Final Fantasy IX

by **Shell** Sun Aug 08, 2010 9:35 pm

Final Fantasy IX is the ninth game in the Final Fantasy series. The story follows a young thief, Zidane, as he and his fellow Tantalus Theatre Ship crewmates plot to kidnap the princess of Alexandria, Garnet. We also meet Vivi, a young black mage who wants to see the theatre troop preform at the castle, but discovers his ticket is a fake. With the help of a rat, Puck, he sneaks into the show. During the show, Tantalus attempt to kidnap the princess from under the nose of her bodyguard, Steiner. Little did any of them realize, but Garnet actually wanted to be kidnapped, and taken to nearby Lindblum (Yeah, because all kidnapping victims have a choice of where they get taken... ¬_¬) Vivi gets mixed up in the resulting battle to take the princess away from her mother, the once-peaceful Queen Brahne, who has been acting rather strangely recently. Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Steiner and the crew of the Tantalus crash land in the Evil Forest (so called because, well, it's a forest...that's y'know, evil...) And so begins the game. Along the way you'll meet new companions, new foes, fight monsters, learn new abilites, play card games, even jump rope.

Gamespot have an reasonbly fair review of FFIX on their site here, they do a better job of it than I can :3

Personal Review
FFIX was the first RPG I ever played, and it whet my appetite for more. It has the most beautiful graphics for a game of it's era that I feel still hold up today. The music is superb, composed by one of the most respected video game composers, Nobuo Uematsu. The story is engaging throughout, touching on the subjects of love, life, death, betrayal, even the nature of exsistance. The main characters are well thought out, and you'll see sequences in the game which help you understand their motives.

The game does have some flaws, such as the card game, Tetra Master. It's very confusing, and at times seems completely random. Part of the game requires you to win a Tetra Master tournament, and it's very irritating to have to save in-between matches and load the game again should you lose. Leveling up is also a bit of a bore, but it's well worth spending time on as it makes the game easier in the long run.

Pros:
~ Beautiful pre-rendered backgrounds with amazing detail
~ The soundtrack. At one point I had the victory music as my alarm tone, because there's no better feeling that waking up like a winner!
~ The storyline is so engaging, time will fly but you'll never feel like it's been wasted.
~ Chocobos! *kweh* Moogles! *kupo* *geeks out*

Cons:
~ Tetra Master.
~ Thorn and Zorn. Easily the most annoying characters in the history of gaming.

I give this game:
sunny

Not quite perfect, but pretty damn close!