Has anyone else noticed the extremely annoying repetitiveness of FF9 when it refers to other games. Here's a list of what I found:

Final Fantasy 1

- Garland shares the name of an FF1 villian. FF1's Garland, however, was a knight, not an old wizard.
- The Four Fiends make a return appearance. First, at the four shrines, and later, at Memoria. For some reason, they refer to themselves as "The four chaoses", and Kary's name was changed to "Maliris". According to a friend of mine, Kary's name in the Japanese version of FF1 was "Marilis", so I suppose it's a matter of translation.
- Listen carefully to the Gulug Volcano background music. Sound familiar? It should. It's actually an enhanced remix of the Gurgu Volcano background music! In fact, I've heard that "Gulug" is a mistranslation of "Gurgu".
- The Beautiful Potion and Strange Potion, key items, both have a reference to "Matoya" as the author of the note left with the item. Matoya's cave is a place in FF1, Matoya is an alchemist/witch.
- The Rat Tail, which is also listed as an FF4 item, actually originated here. When you meet Bahamut, he sends you to the Castle of Ordeals to get the Rat Tail as proof of your courage.



Final Fantasy 2

- Pandemonium, Garland's castle, was named after the final area in FF2.
- In FF2, the leader of the Resistance at Phin is named Hilda, same as Regent Cid's wife.
- The story Ramuh asks you to tell him at Pinnacle Rocks is actually a very big FF2 reference. Lines in quotes are of Ramuh's story, taken directly from FF9. Everything else is background info of FF2.

"Once upon a time, 33 small countries fought together against an empire. One day, a rebel troop visited a man named Joseph, who lived with his daughter. Owing a debt to the troop, he gladly accepted their pleas for help. They headed for a cavern in the snow field."

The rebel troop the story is referring to is the main party of FF2: Frionel, Maria and Guy. Josef/Joseph accompanies them after rescuing his daughter Nellie/Nelly from imperial imprisonment. As for the 33 countries... there are no more than 20 towns in the whole game. It was merely dramatic effect for the game.

"With Joseph's help, the troop defeated the Adamantoise in the snow field cavern and acquired the Goddess Bell they needed to enter the empire's castle."
This is accurate, except for the last part. They needed the Goddess Bell to enter Kashuon Castle, not the Imperial Paramekia Castle.

"On their way home, they fell into a trap set by a traitor. Joseph gave his life to save the troop. The troop left without telling Joseph's daughter, Nelly, about the tragedy."

The "traitor" isn't a traitor at all. His name is Borgan, an Imperial official. It is established when he is introduced that he is evil. The trap Borgan set in case of his defeat was an Indiana Jones style boulder trap. Josef gets in front of the boulder and holds it back and tells the rest of the party to flee despite their protests. No sooner than the party reaches safe ground, Josef loses his grip and is crushed to death. Actually, you have the option to visit Josef's hometown of Salamando since it's on the way back to the rebel base and by talking to Nellie, she will deduce that 'Daddy isn't coming back..'

"Historian's explanation: Although Joseph's death was not reported to his daughter, the manner of his death speaks for itself. This is the story of a true hero."

Here, here! But I find the last part wrong because by the end of the game, Nellie does eventually find out what happened even if you didn't visit her!

"Historian's explanation: The fact that they didn't report Joseph's death to his daughter was indicative of their guilt for failing to protect him. In the end, heroes are also human."

This was added for gaming effect, nothing more.



Final Fantasy 3

- Garland and Kuja's vehicle of destruction, "Invincible", was named after FF3's ultimate airship. Of course, it didn't have the power to control Eidolons or completely level entire cities.
- "Une's Mirror", and "Doga's Artifact", both bought in the Treno auction house, are references to Une/Unne and Doga/Dorga, two rather important characters in FF3. I'm quite surprised the Water Maiden in Cleyra wasn't named "Elia".



Final Fantasy 4

- One of Freya's best weapons is called "Kain's Lance". If you don't know where this item's name originates from, you shouldn't bother playing FF9.
- Zorn and Thorn seem to have inherited Palom and Porom's "Twin" ability. During the battle against them on Disc 2, they give each other the power to use Flare and Meteorite (or in FF4 terms: Comet).
- The Namingway card. With it, you can rename your characters. This was Namingway's purpose in FF4.
- This's probably an FF8 reference, but the "Darkside" skill was first introduced in the Japanese version of FF4...under a different name: Dark Wave. Dark Knight Cecil's special command. The big difference is Dark Wave hit all enemies, where as Darkside only hits one.
- The dwarves in Conde Petie. Their greeting, "Rally-ho!" is probably the correctly translated version of "Lali-ho!", the dwarves' greeting in FF4. Or maybe it's a mistranslation.
- The Rat Tail, also bought in the Treno auction house, was a special item in FF4 that you could trade for Adamant. In FF9, it's just some background item that you can only sell for money.
- Cid's "family name" on FF9 is "Fabool". In FF4, there's a castle called "Fabul".
- The Antlion in Cleyra... In FF4, the Antlion was supposedly tame, yet became violent and attacked you regardless. The exact same thing happens in FF9. An interesting side-note is they both attack a prince. The FF4 Antlion attacks Edward, while the FF9 Antlion attacks Puck. (Furthermore, the antlion in FF5 attacks while Kururu/Cara/Krile is on your team. Galuf is king of Val/Bal Castle, and she's Galuf's granddaughter, making her a princess. Do Antlions not like royalty?)
- Don't you think Hilda Garde 1 looks strangely whale shaped? Could it be that Regent Cid stole the plans for the "Legendary Airship from the Moon" and remodeled it?



Final Fantasy 5

- The Boco Card. In case you didn't know, Boko/Boco was Butz/Bartz's pet Chocobo in FF5.
- Similarly, does the icon on the Airship Card seem a bit SNES'ish to you? That's because it's actually the airship from FF5!
- The ever-popular Moogle theme, which first appeared in FF5, returns as the background music at Mognet Central. Well, it's enhanced and remixed, but people who've played FF5 and FF6 will remember it.
- In a trend that seems to be continuing, Atomos, the boss from the barrier tower, became a Summon Monster.
- Freya's "Lancer" tech also originated in FF5. It was much more useful back then. However, rather than being an attack that also reduced MP, it drained HP and MP, and didn't cost anything.
- In FF5, you can use Softs to instantly kill enemies made of stone. You can do the same thing in FF9.
- Gilgamesh, everyone's favorite inept multi-limbed ninja, makes yet another return appearance in FF9. He's really obscure, though, and most people probably won't find him without cheating.
- Take a look at Tantarian, the book monster in Alexandria. The cover of the book has a picture of a 'Page 256', and the monster itself looks like a 'Page 64'. Both of these were "book monsters" in FF5's Ancient Library.
- In FF5, one of X-Death/Exdeath's ultimate attacks is Grand Cross. Necron also uses this spell, but it's a bit different.
- An obvious reference, if you've played FF5, is that there are two worlds which the story/game takes place. Gaia and Terra in FF9 and Galuf's world and Butz's world in FF5.



Final Fantasy 6

- The Moogle theme, remixed and enhanced. I covered this in the FF5 section.
- I may be wrong, but it's my guess that references to Madeen and Madain may actually be mistranslations of Maduin. Or maybe it's the other way around. I'm not sure, since Ted Woolsey changed pretty much everything when he translated FF6.
- With moogles intertwined into the storyline, it's no real surprise that one of them, Eiko's "little sister", is named "Mog". If you haven't played FF6, Mog was the name of the dancing moogle who joined the team. Also, if you haven't played FF6, you're a disgrace in the eyes of Bahamut, your lord and savior.
- Some old man in Lindblum is named "Locke". He appears only in the Business District before the town is destroyed.
- The floating eyeball thing known as "Ahriman" in more recent FF games, was changed back to "Veteran", its FF6 name.
- One of Steiner/Beatrix's moves is called "Shock", which was the same as General Leo's command in FF6. The effect is different. Leo's Shock hit all enemies and cost nothing.



Final Fantasy 7

- In an early Active Time Event in Evil Forest called "Orchestra in the Forest", the band from Tantalus begins playing Rufus's Welcoming March. Yes, the exact song, with almost no changes. If you return to the Prima Vista crash site anytime after this scene, they'll still be playing it.
- Listen carefully to the music played just before the fight scene in the play early on in the game. Just before the "battle" music starts, there're a few notes played that sound exactly like part of FF7's Highwind theme.
- In the weapon shop at Lindblum, check the swords on the wall. Zidane makes a comment about how a "spiky haired guy" who wielded one of these. The spiky haired guy, obviously being Cloud.
- Ironically, Zidane and Cloud share the best sword: Ultima Weapon.
- Steiner and Beatrix both have an ability called "Climhazzard". Sound familiar? It is one of Cloud's second level Limits.
- Hades, one of the summon monsters from FF7, was turned into an optional super boss.
- Chocobo footprints on the world map are used to call Chocobos. It's done in a different way than FF7, obviously, but the idea is still there.
- Ever played the "Mog House" mini-game on FF7? "Kupo Nuts" are Mog's favorite food on that mini-game. Kupo Nuts make another appearance in FF9, where they're an actual item. And yes, they're still moogles' favorite food.
- Notice how the moogle's "Kupo" sound in the "Mog House" game seems similar to the moogle sound used in FF9?
- After Alexandria gets destroyed, one of the Pluto Knights is talking to a flower girl near the ruined steeple. If you talk to the flower girl, she'll mention that the soldier is "nice, but isn't much for personality". Remind you of another flower girl and "personality-less soldier"?
- Cloud is referred to yet again in the ending. During the retelling of the intro play, Marcus delivers the line "let no cloud nor squall drive us apart". Gee, how fitting that he'd choose those two words.



Final Fantasy 8

- Steiner's "Darkside" was originally a normal command in FF8. It even has the same effect.
- Amarant's "No Mercy" was Seifer's single Limit ability. The effect is different (it hits only one enemy instead of all enemies), but the name is the same, and the animation is similar.
- Similar to above, though the effect is completely different, Quina's "Eat" command is similar in nature to the "Devour" command in FF8.
- "Ultima Weapon" was also in FF8. It wasn't a weapon, it was an optional super boss.
- The same spell "name" system used in FF8 was also used in FF9. Fire, Fira, Firaga, etc. Actually, this was used in all the FF games in Japan. Let's just be thankful that we have Cure, Cura, and Curaga, instead of "Keal", "Kealra", and "Kealga".
- Squall got a mention in FF9's ending. See the FF7 section.



Final Fantasy Tactics

- Tons of items were taken almost directly from FFT. These include Germinas Boots, Battle Boots, Robe of Lords, Whale Whisker, Venetia Shield, Octagon Rod, Mace of Zeus, Feather Boots, Cachusha, N-Kai Armlet, Jade Armlet, Blood Sword, Save the Queen, Maximillian, Twist Headband, Zorlin Shape, Flash Hat, Carabini Mail, and a whole bunch of other, more generic items.
- The only other game you could equip perfume as accessories.
- Freya's "Reis's Wind" technique makes an obvious reference to Reis from FFT, who was, not too surprisingly, a dragoner.
- Freya's "Cherry Blossom" skill is Cloud's 8th Limit in FFT.
- The Stellazzio Coins are all named after the Zodiac Signs. While FFT didn't 'invent' these, it was the first RPG, that included them. In fact, there's even a 13th Stellazzio.
- Many of Steiner's Sword Techs are taken from FFT. They don't break equipment, but have the similar effect of lowering stats.
- Similar to FF5, Altima also uses Grand Cross, which has an effect almost identical to FF9's version.



Parasite Eve

- In the Lindblum Synth Shop, the owner is named Torres, and the man at the counter is named Wayne. These were the two people in the NYPD weapons room on PE. In addition, when you first enter the said shop, the two of them have a skirmish which is practically the same as the "Safety vs. Power" lecture you overhear when you first enter the NYPD weapons room.



SaGa Frontier

- A shirt-type item in SaGa Frontier was called "Power Belt". This's also in FF9, though it's now an accessory with a different effect.
- Steiner's "Rune Sword" was also an item in SaGa Frontier.



SaGa Frontier 2

- Looks like FF9 borrowed some of it's colder equipment from this game. Both games have an Ice Staff and an Ice Lance.
- Did Gustave have something to do with the construction of Lindblum and Alexandria? Like his homecity in SaGa Frontier 2, Hahn Nova, Lindblum has three sectors: Industrial, Business, and Theatre...think "Blacksmith", "Shopping", and "Entertainment". Similarly, take a look at Alexandria from the world map. The castle sits in the center of the lake, with three segments of the town divided by rivers. Hahn Nova has a very similar setup: The castle in the center of town and roads seperating three sectors of town.

Bahamut Lagoon

- Amarant's original name was Salamander. Also the name of one of the dragon's in Bahamut Lagoon

Very nice indded. Some of this i never actualy picked up on. Well done, it was a great read :)

Im quite impressed, I see you did your research. A true FF fan.
In my opinion, the similarities are what make the games so great. Only the true FF fans who have played them all (such as myself) can understand that.

Good work. Most of that information I already knew, having read it in almost identical form on FF Compendium, but anyway, a few more references you haven't mentioned (MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD - DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED THE GAME!):












FFI: Vivi's appearence obviously resembles the traditional appearence of the FF Black Mage Job begun with FFI. Also, Garnet wears a simplified White Mage robe at the start of the game, and there are also NPCs dressed as Red Mages wandering around various locations of FFIX.

As mentioned at the Eidolon Wall, Garnet's real name, Sarah, is the name of the Cornerian princess from FFI. Also, at the same time, Garnet's real mother is named Jane, who was the Queen of Corneria in FFI.

The name of the main world in FFIX, Gaia, was the name of a town in FFI.

FFII: As mentioned Hilda, Cid's estranged wife, is from FFII, but she is more than just the leader of the resistance - she is the princess of Phin in FFII. Incidentally, in both games, both are royalty, and both are also powerful magic users.

FFIII: If you have Une's Mirror and Doga's Aritifact in your key items list, and inspecting the gramaphone in the Black Mage Village, causes a track from FFIII to start playing: Let Me Know the Truth.

FFIV: One of the Tetra Master opponents you can battle with in Treno's Card Tournament is named 'Gilbert' - Gilbert being what Edward the Bard was named in the original Japanese version of FFIV. Simillary, another card opponent is named 'Worker 5' - possibly alluding to Worker 7-New and Worker 8, ancient robots in FF Tactics.

FFV: The summoner's horn, which Eiko possesses (and Garnet had amputated when she was a child), first appeared here as part of the costume of the Summoner Job (in FFV it was a hat with a horn jutting out from it).

The toymaker who made the 'Mini-Burmecia', 'Mini-Brahne', and 'Mini-Cid' figures, is mentioned as being none other than Gogo, the flamboyant mime from FFV and VI.

FFVI: The birth world of Kuja and Zidane, Terra, is the name of one of FFVI's main characters, although in the original Japanese version of FFVI, Terra was named 'Tina', so this is more coincidence rather than something intentional.

SG Blassty: Ark (Garnet's summon form, not it's boss form), apparently resembles a mech from an ancient, obscure Japanese Square PC game called SG Blassty, although I haven't seen exactly what the mecha in question looks like, I have heard of the game though.

There are far more though, (especially dealing with FF Tactics), but I can't remember them right now!

A good list Enkidoh, I can't believe I didn't spot the Sarah and Jane one though! Is it on FFC? I've never used it so I wouldn't know

How the hell do you guys find time for this?

Nice list, I congrat you for your hard work.

You really are the Ultimate Final Fantasy fan. :) I did notice some of those though. I also have a small list of references that I will post some time. Great job though.

I think I picked up on this as I played Final Fantasy IX, I think I would actually find time to research on something if I thought I recognized them from previous titles :(

Thankyou for the links to other titles not in Final Fantasy, helps fill in the links for me.

I might do some Vagrant Story links from FF10 later, or maybe later on this morning, it's too early at the moment

In the movie Final Fantasy, The world is also called Gaia.
and there's not only in ffIv there's repetiveness; in ffx and x-2, the magus sister are from ffv or ffiv (I don't rembember in which game).

Sorry I meant " ...and there's not only in FFIX there's..."

Once the party escapes Evil Forest, they're hanging out around a campfire, and there's an exchange between Steiner and Zidane, in which Zidane calls Steiner "Rusty." This scene reminds me strongly of the scene in FFVI between Sabin and Gau. "Mr. Thou," anyone?

Also, Garnet's attire in the beginning of the game, when she tries to escape Alexandria, is identical to the White Mage (FF1, 5)/Priest (FFT).

Yeah, that's some good stuff. The Garland one was just flagrant, because it made me burst out laughing during the middle of an intense scene. "GASP! It's the last boss that lost to a party of all thieves!"

I thought of another reference. The ability "Man Eater" causes the charrie to do more dmg to humans. Curious. In FFVI, there's a weapon with the same name. I forget what it does, though. I'll go look, and edit this post.

The "Man Eater" weapon in FFVI does double damage to human targets. I just looked it up on GameFAQ's. :-D

You've also HAVE to have a username on GameFAQS because I could swear that I read the exact same list there. I was really impressed with how many references you found.

^ I googled it and got this:
forums.gamespot.com/gamespot/show_messages.php?board=920240&topic=17748151&page=0
^ i couldn't find the exact post, but the description matched.

Why is it annoying? FFIX is supposdly for the true FF fans, who would be the only ones who pick them up.

Thats oddly creepy. The funny thing is some of that that stuff in FF9, it seemed familliar to me, and I didn't reilze it untill now, what it was. Of course alot of it I picked up on so easily.

In hindsight, here are a few more references to past FF games which occur in FFIX that I've just remembered (MAYBE SPOILERS AHEAD):

FFIV: In Lindblum's Business District, in the square with the sundial/fountain, one of the market stalls scattered around the square is named 'Polom's Action Figure Store' - Polom being what one of the mage twins from Mysidia who joins your party in FFIV (she was the White Mage of the duo) was known as in the original Japanese version of FFIV - in both the US SNES and PSX versions she was called 'Porom' - but they are the same character.

FFV: This isn't probably immiediately obvious, but (Queen) Stella, the duck lady and eccentric aristocrat in Treno who sends you off searching for the Stellazzios, was the name of Bartz's deceased mother in FFV. She wasn't a queen though (or at least, I don't think she was).

FFVI: Also in Lindblum, in disc 2 after Alexandria has attacked the city, by speaking with a female Alexandrian soldier in the Theatre District (near the bench where the old man was feeding the pigeons earlier in the game), she mentions that Queen Brahne is planning on building an Opera House at that location - possibly alluding to the Opera House (and the famous opera scene) in FFVI.

Has anyone else noticed the extremely annoying repetitiveness of FF9 when it refers to other games

Those annoyed you? They put it in there on purpose because FF9 is the game that harks back to the classics. It's a good thing mate.

The references are part of the reason I love FFIX so much. 'Tis a good thing.

Sorry but Ive seen that before and hate people copying stuff
Busted.. All those were taken from here-

http:// db.gamefaqs.com/console/psx/file/final_fantasy_ix_reference.txt
(remove the space between http:// and db)

Sorry if it yours or mentioned anything about taking from there, I saw no reference.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned it but the princess from FFI (I think) is called Sara, which is Garnet/Dagger's real name.

Sorry but Ive seen that before and hate people copying stuff
Busted.. All those were taken from here-
Yeah, UltimateFFFan, sorry, but you're totally busted, that's definitely a rip-off.

Here's a good one though that I haven't seen anybody mention before --- At the end of Final Fantasy IX, Trance Kuja does Ultima as a final move on your party and they are badly injured. You choose your party to fight Necron and then various characters grant their power to the characters you chose. This is extremly similar to what happens right before the final battle with Zeromus in Final Fantasy IV when the various characters all grant Cecil's fallen group power to help them rebound and take down Zeromus.

I've always noticed something that never seems to get referenced.

In the Treno Auction House, if you walk all the way up to the front, near the podium and up either of the side steps, you can get a nice view of the painting hanging in the Auction House. It hangs on the back wall and I've always seemed to pick out Squall (on the bottom right) and possible Seifer (top left) and either Rinoa or Edea in the center. I've even gone as far as to believe that Zell is in there as well (way bottom left corner).

I wonder if anyone else has taken notice of this? Any thoughts? My sister just thinks I'm crazy, haha.

hmm now that i think of it. I didn't know u had a sister.

Wow on reviving yet another shit-old thread, sain. Things truly have been insain since you joined. Fortunately, you're on my ignore list, so I only see your crap if I choose to.


Oh, and apropos of nothing, I have a sister too.

So this is where things are after my extended absense...

In any case, you have to realise that the first Final Fantasy was THE single redeaming factor that kept squaresoft from going bankrupt and dieing out. If you look hard enough, every single one of the FF games relates to pretty much everyother one in some way. I guess they just figured that they shouldnt mess with the formula, or maybe its that the reason they COULD call it a series was because they relate. If you havent noticed, names are commonly reused in a lot of the games. Think about it, it IS pretty hard to come up with new names for characters for 12 different games. I dont really blame them for taking the easy way on a little bit of it, and frankly i dont really care cause it doesnt bother me. If you found that FFIX's relations to the others was quite bothering, then you are going to have a problem when you play the others because its the same with those too.

Wow on reviving yet another shit-old thread, sain. Things truly have been insain since you joined. Fortunately, you're on my ignore list, so I only see your crap if I choose to.


Oh, and apropos of nothing, I have a sister too.

You know what the best of it is? He wants to mod the FFIX section

ROTFL. Please excuse me while I pick myself up off the ground. I hadn't realized sain had aspirations to move on to greater things. They should mod him for a little while, just for kicks. No sorry, forget I said that. :D

ROTFL. Please excuse me while I pick myself up off the ground. I hadn't realized sain had aspirations to move on to greater things. They should mod him for a little while, just for kicks. No sorry, forget I said that. :D

I think he's got more chance of becoming the CEO of Symantec lol. But seriously, I've got hardly any chance at becoming the mod, and I've been here for a hell of a lot longer, and obviously know more about FFIX :rolleyes:

WOW
Youre a bigger fan than me!!!!!!!!!!!
Im quite impress!!!!!!

Huh, kendall? Are you applying for the position of neo-sain?

These are all amazing and I see you've got a lot of time on your hands.

Kudos though.

As someone else said, that was an awesome read. You are a very learned fan.

You seem to be writing with a negative tone though. I find all the references enjoyable. Final Fantasy IX was designed to honour the roots of the series. Many fans were dissapointed by 7 and 8, thinking it drifted away from what they considered to be Final Fantasy. The over referencing was to link the games together I think.

No excuses can be made for the plot though, which seems to be a slight rip off of Final Fantasy VIs.

You're wasting your breath trying to talk directly to the original poster-- this thread is well over three years old and that member hasn't even logged in since December of last year. Not only that-- but the original post is almost entirely a rip-off from GameFAQs anyway.

^ I suspected that it could be a rip off but I didnt want to accuse him and be wrong. I just posted in it because it was archived.

in FF10 at the scene where you enter luca for the first time you hear rufus' welcome march if u listen closely

First of all, this the Final Fantasy IX section, secondly, no. No, you don't.

sorry, i got mixed up, the music you hear is from FF9, i cant remember its name but it gets played during "i want to be your canary" at the beginning of the game

Actually, "Rufus Welcoming March" is played in its entirety by the Prima Vista band, during the ATE Orchestra in the Forest, which was already pointed out in the original post.

its not the welcoming march im talking about, i got mixed up, its another FF9 tho

Well, if you can't be more specific, then I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about.

I don't think this was mentioned, but the battle music even starts out the same as the earlier FF games.

It's not mentioned because it's lame. Seriously, the battle music? Oh, BTW, there's a Cid in this game too. That's not a reference.

I only mentioned it since they changed it for later games.

Still not a reference-- they changed a lot in later games too, for example, the entire feel of the battle system.

I saw a mention to Palom or Porom (can't remember which) on a flyer in Lindblum in a recent playthrough. I think it was around the Weapon Shop.

Actually, I already mentioned that on the first page - a post which dates back to 2005 too no less.

Please, moderators, lock this thread. It's about time it was put out to pasture. :(

With pleasure, Enkidoh.