I pretty much agree with what everyone has said - I absolutely adored FF9. It covered most of the key factors of an RPG - in-depth storyline, likable characters, great dialogue & character development, relatively great graphics, some nice side quests & cutscenes, AWESOME music... (Trance Kuja battle theme anyone? <3)
I agree that the battle system could have been a tad bit faster & the whole "trance" segment could have lasted a bit longer imo. x__x But other than that, this game was pretty excellent for its time. I didn't consider the character design to be "cartoon-ish," although it differed drastically from the more mature-looking sprites in FF8. In fact, there was a lot of intricate detail in the game design overall! ^^
I agree that the battle system could have been a tad bit faster & the whole "trance" segment could have lasted a bit longer imo. x__x But other than that, this game was pretty excellent for its time. I didn't consider the character design to be "cartoon-ish," although it differed drastically from the more mature-looking sprites in FF8. In fact, there was a lot of intricate detail in the game design overall! ^^