Why is FF9 so much harder than FF7 and FF8?

[BUGS BUNNY]

anyone else think so? i just started the game and the bosses are so hard

[Tomberry Blue]

Some people find FFVIII to be pretty difficult although that mostly comes from a lack of understanding the mechanics.

FFIX is marginally more challenging because it was supposed to be a return to source after VII and VIII divided the fanbase a bit. "Source" meaning, more like FFIV through VI wich were a fair bit harder than VII and VIII.

Well maybe not VI...

[[NGNS-SWE] ⚡ Quezkatolen ⚡]

ff9 isnt a hard game- problem is a lot of people made the misstake to use new weapons before they learnt their abilities of the old.

[Ryksa]

If you ask me, the PC version needs a difficulty patch/mod, like Unleashed difficulty patch for the PS version. I'd love that.

[Epurus]

It's a different type of Mechanic that's all. Only difference (just as Quezka Tolen says) is that you have to stick to your equipment until you have learnt that skill then move on. Just a little bit of planning is needed :)

[clawsofdeath9]

ill tell you something, if you find a monster or boss hard is a good thing...dont go grinding to defeat the monster because thats very boring...the challenge is there so... check your equipment monster weakness and and stuff, look for diferent a ways to defeat the monster, thats was this game is about.

[ditt_25]

FF7 and 8 were everyone can do everything games. Want a healer, no problem. You still tanky and can hit hard. FF7 let you hoard limits for bosses. FF8 was extremely breakable if you knew what you were doing (constant limit spam, insane junctions and card synths, ultimate weapon on Disc 1, etc).

FF9 is a different mindset for the preboss stuff. All characters use predefined roles. You want a healer? OK, but you gonna have paper thin defsne and physically hit like a wet noodle. Trances (limits) can be "accidentally wasted" before reaching the boss, reducing your ability to limit spam cheesing the hard stuff. And failing to steal from bosses (which can be harder than the boss fight itself sometimes) can leave your gear a town or two behind on occasion.

Essentially you are forced to adapt to the boss, rather than having the game's bosses horribly fail to adapt to you. Of course, there are some highly breakable moves still (three characetrs get unmissiable, fixed 9999 moves outside of trance, for low MP cost). But two only show up in the lategame (the other two moves are both on a character that blind newcomers tend to not use as much). And three of the four moves require dedicated grinding for enhancing the specific move.

[clawsofdeath9]

Originally posted by Shirayuki474:

It is not harder, it just sometimes gets ''more problematic than usual''. but after you will get Auto-Regen - GG WP.

In the end the only moment which can be truly hard on any level is trying to steal all items from Ozma + beating him without Friendly monsters quest.

Maybe you don't have deadly multi hit combos like before (previous FF) but monsters have very low amounts of HP.

i dont like to use those auto abilities :p they take the challenge away.

[beaktastic]

Originally posted by clawsofdeath9:

i dont like to use those auto abilities :p they take the challenge away.

But the ones against status effects (Loudmouth, Jelly etc.) can be a godsend sometimes (I think anyway :P)

[kurosov]

It isn't

[Bad_Conduct]

Originally posted by new balance:

anyone else think so? i just started the game and the bosses are so hard

It's always hard the first time. Once you figure everything out, it's easy because you know roughly what level to be at and where to get the best weapons early on.

FF XIII was just broken, the combat system was flawed. it's easy because it's easy to cheat it. With monsters leveling up with you, you can easily grind at the start of the game and plow through it.

[♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ ♡]

Well, some bosses are a pain in the ass at first try but not unbeatable ;)

[Vayshen]

I remember being quite annoyed with the last 2 bosses as if you wipe on the second, you have to redo the first and that one can already be a bit of a pita.

[clawsofdeath9]

Originally posted by Rydia:

Originally posted by new balance:

anyone else think so? i just started the game and the bosses are so hard

When I very started playing FF9 (actually it was my sisters who first got it, damn weren't they happy when they got it on christmas!)
We couldn't even pass the Prison Cage on Disc 1, for some reason... Garnet kept getting killed, and we didn't even know how to use Zidane's Dyne! lol! I'm crackin.

seems like you got a lot a fun lol i remember me back then when it was new being very cautious and putting all antibody and anti everything.... now i just turn all auto abilities off and have fun :p
i nice challenge is beating necron or ozma low level withouth auto abilities ;)

[Iido]

FFIX actually isn't a hard game at all. If this is your first time playing, my bet is that you are actually underleveled. The encounter rate in the PC version is far, far lower than in the original console version. On the way to the first boss, you'd normally encounter 5 or 6 monsters in the original, and gain a few levels just by getting there. In this version, I encountered 0 monsters on the way through Evil Forest and actually got my butt handed to me because my party was LV1-2 and I wasn't even thinking about it...XD; AOE thunder is a massive killer at low level.

And yes, before anyone says it, I know the game can be beaten at LV1. But only with very specific preparations and a lot of luck.

[Coleco_84]

Originally posted by new balance:

anyone else think so? i just started the game and the bosses are so hard

It can feel difficult if you only played VII and VIII because of the job system, but is actually easier than VIII, let alone the first six.