FF Novice Plays FF IX

[Deleted member 13557]

Loved the soundtrack for this game. Some nice throwbacks in there, and the villains have great themes.

My first thought when I heard the battle theme was "meh, FF7's was better" but it's REALLY grown on me.

Rufus' Welcoming Ceremony playing was a great little touch too.

 

[ForceStealer]

I'm always amazed how, before the remake, they never revisited a permutation on the materia system. Meanwhile FFX's ability system basically inspires every system that followed it.

 

[Deleted member 13557]

I don't think I can overstate how much I like Vivi. I want one.

 

[ForceStealer]

Best character in the series

 

[Ite]

 

[Erotic Materia]

Every single person's reaction when Kuja came on the scene for the first time I think

You know, I've never really thought about it before...but a really high number of FF villains have that, uh.... Femboy aesthetic?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Sephiroth marched so Kuja could dance.

 

[ForceStealer]

You know, I've never really thought about it before...but a really high number of FF villains have that, uh.... Femboy aesthetic?

That would be your beloved anime influence

 

[Ite]

The sissy archetype exists in Disney villains as well (Scar, Hades, Facilier, Radcliffe, Jafar). It’s ancient post-Oscar Wilde global gay panic, pay it no mind. At least Zidane isn’t contrasted as a macho manly man, he’s also a sissy fop with a fabulous cravat and he’s a theatre actor to boot.

 

[ForceStealer]

Well you don't have to worry about too many macho manly men in FF protagonists

 

[Ite]

Well you don't have to worry about too many macho manly men in FF protagonists

What about Clou—oh wait that was a persona he created for himself because he believed his true self lacked value, and letting go of that constructed performance of masculinity was the path to happiness and love. Never mind!

 

[Deleted member 13557]

These assholes need to leave my boy Vivi alone

 

[ForceStealer]

The "macho-est" FF main character is probably...I mean I think it might be Tidus since he's a cut professional rugby player, and that's hilarious

 

[Ite]

These assholes need to leave my boy Vivi alone

I have no idea where you are in the game, but the answer is always yes, damn whoever that is.

 

[Makoeyes987]

The "macho-est" FF main character is probably...I mean I think it might be Tidus since he's a cut professional rugby player, and that's hilarious

If Meg Ryan is macho, then Vaan isn't the twinkiest sky pirate who warned us of Ondore's lies.

The most macho FF main character we've had was Warrior of Light. Thanks to the armor

 

[ForceStealer]

I think Vaan only looks cut because he's a dehydrated street rat. Tidus is probably actually in shape

But a Fighter isn't necessarily your main character in FF1 And also Dissidia WoL is awfully pretty, haha
I'll give you the Dissidia alt, though

 

[Deleted member 13557]

I have no idea where you are in the game, but the answer is always yes, damn whoever that is.

I'm in Cleyra right now. Vivi just made a friend

 

[Deleted member 13557]

Well, there goes Cleyra. That Odin summon was badass.

Are summons and eidolons one in the same or...?

 

[Makoeyes987]

Eidolons are the name of summons in FFIX.

 

[ForceStealer]

Well, there goes Cleyra. That Odin summon was badass.

Are summons and eidolons one in the same or...?

I have always loved that image of Odin galloping straight down. Chilling and awesome

 

[Makoeyes987]

Odin had business to take care of, which involved displacing a village of members of the rodentia order so that an obese power-mad matriarch could fulfill her ambition of continent-wide genocide and world domination.

FFIX is such a lighthearted story. Just look at the character designs!

 

[kathy202]

FFIX is such a lighthearted story. Just look at the character designs!

That, IMO, is why this title is so endearing. It manages to be everything it appears to be at a glance - light hearted, with adorable weak must-protec Vivi, but it's also so much more than what it seems.

I think it's the only FF with scenes that actually gets me more teary the older I get, as opposed to "yeah I know that happened" or worse, "I cried over that?", in many of the other titles.

Anyway, gotta say I love these "first time" posts! Though that's been said a million times by others already.

 

[Stiggie]

Well, there goes Cleyra. That Odin summon was badass.

Are summons and eidolons one in the same or...?

Summons are called differently in different games, "Eidolons", "Aeons", "Guardian forces", etc. Although some terms are re-occuring.

The Odin summon is one of my favorite moments of any game ever, because at that moment it's like the story changes, It's not a coincidence that it looks like a nuke, because that moment really is like the Hiroshima of FFIX, until then you were having this midevil adventure with swords and magic, and then suddenly a freaking god appears and war is just changed for ever. The implications are huge and the game knows it, it lets that sink in.

One of the things I don't love about FFVII is that the fact that people are able to summon literal gods has almost no story implications, not in IX, in IX, summons...are....huge.

FFX also gives proper importance, however, and I can say this without spoiling, that's how minor it's presented imo. In FFX you see your first summon very early, and in a cutscene that really isn't that grand.
Not in FFIX, it takes an entire disc before the first time you see one, you just get teased, they're right there in Garnets ability list, beckoning, just out of reach with gigantic mp costs. And then when one finally is summoned it just absolutely changes everything, everytime a summoning show up in IX its' serious fucking business. Which is what I mean when I said FFIX has the BEST choice in cutscenes.

Its' also the moment you may start to realize that FFIX is perhaps a bit darker that you'd initially expect, sure, we already had Vivi's existential crisis to deal with, but we just had our second genocide in a matter of hours. Also, not everything goes the heroes way, it's not a series of victories, it's depressing failure after failure, first Burmecia, now Cleyra, losing the battle, in the hope that eventually there will be a happy end.

 

[Sprites]

I mean if you grind enough with Garnet you CAN summon her eidolons by the time you hit Treno's Gargan Roo, but wouldn't really advise to do this as its very tedious grinding and also because of the stat calculations that @Mr. Ite mentioned that are factored into with current equipment.

But i'd never done it on a playthrough before so once I did this in the gargan roo tunnel at Treno as one of the better EXP areas at that stage and I was able to summon Shiva by the time you're ready to leave Treno, I left it at that though, a bit pointless but gets rid of Ralwhatsitsface boss before you reach Alexandria faster if you really want to and helps get Steiner levelled I guess if you're doing all that grinding, never again though.

Damn all this is making me want to replay IX but I'm in the middle of an FFIV Complete Collection replay so I might hit it up after I finish that.

 

[Deleted member 13557]

Anyone here like Quina? Quina is a character who I feel like I should dislike, but I actually kinda enjoy lol

I feel like the fact that the music in Qu's Marsh is great helps. Been catching loads of frogs simply because I like the music so much