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Final Fantasy IX (ファイナルファンタジーIX, Fainaru Fantajī Nain) is a 2000 role-playing video game developed and published by Square for the PlayStation video game console. It is the ninth title in the main Final Fantasy series and the last to debut on the original PlayStation. The game plot centers on the consequences of a war between nations in a medieval fantasy world called Gaia. Players follow bandit Zidane Tribal, who kidnaps Alexandrian princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII as part of a gambit by the neighboring nation of Lindblum. He joins Garnet and a growing cast of characters on a quest to take down her mother, Queen Brahne of Alexandria, who started the war. The plot shifts when the player learns that Brahne is a pawn of a more menacing threat, Kuja, who shares a mysterious history with Zidane spanning two worlds.
The game was developed alongside Final Fantasy VIII. Envisioned by developers as a retrospective for the series, it departed from the futuristic settings of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII by returning to the medieval style of the first six installments. Consequently, it was influenced heavily by the original Final Fantasy game, and features allusions to the rest of the titles. Despite this approach, the game did introduce new features to the series, such as "Active Time Event" cutscenes, "Mognet", and unique equipment and skill systems.
Final Fantasy IX was released to critical acclaim. It is often cited by critics and fans as one of the best Final Fantasy titles, and holds the highest Metacritic score of the series. Final Fantasy IX was commercially successful, selling more than 5 million copies worldwide by March 2003 and 5.5 million copies by February 2016. It was re-released in 2010 as a PSOne Classic on the PlayStation Store; this version was compatible with PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable, and PlayStation Vita support arrived in 2012. In 2016, ports featuring minor gameplay and graphical enhancements were released for iOS, Android and Microsoft Windows followed by a port for PlayStation 4 in 2017.
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Final Fantasy IX reviews and comments
The gameplay loop centers around using your equipment to learn different abilities. It is essentially a blend of the previous esper and materia systems. Like in Final Fantasy VII, abilities are linked to your armor and weapons. Rather than holding slots for materia items, however, this equipment acts similar to espers in Final Fantasy VI, granting abilities which can be used once enough experience is gained with that item. One key improvement made in FFIX is how the ability systems meshes with character traits and classes. In the past, allowing characters to learn new abilities at will erased their uniqueness in battle. That problem is not present in this game. Outside of abilities, characters have intrinsic battle styles and techniques which give them an original playstyle according to their class. As characters have these different classes, their sets of usable equipment are generally unique to them. Because abilities are learned from equipment, this means that the set of available abilities for one character will not be the same for others. Additionally, some abilities can only be learned by some characters, regardless of whether they can equip the armor. For example, only a white mage will have use for a gem which teaches a new summon, even though any party member can equip it. This introduces a system of trade-offs, deciding whether to use a sword with worse stats if it can give you access to a new spell or ability. This system creates an incredibly rewarding leveling pursuit, as experience goes to level up your party but also give them new powers.
Despite these strides made in the leveling loop, I would argue it is not the driving factor of Final Fantasy IX. This, of course, would be the story. FFIX synthesizes the most complimentary collection of heroes, villain, and setting that the series has seen. The typical fantasy world may not hold as much intrigue as say, Final Fantasy 7. However, the theme of the setting does not stand out as much as its variety does. The differing designs of Alexandria, Burmecia, Madain Sari, Lifa Tree, Terra, and the overworld make this world feel alive more than any other. Helping to populate this world is the diverse cast of party members joining you throughout. Each has a distinguishable identity and motive for joining you, although some may be more fleshed out than others. Despite the strengths of these heroes, the villain is truly what steals the show. As mentioned above Kuja is a more fully explored and realized iteration of Kefka from Final Fantasy VI. Given a fuller background and more distinct identity, Kuja serves as an excellent foil to your party. Further examining his character reveals that he is not even the primary villain in the game. In fact, there very well may not be one. At the center of this game's conflict is the matter of mortality itself. The catalyst and object of your quest is the people involved coming to terms with life, death, and their meanings. The entire events of the game stem from these questions, and I struggle to think of something harder to answer.
In all honesty, I was feeling very burnt out after finishing Final Fantasy VIII. I even started this game feeling unenthusiastic, just going through the motions to finish it. Final Fantasy IX was able to overcome this disenchantment and pull me deep into its world. The compelling mixture of improved gameplay and story elements crafted into a complete experience make this game a thoroughly worthwhile adventure, and a tragedy to pass up.