Final Fantasy IX
How do I begin to describe how much I am in love with Final Fantasy Nine? A world of diverse creatures, imagination and Chocobo Hot and Cold. Heck, Chocobos in general are enough to love FF9, I haven't played FF7 but I've never heard anyone mention them in the same sentence and the chocobos in ff10 look so grimy and evil.
I'll be honest, I could do without the excess characters. I never liked Freya beyond her role in Burmecia, she seemed like a useless hangers-on after that episode. Admarant Coral was introduced far too late, plus his story was too vague to be interesting. Lani would have made a better choice since she seemed more active, and that could have lead to relationship tension between Zidane and Garnet. Eiko again was interesting for her initial role but seemed like another pointless character when the story became more centralized around Garnet and Zidane. Quina Quen I actually liked, because she essentially was a weird and useless character/hangers-on and therefore was purposefully added on to all the main stories. Vivi had by far the best character development, and the greatest storyline across the whole of the game, his issues revolving around the meaning of existence and birth mirrored that of Zidane's purpose beautifully. Garnet acted as the catalyst for the whole story and as a result was necessary and while her development took a little longer to be appreciated one later saw that she embodied hopelessness, duty and perseverance. Steiner was my second favorite after Vivi, other than being a night his sense of duty and deep moral code made him a stark contrast to Zidane.
I loved the Villains, Queen Brahne was so easy to hate and so easy to pity. Kuja was just plain evil and cool about it, and Garland... Garland was just the icing on the top of all these monsters by being cold, calculating and, in a sense, profoundly moral. Don't forget that by saving Gaia had adverse effects for Terra, but I suppose Kuja ruined that before the good guys had a chance to make that choice.
You eventually come to care about all the characters, even the non-important ones and it's a real shame that the amount of effort that went into FF9 hasn't survived in the modern era of games. Hundreds of areas, detailed backgrounds, interesting plot with many sub-plots that all wind together and more side-quests than I can remember. Then all the added extras on top of that. I still haven't managed to get Excaliber II, I still haven't defeated Ozma and I don't think it's possible to get the best Card Master score. Then there's the master treasure hunter score too, Chocobo Hot and Cold, Skipping... Quina's Blu Magic. Jeeze this is a long list of stuff.
I mean think about it, you got an entire world, plus a small part of another one. You got to ride a chocobo, a ship, two airships and one spaceship. The monsters are varied; Skeleton Whale, Sagahin, Kappas, Nagas, Zombies, Dragons, Mimics, Basilisks, goblins, ogres, chimeras, gods, demons, clowns...
The cities are all unique. Desolated Burmecia, Bustling Lindblum, Old Fashioned Alexandria which has mainly female guards, the crystal world of Terra. Ipsen's Castle was a smart idea too.
I just loved everything about FF9, I haven't felt there is a game equal to it's magnitude. Fallout 3 approaches the scale but just doesn't have the same impression. FFIX not just my most loved Final Fantasy, but my most loved game ever.
Final Fantasy IX
How do I begin to describe how much I am in love with Final Fantasy Nine? A world of diverse creatures, imagination and Chocobo Hot and Cold. Heck, Chocobos in general are enough to love FF9, I haven't played FF7 but I've never heard anyone mention them in the same sentence and the chocobos in ff10 look so grimy and evil.
I'll be honest, I could do without the excess characters. I never liked Freya beyond her role in Burmecia, she seemed like a useless hangers-on after that episode. Admarant Coral was introduced far too late, plus his story was too vague to be interesting. Lani would have made a better choice since she seemed more active, and that could have lead to relationship tension between Zidane and Garnet. Eiko again was interesting for her initial role but seemed like another pointless character when the story became more centralized around Garnet and Zidane. Quina Quen I actually liked, because she essentially was a weird and useless character/hangers-on and therefore was purposefully added on to all the main stories. Vivi had by far the best character development, and the greatest storyline across the whole of the game, his issues revolving around the meaning of existence and birth mirrored that of Zidane's purpose beautifully. Garnet acted as the catalyst for the whole story and as a result was necessary and while her development took a little longer to be appreciated one later saw that she embodied hopelessness, duty and perseverance. Steiner was my second favorite after Vivi, other than being a night his sense of duty and deep moral code made him a stark contrast to Zidane.
I loved the Villains, Queen Brahne was so easy to hate and so easy to pity. Kuja was just plain evil and cool about it, and Garland... Garland was just the icing on the top of all these monsters by being cold, calculating and, in a sense, profoundly moral. Don't forget that by saving Gaia had adverse effects for Terra, but I suppose Kuja ruined that before the good guys had a chance to make that choice.
You eventually come to care about all the characters, even the non-important ones and it's a real shame that the amount of effort that went into FF9 hasn't survived in the modern era of games. Hundreds of areas, detailed backgrounds, interesting plot with many sub-plots that all wind together and more side-quests than I can remember. Then all the added extras on top of that. I still haven't managed to get Excaliber II, I still haven't defeated Ozma and I don't think it's possible to get the best Card Master score. Then there's the master treasure hunter score too, Chocobo Hot and Cold, Skipping... Quina's Blu Magic. Jeeze this is a long list of stuff.
I mean think about it, you got an entire world, plus a small part of another one. You got to ride a chocobo, a ship, two airships and one spaceship. The monsters are varied; Skeleton Whale, Sagahin, Kappas, Nagas, Zombies, Dragons, Mimics, Basilisks, goblins, ogres, chimeras, gods, demons, clowns...
The cities are all unique. Desolated Burmecia, Bustling Lindblum, Old Fashioned Alexandria which has mainly female guards, the crystal world of Terra. Ipsen's Castle was a smart idea too.
I just loved everything about FF9, I haven't felt there is a game equal to it's magnitude. Fallout 3 approaches the scale but just doesn't have the same impression. FFIX not just my most loved Final Fantasy, but my most loved game ever.
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