Which one? And why?

  • Final Fantasy IX

    Votes: 429 51.3%
  • Final Fantasy X

    Votes: 308 36.8%
  • Literally loved them equally

    Votes: 91 10.9%
  • Literally disliked them equally

    Votes: 8 1.0%

  • Total voters
    836

Saito Hikari

Member
Jul 3, 2021
3,546
I played both recently within a year of each other.

I ended up liking IX a lot more than X, the only truly bad thing about IX was the insufferably slow combat. The cast outside of Freya and Amarant had a lot more development and interacted with the world a lot more compared to X's 'everyone except for Tidus and Yuna kind of just exist'.
 

elyetis

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,617
I loved them both from the start, but 9 immediately left a bigger impression.
I mean I kept watching ff9 linkin park amv, but I did not do the same with ff10, surely that mean something !
 

Pinku

Member
Dec 21, 2017
387
First time I played FFIX I didn't really connect with it as I did with previous entries. FFX was love from first sight. I played the demo nonstop and I love almost everything about it. I have since replayed FFIX and consider it much better now than before. However for me, FFX is the perfect adventure.
 

Xero grimlock

Member
Dec 1, 2017
2,947
I think 9 is a way better game, but i enjoyed x a lot more when i replayed it a few months ago, but the wildly uneven difficulty, the puzzle temples that just halt the flow of the game, and although some cool unique designs, the world ultimately was just not fun to explore and all the towns were bland.

Half the characters just dont really get a whole lot of moments just for themselves since so much hinges on Tidus. Kimahri and Lulu are their from the beginning and their characters hardly get anything to work with. I also felt 9 had a much clearer goal on what it wanted to be and what its themes were, since the theme of death looms over most of the characters.
 

jungius

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Sep 5, 2021
2,738
IX for atmosphere and world

X for story, but very linear

I cant choose tbh
 

Lemony1984

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Jul 7, 2020
6,872
The combat in 9 is awful. Insanely slow and a massive downgrade from 7/8.

So X is my pick.
 
Oct 25, 2017
21,123
FFX was the new-gen FF that evolved the series away from a lot of the "classic" things the series was known for, so knowing this forum skews older, I'm not surprised at the poll results. This is similar divide that I imagine split the Sonic fanbase between the older fans of the classics and the release of Adventure that created an entirely new, younger fanbase.

I'd be very curious how the poll results would differ if it divided answers by age instead (either older/younger than 35ish)
 
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Oct 25, 2017
21,123
I dunno why but Yuna really annoys me too :/ shes just so....bleh. She feels like totally empty personality wise. Like Lulu sucks, right, but at least shes got a fairly defined personality. Yuna is just so bland.
If you think Yuna is bland, I'm curious of your opinion on Jill. I'm only 65% in but I'm so disappointed in how underutilized she is so far. She reminds me of Yuna but with all agency and personality robbed her. I really hope there's more in store for her for the last stretch of the game.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,581
I'm at 50% main story completion (thanks Sony for spoiling the main quest length) and Jill is actually quite close to being Lunafreya levels of blandness. Cid and Clive have had some personal growth while she is just there to accompany Clive. By far the weakest personality of the main characters.

Now compare her to Garnet. There is a huge difference. You could say she is the main character of the game just as Zidane is and i actually liked her personality growth more than Zidane's.

Also Yuna is not bland at all. She is determined and the game gives her a huge role. She is hugely relevant until the very end of the game. Lots of memorable scenes with Yuna and Garnet.
 
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Zekes

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,235
If you think Yuna is bland, I'm curious of your opinion on Jill. I'm only 65% in but I'm so disappointed in how underutilized she is so far. She reminds me of Yuna but with all agency and personality robbed her. I really hope there's more in store for her for the last stretch of the game.
As under-utilized as Jill is in FF16, she's still better than Yuna was in FFX
 

AgeEighty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,194
I bought and played Final Fantasy IX at launch, and it had a profound impact on me. It remains one of my favorite games of all time.

I had been playing the series since the first game on NES, and had loved VI and VII. VIII however had been a massive disappointment to me, as I'd found the cast bland and uninteresting, the story lacking, the settings like B-roll from VII, and the gameplay systems overly complex but unrewarding. So I'd been really looking forward to a swan song celebrating the history of the series that returned to a medieval-adjacent setting (but still with steampunk-like tech around). And I adored that they were breaking different ground with the art instead of just continuing what seemed like an indefatigable march toward realism (which, sadly, IX turned out to be the only break from).

I fell in love with all the characters and settings, the story was rewarding, and I really appreciated the relative simplicity of gear-based skill learning compared with the GF system. I loved Zidane and the way he broke away from the antihero mold of the previous two. I had a huge crush on Garnet and her struggles to come to terms with herself. I adored Vivi and his quiet existential crises. Freya's loyalty and resoluteness. Steiner's steadfastness in spite of his misguided, comical blundering. Eiko's childlike attempts to be all grown up, like we all did as children. Quina's comic relief, single-minded pursuit of food. And Amarant... he was mostly just there, but it was fun to see the guy take up the rear who in previous games might've been the protagonist.

I kind of resented Final Fantasy X for taking so much of the public focus and hype away from IX, and I didn't get a PS2 until it was about a year old, so I was delayed a bit in playing that. There were elements of the game I loved, like the tropical setting, the music, the graphics and the voice acting. But something about it felt like the tech was overpowering the strong character and story from past games, and while it resonated with me much more than VIII had, I only liked it rather than loving it.

So, obviously, the choice is IX for me.
 

Anoxida

Member
Oct 30, 2017
2,997
FFIX but it was close. FFX was jaw droppingly gorgeous and had a much much more somber feel to it than FFIX but FFIX was able to incite a sense of magical wonder, it felt like christmas morning while playing it. I don't know any game that has captured medieval fantasy quite as well as FFIX since.
 

Lucael

Member
Oct 3, 2018
383
I got FFIX US version, since at that time you had to wait a couple of months more for the European release. I bought FFX PAL version at day one since my PS2 wasn't still "universal" at that time.

At release (I was 20 yo) I liked more X but with the time I learned to love IX more. I think you can appreciate and connect to that game when you're older.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,581
The fun fact about people saying FF IX looks childish is i don't remember a Final Fantasy game with so much death and destruction as shown in FF IX.

Burmecia destroyed, Cleyra nuked by Odin, all of Cleyra people dead. Lindblum vacuumed by Atomos and attacked by black mages. Alexandria attacked by Bahamut and the castle destroyed by the Invincible. Shaman Village destroyed in the events prior to the game beginning. BranBal destroyed by Kuja.
 

Lobster Roll

signature-less, now and forever™
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Sep 24, 2019
37,168
The fun fact about people saying FF IX looks childish is i don't remember a Final Fantasy game with so much death and destruction as shown in FF IX.

Burmecia destroyed, Cleyra nuked by Odin, all of Cleyra people dead. Lindblum vacuumed by Atomos and attacked by black mages. Alexandria attacked by Bahamut and the castle destroyed by the Invincible. Shaman Village destroyed in the events prior to the game beginning. BranBal destroyed by Kuja.
www.resetera.com

Final Fantasy IX is so bleak at times

**Edit: It goes without saying, but it’s just straight up open spoilers in here.** I've been watching a stream lately of FFIX and even though I've played through the game multiple times myself and I've done everything there is to do in it, it still catches me off guard how bleak the game can...

Let's just say I agree wholeheartedly haha
 

Astro Cat

Member
Mar 29, 2019
7,745
FF X for sure. I didn't and still don't care for 9 that much. VI and VII are still my favorites but I'm looking forward to the 9 remake.
 

WillySJ3

Member
Oct 31, 2017
2,266
FFX is a superior game in every aspect of the game, with that said, at launch I didn't have a PS2 yet 😭
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,581
www.resetera.com

Final Fantasy IX is so bleak at times

**Edit: It goes without saying, but it’s just straight up open spoilers in here.** I've been watching a stream lately of FFIX and even though I've played through the game multiple times myself and I've done everything there is to do in it, it still catches me off guard how bleak the game can...

Let's just say I agree wholeheartedly haha

I mean,
the main theme is all about war as a tool to have as much souls as possible to offer to Terra people. Traversing the Mist is like traversing the souls of dead people and when the mist covers the entire planet it's even creepier. So much death in that game.
 
Oct 30, 2017
2,735
For some reason I lost interest in FF when FFX released. Something about the game didn't feel like a FF, and then the series went downhill.
 

Manmademan

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Aug 6, 2018
17,086
The fun fact about people saying FF IX looks childish is i don't remember a Final Fantasy game with so much death and destruction as shown in FF IX.

Burmecia destroyed, Cleyra nuked by Odin, all of Cleyra people dead. Lindblum vacuumed by Atomos and attacked by black mages. Alexandria attacked by Bahamut and the castle destroyed by the Invincible. Shaman Village destroyed in the events prior to the game beginning. BranBal destroyed by Kuja.

Uh..skipped 6 I suppose?

Edit: last act of XV is also rather dire.

Double edit: I think you're missing the criticism with the art style. It's not that it "looks childish" it's that the cast is drawn in a style meant to evoke the "super deformed" art of the 16 bit era. This means oversized heads and hands that makes the cast look like children.

By 2000 JRPGs had ceased using that kind of art years before, and Western players who didn't play the NES/SNES entries (the majority) just saw it as bizarre character designs out of step with every other game on the system.

IXs plot has a lot to offer and it's not a bad game by any means, but it sold less than VII, VIII, and X by FAR. It sold about half what VIII did and is still the lowest selling mainline entry since the SNES.

Timing of release has a lot to do with it, but so does S/E just not understanding what appealed to the international audience.
 
Last edited:
Oct 30, 2017
9,581
FFIX.

Better overall experience as a Final Fantasy game with world map and ATB.

Better world and story and cast of characters and OST.
 

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,612
Uh..skipped 6 I suppose?

Edit: last act of XV is also rather dire.
I think IX builds up the breakthrough of war and pulls off the whiplash very smartly. It begins with a swashbuckling and humouros prologue as Cid hires a thief, actor Zidane to kidnap his niece Garnet because of Queen Brahne acting withdrawn and cruel following the death of her husband (And Kuja's manipulations later revealed) but it turns out in a ironic twist Garnet wants to be kidnapped. They crash on the run out of Alaxandria, are hunted by Briahne's black Waltz, and run into the secret black mage factory, operating under the humble village of Dali suggesting a plot. They reach Lindblum again, Cid reveals his intentions, Zidane leaves Garnet with her uncle, they explore the bustly Lindblum and partipate in the tourney, meeting Freya along the way, and the black mages invade her hometown.

FF VI and XV begin darker with Terra being imprisoned by empire and brainwashed with a magi crown and XV begins with Noctis father executed, his home town ravaged and then an akward, quite laid back road trip atmosphere for the rest of the first half. I think IX builds up the suspense the best.
 

AgeEighty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,194
Uh..skipped 6 I suppose?

Edit: last act of XV is also rather dire.

Double edit: I think you're missing the criticism with the art style. It's not that it "looks childish" it's that the cast is drawn in a style meant to evoke the "super deformed" art of the 16 bit era. This means oversized heads and hands that makes the cast look like children.

By 2000 JRPGs had ceased using that kind of art years before, and Western players who didn't play the NES/SNES entries (the majority) just saw it as bizarre character designs out of step with every other game on the system.

IXs plot has a lot to offer and it's not a bad game by any means, but it sold less than VII, VIII, and X by FAR. It sold about half what VIII did and is still the lowest selling mainline entry since the SNES.

Timing of release has a lot to do with it, but so does S/E just not understanding what appealed to the international audience.

The characters really aren't that deformed. If you look at their proportions in the FMVs, and bear in mind that Zidane and Garnet are 16 years old, they're deformed but not a lot. And for all of its overworld playtime FFVII has the same deformed characters.
 

Zoator

Member
Oct 27, 2017
436
FFX had much better story, characters, world building, and combat (it's near the peak of the series in each of those areas for me). I do have a fondness for the classic world map, though, and IX was the last mainline entry to feature that. Both games had incredible soundtracks, although I'd probably give the edge to FFX there. So yeah, for me it's FFX by a pretty wide margin.
 

Hoggle

Member
Mar 25, 2021
6,294
I preferred IX at the time, but was still disappointed with the slow battles, broken trance system, and how linear it seems at the time.

I hate FFX for years because it was hyper linear, had bad voice acting, and the combat was tedious (switching characters, the UK sphere grid I kept using, enemies that needed you to use certain characters to hit, etc).

Nowadays I prefer FFX because Spira is such a gorgeous world and no other energy has anything that resembles it.
 

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
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Aug 6, 2018
17,086
FFX was the new-gen FF that evolved the series away from a lot of the "classic" things the series was known for, so knowing this forum skews older, I'm not surprised at the poll results.

Nope. If you're going to point to a game that "evolved the series away from the classic formula" that would be FF8. FF7 flashy as it was is still a fairly traditional FF game.

FF8 dropped your party down to 3 active players, the lowest in the series, tied with FF16.
FF8 completely upended the concept of player "level". All it does it make enemies tougher which is the exact opposite of what leveling typically does.
FF8 decided that monsters dropping gil was dumb, so now you're an employee on a salary.
FF8 decided that random encounters (other than bosses) are now totally optional. You can run through the vast majority of the game without seeing any.
FF8 decided that buying new weapons wasn't a thing you were going to do- upgrading your original weapon via randomly dropped items is the only option and even that generally only gives a negligible increase to weapon power.

FF8 seemed to go out of its way to throw out every FF trope up to that point, which is why it kind of makes sense that FF9 overcorrected in the other direction.
 

Manmademan

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Aug 6, 2018
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The characters really aren't that deformed. If you look at their proportions in the FMVs, and bear in mind that Zidane and Garnet are 16 years old, they're deformed but not a lot. And for all of its overworld playtime FFVII has the same deformed characters.

Might be showing my age.

"Super Deformed" is literally the name of that style.

Super deformed - Anime News Network


the 16 bit games used it (as many did) because enlarging the facial features made the pixel art more distinctive without having to have the entire sprite be gigantic. It was also trendy in japanese manga and anime at the time, so not entirely functional.


33ry99jdve671.png

Giant heads, oversized hands, that was "super deformed" pixel style. It's not really necessary when moving to polygons, so 7 and 8 didn't use it for their character designs (though in-game 7 is kind of a mess in that it switches between wildly different character styles constantly).

with FF9, Square intentionally went back to a style that evoked the SD pixel art for nostalgic reasons.
 

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
Member
Aug 6, 2018
17,086
I think IX builds up the breakthrough of war and pulls off the whiplash very smartly. It begins with a swashbuckling and humouros prologue as Cid hires a thief, actor Zidane to kidnap his niece Garnet because of Queen Brahne acting withdrawn and cruel following the death of her husband (And Kuja's manipulations later revealed) but it turns out in a ironic twist Garnet wants to be kidnapped. They crash on the run out of Alaxandria, are hunted by Briahne's black Waltz, and run into the secret black mage factory, operating under the humble village of Dali suggesting a plot. They reach Lindblum again, Cid reveals his intentions, Zidane leaves Garnet with her uncle, they explore the bustly Lindblum and partipate in the tourney, meeting Freya along the way, and the black mages invade her hometown.

FF VI and XV begin darker with Terra being imprisoned by empire and brainwashed with a magi crown and XV begins with Noctis father executed, his home town ravaged and then an akward, quite laid back road trip atmosphere for the rest of the first half. I think IX builds up the suspense the best.

The point was that the events in 6 and 15 obliterate life on the majority of the planet and the antagonist gets away with doing so for a very long time. Recovery eventually happens, but no way does 9 come anywhere close to those two in a destruction/death toll sense.
 

AgeEighty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,194
Might be showing my age.

"Super Deformed" is literally the name of that style.

Super deformed - Anime News Network


the 16 bit games used it (as many did) because enlarging the facial features made the pixel art more distinctive without having to have the entire sprite be gigantic. It was also trendy in japan at the time, so not entirely functional.




Giant heads, oversized hands, that was "super deformed" pixel style. It's not really necessary when moving to polygons, so 7 and 8 didn't use it for their character designs (though in-game 7 is kind of a mess in that it switches between wildly different character styles constantly).

with FF9, Square intentionally went back to a style that evoked the SD pixel art for nostalgic reasons.

Yes I'm aware of all that, but people talk as if FFIX characters are like Nendroids, but the truth is the style really isn't that off from normal proportions when the characters are shown fully rendered:

maxresdefault.jpg


That really is not what I would call "super deformed" at all. Especially not for a 16 year old girl.

The only real difference between what FFIX does compared with FFVII is that IX uses the same proportions in battle models as in the overworld.
 

Manmademan

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Aug 6, 2018
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Yes I'm aware of all that, but people talk as if FFIX characters are like Nendroids, but the truth is the style really isn't that off from normal proportions when the characters are shown fully rendered:

maxresdefault.jpg


That really is not what I would call "super deformed" at all. Especially not for a 16 year old girl.

The only real difference between what FFIX does compared with FFVII is that IX uses the same proportions in battle models as in the overworld.

That's one cutscene. The box art, promotional art, and in-game models are ABSOLUTELY SD style:

Ffixbox.jpg


ff9.jpg


FFIX-00551-Cleyras-Settlement-Beatrix.png


E_bX_nTWYAY5Fg6


E_bcNLEWUAc2rJn




The scene you posted is one that many people considering the game never would have seen, because 99% of the character designs in magazines, trailers, and gaming videos would be the SD versions. Even THAT cutscene is still heavily exaggerated, just not to the same absurd degree. Human heads are generally not twice the size of the chest area.

note that the FFIX designs aren't literally SD designs as the 16 bit games are, but the style is definitely meant to be referential to it because FFIX was designed as a throwback game to that era.
 

burgervan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,383
I loved the combat system in X, but the characters, world, and story were kind of lame.

IX was the better game.
 

AgeEighty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,194
That's one cutscene. The box art, promotional art, and in-game models are ABSOLUTELY SD style:

Ffixbox.jpg


ff9.jpg


FFIX-00551-Cleyras-Settlement-Beatrix.png


The scene you posted is one that many people considering the game never would have seen, because 99% of the character designs in magazines, trailers, and gaming videos would be the SD versions.

Nah man. Even in several of the shots you posted yourself, the characters' proportions are similar to what they are in mine. Look at the sizes of Zidane's and Garnet's heads in that elevator screenshot compared with their bodies. Those are not "super-deformed" models. Not even in the box art.

And it's not "just one cutscene", those are the same models used every time the characters appear in an FMV. That's the "real" version of the characters, disregarding the stylistic choices employed in differing gameplay views for ease of identification.

The proportions are stylized, yes. Undoubtedly. But to refer to them as if they're chibis is misleading.
 

The Unsent

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,612
Yes I'm aware of all that, but people talk as if FFIX characters are like Nendroids, but the truth is the style really isn't that off from normal proportions when the characters are shown fully rendered:

maxresdefault.jpg


That really is not what I would call "super deformed" at all. Especially not for a 16 year old girl.

The only real difference between what FFIX does compared with FFVII is that IX uses the same proportions in battle models as in the overworld.
I think Garnet has a more prettier model than the rest because she is the princess. Zidane and Steiner don't really look human, but I liked that, he isn't human, he's a genome with a tail, there's characters who look like bulls in Taltalus, a merman and hippo running a inn, whatever Baku and Alleyway Jack are. It has the most inhuman cast out of the main games, even the vintage ones.
 

Manmademan

Election Thread Watcher
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Aug 6, 2018
17,086
Nah man. Even in several of the shots you posted yourself, the characters' proportions are similar to what they are in mine. Look at the sizes of Zidane's and Garnet's heads in that elevator screenshot compared with their bodies. Those are not "super-deformed" models. Not even in the box art.

And it's not "just one cutscene", those are the same models used every time the characters appear in an FMV. That's the "real" version of the characters, disregarding the stylistic choices employed in differing gameplay views for ease of identification.

The proportions are stylized, yes. Undoubtedly. But to refer to them as if they're chibis is misleading.

See my above edit. IX's designs aren't literally SD as the 16 bit games are, but they ARE meant to heavily refer to that style by enlarging the heads, hands, feet etc. No other mainline game in the series post FF6 exaggerates the character designs the way IX does, and there is a reason for this.
 

AgeEighty

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,194
I think Garnet has a more prettier model than the rest because she is the princess. Zidane and Steiner don't really look human, but I liked that, he isn't human, he's a genome with a tail, there's characters who look like bulls in Taltalus, a merman and hippo running a inn, whatever Baku and Alleyway Jack are. It has the most inhuman cast out of the main games, even the vintage ones.

I generally compare Zidane's features with the Gorillaz characters as drawn by Jamie Hewlett: humanish, but also vaguely simian in shape, which fits.

See my above edit. IX's designs aren't literally SD as the 16 bit games are, but they ARE meant to heavily refer to that style by enlarging the heads, hands, feet etc. No other mainline game in the series post FF6 exaggerates the character designs the way IX does, and there is a reason for this.

Sure, the reason is that the series has been pursuing exclusively hyper-realism ever since, and shies away from anything stylized, imo to its detriment.
 

StayHandsome

Member
Nov 30, 2017
814
FFIX was annoyingly sluggish to play but it had a great cast. I'm looking forward to a cleaned up remake that can hopefully execute on the things that the PS1 couldn't manage.
 

Suede

Gotham's Finest
Member
Oct 28, 2017
13,915
Scotland
Didn't play them at launch but I'm a bigger fan of FFX. I still like FFIX, but the PAL version is so incredibly slow. Battles were a slog.