This game entered my life at just the right time. To this day, I haven't played another game that meant as much to me as this one. It is my all-time favorite game, and I truly appreciate you taking the time to study it like this.
Xentrax 607 same here bud! It’s great that RUclips is a platform for us to express this sentiment. Gamefaqs and other msg boards were so volatile toward IX back in the day.
After all these years I still get watery eyes when talking about Vivi. And I am a cynic asshole that makes fun of people when they show too much emotion. But this game gets me, it just does.
This game was my childhood. Bought it day 1 when it finally came on steam. Gave a copy to my gf at the time... She activated cheatcodes and rushed through the game without caring much about what was going on. It's funny for me to remember that as the thing that pissed me off the most about the relationship. Doesn't have time to talk much due to studies? Fine for me. Currently living in another city for more than a year? Fine. Talk bad about FFIX? That's inexcusable.
Final Fantasy IX is what made me want to be a game developer when I was a kid. It made me realize the potential of storytelling in games by the way they crafted character development, musical leitmotifs, and a story/gameplay harmony that complimented their interactions. (Spoiler Warning START) • When a Dagger/Garnet/Sarah goes through a traumatic event, she cannot use magic anymore because she cannot speak. • Vivi working together with Steiner to utilize the Magic sword technique, showing their respect for one another. • Zidane and Freya's rivalry at the Festival of the Hunt • Zidane and Amarant's 1 on 1 duel to determine strength • Dagger having her Eidolons early in the game (albeit latent and unusable) but are literally forcibly removed by Zorn and Thron • Quina learning there is more out there in the world by eating lots of things, literally growing his/her arsenal • Beatrix switching sides when she comes to the determination that serving the country doesn't mean anything if there isn't any virtue behind it. • When you play out a ATE (Active Time Event) you can learn about how characters interact with one another and it will affect what they will give you sometimes (Also helps to weave an intricate multifaceted story that you have the ability to opt out of) • There is more but you get the idea... (Spoiler Warning END) Both Nobuo Uematsu and Hironobu Sakaguchi have cited FFIX as their favorite along with being the one that they were most proud of. It was a paragon of what they had set out to accomplish, something quintessentially Final Fantasy
The same goes for me, but I think for me what caught my attention is how the narrative goes from a quirky adventure with a princess who WANTS to be kidnapped to an anti-god looking to destroy the whole of the universe (And that's putting aside Kuja as a character having to grapple with his mortality). And then ties it all back together at the end with Zidane telling Garnet "The kidnapping is officially over" (Despite the kidnapping having completely lost its relevance to the plot at about its half-way point).
Can't not agree about Amarant. But I always felt like Freya was handled very well. The way her dialogue is written gives you such a clear view of her personality and her story is fleshed out right from her introduction. There's a pretty decent chunk of story related to Freya for a while; everything from when you leave Lindblum till you leave Cleyra is all basically centred around her so I mean, that's a fair bit to be honest
@@leftymu Its just sad that her arc ended the moment Fratley was properly introduced. There was alot of potential, for example ypu could be meeting him in random places around the world and they could get optional scenes to develop the characters story like Vivi and Quina had...
leftymu I think the issue after Alexandria is after introductions where they get great development most of the cast become mechanics more than full characters. it's why I think if it was a bit longer it'd help characterisation but I feel that way about most RPGs where there should be a section in the middle where the party gets to know one another and go on a slightly smaller stakes adventure Persona 5 badly needed that and even though I consider 8 the best one a gradual lead up to the main plot would have helped it's pacing
FFIX is my very definition of a good JRPG. It is also a nice blend of western and asian in both style and mechanics with intricate stats and and not so much focus on nonsensical weaponry. Just the item equip system make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Love fiddling around with it.
To be fair... Tridents are big forks. Native Americans actually used the rackets they use for stickball(the origin of lacrosse) to launch rocks at enemies as weapons. SO... it's actually not THAT far from being KINDA sensible. But a literal fork? Entertaining at least.
FFIX is my favorite game of all time, when I saw this I instantly clicked... Thank you for showing some love to the best game ever Tbh it still looks great and held up compared to other PS1 games, has the best sound track only rivaled by FFX, a perfect pace, amazing gameplay loop, and so much more
Having played FFIX kind of gave me the "Avatar effect". It's sad that there's no other world in any other game similar to FFIX's Gaia. It's the first and last game of it's kind in a way.
IX has very unique world building not even just for a game. Gaja, Terra, and the extreme geography of either mists or desert makes it seem unique things that most would assume dont work together. Yet, somehow, IX works. IX has my favorite worldbuilding by a mile in games, not even just for games but maybe even adding some of my favorite books and Avatar and it still will make it in my top 5 or 10. Truly inspiring
Interesting that you mention Avatar, I just finished The Last Airbender series and the sadness I felt when done reminded me of the same once I finished FFIX 18 years ago. I'm a geography guy and both have some of the best world's I've ever come across. Nothing will ever match FFIX, but at least ATLA has the 2nd best character development of anything and the 3rd best world (behind FFT and FFIX).
@@MiloKuroshiro honestly i hated the 3 different stories structure in bbs, the first playthrough was fine but repeating the same stuff with the other characters to see the end of the story was an absolute pain, especially since bbs has arguably the floatiest and stiffest gameplay in the series
The plutonic ideal of final fantasy! I love that line, and it helped to shape why I love this game so much. It has the level of complexity I want in a JRPG along with a rich world and compelling characters. I enjoy X, I liked VII, IV was wonderful, and XV has been my favourite since IX, and I think you gave me a better understanding of why all of that is the case. I still judge almost every JRPG I play against the scale of FFIX, my plutonic ideal. Great video, great analysis, I always look forward to the content you create.
putting the story aside, I had the same feeling when playing FFXV, and I played many others like FFVIII, FFX and FFXIII, and I cant help but wonder why I feel much at ease playing FFXV. Turns out the way the game was paced, so you dont feel like doing a chore than playing a game.
beetlehorn I think ppl have caught onto IX as a masterpiece by now, for about a decade after it came out it did get a lot of hate though, particularly from Cloud’s fandom. Clouds cool but he’s no zidane, nobody can honestly say they’d rather have a beer with brooding cloud over easy going zidane, well except for girls and fanboys that is haha
FF IX was my first FF of the ps era and it was amazing. Rich world with pastel colors feels like a painting in movement and having a non brooding main character helps liven up the mood.
Final Fantasy IX is amazing, and "The Platonic Idea of Final Fantasy" is a perfectly apt description. I think even Square knows this, there's a reason why it was the first retro FF released on XBOX ONE and Switch
I would add final fantasy tactics as one of the great 90s final fantasy games. Big credit should go to Hiroyuki Ito who designs many of the innovative systems of the final fantasy games.
The thing with FFIX characters are, just like he said, the pacing in narative and in exposition. Each of them immediately get a clear goal, and over the course of the game we see them all evolve slowly, through ATE and all. And they are not over the top characters or something, each of them have a trait and can be related easily. They all believable, that and how each of them makes us feel for them.
Yes. I've always found FF9 as the epithome of a FF game that took the best of its roots and delivered a beautiful master piece that encompasses EVERYTHING that represents a FF game. One of my FAVORITE FF.
@@zidaryn Got 7 & 8 in pretty good condition, sad to say my 9 doesn't work as it should, cd 1 and 4 stopped functioning, I think it was in part due to trying them on the PS2 that ruined them. Anyway got 9 now on steam. Looking forwards to experiencing the game again and especially the mini games.
Final Fantasy IX itself was a homage to classic Final Fantasy games from the SNES era. From the defined "jobs" to the soundtrack (that buildup on the Battle Theme references the same thing done from I through VI). It is an underrated masterpiece. To me the series ended on FFIX; I _personally_ hated FFX and the other games that came after.
It was definitely the end of an era before trying something new for better (FFX) and worse (also FFX). They are still trying to find a new golden formula since then.
In short, nothing in FFX really hooked me. Spira was beautiful, but it felt empty, fake. SO, I'd say FFIX have better characters if I had to answer your question, I suppose My point was about FFX's really divisive nature (probably second to FFVIII as the most divisive Final Fantasy. Doing both really good things (Blitzball) and really bad things (Blitzball, again) and the fact FFX is the begining of a new era, after FFIX perfected the classic formula), trying to find a new direction for the franchise. I am not sure we are ot of this period yet.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 dude 10 is not even close to the most divisive XD 8, 15 and especially 13 have waaay more fanboys and haters. i think the whole "empty" feeling you mention (wich i did notice too) is because the newer FF have less and less actual towns and cities that feel lived in (exept 12, wich has one of the best worlds IMO) and thus feel devoid of people. 10 had luca and besaid, maybe kilika if you feel generous, 13 had none (and it's, well, a hallway), 15 has like 2 (and the clones in those towns don't help make it feel more realistic). the earlier ones had way more. 9 had alexandria, treno, lindblum, bran bal (if you count it), cleyra, dali, conde petie and maybe daguerreo. and all of those are really distinct, like conde petie, it's got a mexican feeling to it, while linblum is more industrialized and scy-fantasy, whlie alexandria is more classic fantasy and treno is the medieval equivalent of las vegas.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 FFX is just pretty. That is all that it is. The characters are bland and boring, the plot is not very compelling and Seymour is a pretty forgetable villain (sure, some argue that Jetch was the true villain, by I digress). The gameplay is ok and the "leveling" system is interesting, but I don't think that saves the game.
FF9 and 13 for me, once I got hooked I just couldn't play anything else til I beat em. And actually I think 10 did too but the end was such a slog (when you're fighting Sin for like 30 minutes and also the dungeon inside Sin) so I don't like it as much.
FF8 and FF9 was developed around the same time. That "less than a year" between them was not the development time. FF8 was rushed, but they took their time with 9.
That would explain why ff viii's world feels so empty when compared to ff ix. Still love ff VIII (Replaying it right now and close to finishing Ultima weapon) but IX will always be the most special one for me
Nah there was clearly some rush in FFIX. The clearest example is how certain story arcs just seem to vanish into thin air, most egregiously Freya's, where Fratley just vanishes shortly after his introduction near the start of disc 2 and neither he nor Freya's story with him progresses or is really touched on until one of the epilogue scenes leaving what happened to Fratley to make him lose his memory or where he was entirely unexplained and robbing Freya of some much needed story relevance in the later potions of the game. I still love FFIX above all other FF's and it is a testament to the quality of the game that Freya is still among my favorite characters in spite of how much she vanishes from the plot, but there is no question in my mind that certain plotlines were never really finished.
@@TheTriforceDragon there are examples in both regarding the rush. I still find 9 more fleshed out, as 8 was very basic and the junction system was a terrible implantation of magic/skill.
Though I've never played a FF game, I am always impressed by how great people claim the stories of these games can be. I can't wait to try it out someday.
Ouh, I guess you have been spoiled for some of them, but believe a stranger on the internet we he tells you that from FF6 all towards FF10 you will have some of the best stories video games have ever told. Maybe the gameplay can be quite strange as it is somewhat outdated, therefore I would recommend you better emulate these games because the emulators can improve your enjoyment quite a bit, specially with quicksaves and ultra fast speed for random battles. Anyway I hope you enjoy them as much as I did back on the day.
Just whatever you do don't have your expectations set high for 9. It's a disjointed, unfocused mess that undercuts any dramatic weight it had in the 11th hour. Go for 10 if you decide to get into the series. It's honestly the best fusion of sword and sorcery and futuristic tech both in themes and mechanics the games have to offer.
I feel so strange when people say FF9 got looked over. Like it's seriously the least selling? It was my first real FF, but damn. It caught me so hard, the story, characters, gameplay, music, everything. I couldn't wait to get home from school and continue playing so I could know what happens next. I felt like the ending could've ultimately been a little better, but the game overall was so good. Now with the Moguri Mod out I might go back to it since it's been so long.
I just wanted to say thank you. FF9 has been my all time fav FF9 and fav JRPG of all time. I dont think any game will ever capture me in the same way as FF9 did. The ending note brought me to tears. Very beautifully done video. Came here to learn stuff (as Im in the beginning stages of developing a game myself) and instead I got to cry. Thank you.
Pretty nice video and it's always great to see my favorite Final Fantasy. To be honest I hoped for a bit more in-depth analysis of this topic. It was interesting to hear about the comparison to the other titles but it doesn't add any information to the overall topic of the video, as well the small love letter to FF9 even though I really appreciate this one! I what love to hear about the key story points of the pacing and how much time lies between them, why some breaks are important to focus on side stories to deliver another "flow" to the player. It's maybe a bit nitpicky but I think this topic in combination with the game holds way more potential then used. Still, I like your videos and it gets like, keep up the good work!
It's because of the timing of its release. FF9 was released very close to when the PS2 dropped. So any hype FF9 could have generated was instantly forgotten for the new console. If there was an extra year between FF9 and PS2 it almost certainly would have sold another million or two copies at least.
Chris N17 And another reason why I called IX ‘underrated’. Along with ‘meh’ reviews of VIII, the practically immediate X and eventually X-2 and just the quick rise of PS2 just gave the poor game the worst luck. Which sucks, because IX is my favorite.
Surprised to see this pop up on random browsing. FF9 is the last mainline FF game I've ever bought/played. I've played through 1 (GBA port), 4, 6, 7, and 9. Yet FF9 is probably the only game where I felt most involved in. After escaping the forest dungeon, and coming to the very first town outside, both the music and its visuals lifted all that tension I had built up. This game is still one of my favorites in the mainline FF franchise. And the only reason I managed to get to know FF9 was because of one distinct factor: the throwback visuals. It had elements that is reminiscent of old and past FF games. It's a shame that none of the newer FF games appealed to me. But it doesn't look like I'm missing much, as I've found other titles that has my attention.
I will say without a single hint of irony or doubt that this game is the best FF of all time, it is simply perfect. And the fact that it still is a good looking game to this day(With an HD facelift) is a testament to its quality. I went back to the Ps1 era this week out of boredom, couldn't get into ff7, couldn't even bring myself to start ff8, but 9... 9 fucking sucked me in and kept me in my chair for 3 days straight, for a 20 year old game its gameplay is addictively rewarding and its story can make a grown man cry. I love this game with all my heart and I would pay hundreds of dollars for a remake if they ever make one.
This game is a hidden gem, its so beautiful that I finished the game 4 times. 1st time I was a little kid, I only had the Japanese copy somehow so I finished the game by pressing every button and exploring everything.
Final Fantasy IX is the best "Character development" in game, everyone grown up to be a stronger character at the end step by step. rather than childish character but suddenly become a great leader in the last minutes.
I do love 9s characters but I feel like eiko, quina and amarant didn't have much of an arc. Freya was also kinda just there after her initial introduction. The game is really focused on Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner at the end of the day
FFIX was my first FF that I played when I was 8 or 9 or so. I didnt really understand the importance of the story back then but still loved the game because of its gameplay. Re-experiencing the game 10 years and now almost 20 years later again gave me the reason why its the best game I have ever played. I understood the story and complexities to its fullest, I experienced all of the gameplay and secrets that were put in there. And figuring out that this game didnt even have a full 2 year dev cycle is unbelievable if you compare it all of the FF coming afterwards. And btw: Great video :)
I don't mind if people didn't like it after playing. But not even trying it out, for something as vain as "I don't like the character designs"? That's annoying for sure EDIT: Oh and btw I meant the cartoony/bobblehead look. Not their clothes or stuff like that
Thank you for making this video and showing what makes this game so great! I had a lot of fun playing Final Fantasy 9 and experiencing the wonderful characters, music, and story :)
The problems I had with 9s pacing were that some main characters didn't have a lot of story around them. Their plot resolved by the middle of the game, or didn't start until after the middle; and they just had nothing else to do. Also you aren't given full control of your party until the game is wrapping up.
Love this video and you're right about the game loop - by putting abilities and skills in equipment and armor, you're pretty much tweaking the same gameplay little by little adding more and more to the characters appeal and battle mechanics. I never noticed that. It was fun grabbing equipments just to learn the skills instead of randomly learning skills once you level up to a certain range.
there's a reason why FFIX is my ult favorite! i didn't get bored one bit, i find myself playing for hours, just because the pacing and mechanics are so good for its time!
FFIX aged very well, even before the HD remaster. I didn't care too much for it when it first came out, but came to love it more and more with every subsequent playthrough. FFIX is one of the most charming RPGs ever made!
This is the final fantasy I want a remake of. The HD version is nice for new comers and makes it look like what I remember, but has some UI issues that leave it wanting a little. I really hope that the Final Fantasy VII Remake does well so Square will consider remaking more FF games, especially this one
You might want to look into the PC mods. There's one that adds back in analogue support, changes the UI so it's more similar to the older one, and adds AI up-scaled backgrounds which look great.
Actually, 9 was in development since near the end of 7's cycle and had the A team working on it where as 8 had about a year with the B team and alot of newcomers.
My fav FF is VI for so many reasons, but I totally agree with your conclusion. FFIX was a homage to the origin of the saga and was brilliantly executed. Then again, have you played FF 4 Heroes of Light and Bravely Default/Second? That's Square-Enix trying to make modern FFIX imho,
OOh, YAASSS! Thanks for this video. I liked and added it to my favorites before the video even began, but I was hoping it would be a little bit longer. You didn't go into how exploring towns or sidequests factored into the gameplay loop nor on how the beginning of Disc 3 slowed things down.
Great video even if the title is not a perfect fit. what we have here is most of all a good retrospective of what ff and square(soft) were at the time. What they did in those 4 years, from 7 to 9 was really inpressive. I feel ff9, like Vagrant story, were as you say buried by a hardware cycle. Should things have been different and their influence and sales numbers would be much greater. Fortunately both games some recognition on these last few years.
Bought it in the psn store on my ps3 a while back, not really knowing anything about it. And boy was I pleasantly surprised! I absolutely love FFIX, it's such a charming well made rounded out game, it's the perfect jrpg!
I'm not sure if this was mentioned already in the comments, but another underrated system they used for the pacing of the game is the active time events (ATE). The system made the game feel like time was still moving all around you and created these short mini stories along the main story. I thought that was unique idea considering that many of classic RPG games would never give you that option like the ATE system. Either they gave you the event as you progress or you backtrack to initiate an event. That's why i think the ATE help with the pacing of the story.
I gasped when I saw a video dedicated to FF9 being amazing. It's been almost a yearly ritual to complete the game in a ~40 hour run each time, and just immerse myself right into that universe. Meant enough for me to get a big tattoo of the logo crystal on my arm. 10/10, always and forever
Every time I see that scene with Black Waltz on airship destroying black mages, I get goose bumps. Every time. And it's been over 10 years since my first playthrough of this game.
FFIX is one of my favorite games of all time! And also the best implementation of the "Blue Mage" class with Quina. I loved traveling the world of Gaia, looking for different monsters to eat and excited to see what spell I would learn. It's much better than waiting to get hit to learn these skills, especially in games like FFTA where you have to do an absurd setup just for an enemy to cast White Wind on your Blue Mage. Also Quina is so adorable, I wish we had representation of Qu in other games, they could even have been introduced in Ivalice.
PS1 and PS2 were a wonderful time to become a Final Fantasy fan. I started with VII, then played every game in the order they released, and re-released them. Before IX was out, it was possible to play every man game from FFI up to VIII (save for III) and ever Chrono Trigger all on PlayStation. I experienced them all before IX, and I feel that made the game that much more s masterpiece. I really appreciated the game a lot at the time. Then X and XII were after. What a time to be alive!
I've seen a few of your videos now (this one, FF X vs FF XIII and FF VIII junction) and I just wanted to say thank you. As an avid FF gamer (that to much dismay did not enjoy FF XIII) I find that you carry so much respect for the games, even the ones that aren't the best in FF standards. I also really enjoy the way you narrate (good speaking voice with a good pace) and your videos' narrative as well (great manuscripts that get to the point, but still have some fleshing out and keeps the viewer invested throughout). I'm subscribing and will be coming back for more. Thanks for your perspectives and in depth analyses, keep up the good work.
Thanks, man! This channel is worked on by two people and we've both been huge FF fans for most of our lives. My own introduction to the series was with X and that and IX are my favorites hands down but I appreciate most of the series. Even XIII despite how critical I've been with it.
Sometimes I wonder if the new technology is more a hinderence than a help for Square Enix, especially when you consider that (up until X) they battering out the Final Fantasies every one to two years. It's already been 3 years since we last saw any trailers of the VII remake and it's already well on its way to becoming the next Versus XIII, with extended periods of near radio silence, and it becomes better when you consider that they want to do it as episodic thing, so god only knows when the thing will be finally finished. Also if IX should ever get a remake they should go a cel shaded look that recreates the original Yoshitaka Amano's artwork. That way they'd hopefully not have to worry too much about performance as it seemed to work for the then Clover Studios at Capcom with Okami. Also with the character models and rest of the world (probably just the sky and maybe some signs) I'd like some kind of subtle wavy, maybe swirling animator going with colours and stripes, and clothing would gently move as it'd be something to help stand it apart from the overly uber realism that they seem to be aiming for these days. And no doubt there would go performance despite the "it's cel shaded, no need to worry" lol
final fantasy ix is still my favourite game of all it’s story is amazing, characters, soundtracks, gameplay. it’s never boring to play this game and i can replay it over and over again.
I can hardly describe my love for this game. Other than a handful of spin-offs, I have played every Final Fantasy back to back, many mutiple times over. But when I think of "Final Fantasy", IX comes to mind, immediately. It's a grand summary of everything the series represents, and if you take away all that FFesque narrative flavor, it's still such a damn fun game. The art is incredibly charming, and the music... goodness gracious. Nobuo Uematsu, everybody. I could keep typing for hours about every aspect of the game, but seriously... this game was a defining point of my life. I played I, II, VI and VII before IX, but none made me fall in love with the game quite like that (VI came pretty close, though, and X, afterwards, almost got there too). If you haven't played it, go play it. If you have, go play it again. It's just damn worth it.
FF9 was always my favourite mainline games because it always felt more Final Fantasy than other Final Fantasy games.It's a celebration of what the series represented up untill that point, a love letter to all their fans.
It's crazy how good the pacing is in FF9. They keep throwing FMVs, small dungeons, minigames, and different distinct areas at you one after another, shepherding you from one to the next. The first time it slows down and gives the player a chance to explore is pretty much right after you get out of Lindblum and go to pick up Quina.
I wish I had money to help you guys, you deserve more money with the quality of the videos you put out. Unfortunately I'm poor and don't have much to spare. If I end up justifying it I'll chip in at least a buck. Thanks for this breakdown, I always wondered what made 9's combat more engaging and I think you're right about it being a combination of ability and narrative pacing.
@@dreamgames8551 My personal take? I'm finished and working now. Outside of STEM fields? It's an indoctrination nightmare of critical theory and insanity and it's getting progressively worse. Just study something practical and get away from humanities as fast as you can. My GF is still doing her degree and she's terrified by the changes she's seen over the last few years.
FF8 and FF9 were not made by the same team exactly, the team working on FF8 started working on FFX just a bit after the release of FF8. So FF9 was being worked on way before the release of FF8.So technically, they were working on it for more than a year.
Man the way equipment is treated in this game is fantastic, not only do you have the ap stuff but each piece having different elemental properties means even early game equipment is usable all the way through. Not to mention synthesis shops also being a great use for your old stuff. And this works great with a theif as your main character since it makes stealing really important, especially from bosses since they often have equipment found later in the game. Sorry for the rant just love love love love this game
the plot is also confusing, except squall the characters aren't enough flesh out and the junction system make many people hate the game. I love it though
It's my favorite Final Fantasy and I completely agree with your essay. Also, I had never stopped to think of how much the AP system in FF IX helped me get invested into the less important battles throughout the game.
This game's soundtrack gets me everytime. Literally as soon as the video ended I was starting to get the feels from the music. That's what made this game enter my top 3 videogames OF ALL TIME. And I barely first played it this year, in January. Already beat it 3 times and 100% it on steam. Masterpiece of a game. It's not perfect and I do have some gripes, but overall it's fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone that doesn't hate turn based combat.
For those wondering, the game at 0:48 is 'Okage: Shadow King'. An obscure early PS2 JRPG.
I didn't realize Okage was obscure...
@@delphidelion It's on PS4 oddly enough :D
Is Okage really that obscure? It was the first game I ever bought for my PS2...
@@delphidelion well it is the shadow king after all...
Cool video about my favorite ff. I started to play ff 12... what do you think about it??
"It didn't have the best soundtrack..." /hovers over back button "...wait, I take that back." Yeah you better take that back.
This game entered my life at just the right time. To this day, I haven't played another game that meant as much to me as this one. It is my all-time favorite game, and I truly appreciate you taking the time to study it like this.
Xentrax 607 same here bud! It’s great that RUclips is a platform for us to express this sentiment. Gamefaqs and other msg boards were so volatile toward IX back in the day.
Agreed. As I get older it’s bittersweet to remember what this game meant to me as a child and how difficult it is to replicate that emotional high
After all these years I still get watery eyes when talking about Vivi.
And I am a cynic asshole that makes fun of people when they show too much emotion. But this game gets me, it just does.
Just Terranigma came close to FFIX, and that's coming from lot of games I have been playing
This game was my childhood. Bought it day 1 when it finally came on steam. Gave a copy to my gf at the time...
She activated cheatcodes and rushed through the game without caring much about what was going on.
It's funny for me to remember that as the thing that pissed me off the most about the relationship. Doesn't have time to talk much due to studies? Fine for me. Currently living in another city for more than a year? Fine. Talk bad about FFIX? That's inexcusable.
>that's rough bud
story of Vivi's life
Read somewhere FFIX is Sakaguchi's personal favorite among the FFs he touched.
And it shows.
まジョン I have also read this! He credits it to the homage aspect of IX
Uematsu also considers the OST to be one of if not his best
His favourite FF is not the one that he directed. Interesting, isn't it?
@@budakbaongsiah Hiroyuki Ito needs to direct the next final fantasy. Every one he directs is nearly a masterpiece. XII, IX, VI.. he's got skills.
There's a video shot by ProZD in utube where Sakaguchi himself said IX is his favorite. Look it up
Final Fantasy IX is what made me want to be a game developer when I was a kid. It made me realize the potential of storytelling in games by the way they crafted character development, musical leitmotifs, and a story/gameplay harmony that complimented their interactions.
(Spoiler Warning START)
• When a Dagger/Garnet/Sarah goes through a traumatic event, she cannot use magic anymore because she cannot speak.
• Vivi working together with Steiner to utilize the Magic sword technique, showing their respect for one another.
• Zidane and Freya's rivalry at the Festival of the Hunt
• Zidane and Amarant's 1 on 1 duel to determine strength
• Dagger having her Eidolons early in the game (albeit latent and unusable) but are literally forcibly removed by Zorn and Thron
• Quina learning there is more out there in the world by eating lots of things, literally growing his/her arsenal
• Beatrix switching sides when she comes to the determination that serving the country doesn't mean anything if there isn't any virtue behind it.
• When you play out a ATE (Active Time Event) you can learn about how characters interact with one another and it will affect what they will give you sometimes (Also helps to weave an intricate multifaceted story that you have the ability to opt out of)
• There is more but you get the idea...
(Spoiler Warning END)
Both Nobuo Uematsu and Hironobu Sakaguchi have cited FFIX as their favorite along with being the one that they were most proud of. It was a paragon of what they had set out to accomplish, something quintessentially Final Fantasy
Red Alchemy I played a bit of a seven and ten and they end with a more sci-fi feel than say 9 felt like an actual fantasy world
The same goes for me, but I think for me what caught my attention is how the narrative goes from a quirky adventure with a princess who WANTS to be kidnapped to an anti-god looking to destroy the whole of the universe (And that's putting aside Kuja as a character having to grapple with his mortality). And then ties it all back together at the end with Zidane telling Garnet "The kidnapping is officially over" (Despite the kidnapping having completely lost its relevance to the plot at about its half-way point).
I would pay disgusting amounts real-world of money to play 'FFIX-IX: How Sir Fratley Got His Groove Back'.
@@SuzuriHeinze Hell, just flesh out her narrative. She got the short end of the stick I always felt. Her and amarant.
Can't not agree about Amarant. But I always felt like Freya was handled very well. The way her dialogue is written gives you such a clear view of her personality and her story is fleshed out right from her introduction. There's a pretty decent chunk of story related to Freya for a while; everything from when you leave Lindblum till you leave Cleyra is all basically centred around her so I mean, that's a fair bit to be honest
@@leftymu Its just sad that her arc ended the moment Fratley was properly introduced. There was alot of potential, for example ypu could be meeting him in random places around the world and they could get optional scenes to develop the characters story like Vivi and Quina had...
Stick in Beatrix as a party member and I'm sold
leftymu I think the issue after Alexandria is after introductions where they get great development most of the cast become mechanics more than full characters. it's why I think if it was a bit longer it'd help characterisation but I feel that way about most RPGs where there should be a section in the middle where the party gets to know one another and go on a slightly smaller stakes adventure Persona 5 badly needed that and even though I consider 8 the best one a gradual lead up to the main plot would have helped it's pacing
FFIX is my very definition of a good JRPG. It is also a nice blend of western and asian in both style and mechanics with intricate stats and and not so much focus on nonsensical weaponry. Just the item equip system make me all warm and fuzzy inside. Love fiddling around with it.
To be fair there are forks and tackets in 9 XD
To be fair... Tridents are big forks. Native Americans actually used the rackets they use for stickball(the origin of lacrosse) to launch rocks at enemies as weapons. SO... it's actually not THAT far from being KINDA sensible.
But a literal fork? Entertaining at least.
@@CRFIDJ9K also eiko smacks monsters with a flute
@@AlexanderMartinez-kd7cz .... make due with what you got? Yeah... that one is... a little silly. You not wrong XD
my thought exactly
FFIX is my favorite game of all time, when I saw this I instantly clicked...
Thank you for showing some love to the best game ever
Tbh it still looks great and held up compared to other PS1 games, has the best sound track only rivaled by FFX, a perfect pace, amazing gameplay loop, and so much more
i was READY to throw hands at ¨it may not have the best soundtrack¨ but then you got it right
Having played FFIX kind of gave me the "Avatar effect".
It's sad that there's no other world in any other game similar to FFIX's Gaia.
It's the first and last game of it's kind in a way.
IX has very unique world building not even just for a game.
Gaja, Terra, and the extreme geography of either mists or desert makes it seem unique things that most would assume dont work together.
Yet, somehow, IX works.
IX has my favorite worldbuilding by a mile in games, not even just for games but maybe even adding some of my favorite books and Avatar and it still will make it in my top 5 or 10.
Truly inspiring
Interesting that you mention Avatar, I just finished The Last Airbender series and the sadness I felt when done reminded me of the same once I finished FFIX 18 years ago. I'm a geography guy and both have some of the best world's I've ever come across. Nothing will ever match FFIX, but at least ATLA has the 2nd best character development of anything and the 3rd best world (behind FFT and FFIX).
how to pace a game
not like kingdom hearts 3
AGREED
KH3 has no pacing. There is no pace. NOTHING HAPPENS for like TWENTY HOURS.
2 is not the best either, but 3 was kind of a slog, despite really liking it
Tbh the only KH with an OK pacing is BBS
@@MiloKuroshiro honestly i hated the 3 different stories structure in bbs, the first playthrough was fine but repeating the same stuff with the other characters to see the end of the story was an absolute pain, especially since bbs has arguably the floatiest and stiffest gameplay in the series
The plutonic ideal of final fantasy! I love that line, and it helped to shape why I love this game so much. It has the level of complexity I want in a JRPG along with a rich world and compelling characters. I enjoy X, I liked VII, IV was wonderful, and XV has been my favourite since IX, and I think you gave me a better understanding of why all of that is the case. I still judge almost every JRPG I play against the scale of FFIX, my plutonic ideal. Great video, great analysis, I always look forward to the content you create.
putting the story aside, I had the same feeling when playing FFXV, and I played many others like FFVIII, FFX and FFXIII, and I cant help but wonder why I feel much at ease playing FFXV. Turns out the way the game was paced, so you dont feel like doing a chore than playing a game.
Great video. FF9 is definitely my favorite FF game.
Same
They say your first is always your favorite. That explains my love of X.
For me, it’s second favorite, with Tactics as top dog. However, 9 is the best main-series.
same 🥰
@@devong1838 I don't know who it says... but my uncle also sayed my so
Hey my fave final fantasy!!! Solid choice for a video, this one gets overlooked in critical discussion a lot.
beetlehorn I think ppl have caught onto IX as a masterpiece by now, for about a decade after it came out it did get a lot of hate though, particularly from Cloud’s fandom. Clouds cool but he’s no zidane, nobody can honestly say they’d rather have a beer with brooding cloud over easy going zidane, well except for girls and fanboys that is haha
I am _so down_ for four new FFIX sequels between FFXV and FFXVI.
I need FF IX-II Vivi´s revenge lol
@@vgmhorizon3929 or Vivi and Shantato reunion.
they would fuck that up and ruin ff9 retractively lol
Be careful what you wish for. Remeber FFX-2 which sems specifically designed to piss off FFX fans.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 and FF4 The After Years......
FF IX was my first FF of the ps era and it was amazing. Rich world with pastel colors feels like a painting in movement and having a non brooding main character helps liven up the mood.
Final Fantasy IX is amazing, and "The Platonic Idea of Final Fantasy" is a perfectly apt description. I think even Square knows this, there's a reason why it was the first retro FF released on XBOX ONE and Switch
FFIX is probably the best game ever created. I know it's my favorite.
Best FF game, the first i got to play and aged wonderful, you will never regret picking it up nowdays.
I would add final fantasy tactics as one of the great 90s final fantasy games. Big credit should go to Hiroyuki Ito who designs many of the innovative systems of the final fantasy games.
Yeah tactics is pretty far up in the list. Pacing and gameplay were both great!
He directed this one, too.
Yes tactics is amazing, as long as you aren't talking about the advanced games
The stories of Vivi and Zidane are so tragic,I really loved these characters! FF IX is such a gem!
The thing with FFIX characters are, just like he said, the pacing in narative and in exposition. Each of them immediately get a clear goal, and over the course of the game we see them all evolve slowly, through ATE and all. And they are not over the top characters or something, each of them have a trait and can be related easily. They all believable, that and how each of them makes us feel for them.
Yes. I've always found FF9 as the epithome of a FF game that took the best of its roots and delivered a beautiful master piece that encompasses EVERYTHING that represents a FF game.
One of my FAVORITE FF.
Ff7 FF8 FF9 & Legend of Dragoon are my favorite PS1 games & still have them for that console in mint condition. Really magical games.
Same. Except my copy of FF IX doesn't work anymore so I got the digital version for my PS4.
@@zidaryn
Got 7 & 8 in pretty good condition, sad to say my 9 doesn't work as it should, cd 1 and 4 stopped functioning, I think it was in part due to trying them on the PS2 that ruined them.
Anyway got 9 now on steam.
Looking forwards to experiencing the game again and especially the mini games.
My list would be the same plus Xenogears, Parasite Eve, Chrono Cross, Front Mission 3.
Same. Minus ff8
Grandia, Chrono Cross, FFIX, and Xenogears were mine.
I love FFIX so much. This video made me want to play the rerelease now rather than after finishing what I'm currently playing.
Final Fantasy IX itself was a homage to classic Final Fantasy games from the SNES era. From the defined "jobs" to the soundtrack (that buildup on the Battle Theme references the same thing done from I through VI). It is an underrated masterpiece. To me the series ended on FFIX; I _personally_ hated FFX and the other games that came after.
It was definitely the end of an era before trying something new for better (FFX) and worse (also FFX).
They are still trying to find a new golden formula since then.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 what about ff10 is worse than 9? I mean 9 is my absolute fav but really?
In short, nothing in FFX really hooked me. Spira was beautiful, but it felt empty, fake.
SO, I'd say FFIX have better characters if I had to answer your question, I suppose
My point was about FFX's really divisive nature (probably second to FFVIII as the most divisive Final Fantasy. Doing both really good things (Blitzball) and really bad things (Blitzball, again) and the fact FFX is the begining of a new era, after FFIX perfected the classic formula), trying to find a new direction for the franchise. I am not sure we are ot of this period yet.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 dude 10 is not even close to the most divisive XD
8, 15 and especially 13 have waaay more fanboys and haters.
i think the whole "empty" feeling you mention (wich i did notice too) is because the newer FF have less and less actual towns and cities that feel lived in (exept 12, wich has one of the best worlds IMO) and thus feel devoid of people.
10 had luca and besaid, maybe kilika if you feel generous, 13 had none (and it's, well, a hallway), 15 has like 2 (and the clones in those towns don't help make it feel more realistic). the earlier ones had way more.
9 had alexandria, treno, lindblum, bran bal (if you count it), cleyra, dali, conde petie and maybe daguerreo. and all of those are really distinct, like conde petie, it's got a mexican feeling to it, while linblum is more industrialized and scy-fantasy, whlie alexandria is more classic fantasy and treno is the medieval equivalent of las vegas.
@@shytendeakatamanoir9740 FFX is just pretty. That is all that it is. The characters are bland and boring, the plot is not very compelling and Seymour is a pretty forgetable villain (sure, some argue that Jetch was the true villain, by I digress). The gameplay is ok and the "leveling" system is interesting, but I don't think that saves the game.
Dirge of Beatrix ! I need this !
This is the *ONLY* final fantasy game that hooked me so hard, I couldn't put it down...
FF9 and 13 for me, once I got hooked I just couldn't play anything else til I beat em. And actually I think 10 did too but the end was such a slog (when you're fighting Sin for like 30 minutes and also the dungeon inside Sin) so I don't like it as much.
FF8 and FF9 was developed around the same time. That "less than a year" between them was not the development time. FF8 was rushed, but they took their time with 9.
That would explain why ff viii's world feels so empty when compared to ff ix. Still love ff VIII (Replaying it right now and close to finishing Ultima weapon) but IX will always be the most special one for me
Nah there was clearly some rush in FFIX. The clearest example is how certain story arcs just seem to vanish into thin air, most egregiously Freya's, where Fratley just vanishes shortly after his introduction near the start of disc 2 and neither he nor Freya's story with him progresses or is really touched on until one of the epilogue scenes leaving what happened to Fratley to make him lose his memory or where he was entirely unexplained and robbing Freya of some much needed story relevance in the later potions of the game.
I still love FFIX above all other FF's and it is a testament to the quality of the game that Freya is still among my favorite characters in spite of how much she vanishes from the plot, but there is no question in my mind that certain plotlines were never really finished.
@@TheTriforceDragon there are examples in both regarding the rush. I still find 9 more fleshed out, as 8 was very basic and the junction system was a terrible implantation of magic/skill.
@@TheTriforceDragon Or maybe Freya is a secondary character and was treated as such
@@Walamonga1313 And yet Steiner who is also a secondary character neatly wraps up his own character arc long after his main story relevancy ended.
IX has my favorite ending montage of any game I've ever played
one of the videos that just a like doesn't make justice
Loved the timer at the beginning giving the actual start of the video
Design Doc making a video of one of the best games ever and the best FF game? I couldnt click fast enough.
Though I've never played a FF game, I am always impressed by how great people claim the stories of these games can be. I can't wait to try it out someday.
Ouh, I guess you have been spoiled for some of them, but believe a stranger on the internet we he tells you that from FF6 all towards FF10 you will have some of the best stories video games have ever told. Maybe the gameplay can be quite strange as it is somewhat outdated, therefore I would recommend you better emulate these games because the emulators can improve your enjoyment quite a bit, specially with quicksaves and ultra fast speed for random battles. Anyway I hope you enjoy them as much as I did back on the day.
FFVII and IX are on Switch, you've got no excuse! Try them!
Just whatever you do don't have your expectations set high for 9. It's a disjointed, unfocused mess that undercuts any dramatic weight it had in the 11th hour. Go for 10 if you decide to get into the series. It's honestly the best fusion of sword and sorcery and futuristic tech both in themes and mechanics the games have to offer.
@@Antiformed And PC, and PS4 and PS3 and Xbox One. These games have now been officially released on every modern gaming platform. Literally no excuse
Heh, most video game stories suck. Especially those that came before the millenium when gaming was still an extreme niche for kids.
This was great and spoiler free. Props to the maker of the video
I feel so strange when people say FF9 got looked over. Like it's seriously the least selling? It was my first real FF, but damn. It caught me so hard, the story, characters, gameplay, music, everything. I couldn't wait to get home from school and continue playing so I could know what happens next. I felt like the ending could've ultimately been a little better, but the game overall was so good. Now with the Moguri Mod out I might go back to it since it's been so long.
Rose of May at the end of the video. I love it!
I just wanted to say thank you. FF9 has been my all time fav FF9 and fav JRPG of all time. I dont think any game will ever capture me in the same way as FF9 did. The ending note brought me to tears. Very beautifully done video.
Came here to learn stuff (as Im in the beginning stages of developing a game myself) and instead I got to cry. Thank you.
Pretty nice video and it's always great to see my favorite Final Fantasy.
To be honest I hoped for a bit more in-depth analysis of this topic.
It was interesting to hear about the comparison to the other titles but it doesn't add any information to the overall topic of the video,
as well the small love letter to FF9 even though I really appreciate this one!
I what love to hear about the key story points of the pacing and how much time lies between them,
why some breaks are important to focus on side stories to deliver another "flow" to the player.
It's maybe a bit nitpicky but I think this topic in combination with the game holds way more potential then used.
Still, I like your videos and it gets like, keep up the good work!
I love the little touch of Steiner's armor sparking as be slams into the wall
I’d been thinking about this recently, the video put it perfectly. I love how you compared the pacing to other entries, very well done.
The *HELL?!?!?* FF9 sold worse than 12? THIS IS HERESY!
... Or maybe that's just because the PS2 sold more than the PSX?
Because 12 have international version
It's because of the timing of its release. FF9 was released very close to when the PS2 dropped. So any hype FF9 could have generated was instantly forgotten for the new console. If there was an extra year between FF9 and PS2 it almost certainly would have sold another million or two copies at least.
@@chrisn1713
Someone knows their history here :)
Chris N17 And another reason why I called IX ‘underrated’.
Along with ‘meh’ reviews of VIII, the practically immediate X and eventually X-2 and just the quick rise of PS2 just gave the poor game the worst luck.
Which sucks, because IX is my favorite.
And also because 12 is a hell of a lot more fun
FFIX is my favourite one.
And every opportunity i get i buy it anew to support it as best i still can.
Surprised to see this pop up on random browsing. FF9 is the last mainline FF game I've ever bought/played. I've played through 1 (GBA port), 4, 6, 7, and 9. Yet FF9 is probably the only game where I felt most involved in. After escaping the forest dungeon, and coming to the very first town outside, both the music and its visuals lifted all that tension I had built up. This game is still one of my favorites in the mainline FF franchise. And the only reason I managed to get to know FF9 was because of one distinct factor: the throwback visuals. It had elements that is reminiscent of old and past FF games. It's a shame that none of the newer FF games appealed to me. But it doesn't look like I'm missing much, as I've found other titles that has my attention.
I will say without a single hint of irony or doubt that this game is the best FF of all time, it is simply perfect. And the fact that it still is a good looking game to this day(With an HD facelift) is a testament to its quality. I went back to the Ps1 era this week out of boredom, couldn't get into ff7, couldn't even bring myself to start ff8, but 9... 9 fucking sucked me in and kept me in my chair for 3 days straight, for a 20 year old game its gameplay is addictively rewarding and its story can make a grown man cry.
I love this game with all my heart and I would pay hundreds of dollars for a remake if they ever make one.
This game is a hidden gem, its so beautiful that I finished the game 4 times.
1st time I was a little kid, I only had the Japanese copy somehow so I finished the game by pressing every button and exploring everything.
Final Fantasy IX is the best "Character development" in game, everyone grown up to be a stronger character at the end step by step.
rather than childish character but suddenly become a great leader in the last minutes.
I do love 9s characters but I feel like eiko, quina and amarant didn't have much of an arc. Freya was also kinda just there after her initial introduction. The game is really focused on Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner at the end of the day
FFIX was my first FF that I played when I was 8 or 9 or so. I didnt really understand the importance of the story back then but still loved the game because of its gameplay. Re-experiencing the game 10 years and now almost 20 years later again gave me the reason why its the best game I have ever played. I understood the story and complexities to its fullest, I experienced all of the gameplay and secrets that were put in there. And figuring out that this game didnt even have a full 2 year dev cycle is unbelievable if you compare it all of the FF coming afterwards. And btw: Great video :)
9 is amazing! It makes me sad how many of my friends refuse to even give it a chance.
I don't mind if people didn't like it after playing. But not even trying it out, for something as vain as "I don't like the character designs"? That's annoying for sure
EDIT: Oh and btw I meant the cartoony/bobblehead look. Not their clothes or stuff like that
Thank you so much, for this love letter to Final Fantasy IX.
i just finished this game today. the story had me constantly hooked
FF9 is still my favorite of FF
Thank you for making this video and showing what makes this game so great! I had a lot of fun playing Final Fantasy 9 and experiencing the wonderful characters, music, and story :)
The problems I had with 9s pacing were that some main characters didn't have a lot of story around them. Their plot resolved by the middle of the game, or didn't start until after the middle; and they just had nothing else to do. Also you aren't given full control of your party until the game is wrapping up.
Love this video and you're right about the game loop - by putting abilities and skills in equipment and armor, you're pretty much tweaking the same gameplay little by little adding more and more to the characters appeal and battle mechanics. I never noticed that. It was fun grabbing equipments just to learn the skills instead of randomly learning skills once you level up to a certain range.
there's a reason why FFIX is my ult favorite! i didn't get bored one bit, i find myself playing for hours, just because the pacing and mechanics are so good for its time!
9 was my first and still my favorite final fantasy
This made me wanna play this again!
I played all FF's through when they came out, starting from 7. I'm very fond of this one.
FFIX aged very well, even before the HD remaster. I didn't care too much for it when it first came out, but came to love it more and more with every subsequent playthrough. FFIX is one of the most charming RPGs ever made!
Over the past year I finally made the pilgrimage through every main series Final Fantasy game. 9 is still my favorite
I just finished a playthrough of this and I agree with pretty much everything in this video. Man we need another "back to our roots" game.
This is the final fantasy I want a remake of. The HD version is nice for new comers and makes it look like what I remember, but has some UI issues that leave it wanting a little. I really hope that the Final Fantasy VII Remake does well so Square will consider remaking more FF games, especially this one
You might want to look into the PC mods. There's one that adds back in analogue support, changes the UI so it's more similar to the older one, and adds AI up-scaled backgrounds which look great.
@@SlapsYourShit I know, I actually worked on the mods for a while, but mods still aren't quite there. Thanks for the suggestion though
This is my first ever FF game, and I really *really* enjoyed it! The ending had me in tears ngl :')
Actually, 9 was in development since near the end of 7's cycle and had the A team working on it where as 8 had about a year with the B team and alot of newcomers.
This video is my introduction to you, and it was the best first impression.
My fav FF is VI for so many reasons, but I totally agree with your conclusion.
FFIX was a homage to the origin of the saga and was brilliantly executed.
Then again, have you played FF 4 Heroes of Light and Bravely Default/Second? That's Square-Enix trying to make modern FFIX imho,
What I loved the most about FFIX was the chocobo treasure hunt side quest, Quina randomness and Vivi's story.
OOh, YAASSS! Thanks for this video. I liked and added it to my favorites before the video even began, but I was hoping it would be a little bit longer. You didn't go into how exploring towns or sidequests factored into the gameplay loop nor on how the beginning of Disc 3 slowed things down.
IX is my favorite. I have very fond memories of that game
Great video even if the title is not a perfect fit. what we have here is most of all a good retrospective of what ff and square(soft) were at the time. What they did in those 4 years, from 7 to 9 was really inpressive. I feel ff9, like Vagrant story, were as you say buried by a hardware cycle. Should things have been different and their influence and sales numbers would be much greater. Fortunately both games some recognition on these last few years.
Bought it in the psn store on my ps3 a while back, not really knowing anything about it. And boy was I pleasantly surprised! I absolutely love FFIX, it's such a charming well made rounded out game, it's the perfect jrpg!
I'm not sure if this was mentioned already in the comments, but another underrated system they used for the pacing of the game is the active time events (ATE). The system made the game feel like time was still moving all around you and created these short mini stories along the main story. I thought that was unique idea considering that many of classic RPG games would never give you that option like the ATE system. Either they gave you the event as you progress or you backtrack to initiate an event. That's why i think the ATE help with the pacing of the story.
I gasped when I saw a video dedicated to FF9 being amazing. It's been almost a yearly ritual to complete the game in a ~40 hour run each time, and just immerse myself right into that universe. Meant enough for me to get a big tattoo of the logo crystal on my arm. 10/10, always and forever
Till' this day I have played almost all of FFGames & FF9 is still my favorite hands down !
Every time I see that scene with Black Waltz on airship destroying black mages, I get goose bumps. Every time. And it's been over 10 years since my first playthrough of this game.
FFIX is one of my favorite games of all time! And also the best implementation of the "Blue Mage" class with Quina. I loved traveling the world of Gaia, looking for different monsters to eat and excited to see what spell I would learn. It's much better than waiting to get hit to learn these skills, especially in games like FFTA where you have to do an absurd setup just for an enemy to cast White Wind on your Blue Mage. Also Quina is so adorable, I wish we had representation of Qu in other games, they could even have been introduced in Ivalice.
PS1 and PS2 were a wonderful time to become a Final Fantasy fan. I started with VII, then played every game in the order they released, and re-released them.
Before IX was out, it was possible to play every man game from FFI up to VIII (save for III) and ever Chrono Trigger all on PlayStation.
I experienced them all before IX, and I feel that made the game that much more s masterpiece. I really appreciated the game a lot at the time.
Then X and XII were after. What a time to be alive!
I've seen a few of your videos now (this one, FF X vs FF XIII and FF VIII junction) and I just wanted to say thank you. As an avid FF gamer (that to much dismay did not enjoy FF XIII) I find that you carry so much respect for the games, even the ones that aren't the best in FF standards. I also really enjoy the way you narrate (good speaking voice with a good pace) and your videos' narrative as well (great manuscripts that get to the point, but still have some fleshing out and keeps the viewer invested throughout). I'm subscribing and will be coming back for more. Thanks for your perspectives and in depth analyses, keep up the good work.
Thanks, man! This channel is worked on by two people and we've both been huge FF fans for most of our lives. My own introduction to the series was with X and that and IX are my favorites hands down but I appreciate most of the series. Even XIII despite how critical I've been with it.
Sometimes I wonder if the new technology is more a hinderence than a help for Square Enix, especially when you consider that (up until X) they battering out the Final Fantasies every one to two years. It's already been 3 years since we last saw any trailers of the VII remake and it's already well on its way to becoming the next Versus XIII, with extended periods of near radio silence, and it becomes better when you consider that they want to do it as episodic thing, so god only knows when the thing will be finally finished.
Also if IX should ever get a remake they should go a cel shaded look that recreates the original Yoshitaka Amano's artwork. That way they'd hopefully not have to worry too much about performance as it seemed to work for the then Clover Studios at Capcom with Okami. Also with the character models and rest of the world (probably just the sky and maybe some signs) I'd like some kind of subtle wavy, maybe swirling animator going with colours and stripes, and clothing would gently move as it'd be something to help stand it apart from the overly uber realism that they seem to be aiming for these days. And no doubt there would go performance despite the "it's cel shaded, no need to worry" lol
final fantasy ix is still my favourite game of all
it’s story is amazing, characters, soundtracks, gameplay. it’s never boring to play this game and i can replay it over and over again.
I can hardly describe my love for this game. Other than a handful of spin-offs, I have played every Final Fantasy back to back, many mutiple times over. But when I think of "Final Fantasy", IX comes to mind, immediately. It's a grand summary of everything the series represents, and if you take away all that FFesque narrative flavor, it's still such a damn fun game. The art is incredibly charming, and the music... goodness gracious. Nobuo Uematsu, everybody. I could keep typing for hours about every aspect of the game, but seriously... this game was a defining point of my life. I played I, II, VI and VII before IX, but none made me fall in love with the game quite like that (VI came pretty close, though, and X, afterwards, almost got there too). If you haven't played it, go play it. If you have, go play it again. It's just damn worth it.
FF9 was always my favourite mainline games because it always felt more Final Fantasy than other Final Fantasy games.It's a celebration of what the series represented up untill that point, a love letter to all their fans.
It's crazy how good the pacing is in FF9. They keep throwing FMVs, small dungeons, minigames, and different distinct areas at you one after another, shepherding you from one to the next. The first time it slows down and gives the player a chance to explore is pretty much right after you get out of Lindblum and go to pick up Quina.
For some people. For others, it feels like you are doing nothing but hitting X to get through dialogue and not really playing a game.
I wish I had money to help you guys, you deserve more money with the quality of the videos you put out. Unfortunately I'm poor and don't have much to spare. If I end up justifying it I'll chip in at least a buck.
Thanks for this breakdown, I always wondered what made 9's combat more engaging and I think you're right about it being a combination of ability and narrative pacing.
Don't worry about it. Thanks for watching!
@@DesignDoc You guys rock, I'll remember you when I finish college and stop eating ramen all day.
How’s college?
@@dreamgames8551 My personal take? I'm finished and working now. Outside of STEM fields? It's an indoctrination nightmare of critical theory and insanity and it's getting progressively worse. Just study something practical and get away from humanities as fast as you can. My GF is still doing her degree and she's terrified by the changes she's seen over the last few years.
Omg I just got it that the counterfeit ticket is foreshadowing the twist that Vivi is a doll that's nuts
FF 9 is one hell of a masterpiece
FF8 and FF9 were not made by the same team exactly, the team working on FF8 started working on FFX just a bit after the release of FF8. So FF9 was being worked on way before the release of FF8.So technically, they were working on it for more than a year.
Man the way equipment is treated in this game is fantastic, not only do you have the ap stuff but each piece having different elemental properties means even early game equipment is usable all the way through. Not to mention synthesis shops also being a great use for your old stuff.
And this works great with a theif as your main character since it makes stealing really important, especially from bosses since they often have equipment found later in the game.
Sorry for the rant just love love love love this game
Ff 9 is my best of the series, and also for metacritic , it is the most underrated in the whole franchise
Then again what credibility do "proffesional" review sites have XD
8 is the best one but 9 is so wholesome and comforting that you can return over and over
it's the kind of game that you can come back and relax to. Like a resort or vacation or a summer house.
Exactly, it's battle system is so straightforward and tone is pitch perfect
8 was awesome. It's only flaw was the junction system. It actually looked amazing on PS1 whatbr u talking about lol. And the music was very good.
the plot is also confusing, except squall the characters aren't enough flesh out and the junction system make many people hate the game. I love it though
Final Fantasy IX will always be my favorite. Has a kid and an adult it still holds up
It's my favorite Final Fantasy and I completely agree with your essay. Also, I had never stopped to think of how much the AP system in FF IX helped me get invested into the less important battles throughout the game.
Fuck, this makes so much sense! This made me want to re-play it again right now.
Thanks for this vid! I now have a motivation to start this series!
Start at FFIV, and don't forget X-2 and Tactics along the way.
@@Antiformed Yes! I love FFIV and Tactics too and I might try X-2 and the rest of the PS2 era FF's
"platonic ideal of Final Fantasy"
preach it
FFIX had so much depth. Most if not all the main cast had their own story arc. It will forever be my favorite game.
This is one of the most memorable games of my teenage years.
This game's soundtrack gets me everytime. Literally as soon as the video ended I was starting to get the feels from the music. That's what made this game enter my top 3 videogames OF ALL TIME. And I barely first played it this year, in January. Already beat it 3 times and 100% it on steam. Masterpiece of a game. It's not perfect and I do have some gripes, but overall it's fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone that doesn't hate turn based combat.
Final Fantasy IX-IV Quina’s Quest?
Never have I thought I wanted something so badly until now.