Well, Bryan started the other topic about the general plot of the games but let's talk about just the love story portion of each game and which you found more compeling for whatever reason. Now, this is another debate topic so properly formulated and factual backing is key to supporting your opinion here. Give reasonings to what you say and let's see if we can get this going.

As it's 5 AM here and I'm bone-tired, I can't work on mine ight now. But you'll see it later.

P.S.
A Hogan fight will also be forthcoming...been a busy couple of days.

In all honesty, the love story aspect didn't start kicking in largely until FFIV.

In which case, I'd say FFIV's Cecil/Rosa relationship was a good one. Cecil almost went around the world in order to save/find her...

Generally I dislike the "strong" romances as seen in FF8 and FF10, as well as Rosa/Cecil in FF4. Boooooring. I like the more subtle, sometimes only hinted at, often one-sided, romances more. So... like Edge/Rydia, Locke/Celes, Wakka/Lulu (yeah I know people hate this one), and, well, just about any potential pairing from FF12 you want to imagine. FF7's romances were similar as well though I didn't really connect with Cloud so I didn't care much about his love life.

In general, I'd rather things remain not completely resolved. The only resolved romance I liked in any FF game was Laguna/Julia in 8! Yayyyyy SO CUTE!

I did not like the so-called love story between Squall and Rinoa. It wasn't genuine, and how anyone could ever fall for such an idiot is beyond me, but then again, Rinoa wasn't exactly the brightest herself either.

Laguna and Julia's story, however, was pretty interesting. Their relationship never truly blossomed, and Julia died without ever having said the words she wrote down in "Eyes on Me" to Laguna himself.

Rinoa was a bigger idiot than Squall, imo. I thought most of the girls in 8 were extremely stupid.

Way to read the original post everybody. Namely the "factual backing" part. :notgood:

Anyway. FFIX has the best "love story" of the bunch. It actually wins by default, really. I haven't played FFXII yet, so I don't even know if it has a love story, but other than that, the other "love stories" aren't even developed properly.

*spoilers ahead, just in case somebody's dumb enough to think there won't be spoilers*

FFIV has a sort-of love story with Rosa/Cecil. As I recall, it doesn't really develop until the party has to rescue Rosa from Golbez. My memories are quite foggy, so I can't give great details like I can with the other games, like...

FFVII. Quite a few fankids gush over the "love triangle" in FFVII, but in reality, it doesn't go anywhere. Cloud's really too busy being completely screwed up to actually reciprocate any feelings Aeris/Tifa might have had for him. The only time he actually shows that he might actually have feelings for Aeris is after she gets poked by Sephy.

Anybody who calls FFVIII's "love story" the best should be forced to watch bad romantic comedies for a week straight. For most of the game, Squall shows more interest in Seifer than he does all the females combined. Then, all of a sudden, an hour after needing to be told (several times!) to rescue Rinoa from splattery death, he suddenly realizes that she's the girl of his dreams and absolutely MUST save her. WTF?

FFX is only a little bit better. While Tidus and Yuna share some "bonding moments," like the laugh scene in Luca, there really isn't a love story until they're in Macalania and they have their makeout scene (which sort of looked like an acid trip, but I digress). After that, there really isn't much until the ending with an "I love you."

So, as I said, FFIX wins by default, as it didn't completely suck like the others. But if I'm actually pressed, I can go into FFIX's quality.

FFIX has the best "love story" of the bunch.

I totally agree. Oh yeah, and there's a ton of spoilers coming up!

Zidane and Garnet are absolutely fantastic together. From the moment he laid eyes on her you could tell that Zidane was, at the least, looking for some random play, haha. But seriously, I loved how he kept breaking down her walls and continuously tried to pull her out of her "royal shell". While Garnet didn't instantly warm up to him, you knew she trusted him since she practically begged him to kidnap her.

That's not even the tip of the iceberg. Let's not forget "Zidane" is the first word Garnet says after she breaks down and loses her voice for most of the 3rd disc. Plus they have the strong connection of both having pasts which they are desparately trying to uncover. Sharing something as deep as not truly knowing your own identity, must provide a very firm foundation for intimacy (no, not sex, but the level at which people can communicate and relate to each other).

Laguna and Julia's story, however, was pretty interesting. Their relationship never truly blossomed, and Julia died without ever having said the words she wrote down in "Eyes on Me" to Laguna himself.

I also liked the Locke/Rachel story better than the Locke/Celes one.

Sad love stories = best love stories?