Our fav. Videogames

[Inaudible-Whisper]

lol I won't be. Promise!

[HEDOfloe]

Has everyone here played Final Fantasy IX? I just started playing it today for the first time ever and, although I've only played an hour, I'm absolutely floored by it. I think the whole concept it's amazing. I even laughed out loud during a certain scene. My cousin and I always have arguments about the series because I'm a Nomura fan and he's a Amano fan and this was one that we hadn't been able to really argue about since I hadn't played it. Basically, he said that since 7, the series has been a lot more sci-fi than fantasy and while I agreed, I didn't really see the extent to which this was true. When 12 came out, we both loved it and I saw what he meant by it, but for me, the non-nomura games were never as appealing because of not having a character that attracts me so much as the Nomura characters (Although Fran and Balthier from FFXII are awesome). So FFXII has an almost Shakespearean story unlike the more "drama-queen" stories of FFVII, VIII and X. IX, on the other hand, so far has a very interesting and even whymsical story and the whole worl just has a different air than the Shinra/Sin infected worlds of before. I still have yet to see how it unfolds, but I doubt it will come to all of that.

So I was just wondering what do you guys think about FFIX? It may very well end up being my favorite FF ever even without the Nomura characters and I never hear it brought up in discussions about the best of these games. It was always 7 or 8 or 7 and 10 for the most part. People act as if IX never happened. I guess the Nomura games are just more mainstream. Every time he hasn't been in it, the games seem to be forgotten. I have daymares when I think of people who said they just stopped playing FFXII because they got bored or some other nonsense like that.

[Inaudible-Whisper]

I haven't played Final Fantasy IX since it came out, so I really can't remember much about it. I remember liking it, heck I even remember preferring it to VIII I'm sure, but I have much stronger memories of VII and VIII because I've replayed them about 3 times. I don't know why I never replayed IX. I should!

Edit: Actually, I put the IX disc in a month or two ago. I just remembered. I totally forgot how the game began and it was bugging me at Uni so I came home and played the first few minutes then turned it off satisfied :p

[Tokyo Jihad]

FFIX is easily my favorite of the PSX FF's (and onwards) maybe even my favorite of all of them. It was a BLAST to play, easily the most fun I had in an rpg. The grinding was actually fun. The ability system in IX is way more fun than materia in VII. And for a change, the characters were charming and empathetic.

All the Nomura FF characters are always so aloof and bastardly that I couldn't give a shit about em really (FFX, im lookin at you.) But IX has characters you actually LIKE and want to see succeed. But because they're not big-titted, sexy, built, humans, and inmstead fanciful (as if the word Fantasy had something to do with the game...) most FF gamers look right over it. Which is sad.

[Inaudible-Whisper]

Yeah, one thing I do remember is the really nice characters. Zidane is by far my favourite protagonist and Vivi and Steiner are wonderful. Garnet I couldn't care less about and Kuja was pretty weak, but overall most of the people were likeable which was important. They weren't as complex as, say, those of VIII but Zidane > Squall so

[HEDOfloe]

Ok, that's more or less what I expected from you guys. So what did you think of 12 then?

[Ringo~Bingo]

i absolutlely loved FFIX it was perfect after the realistic approach of VIII and i enjoyed the abilties system a hell of a lot more than VIII's crappy system where you had to draw magic from enemies constantly until you were able to make it from the magic stones/scales ect.. though i did not like the card game in IX there did not seem to be a worthwhile reward for all the work unlike VIII's where it was near essential to master the cards.. still i think IX was a great game especially the cut scenes which were awesome to watch (the Alexander & Bahamut scene stands out for me) i only finished it once because my disc 4 broke but given the chance i would have replayed it as i have with just about all the others (besides XII)

as for FFXII i though it was graphically the best (obviously) and i loved the characters.. Fran especially!! the voice acting which i initially dreaded turned out to be quite brilliant i thought both Fran & Balthier were stand outs for me and helped cement their identities.. i also loved the opening war scene which was utterly epic and reminded me of Star Wars i thought it was a little difficult overly in some places.. this plant boss in the Viera forest was a total nightmare to beat!! i did like the Judges though they were pretty cool.. though i thought the end boss was total garbage it was just a mess and that let it all down for me.. it was a 10/10 game for me but i have not felt any urge to replay it yet..

[Tokyo Jihad]

Never played 12 cuz it looked like shit =p

(i dont mean graphics)

[Ringo~Bingo]

Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad

Never played 12 cuz it looked like shit =p

(i dont mean graphics)

.. seriously it's alright you should give it a go.

ADDED: also what is everyone's top 5/10 games ever ? i'd love to know what everyone else likes

[ShinjiPG]

12 was awesome, imo.
And I only played less than 10 hours. It was such a refreshing experience, for a Final Fantasy.