FF VII- Adventure, easy to understand magic system, average characters, aged music and graphics, good villain and hero. Heaps of things to do like Chocobo breeding and racing. I only liked Cloud and Vincent, the rest felt either average or just bleh. stare
FF VIII- Realistic graphics, romance, good funny and sad moments, nice soundtrack, complexed magic and leveling system, story sometimes seemed rushed and confusing. Unlike FF VII I ended up loving alot of the characters. Squall, Zell, Irvine, Rinoa, Selphie, Edea, Laguna, Ellone.
FF IX- Strange characters that can take a while to get used to. Brilliant music and story, easy yet works really well magic and leveling system, nice villain and hero, emotional and heartbreaking plot. Adventure and romance. (My personal favorite in the series heart ) I adore Zidane, Kuja, Garnet, Vivi, Freya, Eiko and Beatrix so very much. heart
I recommend FF IX just personally, though if FF VII and FF VIII are good games too. Though compared to FF IX they are just average in comparison.