Is IX the darkest Final Fantasy game?

FFVIII was dark and scary! The Rinoa and Ultimecia thing.scares the hell out of me. FFVIIl had a dark atmosphere and I think that was because Ultimecia was trying to control time. The music was dark as well. It was just.... dark.
 
Marshy said:
I say that Final Fantasy Tactics has a more darker story to it. Its also all about death. The whole story is about people fighting over Ivalice and back stabbing eachother. Delita is the biggest backstabber of them all cause he just watches as his master plan folds out. Its also revolves around the zodiac brave story where they find stones that turn the hosts into creatures that are ancient and its death all around. If you've played this game, you would know what im talking about.
Click to expand...


You said the exact thing I was thinking. lol! I think Tactics is one of the darkest games I've played--I didn't finish it, but I saw the ending. It's... crazy dark. ^^; So much so that my parents didn't like me watching it being played (I was pretty young when it first came out). That's gotta win for the "darkest."
 
I personally think IX is the darkest, despite it's playful aspects.

I've always been a fan of such things. Like Zelda TP- definitely darker in comparison to others.

But I think FFXII is a close second as far as this goes as well.
 
I think VI, VII and VIII are all darker than IX. Visually, IX is far more pleasant than WoR in VI and the environmental destitution of VII. Even the premise of VI and VII is darker, there is no fairytale ending in either whereas in IX there is. Not to mention the soundtrack.
 
The FFVII soundtrack is overrated. While much of it is great and punctuating to the tone and charm of the game, I was not impressed with the boss theme, gold saucer, chocobos, and so on.
FFIX's soundtrack was great all around. FFVIII's was good, but not as great as IX and X. FFVI was too lighthearted besides the WoR, which was only dark for a matter of time before everyone comes back together.
FFIX just kind of immersed itself in a dark, ominous setting altogether. I guess VIII is the sort of the same, but VII not so much. That one is too much balls to the wall to be dark in my opinion.
FFIX's boss theme- it doesn't get much darker then that :D
And FFX, despite my indiscretions for some of it, is very dark come Yunalesca and Seymour going insane.
 
Well, being new here, I thought I'd weigh in with my tuppence worth. Bear in mind this may ramble a little, as I absolutely adore FFIX. That being said:

Purely in terms of death and destruction, FFIX is an incredibly dark game. I won't bother with spoilers, as I would assume anyone reading this thread has already played the game, but if not, I advise you to skip this post.

Anyways, while a lot of people already have catalogued which cities get destroyed when, that serves simply as an overview. FFIX isn't dark purely because of how may cities get levelled, but also (and moreso) because of how it depicts the sheer chaos and barbarity involved in such acts. When you walk through Burmecia, you see the bodies of murdered Burmecians lying everywhere. When Cleyra is attacked, you witness the Cleyran families beign set upon by Black Mages. When you walk through Lindblum after it is attacked, you the player see the destroyed buildings, the children looking for missing parents, the wounded people lying in the streets. It's not just the scale of destruction that gives FFIX its subversively dark atmosphere, it's the way in which Square almost perversely shows it to you in detail. The developers happily nuke a city, then force you to walk through the rubble, taking in the sheer senselessness of the destruction.

However, all this talk of death has, I feel, somewhat stunted the discussion in that we've neglected to mention the other things that make FFIX so dark. Because heavy themes in a narrative don't just come from death and destruction. There are a million other ideas that can lend heavy material to a narrative. For starters, and pertaining to FFIX: slavery. The entire idea of the Black Mages is a race of mindless dolls, created from the fermented souls of the dead, forced to act as tools of destruction. Remember that scene at the start of the game where Puck wrangles Vivi into being his 'slave'. That's simply foreshadowing the bigger twist coming along later- that the entire race of Black Mages are slaves and puppets to Brahne and Kuja. Even worse, despite developing self-awareness, practically all of them run back to Kuja later on in a desparate bid to extend their lifespan. Voluntarily choosing slavery because of a fear of the unknown- that's pretty heavy stuff right there.

Heck, even the villain is a slave, if you look at it from a certain point of view. Kuja spends his whole life manipulating an entire world to go to war, but does so for what he thinks is his own enjoyment, rather than the benefit of Terra. Believing himself immortal, he thinks he can just keep pushing Gaia to destruction, and enjoy watching the show for as long as he likes. Then Garland reveals that, actually, the wars he's created serve the purpose of Terra, and he's going to die soon. Without realising it, he's been doing what Garland wants him to all along. He's a slave to his . Ironically, the only way for him to escape that is by fulfilling his purpose to the maximum potential. Firstly by destroying Terra, his homeworld, then destroying the entire universe, and in so doing causing everyone else to die along with him. He may not have poisoned a village like Kefka, but dammit if that isn't some fucked up thinking.

And that ties into my next point- in FFIX, death is the ultimate unknown. Whereas FFVII has the Lifestream, and FFX the Farplane, what happens when you die in FFIX is a complete mystery. Sure, the Mist is composed of dead souls, but that's because Garland intentionally is screwing with the system. As far as what happens normally, no-one has a clue. That's what gives the characters actions such courage, but also what gives the ending such a bittersweet taste. Vivi is dead, and no-one can say where his soul has gone. It's that mystery which is the lynchpin that holds the entire plot together. And while it is no doubt an upbeat optimistic message within the game ('no-one can say where we go, so make sure you make the most of it while you're here' etc), it's a message also entwined with darkness. There are no guarantees like in other FF installments. There's no way of knowing if there's an afterlife. As the game says, you just have to accept that fact and get used to it.

As others have said, FFIX is a dark game, but also a hopeful one. Not having played every FF instalment, I can't say with any authority whether it's the darkest one. What I would say is that while it may not have a scene comparible to the Nibelheim Reactor in FFVII in terms of pure nightmare fuel, the current running underneath is a lot darker than any other FF game I've played (possibly bar Tactics). That's part of why I love the game so much: it almost intentionally juxtaposes a cheery, colourful art-style with a story full of chaos and horror. Like how they handle cities and towns in the game, it's like Square revel in showing the player something lovely, then completely and utterly breaking it before your eyes. I can't think of any other game where manic depression and muteness inform not only the story, but the actual gameplay too (especially regarding such a lovely girl as Dagger). The term on TV Tropes I believe is Break the Cutie, but I personally think in FFIX, you can apply that to pretty much the whole game. God knows there's precious little left standing on Gaia and Terra once Kuja is done...
 
Wow... "DoctorTot", you've went really in-depth there. I don't agree completely, but I see what you mean. Final Fantasy 9 definitely is a darker game... But that's what I love about the Final Fantasies--most of them are. I know that sounds really warped and demented, but... It just makes for a good story, you know?
 
I think FFVII-X were all pretty dark really, FFIX probably with the cartoonish figures didn't have the dark feel to it inless you payed attention to the whole story.

Id say X is the darkest one.

But This is pretty dark too, with all the events that go on and the characters.
I'd say from character point of view it had the most darkest side of the characters

First Zidane
He was an orphan, tried to find his birth place with a blue light, never found it, was this happy guy for most of the game, and then finds out he is created to destroy the planet that he has lived on and that he has friends and family on.

Second Garnet
She was a princess who lost her father, saw her mother going crazy, couldn't do a thing to stop her mother from causing war, Her mother steals her Elidions, plans on killing her, yet still Garnet tries to save her. Finds out that the Queen isn't her mother, yet still tries to save her to no avail. And then Garnet becomes queen, and gets attacked right away, and loses her castle and most of her kingdom, then loses her voice and feels so useless because everyone else is going through things too but still fights

Vivi time
Well first he has a fake ticket right at the start of the game... for amusement purposes... but he had a grandpa who dies before the events of the game, i think right before he goes to alexandria, He doesn't find out much about his grandpa except hes an amazing cook, (this is an argument part right here) his grandpa I guess raises Vivi so he can eat him originally.
He joins Zidane and the group, he finds mages that look like him (though not exactly like him) being created in a town, Vivi has no idea what to make of it. He then sees the black mages attacking people for war and Vivi still doesn't understand whats going on.
Then he runs into the black mage village and finds out that hes going to "stop moving" soon but isn't sure when.
He then has to destroy the source of the mist and doing this he realizes that no more mages will be made, but Vivi thinks its for the best, even though no more of his kind will be created.

I mean this is just three of the characters, You can go on with them all if you really want to, so character wise I say this is the darkest FF game...

Story wise, I think X might be a little darker.
 
I think IX is dark but you wont notice it unless you've played it more than once.
The first time I played IX I didn't really feel it was dark or scary, I didn't pay attention to the themes, it felt like a light hearted game to me. The characters were funny, the artwork was cutesy, etc.

The second time I played it I really noticed the dark themes a lot more. It has a lot to do with death and destruction, also of being used and confused.

I don't really think i need to mention anything else as most people have covered it all, already :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top