FFIX: Love it or Hate it?

[B-l-ackstage]

Of course I love this game! The freshness here is never ending, you can replay it and replay it that seems like you just played it once!

And then there are always nice sidequests like the chocobos, or even the exploring of new regions!

I'd love next FF to be less futuristic and be more like IX.

 

[Squid]

love love love. my fave game of all time! beautiful characters and a fun story and battle system!!

i hate those who hate this game ;_;

 

[Alpha Spirit]

I don't know what to say. It's a solid game, but for me it isn't worth the name Final Fantasy. I thought it was good at first, but after playing VIII and VI and a bit of the older FF games, I started to hate this game.

The worst thing about IX are the characters. Some of them are alright like Freya or maybe Dagger/Garnet, but the rest is just a joke, especially Quina. The design of the game is a major turn off for me. The Disney-like characters and surroundings turned me off totally. I expected the villains to be better, but I was disappointed with Kuja and the two 'clowns'. Brahne was probably the worst. I hate her, not because she is the enemy, but because of her design. What was the point? Ugly person = Bad person?
I don't like the ability system which was far too simple for me. I never payed attention to Trance, because the game was too easy.

I really liked the music in the game. It was just right and it didn't seem out of place. The humor was really welcome, especially for a game like this. Some mini games were amazing, like the Chocobo mini game.

All in all, I don't like the game, but I do understand why a lot of people love this game. It is just not my type. I can't argue much about it, because I've only played to the half of disc two, twice.

 

[Breon]

1st ff i bought love it but not my favourite and vastly underrated.

 

[Kaiser6012]

I'm a big fan of FF9, to the extent where I'd probably say it's my favourite FF of all. The artistic direction they took with that game is a jewel, it really is - from the new character design harkening back from the days of FF I-III to the excellent music to the fact that everybody plays completely differently in abilities capable of being learned (that's a big one in my book... FF7, 8, 10 and 12 all felt like the characters were entirely interchangable in combat).

A gem. If you're thinking of getting it, get it. You won't be disappointed if you look at it with an open mind.

 

[Krisp]

Final Fantasy IX is one of my favorite video games ever; it's also my favorite of the series. It was the first Final Fantasy I ever played, thanks to my friend for letting me borrow her PlayStation and copy of FF9!

I absolutely love the main characters, story, and battle system. The only other game that rivals FF9 is FF7.

 

[Kryptoncat]

I had been wanting to play IX a few years before I actually got the game, so when I received it I practically placed those discs on a pedestal instead of my PS2. Now, I would say the actual game was a let-down, but I can't. It was as good as I heard it was, and I'm grateful for people recommending it to me. This game packs a lot of heart into its characters; its always good to mash monsters and stuff with a cast you care about. I like a good story almost as much as a good game, so a combination of the two is definitely a plus for me.

I have a few random thoughts about the game: IX's music is fantastic; some pieces are quite lovely and fit the mood of the game nicely. The gameplay is decent; the same battle system felt a lot smoother in X, but IX's works adequately and the game is still fun. Boss battles are a treat; it's too bad some bosses (like the Waltzes and Gizamaluke) show up only as a one scene wonder. The chocobo game is addicting. Period. As for the "chibi-ness" of the characters, I like it just fine, in fact, I kind of prefer the style. Maybe I just like a variety of realistic and non-realistic looking games.

Anyway, the main selling point of this game for me was the setting - pseudo medieval with a touch of punk, like most FF games, except this one has a whole load of different species wandering around its continents. It makes the world more interesting, esp. for the characters whose histories aren't explained. (For instance, why are Aramant and the Queen blue? And just what is Blank, anyway?) I also like being able to play as characters from these different species, and not have a majority human party. (I'm looking at you, XII.) I see a lot of potential for the word of IX. That, as well as IX's characters, is what sucked me in; this is why I love it.

 

[Novalia]

FFIX is my favorite of the series. It probably helped that the whole idea, design, etc. of the game had me ready to love it before I even bought it. I really enjoyed the battle system, story, and pretty much everything that this game had to offer.

The characters were probably my favorite part (along with the setting). I loved every single character in this game... well, Quina wasn't one of my favorites, but I still enjoyed him/her (?). Zidane was a very good lead, and all the other characters added something enjoyable to the game. Garnet/Dagger wasn't just your average princess, although she had many princess-like qualities, Steiner was hilarious (CLANK CLANK CLANK) while also showing a great deal of courage and loyality, Freya was just a complete badass, Vivi was extremely loveable -- you just had to sympathize with him, and Beatrix... was even more of a badass than Freya. Quina was just kind of there for comic relief, but it felt right to me somehow. I mean, most games have characters like that, so I didn't really mind. And contrary to common opinion, I thought Kuja was a very intimidating villain.

The setting is where I really fell in love. The concept of a purely medieval FF setting had me hooked. Every time you went to a new city or village I always got excited because the scenery and detail was so beautiful and felt so real.

Don't even get me started on the gorgeous music...

Personally, I thought this game was a huge triumph for Square.

 

[Zidane4life]

This game was the best for me by far. i remeber when I was 12 watching the previews I thought it was a movie at first lol

Imagine if they had voices with the characters,this game definitley would of blown all the other final fantasy out.

I strongly feel that out of all the couples in the other final fantasy games that Garnet and Zidane have the best relationship.

 

[Wulfe]

hello, I just beat this game and OMG it top all of the Final Fantasy's that I have played!!! great Game and the Music goes so well with the dialog and the mood of the game its one of my top Favs

 

[Link2010]

Have fun being pissed off at everything I'm typing in order to vent the anger this game gives me.

I played this game a while ago after beating FF VII VIII and X. My friend recommended this game to me saying it was his favorite of all the FF's. I had doubts about it from the cover and reading about it. I'm not a fan of the "everyone is a midget" character designs in console games. It's ok/good on handhelds because they typically can't handle console level graphics(especially back then). I went into this game expecting a great story with good graphics(assuming Square Soft would continue their trend of increasing graphic quality over the years) and most important of all: a good battle system. I knew that the character design wasn't my fav but I was hoping the backgrounds would be better.

I'll start with what i liked: the backgrounds were colorful and had good texture. Vivi was occasionally pretty funny but took way too long to grow a pair.

now i'll move on to what i hate about the story: The story was horribly uninteresting. Never in any game I've ever played have I been less interested in a story and its characters.

Zidane is supposed to be 16 years old but he's 4 feet tall and runs around like a 5 year old thinking he can take on armies and get all the girls.

Steiner was aggravating as all get-out. Every time I saw his name in the text box I wanted to scream because he would just yell at Zidane or freak out about Garnet aka Dagger.

*sigh* Dagger... I made the mistake of keeping that name because I like to keep the characters authentic on my first playthrough(s). Dagger... how can I take that seriously? They would've been better off letting you keep the name. It's not like she'll walk around town with her name over her head like it was an MMO regardless of what she wears. We, the players, are the only people outside of the main protagonists, who would know her name.

Freya is the inevitable love part of this fiasco of a game. Searching the world for her long lost love vowing to not return home until he is found even though he might return during those unknown years. Oh yeah, remember how she swore never to return? well apparently that doesn't count for that one time when she returns there with the main team.

Amarant is the big lone-wolf type who Zidane butts heads with until Zidane "opens Amarant's eyes" to the brighter side of everything.

The main antagonist, Kuja, is a gender-confused pubescent boy who was supposed to be eventually weaker than, and live less than Zidane, who was also created by some guy to be his angel's of death. Like any predictable story, Kuja grows to be too strong for his creator to handle and was (of course) killed by Kuja. How else could Kuja be more stereotyped and bland? Give him a big revelation after you beat him where he changes his ways and while Zidane is shown to be very alive Kuja is unknown, or as writer's say: is left to be interpreted by the player.

Let's move on to the battle system:

Hold on, I just need to go make a sandwich while my ATB bar fills. Words can't describe how slow this game moves in the battles.

And trance? Well the only thing i have to say about that is that Square Soft fucked up limits more and more after VII. In VIII you could only use them when you were low on health which made sense because then you couldn't just get your limit bar filled then heal and fight the boss; it was bad because once you got aura plus the lionheart limit break nothing stands any chance against you. Finally the limit hit rock bottom on IX. You save and eagerly go to fight the boss. What's that? the save was an extra screen away from the boss and now you have a random fight? What's THAT? your trance bar is full for the first time in 2 different areas and now you're forced to use it in this pointless random encounter that you will fight every time you load the save? Oh darn, now the trance is gone for another 2 bosses. What's the point of having special abilities(not unique commands like steal, blk magic, or summon) if you can't control when you use them or at least can't be used when you really need them because you're about to die?

oh MAN do I hate this game.

 

[Sushilvr]

Absolutely loved this game
I loved everything from characters, story line, to songs.

 

[Starships]

Love this game ! It's one of the best Final Fantasies in the series. IX had it all. Good characters, and excellent storyline and music. And it was also really emotional in parts. If it wasn't for Final Fantasy VI, I would say that FF IX is completely the best Final Fantasy ever created.

i hate those who hate this game ;_;

I wanted to say this, but I didn't have the balls. But yeah, I agree.

 

[Unknown King]

a game that grew on me. I couldn't get into it when I first played it ,the style wasn't my thing back then and I wanted a bit more sci fi.I had some real issues with the levelling up system ,it felt more like in the early stages of previous games they didn't punish you so hard if you hadn't completely got to grips with the system or grinded like crazy.but in this one you had to set aside the main game a bit more to get your characters up to scratch,well that's what I found in comparison to 7 and 8.I played it more like 7 and 8 at first and I was annoyed that I couldn't get past gizamaluke. was a while before I went back to it and started again from scratch. once I really put some time into it though it worked it's charm on me a treat and now I consider it one of my favourites.

 

[DonTonberry]

I love this game! It seriously feel like a Final Fantasy game, if that makes any sense...

The environment, settings, characters...everything...all memorable. I'd like to play it again soon, actually. I believe a lot of people love this game because of the storyline, to be honest. It's great and pure fun.

I totally know what you mean, it's one of my absolute favourites. Mainly because it was the first that I played but yeah... Totally love it.

 

[chrono trigger]

this and VII are the best of final fantasy.

 

[ribbit]

My favorite Final Fantasy next to X. I love the story and the ability system. I also like the straying away from the whole Sci-Fi thing that was built in VII and VIII. I liked them, but IX is much more traditional and all around fun. The emotion put into the story is great, too. And the ending is the best with Zidane's return.

 

[Sir Rusty]

This was the third Final Fantasy I ever played and it immediately was and still is still my favorite, it is the game i can play over and over and never get tired of it. I enjoyed the change from the more "realistic" style of its predecessors as well as the more fixed job class type system instead of materia or junction systems.

 

[OmniWrench 8000]

FF IX is the only FF I've played. After researching about the series, I chose IX as my starting point, and downloaded it from the PSN almost 4 weeks ago. One of the best games I've played!

In other words, I love it. If I do play another FF, I'll still end up viewing IX as my favorite.

 

[Climhazzard]

Love it. I love it so much infact I bought it from the PS Store to re-play on my PS3 even though I have the game for PS1.

At least it gave me an excuse to start another save.