What the World Needs is Some Final Fantasy IX Appreciation

Bob Mackey:

If you couldn't tell by the above image of 1UP's Final Fantasy IX toy collection (split between me and Marty Sliva), we're pretty big fans of the last PlayStation installment of Square's flagship series. And, really, who could blame us? While Final Fantasy IX didn't generate the same amount of hype that VII, VIII, and X did, it came into being at a time when Square's bulging coffers meant that a traditional Final Fantasy sequel didn't need to have a conga line of spin-offs trailing behind it. While Tetsuya Nomura worked his specific brand of belt-based magic on 2001's Final Fantasy X, IX released at a time when the PlayStation was passé; the Dreamcast had hit a year earlier, and the recent launch of the PS2 introduced the world to a visual standard that its predecessor couldn't dream of competing against. In this shadow of obsolescence, Square created one of the sweetest and most sincere takes on the Final Fantasy brand yet to be seen.

[bicfitness]

Except the ending was a disjointed-mess. That last boss thrown in for no discernible reason.

Rest of the game was solid. Good, quality FF. The finale was terrible though.

[stragomccloud]

That boss did feel completely random. But I actually loved the finale.

[Trago1337]

Yeah, the final boss came out of no where, but this is probably the best 3d final fantasy, because the story wasn't a mess, the characters were much more impacting, and it made numerous throwbacks to the oldschool ff's all while keeping it's own identity.

There's a reason it's Sakaguchi's favorite ff game.

Personally, however, FF6 is THE best final fantasy game in my opinion.

[Pana]

The final boss coming out of nowhere is a result of a poor translation job.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Since FF7, the FF fanbase is a lot like the Zelda fanbase.

- new FF game comes out, fans complain
- a few years go by, and that same FF game is now "an underrated classic"

FF7 is like Ocarina of Time. So many people hold it up as "the best". I remember when so many people were disappointed by FF8, and yet nowadays everyone praises it as a more mature, more developed game. FF9 was trashed when it came out, and yet now everyone loves it because it feels "old school". Most people loved FF10, but it still didn't compare to FF7. Then FF12 came out and everyone was disappointed again, but nowadays a lot of people praise it as being ahead of its time (even though everyone still hates Vaan and Penelo).

I imagine in a few years once FF15 and FF16 come out, people will look back and say "y'know, FF13 was actually a really good game". LOL

[Cirran]

I have enjoyed every Final Fantasy game to come out (Apart from XIV but a Realm reborn looks promising). Each is different than the last in a lot of ways so I just see them as separate games and don't compare them to each other. As for Zelda...I have only enjoyed Wind Waker so far.

[Summons75]

That's how I felt about FF7 after the first disc. It was great in the gameplay department but the story and characters really put me off.

I loved FF9 and I suppose I can see where your coming from with the ending but it was still a really good title. 6 will always be my favorite followed by 8 and 9.

[HarryMasonHerpderp]

Best Final Fantasy game in my opinion.
Loved every second of it from beginning to end.
Also the medieval style was awesome and I hope they bring that style back one day. Bored of the futuristic styled final fantasys now.

[stragomccloud]

Final Fantasys(Final Fantasy is a proper noun, therefore can not be inflected with the affix "ies," that is the reason for my use of the inflectional morpheme /s/) VI and IX are tied for my all time favorite Final Fantasy games.

[LightofDarkness]

I think this game is very well appreciated, certainly among FF fans. It ranks quite highly on my list and is second only to VI.

[rainslacker]

It is appreciated, and don't recall anyone that played it saying they didn't like it. But it doesn't get talked about much. Maybe once or twice a year when articles like this come out. It's probably because it's presented differently than most other FF's since VII. It's a charming game with likable characters, and not edgy and dark like the others of it's time and since.

It's probably my favorite after VI, but I like the presentation of IX better.

[Dreambox]

My all time favourite Final Fantasy. Love it so much.

[No FanS Land]

there's so much to do in this FF!
First disc is kind of boring though until you meet kuja, then it's a crazy ride until the end.

finishing the game in lvl.1
under 12hrs,

really like this FF.

[Griffin4871]

I agree that Necron was random and didn't seem necessary at all. But this is my absolute favorite FF game ever.