After 8 tries, Squaresoft's masterpiece is finally here.
Written: Apr 24 '01 (Updated Apr 24 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Outstanding plot/Soundtrack, character themes, and graphics that are as realistic as fantasy gets.
Cons: Too many bosses, but at least they're beatable this time.
The Bottom Line: Moogles, Chocobos, Eidolons, Titanic Battles, Love and War....Graphics, Sounds, Story....Most of all, replayability...I could go on and on. This game has it all.
Reaver1019's Full Review: Final Fantasy IX for PlayStation 1
Okay folks, I am breathless after completing what I consider Square's best achievement in it's hit Final Fantasy series. I am more than impressed, I am speechless.
After years of playing Final Fantasy games and finding flaws in every installment of the series that have ruined the experience, Final Fantasy IX is a welcome respite. I am pleased to say that Squaresoft went out of their way to take all that was good in their previous attempts and to put it all into a single game...completely obliterating all complaints I've ever had about Final Fantasy games.
The first 5 FF's were ok...they were the start of it all, but the lack of technology available when Final Fantasy started out wasn't enough to back up the famous final fantasy storylines. As techonology improved, however, so did Square's design. Introducing new recurring characters such as chocobos, moogles, and Cid (For those of you that havn't relaized it, there has been a character named Cid in EVERY Final Fantasy to date), helped a great deal. Unfortunately, all Fianl Fantasies were still too similar to be considered great, and the lack of technology continued to make these games little more than cartoons.
Hark, another genius at Squaresoft comes up with FF5, in which character job classes come into play. Mimes, Black Mages, Red Mages, Blue Mages, and Dragon Knights join the FF world. Then came FF6, in which a different style of play was introduced and the player finally got to choose from a variety of skilled characters to be in his/her adventuring party. On top of that, FF6 introduced supporting characters...characters that come and go but really just spice things up.
Then FF7 took the playstation by storm. It had everything, except realistic character designs and the medieval style of fantasy that had previously made it famous. Characters were believable and I;ve known people who actually cried because the plot was so good in the 7th installment. Unfortunately, Square was never good at endings and the 7th ending pretty much was a disappointment.
I won't even get into FF8, because FF8 bombed. Featuring realistic action and virtually the worst plot I ever saw...Not to mention impossible bosses and monsters...It just wasn't worth it.
And now, 9. Back to the roots. Final Fantasy is Fantasy once more, but with graphics to back up the story. The job classes from FF5 return...main characters are based on them. There are Black Mages, Red Mages, White Mages, Dragon Knights galore...some are playable, some are not.
The supporting characters idea from 6, as well as the option to choose between various character skills to form your party are a part of the 9th installment as well. The awesome villains, story, and action from 7 complete the masterpiece.
There are so many twists and turns in the plot it is almost heaven. All the supporting characters come and go, not only adding to the story as a whole, but to each individual main character's history as well. 8 main character storylines combine to make one big plot. It is almost like playing a novel. There are so many factors in this game's storyline, I'll pay you to name them all! Good luck.
I am also pleased to say that Squaresoft has learned how to do endings! All the pieces actually fell into place when I beat the game, unlike all the other games in the series. No, I'm not going to tell you the ending. You're just going to have to buy the game and see for yourself.
Square has also done away with the save points. Instead, our old friends the Moogles are our save points. It is far more realistic this way, because a traveling moogle is far more likely to be in a dark cave than a floating save point (*cough**cough*FF1-FF8*cough*). Chocobo forests are still available for those of you who love those birds as much as I do.
As for those creatures the player is able to summon in every Final Fantasy, they're all back. Bahamut, Atomos, Leviathan, Alexander, Ramuh, Ifrit, Shiva, Fenrir, Carbuncle, and many more of the legendary beasts known as eidolons are once more at the player's disposal. And to my delight, they are not only available to the player, but to enemies as well! Fantastic Computer Generated movies depict these monsters as they level anything ranging from cities to enemies!
Alas, one thing Final Fantasy is famous for...Bad guys never die! AHHHHH! It makes me so mad to kill what I think is the last boss only to have to fight another one, or that same boss in a more powerful form. Why don't they just die? I can say, at least, that you don't have to max your cahracters out like you did in FF8 to beat one stupid boss. You know how long it took me at my BEST to beat the last boss(es) in FF8? An hour and a half. It took ten minutes in FF9. Don't get me wrong, bosses in FF9 are a challenge, but not to the point where you need 3 hours and a whole lot of firepower to win.
Anyway, I suppose you're wondering what the story is ABOUT. The game begins with the abduction of a princess by a thief, progresses into the titanic clashes of armies and eidolons, and sprouts into an adventure well worth your time and far better than any other Final Fantasy to date. Fight villains that are almost as good as FF7's Jehova and Sephiroth, defend helpless civilians as battles rage around you, watch love and hate cause turmoil in an otherwise peaceful land, and see what YOU can do to stop that turmoil. Little do you know, your war will take place in multiple dimensions on multiple planets and you'll need your allies to survive. It's an action packed adrenaline rush that I have never, ever, experienced in a final fantasy game. I suggest you try it.
PS- There is something else I see in FF9 that I never saw in any other Final Fantasy except for FF7...REPLAYABILITY. There are so many choices that there is more than one way to beat the game! It is worth the effort to play again and find out what you can do differently. Hats off to you Squaresoft, I'm impressed.
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