Best of the Best

[MrPecans]

An all-purpose best-of thread! Post your favorite entries in every type of media that you care about! Good idea? I don't know!

FILL IN THESE BLANKS
(and do any subject you want)
My Favorite Manga: One Piece!

My Favorite Books: His Dark Materials by Pullman! The Neapolitan Novels by Ferrante! Secret History by Tartt! Kavalier and Clay by Chabon! Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle! Geek Love by Dunn!
My Favorite Comics: Sandman by Gaiman!
My Favorite Films: The Apartment! One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest! The Shining! All About Eve! Rear Window! Alien! Jaws! It Happened One Night! The Awful Truth! Amadeus! The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly! Stalag 17! 12 Angry Men! Bridge on the River Kwai! Sideways! Goodfellas! The Graduate! North by Northwest! Many, many more (fav subject)
My Favorite Shows: Mad Men! The Sopranos! Deadwood! King of the Hill! Breaking Bad! Buffy! Avatar: The Last Airbender! Steven Universe! Home Movies! Dr. Katz! Better Call Saul! The Wire! Dick Van Dyke! I Love Lucy! The Twilight Zone! Cheers! Curb Your Enthusiasm! Trailer Park Boys! Community! The Simpsons! Six Feet Under! The Office (US)! The Larry Sanders Show! Twin Peaks! Parks and Rec! Seinfeld! Frasier! Rick and Morty! Love! Freaks and Geeks! Firefly!
My Favorite Anime: Tengen-Toppa Gurren-Lagann! Ouran High School Host Club! Evangelion! Paranoia Agent! Cowboy Bebop! Trigun! Lain! Fullmetal Alchemist! FLCL!
My Favorite Podcasts: The Best Show with Tom Scharpling! If I Were You! You Must Remember This! My Wife Hates Me! Comedy Bang Bang! Thought Spiral!
My Favorite Video Games: Portal 1&2! Final Fantasy IX&X! Metal Gear Solid 2&3! Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee! Super Smash Bros Melee&4! Soul Calibur 2! Tekken 3&Tag! Dragonball FighterZ! The Last of Us! Legend of Zelda: Windwaker! Resident Evil 1&4! Super Mario Bros 1-3/World! Donkey Kong Country! Limbo! Nidhogg! Galaxian! Super Punch Out!
My Favorite Musicians: St.Vincent! Run the Jewels! Ween! Shannon and the Clams! David Bowie! Ella Fitzgerald! Elvis Costello!

[Nobodyman]

It's pretty hard for me to narrow some of these down, so I made a fairly specific list:

Favorite Movies - Star Wars Trilogy, Fantasia, Fargo
Favorite TV Shows - Breaking Bad, Malcolm in the Middle, Seinfeld
Favorite Cartoons - Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Steven Universe, The Simpsons
Favorite Anime - Dragon Ball Z, Cowboy Bebop, Neon Genesis Evangelion
Favorite Manga - One Piece, Berserk, Fullmetal Alchemist
Favorite Comics - Watchmen, Sandman, Maus
Favorite Comic Strips - Garfield, Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side
Favorite Books - The Disaster Artist, Of Mice and Men, The Stand
Favorite Video Games - Banjo-Kazooie, Super Metroid, Super Mario RPG
Favorite Handheld Games - Pokémon Gold/Silver, Fire Emblem, Kirby's Dream Land 2
Favorite Musicians - They Might Be Giants, Radiohead, XTC
Favorite Albums - OK Computer by Radiohead, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys, The Soft Bulletin by The Flaming Lips
Favorite Webshows - Game Grumps, RedLetterMedia, Nostalgia Critic (yes, even despite the controversy)

[BattleFranky69]

@MrPecans:

An all-purpose best-of thread! Post your favorite entries in every type of media that you care about! Good idea? I don't know!

FILL IN THESE BLANKS
(and do any subject you want)
My Favorite Manga: One Piece!

My Favorite Books: His Dark Materials by Pullman! The Neapolitan Novels by Ferrante! Secret History by Tartt! Kavalier and Clay by Chabon! Wrinkle in Time by L'Engle! Geek Love by Dunn!
My Favorite Comics: Sandman by Gaiman!
My Favorite Films: The Apartment! One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest! The Shining! All About Eve! Rear Window! Alien! Jaws! It Happened One Night! The Awful Truth! Amadeus! The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly! Stalag 17! 12 Angry Men! Bridge on the River Kwai! Sideways! Goodfellas! The Graduate! North by Northwest! Many, many more (fav subject)
My Favorite Shows: Mad Men! The Sopranos! Deadwood! King of the Hill! Breaking Bad! Buffy! Avatar: The Last Airbender! Steven Universe! Home Movies! Dr. Katz! Better Call Saul! The Wire! Dick Van Dyke! I Love Lucy! The Twilight Zone! Cheers! Curb Your Enthusiasm! Trailer Park Boys! Community! The Simpsons! Six Feet Under! The Office (US)! The Larry Sanders Show! Twin Peaks! Parks and Rec! Seinfeld! Frasier! Rick and Morty! Love! Freaks and Geeks! Firefly!
My Favorite Anime: Tengen-Toppa Gurren-Lagann! Ouran High School Host Club! Evangelion! Paranoia Agent! Cowboy Bebop! Trigun! Lain! Fullmetal Alchemist! FLCL!
My Favorite Podcasts: The Best Show with Tom Scharpling! If I Were You! You Must Remember This! My Wife Hates Me! Comedy Bang Bang! Thought Spiral!
My Favorite Video Games: Portal 1&2! Final Fantasy IX&X! Metal Gear Solid 2&3! Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee! Super Smash Bros Melee&4! Soul Calibur 2! Tekken 3&Tag! Dragonball FighterZ! The Last of Us! Legend of Zelda: Windwaker! Resident Evil 1&4! Super Mario Bros 1-3/World! Donkey Kong Country! Limbo! Nidhogg! Galaxian! Super Punch Out!
My Favorite Musicians: St.Vincent! Run the Jewels! Ween! Shannon and the Clams! David Bowie! Ella Fitzgerald! Elvis Costello!

You liked Final Fantasy IX? :wassat:

My Favorite Manga: Samurai Deeper Kyo
My Favorite Books: Harry Potter, Johannes Cabal, Name of the Wind/Kingkiller Chronicle
My Favorite Comics: The Adventures of Barry Ween, Boy Genius; Y: The Last Man; Preacher; Ultimate Spider-Man
My Favorite Comic Strips: Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, Zits, Pearls Before Swine
My Favorite Films: Kung Fu Hustle, Marvel Cinematic Universe films (Not Iron Man 3), 12 Angry Men, Grandma's Boy, The Midnight Meat Train
My Favorite Shows: Rick and Morty, Archer, South Park, Agents of SHIELD, Venture Bros., Z Nation, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, Young Justice
My Favorite Anime: Yu Yu Hakusho, Gensoumaden Saiyuki, Desert Punk, Cowboy Bebop
My Favorite Podcasts: The Scathing Atheist/God Awful Movies, The Thinking Atheist
My Favorite Video Games: Super Mario series, Final Fantasy VII, LoZ Twilight Princess, Fallout 4, Skyrim, Dragon Quest Builders, South Park: The Stick of Truth/Fractured But Whole, Super Mario RPG/Paper Mario/Thousand Year Door, Mario Kart Double Dash, Smash Bros. Melee, Crash Bandicoot (the early games), Spyro (the early games), Donkey Kong Country series (and 64, not so much the 'Returns' ones), Citizens of Earth, Herc's Adventures, Nightmare Creatures, Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete, Lunar 2: Eternal Blue Complete
My Favorite Musicians: Elvis, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Skindred, Rolling Stones, Nobuo Uematsu
Favorite Webshows - Hugo and Jake/Bible Reloaded, Nostalgia Critic, Screen Junkies, CinemaSins, Decker Shado, Dorkly, College Humor, AronRa, ComicBookGirl19
Favorite Stand-Up Comedians: Bill Hicks (Deceased), George Carlin (Deceased), Rodney Dangerfield (Deceased), Jim Jefferies (May he live forever)

[Nobodyman]

@BattleFranky69:

You liked Final Fantasy IX? :wassat:

Dude, lots of people like FFIX. Or I should say it has a cult following.

[BattleFranky69]

@Nobodyman:

Dude, lots of people like FFIX. Or I should say it has a cult following.

Just…not sure why. But that's for another thread.

[MrPecans]

@BattleFranky69:

Just…not sure why. But that's for another thread.

It can be for this thread! I'm biased because it was my first FF….and it's far from perfect, but:

• I think the first 60% of the story is very solid
• I think the card game is fun
• I think 3/4 main characters are very likeable (not Dagger), and then 3/4 of the later part is as well (not Amarant)
• I think the fighting is fairly fun
• I think Kuja is a cool villain
• I think the pre-rendered backgrounds and the soundtrack are both beautiful

Now I'll give you that the story peters out and that Dagger and Amarant are fairly boring characters, but I think it just has a very nice vibe and a quaint story. I'm dying for Final Fantasy to do another game in this spirit. I also admit that the art style is not for everyone, but I'm fine with it.

What do you dislike about it so?

[Ubiq]

@Nobodyman:

Dude, lots of people like FFIX. Or I should say it has a cult following.

IX was the only good Final Fantasy game of the PSX era though. Well, it and Tactics.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

My Favorite Comics: Usagi Yojimbo, Groo The Wanderer, Silver Age Superman, Ditko/Romita era Spider-Man, Marvel Two-In-One, Judge Dredd.
(Some of) My Favorite Films: Bad Day at Black Rock, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Night of the Hunter, The Empire Strikes Back, Tremors, Jaws, and Blazing Saddles.
My Favorite Musicians: The Clash, The Beatles, Bowie, B.B. King, The Chieftains.

[Cyan D. Funk]

Favorite Movies: Transformers The Movie, The Godfather, The Searchers
Favorite Books: Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson, 1491 by Charles C. Mann, It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
Favorite TV Shows: The Wire, Seinfeld, The Sopranos
Favorite Cartoons: Ed Edd n Eddy, Batman the Brave and the Bold, Transformers Animated
Favorite Manga: Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, One Piece, Black Jack
Favorite Video Games: Crusader Kings 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, Dwarf Fortress
Favorite Singers: Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, Johnny Cash
Favorite Guitarists: Slash, Jimi Hendrix, Chet Atkins
Favorite Bassists: James Jamerson, Bootsy Collins, Ron Carter
Favorite Drummers: Max Roach, Alex Van Halen, Ringo Star
Favorite Piano/Keyboard Players: Billy Joel, Duke Ellington, Floyd Cramer
Favorite Bands: The Beatles, Guns N' Roses, Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys
Favorite Songwriters: Willie Nelson, Steve Goodman, Randy Newman
Favorite Rappers: The Notorious BIG, Eminem, A Tribe Called Quest
Favorite Albums: Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins, The Stranger by Billy Joel, Louis Armstrong Plays W.C. Handy by Louis Armstrong
Favorite Songs: 'Across 110th Street' by Bobby Womack, 'Telstar' by the Tornadoes, 'Sixteen Tons' by Tennessee Ernie Ford
Favorite Actors: Mark Hamill, Orson Welles, Marlon Brando
Favorite Directors: Francis Ford Coppola, Akira Kurosawa, John Ford

[Robby]

Favorite Movies - http://www.apforums.net/showthread.php?t=38218&page=6&p=3869024&viewfull=1#post3869024
Favorite TV Shows - West Wing, MASH, Dick Van Dyke show,
Favorite Cartoons - Gargoyles, Futurama. Currently Bob's Burgers and Steven Universe
Favorite Anime - The Slayers, Lupin III, Nadia, Robotech
Favorite Manga - One Piece, Outlanders, Dragonball, Lone Wolf and Cub
Favorite Comics - Elfquest, Gold Digger, Fables, Usagi Yojimbo, Ninja Turtles Adventures (archie edition)
Favorite Comic Strips - Calvin and Hobbes, The Far Side, For Better or Worse
Favorite Books - Shogun, Brandon Sanderson's various series, Princess Bride
Favorite Video Games - Sonic 1, 2, 3 & K, Nights into Dreams, Okami, Journey, Horizon Zero Dawn, Dynasty Warriors franchise (currently Warframe)
Favorite Handheld Games - Pokémon, Disgea
Favorite Musicians - Beach Boys, Reel Big Fish, Jim Steinman, Elton John, Queen (the sheer brilliance of Hamilton gets Lin Manuel some points currently)
Favorite Webshows - SFdebris, The Dom reviews books, Linkara. Used to like NC but….

@BattleFranky69:

You liked Final Fantasy IX? :wassat:

Well, it is the best one other than VI. It's by far my personal favorite.

[Kaido King of the Beasts]

• Favorite Manga: One Piece, Slam Dunk
• Favorite Books: Harry Potter, Warriors (mostly the first, second, and sixth series), Percy Jackson, Holes, We Were Here by Matt de la Pena
• Favorite Comic Strips: Calvin and Hobbes, Peanuts, The Far Side, Pearls Before Swine
• Favorite Movies: Star Wars, Chicken Run, Hotel Rwanda
• Favorite Cartoons: The Clone Wars, Phineas and Ferb
• Favorite Video Games: Smash Bros, Zelda series
• Favorite Bands: Journey, Styx, Def Leppard, Electric Light Orchestra, Earth Wind & Fire, Toto
• Favorite Singers: Stevie Wonder, Rick Astley, Michael Bolton, Laura Branigan, Rob Thomas, Peter Gabriel

[Kylor]

Literally only applies to how I feel right now, though some of these are forever favs:

Books: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami
Manga: One Piece, Fullmetal Alchemist, Vinland Saga, Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, A Silent Voice
Movies: Princess Mononoke, Moonrise Kingdom, the Princess Bride
Anime: Kyousougiga, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Paranoia Agent, Kiznaiver (but only episode 7)
TV Shows: Firefly, Gravity Falls, the IT Crowd, Monty Python's Flying Circus
Podcasts: Clarkesworld, Anime World Order, the Soundtrack Show, Revisionist History
Video Games: Undertale, Majora's Mask, Katamari Damacy
Musicians: Katzenjammer, Amanda Palmer, the Civil Wars, Akiakane
Web Shows/Youtube creators: Homestar Runner, Lindsay Ellis, Movies With Mikey, Game Grumps when they talk about life stuff
Musicals(because why not): Into the Woods, Be More Chill, Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812

What my tastes say about me, I'll leave open to interpretation.

[Monkey King]

Books: Good history books I guess
Manga: Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, One Piece, Vagabond, Berserk, Dragonball
Movies: Godfather I & II, Apocalypse Now, Trainspotting, Goodfellas, Schindler's List
Anime: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun
TV Shows: The Wire, Impractical Jokers
Podcasts: …
Video Games: Yoshi's Island, DKC 2, Chrono Trigger, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Breath of the Wild, Metroid Prime, Paper Mario, Starcraft, Age of Empires 2, Warcraft 3, Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie
Music Acts: XTC, The Fall, Joy Division/New Order, Public Image Ltd, The Banshees, The Cure, The Clash, Talking Heads, The Police, Japan, Wire, U2, The Replacements, The Smiths, Pixies, Radiohead, David Bowie, Billy Joel, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Gabriel, Prince, De La Soul, Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, Gang Starr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth, Wu Tang Clan, Boot Camp Clik, DITC, Cypress Hill, K-os, Broken Social Scene, LCD Soundsystem

Honestly give me British rock made between 1977 and 1983, and East Coast rap made between 1991 and 1996 and that's my happy places.

[MrPecans]

@Monkey:

Books: Good history books I guess
Manga: Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, One Piece, Vagabond, Berserk, Dragonball
Movies: Godfather I & II, Apocalypse Now, Trainspotting, Goodfellas, Schindler's Listing
Anime: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun
TV Shows: The Wire, Impractical Jokers
Podcasts: …
Video Games: Yoshi's Island, DKC 2, Chrono Trigger, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Breath of the Wild, Metroid Prime, Paper Mario, Starcraft, Age of Empires 2, Warcraft 3, Goldeneye, Banjo Kazooie

I dig your taste in the more visual mediums! Is the elipses after Podcasts meant to signify disdain for podcasts?

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Kylor:

Literally only applies to how I feel right now, though some of these are forever favs:

Books: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami.

Holy COW, I've read all of your favorite books! What are the freaking odds?? Didn't care for Night Circus much, but the other three I was a big fan of. I want to read more by Jones, Ozeki, and especially Murakami!

Also, only thing I didn't love about Tale for the Time Being was that the narrative set in present day was much less interesting than the diary. Happens a lot with "dual narrative" stories.

–- Update From New Post Merge ---

@Cyan:

Favorite Movies: The Godfather, The Searchers
Favorite TV Shows: The Wire, Seinfeld, The Sopranos
Favorite Actors: Mark Hamill, Orson Welles, Marlon Brando
Favorite Directors: Francis Ford Coppola, Akira Kurosawa, John Ford

We definitely have some overlap in taste. I'll do actors and directors too.

My Favorite Actors: Katherine Hepburn! Cary Grant! Jimmy Stewart! Barbara Stanwyck! Buster Keaton! Irene Dunn! Bette Davis! Joan Crawford! Jack Lemmon! Jack Nicholson! Walter Matthau! Gene Hackman! Idris Elba! Bradley Whitford! Richard Jenkins! Tilda Swinton! Philip Seymour Hoffman! Jon Hamm! Walton Goggins! Emma Stone! Michael Keaton! Al Pacino! Elisabeth Moss! Francis McDormand! Michael Shannon!
My Favorite Director: Billy Wilder! Hitchcock! Kubrick! Kurosawa! Scorsese! Paul Thomas Anderson! Howard Hawks! John Ford! John Houston! Lynch! Spielberg! Sidney Lumet! Coens!

[HeartOfDarkness]

Favorite games: MGSV, MGS2, Hellblade, Silent Hill 2, Shadow Of the Collossus, Spec Ops The Line and Nier Automata.

Favorite directors: Hideo Kojima, Hayao Miyazaki, Stanley Kubrick and Dennis Villeneuve.

Favorite mangas: Nausicaa, One Piece, Buddah, 7 Seeds, Legend of Basara, 3 Gatsu No Lion, Our Happy hours, and Vagabond.

[Nilitch]

Favorite Books: Journey to the End of the Night, and good history books I guess.
Favorite Directors: Yasujirō Ozu, Paul Thomas Anderson, King Hu, Ingmar Bergman, Charlie Chaplin, Jacque Tati.
Favorite actors: Willem Dafoe, Christian Bale, Isabelle Adjani, Isabelle Huppert, Juliette Binoche, Louis de Funès, Mathieu Amalric, Fabrice Luchini.
Favorite Comics/Manga:…
Favorite TV Show: Twin Peaks.
Favorite Movies: A Touch of Zen, Knife in the Water, Le Scaphandre et le Papillon, Inherent Vice, Queen Margot, There will be blood, Playtime, An Autumn Afternoon, To live and die in L.A., Mad Max Fury Road, Cries and Whispers. and In the Loop
Favorite Musics: Black Lung vs. Nap, A Tribe Called West, Yellow Magic Orchestra, L'Impératrice, Flying Lotus, La Femme, Antônio Carlos Jobim, Rabih Abou-Khalil, RUIN (US), Lunar Womb, MF DOOM

[elzhi]

My Favorite Manga: Goodnight PunPun, All Rounder Meguru, Ashita No Joe, Berserk
My Favorite Comics :Watchmen, Howard the Duck, Hellboy
My Favorite Films: No Country, Perfect Blue, Bicycle Thieves, Badlands, Do the Right Thing
My Favorite Shows: Venture Bros, EEnE, Spongebob
My Favorite Anime: Most Yuasa series, Samurai Flamenco, Ouran, Welcome to the NHK, Madoka
My Favorite Video Games: GG Xrd, Vampire Savior, Third Strike, Dark Souls, Doom 2016, Quake Champions, Half Life series
My Favorite Musicians: Nas, Kanye, Eminem 99-00, MF DOOM, Jay Dee, Mobb Deep, Wu Tang, Azealia Banks, The Roots, Camron, Lil Wayne, Elzhi, Death Grips
Non rap: Burzum, Cocteau Twins, Sleater Kinney, Talking Heads, Venetian Snares

[KageKageKing]

Manga: One Piece, Owari no Seraph, Seven Deadly Sins, Goblin Slayer.

Movies: Pulp Fiction, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, PoC: Curse of the Black Pearl, the Incredibles.

Shows: Star Vs the Forces of Evil, Rick and Morty, Voltron: Legendary Defender.

Anime: Hellsing Ultimate, Death Note, HunterXHunter(2011), Violet Evergarden, B: The Beggining.

Video Game: Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Majora's Mask, Paper Mario: TTYD, Ratchet and Clank series, Smash Bros series.

[BattleFranky69]

@MrPecans:

It can be for this thread! I'm biased because it was my first FF….and it's far from perfect, but:

• I think the first 60% of the story is very solid
• I think the card game is fun
• I think 3/4 main characters are very likeable (not Dagger), and then 3/4 of the later part is as well (not Amarant)
• I think the fighting is fairly fun
• I think Kuja is a cool villain
• I think the pre-rendered backgrounds and the soundtrack are both beautiful

Now I'll give you that the story peters out and that Dagger and Amarant are fairly boring characters, but I think it just has a very nice vibe and a quaint story. I'm dying for Final Fantasy to do another game in this spirit. I also admit that the art style is not for everyone, but I'm fine with it.

What do you dislike about it so?

I'd limit what percent of the story was solid to less than 50 myself, but if it was your first FF I can see how having nothing to compare it to could cloud one's judgment. The whole 'four crystals' thing took such a backseat and then just popped up a brand-new final boss we'd never heard about was possibly the weakest thing about it but by no means the only thing to dislike.
The card game was without a shadow of a doubt the single worst thing about it, absolutely unplayable. The rules literally did not work the way they were explained and winning was entirely randomly determined, no strategy whatsoever was even possible, let alone effective. It was the most grievous insult when Triple Triad from FFVIII worked so well. Instead of just tweaking that or just adding onto existing structure and rules, Tetra Master made any further notion of card-based gameplay untenable.
I think closer to half of the characters were likeable as opposed to your ratio but that's just me. Steiner was particularly insufferable early on and still for quite a while after. Same with Beatrix but she was worse because of how stupid fighting her was.
Fighting was a tad bit of a chore since without character customization available in other games (Materia system from FFVII, Junction system from FFVIII, and later on in the game, the Grid in FFX), each character was completely stuck in their job class and limited to their abilities in that way; it also wasn't challenging at all. Two attacks that can cause 9999 automatically are incredibly easy to obtain, not that anything merits spamming them. Plus having to use Zidane to steal from bosses to get unique items and the low success rate, forcing you to repeatedly keep the boss alive and let it pound on you while you wait for the last thing you can get from it to be successfully pilfered, is irritating and lowers the replay value (not that there's much to begin with).
Kuja was a fairly decent villain but you had to wait til practically the end of the game to figure out what his deal was which isn't the case with most of the other games. I'll admit, his scheme became a 'show, don't tell' moment better than most of the others but wasn't the best by any means. His theme was probably some of the best music in the game but per capita (I own both FFVII and FFVIII soundtrack albums), the amount of tracks on IX didn't even exceed the need to use more than one hand to count them for which ones were good enough to keep. Just by comparison the effort put into its soundtrack was abysmal and so many were just obvious repeats of the main theme with different instrumentation. I know that happens in the other games but it's not anywhere near as blatant, and not for nearly as many tracks. Plus they ripped off one from FFVII rather than coming up with a new one. What more proof do we need that they were being lazy?
The backgrounds did look good, I'm not going to dispute that particular point. I liked the FMV sequences too, and the character designs were admittedly good for the PSX era, and I appreciate that they took a different direction with them than previous entries which were more superdeformed in FFVII and more realistic humanoid but very stiff and rigid in appearance in FFVIII. But I've long said, the look of a game itself has very little to do with the overall quality.
The game also feels far more linear for far more of the game's length than any of the other games and separates the parties far too often so that even if you do have particular characters you like using, it's impossible to access them when you want and there become huge level gaps between them once it finally lets you have the freedom the airship provides. It's also difficult to get the 100% completion satisfaction if you're the sort who goes for that kind of thing, which I am, because at the time it was released, the strategy guide was abhorrently lacking in detail and so many of the sidequests are limited-time access only and backtracking to finish them is impossible. I know it's not a problem anymore now that the internet is everywhere but that stuck with me since I'm old enough for it to have been from my high school days when it first came out. The minigames were also lackluster from what I can recall. That whole Chocobo Hot and Cold thing was too random for my taste. Time limits in games and me do not mix well. And when luck outweighs actual skill in accomplishing an objective (the card game applies here as well), it's a waste of time for the most part.

In all, the bad far outweighed the good and if I ever do get around to giving it another go, the things I mentioned will have largely not changed. I get that it being the first foray into the series can color one's opinion, as can it not being one's first foray (I think for me it was the fifth or sixth one I played, not to mention other RPGs in general, especially ones from Squaresoft at the time like Xenogears), but I just can't see it through your eyes the way you do.

[MrPecans]

@BattleFranky69:

I'd limit what percent of the story was solid to less than 50 myself, but if it was your first FF I can see how having nothing to compare it to could cloud one's judgment. The whole 'four crystals' thing took such a backseat and then just popped up a brand-new final boss we'd never heard about was possibly the weakest thing about it but by no means the only thing to dislike.
The card game was without a shadow of a doubt the single worst thing about it, absolutely unplayable. The rules literally did not work the way they were explained and winning was entirely randomly determined, no strategy whatsoever was even possible, let alone effective. It was the most grievous insult when Triple Triad from FFVIII worked so well. Instead of just tweaking that or just adding onto existing structure and rules, Tetra Master made any further notion of card-based gameplay untenable.
I think closer to half of the characters were likeable as opposed to your ratio but that's just me. Steiner was particularly insufferable early on and still for quite a while after. Same with Beatrix but she was worse because of how stupid fighting her was.
Fighting was a tad bit of a chore since without character customization available in other games (Materia system from FFVII, Junction system from FFVIII, and later on in the game, the Grid in FFX), each character was completely stuck in their job class and limited to their abilities in that way; it also wasn't challenging at all. Two attacks that can cause 9999 automatically are incredibly easy to obtain, not that anything merits spamming them. Plus having to use Zidane to steal from bosses to get unique items and the low success rate, forcing you to repeatedly keep the boss alive and let it pound on you while you wait for the last thing you can get from it to be successfully pilfered, is irritating and lowers the replay value (not that there's much to begin with).
Kuja was a fairly decent villain but you had to wait til practically the end of the game to figure out what his deal was which isn't the case with most of the other games. I'll admit, his scheme became a 'show, don't tell' moment better than most of the others but wasn't the best by any means. His theme was probably some of the best music in the game but per capita (I own both FFVII and FFVIII soundtrack albums), the amount of tracks on IX didn't even exceed the need to use more than one hand to count them for which ones were good enough to keep. Just by comparison the effort put into its soundtrack was abysmal and so many were just obvious repeats of the main theme with different instrumentation. I know that happens in the other games but it's not anywhere near as blatant, and not for nearly as many tracks. Plus they ripped off one from FFVII rather than coming up with a new one. What more proof do we need that they were being lazy?
The backgrounds did look good, I'm not going to dispute that particular point. I liked the FMV sequences too, and the character designs were admittedly good for the PSX era, and I appreciate that they took a different direction with them than previous entries which were more superdeformed in FFVII and more realistic humanoid but very stiff and rigid in appearance in FFVIII. But I've long said, the look of a game itself has very little to do with the overall quality.
The game also feels far more linear for far more of the game's length than any of the other games and separates the parties far too often so that even if you do have particular characters you like using, it's impossible to access them when you want and there become huge level gaps between them once it finally lets you have the freedom the airship provides. It's also difficult to get the 100% completion satisfaction if you're the sort who goes for that kind of thing, which I am, because at the time it was released, the strategy guide was abhorrently lacking in detail and so many of the sidequests are limited-time access only and backtracking to finish them is impossible. I know it's not a problem anymore now that the internet is everywhere but that stuck with me since I'm old enough for it to have been from my high school days when it first came out. The minigames were also lackluster from what I can recall. That whole Chocobo Hot and Cold thing was too random for my taste. Time limits in games and me do not mix well. And when luck outweighs actual skill in accomplishing an objective (the card game applies here as well), it's a waste of time for the most part.

In all, the bad far outweighed the good and if I ever do get around to giving it another go, the things I mentioned will have largely not changed. I get that it being the first foray into the series can color one's opinion, as can it not being one's first foray (I think for me it was the fifth or sixth one I played, not to mention other RPGs in general, especially ones from Squaresoft at the time like Xenogears), but I just can't see it through your eyes the way you do.

A lot of this conversation is, of course, super subjective - so I'm certainly not going to try to have a fully-fledged argument with you or anything, but I can't help wanting to bump against you on a few points. Not bump against you in that I think you're wrong, but just in my different gaming values.

1. The card game was very confusing and to this day I do not fully understand it, but it isn't literally lacking in strategy, because you did have to plan out the way you laid your cards down by conserving the cards with the most arrows. Honestly, finding it really confusing grew on me, because it felt like a mix of strategy and luck.

2. I'm really surprised when people don't like Steiner. I wouldn't wanna hang out with him, but I think he's a hilarious character. But that's me - I always like characters that are awful people, because that makes them interesting to me. And he grows eventually, of course. It's a fun journey. I also really love Beatrix, and assumed others did as well.

3. The lack of customization doesn't bother me like it does for some people. I like the idea that these characters are these characters, and this is just how they are. But it's another highly subjective thing - I happen to like that. I don't like the Final Fantasys where your characters can do anything you set your mind to, because it undermines their personalities to me.

4. I've never been a game completionist, so I suppose that's another thing that doesn't bother me. Like, I would never get this 999,999 attack until maybe the end of the game.

5. I love being forced to play as particular characters, and wish that more games did that.

–-

Here's some negative things I agree with, and a few more you didn't even mention.

1. Ass-pull baddie at the end is the dumbest thing
2. For a game that doesn't let you customize your characters much, having two white mage/summoners out of 8 makes them feel stale.
3. Amarant is such a useless character - as is Quina, but at least she is sort of amusing.
4. I totally agree that if you're going to be forced to not use a character for long periods of time (Freya as the best example), they should be leveling up off screen.

Anyway, it's not perfect, but I'd argue until I'm red in the face that the game does have some inherent charm that outshines some questionable gameplay choices, and that my fondness for it isn't JUST nostalgia.

[BattleFranky69]

@MrPecans:

A lot of this conversation is, of course, super subjective - so I'm certainly not going to try to have a fully-fledged argument with you or anything, but I can't help wanting to bump against you on a few points. Not bump against you in that I think you're wrong, but just in my different gaming values.

1. The card game was very confusing and to this day I do not fully understand it, but it isn't literally lacking in strategy, because you did have to plan out the way you laid your cards down by conserving the cards with the most arrows. Honestly, finding it really confusing grew on me, because it felt like a mix of strategy and luck.

2. I'm really surprised when people don't like Steiner. I wouldn't wanna hang out with him, but I think he's a hilarious character. But that's me - I always like characters that are awful people, because that makes them interesting to me. And he grows eventually, of course. It's a fun journey. I also really love Beatrix, and assumed others did as well.

3. The lack of customization doesn't bother me like it does for some people. I like the idea that these characters are these characters, and this is just how they are. But it's another highly subjective thing - I happen to like that. I don't like the Final Fantasys where your characters can do anything you set your mind to, because it undermines their personalities to me.

4. I've never been a game completionist, so I suppose that's another thing that doesn't bother me. Like, I would never get this 999,999 attack until maybe the end of the game.

5. I love being forced to play as particular characters, and wish that more games did that.

–-

Here's some negative things I agree with, and a few more you didn't even mention.

1. Ass-pull baddie at the end is the dumbest thing
2. For a game that doesn't let you customize your characters much, having two white mage/summoners out of 8 makes them feel stale.
3. Amarant is such a useless character - as is Quina, but at least she is sort of amusing.
4. I totally agree that if you're going to be forced to not use a character for long periods of time (Freya as the best example), they should be leveling up off screen.

Anyway, it's not perfect, but I'd argue until I'm red in the face that the game does have some inherent charm that outshines some questionable gameplay choices, and that my fondness for it isn't JUST nostalgia.

I had pointed out that anything that relies on luck as opposed to strategy is a bad thing, so your admission that the card game is confusing doesn't help it at all. And I literally won the tournament by accident just by throwing out random cards with very few arrows, so my point stands. There's no sense of accomplishment and really, you don't get anything out of it. Unlike FFVIII, where you won cards (sometimes numerous ones for a single round) which could be modded into useful, sometimes rare, items. So not only does the card game lack a cohesive mechanism to play, it rewards you with nothing, ergo no incentive to go through the headache.
Steiner's naive rigidity was what annoyed me. People who can't think for themselves are the worst, in fiction or real life. Yes, he grew, and I acknowledge that his early phase was his worst. Beatrix was the same way, just stronger, and like I said, if fighting her was always futile, why did you have to do it like 3 times?
The class exclusivity is annoying because if you need a certain thing and don't have it, there's not a damn thing you can do about it and never will be able to, either. This might have been mitigated by having some of the characters with fewer abilities being able to learn more (I think Amarant had, what, FOUR?) but there's nothing to be done about that. Being free to customize your party as you see fit isn't a problem because you can still make them all different but have the option for homogeneity available if desired. Their usual pattern of having only different limit breaks is usually what makes the decision about who to use and that's about the limit of how 'exclusive' I can tolerate them being. I wouldn't mind being forced to use particular characters if it was worth it. But that's not the case. Maybe it is in Fire Emblem if the Honest Trailers are accurate, but I haven't played any of that series so I don't know. As to it undermining their personalities, that's simply not the case and I'm frankly incapable of understanding how you came to that conclusion. In FFX, Yuna's being a summoner obviously affects her greatly but if she was a non-combat NPC it wouldn't change a thing, and none of the rest of the party being able to use any of the others' skills interchangeably once they traverse the entirety of the Grid means anything.

[MrPecans]

@BattleFranky69:

I had pointed out that anything that relies on luck as opposed to strategy is a bad thing, so your admission that the card game is confusing doesn't help it at all. And I literally won the tournament by accident just by throwing out random cards with very few arrows, so my point stands. There's no sense of accomplishment and really, you don't get anything out of it. Unlike FFVIII, where you won cards (sometimes numerous ones for a single round) which could be modded into useful, sometimes rare, items. So not only does the card game lack a cohesive mechanism to play, it rewards you with nothing, ergo no incentive to go through the headache.
Steiner's naive rigidity was what annoyed me. People who can't think for themselves are the worst, in fiction or real life. Yes, he grew, and I acknowledge that his early phase was his worst. Beatrix was the same way, just stronger, and like I said, if fighting her was always futile, why did you have to do it like 3 times?
The class exclusivity is annoying because if you need a certain thing and don't have it, there's not a damn thing you can do about it and never will be able to, either. This might have been mitigated by having some of the characters with fewer abilities being able to learn more (I think Amarant had, what, FOUR?) but there's nothing to be done about that. Being free to customize your party as you see fit isn't a problem because you can still make them all different but have the option for homogeneity available if desired. Their usual pattern of having only different limit breaks is usually what makes the decision about who to use and that's about the limit of how 'exclusive' I can tolerate them being. I wouldn't mind being forced to use particular characters if it was worth it. But that's not the case. Maybe it is in Fire Emblem if the Honest Trailers are accurate, but I haven't played any of that series so I don't know. As to it undermining their personalities, that's simply not the case and I'm frankly incapable of understanding how you came to that conclusion. In FFX, Yuna's being a summoner obviously affects her greatly but if she was a non-combat NPC it wouldn't change a thing, and none of the rest of the party being able to use any of the others' skills interchangeably once they traverse the entirety of the Grid means anything.

I guess I miss-spoke about the card game. It probably does suck, but while the numbers’ meanings are so confusing as to make that element feel close to random, the arrows aspect is very clear, and does introduce some strategy. I’m just saying I like it.

Steiner becomes more likeable as the game wears on in a traditional way, but he’s at his best in Disc 1. His personality is super funny back when he’s a twat.

The last part I want to respond to is the idea that flexible character classes undermines what the characters are like - X, my other favorite is a bad example. I think X’s level of flexibility is fun because they still stick with one fighting style. An example of flexibility that I don’t care for as much would be like, XII. It’s not really a big deal, but to me, Balthier (or whatever his name was - the thief dude) only seems right with a gun, so I hate the idea of him being assigned a sword.

I really don’t have any good points. IX is a very charming game to a lot of people and I’m one of them. I don’t think I can do it justice. The card game is balls but I have fun with it and Steiner is, to me, a very lovable goofball because of his rigid personality.

[BattleFranky69]

@MrPecans:

I guess I miss-spoke about the card game. It probably does suck, but while the numbers’ meanings are so confusing as to make that element feel close to random, the arrows aspect is very clear, and does introduce some strategy. I’m just saying I like it.

Steiner becomes more likeable as the game wears on in a traditional way, but he’s at his best in Disc 1. His personality is super funny back when he’s a twat.

The last part I want to respond to is the idea that flexible character classes undermines what the characters are like - X, my other favorite is a bad example. I think X’s level of flexibility is fun because they still stick with one fighting style. An example of flexibility that I don’t care for as much would be like, XII. It’s not really a big deal, but to me, Balthier (or whatever his name was - the thief dude) only seems right with a gun, so I hate the idea of him being assigned a sword.

I really don’t have any good points. IX is a very charming game to a lot of people and I’m one of them. I don’t think I can do it justice. The card game is balls but I have fun with it and Steiner is, to me, a very lovable goofball because of his rigid personality.

Okay, I'll admit watching Steiner swinging about trying to recapture Dagger and crashing into a wall was pretty funny. But it's hard to respect anyone with that mentality and if I can't respect someone, it's hard to like them. And I never got around to playing FFXII so I'll take your word for it, although since you can play as Balthier in FFT: WOTL, changing him to any other job class and using any other weapons doesn't really make a difference.

Yes, IX is charming, the atmosphere is somewhat pleasing given that after VII and VIII, it returns to the pre-industrial era (or at least semi-steampunk at most) rather than having machinery that can transport into space without magic. But there are so many flaws it's impossible to ignore them. The whole Mist Continent wearing everything down with dreariness, hard to appreciate aesthetics with all that going on, and then the whole world having that toward the end, what were they thinking? It's almost as bad as the atmosphere of Xenogears at the end of the game where even though the world LOOKS the same, there's very little life actually remaining on the planet.

[MrPecans]

I merely need to believe a character to enjoy then, respect doesn’t factor into it. Some of my all time favorite fictional characters are slime balls and weasels. That’s fine though - we just care about different things when it comes to characters.

[BellisarioFaith]

Favorite Animanga Series: Fullmetal Alchemist [Brotherhood], One Piece, Jojo's Bizarre Adventure
-Anime-Specific: Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Tengan Toppa Gurren Lagann, Hunter x Hunter (2011)
-Manga-Specific: Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer
Favorite Western Animation TV Shows: Rick and Morty, Steven Universe, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, BoJack Horseman, The Simpsons
Favorite Live-Action TV Shows: Sherlock, Game of Thrones, Firefly, Daredevil, Criminal Minds
Favorite Animated Movies: Zootopia, Emperor's New Groove, How to Train Your Dragon (1 & 2), Toy Story trilogy, Despicable Me
Favorite Live-Action Movies: I'd triple this post length if I list them all. Some particular ones that quickly come to mind are Interstellar, Spy, Back to the Future trilogy, and the MCU movies.
Favorite Actors/Actresses: Too many to list
Favorite Comics: Back to the Future comics, Rick and Morty comics, Sherlock comics
Favorite WebComics: Homestuck, Unsounded
Favorite Books: Harry Potter series, Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew, Books of Ember, most Sara Shepard novels
Favorite Video Games: Super Smash Bros series, MarioKart series, Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Splatoon 2, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time
Favorite PC Games: Undertale, Danganronpa series, Nancy Drew series, Age of Mythology: Titans
Favorite Music Types: Pop, Rock, Dance, Soundtrack (BGM)
Favorite YouTube Series: Honest Trailers, Everything Wrong With, How It Should Have Ended
Favorite Musicals: Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Hairspray, Les Mis

[BattleFranky69]

@MrPecans:

I merely need to believe a character to enjoy then, respect doesn’t factor into it. Some of my all time favorite fictional characters are slime balls and weasels. That’s fine though - we just care about different things when it comes to characters.

Respect doesn't come from one's alignment, I can respect a good villain. I can't respect a sheep, someone who is easily led and can't think for their own self, which is kind of how Steiner started out. If the motivation of a flunkie for a poorly written villain just follows them loyally despite everything, again, it depends, some of them are doing it out of a debt of honor and acknowledge that they're attached to a sinking ship but can't go back on their word, it's all just circumstance. There's lots of variation out there where some work and some don't, and in fact it's almost a trope in many anime/manga with how frequently those kinds of things are depicted.