stubs985's Full Review: Final Fantasy IX for PlayStation 1
After I was a bit unkind to FFXII I thought I would come back to that franchise and review the last FF title that I felt was truly a great game. Final Fantasy IX may have sold less then the 7th and 8th entries in the series but it is in no way an inferior game. In fact the 9th entry in the numbered series is probably the best of the three released for the playstation. I tend to go back and fourth on whether I like 7 or 9 better but right now I feel like 9 was a better game although I will probably change my mind about that tomorrow.
For part 9 Square decided to listen to their loyal fan base and brought back many classic staples of the franchise that hadn’t been seen since they went 3D. FFIX took a completely different path than FFVII and FFVIII did, in line with fans' requests they returned to the series roots via castles and other elements from earlier FF games. One of the most triumphant returns is the ability to carry four characters in your party instead of three. The moogles have also returned to action and their quirky little role in the game is an illustration of a return to a much more light hearted fantasy based plot.
Story
The story begins with a group of bandits, called Tantalus, who are piloting their massive theater airship to the kingdom of Alexandria to entertain the gentry and kidnap the beautiful young princess. The main character of the game is named Zidane and he is a somewhat well traveled ladies man who has a monkey tail whose origins are unknown even to him. The princess whom they plan on kidnapping is named Garnett and she is actually planning to run away because her mother has recently began to behave strangely and she needs to seek the counsel of her uncle who is the king of a neighboring kingdom. This beginning leads our characters on an adventure that will uncover a massive threat to the entire planet that also leads Zidane to the truth about his origins.
As I already alluded to the plot of this game which is very light hearted and whimsical in comparison to FFVII and VIII. All of the characters have tons of personality and depth. Unlike most RPGS there are no characters that I really felt were dead weight, they all contributed to the overall narrative and they all discovered things about themselves and grew along the way into something better than they were when they set out. Actually there is one useless character but he is just kind of comic relief and you’re hardly ever forced to use him.
Additionally the non-playable characters and townspeople were also extremely interesting and the moogles can be downright hilarious at times, it’s always worth it to deliver their letters and see what they have to say about what is going on in the world. This game really combines the best story elements of the two RPGS that preceded it and combines it with the classic elements that made square famous with fantastic results.
A cool innovation that FFIX introduced is something called the active time event. These little clips, not FMV, are rendered in the normal game graphics and depict events that are happening simultaneously. They help to tell us how certain characters are coping with what is going on around them and what they think about the world in general. Vivi is often depicted in these scenes trying to fit in and find a place for himself in the world. And that really speaks to the core of what this entire game was about.
Gameplay
As I already mentioned FFIX expands the number of characters in your party from three back to four. This in itself is a pretty cool addition to the game but it is made even better by the unique character classes. Each of your characters in the game has a unique fighting style and equipment that they can use. For example the character Vivi is a black mage and can therefore use black magic, no one else can use the black magic spells because they are not part of their character’s class. The main character Zidane is a thief and therefore is the only one who can steal and he also has several other abilities unique to his character in addition to increased agility and speed. The battles are in real time and rendered in a battle screen that is very similar to that past two games.
The unique character classes force a player to use far more strategy then in the two previous games. In FFVII for example everyone could have cure materia equipped and therefore anyone could act as your healer or caster. In Final Fantasy IX it is important to use strategy to maximize your damage and to stay alive in some of the boss battles. If your healer goes down in the middle of a boss battle it can be pretty difficult to recover from.
The difficulty of this game was another aspect that I liked very much; I found it to be much harder than the VII and VIII. I died playing through more times than I care to admit mostly because I got a little to confident and careless at times. Increased strategy and difficulty is a winning combo for any RPG.
The manner in which skills and techniques are learned is changed in this title as well. In Final Fantasy IX, equipment also supports character development through an ability system. Abilities are character skills embedded in weapons and armor, which the character may use once the item is equipped. Once the character accumulates enough ability points in battle, the ability becomes usable without having to keep the item equipped. Sometimes when you aquire more powerful weapons, armor and accessories you are faced with a decision because you are short of the points needed to master a skill. It can often be smart to delay an upgrade to make sure that your character has access to an ability they may need later on.
One thing that I personally liked, although I could see why others might not like it is the indicator that appears over Zidan’s head. This will be a big exclamation point if there is a treasure nearby that Zidane can pick up, maybe one that can’t be easily seen with the naked eye or when there is someone that you can talk to. The reason that I liked it is because graphics are never perfect and you can sometimes overlook something because it was unnoticable to your eyes.
Side quests in this game are just as numerous as you can expect to find in any other Final Fantasy title. One of the main ways to earn the best equipment is through Chocobo Hot and Cold, where you use a chocobo to dig for buried treasure throughout the world. This whole process can get a bit boring if you wait until the end to do it all but the rewards are well worth it and lets face it, chocobo’s are always fun.
The card game in Final Fantasy IX, Tetra Master, which I suppose was meant to be like Triple Triad in FFVIII was incredibly confusing and pointless to play. I never really figured out how to play it well, didn’t try much though because there were almost no rewards to be had for playing it well. That was probably the worst part of the entire game and hardly something to complain about because you only have to play the game a few times. So if you’re playing for the first time, don’t bother to play it until you have to.
Graphics Sound and Control
The Graphics on this one are as good as you’ll find in a PS1 game. The FMV sequences are extremely detailed and well done and the graphics are less realistic then in the last two games but are very smooth, bright and colorful. For this game the characters are cartoonier then they previously had been on the playstation and many of them had distorted features or animal features to highlight certain aspects of their personality. The game also had quicker load times than most playstation games and it felt in that respect more like an SNES title.
I liked the music in FFIX but it just wasn’t as memorable as the tracks from FFVII so in that regard FFVII was certainly superior and I would concede that on any day. The noise that Steiner makes when he runs and some of the other little sound effects are fun though and all of the music achieves its desired effect.
The controls in the FF game are pretty straight forward once you’ve had a little while to get used to them there is nothing to complain about.
Final Recommendation
Final Fantasy IX is one of the best RPGS to come out of the most popular RPG franchise ever. And with a price tag of only about $12 brand new you would be hard pressed to find better value in a game. Even if you’re not necessarily a fan of the genre you might want to pick this up because it is a very fun and challenging game and its price tag should scare no one away. Oh yea and it also could be considered the best RPG ever so if you’re a fan of the genre and you haven’t played it you have no excuse.
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