Um...how 'bout a gun? ^^; If we're talking about real life, I don't think you'd get as far with a sword as you would in a Final Fantasy game (even a sword as badass as the Buster Sword or Masamune). So, yeah, considering we have to follow the laws of physics here, I'd take the fully automatic assault rifles wielded by the ShinRa infantrymen, please. *cough* Now, if we don't have to follow the laws of physics, I'd go with the Buster Sword, anyday. Again, if we have to follow the laws of physics, a 14 year old boy such as myself would never be able to wield it effectively. I'd um...actually be lucky to hold it up for the duration of the battle. Nevermind the fact that...well...it'd probably collapse under its own weight regardless of whether or not I'm strong enough to lift it. I'd quickly find myself without a weapon mere minutes into the battle >.>; Not in RPG World, of course. I would look kickass walking around with that BFS, deflecting bullets all over the place and swinging it around like it were nothing. Yeah. That'd be awesome.

Hmmm....I would go for a pair of blades like Rikku uses in FFX-2. They look so awesome and I think they're pretty easy to use. I also like that disc thingie around the hilt.....it looks like a fantasy weapon.

I'd just like to point out that a combat knife, switchblade or what have you is actually about as deadly as a gun. If we're firing the gun like, 30 or more feat away, then the gun is at a huge advantage. But a guy running at you with reasonable speed, a knife, and a normal person drawing a gun, the knife could stab before the gun aimed and fired.

Oh, and on topic, I forgot to mention. Spears are badass.

A knife? Maybe not a knife. The distance between you and your opponent would have to be pretty small for a knife to really be effective against someone using a gun. If you're standing within, oh, say, ten feet of the person when the duel begins, then I'd say an actual sword like a katana would be your best bet. Still, most actual combat situations don't take place in such enclosed spaces anymore, and even at close-range, if both combatants already have their weapons drawn when the fight starts, I can only assume that the person using the firearm would end up winning. Well, assuming, of course, that the person using the sword can't close the distance between them in about a third of a second...I'm fairly certain that's how long it takes most people to pull the trigger. I doubt many people could pull that off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMC8tVSJ4pw

Huh. Unless you're Jin, I guess.

Vicious pulled it off, too, but I don't think any real person is as awesome as either of those two, so it's a moot point, anyway. Of course, you're correct in saying that, if the two combatants are relatively close (8-10 feet) and neither of them have their weapons drawn, a sword or, really, any bladed weapon would probably be more effective, I would assume.

i'd have one of zidane's double bladed swords, maybe the rune tooth

it has to be the buster sword fused with vincents gun, would be the best gun blade like ever

Probably a dagger or a gun...the most normal weapons. Seriously, some of these weapons make you think, "WTF?"

You have Rinoa who's limit break has her fire her dog like a CANNON.

Cait Sith, a robotic cat who uses a megaphone.

Quina, who uses a fork.

Wakka, a guy with a Jamaican accent who thwacks things in the head with a blitzball.

Eiko just a plays an instrument.

Lulu has a DOLL go after the enemies when she's not casting spells.

Then there's the gunblade, a weapon that seems impossible to use. Squall is going to kill a friend of his by accident with that thing some day.

For most of the game, Dagger uses a racket that have magical spears in it for some reason.

So yeah, I think I'll just stick with guns and daggers. Maybe one of those things that dragoons use, too. Although I'd look as idiotic as hell carrying one of those things around nowadays.