Pros: Absolutely captivating story with each of the very memorable characters, as they plan kidnaps, escapes, discoveries, twists and turns, it's just an all-around epic. Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, and others, the characters are a standout in this and kept me in anticipation for what would happen to them next on their adventures. The art direction is splendid, it's a very classic fantasy aesthetic that contains far more classic Final Fantasy references than the previous FF games on Playstation. The graphics, also more detailed, higher poly counts, richer textures, deeper background art, and beautiful CGI cutscenes. Battle gameplay is still pretty decent from what I can remember, character customization options and solid JRPG turn based fighting. The overworld exploration also top notch again, and of course the Chocobo gameplay compelled me quite a bit. But what I loved most of all, was the music by Nobuo Uematsu. Incredible compositions, whimsical, emotional, adventurous, and always incredibly catchy. Some of the best music ever composed in games, with my favorite song of them being 'You're Not Alone', it's just... jaw droppingly beautiful, and plays during a pivotal moment in the game, very emotional!!
Cons: The endgame drags a bit, and I remember it getting a bit too grindy for me. And so much of the later part of the game relies on Final Fantasy references to the point where, someone who wasn't well versed in the franchise at the time of playing, I didn't get much out of it, and to me just didn't stick the landing, especially after how incredible the journey was at the beginning and through up to that point. And while I love the setting, visual motifs and themes, and characters, I do feel it was all a bit stronger in FFVII, not a fault of this game's. It's all still excellent though, and this game is probably my second favorite in the entire series right behind VII, it's still pretty fantastic!! Zidane just ain't no Cloud, and Kuja absolutely ain't no Sephiroth... But Vivi, gotta love Vivi, to me, he's the star character here, even though he himself is a reference to classic FF as well.
What it means to me: First played this game, well, mostly watched my older step bro play through a lot of it, back when it came out, but considering we had JUST played through FFVII a few months prior, I had no idea when either game actually released. It was so cool though to experience VII and IX back to back, and I certainly compared them heavily, and despite that, I ended up loving a lot in IX more than VII! And of course around that time, I was 13 or so, and so... well, I really wanted to see Zidane and Garnet fall in love, hah! Was very eager to see each and every plot development and gorgeous cutscene with these wonderful characters. Also, I recall a minigame early on that had you fencing with swords, and it had you pressing different buttons on the controller, well, I had no idea the buttons on the Playstation controller, so it was one of the biggest struggles in the game for me, haha! And TO THIS DAY, I still have not memorized the buttons on that frickin controller, I could not tell you where square is compared to cross compared to circle, I just... I'm hopeless there! Heh... Well, anyway, there was a fun card battling minigame in the castle town that I enjoyed a bit more anyhow, heh, good times!
Cons: The endgame drags a bit, and I remember it getting a bit too grindy for me. And so much of the later part of the game relies on Final Fantasy references to the point where, someone who wasn't well versed in the franchise at the time of playing, I didn't get much out of it, and to me just didn't stick the landing, especially after how incredible the journey was at the beginning and through up to that point. And while I love the setting, visual motifs and themes, and characters, I do feel it was all a bit stronger in FFVII, not a fault of this game's. It's all still excellent though, and this game is probably my second favorite in the entire series right behind VII, it's still pretty fantastic!! Zidane just ain't no Cloud, and Kuja absolutely ain't no Sephiroth... But Vivi, gotta love Vivi, to me, he's the star character here, even though he himself is a reference to classic FF as well.
What it means to me: First played this game, well, mostly watched my older step bro play through a lot of it, back when it came out, but considering we had JUST played through FFVII a few months prior, I had no idea when either game actually released. It was so cool though to experience VII and IX back to back, and I certainly compared them heavily, and despite that, I ended up loving a lot in IX more than VII! And of course around that time, I was 13 or so, and so... well, I really wanted to see Zidane and Garnet fall in love, hah! Was very eager to see each and every plot development and gorgeous cutscene with these wonderful characters. Also, I recall a minigame early on that had you fencing with swords, and it had you pressing different buttons on the controller, well, I had no idea the buttons on the Playstation controller, so it was one of the biggest struggles in the game for me, haha! And TO THIS DAY, I still have not memorized the buttons on that frickin controller, I could not tell you where square is compared to cross compared to circle, I just... I'm hopeless there! Heh... Well, anyway, there was a fun card battling minigame in the castle town that I enjoyed a bit more anyhow, heh, good times!