I wouldn’t be here right now if this game didn’t exist. This game left the biggest personal impact on me. At the time, I was in a dark headspace, questioning my existence and wondering what was my place in the world. I couldn’t hold myself in high self-esteem for the longest time. I had no meaningful connection developed and was truly in a nihilistic mindset. I truly believed life was deterministic and free will was just an illusion. One day, I wanted to just get my mind off of reality and just play a game, any game. The game I chose to play that fateful day was Final Fantasy IX. This game truly saved me from my most troubling times. It probably is very cliche and over the top to say “I probably wouldn’t be here without this game,” but that’s exactly the case with FFIX.
While I was having my negative existential dread, Final Fantasy IX gave a positive conclusion to existentialism that I have never seen done in a video game: “How do we rise above existential dread and accept a deterministic world? Though your individuality and sense of self may be an illusion, everyone has the ability to experience genuine moments that are specific to you. One’s that nobody else can or will experience. The connections you’ve made, the path you went, those are yours and yours alone. Nobody would feel the same emotions in the exact same way you felt. The only way to make your experiences beautiful is if you’re with someone else, someone who cares for you. That is what makes life worth living.” It poses such a simple yet unique solution to existential dread. How could I not get so emotional after hearing that? After the credits rolled, I was so moved; I didn’t know such a game can come into my life at the perfect time. I am tremendously grateful to have played this game and I am still profoundly moved by how many people were saved by this game and went through the same dilemma that I have gone through many years back.
For this reason, Final Fantasy IX is a masterpiece in every stretch of the word. I would do anything to play this game for the first time again.
While I was having my negative existential dread, Final Fantasy IX gave a positive conclusion to existentialism that I have never seen done in a video game: “How do we rise above existential dread and accept a deterministic world? Though your individuality and sense of self may be an illusion, everyone has the ability to experience genuine moments that are specific to you. One’s that nobody else can or will experience. The connections you’ve made, the path you went, those are yours and yours alone. Nobody would feel the same emotions in the exact same way you felt. The only way to make your experiences beautiful is if you’re with someone else, someone who cares for you. That is what makes life worth living.” It poses such a simple yet unique solution to existential dread. How could I not get so emotional after hearing that? After the credits rolled, I was so moved; I didn’t know such a game can come into my life at the perfect time. I am tremendously grateful to have played this game and I am still profoundly moved by how many people were saved by this game and went through the same dilemma that I have gone through many years back.
For this reason, Final Fantasy IX is a masterpiece in every stretch of the word. I would do anything to play this game for the first time again.