Overall 9.5 Graphics 9 Sound 8.4 Addictive 8.1 Story 7.9 Depth 9.1 Difficulty 5.6
9.6
An underrated masterpiece gamerforlifefor..
With 2015 coming to an end for those of you in the central and pacific time zones, I've decided to make a review for the last Final Fantasy game to be released for the PS1, Final Fantasy IX. This game came out in North America on November 13th, 2000. Final Fantasy IX was very successful, despite not selling as many copies as VII and VIII. Of all the Final Fantasy games in existence, IX received the highest Metacritic score of them all with a 94%. It also received the 2nd highest score in the series on GameRankings with a 93%, with only Final Fantasy VI receiving a higher score. It's clear the critics loved the game, but how does it compare to other games in the Final Fantasy series? I'll tell you by making this review.
Graphics: 10/10 Some PS1 games such as Final Fantasy VII haven't really aged well visually, but other games from that system still look amazing to this day. Final Fantasy IX is one of those games. The visuals are almost as great as those found in PS2 games, which is amazing considering how much more advanced the PS2 was compared to the PS1. Whether you're in a kingdom such as Alexandria, or in one of the game's gorgeous dungeons, you're bound to be impressed by the beauty of Final Fantasy IX. The most impressive part of Final Fantasy IX's graphics is the gorgeous cutscenes. Watching Zidane go after Garnet as she's swinging from the castle over to the Tantalus ship, and seeing Steiner fail as he instead crashes into the ship never gets old. The other cutscenes throughout IX are just as fun to watch, and at the same time, just as gorgeous. Overall, the only other games on the system that come close to being as amazing as IX's are VIII and Chrono Cross. For these reasons, I'm giving the graphics a 10.
Sound: 10/10 The Final Fantasy series has some of the most amazing soundtracks that you'll ever hear in video games. Final Fantasy IX is no exception, with even the legendary Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu himself saying that IX's soundtrack is one of his favorites. It's easy to see why he's so fond of the soundtrack. With amazing music such as the epic Dark Messenger, the Spanish flair of Vamo' alla Flamenco, one of my personal favorites in Hunter's Chance, and You're Not Alone, Final Fantasy IX has one of the more diverse soundtracks in the series. Not only does IX have one of the best soundtracks in the series, it also has one of the best soundtracks on the PS1. Along with Final Fantasy VII, VIII, and Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy IX has one of the few PS1 soundtracks that's truly worthy of a 10.
Addictiveness: 9/10 Final Fantasy IX has an incredible amount of replay value, and it's one of the funnest JRPG's out there. Along with all the entertaining boss fights that you'll encounter on your journey, there's a number of features that separate itself from other games in the series. One of which is being able to learn new abilities by outting on certain equipment. Once you've leveled up you AP (or ability points for short), you'll be able to use it even when you change your current equipment. As much fun as it is to learn new abilities, there's one other feature that separates itself from other games in the series. That feature is the Active Time Event, which is where you can see what other party members or other characters are doing when they're not currently in your party. I love this feature because it gives you an idea of what's going on in other places as you're going through a dungeon or exploring through town, and it makes the story even more engaging than it already is. Overall, Final Fantasy IX is one of the more addicting JRPG's out there. Because of that, Im giving the addictiveness a 9.
Story: 9/10 Final Fantasy games normally have some of the most amazing storylines in gaming, and Final Fantasy IX has one of the better storylines in the series. The game begins in the kingdom of Alexandria, where a play called "I Want to Be Your Canary" is being performed. The performers turn out to be a band of thieves, including Zidane, the main character in the game, who have come to kidnap Princess Garnet. What the Zidane and the others don't know however is that Garnet actually wanted to be kidnapped because her mother, Queen Brahne has been acting very strangely. They're soon joined by a black mage named Vivi, and a knight known as Steiner, who actually wants to get the Princess back to Alexandria. Them, along with new allies they meet along the way, must find out what Queen Brahne is up to and put a stop to it, and they must also put as stop to a mysterious man named Kuja who shows up later in the game. The only storylines in the series that I enjoyed more were from VII and VI. Overall though, Final Fantasy IX's storyline is great enough for me to give this category a 9.
Depth: 10/10 Like most JRPG's, Final Fantasy IX has a lengthy storyline as well as many different dungeons and towns to visit. The main story lasts around 40 hours long, and when you include extra content, the game can take around 60 hours to complete. There's several optional bosses, and as many dungeons as Final Fantasy VII has. For JRPG standards, Final Fantasy IX is a very long adventure that takes up 4 discs and will keep you busy for a long time. Overall, Final Fantasy IX provides a satisfyingly long story and has enough content for me to give it's depth a 10.
Difficulty: 5/10 Compared to other games in the series, Final Fantasy IX isn't quite as tough as some of the earlier entries. Most boss battles shouldn't give you much trouble as long as you've leveled up enough and your party members have solid abilities. The only battle that gave me a hard time was the last of the optional bosses. Even if you're well prepared and you level grind the heck out of your characters, your party can still get wrecked. Other than that one battle though, Final Fantasy IX isn't a super tough game, though there are far easier games out there, such as Final Fantasy Mystic Quest. Overall, Final Fantasy IX's difficulty is worthy of a 5 in my eyes.
Overall Score: 9.6/10 While other games in the series such as Final Fantasy VII get more attention, Final Fantasy IX is still one of the better JRPG's out there. With an incredible story, beautiful visuals, a soundtrack that Nobuo Uematsu regards as one of his favorites, and some of the most addicting gameplay you'll find in a PS1 game, Final Fantasy IX is the most underrated game in the series. In fact, it's my 3rd favorite game in the series behind only Final Fantasy VII and VI. Overall, Final Fantasy IX is worthy of a 9.6 out of 10 in my opinion.
Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 9 Story 9 Depth 10 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 4.1/5
Submitted: 12-31-15
Updated: 01-13-16
Review Replies: 11
9.2
A return to Final Fantasy's roots in an epic adventure Michael91
After three Final Fantasies set in a futuristic world, Final Fantasy IX takes a turn for the nostalgic with a (mostly) medieval world full of Final Fantasy's past. Additionally, Final Fantasy IX brings back gameplay elements of the past such as more specialized characters and the four person team. However, it retains core elements of the newer Final Fantasies, like characters with developed personalities. This blend of old and new works well to create both an engaging story and entertaining gameplay.
As is true of other modern final fantasies, the story of Final Fantasy IX is central to the game. There are frequent cut scenes and long stretches of dialogue between gameplay. Luckily, Final Fantasy IX's story is worth the time investment. Final Fantasy IX's story starts small with a botched attempt to save/kidnap a princess, but expands across four disks to encompass the fate of the world. Throughout the adventure, Final Fantasy IX makes clever use of classic Final Fantasy elements (such as summons and black mages), weaving them into the plot in new ways. Overall, the plot works quite well, and the past Final Fantasy references never feel forced. While taking in the story, you journey across a vast and diverse world. While the beginning of the game is very linear and story driven, the story becomes less constraining later on and you are given many opportunities to explore the world. Though the plot is strong, it is not without its faults. For instance, it makes heavy use of overused tropes like the damsel in distress.
The gameplay in Final Fantasy IX is also quite strong. Like the Final Fantasies before it, Final Fantasy IX makes use of the active time battle system. For those not familiar, this system allows characters to make a move once their timer bar has reached its limit. Unlike the previous few Final Fantasies, characters are fairly limited in their options. Instead of every character being able to use every spell, some characters can use white magic, while others can use dark magic, etc. Personally, I think the more specialized characters work well since it prevents characters from being carbon copies of each other. In general, Final Fantasy IX leans towards the easy side. If you've got one of the two white mages on your team, you shouldn't have too many problems. Despite the lack of difficulty, the battles are still enjoyable. In addition to the battles, there's also a card based mini-game. It's really easy to learn and simple to play. For the most part, this game is optional. However, there are many opportunities to play against NPCs all around the world and try and collect rare cards. It's a valuable edition to the game, and provides you with another reason to explore the world.
Like all Final Fantasies, Final Fantasy IX's graphics are strong. While there are certainly some darker parts of the game, the tone is definitely lighter and more cartoony. This works well, and adds some variety to the franchise. The music is also a treat and fits the tone of each location well.
In the end, Final Fantasy IX blends the Final Fantasy series into an entertaining and expansive game. If you're a fan of JRPGs, make sure to give it a go.
Graphics 9 Sound 9 Addictive 9 Story 9 Depth 10 Difficulty 4
Review Rating: 3.9/5
Submitted: 08-14-13
Review Replies: 1
9.7
Final Fantasy IX Review Eniitan
Final Fantasy IX Review
Hi everyone this is um, my second review. I know this one has already been done by some people before me. But I really love this game so I decided to review it personally.
Story 9 out of 10: You have your main character who looks like a monkey in a way. His name is Zidane a thief young boy, him and his crew set off to kidnap the princess Garnet during a theatre performance. Once that happens, the crew and the princess set off for an adventure. There are some other allies as well in the game that you will meet later on. Their names are Freya Zidanes old friend, Eiko, Vivi, Steiner, Amarnat and Quina. I love how they set the story for ff9. It is set in the medieval times but, not set in your average medieval time. This one is even better. Not only that the best part in the game is on disc 3. That is when things really heat up. As the story progresses you will meet the bad guy named Kuja, he wants a certain power to control Alexander an eidolon. Not only that you will find out more story wise on how Zidane grew up to be, and where he is originally from.
Graphics 9 out of 10: Now for the normal graphics in the game, it is old school looking. But, it also still has that standard for when you play the game. What I mean is that you will still be able to see when you play the game. You also have the other graphic in the game. We call it *Drama mode* this is a full hd wise. Drama mode comes in the game from time to time, which makes things to see much more interesting. I love the drama mode because of how it portrays, and also because that you will enjoy it as well. Trust me you will like it once you see it. For instance it makes the main characters look much more cooler.
Sound 9 out of 10: I will point this out FF7, 8, 9 and 10 has the best music in my opinion. FF9 has awesome music as well because a lot many music can affect you in a way of emotional wise, sadness, determination, confidence, happiness and more. I will explain some music, this music is called *Eikos theme* Eiko is a little girl who grew up alone, despite that she is always happy. Her music represents her happiness and has that jolly feelings well to it. Not only that you will feel that warmth of happiness inside you while you listen to her theme song. The next one is *Freyas theme* this music is so sad in a way…..when you listen to it, it makes you to wonder yourself that, things are not always what they seem like. And for the last one is *You are not alone!* now when I first saw the cutscene for that music it was so hard to bear. It was really emotional to hear and sad as well……despite how things are I love this music. It always reminds me that I am not alone. I recommend you listen to the music, as each music has a unique way of telling you something. And has a story to how to help you feel as ease, in a way of dealing with any problems that you may have.
Addictiveness 7 out of 10:? this game is not really addicting, like some other FF games. The only addicting part is when you get to disk, or when you start to face some bosses that gives off that interesting play. The addicting part in the game for me is when the queen sends black mages to take the princess back to her. So there are some addicting things and there are some not addictive things. I love the story of the game. There are a lot of scenes that I like, so I play the game over and over again to rewatch them. And without being bored of it, because I never am. some people might get bored of the game and some don;t it depends on how you enjoyed the game. And I do I really enjoy the game so much that is what gets me addictive to it.
Depth 8 out of 10: This game is very long as you have to go through 4 disks to complete the game. Depending on how many hours that you play, there are many places you can go through. Like for instance in Zidanes hometown called *Reno* you get to play a monster card game. It has its own sidequest as well as other ones. You also have a chocobo sidequest that’s, if you want to do that. You can train and breed chocobos in order to get a gold chocobo. Like I said in the story section the story of the game for me is just great. They plotted it well, this game won’t disappoint you. So you should try to play it sometime, to see for yourself.
Difficulty 8 out of 10: The gameplay is not so hard but, there are some spot in the game that can be hard. Of course you have the bosses as well but, the one that still gets me till this day is an unknown island. *Shudders* on that island you have little monsters to fight. But…..they are so ruthless with you, I just cannot explain it! Their names are *Yans* yes that is quite an usual name ok back to the subject. They live in a special island on the game it cannot be seen on the map, because it is a hidden island. I’ll explain more about them. When you encounter some be very, very careful on how you fight them as they are ridiculously strong, for little creatures. When you encounter 1 you will be able to beat it. When you encounter 2 you can still beat it. When you encounter 3 your reaction should be I ok I should be able to beat it. But, when you encounter 4 or 5 of them be uh….sure to try and last if you can because you will die badly, as they will attack you with strong force. But, what is good about these little guys is that, they give you so much and lots and lots of exp. If you beat one you will be surprise by how you would level up so fast. If you beat 1 you will level up like 5-10 times in one go. So imagine if you beat 4 or 5 of them. They are the most difficult little creatures to beat in the game. So don’t let them fool you for a second! Even though they are small, As people always say what comes with a small package comes with a powerful punch. When I first tried to beat them what went through my mind is that. I said *How could the makers of the game make these little yans hard to beat?!* To be honest….they are much harder than the bosses themselves. That’s how hard they are. @_@I say that because they are a challenge to beat. So if you like challengeable fights I suggest you take a swing at fighting the yans, to see for yourself. So when you face the Yans be afraid be very afraid. ‘-‘
I'm going to summon some people to grade me on this.
sonicthehedgehog57 :
TornadoMudkip :
soldierbi159:
Review Rating: 3.8/5
Submitted: 04-10-14
Updated: 09-16-14
Review Replies: 3
10
final fantasy 9 childhood mysticmann
Final Fantasy IX was the third and last game of the Final Fantasy series for the Playstation. Created at the end of the platform lifecycle of course would be a game with stunning graphics for its time and one of the longest, which made its copies had no fewer than four discs.
Let us remember and discuss the most striking and frustrating moments of the game that finished the season one of the most beloved video games of the players?
Rescuing the origins
Castle Final Fantasy IXFinal Fantasy IX had initiated its development by Square (now Square Enix) in 1998, even before the completion of its predecessor, Final Fantasy VIII (1999). However, it was not known whether the game would actually be one of the games in the main series or a spin-off. The reason for this is due to the fact that this new Final Fantasy break the futuristic spirit and less fanciful than its two predecessors created. However, for the series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, the game should rescue the "Fantasy" name, returning to the roots of the series.
With the focus on the Fantasy, a world where steam to similar technology is starting to develop and a war between the major kingdoms is imminent was created. Meanwhile, a group of thieves plan to kidnap a princess, which want to discover the truth about his mother, the queen who want to conquer the world. The story was written with a lot of inspiration in European mythologies, mainly Nordic (who remembers Odin destroying Cleyra?). Another point is that the characters should have a deeper development. One solution to this was the creation of ATE (Active Time Event), where the player can follow in parallel the history of the characters who are not with him at the time, and even influence some decisions that they take.
The development of the soundtrack was taken by Nobuo Uematsu, inspired by the European average age of composition. However, an element was added so that the music would not become tedious, is an instrument with greater impact or a livelier pace. Nobuo Uematsu has created 160 pieces of music, of which 140 were for the game. The game's theme song is "Melodies of Life", where many of the other tracks were remixed as the environment or the impact that the soundtrack wanted to make.
At launch, one way to promote the game was the use of the characters in a Coca-Cola. However, a misstep that Square was made with the test that tried to get the newly released PlayOnline, a portal tips from Square. For those unaware, it is very common the launch of the game official guides in the US, Europe and Japan, which has everything about the game, since the functioning of mechanisms to a step by step to 100%. At the time, many who bought the official guide, rather than find a complete guide, found access codes for PlayOnline website. Of course, buyers felt cheated, tarnishing the reputation of the Square and its portal, since that time, it was not everyone who had a laptop, a smartphone or a computer near the video game.
Techniques which go beyond technology
Battles Final Fantasy IXPara the graphics, the game uses pre-rendered scenes, and only the characters are 3D models themselves in the game. This guarantee superior graphics to the standards of the games of the season. For example, the city of Treno is a city where you have plenty of light and shadows because it is always night, but many of these lights would be impossible for a single Playstation without such a technique.
The battles use the classic game system, the ATB (Active Time Battle), used since Final Fantasy IV. However, an interesting observation was a game design technique would utilize the hardware limitations. It is true that to load a 3D model is time consuming for a machine like Playstation. So as not to become annoying with so many screens of "carrying" every battle, they have chosen to use cinematic techniques: when a battle occurs, the screen usually goes black and the entrance music begins. Music has a more alarming beginning to draw the player's attention. Then appears the scene, with the camera turning around, giving an overview. Then come the monsters and the camera provides a focus on them. Then the camera is positioned so that both the characters and the monsters are displayed and begin the battle. With a short introduction presenting those involved in the battles, the game designer managed to create a time so that the resources used during the battle were loaded.
For better understanding, see one of the video during the battles:
Some things are secret, secret too much
Now we speak of the development of Final Fantasy IX as a player, let's see what went right or wrong in it. The main weakness of Final Fantasy IX concentrates on its side missions. Ie for that casual player will not influence much, but for a more hardcore eventually becomes frustrating. One is the fact that some missions, mini-games and items can only be caught in just a moment of the game. No problem, if it were really necessary. For example, the minigame Hippaul's Race can be played only when you return to Alexandria for the second time and can not be played after the attack Kuja with Bahamut.
The situation is different minigame Jump Rope for that before the attack, is located in the main square and then is relocated to the bell tower. Something similar happens with a chest in Dali Village, which can only be opened when you control Dagger and instead you go to Treno, you go to the village. The only problem is that you have no reason to go to Dali. Therefore, the player does not even notice that lost such an opportunity and will try forever trying to get to this chest.
A recent case has drawn attention in May this year (2013), which was the discovery of a new secondary mission. That's right, 13 years after the game was released and still had a mission that no one knew. But what was the reason to have stayed so long? Simple as you are in the last dungeon, will be several events. For every event that occurs, you should go back to Lindblum and find, on the basis of Tantalus, a member of the Family Enero. Then proceed to the next event and come back to find another family member, so to get to the last member. But who comes to the last dungeon, usually either soon close the game, so easily lost the opportunity to get the reward of that mission.
It's not worth my effort
Another flaw in the mini-games are the rewards are not worth the effort. Let's look at the score required to earn the rewards of mini-game: 20, 50, 100, 200, 300 and 1000. Ok, the effort to get the jump rope 1,000 times without missing, it is assumed that the reward is good. Therein lies: you only get one item of "Congratulations on your achievement," useless at stake. To get an idea of the effort, the guy has to hit the "X" button rhythmically for at least eight minutes without stopping. I think for a reward of these, 500 are already very good size.
Another secondary mission that there were failures is the Mognet, a large secondary mission introduced in the first game disc. It can be completed in the third disk. It is to pick up and deliver letters to Moogles that are around the world. However, some Moogles are located in areas where, in the fourth disc, are no longer available and therefore is the same for Moogles these areas. Logo on the disc that is when the climax of the story of the game takes place. One solution to this would simply relocate to an available area, but not have to carry the cards not delivered to the rest of the life of my save.
Mission Excalibur II - Final Fantasy IX
However, I think the biggest flaw they had the game design of the side missions was the mission of the Excalibur II. The mission is simple (ok, not so much): reach the end of the dungeon rooms in less than 12 hours, being rewarded with the best sword in the game. It's an interesting challenge that requires a lot of knowledge of the game and skill, since you can save time by increasing the levels of your characters. However, to be able to do this mission, you should basically open all the side missions in the game. So for those who want a perfect game, one must choose between doing all the missions or get the sword. Ok, you must decide between one or the other, but this task is impossible in the European version. Because? Because the FPS (frames per second) used in European games are smaller: 50Hz to 60Hz from the outside world. And what does this have to do? The speed of the character the player controls on the map is determined by the SPF and not by time. Less FPS, the character walks at a slower speed, in this case 83% of the original speed, which means that at 12 hours, the European player would be about where the American player is in the 10th hour, preventing the mission. But there is a bug for those who can not and can not complete this mission: every 100 hours of play, the clock is reset, but the clock changes color to indicate the real time. Only when the color is changed by 255 time, there is an overflow in the memory location that manages the clock and it is reset to 00:00:00, allowing purchasing the Excalibur II again. However, do the math: 100 hours x 255 = 25,500 hours of games = 1062.5 days = 2.91 years set to get catch a single item.
Ozma, Boko and Friendly Monsters
Ozma - Final Fantasy IXSe many flaws in the game design can lead to frustration, there are some notable side quests highlighting and all related to each other. Let me explain, it is customary in the Final Fantasy series to create a mega-boss, harder than the very final boss and in the case of Final Fantasy IX, is the Ozma. However, for you to have the dignity to face this boss, you should get to Chocobo's Air Garden. But in order to get there you must evolve Boko, your chocobo, until he can fly. And as it does to evolve your chocobo? Making the secondary mission of Chocograph, which consists of a minigame Hot Or where finds a chocograph with a photo of the site. It can be anywhere in the world, which is a treasure, and certain treasures allow the evolution of our friend full of pity.
So you could get there, but Ozma is strong: you can not physically attack him and he has an attack (Doomsday) that deals damage to all allies and still recovering his life. However, during your journey, you will find some monsters who are friendly, who want only one item. Finding all of these friendly monsters and giving the items they ask for, besides giving a high amount of AP (ability points) for each monster, they take physical invulnerability Ozma and makes Doomsday cause harm to himself instead to heal. After that, just use correct equipment and a good strategy to beat him.
The addictive Tetra Master
Tetra Master - Final Fantasy IXOutro secondary objective is the Tetra Master, the mini-game of cards became so famous that an online version of the game was developed and maintained by Square since 28 October 2003 and closed on December 31, 2010 . The game is the Triple Triad's successor Final Fantasy VIII and even if you do not like the game itself, you'll want at least all the cards. The letters are mainly based on the game monsters, but there are also cards representing items, spells, invocations, towns and even elements or characters from previous games. The most common letters can be found as rewards battles, while those more rare are found as a reward missions, winning matches in the game or find them hidden in his room. The dynamic is simple: each player chooses five cards to put in a 4 × 4 board in order to have more cards in your domain. Each card has a number of arrow going try to turn the adjacent letters in which they point. Adjacent letters that do not have a contrary are simply facing arrow, but those that have come into combat mode, in which the winner dominates the letters involved. The winner can choose one of the cards of the opponent who dominated to add to your collection. If you can turn all the letters, takes all. Interestingly this mini-game is that it is available from the beginning of the game. You can simply ignore it or you can try to get the most out of the game ranks when you want. I believe that the developers thought no one would get, as it causes a visual bug, but nothing incriminating.
Strong points:
- The return to the roots of the game, emphasizing the word "Fantasy" Going to name the series;
- Stunning graphics obtained with good techniques;
- The adrenaline-fueled battle with the mega-bosses Hades and Ozma;
- Plenty of fun mini-games like Chocobo Hot and Cold and Tetra Master.
Opportunities for Improvement:
- Rebalance the rewards and difficulties in some mini-games and side quests;
- Avoid the "unique opportunities" that does not allow the player to run them whenever he wants;
- Relocate the Moogles involved in Mognet that are in inaccessible places in fourth album, after all it's frustrating to care for a mission that begins on the first drive to the end may not complete 100%.
It is a very well done game, however there are game design flaws in side missions and mini-games. However, except the mission of Mognet are not missions that cause extreme frustration. Even with some flaws, the side missions involving Ozma are very entertaining and can fit with other player's goals. If you want to be distracted, go play Chocobo Hot and Cold. If you want to train your characters can do it in places where they appear friendly monsters.
Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 10 Story 10 Depth 10 Difficulty 10
Review Rating: 3.7/5
Submitted: 11-30-15
Updated: 12-06-15
Review Replies: 1
8.3
Final Fantasy 9 Renaissance tum81apa
The game introduces a larger party size and more variety of mini-games compared to 8 and all predecessors. Complete with a protagonist that a gamer audience can truly appreciate and a rich, diverse party. The humor and story has a sort of dry humor that keeps you enthralled throughout the game. With a final boss that requires the player to be at least level 40 if they aren't a FF veteran. The other review for this game s a scathing essay fueled by antagonism of a game series known, loved, and made with the premise that the gamer will Grind their character to unlock and defeat all enemies and bonus side content. Fans of the series will recognize endearing references to other games in Final Fantasy series. Players are urged to not just blindly follow the storyline from place to designated place, but instead backtrack and explore vigorously. The card game in-game, which is rarely given the acclaim it deserves, takes many hours to complete feels highly rewarding when done. This, of course, is not the greatest highlight of the game. The true highlight of the game is NOT the final boss, or the character's great personality, but the fact that you can play with your friends in the same non-online capable final fantasy game. This is yet another capability of the game that is known by few, and reviewed by fewer still. Of those that HAVE reviewed said feature have called it a "side-attraction", a "paltry trick", or a "pointless gimmick" due to the fact that you can't make decisions for both characters in a party at once and have to take turns. But the greatest benefit is working with a person next to you to keep your group alive and defeat the challenges before you in fights much like the chaos-order balance of games like Mario-party, super Mario bros. 2 on the WII, or Settlers of Catan (the board game). It's fun to grind your characters and try to defeat enemies faster than your friend next to you with YOUR 2 characters instead of his/hers. The unique balance of order and chaos in an RPG is the greatest idea Square-Enix (AKA Squaresoft) has ever had. It strikes at the essence of what the series always stood for. If only they did the same foForr FF X and onwards.
For that reason FF IX is the best game in the series..... for now.
Graphics 10 Sound 8 Addictive 8 Story 10 Depth 10 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 3.6/5
Submitted: 07-12-13
Review Replies: 2
6.7
Final Fantasy IX - AKA the Devil's Game legacyme3
Final Fantasy IX Review - PSX
Final Fantasy IX, yet another installment in the endless Final Fantasy series, and the successor to my favorite Final Fantasy... the eighth. So this game has pretty big shoes to fill... will it impress enough? Or does this one fall ultimately short of expectations?
I'll be honest, this was one of the last games in the series I played. The only game I waited longer to play was Final Fantasy XI. Which is an MMO. It is for that reason I absolutely refuse to play it. I will never play XI, and until they release Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII... this was going to be the last "new" Final Fantasy on my playlist to get to.
Graphics - 7
I'm basing my score on the change from Final Fantasy VIII. The graphics were crisper, and cleaner, but ultimately, way too cartoonish for my tastes. I am a fan of VIII's style, that was gritty and more depressing. I am not a fan of... whatever this is. As a result, I knocked it down, maybe more than it deserved. The character design was... mediocre, I felt. Zidane looked throughly uninteresting, Garnet never really caught my eye unless she was saying something, and many of the characters were eye sores. Also, Freya is probably my least favorite design. I didn't even know what she was supposed to look like until I looked at some fan art. Fail.
Sound - 6
This shocked me. For once, the sound didn't excite me. It didn't blow me away. It didn't even make me feel nostalgic. Some familiar tunes are in there, sure, but the music and surround sound never really felt right. It felt like the sound was developed independently millions of miles away from where the game itself was being made. It felt like the composers were being forbidden from seeing the material they were working with. Ultimately, it was just really bad. The original score is probably the worst in the series. The battle music was even more repetitive than it was in other games. And I spent less time grinding in this game!
Addictiveness - 6
What is addictiveness? I grade it as the desire to play a game to its completion and beyond. A game should compel me to finish it 100%, let alone finish the game. I tried. I really did. But shortly after the end of the first disc, I just stopped caring. I stopped trying to collect cards, I stopped trying to find everything. I stopped going back to towns after plot points passed, I stopped putting in extra effort. By the end of the second disc, I just didn't care. I was on a mission to finish the game so I could write this review. I did NOT enjoy grinding. I did NOT enjoy traveling from place to place. I did NOT enjoy nearly anything about the game.
Depth - 8
Ironically, the best part of the game, and the only part of the game I really enjoyed was the MINI GAME. THE STUPID ASS CARD GAME. As some people will know, I hated VIII's game, Triple Triad. They made this game not suck. Terra Master is played by nearly everybody as well, and many people suck at the game, but that doesn't mean the idea isn't solid. Every card has two important features. The grade (IE - ##X##) and the attack/defense direction. If your card points down right, and you place it, it attacks whatever is down and to the right of your card. If it has an arrow facing you, the grade system takes over. If not, you take the card. Then there are combos, and blocks in the way you can't place cards on... it's a very solid card game that can be fun at times. It can get tedious later on, especially since the opponents never get stronger really. If you can win the first card game, you can win any card game. The only fault is that there are too many damn cards. Bad for collection freaks like me. Aside from this, there are a few other worthwhile side quests of varying difficulty.
Story - 6
Hear me out. What's so good about this story? Essentially, you start the game as a psuedo pirate-thief, who is looking to collect ransom money for a princess. Twist of fate, she wants to come with you, because her mom (the queen) is being weird. And ugly. So you take her, and you crash into a forest where everything tries to kill you. Once your sidekick sacrifices themself to save your ass, you head to her uncle's castle in the nearby kingdom. He's an oglop. Think giant talking zit. That's right. He's a giant talking zit, and he's your only hope for "saving the kingdom" part 983. The story never veers from the stereotypical, and only ever tries to add in silliness over a bland, hopeless story line. If you thought the stories would evolve as we got more advanced, you would be sorely mistaken. The only game with a more stereotypical story, was Final Fantasy X. Or maybe VIII, but VIII did it so well I just didn't care. IX doesn't do it well. I blame this on the WORST CAST OF CHARACTERS IN A FINAL FANTASY GAME EVER. Zidane, the monkey thief who needs to do everything himself. Garnet, the Mary Sue of Final Fantasy. Steiner, the incompetent douchy Knight who redeems himself by being less retarded and not judging based on first impressions. Freya, a rat woman who... that's it. She's just a rat woman. Sure you can argue she has SOMETHING in a back story, but it takes too long to develop, and by the time it does, you are numb from bulls***. You also have three "somewhat" interesting characters. Eiko, who is an 8 year old (or something like that, I honestly forget her age. It's irrelevent, she's well below the age of marriage in Final Fantasy. I think.) girl who has been living "alone" (with moogles) for a while. Vivi, who is sort of the icon of this game I'd like to think. He struggles with whether or not he's really alive, and what will happen to him when he dies. It's almost heartbreaking. It's too bad he's overshadowed by literally every other character, mostly Zidane, who will NOT go away. And finally, probably my favorite character in the game... because he symbolizes what this game is. His/her name is Quina. He/she is a blue frog thing with a chef's hat. He's big. When you go to swamps, all he wants to do is catch frogs. AND YOU CAN LET HIM. You get to control him. You get minor rewards mostly, but it's a nice diversion. All he cares about is frogs and food. He doesn't care about what's going on in the world in the game. Just like me. Because the world in this game sucks. Go Quina. You have the right idea.
Basically, don't expect a story as great as VIII, or hell, as good as VII. You won't find it here.
Difficulty - Can I give a zero? No? Fine. 1.
The only difficult part of any RPG is finding time to play it. Except in this one. Because it was difficult for me to pick up the game after the end of disc 1, just to play the damn game. I have a million other games at my fingertips, so I didn't need to play it. But, because I am a proud person, I perservered, so that people would know to avoid this game. Basically, easy game, no reward.
Overall - 6.66
This game gets the devil's number, because I'm fairly certain he had a hand in developing this game. It was easily the least impressive Final Fantasy of all time. It has nothing to do with the age of the game. As seen in previous reviews, I gave 7 somewhat positive reviews, and that game aged worse than any other game I'm familiar with in the post 16 bit era. No. Final Fantasy IX was just a thoroughly depressing game in every facet of the term. The characters were bland and mary sue-ish. The story was unimportant and I was uninvested in it, and the gameplay was recycled from older games. At least VIII had a junctioning system to make you feel like it could be a challenge. IX ditched it in favor of... nothing. Equipment that gives you skills. Woo. Too bad almost all the skills you need to beat this game are given to you in the story.
Stay away. Far away. Worst Final Fantasy game ever. Yes. Worse than XIII.
Graphics 7 Sound 6 Addictive 6 Story 6 Depth 8 Difficulty 1
Review Rating: 3.2/5
Submitted: 04-01-13
Review Replies: 1
4
Final Fantasy IX : so Terrible I Can't Remember It janus
After the excellent scenario of Final Fantasy VII and the outstanding performance of Final Fantasy VIII, my expectations were very high for Final Fantasy IX. They were sourly deceived...
Graphics: 9/10
Square was able to improve the graphics even more. The characters' measurements are even better than Final Fantasy VIII. You can see their faces and emotions both on the overworld map and in battles. For most of the game, there is a dense fog on the map and your visibility is reduced accordingly – when it goes away, you see better.
Inside battle, your allies' movements are fluid and very life-like. Magic is looking better and better; you can feel the heat from fire spells. But unfortunately, magic isn't as “democratic” as previous games. For example, not everyone can summon.
Finally, cinematics are even better. Unlike Squall's hair, Garnet's flows more realistically. They are also more realistic. In one of the movies, Garnet sees a huge blaze and you can see the orange on her face.
Music: 6/10
Once again, Nobuo Uematsu comes back for what he does best: Final Fantasy music. Unfortunately, it wasn't up to his talent.
Oh, don't get me wrong: there are excellent tracks in the game. Vamo Alla Flamenco and Sleepless City: Treno are two of the best tracks ever composed – they were actually what kept me playing. The classical battle theme (before the PlayStation era) makes an interesting come back, and music in general sounds more realistic than Final Fantasy VIII. Walking also sounds more realistic; you can hear the clinging of Steiner's armor.
Unfortunately most of the soundtrack was uninteresting and I don't remember much of it. I suppose that people who played the games on the physical NES will appreciate some of the remixes like Gurg Volcano or Pandemonium. But overall, I would say I can't pinpoint more than 25 percent of the tracks I liked.
Addictiveness: 7/10
I will be honest. There were only two things that kept me from throwing the game away: the Chocobo mini-game and the stellazzio quest. The first one consists of a hot/cold game where your chocobo digs for prizes and clue to where to find bigger treasures. The second one consisted of finding zodiac medallions all over the world.
In both instances, I kept searching in order to get my fix of the best tracks of the game: Vamo Alla Flamenco, Ukulele de Chocobo and Sleepless City: Treno. Quad Mist, the card mini-game, was much less interesting than Triple Triad; I still have a hard time understanding how the cards work.
Story: 0/10
Final Fantasy IX was one of the only games in my entire life I played through only once. It is the epitome of the “odd Final Fantasy Curse”.
First, the story line was so uninteresting that I can't remember a single thing. At all. There is no focus whatsoever on whichever character. Garnet, Zidane, Steiner, Eiko... they have no chemistry uniting them and it's not clear what their true mission is (other than save the world). All previous games, even I and III, had *some* clear mission right from the beginning. Just the way it starts (Zidane in a pirate where his boss plots to abduct Garnet) sets the tone of the confusing scenario.
Also, please. Nine-year olds saving the world? At least in previous games, they were in their early 20s. This is completely unrealistic.
In short, Square spent too much time on the drawing board and not enough on the storyboard (unlike Final Fantasy VII).
Depth: 7/10
This nonexistent scenario nevertheless spans over four disks, and not just because of the cinematics. In most towns you visit, your team usually goes its separate way and there is a feature that lets you see what they do. It was a nice little improvement.
Difficulty: 5/10
As with most RPGs, you need to grind you level high enough to conquer bosses. Fortunately in IX, you can equip various protections that will immune your characters against various ailments.
In short, flee this game like your worst nightmare. It's even worse than Dragon Quest VI; at no point in the game is there a scenario that flows. The soundtrack is rather deceiving and doesn't evoke memories like VI or VIII. When sidequests rather than the main storyline are what keeps you playing a game, it's because it's a terrible one.
Graphics 9 Sound 6 Addictive 7 Story 1 Depth 7 Difficulty 5
Review Rating: 1.9/5
Submitted: 01-24-15
Review Replies: 8
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