wat do u guys think?

"what would of made FFIX better?"

If the game was a little faster in battle it might have been better. Even on the fastest settings it is a little slow.

Also the card game was a little hard to understand,

I don't want to sound like a fanboy here, but I thought the game was just perfect. Sure, it had some small quibbles here and there, but overall, the ultimate game for the Playstation. It couldn't have been done better on the old Playstation.

I think it may be that Im getting too used to FFs on PS2, but I would have appreciated the game more if the characters weren't so...childish looking and acting.

Otherwise, yes, best FF on Playstation.

A better explanation for the card game, and give the steal command a lot more importance, also i would like if Daguerreo was an actual big city, with a couple more of things to do there, i would also take Amarant as a playable character and just leave him as an enemy.

Staying with the Steal command, IT WAS FUCKING HARD TO STEAL FROM SOME ENEMIES.

Also agree on the card game. Maybe I'm pretty stupid but I was clueless about it for a long time.

Yeah thats a good point Almond Joy the i think the characters look a bit too childish for my likeing.

Did you like FFVII? If so, they looked even more cartoon-ish. >=O=<

I guess that was because of the graphics at the time it also may be the case for FFIX(bein on PS1) though i don't see it as a big problem for either games.

The childish-looking characters fitted in well with the game.

the fact that you had to give Dagger and Eiko the Boost ability just to make the Eidelons apper and do more damage was the most irritating part. Also the place where all weapon values were reversed was really annoying. i accidently forgot to replace my weapons before i fought the earth gaurdian.

Whats the problem with characters looking cartoonish. If this is something bad, then Dragon Quest: The journey of the cursed king has pretty bad characters

the fact that you had to give Dagger and Eiko the Boost ability just to make the Eidelons apper and do more damage was the most irritating part. Also the place where all weapon values were reversed was really annoying. i accidently forgot to replace my weapons before i fought the earth gaurdian.

Ipsen's Castle. And to be honest, i never learnt the Boost ability and had all of my Eidolons doing 9999 per hit. Granted, I did have Garnet and Eiko at full Magic from disc 3 onwards. Personally I had no problem with the game other than the story lines of each of the characters. For example, I would have liked to see more of Freya's story, and a little less of Quina's.

• Faster load times

• Less random encounters

• Better rewards for every minigame except Chocobo Hot-Cold

• More customization in the job system

• Two white mage/summoners kind of sets off the balance a little. Replace one with a Red Mage

• Garnet’s summons need to be more spaced out. You receive Bahamut almost before you have a chance to use Leviathan

• More FMV/gameplay hybrid scenes like in FFVII/FFVIII.

That’s all I can think of for now.

I actually thought that the random encounters were pretty low in this game. I mean, I'm usually able to walk a long distance without ever encountering a single monster. Okay, compared to, let's say FFII, this game's random encounter rate is a glorious free-fall.

i didn't like some of the music in it such as the battle music for normal enemies compared to other battle music FFIX is slightly inferior.

I didn't mean just their looks. At many points in the game they even acted a little too childish, I just can't think of specific examples now. Mostly the main characters, like Steiner, Zidane and Garnet. I also kind of just disliked their personalities.

I agree with "Faster Load times"--especially for battles....
That really was the only thing that was annoying...
Ten-second battle transitions sometimes feel like a bit too much.

But storywise, I don't think there's anything that I'd want them to change...=]

I really liked FFVIII's card game, so it would have been great if FFIX had a similar one, or at least something that I just never could understand at all. Other than that, this game was absolutely great.

FFIX is fine the way it is, thank you.

I don't know if this is just me, but I liked FFVIII's GF animations more than the Eidolons' animations. It's just something that always bugged me, so I think I'd have liked Square to make them more like VIII's.

I really liked FFVIII's card game, so it would have been great if FFIX had a similar one, or at least something that I just never could understand at all. Other than that, this game was absolutely great.

And if FFIX had a card mod option as well. Some of those cards in FFVIII had sweet items to get! For instance, all those aura's. Absolutely awesome.

The load times were a result of maximizing the PS1's capabilities, obviously. Some of the music, I agree, wasn't as good as, say, FFVI's music, but it was still good overall (Garland's theme, Bran Bal, You're Not Alone).

The load times were a result of maximizing the PS1's capabilities, obviously.
I agree. They pushed the system's capabilities to its extreme.

You know what would have made it better?

IF ZIDANE WOULD HAVE FRIGGEN KISSED HER AT THE END!!1

C'mon, he spent like half the game wanting one, and sure when the sea of raging hormones ebbs, the advances give way, but, gee... you'd THINK.

You know what would have made it better?

IF ZIDANE WOULD HAVE FRIGGEN KISSED HER AT THE END!!1

C'mon, he spent like half the game wanting one, and sure when the sea of raging hormones ebbs, the advances give way, but, gee... you'd THINK.
Somehow I feel like it wasn't up to Zidane. Garnet's should have been the one to finally kiss him, and not the other way around.=O

Don't they do like an eskimo kiss at the end? ^_^

Also, Final Fantasy IX is perfect for me, saying that as, of course, I can point out things I personally feel as flaws, game-wise (I found this game the easiest of all the Final Fantasy-games I've played so far), but,

making it all perfect, it doesn't have to be better. It's good as it is, and I don't find no need thinking about how it would've been improved =) ;O It mustn't!

(Maybe some more Terra sequences would have been awesome, lolz <3)

Somehow I feel like it wasn't up to Zidane. Garnet's should have been the one to finally kiss him, and not the other way around.=O
That's beside the point. Regardless of who takes the initiative, a kiss would have been nice.

Yeah Final Fantasy's endings have never been things you would watch over and over again.

Yeah Final Fantasy's endings have never been things you would watch over and over again.

Really? That's disappointing to hear. There are a few I like seeing more than once. FFIX is in that category.

I watch some endings multiple times. I keep saves at the end of the games.

I don't think many video games have good endings and unfourtunetly FFIX is one of them.

Yeah Final Fantasy's endings have never been things you would watch over and over again.
Yeah, uh-huh, okay. For you, maybe.

FF9's ending is what made it my favorite.

Well to be fair I did enjoy the endings for the FF games but I would not watch them about 10 times once or twice is enough for me.

I couldn't stand it's limit system, I forgot what FFIX called it but it sucked.

I also have to agree with stealing, it took way too long sometimes.

Trance system.

Yeah, I hated it. It got to where I didn't even care about it and I probably went into trace against some weak thing I could have killed in a couple hits.

The Trance system has been debated at length in this section before. I could link you to some of the arguments / debates, if you're interested.

i really liked ff9 the way it was, made me laugh

It was really fun. Unfortunately my disc is scratched, and I can't use items in battle. :( So I'd change that, I know it's not about the game really just my disc, but still it's upsetting.

The trance thing did have it's faults, like I had a tendancy to get it at the end of battle and never be able to use it...pissed me off. And stealing, it worked only half the time, and even more rarely did you ever get anything worht while, even with all the abilities added on. But some here say the card game sucked, I loved it, I have collected all but 2 cards, it could've been made like FF VIII in that you could make the cards into items, but the rules and how the were spread were confusing and a pain in the rear to me. FF IX was more simple and easier to catch on. And I like i nthe end they didn't actually kiss although they did do the "Eskimo kiss", because regardless of whether or not we seen them kiss, you knew they loved each other.

I'll agree that steal was hecka annoying in this game. As for the card game --- it was reasonably addictive, but the lack of any reward really made it annoying, plus that if you're actually dedicated enough to finish it out completely, it glitches.

The Trance system has been debated at length in this section before. I could link you to some of the arguments / debates, if you're interested.

Hook a brotha up.

I'll agree that steal was hecka annoying in this game. As for the card game --- it was reasonably addictive, but the lack of any reward really made it annoying, plus that if you're actually dedicated enough to finish it out completely, it glitches.
I wish they had a card game in every FF, but only if it was like FF8's game because I played the hell out of that. I still go back to my save to play it every once in a while.

I wish they had a card game in every FF, but only if it was like FF8's game because I played the hell out of that.

Ditto...I really enjoyed FF8's card game. Wasted entirely too much time on it...and I became a bit obsessive about never losing a card.

Ditto...I really enjoyed FF8's card game. Wasted entirely too much time on it...and I became a bit obsessive about never losing a card.

I got paranoid when it came to being forced to lose a card to someone in order to get a new card. I thought it would never pop up thanks to some glitch or somethin.

buttfux would have made FFIX better.

I think one good thing about it was the way you learn magicks and what not, by equipping the accesories and armors and all that. It was cool, but they could have done it a little better in certain circumstances. It felt like some it was balanced enough in terms of learning and difficulty in getting said pieces of equipment.

Definitely add FF8's card game to every iteration though. Or at the very least something along those lines, a nice sidequest game that you can play throughout the game. The same card game over and over may get old after a while.

FF9 got the chocobo sidequest right too, at least I thought so. Hunting down the treasure on the map was annoying at first but finding some good equipment was always nice.

Hook a brotha up.
Okay, here you go (Thread 22236).

gracias mi amigo

The speed of the game was the fallout for me, the battles were just too fucking slow, you spent more time staring at nothing moving then you did anything else. Other then that, decent game.

Imo, FF IX battles were the quickest

Imo, FF IX battles were the quickest

I beg to differ, I stood there for like 10 seconds, until my turn finally arrived, only to have it end swiftly by Ozma.

They should let you be able to visit every place in the 4h disc, but i guess there was not enough space in the disc.

Imo, FF IX battles were the quickest
Not a chance mate, you would press a command and it would take ages for them to actually do that command.

You guys do realize, don't you, that battle speed, in most FF games, is alterable to some degree from the configuration menu? So for those that found it too slow in this game, did you ever try changing it to the fastest setting?

FFIX was 2 player which was a small surprise (it didn't need it though).

You guys do realize, don't you, that battle speed, in most FF games, is alterable to some degree from the configuration menu? So for those that found it too slow in this game, did you ever try changing it to the fastest setting?
Ofcourse I did.

:) So it was still way too slow for you, even then?

And you set it to active time, too? Oh well.

Well, that's the fun and magic of turn-based battles for you. Everyone goes into a queue even after you enter the command, and some of the enemies just get the luck of the draw and get their turn in before you. And worse, some of them have stuff like double-casting. That's what boosting your charcters' speed stats and putting on stuff like auto-haste will help.

Characters like Ozma will almost always (in fact, I think it IS always) get the first turn in, and bad luck on you if it wipes out your team on the first strike.

FF9 has some pretty heavy animation times. I found that the PS2 does make it seem faster, but either way, that's just the way the system works out. Every other FF game has been the same speed and style for me, even the older games.

:) So it was still way too slow for you, even then?
Unfortunately :(



I realise that FF games arent meant to be very fast paced, but I just thought the battle speed of FF9 really took the piss, now that I've played FF7 again for the first time in about 3 years which seems to be much faster. Also the fact that you can't do more then 9999 in one turn with FF9 can be annoying, but not that big of a complaint, dont want Zidane using Omni-hart, do we?

It does sorta render Zidane's Trance rather uninteresting when you build up Thievery or even just a good attack, and you're getting the same 9999 you'd get even with a weak Trance.

I think the trance mode could be more good. I mean, you don't choose when you will use trance. For example, someone attack Zidane and he use trance but I have already made someone of my party finish the battle.

I think trance was donr well. You could win every boss without trance, but trance was like an "extra" help. If you could keep trances until you would want to use them, the game would have been really easy (looking at FFX).

But that's all I'm saying. In most cases, Trance was an extra help. But in Zidane's case it wasn't, because eventually, it became a waste-of-time.

You guys do realize, don't you, that battle speed, in most FF games, is alterable to some degree from the configuration menu? So for those that found it too slow in this game, did you ever try changing it to the fastest setting?

That is too obvious to even mention,
besides i did say it's too slow even on the fastest setting in my first post.

Even playing on a ps2 with double disk speed it's noticably slower than ff7 and ff8.

Hmm. Well, fair enough. I never thought of it as being all that slow, but each their own. I guess to some degree it's just a matter of perception / preference, but Is suppose it probably is slower than either VII or VIII.

I see what you mean Agent. I never worked on the thievery much, so I didnt know about it. At least they could add him an ability that damages 9999 two times

I think it may be that Im getting too used to FFs on PS2, but I would have appreciated the game more if the characters weren't so...childish looking and acting.

Otherwise, yes, best FF on Playstation.

I'd have to agree about the 'childish' looks of all the characters, I just couldnt personify myself with any of them (if that sounds correct lol)

I really loved FFIX, i think i've started and finished it about five times now. I found Tetra Master really annoying but once I understood it I got the hang of it. There were so many sidequests but alot didn't give very good rewards. I never found the atb system on IX slow, and it can be faster by the speed stat which is ok. I wish they would have elaborated more on Terra, Garland, the ancients of the forgotten continent and how they knew about terra etc, aswell as the final boss which was quite confusing, though it did make sense that there would be no information because no one knew about the crystal and aswell they could have gave more info about the crystal. I really loved the Magic sfx it was so good that I always had eiko cast holy and vivi cast flare, but the damage could have been alot more (eg Ark and its extremely long attacking only to do 6000 to 9999 and only once).

They also could have put more places on the lost continent and not have closed up esto gaza on the fourth disc. They could have also put more items in the auction system but it was great nonetheless. the Ragnarok Sword could have been less stronger than Excalibur and there should have been two tiger rackets. They also could have explained the stat growth system (equipment contributing to stat growth).

Because IX never elaborated on things it really should have, you would have to use your head to reveal the missing pieces in both the gameplay and the story line, I had to start IX again and again to get the real messages in the storyline. But I love IX's storyline and gameplay aswell as graphics and sfx. I don't really think these as flaws as I think they wanted to make you think. but yes, quite abit of things and events in IX could have been improved.

(I still don't get what spirit does after having played IX over and over again:-( )

Spirit determines things like: how fast the trance bar charges/discharges; how long bad status will affect you; how much HP is restored when revived; how long certain white spells (like regen) will work on you; and the success of things like Steal, Meteor, Counter, etc.

There's other things that it affects, too, but let's just say, the higher, the better.

It's similar to "luck," I guess.

All ppl do is bitch when they couldn't do better. if sq tried to make a good game mabie they'd get james blunt to co-star as vivi's grandma.

also if this line was used once i'd say it was a perfect game: daddy is ja rule taller then me. No you to are the same

the card game was easy and fun, the characters were perfect i liked amerant the way he was. making it so there was at least 1 city that u didn't have to go to to complete the game set a good chemistry. saying cloud and squalls name at the end was cool, the picture of squall and everyone at the auction house set memories. They made the characters the way so each one would have his or her own perpose. so when u get the white mage(eiko) that u wouldn't be using fucking freya for a white mage.

Sain you are loosing the point of the thread. There is no videogame that is perfect, all of them have some flaws. What we are saying is what could have made the game even better than it is.

I've played every normal Final Fantasy starting with FF6, and I have to say that FF9 was my least favorite of them all. Part of it may have been that it followed in the footsteps of FF8, which was the first and possibly my favorite game of the series. However, I don't think that was the whole reason.

I think the main thing that got under my skin with the game was its childish graphics, and of course, Zidane's tail. I had trouble putting myself into the role of a kid with a monkey tail, as hard as I tried. Zidane even reminded me of a monkey with his hair. The characters in the game were not proportioned right, much like FF7, although in FF9's case, graphical limitations were no excuse. Garnet looked like she was about 5 years old, yet she had the chest of an 18 year old. Even more odd was that she actually looked like a kid when compared to the tall height of Steiner and Beatrix. Check the ending movie of FF9 on Youtube to see what i'm talking about. She goes up to about their waist from the looks of it. I found it all rather disturbing.

I also had trouble taking the "bad guys" seriously. I forget the fat queen(?)'s name who was the main villain at the start of the story, but she looked more hilarious than scary to me. As for Kuja, the tail took away any fear factor from my mind too.

To be honest, I can't remember a great deal about the game. It seems that after playing 7 Final Fantasy's, they start to blend together. I think I was unimpressed with the Eidolons too, though. Thinking back, i'm not sure if I ever even used one in the game, though surely the story forced you to use them at some point? If I missed them somehow in the whole game, that might have been one of the reasons I disliked it so. I rewatched their summons on Youtube though, and I think I still preferred FF8's summons. (Though I admit, Leviathan's summon on FF9 was possibly better, and Bahamut's wasn't bad either.)

I don't think I wasr very impressed with the story either -- maybe it was merely the graphics that kept me from getting too deeply into it though. Overall, I think it was a nice light hearted game, but I consider it to be more of a fairy tale setting than a modern Final Fantasy game. I've heard someone say it's a throwback to the old Final Fantasy games. I wouldn't know since i've only played the ones after FF6.

That's an entirely dumb way to look at the game. Of course, that's about what I'd expect from someone whose expectations for the series were defined by FFVIII, which was a pathetic game in its own right. Of course, that's a discussion for another time and place.

Childish graphics? The art style was meant to be reminiscent of the original games, so of course it is going to be more cartoonish. However, that doesn't make it childish. And even if it was, what would have been wrong with that? Do you have some kind of overwhelming fear of being associated with anything you see as childish? That's what we call being a pretentious teenage idiot. You'll look back on it in a few years and laugh at yourself. Trust me, we all do.

And as for the bad guys, actions speak a lot louder than appearances. In case you didn't notice, Kuja committed more major atrocities than all the villains in the previous two games combined.

I'm not even going to comment on the rest. I'll leave that to others, as there's no way I could be remotely civil while addressing it, and I'm in no mood for hostilities at the moment.

I've played every normal Final Fantasy starting with FF6, and I have to say that FF9 was my least favorite of them all. Part of it may have been that it followed in the footsteps of FF8, which was the first and possibly my favorite game of the series. However, I don't think that was the whole reason.

I think the main thing that got under my skin with the game was its childish graphics, and of course, Zidane's tail. I had trouble putting myself into the role of a kid with a monkey tail, as hard as I tried. Zidane even reminded me of a monkey with his hair. The characters in the game were not proportioned right, much like FF7, although in FF9's case, graphical limitations were no excuse. Garnet looked like she was about 5 years old, yet she had the chest of an 18 year old. Even more odd was that she actually looked like a kid when compared to the tall height of Steiner and Beatrix. Check the ending movie of FF9 on Youtube to see what i'm talking about. She goes up to about their waist from the looks of it. I found it all rather disturbing.

I also had trouble taking the "bad guys" seriously. I forget the fat queen(?)'s name who was the main villain at the start of the story, but she looked more hilarious than scary to me. As for Kuja, the tail took away any fear factor from my mind too.

Without wanting to be too harsh on you personally, this post is sadly typical of the masses of fanboys/girls who see FFVII and FFVIII as the best in the series. In other words, it's completely biased and frankly, gives shit reasons for disliking FFIX.

Firstly, you focus on appearances-in your first few paragraphs-instead of character merits. That's tantamount to saying graphics are the focal point of an RPG or even games in general. If so, how can you possibly call FFIX bad while not attacking FFVII instead for worse flaws (i.e. block hands, terrible cut-scenes etc). Anyway, the whole notion of graphics being of paramount importance to a game is almost universally rejected by the gaming industry.


"To be honest, I can't remember a great deal about the game. It seems that after playing 7 Final Fantasy's, they start to blend together. I think I was unimpressed with the Eidolons too, though. Thinking back, i'm not sure if I ever even used one in the game, though surely the story forced you to use them at some point? If I missed them somehow in the whole game, that might have been one of the reasons I disliked it so. I rewatched their summons on Youtube though, and I think I still preferred FF8's summons. (Though I admit, Leviathan's summon on FF9 was possibly better, and Bahamut's wasn't bad either.)"

Next, there's this. You even admit to not remembering a great deal about the game, so here's an idea: play it again. You might well like it, assuming you can tell a good game from a bad one, which based on this post I'm not 100% sure of. So many people tell me that FFVII and FFVIII are superb games and that FFIX is poor, but the fact of the matter is they don't know what they're talking about. They merely play VII and VIII extensively and thus over-rate them while playing FFIX once, seeing 'oh look, the hero's not a dull Joe Bloggs type character with a huge sword, and the villain has a less menacing costume, so that settles it, it's a bad game, and we should write it off as such'.


"I don't think I was very impressed with the story either -- maybe it was merely the graphics that kept me from getting too deeply into it though. Overall, I think it was a nice light hearted game, but I consider it to be more of a fairy tale setting than a modern Final Fantasy game. I've heard someone say it's a throwback to the old Final Fantasy games. I wouldn't know since i've only played the ones after FF6."

Finally, there's this. As I've said, if graphics (and FFIX by no means had bad ones, by the way) are your definition of a good game, you're in the wrong genre. Try a platformer or a racing game.

As for your second comment. The series is called Final Fantasy. They aren't supposed to reflect our world in any way except the most basic attributes. You don't see a chocobo running around the countryside in our world do you?

The only real difference I can see here is the time period. FFIX is obviously set in a medieavel time period where folk tales, superstition etc. were commonplace. VII and VIII are respectively set in today's world and a futuristic world (and in the mess of crap that was the last two discs of FFVIII, God knows where). Basically your argument does not find any actual flaws with FFIX. If you don't like a story set in a medieavel period, that's your problem. It doesn't make the game bad.

To be honest, I can't remember a great deal about the game. It seems that after playing 7 Final Fantasy's, they start to blend together. I think I was unimpressed with the Eidolons too, though. Thinking back, i'm not sure if I ever even used one in the game, though surely the story forced you to use them at some point? If I missed them somehow in the whole game, that might have been one of the reasons I disliked it so. I rewatched their summons on Youtube though, and I think I still preferred FF8's summons. (Though I admit, Leviathan's summon on FF9 was possibly better, and Bahamut's wasn't bad either.)

Just as Ceidwad said, you should really give the game another chance. Play it again, and you'll probably appreciate it and remember more of the storyline.

As for the Eidolon portion of your post, I'm not entirely sure if you're simply talking about the Eidolon use in battle. It is unfortunate that Shiva, Ramuh and the other "starter Eidolons" don't level up, but I believe the Eidolons you gain later in the game more than make up for it. Ark alone is pretty much the only one you need, though I realize some players may easily miss it. Bahamut is useful and Odin becomes extremely useful once you activate the sword's attack power.

The Eidolons are imperative to the storyline. While you're not forced to use them, you do see most of them in FMV format since Kuja and Brahne use them. In FFIX, the Eidolon's are viewed as one of the greatest sources of power. In the wrong hands, Brahne and Kuja, they can do a great amount of damage. In the right hands, such as Garnet and Eiko, they can be used as protection. There are also an inumerable amount of scholars, including Dr. Tot, that devote their lives to studying the Eidolons and their origins as they search for enlightenment. I'm not sure how you missed the significance that was placed on Eidolons.


I don't think I wasr very impressed with the story either -- maybe it was merely the graphics that kept me from getting too deeply into it though. Overall, I think it was a nice light hearted game, but I consider it to be more of a fairy tale setting than a modern Final Fantasy game. I've heard someone say it's a throwback to the old Final Fantasy games. I wouldn't know since i've only played the ones after FF6.

If it's the graphics that held you back, then you need to find a way to get over that superficial perspective. FFIX has a great deal of twists and turns. While it starts off more light hearted than most of the FF titles, it quickly becomes very dark and emotional. I don't want to really get into it because you should play the game for yourself, not have me give you a synopsis.

Wow, those are some flames. I probably should have expected it seeing as how I posted this in the FF9 forum, though in a thread about what would make the game better, I would have expected people to be a little more civil. The first two posters, particularly Prak, act as if i'm attacking them personally by giving dismal comments about a game that they enjoy. Prak, as far as calling me a 'pretentious teenage idiot', compare our posts and it should be clear who among us is acting the most mature for our age. (I'm also not a teenager, by the way.)

Addressing the points made, I believe the main issue I had with the art style is that I found it difficult to take the story of saving the world from evil seriously when the characters looked like cartoons. This seems to be a big issue with a lot of people who disliked the game. No, I don't think this was even half of the reason why I didn't like the game.

I don't see why it is biased to think that FF7/FF8 are better games in the series. It would be one thing if I was calling FF8 alone better, since I started playing it first, but I feel that -every- game starting with FF6 (except for perhaps FFX-2) was better, and FF6 certainly had nothing on this game graphic wise. This is an honest opinion without any bias. Also, if i'm not mistaken, both FF7 and FF8 received higher ratings and scores than FF9 in almost every review site, so the majority probably disagrees with it being the better game. Moving on though, regarding the 'shit' reasons I supposedly listed, keep in mind that i'm simply trying to quantify why I disliked the game so much. It's the whole matter of which came first, the chicken or the egg. I played the game and I was simply very disappointed. I didn't just come up with a hundred reasons to tell myself why it was bad -- it simply was, in my opinion, and that's about all that I need to remember about my experience in playing the game when compared to the other Final Fantasys. I was merely trying to address them as is the purpose of this thread, though I probably shouldn't have said anything since I can't remember the game clearly enough to properly critique its failing points, other than just adding fuel to the "I didn't like it" fire.

The reason I liked FF6, FF7, FF8, FF10, and FF12 more is not because I played them more extensively. Until recently, i'd played every game in the series only once, because i'm not much of a replayer. My opinion of FF8 did not go up after replaying it -- in fact, it went down slightly, because I saw a few of the plot holes that I hadn't noticed before. Believe me, I never want to admit that a FF game is bad while i'm playing it. My expectations are so high for FF games that even if I dislike one from the start, I am continually telling myself that it will surely get better as the game progresses. The real disappointment comes when they don't.

The story and character development is what makes these games gems in my mind. Graphics are only a side issue, but the one I could remember the most clearly about FF9, which is why I tried to address it. If graphics were all that mattered to me, I would be falling all over FF12 with praise. In contrast, if you read some of my other posts, you'll quickly see that i'm almost as disappointed with it as I was with FF9.

Not having a monkey and a 10 year old fall in love

I've played every normal Final Fantasy starting with FF6, and I have to say that FF9 was my least favorite of them all. Part of it may have been that it followed in the footsteps of FF8, which was the first and possibly my favorite game of the series. However, I don't think that was the whole reason.

So...?


I think the main thing that got under my skin with the game was its childish graphics, and of course, Zidane's tail.

Wait a minute, are you telling me you disliked the game because the main character had a fucking tail? What kind of crap is that?


I had trouble putting myself into the role of a kid with a monkey tail, as hard as I tried.

Let me explain it simply. It's a FANTASY GAME.


Garnet looked like she was about 5 years old, yet she had the chest of an 18 year old. Even more odd was that she actually looked like a kid when compared to the tall height of Steiner and Beatrix.

You obviously have vision issues.


As for Kuja, the tail took away any fear factor from my mind too.

Do you judge everything on apperance?


To be honest, I can't remember a great deal about the game. It seems that after playing 7 Final Fantasy's, they start to blend together.

How do you reach that conclusion if you dont remember the game?


I think I was unimpressed with the Eidolons too, though. Thinking back, i'm not sure if I ever even used one in the game, though surely the story forced you to use them at some point?

So what? They tie into the story in a big way. Whether you used them or not in actual combat is pretty much irrelevant.


I don't think I wasr very impressed with the story either -- maybe it was merely the graphics that kept me from getting too deeply into it though. Overall, I think it was a nice light hearted game, but I consider it to be more of a fairy tale setting than a modern Final Fantasy game. I've heard someone say it's a throwback to the old Final Fantasy games. I wouldn't know since i've only played the ones after FF6.

Wow, its more of a fairy tale setting. Isnt that amazing! Being called Final Fantasy and all. How can that be!


Wow, those are some flames. I probably should have expected it seeing as how I posted this in the FF9 forum, though in a thread about what would make the game better, I would have expected people to be a little more civil. The first two posters, particularly Prak, act as if i'm attacking them personally by giving dismal comments about a game that they enjoy. Prak, as far as calling me a 'pretentious teenage idiot', compare our posts and it should be clear who among us is acting the most mature for our age. (I'm also not a teenager, by the way.)

Boo hoo. If you cant handle people challenging your views, then run along to Eoff.


Addressing the points made, I believe the main issue I had with the art style is that I found it difficult to take the story of saving the world from evil seriously when the characters looked like cartoons.

Does that mean EVERY animation you watch(no matter how light-hearted or serious it is, gets the same treatment from you?

I'm not even going to bother addressing the rest of your long-winded drivel.

I thought that ff9 was one of the better games for the ps1 not that it didn't have its problems but all games do some more than others personaly i thought 8 was the worst of the 3 0n the ps but even then it had some good ideas.

As for what could make the game better there are only a few small points that dont really matter most of them relating to game speed but it is undersanable that it could be slow in places cos it used every thing the playstation had and then some. but it would be good if you were able to to get more cards cos i found my self having to let go of really good one just so i could get the whole collection

Addressing the points made, I believe the main issue I had with the art style is that I found it difficult to take the story of saving the world from evil seriously when the characters looked like cartoons. This seems to be a big issue with a lot of people who disliked the game. No, I don't think this was even half of the reason why I didn't like the game.

Cartoony? More like it was in a non - futuristic setting and the medieval towns were more colorful and bright. The characters weren't silent, emo douchefags and actually were enjoyable to listen to. I just tried to play FF7 again (I am a FF7 god btw) and I couldn't get past the meeting in the bar because Cloud was acting slightly homosexual.

The character development was really good in this game. Although I THINK they were on a time frame and they rushed the other parts of the game. I would personally love to see Freya's story fleshed out a little more and I would love to have some more uniformity in the length of the discs. Disc 4 was like 2 hrs long.

Wow, those are some flames. I probably should have expected it seeing as how I posted this in the FF9 forum, though in a thread about what would make the game better, I would have expected people to be a little more civil. The first two posters, particularly Prak, act as if i'm attacking them personally by giving dismal comments about a game that they enjoy. Prak, as far as calling me a 'pretentious teenage idiot', compare our posts and it should be clear who among us is acting the most mature for our age. (I'm also not a teenager, by the way.)

Prak can be harsh. But he clearly feels that's the only way to get his point across. And it's hard to argue with the way he backs up his stance most of the time.

I was entirely civil, as was Alexandria12. In fact, I made a specific effort to be civil, even though I disagreed with your opinion and your reasons for backing it up.


Addressing the points made, I believe the main issue I had with the art style is that I found it difficult to take the story of saving the world from evil seriously when the characters looked like cartoons. This seems to be a big issue with a lot of people who disliked the game. No, I don't think this was even half of the reason why I didn't like the game.

Kind of like it's hard to take seriously a bunch of characters with block-like limbs saving the world from Meteor?

As I said in my previous post, almost every Final Fantasy has certain graphical flaws. Even FFX-2 which boasted some of the best graphics in the series would use duplicate NPC models. If you can't see past these minor flaws and rate the game on the far more important attributes of gameplay, plot and characters, you shouldn't be playing RPGs.


I don't see why it is biased to think that FF7/FF8 are better games in the series. It would be one thing if I was calling FF8 alone better, since I started playing it first, but I feel that -every- game starting with FF6 (except for perhaps FFX-2) was better, and FF6 certainly had nothing on this game graphic wise. This is an honest opinion without any bias. Also, if i'm not mistaken, both FF7 and FF8 received higher ratings and scores than FF9 in almost every review site, so the majority probably disagrees with it being the better game. Moving on though, regarding the 'shit' reasons I supposedly listed, keep in mind that i'm simply trying to quantify why I disliked the game so much. It's the whole matter of which came first, the chicken or the egg. I played the game and I was simply very disappointed. I didn't just come up with a hundred reasons to tell myself why it was bad -- it simply was, in my opinion, and that's about all that I need to remember about my experience in playing the game when compared to the other Final Fantasys. I was merely trying to address them as is the purpose of this thread, though I probably shouldn't have said anything since I can't remember the game clearly enough to properly critique its failing points, other than just adding fuel to the "I didn't like it" fire.

An opinion is virtually worthless if you can't back it up with at least some evidence, facts or reasoning. You saying you dislike FFIX without backing it up is like you saying the moon is made of cheese without backing it up. In this case, if you can't provide any reasons as to why FFIX is a bad game other that the graphical complaints which I've already addressed by the way, you're probably better off playing it again, finding some reasons and coming back on here and stating them. That will no doubt mean a drastic decrease in flaming, incidentally.


The reason I liked FF6, FF7, FF8, FF10, and FF12 more is not because I played them more extensively. Until recently, i'd played every game in the series only once, because i'm not much of a replayer. My opinion of FF8 did not go up after replaying it -- in fact, it went down slightly, because I saw a few of the plot holes that I hadn't noticed before. Believe me, I never want to admit that a FF game is bad while i'm playing it. My expectations are so high for FF games that even if I dislike one from the start, I am continually telling myself that it will surely get better as the game progresses. The real disappointment comes when they don't.

Ironic that you say


My expectations are so high for FF games that even if I dislike one from the start, I am continually telling myself that it will surely get better as the game progresses. The real disappointment comes when they don't.

FFVIII (which is apparently your favourite) is widely regarded as a game which started off well and went badly downhill in the third and fourth discs. Prior to the third disc, the plot had been well set for a good game. However, after this point the plot became increasingly absurd and the characters' development was either paced badly, was forced or simply did not occur at all.

Other than that I have little to add to that section of your response as you have not given reasons for liking the games you like and disliking FFIX.


The story and character development is what makes these games gems in my mind. Graphics are only a side issue, but the one I could remember the most clearly about FF9, which is why I tried to address it. If graphics were all that mattered to me, I would be falling all over FF12 with praise. In contrast, if you read some of my other posts, you'll quickly see that i'm almost as disappointed with it as I was with FF9.

Please explain how the stories and character development are superior in FFVII and FFVIII than they are in FFIX.

You evidently don't know enough about FFIX, otherwise you wouldn't be making these claims. You say you've only played most FFs once. It takes me at least two to three playthroughs to form a really clear opinion of a game. I think you'd probably agree with me there actually since you said yourself you noticed some of FFVIII's flaws after playing it a second time.

So take my advice and play it again.

Agreed. I had my own doubts about FFIX when first seeing it. In fact I didn't even want to play it at all to begin with, but then other people who'd played it recommended that I give it a proper chance and I'm now glad that I did. I found that once I was stuck into the game that my views soon changed, and I now definitely count it as being one of the better games in the series!

Well, I haven't played the game, so I can't really say. However, my colleague here at work has a major bone to pick with the story (he claims that he actually fell asleep in the middle of a battle, and the ending was too sappy).

Agreed. I had my own doubts about FFIX when first seeing it. In fact I didn't even want to play it at all to begin with, but then other people who'd played it recommended that I give it a proper chance and I'm now glad that I did. I found that once I was stuck into the game that my views soon changed, and I now definitely count it as being one of the better games in the series!

Seconded.

Blank becomes playable instead of Quina...

The trance system sucked.

Does anybody else here thinks that FFIX was easier compared with other sequels? I mean, auto-potion, auto-regen and a million of other "autos". It's almost impossible to be annihilated.

But in my opinion, it's the best FF for the PS.

I'm not really sure how you can criticize the difficultly-level of the battles and be totally down on the Trance system. I'm not one of those that really thinks it's great myself, but limit systems had the capability to make battles so easy in some of the other FFs, whereas Trance, while faulty in some cases, was a welcome alternative in others.

If Steiner didn't look like a cut-rate imitation of Buzz Lightyear.

FF9 is my fav FF game so far.. i love the story and the gameplay and tons of minigames.Its an enjoyable game wich every FF fan must try it.
They could fix the trance system a litle,like grand Lethal should be more dificult to achive and more dmg for sure :/

If Steiner didn't look like a cut-rate imitation of Buzz Lightyear.

Make it: Toy Story would have been better if Buzz Lightyear didn't look like a cut-rate imitation of Cyan Garamonde.

This is my favorite of all the Final Fantasies and of any game in general that i've played, to me it is the perfect game but I would have liked to of had a new game plus at the end.

Guys, jftr just because the trance system sucks, does not mean you should base your hatred at the game just because of this one flaw, infact most of the time Trances wern't that usefull anyway, so what's the big fuss?

Also this thread was made on the day I joined, I'm glad it's still going.

I sort of preferred the Trance system to limit breaks. It made the game a bit more fun not being able to save and activate a trance whenever you felt like it (well, they could be saved sort of, but it can be quite annoying).

I used to get my trance for Zidane, (since his trance was the only one that was all that usefull to me), right near the end before boss battles, it's not too dificult anyway.

definitely the battle system. i loved the entire game, but the battle system wore me down quickly. the drawn out music, ten minutes of obscure camera angles before the characters even appear on screen, slow turn rotation......... it was all just way too sluggish for me. i also hated how when a character tranced, it only lasted for that one battle and then reset even if you didnt get to use a technique. looking back, the battle system was pretty flawed. id make the fights more fast-paced and the trance remain on until properly used up

The Trance System should have been more in-depth. That's about the only thing that I had a problem with. The game was enjoyable pretty much the whole way. Games like FFVIII, and VII had those moments when you would just be like "OH GREAT, this part again." which would make you put the game down and not get back into it for a while (ex. cosmo canyon). Still IX isn't my favorite in the series mostly because I enjoyed the characters in other FFs more.