FINAL FANTASY IX Reviews

This nostalgic game was one of the best of its time. Haven't played this for about 25 years since the original play station. A strait forward story game that is good for a single play through and easy for any level of gamer or beginner to handle. There are puzzles, hidden items to find, games within the game, but only a few slightly different variations to finish the game. All in all, every person who likes good stories or games should give this one a try, since like most all Final Fantasy games, it has a great story to tell.

One of the best Final Fantasy ever, a true masterpiece in atmosphere, music and exploration. I cannot wait for the remake <3 I play it every couple of years and still hasn't lost its power :)

This is my favorite Final Fantasy. The mini games are awesome along with all the secret bosses and story and game play

Literally the worst shit when it comes to controls. I can't fucking play this with having WASD as arrow keys. You'd better buy yourself a controller to play this. Square Enix also has the worst customer support. Fuck Square Enix for making both good games and the worst customer service.

What an era. This game is really good though it is also a bit too childish for me.

This game perfectly epitomizes what Final Fantasy as a franchise is all about. It has some elements of the earlier games (combat akin to the first games, a medieval setting, characters having specific jobs) yet it comes after two of their most celebrated installments that offer a more modern perspective, setting and themes. The soundtrack is beautiful, extremely memorable, and in my opinion, the best one in the entire franchise (fight me!). The story and the characters are just amazing, though I agree that many of them deserve more screen time and development (Freya, i'm looking at you rn). If you ever wonder which game you should select as a gateway into the world of Final Fantasy, I highly recommend FF9, but starting with the cream of the crop can be a two-edged sword so be warned. :)

Great story, great soundtrack, great game.

Despite the spotlight always being on Final Fantasy VII and X, Final Fantasy IX often goes unmentioned, and I don't understand why. This is a peak PS1 game, with its charming art style and design that have aged remarkably well compared to VII and VIII, making it a visually appealing game even today. I don't want to say much more because I believe it’s a game that’s best experienced with minimal prior knowledge. It's truly worth playing. Having experienced it, it's become one of my favourite Final Fantasy games.

Final Fantasy IX is the greatest Final Fantasy of all time. I originally played this on the PS1 and I've played some one hundred plus hours on it (my game timer turned to red.. if you know what that means. Yours might've turned into some more colors other than that). The game's story will give you a great adventure, enjoyable characters, emotional trauma and even the meaning of life. It may not even be that deep, but it was for me. I've spent some of my formative years getting comfy in Alexandria, being scarred in the Evil Forest and Ice Cavern, relaxing in Dali, destroying South Gate, hanging out in Lindblum, crying in Burmecia, breaking down in the Red Rose while looking at Cleyra, eating South Gate Bundt cake, unpetrifying ____, spending the night in Treno, losing in Tetra Master a lot (bring me back my cards!!!), exploring Gargan Roo, playing with Ramuh, getting lost for a significant time in Fossil Roo, trying to understand what the folks in Conde Petie are actually saying, finding a village of black mages, going through the history of Eidolons and killing a giant fucking tree. And those were the just the first 2 discs! I've yet to tell you some of the other ones like the time I had to return to level 1 items to go through a castle, the time I've spent exploring the world with the best airship ever, searching and almost giving up on where the hell the ocean chocograph is even located, and getting a lot of treasure in the Chocobo Lagoons and Sky Gardens. But I guess that's for you to explore and mine to relive all over again. I love you Final Fantasy IX. Let's retell your story once more.

Final Fantasy IX is such a great game that it perfectly establishes the mechanics of the Final Fantasy series, especially after the incident caused by its predecessor, VIII. It takes the best aspects of VII and turns them into the perfect formula by eliminating the frustrating experimental mechanics introduced by VIII. Although it didn’t sell well, IX became a game that must be experienced by every Final Fantasy and JRPG fan. It offers a simpler gameplay compared to both VII and VIII which makes it accessible to newcomers as well as loyal fans. However, there is one aspect that I feel like I should criticize and that is the fact that it actually doesn’t offer as much freedom as VII and that is the ability to determine which character is going to assume which role such as tank, mage, etc. Each character has pre-determined abilities that cannot be modified or changed, but it doesn’t cause any disturbances or obstacles in the game in any way. Just like in VII, you have a bunch of weapons, armor pieces, and several accessories that you can equip your characters with, and they all have unique abilities that you can teach the characters through farming AP. Unlike VIII, leveling up doesn’t punish you and it’s quite rewarding as it should. The characters have chibi looks and the setting may seem more cartoony which could lead to misunderstanding that it’s not as serious as the previous titles, but don’t let the appearances deceive you since it’s one of the most powerful and emotional Final Fantasy stories that can give you teary eyes in the end. The protagonist Zidane is a cheerful and goofy guy unlike Squall and Cloud, thus, he ended up being my favorite protagonist of the PSX era of Final Fantasy games. It was nice to see a caring, cheerful, and confident guy instead of an edgelord for a change, furthermore; it truly feels like a “fantasy” game due to its setting being in a fictional medieval era. The story mostly revolves around Zidane’s love interest Dagger and his black mage pal Vivi whereas Steiner, Dagger’s loyal knight, gives Zidane a tough time throughout the game due to the status difference between Zidane and Princess Dagger. Of course, there are more characters, but the story mainly focuses on Zidane, Dagger, and Vivi, therefore; I’d prefer to say nothing more about the rest of the cast. However, all of their backstories are being explored as the game progresses and Zidane finds a meaning to his life through his friends which makes the story quite deep and complex rather than a straight shot to the goal. Another distinguishing feature of IX is the ability to use 4 characters simultaneously unlike VII and VIII. The card game Tetra Master is also quite interesting, but it’s not as engaging as Triple Triad in my opinion. It also doesn’t offer you any real reward except for a few achievements, so going after every single card out there would be meaningless unless you’re a completionist. Speaking of the completionist side of the game, it’s a bit irritating due to how easy it is to miss stuff such as ATEs, treasures, and time-limited mini-games, thus, it’s recommended to follow a guide strictly if you’re aiming for a 100% completion rate. Moogle letters are also quite easy to miss and yes, moogles play a huge role in Final Fantasy IX instead of cameo appearances. I mean, it’s only natural that they got a bigger role in this given its setting. And who can forget chocobos? They return with an interesting mini-game that leads to the toughest boss fight in the game if you have time to invest in it and yes, chocobo progression is very similar to the one in VII. Speaking of time investment, there is an achievement that requires you to kill 10.000 enemies yet again, but at least in-game boosters and cheats are more efficient this time around which could help you a lot or you could simply use another save file to avoid hours of grinding. The soundtrack on the other hand is memorable and quite emotional as always thanks to Nobuo Uematsu, who never disappoints. I don’t know if it’s already in the works or not, but Square Enix should definitely remake IX next! [h1]TL;DR[/h1] A perfect game that offers a flawless formula of the traditional Final Fantasy JRPG mechanics with a very emotional story supported by a great soundtrack. Its setting is a fictional medieval era with chibi-style characters, but don’t let it give you the impression that it’s not as serious as the previous titles. I will simply say that it’s much, much better. Hopefully, Square Enix will remake this one next!