I am helplessly biased toward this game. It was one of the first games I was shown on the PlayStation from a dear friend of mine, it opened me to the concept of games so huge – for the time – that they could sprawl over four discs. Its first opening hours are still some of the most variegated – for all its contents, secrets and minigames – and narratively engaging a JRPGs has ever conceived. The cast of characters is diverse, huge, memorable, sympathetic, lovable, funny, miserable. The narrative is something few games have topped to this day – Nier and its sequel come to mind – as it deals with the usual grand adventure of saving the world from the great evil but with the more subtle themes of existentialism, of finding one’s own purpose in life and accepting when you can’t, of dealing with the inevitability of death, of losing those dears to you, of the importance of the future but to always cherish your roots for they have made you the person you are today, for better or worse. Final Fantasy IX taught me to love steampunk, a genre which is basically dead aside from video games and some Japanese comics. Forever, willingly or not, this will be my benchmark for fantasy narrative in games and so on.
Final Fantasy IX was the return to a more classic approach to the series fantastical and magical roots after the more sci-fi oriented ones that preceded it – the ones so popular they are still referenced in Kingdom Hearts – and it is a grandiose return. Sakaguchi Hironobu created what he would later call his favourite game of the series, what encapsulates the most the concept behind the words ‘Final Fantasy’ and its roots as a series based on Medieval Europe and its mythology. The result is a product clearly influenced by Northern European and Norse myths but still quintessentially Japanese in how it plays out and blends sci-fi and fantasy to craft something inherently new and idiosyncratic, for its time at least.
The gameplay was streamlined from the previous iteration but the simplicity didn’t make it any less enjoyable and cunning. Levelling up is as easy as it was in the first games of the series, whilst abilities are tied to equipment and can be permanently learnt the more fights one characters wins with a particular item equipped. Some abilities are secretly tied to in-game mechanic, such as how many dragons have the party defeated, how many ores and minerals are in the inventory and how many steals were successfully achieved during battles. The trance mechanic could use some improvement, especially in the remaster, if not for the option, always felt needed, to activate it at any given time instead of automatically triggering whenever the corresponding bar is full. Still, as the combat is rewarding and presents many possible approaches to defeat particular enemies, after many hours no one will care if they can’t activate the trance during a precise phase of a difficult super boss. Also, the eidolons are as pleasant to summon as ever, they pack a megaton punch and are accompanied by some of the most inspired and impressive cutscene available during the PSX era.
Nevertheless, what it really matters, the soundtrack, is still as beautiful and outstanding as it has always been. Uematsu Nobuo is one of the greatest masters for video games music and this chapter of Final Fantasy has proved itself to be another badge of pride in his curriculum. The tunes are nostalgic, adventurous, romantic and melancholic at the same time. There are multiple versions of Melodies of life that plays at different times, each one perfectly in tune with the mood of the scene. The Place I'll Return to Someday is striking as the opening menu theme and all the more once put into context for what its title mean, both during the various events in the game and during its final climax. There could be many things to say about each track and how well put into the environment they are, but it’d take a whole review on the music alone.
Final Fantasy IX is a trip back to a time of nostalgia and discover, when young kids found themselves engaged by a thrilling fantasy adventure and had to deal with the first realization that in life many things more than simply games and story have to end. Today the script might be cheesy and simplistic at times, but the importance and value of its moral, as well as the passion its developers put into the realization of this game, are something that, alas, we rarely get to see in the industry.
Final Fantasy IX was the return to a more classic approach to the series fantastical and magical roots after the more sci-fi oriented ones that preceded it – the ones so popular they are still referenced in Kingdom Hearts – and it is a grandiose return. Sakaguchi Hironobu created what he would later call his favourite game of the series, what encapsulates the most the concept behind the words ‘Final Fantasy’ and its roots as a series based on Medieval Europe and its mythology. The result is a product clearly influenced by Northern European and Norse myths but still quintessentially Japanese in how it plays out and blends sci-fi and fantasy to craft something inherently new and idiosyncratic, for its time at least.
The gameplay was streamlined from the previous iteration but the simplicity didn’t make it any less enjoyable and cunning. Levelling up is as easy as it was in the first games of the series, whilst abilities are tied to equipment and can be permanently learnt the more fights one characters wins with a particular item equipped. Some abilities are secretly tied to in-game mechanic, such as how many dragons have the party defeated, how many ores and minerals are in the inventory and how many steals were successfully achieved during battles. The trance mechanic could use some improvement, especially in the remaster, if not for the option, always felt needed, to activate it at any given time instead of automatically triggering whenever the corresponding bar is full. Still, as the combat is rewarding and presents many possible approaches to defeat particular enemies, after many hours no one will care if they can’t activate the trance during a precise phase of a difficult super boss. Also, the eidolons are as pleasant to summon as ever, they pack a megaton punch and are accompanied by some of the most inspired and impressive cutscene available during the PSX era.
Nevertheless, what it really matters, the soundtrack, is still as beautiful and outstanding as it has always been. Uematsu Nobuo is one of the greatest masters for video games music and this chapter of Final Fantasy has proved itself to be another badge of pride in his curriculum. The tunes are nostalgic, adventurous, romantic and melancholic at the same time. There are multiple versions of Melodies of life that plays at different times, each one perfectly in tune with the mood of the scene. The Place I'll Return to Someday is striking as the opening menu theme and all the more once put into context for what its title mean, both during the various events in the game and during its final climax. There could be many things to say about each track and how well put into the environment they are, but it’d take a whole review on the music alone.
Final Fantasy IX is a trip back to a time of nostalgia and discover, when young kids found themselves engaged by a thrilling fantasy adventure and had to deal with the first realization that in life many things more than simply games and story have to end. Today the script might be cheesy and simplistic at times, but the importance and value of its moral, as well as the passion its developers put into the realization of this game, are something that, alas, we rarely get to see in the industry.