Which do you prefer? FF7 or Phantasy Star 2

I played both at around the same time (mid 2000s). I had FF7 and played that on my PS2 and I had the Phantasy Star collection on the GBA. I preferred FF7 over Phantasy Star 2 at the time. Maybe it was because FF7 was a more accessible game and it "flowed" better? I just remembered a ton of maze-like level design and a high encounter rate in Phantasy Star 2. Don't get me wrong, I liked Phantasy Star 2 but I remember it being horribly paced (says the person who likes Breath of Fire 2).

Final Fantasy 7 in my opinion:D

I enjoy FF7 yet I love Phantasy Star 2.

FF7 hasnt aged well (maybe a remake would do some good eh sony?) not graphicly but gameplay outside of battles. The game is filled with mini games of varying worth/difficulty of which some can be a pain to get past.

Phantasy star 2 is infectious from the start. However its a really bloody hard game, one of the Jrpgs that warrants the term "grinder" and unless your playing an emulated version on Steam, sega collection or roms. Your just gonna be in Trial and error land for buying stuff and getting through dungeons. If you are not then thats money and time you lose on both.

So while FF7 has its peaks of bullshit. Phantasy star 2 core is to be bullshit. So it takes alot more effort to get into Phantasy star 2 yet when your in its a great ride!

Never played Phantasy Star anything except the online on on Gamecube, FF7 wins by default.

That said, FF7 also rates somewhere near the bottom of the FF series for me, and probably low on my overall JRPG list if I ever bothered to think about it.

Festive Final Fantasy VII

http://www.giantbomb.com/final-fantasy-vii/3030-13053/forums/festive-final-fantasy-vii-572321/

Phantasy Star 2.

Never played PS2 (currently really into PSO2 though) but FF7 is NOWHERE near as good as you remember, it's mediocre at best.

I played FF7, so that one.

This is not a contest. FF VII

Sort of a bad comparison. FFVII is the king of all JRPG's period because it is the JRPG that legitimized it as a genre and became so popular that it was no longer considered a niche genre outside of Japan. It has become popular to hate it lately apparently, that's fine because .... I don't care what internet hipsters think. It is a great game and FF has only been going downhill since whereas before FFVII it was only getting better.

Phantasy Star 2 on the other hand is probably one of, if not the best, RPG's released on the Genesis and old school pre PS1/Xbox days. The story is pretty basic, they all were back then, but it had some very serious and dark moments as well. The sound design was perfectly meshed with the graphics and it all came together as well as any game I have ever seen since. Also the ending was one of the first real shocker game endings and cemented the characters are real heroes not just some collection of JRPG trope stiffs who always win the day. In fact this game created some of the JRPG trope characters you see today and they still aren't as good as the original.

So in the end FFVII is the better game, bear in mind there was a full console generation and over a decade of design separating them, but I value Phantasy Star 2 very very highly. So I pick draw. That said... FFVII should easily win the poll. Those of you who say you like JRPG's and have never played or heard of Phantasy Star 2.... I suggest you fix that. Hit up Phantasy Star 4 too while you are at it, you can ignore the others.

I'll have what you're smoking, please.

Final Fantasy 7 of course.

I should probably go back and play FF7. And Phantasy Star 2, for that matter. (That second one means something different from what you think it means.)

Since when is Phantasy Star 2 even in the same stratosphere as Final Fantasy VII?

I'm trying to vote for Phantasy Star IV, but can't seem to find that option. Your poll must be broken.

I've never played a phantasy star game and I intend to keep it that way.

Phantasy Star 2 all day son!

Overall I like the Final Fantasy series more, but I hated Final Fantasy VII and LOVED Phantasy Star II, so there you go.

They are too different to compare. They were made at very different times.

I agree with this but if I had to pick I'd pick Phantasy Star. FF7 is a product of its time and does not hold up very well for me and is really kind of just a bad game. I probably played 7 more cause of the graphics then emotional investment. I think a more apt comparison would be PS2 vs FF4 (FF2 SNES) which I would ultimately pick FF4.

I prefer FF VII to any game on the planet. Except for maybe Banjo Kazooie.

Well I am smoking reality. I am sure there is some nearby you can take a hit off of.

Not really comparable.

FFVII didn't "legitimize" JRPG as a genre, whatever that means. It was the game that made JRPG's extremely popular, for a little while at least, but it didn't somehow make it a more legitimate genre. Time has been much kinder to some of the SNES JRPG's that came directly before it, especially Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger, and Earthbound.

That said, I liked what I played of FFVII a few years ago. Some things about it are really hard to get used to, especially the graphics, but that doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile or fun these days. It wasn't an interest fueled by nostalgia, either. That was the first time I played it. I didn't finish it, though, and I've never played Phantasy Star 2, so I can't really add to this thread more than "FFVII is still fun if you like classic JRPG's".

I have very fond memories of FF7. I never played phantasy star 2.

Also FF7 > FF6

I have fond memories of FFVII but I was old enough when it came out to know that JRPG wasn't a niche genre outside of Japan and FFVII did not, in actual reality, "legitimize it as a genre". It's a fantastic game, though. Of that much I'm convinced.

It means that before FFVII came out if I talked about FF or other JRPG's with most of my friends save one or two they looked at me like I was weird or said "we don't play those games", and when I went to stores like a "gamestop" equivalent I had to preorder or they didn't have a copy for me. After FFVII came out I saw "gamestops" putting 6 foot standees advertising RPG's in their storefronts and the same guys who previously said "they don't play those games" now did play them. I also remember many gaming mags at the time discussing giving FFVII game of the year, not just RPG of the year. Again, something I don't recall them ever doing for other RPG's.

That would be popularize. As I said in my earlier post, Final Fantasy VII didn't make the genre "more legitimate", it was already as legitimate as a genre can be in the SNES era.

Final Fantasy 7 was the first true RPG that I ever played, it will be forever etched in my memory like a virgin having his first time.

And I never played Phantasy Star 2 so I had to pick FF7.

@karkarov: I think you should go look up old reviews and sales records for ff4 and 6. I think you might be surprised at how anecdotal your impression is. FF7 was a massive success, but RPGs were not, by any standard, a niche.

FF7... not even close.

I do appreciate that some people understood what I asked and yes, trust me, I do realize that they were released on two different platforms/generations. I was more curious about the comparison on some of the general themes like death, sci-fi, environmentalism, and the such. Not on nostalgia, (as innocent as I may have thought.) console, 2d/3d, or franchise and not polygon count or multiple C.D. length

But yes most are right about one being a 3d game and the other being not, also one being older than the other. Sure I could have chosen another 2D Final Fantasy but that was not what I was asking when it came to general themes.

Also a comment I will address @karkarov: It may be true in your group/circle that the RPG/JRPG was niche but where I grew up and who I knew that genre was one of the most popular genre other than action or sidescroller. If the FF7 on the PSX was what it took to legitimize a entire genre than how did we get to FF7(Or the far superior FF9? Sorry being a dick but just opinion.)? What about peoples love for all the series like Ultima, Phantasy Star, Tales Of, Secret Of, Shinning Force, Chrono Trigger, Dragon Quest, Shawdowrun, YS III, and who could forget Wonder Boy in Monster World.

Also I do urge any who love FF7 to at least try Phantasy Star 2 or simply any Phantasy Star. Sure it may be considered hard but if you don't like it at least you tried it right?

Or maybe I should have mentioned the Sega Ages Phantasy Star Generations 2.

From what I can find, FFVII sold about 5 times as much as FFVI. The US market saw 860,000 FFVI SNES cartridges sold. I think it would be fair to say FFVII dwarfed FFVI. Certainly, it dwarfed PS2, which was karkarov's original point. This thread is a no contest thread, and the polls prove it.

Thanks for the back up Mr. Slaps. You can say what you want. Sure RPG's were a genre and all that, but you flash a picture of Sephiroth to people who play video games, just not RPG's, and they probably still know who it is. Try doing that with a picture of say Galbabalan (sp I am going off memory) from Y's 3 and you will just get a bunch of blank stares. Bet your results would be little better with the final boss of FFIX for that matter, I can even remember his name just that he was a Vegeta wannabe without a pink shirt.