Final Fantasy IX is one of those games that has been in my backlog forever now -- I'm talking like two decades. I just never got around to playing it because I was focused on the newer-gen consoles that were releasing in the years that followed its release, and I sadly just never made the time to go back and play it. This was until very recently when I decided to buckle down and jump in, and boy, was I missing out...
Immediately, the game felt comfortably familiar to me as a PSX Final Fantasy title - the visual style, overworld, and HUD/interface all shared a strong semblance with FF VII & VIII. It may just be nostalgia, but there is just something massively charming about this era of FF games, and because of that, I was almost instantly won over. The pre-rendered backgrounds, low-poly sprites, and classic interface all work for me to an incredible degree. It's apparent to me that the limitations of the PSX inspired a level of visual creativity that is sort of lost in modern-era AAA gaming, and I appreciate the hell out of these developers for what they were able to create considering the limitations at the time.
While the game nails the visual creativity, it also, undoubtedly, excels musically. Once again, we have another classic Nobuo Uematsu composed soundtrack, and he delivers once again with some absolutely classic themes. While I feel like this was my least favorite from the PSX era, I do not want that to take away from how great the soundtrack still is. Really, it just speaks volumes about how extraordinary the soundtracks from VII & VIII were. Furthermore, going back to play this after having played FF:XVI without an Uematsu composition really makes me miss his contribution to these games even more.
As usual with Final Fantasy games, the character-writing was top notch. I grew a strong attachment to nearly every party member, and Vivi really stood out as my favorite. In terms of the story - I enjoyed the slow discovery of the plot throughout the game. However, admittedly, toward the end of the game, I struggled to understand the underlying minutiae of the story. Still, the overarching theme of friendship, selflessness, and reasons for being resonated with me.
In terms of the gameplay - combat plays nearly identical to the previous PSX turn-based installments, so it was super easy for me to jump into. The novelty in this title is in the way you obtain abilities by learning new active and passive abilities from different pieces of gear. I could go on and on for a couple of paragraphs about my feelings on the intricacies of this system, but in summary, I mostly enjoyed it. I feel like it made new equipment more exciting, it kept equipment relevant for longer, and made the random encounters more welcoming considering that it is the only way to learn the abilities from the gear. Still, the random encounters can still become intrusive and annoying at times, particularly when you're just trying to actively explore a given room or area.
My final minor gripe is regarding the 'Trance' system, which is essentially the same as 'Limit Breaks' from previous titles -- only, in this game, I felt like they built up much slower than Limit Breaks, and as a result were so incredibly infrequent. Even when equipping the High Tide ability stone, which effectively increases your rate at entering this 'Trance' mode, I still found Trances were a bit too infrequent. As a result, I often would get frustrated when I would enter a 'Trance' in a random encounter shortly before a boss fight, basically eliminating any chance for me to re-enter it again in the encounters where they matter the most. Furthermore -- at least with the equipment that I was able to discover for him -- 'Trance' was the only time where Zidane gained any abilities that felt impactful, and I was left mostly using a basic attack on him for most turns outside of it. Still, despite this criticism, I still enjoyed the turn-based combat overall, and I think the ability systems within this game were my favorite from any of the PSX FF titles.
In conclusion, FFIX closed out the PSX set of FF games with a bang, and it is quite clear why this is rated among the best JRPGs from the fifth-gen. While it didn't really break new ground to completely set itself a part from VII and VIII, it still did everything right that the previous games had and continued the great trend. And as the old adage goes - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it..." I wish it wouldn't have taken me as long as it did to play this game, but I am delighted that I finally did. I simply miss the passion from this era of FF...
Immediately, the game felt comfortably familiar to me as a PSX Final Fantasy title - the visual style, overworld, and HUD/interface all shared a strong semblance with FF VII & VIII. It may just be nostalgia, but there is just something massively charming about this era of FF games, and because of that, I was almost instantly won over. The pre-rendered backgrounds, low-poly sprites, and classic interface all work for me to an incredible degree. It's apparent to me that the limitations of the PSX inspired a level of visual creativity that is sort of lost in modern-era AAA gaming, and I appreciate the hell out of these developers for what they were able to create considering the limitations at the time.
While the game nails the visual creativity, it also, undoubtedly, excels musically. Once again, we have another classic Nobuo Uematsu composed soundtrack, and he delivers once again with some absolutely classic themes. While I feel like this was my least favorite from the PSX era, I do not want that to take away from how great the soundtrack still is. Really, it just speaks volumes about how extraordinary the soundtracks from VII & VIII were. Furthermore, going back to play this after having played FF:XVI without an Uematsu composition really makes me miss his contribution to these games even more.
As usual with Final Fantasy games, the character-writing was top notch. I grew a strong attachment to nearly every party member, and Vivi really stood out as my favorite. In terms of the story - I enjoyed the slow discovery of the plot throughout the game. However, admittedly, toward the end of the game, I struggled to understand the underlying minutiae of the story. Still, the overarching theme of friendship, selflessness, and reasons for being resonated with me.
In terms of the gameplay - combat plays nearly identical to the previous PSX turn-based installments, so it was super easy for me to jump into. The novelty in this title is in the way you obtain abilities by learning new active and passive abilities from different pieces of gear. I could go on and on for a couple of paragraphs about my feelings on the intricacies of this system, but in summary, I mostly enjoyed it. I feel like it made new equipment more exciting, it kept equipment relevant for longer, and made the random encounters more welcoming considering that it is the only way to learn the abilities from the gear. Still, the random encounters can still become intrusive and annoying at times, particularly when you're just trying to actively explore a given room or area.
My final minor gripe is regarding the 'Trance' system, which is essentially the same as 'Limit Breaks' from previous titles -- only, in this game, I felt like they built up much slower than Limit Breaks, and as a result were so incredibly infrequent. Even when equipping the High Tide ability stone, which effectively increases your rate at entering this 'Trance' mode, I still found Trances were a bit too infrequent. As a result, I often would get frustrated when I would enter a 'Trance' in a random encounter shortly before a boss fight, basically eliminating any chance for me to re-enter it again in the encounters where they matter the most. Furthermore -- at least with the equipment that I was able to discover for him -- 'Trance' was the only time where Zidane gained any abilities that felt impactful, and I was left mostly using a basic attack on him for most turns outside of it. Still, despite this criticism, I still enjoyed the turn-based combat overall, and I think the ability systems within this game were my favorite from any of the PSX FF titles.
In conclusion, FFIX closed out the PSX set of FF games with a bang, and it is quite clear why this is rated among the best JRPGs from the fifth-gen. While it didn't really break new ground to completely set itself a part from VII and VIII, it still did everything right that the previous games had and continued the great trend. And as the old adage goes - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it..." I wish it wouldn't have taken me as long as it did to play this game, but I am delighted that I finally did. I simply miss the passion from this era of FF...
Can't even begin to count how many times I have played and completed this game. It's up there as my all time favourites. Day one purchase when it was ported to Xbox One. Dat Jump Rope challenge though...yikes...
La historia es cine, el gameplay no tanto 😅😅😅😅
Final Fantasy IX overall is a somewhat mixed bag, but the story and the thought provoking characters elevate the game into the upper echelon of Final Fantasy games.
The combat is easily the weakest part of the game, and the side content is extremely forgettable and possibly the worst of any ff game, excluding 16...
The world is pretty cool, especially as you get later into the game and learn more about the mist and Gaia as a whole.
The main cast is a breath of fresh air compared to the extremely basic and forgettable characters of Final Fantasy 8, and each character has a compelling story arc and surprisingly deep moments of questioning their existence and what their purpose is (except for Quina, who just completely sucks).
Finally, the story starts off fairly basic and takes a while to really get to the good parts, but once it gets there it's honestly one of the best in the series. Don't let the weird character designs and overall childish nature of this game fool you, because the story goes to some pretty deep and surprising places. Also the entire ending sequence is beautiful and extremely well done.
Overall, while I think this game has a fair bit of problems, it nails the story and characters, which is the most important part of any good JRPG in my opinion. I highly recommend it if you're willing to play with cheats or just put up with the mediocre combat system.
The combat is easily the weakest part of the game, and the side content is extremely forgettable and possibly the worst of any ff game, excluding 16...
The world is pretty cool, especially as you get later into the game and learn more about the mist and Gaia as a whole.
The main cast is a breath of fresh air compared to the extremely basic and forgettable characters of Final Fantasy 8, and each character has a compelling story arc and surprisingly deep moments of questioning their existence and what their purpose is (except for Quina, who just completely sucks).
Finally, the story starts off fairly basic and takes a while to really get to the good parts, but once it gets there it's honestly one of the best in the series. Don't let the weird character designs and overall childish nature of this game fool you, because the story goes to some pretty deep and surprising places. Also the entire ending sequence is beautiful and extremely well done.
Overall, while I think this game has a fair bit of problems, it nails the story and characters, which is the most important part of any good JRPG in my opinion. I highly recommend it if you're willing to play with cheats or just put up with the mediocre combat system.
The last of what I'd consider the golden age ff games, which to me begins with 4 and ends at 9.
Possibly the most overrated final fantasy of the ones I enjoy. Entirely carried off of the charm and joy of Vivi, I think 9 doesn't have much to say beyond "life sucks " and "but friends make it better!"
Which, I mean, fair, but I expect more from rpgs, especially one as beloved as 9. Moving a lot of the pathos to Vivi frees Zidane to be a lot more spunky and free spirited, but a lot of said spunk is wasted on being honestly quite pushy towards Garnet.
In 2024 Zidane would make pov tiktoks and be outed for being a pest I'm absolutely certain.
Steiner gets a great innings as enemy turned rival turned confidant, but beyond Steiner and Vivi I find the cast all well below where they should be for the final fantasy brand.
9 has some great fights and some good songs, and the world feels large.im adding a few points of hatred retroactively because 13 reuses some motifs and I am petty.
Possibly the most overrated final fantasy of the ones I enjoy. Entirely carried off of the charm and joy of Vivi, I think 9 doesn't have much to say beyond "life sucks " and "but friends make it better!"
Which, I mean, fair, but I expect more from rpgs, especially one as beloved as 9. Moving a lot of the pathos to Vivi frees Zidane to be a lot more spunky and free spirited, but a lot of said spunk is wasted on being honestly quite pushy towards Garnet.
In 2024 Zidane would make pov tiktoks and be outed for being a pest I'm absolutely certain.
Steiner gets a great innings as enemy turned rival turned confidant, but beyond Steiner and Vivi I find the cast all well below where they should be for the final fantasy brand.
9 has some great fights and some good songs, and the world feels large.im adding a few points of hatred retroactively because 13 reuses some motifs and I am petty.
honestly feel like i should preface this with an apology but ff9 is kind of exhausting to me. it feels like going to a shift to work at a theme park; it's pretty and sweet, it's whimsical, and it has nice atmosphere and sometimes you even see your favorite characters walking around, but at the end of the day it's still a day of work to get through. going to just chalk it up as this one not being for me until a few years down the line where i yet again try to beat my head against this game until i like it