Final Fantasy IX Community Playthrough

[Alex Strife]

DAMN IT GUYS, YOU GOT ME IN. *Goes grab FFIX*

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

join the dark side of FF, young player.

 

[Alex Strife]

I completed FFIX ages ago, which is why I hadn't joined

I'm a veteran FF player already!! But hey, I can always play again!

Also,

Spoiler: serious spoiler

responding to what Loki said, technically someone died in the opening

.

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

until you you don't have 35 years, you count as young/almost young

 

[Carlie]

Dammit I forgot something, Friday is still no good for me, so far I'm available for Saturday or Sunday.

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

saturday is the best for me since sunday is the only day in which i don't go to school

 

[Cthulhu]

You can play PS1 games on the PS3 though, so you wouldn't need the PS2 (as long as the game's the same region as the console)

I was told this in the IRC too, and it works like a charm, FFIX runs in low quality (probably native-ish resolution, no post-processing like high resolution and filtering like in emulators), but without problems and with a high frame rate, so I'm content, .

 

[ForceStealer]

PS3 has always played PS1 games. Where've you been?

 

[Cthulhu]

Under a rock, I only got a PS3 last year, . Also, pretty soon after the PS3 came out, they ripped out the ability to play older games - I assumed this was both PS1 and PS2 games.

Actually, can it play PS2 games? I saw that it can create PS2 memory cards, but... that'd be kinda pointless if it can't play PS2 games.

 

[ForceStealer]

There are PS2 games available for download on PSN, those are the only ones, unfortunately.

 

[Alex Strife]

What did you think of the opening? How would you rate it against other FF openings?

The opening did its job in looking way better than the normal graphics of the time, so it provided the all necessary eyecandy. Alexandria is a beautiful place, and the Castle was majestic. I wouldn't say it's exciting, but it looks good and does the job right. What else would you ask for?

There are a tonne of minigames in IX. Did you try skipping? Did you start Mognet or meet Stilzkin? How did you find the sparring minigame? Did you impress Queen Brahne?

I tried skipping, and my usual goal is 200, since I can do it with relative ease. However, after 200 it gets crazy and I just never try to go for more than that. I may do it in the future, but for the first time in the game, I went for the 200, and so I did 202, got the cool cards, and went on happily. My record is 214, by the way. Obviously, I started the Mognet and the sparring minigame was a bit hard for me to do at first, on this playthrough, because I always try to make things as quick as possible to get the best results from the get go. So the first couple of times I made a few mistakes here and there. However, third time's the charm, as they say, and got 97/100 and impressed Brahne. My record is 98, so it was quite good. However, I don't think I'm capable of doing it better than I did on my 97/100 run today, so I felt satisfied and went on. I guess I should try to go for 100 one day but... the move right and move left bits make me slow a bit.

I also won a card to Alleyway Jack, so I've got quite a few now (with the Genji and Alexandria cards too ). I'm not particularly good at cards, but I'd like to think I don't suck, either.

What do you think of the controls/exploration compared to other FF titles? What about the battle system?

Everyone says the battle system is slow, and I've never found it slow myself. But oh well. Today it did seem a bit slow for me, when I was grinding, but... Nothing too bad. Controls and exploration are just perfect for a PS1 game. It moves so seamlessly, and it manages to make you forget the game does not use 3D backgrounds, too. FFVII wasn't bad at this, but it was a bit more obvious with the character models sticking out when compared to the backgrounds. FFVIII improved a bit, and in some areas it looks very good, but FFIX improves upon that and makes it look nicer even. Some of the backgrounds in the game are gorgeous. We'll get there when the time comes, I guess.

Are you enjoying the story? What do you think of it so far?

Obviously, as a veteran player, story is not new for me, but I think its solid use of cliché stuff is quite good. They mix serious stuff with a bit of humour, which always works too, if done properly. The hommages to old FFs start to be noticed (although there is one to a FUTURE game as well! Remember the way Tantals crew greets each other? It's the same way Yevon followers do it in FFX. Do not forget these two games were developed at the same time, for a small time; the end of FFIX and start of FFX kind of overlapped) and things start getting interesting. I love Garnet's personality, and while I think Vivi is overrated, he's adorable. At first I hated Zidane's character because he was flirty as hell and because he had a tail (shut up, I was much younger) and so I found it hard to relate to (what? I liked seeing myself as the main character!). Now I like him a lot better. Of course, having played the game and seeing his values and the way he is in other areas helped. I also have to say my Zidane is called "Alex" in this playthrough .


And as for other stuff... I stole all the goods, and even got Iron Helm on my very first try. I was concerned about this one, but it worked fine. I guess being overleveled helped here. Becase I always train all the skills before the first boss, aided by the healing spring. Therefore, right now Zidane and Vivi are at level 9, with Garnet being at level 6 and Steiner at 10 (he has the level up bonus ON). But everyone has all the available skills, including Garnet. I also removed Blank's equipment so I would have spares, and whatnot.

I visited North gate (A young girl! She has a velvet voice, she must be so pretty! Classic Zidane), and I thought it was very interesting how the game timidly brought up the issue of a war going on. The flags themselves would not be a big issue, although they would be certainly suspicious. But Garnet's silence was what truly made it. I bought three potions because I felt like it, even if I had 32 of them .

I went back to standing in front of the Ice Cave, and stopped for today! I am particularly happy about having 17,733 gil. That's quite the amount.

 

[ForceStealer]

I tried skipping, and my usual goal is 200, since I can do it with relative ease. However, after 200 it gets crazy and I just never try to go for more than that. I may do it in the future, but for the first time in the game, I went for the 200, and so I did 202, got the cool cards, and went on happily. My record is 214, by the way

 

[Obsidian Fire]

Just to forewarn everybody, I'm not giving spoiler-free answers, so don't read them if you don't want to know the ending. Also, take what I say with a grain of salt, FFIX is not my favorite FF and it shows.

Spoiler

What did you think of the opening? How would you rate it against other FF openings?

Yummy eyecandy graphics. I felt like this opening introduced us to the city of Alexandria and the airship industry, as opposed to introducing us to any characters, that happens after you start playing.

There are a tonne of minigames in IX. Did you try skipping? Did you start Mognet or meet Stilzkin? How did you find the sparring minigame? Did you impress Queen Brahne?

Didn't try skipping, but I definitely started Mognet. It took me a few go-thoughs (alright, I admit it, I'm not above using save-states to my advantage), but I finally got it to 93 nobles being impressed. I did have a grand time playing Tetra Master. Anyone who actually wants to know what the stats of the cards mean, and what the mechanics of the game is should check this FAQ out

What do you think of the controls/exploration compared to other FF titles? What about the battle system?

I'm using an emulator, so the exploration fells about the same as FFVII and FFVIII. The battle system on the other hand... I think I've figured out why the ATB feels so slow. It's because the character animations take longer then they did in FFVII and FFVIII so there's a longer period of time between me picking an action and then finding out what the result of that action is. And the ATB is running during the animation. The result is that after I've picked one persons action, I've got three more people's actions to pick, but I don't want to pick them yet because I don't know what the outcome of the first action is. What fixed it for me was turning the ATB onto its slowest setting (but not Wait), which makes it so that the speed of the ATB matches the speed of the animation.

Are you enjoying the story? What do you think of it so far?

I don't know why, but I can't take Alexandria seriously... the whole city seems like one big joke to me. I think it has to do with how the guards actually doing their job are wearing the equivalent of a swimsuit and a helmet, while the people actually wearing armor aren't taking their job seriously. The other thing that gets to me is Queen Brahne. We hear from everyone (including Garnet!) that at one point she was a good queen, but the only thing we see her do is cry at the melodramatics of a play and then order an attack on the ship her daughter is on. And from the looks of things, that attack also damages part of Alexandria. Unlike Sephrioth and Edea, we don't get any flash-backs to what she was like before she went bad/crazy/whatever you want to call it. The way we see her depicted doesn't match with what people think of her and since we aren't shown her any other way, she doesn't fit well into the story for me. I kinda feel like Alexandria is just asking to be messed with as opposed to some of the more competent cities/countries.

As far as characters go, most has already been said. However, did anyone go into the kitches and see Quinna be addressed as the head chef? Weird, and slightly plotholey.

Really crazy technical question regarding character levels: What determines the levels and stats of the characters that join up after you leave Lindblum? I know Marcus' level and stats become Ekio's, but what about everyone else's? I've read that Blank's level becomes Amarant's and that Cinna's becomes Quinna's, but what sets Blank's and Cinna's level? Is it the average level of the party or is it pre-set?

I'm wondering because the last time I played this game, I didn't have a clue about how the stat-maxing worked. But I want to at least try it this time around...

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

funny because i don't dislike flirting character, when they are not too over-the-top.
also, when i like to play the boy, i also act as a flirting character.
ok, here a tips:don't let your children watch Star Wars (the original triology) and Indiana Jones so many times that know by heart them before they have the age to go to school. Harrison Ford can take over those kids

 

[Fangu]

OMG I had the biggest crush ever on Harrison Ford when I was 13-14
That ofc thanks to Indiana Jones and Empire Strikes Back

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I tried skipping, and my usual goal is 200, since I can do it with relative ease. However, after 200 it gets crazy and I just never try to go for more than that. I may do it in the future, but for the first time in the game, I went for the 200, and so I did 202, got the cool cards, and went on happily. My record is 214, by the way

The fuck? That thing is worse than dodging lightning bolts in X (which I did actually manage 230 consecutive times).

I'm not participating in the playthrough, but I am enjoying reading everyone's comments. Maybe I'll tune in for one of the live sessions at some point.

Also, Tetra Master can burn in hell. That is all.

 

[Alex Strife]

I don't know the emotion the gif is trying to express!

But either way, I had someone in my class (one of the very few people who were interested in FF when I was in high school) who actually got to 1000. It's the same person who did the FFX lightning minigame for me .

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

The King of Jump Rope is one FF trophy I will never have even the slightest regret for missing. I wouldn't even attempt.1,000 jumps unless playing on an emulator so that I could save state my way there.

 

[ForceStealer]

I don't know the emotion the gif is trying to express!

Just that I don't even wanna talk about you doing 200 with ease. If you'll notice my record before I got bored was seven.

And &#^$ lightning dodging too.

 

[Alex Strife]

I can't really explain it. It's just a pattern, and not looking at the number of jumps I have. I don't want to know, as it makes me lose focus.

I hated Lightning dodging with a passion. I once made it to 3/4 of it and got hit. Rage was high at that point.

 

[Lex]

Chapter Two: An Icy Welcome

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Anyone have any questions they want to submit for this chapter? Make a post

• This chapter has a few very distinct changes in setting. What did you think of each of the locations you visited?
• How did you fare against the various bosses you encountered during this chapter? What did you manage to steal?
• How did you feel about the revelation in Dali?
• From what you've heard of the music so far, what's your favourite track?

I can only Skype on Saturday guys, so that's when I'll be streaming - same time (7pm GMT). I'll also have to leave at 10pm prompt. I'm having a bit of a crazy time at the moment unfortunately :

 

[Cthulhu]

I had more luck with dodging lightning than jumping rope, .

I play it on the PS3 now, at least I got 87 nobles pleased this time.

I'm also running behind because of not playing much video games and/or short attention span or something, and won't be around this weekend due to family obligations and shit, .

 

[Sprites]

Unfortunately skyping is out of the question for me tomorrow, I have a birthday do to go to tomorrow but I'll go on ahead and play the chapter over the next few days, off work Monday and Tuesday this week so i'll probably do it then

 

[Captain Jack Harkness]

i'm in

 

[ForceStealer]

I am likely in as well