelling character. At the beginning of the story he is traumatized by Zack's death, takes on Zack's personality as a sort of psychological defense... this man has been through a lot. Then later on, his fear of Sephiroth begins to overwhelm all as Sephiroth takes advantage of Cloud's Jenova cells to exert control over him, forcing him to do things he never would have done himself.

But this scenario makes it all the more uplifting when Tifa finally rescues him from the dark depths of his shattered mind. He becomes the leader that everyone else perceives him to be, and strikes aside most of his self-doubt. He finally embraces his sense of self, which is critically important because not knowing who you are is the most unsettling feeling in the world.

In short, I believe that FF7's 'drab, dark, and kinda depressing' atmosphere serves an integral part in making what you do in the game feel like it matters. And I also attribute it to the reason why the average person tends to value that Final Fantasy above all the others. Of them all it seems to have the least goofiness, the least fantasy-like setting. It is, I believe, the closest Final Fantasy has been able to achieve to a sense of realism, a sense that you understand exactly what these characters are going through even though the things that they go through are impossible. And that is why I love this game.

Now I can't speak for Final Fantasy 8 because I've never played it, I just wanted to give my piece of mind in defense of FF7's atmosphere, which seems to be criticized at the moment.

A lot about FF7 Dark Atmosphere.

I agree with you.

Did you play FF tactics?

I've never had the chance to, although I hear it is amazing. That is for PS 1, right? I'm going to have to try and get me an emulator...

Another game that I hear is similar to FF Tactics that I have played that has a dark atmosphere is Ogre Battle 64. If you haven't played that and you liked FF Tactics, you will probably like it. I loved the gameplay in that one... And, of course, the story and characters.

Yeah, it's for the ps1, tactical RPG, with great storyline and bad translation xD but understandable. You know I was going into the Ogre battle series, the SNES version first but then I found the PSX enhanced version and I couldn't get the sound run properly. I will take on 64 Instead. Thanks!

Tactics was great and in many ways more depressing and dark than FF7.
I wasn't critisizing FF7 for being those things its just that I can't stand heavy realism all the time, not that it was bad in FF7 but I tend to enjoy fantasy more than reality. Reality is full of problems and its nice to be able to get away from all those things in a fantasy game. Now I've played many modern RPG's including Morrowind, Oblivion, Fallout3, and Fable1 and 2 and there all just as, if not more dark than FF7. Sure Seph fucked with Cloud's mind and killed Aerith but did he kill his father, torture his mother, cut out his sisters eye's? Well Jack did that to the lead Fable hero, Its what I get tired of.... The sadistic way in which games have become. FF7 is a great game and isn't as sadistic as say Fable or Fallout3, not that sadistic is wrong you need conflict to tell a story. But I'm more of a fan of RPG's like Chrono Trigger, FF6, FF9, Tactics, Xeonogears, and even though I haven't played it FF10 looks great as well. These all have dark story's with oppressive governments and super powerful bad guys. I wasn't bashing FF7 because it was dark and depressive, I was trying to emphasize that the backgrounds, setting, and system were all a bit drab and metalic. I also wasn't as big a fan of materia as I was with the Espers in FF6 or the GF's in FF8, Its hard to care about leveling up a gem and doing nothing else with your character. In FF9 your characters learned skills from weapons and gear so it stayed with them as opposed to stayng on your weapon or armor. FF8's system felt faster than FF7 also, it had epic limit breaks and spells to (even though the spells were made kinda useless towards the end and then the only spell you needed was aura for limit boosting), but even with its problems FF8's combat felt exciting and challenging.... But my number one reason why I liked FF8 over FF7 was challenge, FF7 is the easiest RPG I've ever played. Easier than FF6, easier than FF4, a LOT easier than FF1. FF7 was drab boring combat that got kinda stale in my opinion.

But you see I don't hate FF7 in fact it had many things over FF8 such as story and characters (even though they abandoned the amazing job systems of other games in exchange for lifeless dolls you insert gems into) the characters story's, traits and personality's shined right through. Quite the opposite from FF8 who's characters barely had any personality of there own, they were all pretty much second fiddle to Squall and Rinoa. Hell FF7 has fan followings to everyone from Red13, Yuffie, Barret, Cid (the best FF Cid) and even Cait Sith! Who remembers Irvine or Selphie from FF8? Well I do, but I only remember Irvine because he had badass AP ammo that shred bosses. That's why I liked FF8, there games.... Sure a good story is great, but when it comes down to it these are games and it comes down to whats fun. FF8's combat and system were more fun in my opinion even though the story wasn't quite as good as FF7 it wins in my eye's because that's why I play games, exciting gameplay.

Oh and this isn't meant to be a flame I like both games almost equally I just thought FF8 had a more exciting and fresh combat system.

FF8 had a better story/OST/characters/themes/designs/summons/ect.


FF7 felt like a weeaboo experiment.

Don't get me wrong, both games fail when compared to FF6 or FFT (which was given a GREAT GREAT GREAT remake/port for the PSP).

FF8 better story?, tell me what is better in the storyline of 8.

FF8 challenging?, If in ff8 exist boss-rush give me 20 minutes and I finish it.

Hey I remember Irvine & Selphie, they were like the only good thing in there.

FF8 had a better story/OST/characters/themes/designs/summons/ect.


FF7 felt like a weeaboo experiment.

Don't get me wrong, both games fail when compared to FF6 or FFT (which was given a GREAT GREAT GREAT remake/port for the PSP).

FF6 and Tactics are both very good FF's.
FF6 in my opinion has the best story hands down. But I never said FF8 had a good story I was saying it had good gameplay, colorful graphics, flashy battles, new systems, and quite a bit of combat. When it comes to limit breaks FF8 also has the best and most over the top limits, unfortunately some limits are better than others.
I liked FF7 to, but I think that it gets the over rated treatment often. Meanwhile FF8 unfairly gets bashed....

FF8 better story?, tell me what is better in the storyline of 8.

FF8 challenging?, If in ff8 exist boss-rush give me 20 minutes and I finish it.

Hey I remember Irvine & Selphie, they were like the only good thing in there.
There was actually a story in it.
FF7 was your 'lets go place to place and at the last minute the villain gets away'.
All this 'great story' that FF7 fans like to mention are either in the offshoots or fan-fictions.

The actual game had a very bare bones plot with some VERY weak characters.


FF7 also had one of the worst end boss in the FF series.
Even the FFX-2 was more of a challenge.

mmm.... you're saying nothing about 8. Every FF have a story.

7 having weak characters, that depends on what you consider a weak character. Is squall a strong character in comparison?

"villain gets away", 7 is not the perfect game, now what would happen if he didn't get away. he would smash your face because characters are not prepared and they will survive because of plot convenience and it would be as any other storyline. (Leviathan attacks ship on the sea rings a bell).

FF7 easy in terms of gameplay, yes. But FF8 is even easier, you can beat the game in lvl1 if you wish.

mmm.... you're saying nothing about 8. Every FF have a story.

7 having weak characters, that depends on what you consider a weak character. Is squall a strong character in comparison?

"villain gets away", 7 is not the perfect game, now what would happen if he didn't get away. he would smash your face because characters are not prepared and they will survive because of plot convenience and it would be as any other storyline. (Leviathan attacks ship on the sea rings a bell).

FF7 easy in terms of gameplay, yes. But FF8 is even easier, you can beat the game in lvl1 if you wish.

FF8 wasn't as easy to me as FF7 I guess I'm a newb I dunno.
But for some reason FF8 was the hardest FF I've ever played and I've mentioned the FF's I've played.
Although I'm working on FF1 and its a bitch.

But I do agree FF7 was just chase Seph half the time.... And run away from Shinra. But I do think FF7 had some of the best FF characters next to FF6 and FF9.

Oh and I'm a little confused how do you get to the last boss with a level 1 in a game with random battles? Do you just run from everything?

run+diablos+enc-none. need ap?, kill cactuars or transform in card the monsters. you don't receive xp by transforming them in cards.

Weak as in, I didn't give a crap about any of them.
As in, they were more shallow than the main power rangers (original series).

Never mind the only character I thought was cool, Vincent, wasn't even needed for the main plot.
You could skip him with no issue what so ever, WTF?

He could have actually been there, or, heck, done something epic like Kefka and destroyed the world or something memorable like shank the hell out of someone like Edna.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FF8 had a flawed story, I won't deny that.
Especially that BS 'we all lost our early memories because of the GFs' crap.
And there were some questions like 'If you're the leader of a whole country why not use your power to find your girlfriend?, you moron.
I could have also used some more info on Ultimica.
------------------------------------------------------------------

In FF7 everyone was the same. Materia was horrid.
The limit breaks were a JOKE, I hardly used them (expect for Cloud).
And the mandatory boss battles weren't nothing to write home about.


In FF8 the game leveled up WITH YOU, that's why you could beat the game at a low level.
Regardless, I still had an issue with some bosses and even non bosses (Islands Closet to Heaven/Hell, anyone?)


Also the draw/junction system was a bit broken, like FF2's system.
Great concept, but the execution was off a bit.
I think if this system was done in another game it could be refined.

Vincent is the worse character of 7 with Tifa to me.
Sephiroth was a psychopath and a megalomaniac he was playing with the party.
Limit breaks in 7 are a joke? in 6 are a joke and in 8 are an unbalanced power house.
Island close to heaven/hell is completely optional.
Materia was strategical, Junction was good but like you said with bad execution.

Meh, I dug the whole 'turns into a monster' and has a gun thing at the time.

Sephiorth wasn't a very good nut job. He was more of a cry baby with some mother issues.
But not nearly as cool as Norman Bates.

Truth be told, I don't even remember FF6 "limit breaks" too well. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
In FF8 they all looked pretty good at least.

True they are, but so are the harder bosses in FF7.

I didn't see much strategy in Materia. Especially in the later levels.

Sephiorth wasn't a very good nut job. He was more of a cry baby with some mother issues.
But not nearly as cool as Norman Bates.

I didn't see much strategy in Materia. Especially in the later levels.

And some god complexes.

Norman Bates is from Clock Tower? I can't finish any clock tower because of that horrible gameplay XD. Maybe I'll watch a playthrough on youtube.

There is strategy in Materia even at later levels, but you use it only if you're up to complete the optional things.

Meh, I dug the whole 'turns into a monster' and has a gun thing at the time.

Sephiorth wasn't a very good nut job. He was more of a cry baby with some mother issues.
But not nearly as cool as Norman Bates.

Truth be told, I don't even remember FF6 "limit breaks" too well. Not sure if that's a good or a bad thing.
In FF8 they all looked pretty good at least.

True they are, but so are the harder bosses in FF7.

I didn't see much strategy in Materia. Especially in the later levels.

The FF6 limits only happened when you were really low on hps and even then they had a very low chance of happening.
Unlike in FF8 were you could limit pretty much anytime you wanted.
I dunno I thought the FF7 characters were pretty cool and very different from each other, FF8 had weak characters in my opinion. But like I said I liked FF8 because of its challenging gameplay. Story's great but story won't make you keep playing.

And some god complexes.

Norman Bates is from Clock Tower? I can't finish any clock tower because of that horrible gameplay XD. Maybe I'll watch a playthrough on youtube.

There is strategy in Materia even at later levels, but you use it only if you're up to complete the optional things.
Yeah, but every uber villain in the FF worlds has a god complex.
It's like Cid or Chocobos or air ships.

Nah, 'Psycho', you know, the movies.


I guess we'll have to agree to disagree on Materia.
It's like FF10/12 I wasn't a fan of the 'lets make everyone the same' deal.

Man you can bash me on the face beacuse of the Norman Bates confusion. xD

What do you mean about 'make everyone the same' deal?

Man you can bash me on the face beacuse of the Norman Bates confusion. xD

What do you mean about 'make everyone the same' deal?
Well, not everyone has seen every movie in the series like I have...


In FF7/10/12 you can make everyone have the exact same moves/stats/ect.
All at the same time.

I've never liked that.

Even in a game like FFT or FFX2 with the job system you make it so they specialize in a field so everyone isn't the exact same.

same stats, in 6 too....
8 too...moves/stats/etc

I love that, because it's open, you can customize the characters as you wish and as you see fit. That makes the game more strategical and more fun to me, you can play more with the characters modify and remodify. I've never played 10 and never will.

So you like that the characters have jobs. I like jobs system as long as you have something else to add to the characters, such as espers in 6, secondary skill set on Tactics, etc...

Goodness, I come back after seven hours and there are over a dozen replies! Here's some of what I think is going on here.

- The conversation is deviating more towards opinion of which is better rather than a concrete assessment of what makes one better than another.

- The interpretation that FF7's story seems to be a never-ending chase of Sephiroth misses the point. It becomes known later on that they aren't chasing Sephiroth so much as parts of an alien being, which is why it seems to be everywhere at once. Also, the time they spend chasing Sephiroth allows for crucial character development: getting you to care about the characters and what is going on. For example, the sideplot with Barret and Dyne has nothing to do with Sephiroth but gives us a glimmer of Barret's failings, and what made him who he is 'today'. The option to gain Vincent and Yuffie into the party and to make a trip to Wutai can hardly be considered a disadvantage to the game; it is what differentiates a non-linear from a linear game. It allows the gamer more freedom, and more world exploration. If you were to look at say, the movie The Dark Knight, when you sum it up, it is Batman chasing the Joker for 2+ hours. But, as those who have seen it know, there is a lot more going on than that.

- I can't disagree with the fact that FF7's gameplay is largely simple and not that hard. However, when I played it for the first time, I was so engrossed with what was going on that I didn't care. It is also likely a reason why the game is so popular. Making it on the simple side makes it accessible. And I don't think it is so simple as to make it not fun and challenging from time to time.

- Sephiroth as a cry baby with mother issues? He is a villain completely sure of himself who was a genetic experiment, prompting him to declare war on the entire world. He summons a giant freaking meteor to slam into the world, and then seeks to absorb the energies created by the blast to become a god. Whenever he is mentioned or appears, many of the characters seem to shit their pants. He turns the main character into his psychologically disturbed bitch. There is a reason this man is one of the most legendary villains in gaming history. He will fuck you up.

Goodness, I come back after seven hours and there are over a dozen replies! Here's some of what I think is going on here.

- The conversation is deviating more towards opinion of which is better rather than a concrete assessment of what makes one better than another.

A lot about FF7.


This is all I have to tell you about that XD.



Isn't this thread just begging for a flame war?

I don't really know what makes sephiroth legendary, you make some good points in there puddles, he's a good villain, the best in all FF to me except for XII, I like more Vayne.
Tactics didn't have any clear villain, that's another great thing about tactics, but that's not the case.
Screw Ultimecia xD, She's one of the most ridiculous villains in the game industry.

I liked Vayne as well, for the most part. They portrayed him pretty well for most of the game as this very smart, physically normal villain who seems to be playing all the parties against each other, along with knowing ahead of time what Ashe, Vaan, Basch, etc. are going to do.

However, I think they ruined him at the end by making pretty much all of what makes him awesome a consequence of Venat's counsel. Involving Venat as the 'king manipulator' seems almost like a deus ex machina to me: making Vayne just another puppet of the gods instead of a deviously smart villain of his own. Also, his transformation into absurdly buff Vayne seemed more like a game designer's shtick so that he could pose a physical threat to the party and provide gamers with a 'final boss'. If it weren't for this stuff that happened at the end, I might prefer Vayne too. At least they were consistent with Sephiroth.

FFVII was the first PSX title I bought when I got a PSX (Second being Transformers Beast Wars, but the less said of that the better imo), and I admit, at the time I did enjoy the game quite a bit.

I wasn't too thrilled with how the character sprites looked like, but that was only a minor thing. Music wise it was great, Uematsu made some masterpieces for this game. Story wise imo, was a little old, a bit of 'been there done that' kind of thing, but it did work well for FFVII.

FFVIII... I don't know why, but I tend to like this game more than FFVII. True there were moments when I wanted to throttle Squall within an inch of his life, or abandon Rinoa to the Moombas... I think another reason I like FFVIII more, is due to a personal reason of mine.

All in all, both games have the good points and bad points. It's up to the player to determine for themselves which they like better. That's just my opinion though.

This entire thread is based on opinion, bro.
You can't really say which is best either way, it's a game.

For me FF7 was a huge leap down for the franchise.

I can't think of another franchise that went that far up to that far down in one hit.
Cept maybe BoF.
I freaking HATED that crap for the PS2, what were they thinking? I wasted 5 bucks on that PoS.
*rant rant rant*

I agree its just an opinion still its interesting to discuss both games strengths and weakness as I'm as interested in what other people think as you guys are... FF7/8 were both great games by simular creative teams so I think it all turned out ok, FF7 is still a great game and FF8 is just as good arguably.

Ya had to admit FF8 had the best love story.

Ya had to admit FF8 had the best love story.

I had to admit that in my opinion ff4 & ff6 had much better love story, I think that even 7 has better romantic content than 8.

I remember reading in a gaming magazine back in late '99 - early 2000, an article about romance in fantasy games, which did state FFVIII as being a prime example of romance being pushed into the primary status of the game, with saving the world etc in close second.

It also stated something along the lines of SE making the game so romance was the main drawing factor to the game, in an attempt to woo female gamers to play it.

It will come as no surprise, but I was very impressed with FF7's take on romance in a game. In the end, Cloud's love for Aeris was more the love of an ideal than the love of a person, and I can personally empathize with that. It takes him time to realize later on that Tifa is the best for him though, not the endless dreamlike memory of a life with Aeris. It comes down to infatuated, ephemeral love (Aeris) versus love that is more based upon companionship and experiences shared with one another (Tifa).

Not to mention that if Cloud and Aeris had eventually ended up together, it would have been extremely bizarre and borderline immoral considering how Aeris is reminded of Zack when she is around Cloud, and Cloud seems to fuzzily create his own love for Aeris based on what he thinks his Zack-like personality would wish to do. Therefore, they wouldn't actually love each other, more like what they perceive behind the person, and I think Aeris recognizes this when she finally decides to leave the party and go on on her own. It also is why she says what she does in the 'Interrupted by Fireworks' scene. She wants to meet and see the real Cloud, to see him without the self-created barriers and fictions created by his split Zack personality. It is a very strange and complicated relationship to be sure, although not one that should necessarily be condemned given the factors I just listed above.

I'm not even sure what I just wrote made sense, but it is definitely one of the most unique romantic stories I've ever seen, which is quite an accomplishment considering how it doesn't really dominate the game to the extent it sounds like FF8's does.

I remember reading in a gaming magazine back in late '99 - early 2000, an article about romance in fantasy games, which did state FFVIII as being a prime example of romance being pushed into the primary status of the game, with saving the world etc in close second.

It also stated something along the lines of SE making the game so romance was the main drawing factor to the game, in an attempt to woo female gamers to play it.

Makes sense, it's the same case with MGS2, they've introduce Raiden & Rose to the Metal Gear Saga because in a opinion poll Kojima made to female gamers, they've said things like "I don't care about stories involving old men", then the artist(Yoji Shinkawa) made raiden's design based on bishonen anime archetype.

Even though they've put emphasis on the romantic part in FF8, I still think 7, 6 & 4, have more interesting content in this aspect.

7 is good with a rabid fanbase.

8 is shit with a lesser rabid fanbase.

HAHAHAHA.

O man, the trolling is epic.

I don't remind the full ff7 story, but I remind there was more emotions in it than ff8.
I almost cried at aerith death (I guess the music helped a lot) . And I don't know why I found Sephiroth so enticing, I don't care if the guy is so dangerous or mad (perhaps that's why I like it, but the guy is handsome too). Also I liked the side quest of ff7 , the side games , the music , the oppressive atmosphere ...
Also the materia system is pretty simple, and I like how you can collect materias.
Some marerias are pretty hard to get , and I love that.
Sorry but ff7 was better. There was nothing special with ff8, except perhaps the card game . What I liked with the card game, is that you could convert card into rare items.
The boss under ff8 were a piece of cake for me, especially with rare items I got from cards.

Curiously with FFX, I was more exasperated than anything by constant yuna sadness.

And I'm totally opposite of that.

For me FF7 (the original game) had a very shallow story; it was more like FF3 in the basics of it.
Seppy wasn't the worst villain in the series, but that bushi-Gundam Wing crap annoyed me.

The side quests were nice, I'll admit that.
I enjoyed defending the mountain, breeding chocobo, & snowboarding...

For me the best of FF7's music was the remixes, Black Mages, & fan-made stuff.
The original soundtrack left something to be desired.

Aeirth's death wasn't anything, she was worthless as a party member and you kind of knew she was going to get it.

The 'love story' was about as enjoyable to me as FFX-2's between Paine & that one rebel guy.

Materia is another big anti of mine, I just didn't like the system at all.

FF7 is one of the easiest games in the series to me.
At least Ultimica was a decent battle. Even if you used 'The End' she could be a pain.
Sephy was a joke as a 'villain' and a boss fight.

The side quests were nice, I'll admit that.
I enjoyed defending the mountain, breeding chocobo, & snowboarding...

I love side quests. A good game is with good side quests. Non linearity of game, and searching secrets.

I didn't like too much defending the mountain :p, this part annoyed me a bit. Perhaps because I wasn't good at that game.


For me the best of FF7's music was the remixes, Black Mages, & fan-made stuff.
The original soundtrack left something to be desired.


Some tracks have an unique sound:
Example: "Underneath the Rotting Pizza" or "Mako Reactor".
Perhaps ff7 soundtrack is not the best, but some part are unforgettable.
Off course the aerith theme, cough ... cough ...

For the Black Mages, I like especially J-E-N-0-V-A track.


Aeirth's death wasn't anything, she was worthless as a party member
She was useful to heal all members.


you kind of knew she was going to get it.
I didn't know the story, when I played the game.
I was completely surprised, and shocked. What ? She died ? How this could
be possible ? I tried hard to find if there's no secret solution to resuscitate her.


FF7 is one of the easiest games in the series to me.
Not for me, when I played this rpg for the first time. I fought every boss ,
ultima weapon, ruby weapon, etc ... and that was not easy.
Perhaps you got a better strategy than me.
I found ff8, and ff9 much easier.
However ffx is a pain the b** if you want absolutely fight penance, and get
all celestial weapons. In fact I gave up ...

I love side quests. A good game is with good side quests. Non linearity of game, and searching secrets.
I disagree, while I do enjoy a good side-mission or activity, it should add to the experience.
The main quest should be more than enough for a good game, the side is sort of like adding chocolate on caramel. It's not the best part, but it does help you enjoy it.



I didn't like too much defending the mountain :p, this part annoyed me a bit. Perhaps because I wasn't good at that game.
Meh, I thought it was a pretty decent attempt at an RTS in an RPG.




Some tracks have an unique sound:
Example: "Underneath the Rotting Pizza" or "Mako Reactor".
Perhaps ff7 soundtrack is not the best, but some part are unforgettable.
Off course the aerith theme, cough ... cough ...
For the Black Mages, I like especially J-E-N-0-V-A track.
I guess so...
I enjoyed the BM version live of 'One-Winged Angel', it was pretty epic.



She was useful to heal all members.
Not for me. I'd never had to use her. The materia and items kept me pretty well healed.



I didn't know the story, when I played the game.
I was completely surprised, and shocked. What ? She died ? How this could
be possible ? I tried hard to find if there's no secret solution to resuscitate her.
I sort of did, but it was her lack of stuff to buy/use for her that kind of tipped me off.



Not for me, when I played this rpg for the first time. I fought every boss , ultima weapon, ruby weapon, etc ... and that was not easy.
The side bosses were pretty harsh at times, but I met the main story progression/missions were easy for me.



Perhaps you got a better strategy than me.
I found ff8, and ff9 much easier.
I leveled up my materia, that's about it.



However ffx is a pain the b** if you want absolutely fight penance, and get all celestial weapons. In fact I gave up ...
Yeah, the CW's were stupid at times.
Seriously, dodge all those freaking lighting bolts?
Blah!

Seriously, dodge all those freaking lighting bolts?
Yes pretty stupid, but with pcsx2 emulator a piece of cake.
Just use save/load states. Still boring.

Yes pretty stupid, but with pcsx2 emulator a piece of cake.
Just use save/load states. Still boring.
Well, bite me.
My computer can't handle PS2 emulation.
:(

I did it the old fashion way.
I dogged those damn things!

At least Ultimica was a decent battle. Even if you used 'The End' she could be a pain.


You can't be serious about that....

You can't be serious about that....
If you didn't spam 'The End' she could put up a decent fight.

More so than Sephy.

If you didn't spam 'The End' she could put up a decent fight.

More so than Sephy.

FAIL!.
Nah, it's very very easy, because, as I said before, Limit Breaks are an unbalanced power house.
Sure sephy is easy, 1 KOTR and he's dead, if you don't have KOTR it's a different story but still easy, but Ultimecia? Is a joke, I've never used 'The End' on any battle, you only need a some amount of hp & defense for griever shockwave pulsar and then nothing else is needed, the whole battle resolves for itself.
Put more battle than Sephy it's really relative on how you prepare yourself. When you understand the junction system, ultmecia cease to be a threat, and when you get decent materias Sephy cease to be a threat.

Oh please, I knew how to abuse the junctioning system and I barely scraped by. D:

The thing with Sephiroth is that the developers made him to be a huge threat to those who don't spend extra time grinding or getting knights of the round. Saying that he is too easy after boosting your characters' levels to 99 doesn't seem fair to me. First time I played the game, I was on the edge of my seat as I didn't even know that Knights of the Round existed and I was too impatient to level grind. So, in that scenario, Sephiroth was one scary boss to fight. After nearly getting owned by one last supernova at the end, I distinctly remember a feeling of defeat when Cloud gets sucked into his head to fight Sephiroth one on one. I thought I was so screwed...

You just have to realize that, with these matters, the developers aren't going to make a boss so that it is challenging to a lvl 99 in any Final Fantasy. In an effort to appeal to the average gamer, they will keep the boss so that he is a tough fight for someone at around lvl 50-60, as that is usually how high your characters are by the end of an average Final Fantasy game (I think).

Oh please, I knew how to abuse the junctioning system and I barely scraped by. D:

I was a child the first time I played FF8 and my knowledge of english wasn't that rich as it is now (thank you Resident Evil 2 & Metal Gear Solid)


The thing with Sephiroth is that the developers made him to be a huge threat to those who don't spend extra time grinding or getting knights of the round. Saying that he is too easy after boosting your characters' levels to 99 doesn't seem fair to me. First time I played the game, I was on the edge of my seat as I didn't even know that Knights of the Round existed and I was too impatient to level grind. So, in that scenario, Sephiroth was one scary boss to fight. After nearly getting owned by one last supernova at the end, I distinctly remember a feeling of defeat when Cloud gets sucked into his head to fight Sephiroth one on one. I thought I was so screwed...

You just have to realize that, with these matters, the developers aren't going to make a boss so that it is challenging to a lvl 99 in any Final Fantasy. In an effort to appeal to the average gamer, they will keep the boss so that he is a tough fight for someone at around lvl 50-60, as that is usually how high your characters are by the end of an average Final Fantasy game (I think).

Almost my same situation, but the thing is that I didn't fear his supernova, I feared his Physical attacks & shadow flare, but I was like 9 years old when I beated FF7 for the first time. xD...
Whatever for me sephy was more threatening than Ultimecia.

*rant*I can't avoid to say this, Kefka was even easier than these two.
Zeromus was the big bang problematic FF final boss, GOD I HATED THAT FIGHT & I Hate FF4 lame gameplay, even 1;2 & 3 have better gameplay.*rant*

I never learned about KotR when i first passed FF7 in '98/'99 (I picked up the game randomly, I can't remember why, and I certainly didn't use internet back then for reading reviews and recommendations on PC games). When i finally did some years later, I used a saved game editor to give myself the necessary chocobo, lol.

I remember raping that oedipus bitch with mostly physical attacks and limit breaks. I even defeated the Bizzaro sephiroth form before it said for Cloud to attack on my first try (only to reload to that point in order to see what happens if I take longer). All my characters were about lvls 72-75 by then. Getting lost a few times in the game helped get me some unintentional level-grinding XD

Gotta love the KotR, lol, frickin overkill summon ftw - roflmao'ed so much when I first tried it out. Even Norris wouldn't survive that!

I still need to get around to finishing FF8 - I just need to proceed to disc 4 and end it, but I stalled for some level grinding, that is, leveling my GFs and their abilities and picking up Tonberry and Odin =]
Both are fun games if you just play them and screw the hype and complaints. I was very happy with how long FF7 was. Took me a little over sixty-six hours, approximately, and i had fun all the way.
I'd like to play it again for old times' sake, but too lazy =P

The thing with Sephiroth is that the developers made him to be a huge threat to those who don't spend extra time grinding or getting knights of the round. Saying that he is too easy after boosting your characters' levels to 99 doesn't seem fair to me. First time I played the game, I was on the edge of my seat as I didn't even know that Knights of the Round existed and I was too impatient to level grind. So, in that scenario, Sephiroth was one scary boss to fight. After nearly getting owned by one last supernova at the end, I distinctly remember a feeling of defeat when Cloud gets sucked into his head to fight Sephiroth one on one. I thought I was so screwed...

You just have to realize that, with these matters, the developers aren't going to make a boss so that it is challenging to a lvl 99 in any Final Fantasy. In an effort to appeal to the average gamer, they will keep the boss so that he is a tough fight for someone at around lvl 50-60, as that is usually how high your characters are by the end of an average Final Fantasy game (I think).

Ok, true Sephiroth 'can' be a tough boss IF you aren't setup equipment/materia wise or have leveled up high enough. However, in Final Fantasy XI Online (True, it IS a MMORPG, however it is STILL a Final Fantasy game so therefore my following analogy is apt), there are bosses in it which would make ALL of the bosses in EVERY FF game, squeal like little schoolgirls who have skinned their knees.

Two I can recall at this moment in time...

Absolute Virtue (Has access to ALL Job abilities and 2 hour ability)

and

Pandemonium Warden (Can change form to other boss monster with full HP/MP etc).

The latter having only been beaten ONCE, and that was due to SE lowering it's level.

Also, just remembered as some friends of mine 'tried' to beat a certain BCNM (Burning Circle Notorious Monster - AKA Quested Boss Battle) called Waking the Beast. He has been defeated... but is a complete and utter bastard to fight. I mean, how can something so cute... be so frikin deadly? Carbuncle Prime at his full strength, would wipe the floor with Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kuja, Jecht/Yu Yevon and any other boss in the FF series.

Still... Pandemonium Warden Vs Sephiroth...

PW would bend Sephiroth over and make him his bitch.

The thing with Sephiroth is that the developers made him to be a huge threat to those who don't spend extra time grinding or getting knights of the round. Saying that he is too easy after boosting your characters' levels to 99 doesn't seem fair to me. First time I played the game, I was on the edge of my seat as I didn't even know that Knights of the Round existed and I was too impatient to level grind. So, in that scenario, Sephiroth was one scary boss to fight. After nearly getting owned by one last supernova at the end, I distinctly remember a feeling of defeat when Cloud gets sucked into his head to fight Sephiroth one on one. I thought I was so screwed...

You just have to realize that, with these matters, the developers aren't going to make a boss so that it is challenging to a lvl 99 in any Final Fantasy. In an effort to appeal to the average gamer, they will keep the boss so that he is a tough fight for someone at around lvl 50-60, as that is usually how high your characters are by the end of an average Final Fantasy game (I think).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7A0BfFmXgE

As a side note, he's easily beaten in the 30s.

Ok, true Sephiroth 'can' be a tough boss IF you aren't setup equipment/materia wise or have leveled up high enough. However, in Final Fantasy XI Online (True, it IS a MMORPG, however it is STILL a Final Fantasy game so therefore my following analogy is apt), there are bosses in it which would make ALL of the bosses in EVERY FF game, squeal like little schoolgirls who have skinned their knees.

Two I can recall at this moment in time...

Absolute Virtue (Has access to ALL Job abilities and 2 hour ability)

and

Pandemonium Warden (Can change form to other boss monster with full HP/MP etc).

The latter having only been beaten ONCE, and that was due to SE lowering it's level.

Also, just remembered as some friends of mine 'tried' to beat a certain BCNM (Burning Circle Notorious Monster - AKA Quested Boss Battle) called Waking the Beast. He has been defeated... but is a complete and utter bastard to fight. I mean, how can something so cute... be so frikin deadly? Carbuncle Prime at his full strength, would wipe the floor with Sephiroth, Ultimecia, Kuja, Jecht/Yu Yevon and any other boss in the FF series.

Still... Pandemonium Warden Vs Sephiroth...

PW would bend Sephiroth over and make him his bitch.

Those monsters you talk about, wipe the floor of zeromus? I'll be pretty scared if they do... xD

I wouldn't mind dying gloriously in battle against them >)

Those monsters you talk about, wipe the floor of zeromus? I'll be pretty scared if they do... xD

Pandemonium Warden (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Pandemonium_Warden) is one of, if not THE most powerful boss monster (at this time) in FFXI. Ever since the third expansion, Treasures of Aht Urghan, PW has never been beaten as he initially is in the game. Only once was he defeated, earlier this year if I recall, was he defeated and only because SE lowered his level to 80 or something.

Absolute Virtue (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Absolute_Virtue) is a nightmare to fight with it's ability to use every job's own abilities. This one can be beaten, however it's tricky and involves not just the right job combination in your party, but also a lot of luck.

The Waking the Beast (http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/Waking_the_Beast) BCNM is a very tough and challenging battle due to what it is you are fighting. A Summoner Linkshell on the server I'm on went into this battle, with 18 Summoner's. From what I was told, they only managed to get the boss to about 60-70% health before being wiped.

In short topopoz, just these three examples here would easily 'wipe the floor' with Zeromus or any other Boss from the FF series. I think as the game is a MMORPG, the challenge rate for bosses/missions/etc is far higher than the standard FF game.

Unlike the other FF games, the level cap in FFXI 'was' 50, but by doing 5 quests, you can cap your level at 75.

Hehe, while I see your point, in the other Final Fantasy's defense I would argue that it is perhaps unfair to compare the bosses of an mmo to a single player game. In an mmo, the boss has to be made challenging enough to give five or more independent thinking players a tough battle, whereas in every other FF, they are only dealing with one gamer. I don't know that much about FF XI, but if any of those bosses are parts of raids where you get 10 people or more, it becomes even more obvious that you can't measure one of those bosses to the bosses you fight with a smaller amount of characters in the typical FF game. Ridiculous amounts of health, if nothing else, would make such a thing unfair in a normal FF game, and the fact that most FF games only allow you to control three to six characters at one time. The boss of a 25 player raid, then, would hardly be a fair comparison to the boss of a 3-6 player non-mmo Final Fantasy game.

I prefer FF8 for so many reasons. The graphics, gameplay/battle system(I actually enjoy junctioning), story, characters, etc. I also love VII and it would be my 2nd favorite. I don't really have a problem with it's "dark" setting. The graphics were lesser, the story was a bit lacking, Aeris annoyed me(she seems to make other people happy), and a few other things were lacking, but I think so about pretty much every FF. I also agree, the orphanage part could've been left out of 8 and replaced with more clear storyline on Laguna being Squall's daddeh :D

I'm going to go with VIII. I enjoyed the story more, it pulled me in and i really wanted to get further and further in the game. I also liked the characters and character development more. Not to say i don't like VII, i do. But for me i have always liked VIII more. One thing i did not like about VIII was the junction system. I preferred materia in VII.

Even Norris wouldn't survive that!

Chuck Norris can survive anything! When he does a push up the world pushes down. Chuck Norris can walk on water and swim through land!!!

Chuck Norris can survive anything! When he does a push up the world pushes down. Chuck Norris can walk on water and swim through land!!!

Someone's a fan.:)

Don't forget, as revealed in Season 7 of Family Guy, Chuck has no chin under that beard... just another fist, so he can get the drop on anyone.

Chuck Norris can survive anything! When he does a push up the world pushes down. Chuck Norris can walk on water and swim through land!!!
Oh yeah? When Marth tilts his headband a slight nudge, the overflow of manliness causes Norris to die instantaneously, wherever he is. =P
The universe collapses in on itself if done too much.

roflmfao

I think that we are starting to lose track of what is important in an RPG.

There are a few key areas which make an RPG great.

1. Freedom
2. Music (Uematsu is an absolute genious)
3. Characters

It doesn't matter at all how hard the final boss is. Because if you are looking for a challenge you have the weapons to fight in either 7 or 8. When i first played through ff7 i had no idea how to breed a gold chocobo and was forced to defeat ruby weapon WITHOUT knights of round in order to acquire the materia (as you are rewarded with a gold chocobo for defeating ruby) for emerald weapon. I managed with mime, bahamut ZERO mastered a couple of times (which took a while) and i used HP absorb on bahamut ZERO plus quadra magic and w-summon. Took me about 2 hours to defeat him but i will always remember how much of a challenge that was.

in ff8 the monsters are at a strength which you can handle as they level as you do. throughout the game i played with only 1 character (quistis) as i was not a fan of her. and only revived my other 2 players to fight bosses (as they give you no experience). the reason for this was so that i could take advantage of the levels i would gain once i had the cactuar summon and his STR UP, MAG UP etc abilities which up each attribute each level.

I have played the games both through many times and have written many gameshark codes for them as they grew boring to me and i wanted to customise some weapons, materia, magic and so on.

Also my favourite part of ff7 is the start at midgar. strange i know but it is in my opinion the best part of the game. the worst part is the fucking life stream shit.

In ff8 the best part of the game is going to FH and playing as a band on stage rocking out. you need to have zell on the sax and irvine on the piano. do with the others wat you want. the worst part of the game is when the all discover they are long lost friends, who shared their childhood together in an orphange run by a witch haha.

Go Sephiroth!

I think that we are starting to lose track of what is important in an RPG.

There are a few key areas which make an RPG great.

1. Freedom
2. Music (Uematsu is an absolute genious)
3. Characters


Excuse me for channeling Prak, but the most important part of an RPG is actually role-playing, at least a little bit. Everybody's heard this speel before, so I'm just going to /endrant now.


It doesn't matter at all how hard the final boss is. Because if you are looking for a challenge you have the weapons to fight in either 7 or 8.

Except that both had exploits that made them stupidly easy.


in ff8 the monsters are at a strength which you can handle as they level as you do.

Which is why the entire battle/levelling/junctioning system is fundamentally broken. FFVIII is actually easier if you level as little as possible. While it's nice to see the status quo challenged from time to time, the manner in which it was done in FFVIII is somewhere between 'hackneyed' and 'completely fucking stupid.'


Go Sephiroth!

Just so's ya knows, you didn't actually answer the question posed by the OP. While we're at it, I don't suppose that I have, either. I prefer FFVII, if only by default, since FFVIII is just that bad.

edit: I saw somebody posting about how Sephy was designed to be a challenge for players who didn't grind. Sephy wasn't difficult at all for me my first time through. My characters were around 40, I had very few high-level materias, and yet I still had few problems handling him. I rather miss when defeating the "final boss" in a game was actually something of an achievement.

I think that we are starting to lose track of what is important in an RPG.

There are a few key areas which make an RPG great.

1. Freedom
2. Music (Uematsu is an absolute genious)
3. Characters

And story has no say in a RPG right?

Just so's ya knows, you didn't actually answer the question posed by the OP. While we're at it, I don't suppose that I have, either. I prefer FFVII, if only by default, since FFVIII is just that bad.


My bad..

I prefer FF7, possibly as it was the first RPG i really got into. So I may be favouring it unfairly.

Also I am a big fan of Sephiroth as a character. His entire story is amazing. They did not intentionally create him to be favoured upon as he is not commical or anything like Kefka from FF6. While FF6 was my favourite to play through, number 7 had characters i enjoyed more.


And story has no say in a RPG right?

haha story is a given i was just listing some things that haven't already been openly discussed. I believe that the story of FF7 is better than that of 8 but not as good as the story in 6..

The sound track to FF7 is definately my favourite though in the entire series. I do enjoy some of the music in 8 and 9, also some songs from 10. Chrono Cross also had some great music in it.