What was it missing?

Morrigan

Morrigan

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This game usually has mixed views.What do you think was it missing that it didn't make a very big success?Was it the time when it was released or something from the game was missing?
Would appreciate it if you gave an explanation rather than a quick answer.
 
I loved Final Fantasy IX. It was one of the most magical experiences of my life, and influenced me a fair bit when I was younger. I personally don't think it was missing anything at all that it didn't already have.

However, I know FFIX has the reputation of being the most overlooked FF, and fewer people got to play it. I think this is because:

1. The setting went back to medieval. Many of the newer fans of FF that FF7 and FF8 had hooked were fans of the sci-fi setting.

2. The graphics, while significantly improved from FF8 and in my opinion the best style of graphics for FF's, were very cartoony. Some people may have thought everything was a bit too cheesy, and that you can't take anything seriously. Me, I just took it as creative and I really enjoyed the style they chose. However the little bodies big head thing annoyed some people, the people who had been used to FF8 style realism. Since FF8, not every fan was into the fantasy element of FF anymore. There was a whole new fanbase for the semi-realistic sci-fi fantasy.


I tried to think of other reasons but they all escape me. I personally don't see how people hate it / didn't ever want to play it, but I guess it can be explained with that above, among other reasons which I can't think of.

I don't think anything was missing though. It was all there; characters, music, plot, world design, fantasy element, all done really well.
 
Argor has pretty much nailed the explanation. The game's character styles did put a lot of people off. They played FFVIII and loved the realistic looking Squall and his entourage- no chibi-like appearance like FFVII. When they first laid their eyes on FFIX, they seemed put off by how childish it looked and how Zidane has a tail. It's similar to how The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker was received.

Don't forget also that FFX was around the corner and made by a different team. It was rather late in its development stage when FFIX was released, so the prospect of a next-gen entry to the series overshadowed FFIX greatly.
 
It's partly down to the graphics and style of the game. To some it's almost like a step back from the way Final Fantasy was going. The characters were unproportional, cartoonish, even child-like in appearance. They had rats, hippos, all sorts of unusual characters. Even the main character had a tail! I think the majority of people prefer characters they can relate to, ones that look as realistic and human as possible. That's a huge reason why FFX was so popular, the amazing realism and detail of the characters really improved the gaming experience.

It's not all down to the graphics though of course. Look at how successful FFVII got! The graphics and character design of that game weren't so great, but the amazing story and gameplay put it up there as one of the greatest games ever made.

IX's story, although great and enjoyable. Was not amazing and as enticing. When I look back at the stories that I loved, VII, VIII and X come more into mind. I think it's like that with most people to.

Having said all that I really like FFIX, it's a brilliant game. I'm just explaining what I think people wouldn't have liked about it. I think it's nice that they had a change of style and went back to the traditional fantasy style. Although I do prefer the more realistic/sci-fi style.
 
Agor, I'd like to argue FFVII and it being more sci-fi related. To me it seems like FFVII is more like an alternate modern day. Especially if you think of mako like oil. Besides there wasn't any more technology in FFVII then any past FF or say FFIX. The only technology that stood out where the reactors and Midgar. If you compare it to FFIX then it's the same as Cid's city. In fact Cid's city looked more advance where as Midgar looked more modern day. So in my opinion, FFVII is more modern then sci-fi.

As for FFIX missing anything. I would agree it's not but at the same time it didn't stand out from past FFs. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice throwback to the older FFs which the series is founded on but I didn't feel it brought anything new to the series.

FFI - Started the series.
FFII - Tried to add more to the story.
FFIII - Didn't really inovate anything outside of new classes.
FFIV - First FF to have an indepth story ( as much as the snes would allow).
FFV - Added character customization.
FFVI - Didn't finish it (lost game) but from what I played it added selectable party and new story elements.

Now I can be wrong about FFIX but for a throw back it didn't add anything and it's skill system is like FFV or the stones from FFVI just preset for each char.

This is just my opinion. While I wont deny FFIX is a good game it just didn't add anything in my opinion. Feel free to respond but this is just my opinion.
 
What everyone else has said so far is right, but I also think it's because of the less mature tone that the game seemed to had. I liked it personally, but I do think it's tone is the most like FF10-2 of any of the main games. Quina (sp?) is the character I think potrays this the most, because, although I think it's really funny, it's also a light type of humor.

The characters also looked less relastic and more childlike than 8's. Oh, and the aforementioned return to Medieval thing put people off, and maybe the more traditional sound of the soundtrack as well. That's all I can think of now, if more comes I'll edit this post.
 
What was it missing? Innovation. It didn't do anything that some other FF hadn't done before. It's still a good game, but because of that it's nothing special, you know?

Plus the art style probably put a lot of people off, yeah.
 
I liked it, but then again I think most of the FF games I have played have a good story (FF8 and beyond).
 
This is an interesting topic. I loved the game, so my opinion might be bias, but I didn't think it was "missing" anything. At least, nothing that I can think of at the moment... I think the game's lack of success or attention can be attributed to a few factors that rest outside the game's actual quality:

1. The game released in like July and November in Japan and North America respectively. That means the game released after the PS2 emerged in either country. I mean, this is huge. This game should've pretty much stood where "X" is as Square's first PS2 FF or should have been released sooner, but the timing was fumbled. As a result, you've got this new super system changing people's opinions of what a video game should look and play like - a standard to which IX likely could not meet in the eyes of the general gamers.

2. Going back to the idea of stylistic preference: Given this game's medievel theme and feel, the audience that this game should've appealed to may have bailed on FF after the back-to-back releases of the post-modern VII and sci-fi VIII. In that same token, fans of these genres were probably scratching their head at the sudden break from these themes in IX. Alas, add these ratings in with those who can appreciate the game for what it was and you've got yourself a mix.
 
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HighwindPilot said:
This is an interesting topic. I loved the game, so my opinion might be bias, but I didn't think it was "missing" anything. At least, nothing that I can think of at the moment... I think the game's lack of success or attention can be attributed to a few factors that rest outside the game's actual quality:

1. The game released in like July and November in Japan and North America respectively. That means the game released after the PS2 emerged in either country. I mean, this is huge. This game should've pretty much stood where "X" is as Square's first PS2 FF or should have been released sooner, but the timing was fumbled. As a result, you've got this new super system changing people's opinions of what a video game should look and play like - a standard to which IX likely could not meet in the eyes of the general gamers.

].
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I never thought of the bolded reason and think it's an excellent point. It may have had a pretty large effect.

I think that fact it was a big change from the previous two had a big part in it as well. Also having three different main villains none of which were developed particularly well and one of which was a Sephiroth knock-off probably play a roll in people not falling head over heels for the story line. The card game was more detailed which I like but most people hate. Though I doubt cards played too much of a role in opions.

I loved FFIX though. I liked it quite a bit more then VIII and light years more then X. I actually really enjoyed the look of IX and the setting.
 
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Personally, I loved the game and it is my favorite out of the series. To be quite honest, I don't think it was missing much of anything. The timing of the release was... off. It really should have been released on the PS2.

It went back to FF's roots, and most people at the time were coming in from FFVII and FFVIII. They were just used to something completely different.

Another theory is that people weren't used to a main character like Zidane. Coming from FFVII and FFVIII they were used to a loner or an emo main character.

However, those are just my theories. All in all, FFIX is a great game, and if I had to pick on FF game to take with me to the end of time, it would be FFIX... Because FFX, and FFX-2 were terrible, and they should get the Atari "E.T" landfill treatment.
 
Tsukianei said:
Personally, I loved the game and it is my favorite out of the series. To be quite honest, I don't think it was missing much of anything. The timing of the release was... off. It really should have been released on the PS2.

It went back to FF's roots, and most people at the time were coming in from FFVII and FFVIII. They were just used to something completely different.

Another theory is that people weren't used to a main character like Zidane. Coming from FFVII and FFVIII they were used to a loner or an emo main character.

However, those are just my theories. All in all, FFIX is a great game, and if I had to pick on FF game to take with me to the end of time, it would be FFIX... Because FFX, and FFX-2 were terrible, and they should get the Atari "E.T" landfill treatment.
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I really think these theories along with the release date hold serious ground. A lot of the people who played VII and VIII started the series with VII. The playstation generation of fans weren't used to the game being like this, and had only played VII and VIII so it was a lot of big changes.

It was my favorite FF as well.
 
The cartoony style probably didn't help things either.

Also, I just remembered something else in terms of release date....

The Dreamcast was still HOT STUFF at the time. =/ It released some time in 99, and people were still apesh*t over that. So you had two mega systems vs this end-of-PS release. Not good.
 
Tsukianei said:
It went back to FF's roots, and most people at the time were coming in from FFVII and FFVIII. They were just used to something completely different.

Another theory is that people weren't used to a main character like Zidane. Coming from FFVII and FFVIII they were used to a loner or an emo main character.
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Yeah, those are some good points. They changed a lot of things that made VII and VIII really popular. Those 2 games gave Final Fantasy the huge fan base that it had (at the time) so people were looking for something as similar as possible.

As much as I liked Zidane, he may have had something to do with it too. Characters like Cloud and Squall seem better all round. HOWEVER, FFX did exceptionally well and Tidus isn't like that. Really it all boils down to gameplay and an amazing story that really draws you in. There was nothing really in IX that made it stand out, as usually each new FF game brought something amazing.

Oh and let's not forget the biggest disaster of FF/gaming history... TRANCE!!
 
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Eiko. She is a great character to some, but reckon the game was missing a great love triangle; FFVII has the Cloud x Tifa VS Cloud x Aerith debate, and FFVIII Quitstis loved Squall, but Squall loved Rinoa. Eiko being so young, she couldn't make Zidane really think twice or even test his love for Garnet. Does Zidane love Garnet that much ?. Eiko being a young teen could of tested that question especially when Zidane and Eiko are both kind of desperate to find somebody. Also thought that Eiko and Zidane had more in common personality wise too and guess making Eiko older and adding in a love triangle it might of increased the FFIX fanbase a little bit, and it could of made the love-story within FF9 a little more interesting..

FFIX is missing many things, but it has something strong that the other more mainstream Final Fantasy don't seem to have. Zidane, I love him. He is so outgoing, and cheerful he is almost like a breath of fresh air compared to the more emotional main leads of the past- Cecil, Terra, Cloud and Squall. Zidane's is possibly FFIX's strength.
 
Argor251 said:
I know FFIX has the reputation of being the most overlooked FF, and fewer people got to play it. I think this is because:

1. The setting went back to medieval. Many of the newer fans of FF that FF7 and FF8 had hooked were fans of the sci-fi setting.

2. The graphics, while significantly improved from FF8 and in my opinion the best style of graphics for FF's, were very cartoony. Some people may have thought everything was a bit too cheesy, and that you can't take anything seriously. Me, I just took it as creative and I really enjoyed the style they chose. However the little bodies big head thing annoyed some people, the people who had been used to FF8 style realism. Since FF8, not every fan was into the fantasy element of FF anymore. There was a whole new fanbase for the semi-realistic sci-fi fantasy.
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@ Bold: That, I have to agree with, Final Fantasy VII and VIII were the first FFs I played, they are what got me into it, I liked them for what they were.

But Final Fantasy IX...well, it seemed hardly anything like what they were, it was like a game of another video game franchise, a crappier one with much more of a cartoony, lighthearted feel, it wasn't dark enough, most of it seemed family friendly. >.>

@ Italic: This, I can't agree with I'm afraid. The cartoony look and feel of the game I found to be annoying and irratating, I took it as "What were they thinking..." over creative, that's all I'll comment on it. :wacky:
 
personally i did love this game, not so much as 7 or 8 but enough to enjoy the game. Everything did seem to fit in this game and the chocobo hunting just made it so much better BUT i do think it lacked in ending wise. It seemed very strange to me how the whole thing ended, the final boss i mean it just confused the hell out of me. Now that i have completely all the ffs i do understand some of it but still it seems really out of place in the way the storyline played out. For me it seems the whole way through you believe its kuja and then bam and weird things comes in, no warning just like they had given up on thinking of a good ending lol.

really out of place so maybe that could have been dealt with a lot easier. Other than that the ending and everything suited the game and i loved it.

it didnt lack much apart from what i said
 
Well I don't think this game was missing anything. I think it's other Final Fantasy games that are missing the magic that this game had. And this is one of the only Final Fantasy games I can think of that had a truly "Fairy Tale" happy ending. This game has everything I look for in a game. I think it was a huge improvement on FF7 and 8.
 
Oh my gosh. Obviously anyone who's ever played this game knows that Trance is the stupidest thing ever. That could've been a biggy, except it didn't really go up that fast. I think the only time I ever put it to use was fighting Necron. And then the battles are very slow also. I also didn't really like the pixelated field map characters. Their faces often looked all grainy and nasty. There's also the issue of Chocobo Hot and Cold. That was annoying, but not vexing. Either way, it did detract some from the game. Other than that, this game was perfect.
 
I heard from a friend that this game was never really complete due to it needing to be released by a certain date. Apparently there are blocked tunnels that would have explained more about Freya, Armarant, Vivi, and I think some of the other characters.

Maybe we'll get lucky one day and will rerelease this game with all this added in.
 
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