Box Art
Game: Final Fantasy IX
First Released: November 13, 2000, Playstation
Developers: Square
Platforms: Playstation, Playstation Network
Rated: T, for Animated Violence and Mild Language
First Released: November 13, 2000, Playstation
Developers: Square
Platforms: Playstation, Playstation Network
Rated: T, for Animated Violence and Mild Language
How I Came To Play This Game
Title Screen
I started to play this game immediately after I finished Final Fantasy VIII. I made it pretty far into the game, but then I got my Xbox 360. The new games for that system proved too much to resist, and I ended up abandoning my original playthrough of Final Fantasy IX. After half a year I got back to playing Final Fantasy games, but by then I had forgotten the story and what I was supposed to do in the game. The only logical thing I could do was to start over from the beginning. I'm glad I chose to finish it because this game turned out to be one of my favorites.
Story
Ozma
Unfortunately, the story is too long and complex to fit on this page. Here is a link to a separate page with the story: http://sbishop005.weebly.com/final-fantasy-ix-story.html
Pros And Cons
Story
What kind of princess says this?
The story is just what you expect from a Final Fantasy game. Ridiculous, long, and completely out there. However, you enjoy learning about the game world and the history of events that lead to the events of this game. This game brings back some older themes such as crystals and multiple planets, but it also has some original ones such as engines that run on mist and oglops.
Characters
Characters
I think that this game may have the most interesting characters. Each one has their own back story that you figure out as you play the game. My favorite one is Quina. I don't know why s/he just cracks me up! The class choices were great too. We have a Thief, Warrior, Black Mage, Blue Mage, White Mages, Summoners, Monk, and Dragoon. This gives you a variety of different party combinations for different situations.
Gameplay
Best EXP Giver
The gameplay hasn't changed much from previous games of the series. You still control a party and do battle with enemies for experience points. The battles happen randomly on the overworld or in dungeons and caves. Characters level up with enough experience points and get stronger each time they do. However, Final Fantasy IX is a huge step forward from it's predecessor. The entire GF system has been dropped, and the original one from all games before VIII has been restored. The number of party members has been increased back to four people, which is one thing I'm grateful for. I hated having only three party members. How you learn new abilities is completely new. Each piece of equipment, whether it be armor, weapons, or accessories, have certain abilities attatched to them. You can use the abilities as much as you want, but only if you wear the equipment associated with them. If you want to learn the abilities permanently, you need to collect AP which you also get from battles. Enough AP will cause you to learn the abilities for keeps and use them even without the equipment. This allows you to upgrade to stronger equipment, and learn new abilities from them, and so on. I favor this system much more than the GF system from Final Fantasy VIII. There are also many side quests available, such as the Chocograph Hunt and the secret boss Ozma, which I beat by the way! The only bad thing when it comes to gameplay would be the card game. I can't understand how it works, I just have to get lucky to win a card match. Maybe some people can understand it, but I wish it were more straight forward and gave you a walkthrough instead of text explanations.
Graphics
Amazing Visuals!
The graphics of Final Fantasy IX are amazing, especially for a Playstation game. The full motion video cutscenes look almost as good as PS2 graphics. Like most Playstation games, the 3D polygon graphics are extremely pixilated. However, they are much smoother than most other games of it's kind. The amount of detail put into the 3D models is also astounding. Also, characters have little animations while standing still that weren't present in previous games of the series.
Music
The music of this game sounds like the kind you would hear at the knights of the round table. In addition to many cool original tracks such as the hunting game, the Lindblum theme, and battle themes, there are also many returning tracks such as the Chocobo theme, victory fanfare, and prelude.
Releases
Box Art
Final Fantasy IX was originally released for the Playstation on November 13, 2000. It was then re-released on to the Playstation Network on June 15, 2010, where it could be downloaded on to all compatible devices such as PS3 and PSP.
My Rating
I give this game a 10/10. This game was another masterpiece. Not only did innovate to be more user friendly, it also went back to the style that I originally loved about the Final Fantasy series.