jeremy1456's Full Review: Final Fantasy IX for PlayStation 1
Ever since the series' premiere on the Playstation console, Final Fantasy has become a huge icon of mainstream video games. With the series' rise of popularity in regions outside of Japan it seemed that Squaresoft began to garner to other markets by making the games, well, more 'cool'. This looked like a phenomena that would kill off the Final Fantasy trademark fantasy and magical elements. Things were beginning to look bleak as Final Fantasy VIII reared it's ugly head as an even more futuristic setting, and a further emotionally detached character from part VII fo the series. Immediately there was outcry, and oddly enough, Squaresoft listened to it. It came as a surprise that Final Fantasy IX marked a return to the roots of Final Fantasy, with tons of classic elements thrown in, and a medievel setting which most associated itself with everything pre-Final Fantasy VI. Was this a huge magical redemption that we all hoped it would be? Read on to find out.
Personally I've always loved Final Fantasy VII and VIII, but I was very excited to see a return to form. I've always felt that the best Final Fantasy games were the earliest, and Final Fantasy IX attempts to rekindle the flame burnt out by the sci-fi elements of the previous two games. It's pretty safe to say that Squaresoft achieved the greater part of their goals. Final Fantasy IX feels a great deal like the older FF games, yet it still has the depth and polish of the more modern affairs. It's safe to say that FFIX achieved the best of both worlds, and although I wouldn't rate it as high as part VII, it is certainly better than VIII and X. With the way that things are going it seems that Final Fantasy IX may be the last good game in the series which is really quite sad.
Story
Final Fantasy IX follows the story of a scandalous thief named Zidane, who oddly enough, has a monkey's tail. The beginning of the story follows Zidane and his troupe of thieves as plan to perform "I want to be your canary" for royalty and commoners alike in the great castle city of Alexandria. This isn't your common philanthropy, as the real goal here is to kidnap the princess of said kindgom. Through a couple of twists and turns Zidane and company learn that she would glady prefer to be kidnapped than live out the rest of her days in the castle. After baring through hostilities in the kingdom, the group finally escapes with the princess through the sky in their handy airship, but only to crash land into some very dangerous woods. Thus starts the adventure which, through some cleverly placed plot twists, will eventually entail saving the world from a greater evil. What is this 'greater evil'? Metrosexualism.
The storyline certainly starts out on a chipper note, and the game is far more light-hearted than your typical modern Final Fantasy. The characters themselves are loaded with personality and are well played out to the very end. It almost feels as if the player has inside jokes with these works of fiction, and it's simply delightful to note the various forms of character interaction, especially in the beginning of the game. Of the many personalities within the game, I found Vivi, Zidane, and Steiner to be the more entertaining of the bunch. It's hard not to smile a little when Steiner is running around barking orders that fall on dead ears, all the while you're hearing the clanking of his armor as he moves about. There's a lot of personality to this game, and while it doesn't measure up to the likes of Lunar or Grandia, it's still more than you'll find in any other FF game.
Gameplay
Traditional is the word here, and no essence of Final Fantasy IX deters from it's definition. The game is played from third person perspective as you wander around either across pre-rendered backdrops, or on the completely 3-D world map, all the while engaging monsters for some good old turn based combat. No fan of Final Fantasy will be confused by any of the basics here, and everything's even more simplistic here than in the past two games. What's very cool is the fact that Final Fantasy IX contains no outright overly complex systems for magic and special moves. While this does mean that you won't be able to customize your characters, it does make the game flow in a fashion more akin to my favorite FF game, Final Fantasy IV. Characters have real individuality in combat, as only Vivi can use black magic, only Zidane can steal, and only Eiko and Garnet can use white magic. I'm in heaven with Final Fantasy IX.
I was one of the many who outcried when Squaresoft decided that the modern RPG requires only three characters per party. Strategy, and even fun were both limited due to this harsh restriction on party size. In order to truly show that they meant business with Final Fantasy IX, Squaresoft went with their classic four character set-up. Admittedly this was the first thing that caught my eye about the game, and I still say that no RPG should feature less than this. What's even more cool about this is the fact that some characters work better when put together in your party. For example, Steiner can make use of Vivi's black magic and the two can do a combined attack of sorts, adding elemental magic to Steiner's blade as he attacks. Although the game could have used more of this sort of thing it does make that combination of characters interesting, especially given Vivi's and Steiner's relationship in the story.
This is really one of the first times in the Final Fantasy series that summoning plays an integral role in both battles and storyline. In the beginning, quest is all about summoned monsters, or eidolons, and the queen's mad rush to gain their power. In battle however, Garnet can use them to bombard enemies with a ton of damage. The default Eidolons given to Garnet in the beginning of the game require far too much MP for her to use right away, and it isn't until later in the game that she begins recieving new ones that aren't excessively costly. The Eidolons are stored inside little equippable stones. Obviously, Garnet must currently have these on her person in order to make any use of them, and the summons are learned through skill points in the same vein as magic and special moves. Later in the game another summoner will join the party, but what's really cool about this is the fact that Garnet and this mystery person have specific Eidolons that can only be learned/cast by them individually, making the two characters unique from one another.
One aspect that did strike me as odd in the game is learning new spells and special moves. While I did just admit that it's really not a complex affair, it does in fact differ from the classic Final Fantasy style. This new method involves weapons, armor, and items to teach new magic and skills. Each equippable item has these spells/skills attached to it, and by equipping them you can use said spells or skills. By earning certain amounts of skill points, the spell/skill will be learned permanetly by the person in your party, and therefore you will not need to use the equipment for them anymore. Skill points are earned from winning battles, and this is another good way in which you can build up your characters to be stronger. Final Fantasy IX isn't difficult enough that you'll have to do much in the way of level grinding, but unlike in Final Fantasy VIII, the game won't punish you for doing so.
And this brings me to the game's difficulty. Before Final Fantasy IX, the series had never gotten this element right, as the games are usually radically difficult or easy when compared to each other. This game however, nails it right on the head. While not being overly difficult, the game does offer quite a bit of challenge with some of the later bosses. This is completely non-frustrating, as common enemies will most often be at your level in new areas, unless you've been levelling up constantly. It takes more than a level or two to make taming the more difficult boss characters easy, but this sort of increase is usually just enough to give your characters enough juice to get through. What's more is the fact that later in the game you get the opportunity to select which characters to take in your party, and because each of them are so individual from one another if often pays to switch up your strategy with this method.
Someone must be a real fan of the limit break idea, as Final Fantasy IX features a very similar combat tool. In this game it's known as Trance, and it builds up as your character takes more and more damage. It's pretty useless though, as the bar takes a tremendous amount of time to fill up so you won't be using this technique too often. Each character has a different trance, and there are a plethora of different effects. For example, Zidane and Steiner's attack power increases, Garnet's summons become more powerful, Vivi can use two spells in one turn, and so on. It's quite easy to lose track of how close or far each character is from their Trance, but it's always a pleasant surprise during exceptionally tough fights when it comes into play.
As with the later Final Fantasy games, IX makes use of the card mini-game. Never is any real instruction on how to play offered, and it's pretty much required to learn through trial and error. It all seems pretty random to me, and I'm sure it would be a great diversion from the main quest if I could only figure out how to play effectively. The fact that you can challenge various NPCs around the game's world is actually pretty cool, and if the card game wasn't bogged down by bad pacing, confusing and seemingly contradictory rules, and the absence of an explanation of all the rules I think I'd give it a try. Anyone who's a really big fan of the game can play it online in Final Fantasy XI for the Playstation 2, instead of in part IX against simple NPCs.
Graphics, Sound, Control, and Replay Value
The graphics in this game are easily among the best found on the original Playstation. Everything in this world is rendered with an extremely high polygon count, and graphically the game is a huge improvement from Final Fantasy VIII. An especially cool effect is the constant fog on the world map in the beginning of the story. At first I thought this was because of technical limitations, but it actually serves as a plot element. I especially like the character models, with most of them resembling past staples of the Final Fantasy universe. Vivi is exceptionally well done as the classic faceless black mage, but even characters such as Freya hearken back to the classic days of Final Fantasy, as she greatly resembles a classic style Dragoon. The only aesthetic element that I would venture to complain about is the colorization, which is pretty dull in most environments, although the game does have it's vibrant moments.
Nobuo Uematsu has always been my favorite composer for game music, and his work shines in Final Fantasy IX. The battle theme was most obviously made as a nod toward classic Final Fantasy, but it gets significantly weak just five seconds in with some repeating synth notes blaring of the main melody. The world map theme is an exceptional song worth mentioning with it's lazy arrangement of notes and just the overall surreal feel to it, which fits perfectly as you wander through the foggy terrain. The greatest song in the game is without a doubt the airship theme, although it is completely original in composition and not a simple nod toward classic Final Fantasy melody. The sound effects are perfectly standard, with the usual unrealistic weapon slashing and whatnot. Sound effects for spells are progressively better as they are much more realistic. Overall Final Fantasy IX has a fantastic soundtrack.
Control is pretty much spot on, making good use of the analog stick on the dual shock controller. Everything is perfectly responsive and intuitive, with the only real problem coming from some slightly awkward camera angles due to the fact that they can't be moved in environments that are pre-rendered. The world map is also quite easy to navigate, and though the camera doesn't do much, it's perfectly manageable. The menu system may seem slightly overwhelming at first, what with items and their skills, but in no time you should get the hang of it. The game demos pretty much everything that might not be grasped immediately, so there should be no real problems here.
Final Fantasy IX is fun enough, and there's plenty of small things to notice, that you'll probably be playing through more than once. This is certainly a rewarding game, especially if you can pick up on all the references to classic Final Fantasy. Seriously, you'll find direct references in dialogue to just about every single past game, which really adds to the classic feeling. What's more is that the game offers some pretty decent optional mini-games, such as treasure hunting with moogles, the card game, and even more. A mere single playthrough does not do this game justice.
Final Recommendation
Final Fantasy IX stands easily amongst the best Final Fantasy games, and not just because of the old stuff, but also for what it brings to the table. All fans of the classic Final Fantasy games should give this one a try, even if VII and VIII left you bitter.
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