FFIX: Best of The Best

Let me begin this blog post by saying that Final Fantasy IX is my favourite game of all the main series, so if anything, lots of praise should be expected. 

Final Fantasy IX is the ninth game of the Final Fantasy main series. It was the last one on the PS1 (PSX) and the least successful in terms of sales compared to the titles surrounding it (VII, VIII, and X). Even though IX wasn't as groundbreaking for fans as VII for example, or even VIII, it still remains for me (and others like Hironobu Sakaguchi, Final Fantasy creator himself) the greatest Final Fantasy yet.

It's Fantasy!

The perfect mix of cuteness and power.  

It's that simple. It's lots of Fantasy. Isn't that what Final Fantasy made for? To make you immerse with a world that is not there? FFIX has done that brilliantly. You got an entirely different world. Yes, all Final Fantasies aren't at planet Earth or Milky Way, but not all FFs had population made of simply animals like Hippos and Rats. It's refreshing from VI, VII and VIII since all those mostly got human beings. It's not that much of a big deal, but it does add a bit to the fantasy. If you want to play a game to escape the real world, nothing will change when you are surrounded by humans - same thing as real life! It's not a lame thing to have in other games, though. Fantasy is different from real life, and the more a setting is different, the closer it is to be a fantasy.

Speaking of different creatures. Almost 3/4 of the main cast are freaks, and only two are human beings. You got a Rat in Freya, a Unicorn (Ahem) in Eiko, a...a...Qu..thingy in Quina and so on. It has been done in FFVII with Red XIII, and Barret Cait Sith, and they felt unique from the rest of the cast. See? That's fantasy. It's more significant when you give it a good thought.

The Nostalgia element

Never mind. This game isn't nostalgic AT ALL.

If you played all the Final Fantasies before this one, and loved them, you'll have such a wonderful experience playing FFIX. It has references. Lots of lots of lots of them. Almost everything from small to big got something from a past game. The Rufus parade song, a random old man with the name Locke in Lindblum, The music from Doga's manor... I could go on forever! If you got the good eye and the alert brain, you might spot them. Even if you go critical about the game and say that you didn't like it because of the story or the gameplay or anything, you're going to adore seeing all those memories from past FFs you played. 

FFIX is my first ever Final Fantasy, but still, I enjoyed those references when I came back to play it after finishing all past FFs. It felt great.

The Visuals

*Squeals*

Final Fantasy IX is beautiful. Stunning. Masterful. Jaw-dropping. It had the sights to behold. I came back 9 years later after playing the game; looking at some FMVs and just...it's unbelievable what had they achieved so far back. The colouring for places like the Chocobo Forest and Lindblum Castle are eye-candy. Cleyra is absolutely gorgeous, and its idea of being a settlement around the sand gives the fantasy part a good point. Just try this: When you play the game, look around. Stare on the backgrounds and have a fair look around. IMO only FFXII surpassed it in terms of details and beauty.

More into things you can look at, but this one had lots of controversy going: The character designs. They are short and cartoon-ish. This didn't go well with fans, especially those who played a lot of VII and VIII then expected some manly, tall bodies. IX took a turn and returned to something similar to the old, short, small sprites that were used in the 2D era. This adds a point more to both nostalgia and fantasy. It's a matter of taste really. When I played it, I never cared about how small or cartoon-ish the characters were. Even after I played it when I'm old enough. I just noticed it and carried on playing. There's nothing wrong since this kind of style can be seen in lots of games, older ones specifically.

Oh, I forgot to add that Princess Garnet is absolutely gorgeous. There, I did.

Brief points

• It is a very simple game. Learning and mastering how to play the game isn't hard at all. You gain levels by fighting. You learn Abilities by equipping certain equipments and keep those abilities after collecting AP from battles. It can be the perfect start for any RPG gamer. Like FFIV and FFVI, each character also got a certain class that makes them unique in stats, armoury, and skills. Which makes the gameplay more unique and refreshing. It can be too easy at times, though. And the Trance system needs some tweaks. This is my only problems with it. The story wasn't complicated or hard to get, either. I won't talk about it since I'd like to keep it spoiler-free.
• Music in this game is superb. As I mentioned before, it got remixes and new versions of some pieces from past FF games, and the original tracks are no pushover. It maintained the medieval/steampunk feel to the game and added more with its variety, like the Spanish "Vamo Alla Flamenco" tune, the lovely piano piece "Roses of May", and the much-adored Black Mage Village track. It keeps this variety and consistency for most of the game. Go buy the OST. Now.
• For an old, eastern game, this is an excellent point. The translation was almost perfect. This is where IX just walks all over VII. It also had a very fine script originally and a cute sense of humour. They had the hard job of dealing with things such as the play "I Want To Be Your Canary", which used a rather archaic Japanese.
• It's also very lively. You're usually going to see kids running around, hear workers hammering in nails, read some funny conversations between couples at Treno. Rarely dull. 
• Princess Garnet is gorgeous.

And that concludes the post. Final Fantasy IX, even though it got praised a lot, deserved more. It was certainly among the greatest games on the PS1, and certainly one of my favourite games of all-time.

The best game ever? Debatable. The best Final Fantasy ever? Yes.