Final Fantasy IX appreciation thread

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0svcC1dzv4

"Voice from the past, joining yours and mine, adding up the layers of harmony..."

FFIX is a tragic tale of lots of things, but most dominantly deals with the nature of existence and life. What defines a person?

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551612

I heard westerners and I think some asians worked on the backgrounds of FFIX, there's some youtube out there with HD animations of assets that became the source for some of IX's pre rendered backgrounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6w7atxi0BI

I think my favourite part of FFIX was the understanding that it used a play to break a 4th wall that was internalized within the mythos of FFIX itself. It might be coincidental but I see a lot of resemblance between what goes on in FFIX and Princess Bride, both used internal 4th walls and the play in IX is strongly reminiscent of that story. There's a fencing scene in both, for one. lmao

Having thought on the overall thematic of FFIX, I think the most symbolic scene is that it starts with a play and ends with a play: Zidane throwing off his cape is his way of telling her to stop being a bystander in life, that she doesn't have to be part of the audience.

Kuja was hellbent on ending life and distraught over his irreversible death, yet Zidane who was able to live without that drawback openly risked his life for the chance to comfort him on his deathbed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroyuki_Ito

This guy created some of FF's most beloved components and, depending on how much of a hand he had as director, many of it's best installments too. ATB is his, Triple Triad is his. When asked if there's anyone left at Square who can save FF in his eyes, Sakaguchi thought for a moment and said... Hiroyuki Ito. I think one of the most astounding things he thought up though was the trial event sequence in CT. That really pulled you into the game.

I suppose I can't gush forever.

I just love this game so much I felt like creating a thread about it rofl

http://static.zerochan.net/Zidane.Tribal.full.504930.jpg

Speaking of neogaf this thread seems kinda like one of the ops you'd see there huh. Maybe I'm over exposed to that.

 

[trash panda]

The very first time I played this game, I had no idea that I was supposed to be teaching my characters combat skills. ^.^

I think this is one of my favorite games because of the art style. It's very charming. This is a Final Fantasy game done right. I literally have no complaints about it. <3

 

[Kuja9001]

IX is automatically the best since I'm in it.

Seriously though, I really love the character development that Kuja undergoes. That is why he's my all time fav FF villain. SE honestly needs to learn how to make a villain with character development again. Final Fantasy XIII-2's Caius had the motive, the wacky design, the voice but he lacks the character development that would've sealed the deal.



EDIT:

I noticed that Kuja has the best aspects of the 8 villains that preceded him.

Emperor Mateus- Kuja has his manipulative-ness, pieces of purple, and intelligence.
Xande- His his fear of death.
Exdeath- Complete lack of emotions.
Kefka- Flamboyant design(feather).
Sephiroth- The long silver hair.
Ultimecia- Her style(look at his palace).

 

[Flintlock]

Final Fantasy IX is up there with my favourite games of all time. It's just got a few other Final Fantasy games ahead of it on the list.

There are lots of thing I love about it, but none more so than the characters. They're the best thing about the game, for me. For example, the quartet of Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner is my favourite party from any Final Fantasy game. The other four main characters all have something going for them as well, though I'm not really fond of Amarant. The NPCs are so colourful and the villains are so believable. Adding them all together produces a world (or even two worlds) filled with people (and non-people) I care about. And, as has already been mentioned, so many of them go through incredible changes and develop as characters in the course of the game. That's probably why the ending makes me cry every god-damn time.

 

[Tetsujin]

I consider this the most charming FF.

Melodies of Life is also my favorite FF theme song!

 

[trash panda]

I think I might want to go play this now oh my oh my. ^.^
It has such a wonderful soundtrack. I do love Vivi's theme song...and Freya's theme is so emotional.

Flint already mentioned his ideal team, so who did everyone else play with? I usually switch things up. Like Flint mentioned, all of the characters were wonderful but Amarant was er....I would say "slightly boring" but I honestly think he was just underdeveloped and it's not his fault.

I almost always have Quina in my party because aside from having really powerful physical attacks, s/he also has great blue magic.

Oh and I remember that I really enjoyed Lani when I first played and I recall doodling pictures of her. ^.^

 

[Ⓐaron]

The only game in the series I would consistently rank higher than FFIX is FFVI. I go back and forth on whether FFIX or FFV is a better game, but usually I just leave them tied these days.

Sadly, I've never actually seen the FMVs for the first disc, as my copy was scratched. Maybe if they ever release it on Steam I'll replay it.

 

[Jason Tandro]

Whether 9 is the best Final Fantasy game overall, I can't say. Personally I think on both a technical and thematic level, Final Fantasy 6 takes the cake. Though in many ways, I feel 6 and 9 share a pretty close connection in terms of theming.

Thief with the heart of gold:
Locke (FF6) vs. Zidane (FF9)

Stage as a framing device:
Opera (FF6) vs. Play (FF9)

Magic as a source of villainy:
Espers (FF6) vs. Eidolons (FF9)

The two games share a lot of the same motifs.

Musically I will say FF9 is among my personal top 5 in the series, though where it is varies day to day. The soundtrack is out of this world. FF9 was also the last game in the series before Square began making... questionable decisions.

When I first started playing it as a young kid, I didn't quite "get it". I hadn't played many of the earlier games (except 6) and so I missed a lot of the references. Most of you probably know that 9 was originally never going to be given a number. It was going to be a side project that represented the summation of the games that had come thus far, and that future number titles would be continuing to move forward in time. Well we all know how that worked out.

I don't know if I would want this to be somebody's first final fantasy as it's not the most accessible to newcomers. Really this game is meant more for the Final Fantasy veteran who will appreciate it more.

(FYI, what games would I recommend for newcomers? FF7,FF8 or FFX which all have a shared level of both autonomy and user-friendliness... with the exception of FF8's confusing Junction and Draw mechanics)

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

(FYI, what games would I recommend for newcomers? FF7,FF8 or FFX which all have a shared level of both autonomy and user-friendliness... with the exception of FF8's confusing Junction and Draw mechanics)

If they're in it to see exactly what FF is about then FFIX is an apotheosis of all the games that preceded it both in form and function, it obviously intended many of it's references and is very well designed like The Man says. I wouldn't even be surprised if Kuja was deliberately designed to resemble all those other antags haha

FFVII, FFVI, those are also great

 

[Ⓐaron]

FFIX is definitely the apotheosis of the games that came before it. It was pretty much intended to be an encapsulation of the series and its themes thus far, and it succeeds marvellously at that. But for exactly those reasons I'd agree with the consensus in this thread that it's not the best game for a newcomer to start with; you won't appreciate it as much if you don't get all the references. I personally started with IV and have no regrets for it, but I agree with the suggestions of VI and VII. Both of them are probably amongst the most accessible games in the series and they're also amongst the five best.

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

eh I'd still give it to em. VI and VII are high concept pieces, I love VII to bits but by the gods is it such a deconstruction lmao. For some reason a lot of people I know who aren't very big into FF as a whole really like IX. Must be the charm

 

[Ⓐaron]

It's definitely a very charming game, in ways some of the others aren't at all (it's definitely a lot less bleak than IV, VI, or VII, for example). It probably would be a good introduction to the series for some people depending on their tastes. But I still contend that people will appreciate the game even more when they've played some of the others and can appreciate the references back to previous games in the series.

 

[trash panda]

When I first played FFIX, I had only (up till that point) played VII and VIII. Needless to say, I only picked up a few easter eggs. ^.^

I'm trying to see things retrospectively and I think that if all three PS1 generation games were being released for the first time today I would have a hard time staying interested in VIII on account of the bland characters and silly draw system. I think that VII and IX are equals in terms of storytelling and gameplay...but IX is the winner in my book for better character development and art direction.

 

[Splintered]

I love IX. I wouldn't consider it my favorite but it's up there. And I do indeed love Kuja, he's one of my favorite villains. Hell the whole cast is one of my favorites (save Amarant).

My eight year old niece is playing FFIX with me (or at least, me looking over her shoulder and yelling to check her equipment and HP), I just figured despite not getting all the references, it would be a good first game. She's not into 16-bit as much as the slightly (but not by much) updated graphics. And its got a princess and a simple enough battle and ability system that she can work with, thematically it's pretty easy to understand, and most importantly: me avoiding the uncomfortable question of what Cloud is doing in the Honey Bee Inn and what is Don trying to do with Cloud.

She loves it. And trust me, the look on her face when Beatrix reduced everyone's HP to 1 was priceless. I wish I took a picture of it, the BETRAYAL until I told her it was suppose to happen.

 

[Ghost X]

It is probably my second favourite FF. I don't have time to go into detail why I like it. That and I can't remember the details . For now, I like the characters, the art direction, how it incorporated the summons into the storyline, the numerous side quests, and pretty much everything else, except the trance system.

 

[Splintered]

It is probably my second favourite FF. I don't have time to go into detail why I like it. That and I can't remember the details . For now, I like the characters, the art direction, how it incorporated the summons into the storyline, the numerous side quests, and pretty much everything else, except the trance system.

There is nothing more infuriating that getting a trance right before the battle ends in a normal battle, right before a boss.

But I second the art, and Tetsujin who said it was the most charming FF. I totally agree, it just uses charm honestly, all the areas make me smile. I especially love Treno, I don't know, even if it is probably the least story based town, there's something about the music and the NPCs that are atmospheric in the perfect way.

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03rUQ1KGcdA

that is all.

 

[Lex]

^That would be an enjoyable listen if it didn't sound like it was recorded through a tube of toilet roll. I can't stand it when people put music up on YT that's shitty quality.

 

[Octo]

FFIX is my second favourite. It's not perfect, I can't say I remember all of the plot even. But aside from it's charming style, I liked that the characters aren't the usual good-looking-to-the-point-of-actually-being-unattractive types. Vivi is probably one of the most relatable characters ever, and he doesn't even have a face. He's charming and childlike and not pissing about looking 'cool' but he's fucking awesome. We need more characters like that in FF.

 

[Flintlock]

TIL what apotheosis means.

After Kuroto and I started dating, she tried Final Fantasy X first, if I remember correctly, then a little bit of VII. She said that both the games had boring/bleak openings, or something like that, so I suggested she play IX because Alexandria is such a vibrant place to start the game in. X ended up as her favourite but she did play IX all the way to the end and I think she liked it. Kuroto, if you're reading this, correct me if I'm wrong.

I don't think I could suggest VII as a first game in the series any more. It doesn't force new players to go through tutorials in the same way that X does, so it's easy to miss things. It doesn't have support for analog sticks (maybe the PS4 release will fix that, but I doubt it). The graphics haven't aged well - even playing with better filters on the 3D objects leaves the backgrounds looking very pixelated. It has one of the more confusing stories in the series for first-time players. It's still full of glitches and mistranslations, which many of us have come to love, but can be off-putting. It hasn't aged very well, in other words.

 

[trash panda]

She loves it. And trust me, the look on her face when Beatrix reduced everyone's HP to 1 was priceless. I wish I took a picture of it, the BETRAYAL until I told her it was suppose to happen.

You're too nice. I would have told her that she's supposed to win the battle and recruit Beatrix. XD

 

[Ite]

Playing through IX right now with a partner: one of my favourite things to do!

The way you build your party in IX is really great. Each combination of characters changes the whole game -- and the rigid class system is a nice break from FFV-VIII's (equally nice) casual class system.

I enjoy my partner being "party leader" and assigning two characters to controller 2 (me). During battles we can each control two characters and have to work together. Reminds me of tabletop gaming in the best way. Bonus: Between battles, I get to watch someone I care about experience one of my favourite stories. Best date night ever.

IX is my favorite for these reason and more. It is in such good company (VI is masterful and VII is uniquely literary) and yet it stands out to me.

 

[trash panda]

I'm playing this right now. ^.^
Just started up a new game. During the scene when

Spoiler

Baku is explaining his plan to the team, I chose "that's when we kidnap Brahne" easily over 80 times and I still didn't see Ruby come out.

I'm not sure what the problem is...I'm playing on a PS portable and it's the original release...I really wanted to see it. ;__; I guess that's what youtube is for.

Time to EXPLOOOOOORE!!! ^_______^

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

Playing through IX right now with a partner: one of my favourite things to do!

The way you build your party in IX is really great. Each combination of characters changes the whole game -- and the rigid class system is a nice break from FFV-VIII's (equally nice) casual class system.

I enjoy my partner being "party leader" and assigning two characters to controller 2 (me). During battles we can each control two characters and have to work together. Reminds me of tabletop gaming in the best way. Bonus: Between battles, I get to watch someone I care about experience one of my favourite stories. Best date night ever.

IX is my favorite for these reason and more. It is in such good company (VI is masterful and VII is uniquely literary) and yet it stands out to me.

I think VI had this harmonious unity of individual character skills and customization. It was a step short of VII's flexibility but gave you fully fleshed out character skills as a trade off, even tied them to summons which was neat. If VIII is at one end with the free form development, IX is at another where every character comes into their own, VI is somewhere firmly in between.

Going the... Tales Of route with her or some such? Living the dream then. Think I might do that with my gf myself, short of a full house (or at least one all playing FFIX) without up to four players since I think that only could use two pads. But, it was a neat little experiment and I wish they tried co op again later, you know?

 

[Dragonslayer Ornstein]

was drunk off my ass on Strongbow last night, lmao. Wow my post didn't even make much sense.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNEUegSWL-E @lexles. Better audio quality? Even has a Zidane vs Kuja grudge stare for maximum effect