I think it is imperative that I address this. So many people have been saying the FF VII is not only the greatest FF game, but the absolute greatest game ever. It isn't hard to notice that I strongly disagree. In my second blog post, I wish to outline the debate over which is better, FF VII or FF VIII.

I'm going to start off by being bluntly honest, I think FF VIII is one of the greatest games ever and FF VII is mediocre at best. I can't stop there as many are already going to be against me I'm sure. I must defend this.

Let me start off with my opinion of FF VII.

Gameplay: I'm not kidding myself, FF VII has great gameplay. It is perhaps the best feature of the game. Everything runs fairly smoothly and the materia system works well.

Music: Nobuo makes another great soundtrack for this game. Although I wouldn't say it is his best work, it certainly is at the high level he always produces.

Graphics: Great at the time, but quickly outdated. There was a big jump from FF VI to FF VII. Everybody can see that. The issue I have is that the jump from FF VII to FF VIII is much greater. Can anybody honestly say they saw the opening sequence to FF VIII without their jaw dropping? I NEVER had that feeling while playing FF VII.

Characters: Bland at best. Let's face it, the characters just aren't that deep. They have relatively simple emotions and nothing surprising comes from their actions.

Cloud is our main character for this game. He is silent. Although this has worked so well in the past (Chrono Trigger being a prime example), it did not work here. Why you may ask? The supporting characters did not make up for Cloud. Chrono Trigger worked because the other characters all had very unique personalities overflowing with dialogue to make up for Chrono's silence. FF VII lacked the strong personalities to properly support a silent Cloud.

TIFA IS NOT HOT!!! I felt I needed to get that out of the way. Fanart made her look good but she was blocky and not very appealing during the game.

Honestly, the only decent characters in the game are Vincent and Sephiroth. Both at least had the badass thing going for them. Again though, the did not have the depth I would have hoped for.

Finally, the Story: What can I say except predictable? I knew how the game was going to end halfway through the first disc. There was no twist in the game as far as plot goes. The only surprise was of course Aeris. I obviously didn't see it coming and I applaud the game for doing something unique. Besides that, the rest didn't have real depth and we knew our enemies 30 minutes into the game.

Overall, I give FF VII a 8.2 for a decent attempt at a plot, a couple decent characters, and one very good twist.

Now, I want to move on to FF VIII. I hope you stuck in there because I have many good things to say about this game.

Gameplay: Everybody always disses the junction and draw system. I am a fan of both, although I distinctly see the problem with the draw system. Juntioning magic to improve stats was a great system that allowed for strategy to take a higher role. It also allowed you to put less emphasis on magic and more more on GFs, items, and regular attacks. Drawing magic obviously took a long time and I see that as a less than appealing aspect of the game. I lastly want to mention the Guardian Forces. They were fully customizable and had much more depth than any FF game had ever done.

Music: AH, how I love this music. This is an amazing soundtrack that really compliments the game well. I recommend everybody listens to the music.

Graphics: As I said before, the opening sequence does not disappoint. The game works well with the CGI cut scenes. The graphics were not matched until the PS2 came out. I think that's enough to say how great the game looks overall.

Characters: We actually have personality in this game! It CAN be done! Squall is NOT silent, a wonderful idea that works well. He is instead, quiet and does a lot of thinking. This is the first time we really get into a main characters head like this. You also have options for how you want to shape Squall.

We also have things like a real love story and dynamic characters who go all out with their emotions. Another great aspect is the connections we find between all the characters. I was quite pleased with the overall attempt to add complexity to the people of the game.

Last but certainly not least, the story: This is another wow. You can easily spend 100+ hours on this game. Never before had a game captured an audience for such a long period of time. It took a long time for us to see enemies form. Even then, twists would be thrown in. Who would have thought that we would be fooled into thinking Edea is the main enemy for such a long time, only to realize that a greater evil is working behind the scenes. They really covered their bases with this game. They even go through the effort of explaining why we have to fight monsters every 10 steps we take. The sidequests also allowed for the maximum experience and really made the main plot with-while.

Overall, this is a better game than FF VII that really makes you understand the full potential of gaming. I give it a 9.7

I want to thank everybody who stuck in there and read my entire rant. I really want to hear what people have to say. If you disagree with me (as I expect many will), let me know and please tell me why I'm wrong. I hope my next blog post won't be nearly as long.