:'( that speech by Vivi at the end after his death is pretty damn moving. Had goosebumps I did. Today was the first time I'd completed the game for years and I forgot how annoying the last boss is. Grand Cross had me in chaos everytime it was used. It was by sheer luck I won, Two of my characters were dead with Zombie, another was petrified and Zidane was beserked. Thought I was a gonna.

My team was not the obvious one that everyone uses (Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Steiner) it was;

Zidane Lvl. 60- Orichalcon
Freya Lvl 60- Holy Lance
Amarant Lvl 54- Rune Claws
Eiko Lvl 50- Angels flute

All had Auto-potion and Auto-regen and everyone bar Freya had Auto-haste. Didn't need Eiko through most of Memoria to be honest.

Next will be either another playthrough of VII or KH2 or trying to play XIII again.

Vivi is one of the best characters in the series; his death was necessary for his importance to be truly realized. It was hinted at earlier on in the story, thus making him quite the tragic hero I'd say. He was equally as important to the story as Zidane and Dagger, and his fate had a strong impact on me.

And the final boss, Necron, wasn't even originally planned by the developers; he was just sort of thrown in at the last minute, but I didn't mind. I sort of had this feeling the Kuja battle wasn't gonna be the end of things, but I sure didn't expect Necron :/ I found him pretty easy using Zidane, Dagger, Amarant, and Vivi.

Yes, Vivi's death was necessary. If they'd have bottled and done a hollywood ending then it wouldn't have made much sense since we knew he was going to die. Still upset me, in a good way through.

Deathguise and Kuja were both easy. Necron was a pain in my asshole.

I love FFIX because it's so not Hollywood-ish; it's pure fantasy, and I think that's my fort� above all else when it comes down to it. That's why I praise it so highly. And for me, the difficulty was the other way around :O. I could not seem to beat Deathguise my first time through the game, and Kuja was a major nuisance with his forsaken Flare Star attack. Maybe I just wasn't as powerful as I could've been. But Necron was no biggy to master; "as long as there is life and death, he will exist". But as long as there is me, he will be pwned like there's no tomorrow :D

I just kept throwing the Phoenix-downs at Necron, then watched an awesome movie. Inflicting heat helps loads.

Vivi didn't die? Unless I've been snorting cocaine everytime I go through the last battle/ect...

It's implied he died offscreen, and that his sons are the ONLY versions of him you see in the ending!

If Vivi didn't die the ending wouldn't be as epic. Vivi was struggling through the subject of death the whole game.

Nuff said.

If Vivi didn't die the ending wouldn't be as epic. Vivi was struggling through the subject of death the whole game.

Nuff said.

x2

The thing is, when I first finished FFIX all those years ago, I didn't even think Vivi had actually passed away during the ending. That whole monologue I actually thought was Garnet's thoughts pinning for Zidane.

It was only later that I read on FF fan sites that Vivi was generally considered to have passed away at that point (mostly taken from info translated from the FFIX Ultimania book). Then it started to make sense, even though a part of me still thinks he survived, that might just me being in denial.

Besides, if Zidane could cheat death, then so could Vivi, I think.. maybe....

The bittersweet tragedy of Vivi's passing was as necessary a puzzle piece as Zack's in Crisis Core :(