This game was a true delight to play. It took a while for it to sink its hooks into me, but once it did they did not let go.

I love the pure charm that this game gives off in its setting, characters, music and atmosphere. Zidane and the gang were (mostly) all well fleshed out, and Vivi's arc in particular was superbly done. The main plot of the game didn't grab me as much as I would've liked, but that was definitely made up for me in the stories for each individual character and how they intersected with one another. Nobuo Uematsu continues to be a genius when it comes to writing masterpiece video game music, and the ending of this game had me feeling some type of way for sure.

Overall, this was such a joy to play, and although I wish the main plot did a little more for me, the game's ideas around identity, death and purpose were spot on. Will definitely have to revisit this one in the future.

Unfortunately I did not get around to this one as a child, so there was no nostalgia to be had. I had to undergo the painful process of examining something so beloved by so many with my stupid cobweb-addled adult brain. So while I did not love it, I had a damn good time making my way through the story. It is simply remarkable how much creativity is on display here for a linear, turn-based RPG. There's not a single hour of gameplay that really feels like another. It's kind of a masterpiece, really. I just didn't lose myself in it.

I so wish that I grew up with this game and had severe nostalgia for it, because all three of the PS1 titles are really good experiences but never truly make the desired impact on me until the ending.
- Although the combat was kind of slow and difficult, I think the ability system is among one of the best gimmicks in the series. It allowed some customisation while still having predefined roles. The trance system is absolute garbage here though. It NEVER occurs when you actually need it
- I love the character driven story this has. It possesses a lot of charm, and the atmosphere is simply sublime (Burmecia for example). But then we get the PS1 era problem where a cool concept in the story is rushed through in the last disc and a half
- This game makes me use a whole lot of jobs I normally don't care for in other games. The protagonist is a thief, my least favourite job of the series, the best character is a black mage, my favourite character was a dragoon and I basically needed the blue mage in my party to beat the game. My favourite job, summoner, had the summons split between two characters, one of which was busy healing and the other I vehemently hated. I don't know if this is a criticism or praise for the game
- WHAT'S THAT? I CANT HEAR THE MUSIC OVER THE SOUND OF BAHAMUT DROPPING A FUCKING NUKE ON THE BOSS
- Ark having a two minute long attack cutscene where he launches several tactical nukes but only deals 3000 damage is hilariously bad. This is a game ABOUT the summons. The cutscenes show Atomos demoloshing an entire city, and in-game, it does the damage of a wet noodle. Although this is the best implementation of Odin in any of the games
- This game wins the prize for best soundtrack in the series. Every single piece of music is a banger, and 'Not alone' is now one of my favourite pieces of music
- IX also boasts best cutscenes in the series. I am in awe of how all of these pre-rendered cutscenes ran on a PS1
- If I had played the original version of this without the autosaves, I would very much hate it
- Why do you only get Amarant on disc 3, or the boat for that matter?
- The world is so barren outside of the mist continent. Yeah, I know that the forgotten continent is 'forgotten', but there is literally two places of intereset on that entire third of the world map
- Beatrix should have been playable instead of Eiko. Worst character in the series.
- Chocob hot and cold is a GARBAGE minigane. So is Tetra Master

If you ask me the question "What's your favorite Final Fantasy game?", Final Fantasy IX is my unironic answer.

This was something like my fifth complete playthrough of this game, and I still love it the same this time as I did the first time. The music hits me in all the right places, the character growth some of the characters experience is fantastic (Vivi remains my favorite FF character), and I just like the atmosphere, the struggle, the philosophical ponderings of what makes a man, and basically everything inside this package.

I will agree with most people here that the combat is pretty slow. But this particular version comes packaged with several helpers that alleviate that problem (and others) entirely, and would highly recommend it if the slow combat has turned you off in the past.

Just a great game. Can't wait for my next playthrough in the future already.

Good
- Soundtrack is amazing!
- Battle system is a great comeback for ATB Turn Based.
- Equipment and skill AP makes it fun.
- QOL upgrade of a quicker battle makes grind less boring.
- Storyline has a really good pacing, enough for you to be invested in the characters as well.
- Did I mention the soundtrack?
- Vivi is bae.

Meh
- Final boss is way too tough (cheated my way through just to watch the ending).

Bad
- Still don't like Quina or whatever his/her name is.

This is a really odd standout when considering what came before and after it. Even right next to Final Fantasy VIII, the polarizing entry, Final Fantasy IX feels even less like its closest peers. In terms of style and theming, FFX actually feels more like a natural followup to the one-two punch of FFVII and FFVIII. Playing through this almost feels like peering into a different timeline where Final Fantasy skipped right over VII and continued from the first six games uninterrupted. Which tracks knowing the man spearheading this whole thing is none other than series creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi. Who stayed true to the aesthetics of the classic titles while willing to embrace the fresh changes pushed by the more modern games of the time. Creating something that would be just a nostalgic throwback to the more “simpler” times of the franchise when it was more traditional and “simpler”. And also is the closest embodiment to Sakaguchi’s ideal Final Fantasy representing everything that it meant to him of what it can be.

Already from Disc 1, Final Fantasy IX leaves a strong impression for its casual journeying pace, its cartoonishly charming world, and colorful cast of characters loaded with personality. The presentation creates the nifty illusion of being this cute and wholesome game when in reality it’s super existentialist and depressing like its PS1 contemporaries. But it balances it enough to never sacrifice its identity to what made playing through this genuinely fun and rewarding. It peaks very hard during Disc 2 where the party gets split up and ventures off into their own little journeys all over the map. This might be my favorite stretch of the game because of how simple and low-stakes it could get, still never fearing to get a little dramatic at parts, and just vibe with itself.

Disc 3 is when the game loses its initial charm and where the problems sank in. The game already did a great job introducing you to these delightful characters who form your party, making you think these guys have to go somewhere, right? Well, I think it speaks for itself in conversations about the game that the two party members really brought up the most are Vivi and maybe Steiner. Vivi especially is a great character with easily the best arc because he’s the only one who actually has an arc! The rest awkwardly stumble into beats resembling character arcs but either it never feels developed enough or the game just forgets about it. Steiner is funny and had some interesting character beats, like from his shortsighted pragmatism, his personal duty to who he should really serve, and his relationship with Beatrice but it hardly goes anywhere. Freya was introduced to have some weighty plot relevance and interesting personal history which never gets explored into a conclusion until the game suddenly remembered what her deal was at the end. Amarant might be the most nothing party member in a Final Fantasy game because I can’t imagine who is stanning this guy for how pointless he is story-wise and gameplay-wise. Eiko and Dagger’s shared history as summoners seemed to imply something deeper but it gets forgotten when the stakes escalate. There's an estranged lack of overall character development or heavy moments for many characters to tie themselves personally into this journey they’re taking. The only ones who get active focus and development, putting aside Zidane, are Dagger and Vivi. It feels very uneven from this point on and the last stretch all the way into Disc 4 is where I struggle to weigh where I stand with the game. There’s still very good character moments, especially that one moment with Zidane and his party, but how it gets paid off in the final confrontation with Kuja feels underwhelming. The twist revelation with Zidane just feels like needlessly trying to tie him into the larger conflict when part of the appeal of his character for me was how he was just an unimportant scrounger who wanted to do what’s right by his friends against overwhelming odds. I understand the thematic significance of his relationship with Kuja, weird as it is, and think it's still effective. Especially with the ending sequences which hit super hard seeing how Zidane has affected every one to realize the value of just living free.

What knocked my experience down hard enough is the combat, however. This is hands down the worst implementation of the ATB system. I never got the criticism against the system in games like FFVII but this is the only time where I understood the frustration. Every battle is way too slow (ironic considering you play as a thief who is canonically supposed to be the quickest one in fights) and often I just don’t understand the advantage of adopting the ATB system over a traditional turn-based system like they did in FFX. The same could be said about FFVII for example but I feel it’s helped with how the battle animations are more responsive, cinematic, and snappy. Besides the secondary systems, like Materia and limit breaks, saving the combat to feel more in depth and engaging. FFIX doesn’t quite have that going for many battles which makes waiting for your turn a slog more often than not. The Trance system is also kinda, uh, pretty bad? You have no control over when it activates or gets used by a party member. It’s hard to gauge how the meter fills up so you can make preparations in combat against tougher enemies. You end up either unintentionally wasting it or forced to use it no matter what.

The music unfortunately didn’t do much for me despite how “fine” it just is. They were shooting for a more SNES medieval sound with a lot of the songs which I can’t bring myself to care for because of how I've been spoiled by FFVIII’s soundtrack recently (including FFVII/X’s). Still, it’s impossible for Uematsu to deliver hard mid music so there’s like a few tracks that are worth listening to like the boss theme.

Finishing the game, I can understand how this didn’t set the world on fire in critical acclaim as either FFVII, FFX, or even FFVIII to a degree did. It was facing some really tough competition and felt like the odd one out from the modern direction Final Fantasy was taking. It wasn’t pushing any new boundaries for presentation, story, or gameplay really and was sorta more of the same old. Trying to look back on it in isolation helped clarify its own set of strengths but also its inherent weakness for its lack of personal ambition which holds it back a bit in being even a greater Final Fantasy game.

Final Fantasy IX's Remaster is such an amazing experience, it took the game I loved as a child and improved on it in nearly every way, the story in the game is still fantastic, the art style is bright and cute while the game's tone itself isn't afraid to go dark to throw the player off, the cast is super memorable (mostly) and the mechanics are great. The only thing keeping it from being higher, is some of the trophies on the PS4 version are obnoxious and Tetra Master still doesn't measure up to other mini games.

"Final Fantasy IX" definitely feels a bit slower to play than some of the others in the series, that's with both its story and it's combat, but where the story's concerned it's worth it, easily some of my favorite characters in the franchise and the game gives you a lot of time to really get to know these characters, well most of them anyway "Amarant" is a bit underwhelming and "Quina" got on my nerves as they just act as comic relieve that I found got old fast but beyond those characters I was really invested in everyone else. I also like the sort of fairy-tail feel this game has it sets it apart from pretty much every other game I've played in the franchise so far, (I haven't played one older than "VI" yet) the game also has an art style that still holds up really well today particularly because the game wasn't trying to go for realistic looking characters so the PS1 graphics really compliment the aesthetic they were going for.

The combat feels a bit overly slow in places particularly in comparison to "X" and "VI" I'm not sure why this is the case, you get used to it and with this modern release of the game you can speed up battles which make it a bit better. I also don't like how the overdrive mechanics are used, you have no control over when you're characters overdrive is activated so most the time they are just wasted in random encounters, still these are minor issues for me and don't detract from the strengths of the game.

Probably my second favorite in the series behind "X".

fully dedicated to its charm, sense of whimsy, and fantastical elements, final fantasy ix is one of the better games of the final fantasys. it almost reads like a lighter-hearted shakespearean play, and if that sounds like something you'd enjoy, i highly recommend this game. i don't believe the story is all that memorable, but the characters and world are. vivi is one of my favorite characters ever and i love his storyline.

also, this particular version of the game has several quality of life improvements, and i recommend it if you don't want to waste your time on random encounters or the like.

Based on my first playthrough back in 2020 I'll say that I had some issues with this game's writing (if you even followed me on twitter this is a charitable way of phrasing this) in the second half just kind of falling apart and the combat being pretty slow at times but also I did cry at the end so it did something right with having some good characters

Not my favorite PS1 FF (currently) but a great FF still

I intend on revisiting it sometime soon cause I really wouldn't be surprised if I ended up liking it more now as someone who has at least in some ways changed (as a person and video game enjoyer) since that first playthrough