Final Fantasy IX (9)

Today is the day where 18 years ago I became obsessed with RPG’s. This is one of those games that was the making of me as a console gamer, so instead of Throwback Thursday here is my review on Final Fantasy IX. I will try and keep the rose tint down to a minimum.

This game was released in the year 2000 and was the last Final Fantasy for PS1, as Final Fantasy X (10) was released on the PS2. It was a 4 disc game, and was the first game of its kind I had ever seen before.

I want to make a special mention to the graphics, whilst the character models were the very good, the world around the characters were outstanding for their time. Using painted backgrounds and imposing character on them for the game must have taken a great deal of work, but the game benefited immensely from this graphics hack.

Waxing lyrical about the backgrounds in-game, but the cutscenes were next level. Even though the game is made in a more cartoonish style, they were absolutely gorgeous and blew any other game out of the water. It really was a showcase of how much power the Playstation 1 had.

After talking about how it looks, time to move on to how it plays. It is a pretty standard JRPG (Japanese Role Playing Game) where you wander around the area your in, talk to people, casually walk into people’s homes and rob them without complaint. The real gameplay comes in the form of combat. The combat system in this game uses a timer after each attack for everyone, so you really need to have a few strategies on the fly for any encounter, you have a variety of magiks, skills, abilities and attacks you can use. Your power up comes in the form of ‘Trance’, where you gain access to special abilities as well as an increase in damage. Unfortunately ‘Trance’ can only be gained by taking damage and will automatically turn on when the bar is full. this lack of control can be frustrating when you want to save it for a boss battle.

Storywise, this is a heist gone very wrong, wrong in ways no thief could ever imagine. Of course, a series of events leads you to collect a motley crew (which seems odd since the main character leaves his original crew at the start, bit of a dick move but hey) and save the entire world. The story has a Princess, love, duty, a child living on her own, a chef that eats anything from frogs to monsters and questions of mortality, fate and existence. Pretty heavy stuff, but over the 4 discs you come to really sympathise with these characters and become incredibly invested in their personal character developments. Personally Vivi’s plot was both profound and heartbreaking. I’m not entirely sure I’ll ever get over it.

And for the bugs, I never found any. I played this game when I was younger and again when I was an adult. Both times (and multiple playthroughs) have yet to yield any bugs and delivered a fantastic (retro) gaming experience. I’d recommend this to anyone that wants a story rich game they want to sink their teeth into for a few weeks (months).

Hints and Tips, your gonna need em:

• Prepare to grind! Grinding is an unfortunate JRPG habit and there is no exception here. My advice, early in the game you come across a fountain that heals your party up. Stick near there and grind a few levels before venturing out of the forest.
• Weapons are sacred, do not sell them! Between teaching you skills and using them to make better weapons, selling your weapons is a seriously bad idea.
• Mix and match your party members frequently, lest they become too low level to be useful. Every character has useful skills so keep their levels high.
• My favourite pairing suggestion is Steiner and Vivi, turning your tank into a magic damage Tank!
• Be patient with Quina, the more she eats things the more abilities she gets with Blue Magic. Also feed her frogs, it will make her strong.
• Summons will kick all kinds of ass so keep them in mind when choosing party members.
• Keep an eye on your trance, if you can time it near a boss life can become a lot easier.
• Make every effort to not have your characters level a multiple of 5, there is a bullshit move enemies can use that kills characters whose level is a multiple of 5 (I am still angry about this).