"Even a fly lives for a day"

Final Fantasy IX is a very strange game. A decades-long reputation and countless Final Fantasy ranking lists made it impossible to go into this without expectations; knowing it's so widely regarded as one of or even the best entry in the series is hard to ignore, but I tried my best to stay reasonable, and even expected not to like it as much as 7, and to compare the two as little as possible as I played.
This worked out pretty well in the end, but unfortunately my thoughts on this game in isolation ended up being even more confusing as a result..

If you sit on the title screen for a moment, you'll see images of the party members, each with a title and a thought related to their personality. Virtue: You don't need a reason to help people. Sorrow: How do you prove that you exist? May we don't... Devotion: Someday I will be queen, but I will always be myself. Solitude: I don't want to be alone anymore. -- These honestly make for a great first impression, and had me going in with even higher hopes that the characters would be fleshed out with rich and well written arcs surrounding their unique perspectives. I don't want to go on too long or trample anyone's love for the title, but I'm so disappointed that this ended up being untrue.
To be clear, a handful of characters do get some proper development and go through real growth. Zidane, Garnet, and especially Vivi, all succeed in this regard in my opinion, and make for some of the most interesting elements of the entire game. Steiner and Eiko definitely get their growth as well, but in a much more 'secondary' feeling way, with less ongoing presence, and this is even worse with Freya and Amarant, who seem to have their whole stories told in just a few specific moments with very little going on outside of those. (And then Quina honestly might as well not even be there I'm sorry. Their menu screen says "Indulgence: I do what I want" or something but what it should've said was "I like food, that's my whole character" 😅)

Anyway, due to this, the game fell a little short for me on the party front, and all the times I'd heard that the characters are so well written became a confusion as to how, when less than half of them even have a story to begin with. Freya's arc in particular is very powerful, and the concept is excellent, but as with a lot of the game's moments, it happens and then it's over, if that makes sense? There's no lasting impression, like being told an emotional story and then immediately putting a movie on. Idk this may just be me but I felt like a lot of scenes would've benefitted from being allowed to breath a bit more and giving me time with a soft song to let it sink in. Sure I could've just stopped playing and sat there, but that's not how I play :p

I've rambled a lot already so to quickfire some other thoughts I have: The combat in this game felt really bad, I'm sorry. Like all of it, I played on PS so I had the cheats to instantly trance and do 9999 damage, but even by the late game when I had good equipment and high levels the fights either felt unfair or just took way too long. The delay between every attack and whatever slows things to a crawl I never ever would've gotten through it playing normally. By the final area I still didn't have a single summon available on either summoner so idk what the deal was there, and after maxing out my levels and abilities to have a full party of Lvl 99's, Zidane's base attack was doing 4000+ damage and my summons were doing less than 1000.. why game 😅 This is probably me being stupid and not understanding something, but yeah not for me, big dislike. And phoenix down's reviving you with less than 0.5% of your hp is comically useless idk how you're supposed to do anything with that!

Narratively, the story took a hot second showing it's face but once it got going and especially in the endgame I ended up liking it. I can understand why the core principles and themes of the game resonate with people so strongly, I just think the execution of a lot of the arcs and the gameplay itself take away from it a lot more than I would expect for a game with a reputation so strong that when I started it the only common issue I knew people took with it was the battle intro being too long 😅

Ultimately, I definitely like this game, I dare even say that it's a good one, very good maybe. It's just a shame that the good is buried underneath so much that felt undercooked to me. Lots of really great ideas all thrown into a pot that's too small to fit them - some of it may be cooked to perfection, but you've gotta eat through a load of under or overcooked food to get to it, and that sucks.

People have been pretty vocal that this game should get a proper remake in the way that FF7 has been, with some even saying it should've gotten one instead of 7. I used to think this was just because they prefer 9, and the 7 v 9 rivalry will never end, but even as someone who prefers basically everything about FF7, I think I kinda get it. Neither game is perfect, of course not, but in terms of which game has the potential to be greater than it was if given proper time, care and a much improved execution? Maybe.. I believe that the best possible version of FF9 could improve upon its original more than the best possible FF7 could.

This ended up running a lot longer than planned so I'll cut myself off here -- hope you're all keeping busy with your backlogs in what's turning out to be a somewhat quiet year for the industry. I've not been reviewing/rambling as much recently because it takes me so long to type 20,000 words per game, but next on the docket is the latter 2/3rds of TWEWY and then honestly I might jump right back into Final Fantasy with my first proper playthrough of XIII, the controversy will continue :p
Thanks for reading everyone, hope you're well! 🙏

zidane.

garnet.

kuja.

C I N E M A.

Magical, sweet, epic. These are the first words that come to mind.
Gameplay: as a jrpg you can expect turn-based battles, resource management and a little strategy. These aspects are implementend quite well and take in consideration a wide range of players, thus offering a good challenge for everyone regardless prior experience. Cursed by repetition, however

Soundtrack: Stellar. This Is the kind of soundtracks that stands out among their contemporaries. Melodies and instruments define each aspect of narration. As the tempo and sound change players immediately recognise that a chapter has concluded or is about to. Each dialogue would lose its effectiveness without the music that plays along, especially the "less" important dialogue uttered by the hoard of generic NPCs scattered around the scenery. Esto Gaza is one such case. It is hardly a village, and very few NPCs are present. The soundtrack evokes the feeling of isolation perfectly, It can't be easily described.

Story: It's quite simple. The same cannot be said about the way it develops. It's a crescendo, just like the soundtrack. The stakes get higher each time a situation seems resolved. Plot twists perfectly installed matched with their music. This is what fairy tales look like when are narrated through a videogame. There is no voice acting, allowing text to be vibrant and colourful. This story was made with this crucial aspect in mind, and it shows.

This is a massive interactive work that you should definitely try. It might not suit new players for its technical limitation but i suggest this game regardless.

As much as I love Final Fantasy, this is my least favorite game in the series.

I don't vibe with any of the characters, I'm not really interested in the world or the story. The music is okay. I'm not saying this is a bad game AT all (if it were there's no way in hell people would love it as much as they do) But I simply just could not get into this game at all.

I'd recommend it to people tho because I know it's a good game I just have weird tastes...

Platform: PlayStation 4 (Via PlayStation 5)
Date Started: February 8th, 2024
Date Finished: February 14th, 2024
Time Played: 15 Hours

"You taught me that life doesn’t last forever. That’s why we have to help each other and live life to the fullest."

Final Fantasy IX is probably my favourite in the series up to this point - a return to the traditional aspects of the series, it captures the magic of the earlier games whilst making advances in storytelling and presentation, taking us back to the medieval routes, maintaining a unique feeling of an strong world and introducing us to a solid set of characters.

The story here is initially great, but it does, in traditional Final Fantasy fashion, get more convoluted and strange as it goes on - the main party can't quite hold things together, either. Some of them were definitely more in the spotlight than others, as members such as Quina and Freya join and sort of get forgotten as the game moves on, but Zidane, Dagger and especially ViVi are solid characters that I enjoyed spending my time with. The villains were decent as well, and it was nice to see the layers peel off as the story unfolds and more are revealed, but while it was all decent, I didn't find anything to be necessarily standout or all too captivating.

The Active Time Event system emphasised the characters even more, too, letting you see what people are up to in other areas or parts of the world when they are away from you, and the game switching perspectives quite often made the story feel more grand, reminding me of a fantasy novel.

The combat is traditional, and although I do prefer when there is just no ATB, I still had a good time, although admittedly I did, for the most part, throw on the 9999 damage boost to blast through this one as I didn't want to spend too too much time on the game, and I wouldn't have had nearly as much fun without both that and the speed up modifiers.

Final Fantasy IX is the culmination of the series up to that point - it feels like it builds upon everything that came before to create the almost ideal version of the concept of Final Fantasy on paper, but I just didn't fully connect with the story or characters by the end.

zidane.

garnet.

kuja.

C I N E M A.

Without a doubt the best FF on the PlayStation and one of the best FFs ever!

Even after playing through it for the fourth time, I still find new ways to enjoy the simple yet intriguing combat system. I especially love how well thought-out the entire world and experience are.

There is a nicely-paced balance of linear, story-heavy sections and the more open-ended exploration sequences of the world map with fantastic side quests. Not a single location feels pointless or underused. Rather, even the tiniest spot of the world map has its purpose.

And the story and characters just get me every single time. I love the entire cast, the writing is great and the pacing and the emotions are just perfect.

Final Fantasy IX was my second old Final Fantasy game, however, unlike Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy IX was... a bit complicated at first, but more interesting experience overall.
The story is great, it has a wonderful beginning and it maintains consistent pacing until the end, and then it ends on a very high note; it actually has one of the best endings in the entire series in my opinion.
The characters are absolutely fantastic and the character development is some of the best I've seen in a videogame in general. Unfortunately, there are some weaker main characters in the party, but thankfully, the supporting characters are surprisingly likeable and make up for those few weaker main characters.
I think the dialogue in this game is worth mentioning because it's unexpectedly well written at times and the sense of humor is so good! Final Fantasy IX is probably the most humorous game in the series.
The music is beautiful and the visuals, while slightly outdated, are still very charming.
Also, I absolutely love the ATE system, it's such an great system because it enriches the sense of adventure and it makes the game so lively compared to previous Final Fantasy games.
With that being said, while Final Fantasy IX gets close at being a perfect Final Fantasy game, it has at least one flaw in my opinion; the gameplay feels slow, even for 2000's standards.

Pros:
+ Very engaging story
+ Compelling and likeable characters
+ Well written & funny dialogue
+ Amazing soundtrack
+ ATE system

Cons:
- Outdated minor elements
- Slow combat system

Narrative: 8/10
Gameplay: ?/10
Content: 8/10
Characters: 10/10
Music: 9/10
Graphics/Audio: ?/10

Final Rating: 9.5/10
- Outstanding -
At the end of the day, Final Fantasy IX is still an incredible JRPG, one of the best Final Fantasy games of all time and one of the most charming videogames I've ever played.

Do I recommend it?:
Definitely yes, must-play for fans and highly recommended for newcomers.

Final Fantasy IX has always been a game that has been widely regard in the Final Fantasy community as one of the best, and thankfully it holds up to that exact expectation. Not only is it the best of the PS1 trio, but it's above and beyond the majority of the series, and stands out due to it's presentation and battle system.

While I certainly wouldn't call FF9 a hard game, it is a game that lends itself well to building your characters how you want without losing the uniqueness of each character. While the story does lose a bit of focus, it stays ground it what it wants to set up and do. Plus the way the game constantly switches the cast point of view is so well done that I just can't express how much I want more of that in other Final Fantasy game. Not only is the party treated as more of an ensemble, but it's also something that they constantly focus on and give themes too. Not all the themes are done well sadly, and out of all the good games you could remake, FF9 would probably stand to benefit the most out of it. Most of the problems really just rely on the 2nd half of this game going into a bunch of odd stuff, and honestly it just doesn't work well compared to the first half. I feel like a lot of FF9's problems are just not having enough time to focus on the themes as much, and some characters coming in far later in the game just don't get the screen time they need.

I don't want my criticisms to see too much though. In a lot of ways, the fact the game just goes to the end may be seen as a pace saver or at least, not dragging the game too much. Still if there could be some nice mix of cutting down certain fat, adding more story quests, or just expanding the story to the post game, I feel FF9 could immensely benefit. Considering the problem tho? FF9 not having enough for a player to chew on, already kind speaks levels in which it's story and characters engage you.

I wouldn't call FF9 the best Final Fantasy out there, but it certainly takes a lot from what made other final fantasies good, retools them, uses them more, or even makes new ones to really hit home the quality of this game. If you wanted to start out playing the Final Fantasy series, I'd honestly suggest 9 as a good starting point. Simple, easy, and really engaging.

A experiência que foi de 80 a 8 (ou 9 ba dum tsss)

FF9 é um jogo que possui um certo charme, que envolve seu estilo artístico mais teatral e não tão moderno, a presença dos black mages e alguns personagens memoráveis na franquia. Infelizmente isso não foi o suficiente para proporcionar uma boa aventura do início ao fim.
O início do game (primeiro disco pra ser específico, isso pode ser visto no ícone de save ao decorrer do jogo) é bem envolvente, apresentando os personagens da party ao poucos e trazendo gameplays separadas para cada um. Eu adoro jogar sob diferentes perspectivas, então foi um prato cheio alternar entre Zidane, Vivi e Steiner, e posteriormente outros personagens. O clima de mistério em relação a quem estaria por trás de tudo me deixou curioso pelos eventos seguintes, pois até então fica um ponto de interrogação quanto às ações da Brahne.
Quando o vilão que usa calcinha (também conhecido como Kuja) é apresentado, a coisa começa a desandar. Ô vilão ruim da desgraça, mal desenvolvido e burro. Conforme mais detalhes eram apresentados sobre ele, mais meh ficava a história e até outros eventos foram ficando mal escritos. O disco 2 ainda dá pra salvar alguns eventos mesmo com o Kuja estando presente, mas os discos 3 e 4 foram decepcionantes.
Entre os personagens da party, Quina e Amarant destoam do restante, principalmente o Amarant por ter um desenvolvimento quase inexistente. Poderia muito bem ser um personagem opcional ou ser substituído pela Beatrix. Senti que faltou carisma para a Eiko, isso é um ponto que deve ser trabalhado caso os rumores sobre o remake se concretizem. Quanto aos outros personagens relevantes, o regente Cid e os membros do Tantalus ganham destaque em suas sagas.
O tema sobre existência e propósito de vida são explorados em vários momentos, proporcionando a evolução de alguns personagens através de questionamentos sensíveis. Existem alguns diálogos MUITO BONS que nos fazem refletir sobre o assunto.

Ok, a história não foi lá essas coisas, mas o combate e sidequests foram satisfatórias?
O combate é tão lento que dá tempo de fazer um miojo enquanto ocorre a transição da random battle e você deixa a luta ocorrer automaticamente pressionando o botão R2. A situação piora pois a taxa de random encounter é bem alta em alguns pontos, tornando a travessia de alguns mapas uma lentidão danada. Felizmente esta versão possui fast forward, deixando menos dolorosa a exploração, mas não impedindo de ficar ZZzzzZZzz ao saber que teria uma nova região extensa pra atravessar. Meu save teve 40 horas após subirem os créditos, acredito que sem fast forward teria no mínimo umas 5 horas a mais D:
É divertido ficar trocando o equipamento entre os personagens pra aprender skills ativas e passivas. Eu normalmente vendo tudo que não uso em jogos do tipo, mas em FFIX é necessário fazer essa rotação pra deixar os personagens úteis e pra criar novos equipamentos via synthesis, que é um sistema de fundir 2 itens para criar um novo.
Não fiz tantas histórias secundárias por causa do combate lerdo, mas o que posso relatar é:
- achei um saco o jogo de cartas, ainda bem que o trecho em que é obrigatório vencer algumas partidas é bem tranquilo;
- o minigame e sidequest do chocobo é interessante se usar o fast forward (por que tudo é tão lento nesse jogo? :'[), gostei de procurar os tesouros e de ver o chocobo evoluindo;
- completei também a side de restaurar a Mognet. Os moogles são uma atração à parte, pois além de servirem como save point, há toda essa rede de comunicação deles, no qual às vezes também entregamos algumas cartas e lemos elas junto com o moogle destinatário.

Por fim, FFIX é um bom jogo no geral, mas superestimado. A história começa bem mas vai perdendo força até se tornar algo questionável. Não vou negar que me diverti em boa parte do tempo, porém todos esses entraves em minha experiência me fazem considerar essa sequência um FF apenas ok dentro da franquia.