I've played this game many times, but the definitive version is the Steam version with Moguri Mod and is worth replaying just to experience it

Final Fantasy IX is arguably one of the best games in the series, and my personal favourite. By returning to their roots, Final Fantasy IX feels like the perfect swan song and love letter to its fans. Playing the game now feels like a bittersweet celebration of the golden era of RPGs which is now long before us.

Despite being disregarded on release, it has since had a retrospective renaissance amongst fans of the series. I think one of the reasons for this, is that the game has aged beautifully. The art style is simply stunning to look at (and is even more jaw-dropping with the Moguri Mod). The character models are drop down gorgeous and the pre-rendered graphics are equally captivating. The music is as good as anything that came before it; it would be hard to call it the best OST, but it was Uematsu's favourite, so that must mean something. Being at the end of the PlayStation’s lifecycle meant that Square were able to push the technical boundaries of the system. Where Final Fantasy VII and VIII look like dusty old relics of their time and have aged horribly, Final Fantasy IX still has a mesmerising timelessness to it. Added to that, the characters themselves have so much personality, charm, and life to them, it's hard not to fall in love with the cast, the world and the inhabitants in it.

Of course, as with every Final Fantasy game there are some flaws. There are some issues with the gameplay being a bit slow, both in terms of battles and in relation to the story pacing. I admit the story lacks the urgency of previous titles, but I do personally love the story and think it’s one of the most heartfelt and deeper stories to come out of the series. Despite being light-hearted in nature, there is a lot of dark tragedy along the way, as it tackles mature themes of the meaning of life, death, identity and coming to terms with our own mortality.

As for the battles. Yes, they are slow. I think that is partially down to the system being pushed beyond its means. Load times are much longer, and the ATB system was probably getting a bit tired by this point. Despite these flaws, I do really like the class-based system that was used in this game. The simplicity of the ability system is welcomed over previous convoluted systems like the materia system in FFVII or the junction system in FFVIII. I’m happy to trade customisation for more balance. Characters have pre-defined roles which is great because doing this means each characters retains their individuality strength and weaknesses. I don't think we've had a game since FFIV where every character feels essential and balanced in their own unique way, and this really helps the gameplay because at many points you will be following characters through their own story scenes.

Another reason why this is a firm favourite of mine, is the huge amount of replayability. There are loads of secrets and trophies to collect that are not essential to the overall game, but are very satisfying to collect. Getting the Excalibur II (Steiner's ultimate weapon) requires a speed-run in under 12 hours which is very challenging but satisfying once you've achieved it. Mastering all the little mini-games that show themselves throughout the game can be fiendishly difficult. I spent over 100 hours getting a perfect rank in Tetra Master - it's a mini-game that is widely criticised, but I have to say, the more I played it, the more addicted and fun it became. I just think it’s a shame that the rules were not explained well because I think had more people understood the mechanics the easier and more enjoyable it would have been. Getting all these trophies took me 400 hours, which is insane considering a normal playthrough would take you maybe 30-40 hours.

Overall, this is my favourite game in the series. I think all Final Fantasy games are mildly flawed one way or another, but unlike other games in the series, FFIX hasn't aged much at all and has the heart and soul to make it stand above all the others.

Extremely fun combat, but in the end this is a game that takes one of the Great Games and thinks to itself “huh what if instead of being good, it had the absolute worst storytelling tendencies imaginable”. It’s similar to Final Fantasy XV, which similarly was a game with genius combat mechanics and a complete inability to tell a story. I need to stress that it’s not the story itself being bad - it’s the way it’s being told. Padding out 4-6 hours of the first act of an RPG to a bloated 40 hours is an absurd decision that only cheapens the major events by distracting from them so often.

Then we also have to contend with modern voice acting and dialogue, which has at this point in time borrowed way too much from the anime dubbing industry (the following criticism only applies to the English cast, but the script I’m sure is at fault everywhere).

Making Cloud say dorky lines out loud and do those little stuttering grunt noises instead of me just reading a text box only has the effect of making me embarrassed for the voice actor - I know this is just how modern RPGs work now but that doesn’t save it from being a flaw.

It’s a little rough knowing that people are coming to this game taking the title seriously when it only superficially has any resemblance to Final Fantasy VII.