Reviews and awards Publication Score Comment
IGN 9.2 of 10 Editor’s Choice
GameSpot 8.5 of 10
RPGFan 92 of 100
Game Informer 9.75 of 10
Edge 8 out of 10
Compilations of multiple reviews
Game Rankings 92 of 100 (51 reviews)[58]
Metacritic 94 of 100 (22 reviews)[59]
Awards
4th Annual Interactive
Achievement Awards Console RPG of the Year[60]
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Outstanding Achievement in Animation
6th Annual Golden Satellite Awards Best Interactive Product/Videogame[61]
Final Fantasy IX, though a top seller at the time,[62] did not sell as well as Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII in either Japan[63] or the United States.[64] Reviews for the game were generally positive, with praise to the graphics and nostalgic elements. The game was voted the 24th-best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu[65] and 42nd by the users of the website GameFAQs.[66] Final Fantasy IX also achieved an average review score of 94% on Metacritic, the highest score a Final Fantasy game has received on the site.[59]
Reviewers pointed out that the strength of the game lies on the gameplay, character development, and visual representation. GameSpot noted that the learning curve is easily grasped, and the ability system is not as complex as in Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII.[5] Each player character possesses unique abilities, which hinders the development of an over-powered character. GameSpot describes the battle system as having a tactical nature and the expanded party allowing for more interaction between players and between enemies.[5] Nevertheless, IGN disliked the lengthy combat pace and the repeated battles, describing it as aggravating, and RPGFan feels the Trance system to be ineffective as the meter buildup is slow and unpredictable, with characters Trancing just before the enemy is killed.[6][67]
The characters and graphics received positive reviews. Although IGN feels the in-depth character traits in Final Fantasy IX could be generally found in other Final Fantasy games, they are nevertheless engaging and sympathetic.[6] GameSpot finds the characters, up to their dialog and traits, amusing and full of humor.[5] IGN also noted that the Active Time Event system helps to expand the player’s understanding of the characters’ personalities as they question many ideas and emotions.[6] Their super-deformed appearance, which also covers monsters of every size, contain detailed animation and design. Praise is given to the pre-rendered backgrounds as careful attention is given to the artwork, movement and animations as well as character interactivity. The movies are seen as emotive and compelling, and the seamless transition and incorporation to the in-game graphics helped to move the plot well.[67]
On the other hand, critics acknowledged that the overall story is recycled from previous Final Fantasy installments and other role-playing games. However, the repeated elements such as evil kingdoms and enigmatic villains are believed by RPGFan as an attempt to emulate the elements of previous Final Fantasy plot and storyline.[67] The main villain, though considered by GameSpot to be the least threatening in the series,[5] is seen by IGN as a mixture of past villains through behavior and appearance.[6] Mixed reactions were given to the audio aspects of the game. Some reviewers, such as RPGFan feels the sound effect and music "uninspired, dull and annoying"; IGN and GameSpot acknowledges that only a handful of the tracks are memorable, while GamePro praised the audio for evoking "emotions throughout the story, from battles… to comedy".[5][6][68] Criticism is made on the composer who seemed to have only reused and simplified the scores of past series. Nevertheless, reviewers have come to agree that this and many other elements are part of the overall effort to create a nostalgic title for fans of the older Final Fantasy series.[5][6][67]
The strategy guide also gained criticism; the book’s given links are no longer accessible on the PlayOnline website, but Square-Enix backed up all the files for the guide and placed them in a new site.[69] Tetra Master was seen by GameSpot as inferior and confusing compared to Final Fantasy VIII’s mini-game Triple Triad, as the rules for it were only vaguely explained in the game and there were very few rewards earned from playing it despite its extensiveness
(this is not my opinion, nor does it refflect my view of the game in anyway. its just a joke..or is it? this is just what i got when i typed in,,"why is final fantasy IX not the best final fantasy" also, let it be clear, this is not the opinion of omnislash89 ltd, nor any of its ascociates.) hehe
Final Fantasy Tactics
That doesn’t prove that those games were better. It just proves that the majority of people are stupid.
Exactly +1
They seem to be very similar. Battle system, all of them are RPG and stuff. But their storylines… They`re different. They`re too different to just pick one and say that it`s the best. I think that whole FF PSx era was the best, and if Square-Enix could make a game as good as FFIX it would be a great game. In this whole circle of gaming, evolving around graphics I often miss those true old RPGs like FFIX.
Final Fantasy Tactics is way ahead of all 3 of them though.
They seem to be very similar. Battle system, all of them are RPG and stuff. But their storylines… They`re different. They`re too different to just pick one and say that it`s the best. I think that whole FF PSx era was the best, and if Square-Enix could make a game as good as FFIX it would be a great game. In this whole circle of gaming, evolving around graphics I often miss those true old RPGs like FFIX.
Congrats! You’ve concluded that the three games are, well, three different games. Your next step is to actually add something to a thread or two once in a while.
To be on-topic, FFT was ace. Just not better than FFIX.
For shame, first vacuum cleaners now this!? I thought IX was an excellent addition to the series, not the best in my opinion but better than others.
And I’ll be the first in this thread to say that your post is full of suck.
Now to be on-topic, FFT and FFIX are the only games being considered in this thread thus far. Don’t get me wrong; I love FFT. I’ve already said that it’s ace. I think I’ve played it through more times than any of the other FF’s (save maybe VI). I just think FFIX is better. FFT’s cutscenes were pretty crappy and Orlandu is just crazy-overpowered. Yeah, I know. Thievery, Dragon Crest, and Frog Drop are in FFIX, but you actually have to work a bit at getting them powerful. You can Night Sword your way to Holy Explosion or Lightning Stab, and at that point, Orlandu is officially full of pwnage, even without learning any cool abilities from any other class. I don’t think that this is enough to make the game bad by any real stretch, but it does take enough away to make me say FFIX is better.
Final Fantasy Chronicles.
Final Fantasy Anthology.
Proven TWICE!!
Final Fantasy Anthology.
Proven TWICE!!
If only either of them could actually be considered better then your argument would be valid. :S
Final Fantasy Anthology.
Proven TWICE!!
painfully long load times ahoy
Exactly.
Ok, we all know FFIV and FFVI top everything after FFVI.
So lets stay under the subject matters radar Swami.
FFIX was just well, kind of kiddy. Final Fantasy Tactics and even FFVII had much more depth and a more meaningful story. the Characters in both those games had more of a impact on the games as well (excluding Cait Sith)
They were just better written, and produced games overall.
I’m not going to bother with the rest of your opinion after you have said this.
FFVII had much more depth and a more meaningful story.
oh fuck it just go kill yourself
better written
…
The kiddie argument is the lamest argument ever lobbed at IX, and it is usually the only one. I have a hard time understanding what exactly these people find "kiddie" about it to begin with, tbqh.
Soulcage, believe it or not, other people have opinions, thats the point of the whole forum: discussion and opinion, besdies – you have no real argument at all, so figure one out you silly fuck
Soulcage, believe it or not, other people have opinions, thats the point of the whole forum: discussion and opinion, besdies – you have no real argument at all, so figure one out you silly fuck
OK, explain which parts of the game seemed "for kids" please.
Well then I really got nothing seeing as my experience with IX is limited to the theater scene at the beginning. Never heard any friends rave about it, though.
If the implied "only argument lobbed by idiots" wasn’t clear enough, my apologies. Legitimate complaints are fine.
evry1’s so shrt wher r the groan up chars
Please don’t.
evry1’s so shrt wher r the groan up chars
Please don’t.
Kinda hard to advert this to adults when it looks so… KIDDIE
Furthermore, Final Fantasy IX’s story is very far from kiddie. *spoilers, although you shouldn’t be in this thread at all if you don’t want spoilers* In a children’s story, you don’t have an epic battle between good and evil, in which both forces summon huge creatures to fight each other, only to be interrupted by an even more powerful force abruptly entering the battle and destroying practically everything. FFIX’s story is actually quite mature in nature, and furthermore it doesn’t have horribly cliched love themes like FFVIII, or really underdeveloped characters like FFVII.
I love the fucking game but it does boast a cliched love story, as you put it: a lower-class guy who thinks of himself as a ladies man starts to truly fall for a woman who is miles above him in the social ladder.
On the female side, a princess eventually falls in love with the thief who showed her more of life than she had ever known before because she was confined to a castle and looked beyond her social status and treated her like a person.
To top it all off, in the end they meet after everyone thinking he was dead, so she runs out of her throne and is stopped by two people whom she thought were gonna stop her from acting like anything except a queen. But no, they smile, having found love themselves, and open the doors for her.
Zidane and Garnet share a passionate reunion and the game ends.
I’m not saying it was a bad ending, on the contrary, but anyone can spot more than one commonplace there.
On the female side, a princess eventually falls in love with the thief who showed her more of life than she had ever known before because she was confined to a castle and looked beyond her social status and treated her like a person.
To top it all off, in the end they meet after everyone thinking he was dead, so she runs out of her throne and is stopped by two people whom she thought were gonna stop her from acting like anything except a queen. But no, they smile, having found love themselves, and open the doors for her.
Zidane and Garnet share a passionate reunion and the game ends.
I’m not saying it was a bad ending, on the contrary, but anyone can spot more than one commonplace there.
x2
Kinda hard to advert this to adults when it looks so… KIDDIE
I never noticed how gay a stance Zidane has.
Agreeing with this.
On the female side, a princess eventually falls in love with the thief who showed her more of life than she had ever known before because she was confined to a castle and looked beyond her social status and treated her like a person.
To top it all off, in the end they meet after everyone thinking he was dead, so she runs out of her throne and is stopped by two people whom she thought were gonna stop her from acting like anything except a queen. But no, they smile, having found love themselves, and open the doors for her.
Zidane and Garnet share a passionate reunion and the game ends.
I’m not saying it was a bad ending, on the contrary, but anyone can spot more than one commonplace there.
x3
Though I don’t think anyone in the game actually makes a big deal about the difference in Zidane/Garnet social status.
Steiner?
Steiner?
I second that question
um well who cares about him
While this is definitely used often, it does not even begin to compare to FFVIII’s "cold and distant warrior" who eventually learns to trust in his friends and most importantly, Rinoa. Squall also fits into much more of a stereotype; Zidane is not truly a womanizer because he has respect for all the women he chases, and his incredibly selfless sense of nobility contrasts with his classification as a ladies’ man. Squall, on the other hand, says all sorts of emo cliches like "In the end, you’re alone," and his internal conflicts, such as his confusion about Cid and Edea, are only briefly touched upon and never fully developed.
On the female side, a princess eventually falls in love with the thief who showed her more of life than she had ever known before because she was confined to a castle and looked beyond her social status and treated her like a person.
Ok, given, but every FF game really has a cliched female character in it.
To top it all off, in the end they meet after everyone thinking he was dead, so she runs out of her throne and is stopped by two people whom she thought were gonna stop her from acting like anything except a queen. But no, they smile, having found love themselves, and open the doors for her.
This isn’t really that much of a cliche to me. Yes, it was predictable, but that’s only because FF games always have happy endings (excepting perhaps FFVI).
Zidane and Garnet share a passionate reunion and the game ends.
Name any non-tragic love story that this does not apply to.
I’m not saying it was a bad ending, on the contrary, but anyone can spot more than one commonplace there.
Look somewhere other than a Final Fantasy game to find a love story you haven’t seen before. It’ll still be hard.
I guess the overall point I was trying to make is that the cliches in FFVII are worse than the ones in FFIX, and FFIX’s cliched love story was at least well developed and included much better dialogue.
Zidane also makes a huge deal about it when Garnet first makes her ascension to Alexandria’s throne. The rest of the party is about to see her, and Zidane pretty much makes an ass of himself because he’s bent out of shape about their different stations in life. Not that the question much matters at all.
I love the fucking game but it does boast a cliched love story, as you put it:
And FFVIII doesn’t? Besides, Zidane/Garnet may have been cliche, but at least it was fairly well-done cliche, unlike FFVIII, and it wasn’t even the main thrust of the story, unlike Squinoa in FFVIII. Nevermind the really bad copies of Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in FFVII.
FFX: Oh noes, Tidus disappears, I cannot hugz him, this be ftl. Cry cry.
And FFVIII doesn’t? Besides, Zidane/Garnet may have been cliche, but at least it was fairly well-done cliche, unlike FFVIII, and it wasn’t even the main thrust of the story, unlike Squinoa in FFVIII. Nevermind the really bad copies of Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in FFVII.
I slap thee around with the waste of text space Sir Fratley and Freya. Now there’s cliche beyond cliche.
But you win on the non main storyline thing though.
CyanCyde, you can relax and have some decaf, guv. I never said, or even implied for that matter, that VIII or even VII were better than IX on anything, let alone the love angle. I was merely pointing out to Thieves that IX did indeed sport several cliches, I never commented on their quality or their absence from either VIII and/or VII, and that no story is exempt from the odd commonplace here and there, especially when romance is involved. Never did I dream into turning this into a pissing match between the three games.
I slap thee around with the waste of text space Sir Fratley and Freya. Now there’s cliche beyond cliche.
But you win on the non main storyline thing though.
Rofl
Tell me one single thing that is not happy about this ending.
I slap thee around with the waste of text space Sir Fratley and Freya. Now there’s cliche beyond cliche.
True, but that hardly gets any screen time anyway; it was just a little side-plot.
Touch�, but I guess Square didn’t intend to make me dance in joy after that scene.
True, but that hardly gets any screen time anyway; it was just a little side-plot.
Very much so, but I was just pointing it out 🙂
True but in this game technically you have Two as both Eiko and Garnet are linked and Eiko Does love Zidane I know that he wants Garnet but they are both Cliched in this one.
This isn’t really that much of a cliche to me. Yes, it was predictable, but that’s only because FF games always have happy endings (excepting perhaps FFVI).
Ahh see a lot of people would disagree there given that FFX’s ending was imo far from happy.
Look somewhere other than a Final Fantasy game to find a love story you haven’t seen before. It’ll still be hard.
Vandal hearts provides a pretty outside of the box love story, given that most games you always can figure out or know there is an obvious love story. But with VH you have to get almost to the end then it shows you little hints from earlier in the game that you would never pick on but shows unrequited love that is never fulfilled.
I guess the overall point I was trying to make is that the cliches in FFVII are worse than the ones in FFIX, and FFIX’s cliched love story was at least well developed and included much better dialogue.
The only reason they appear to be so much worse in FFVII is because its the first time a lot of people truely picked up on them and by FFVIII they didn bother as much and by IX it was expected.
Yeah, and FFVIII has Rinoa and Selphie, FFVII has Aeris and Yuffie (Tifa just doesn’t have a personality behind her large mammaries,) FFX has Yuna and Rikku.
Ahh see a lot of people would disagree there given that FFX’s ending was imo far from happy.
This is very true, and an exception to what I said, but there are two things to consider:
1. Tidus was such a vastly irritating character that seeing him disappear made many players (including myself) extremely happy.
2. The horrendous voice acting of the two most important characters to this scene removes nearly all emotional value of the ending of the game.
Vandal hearts provides a pretty outside of the box love story, given that most games you always can figure out or know there is an obvious love story. But with VH you have to get almost to the end then it shows you little hints from earlier in the game that you would never pick on but shows unrequited love that is never fulfilled.
I must confess that I am completely unfamiliar with that game. If it’s an example of a non-cliched love story, consider it a good-faith error on my part.
The only reason they appear to be so much worse in FFVII is because its the first time a lot of people truely picked up on them and by FFVIII they didn bother as much and by IX it was expected.
The cliches are far older than FFVII is. That’s why they’re cliches.
1. Tidus was such a vastly irritating character that seeing him disappear made many players (including myself) extremely happy.
2. The horrendous voice acting of the two most important characters to this scene removes nearly all emotional value of the ending of the game.
It’s all opinion, I found that ending very sad when I played it years ago. Also back up your claim in #1 please.
I know several people who were glad to see Tidue disappear; I extrapolated that to mean that out of the thousands of people who played the game, there were "a lot" of people that felt the same way. That point was pretty much tongue-in-cheek anyway, as the fact that Tidus is irritating (which I assume was unintentional on the part of the game’s producers) has little bearing on the intended effect of the ending. Incidentally, I think FFX has a rather well-written story to it, which suffers from Tidus and Yuna’s voice acting almost exclusively. I really think that if Tidus hadn’t been such whiny little twat, the story would’ve been much, much better. (And it’s such a shame; Wakka and Auron were done so well, too).
Edit: And FFX isn’t particularly relevant in this thread anyway. I guess it’s just the exception to the rule that FF games have a happy ending, but then again, they made a sequel to it with one.
True enough but Yuffie played no loving part to the game, Neither Did Selphie, Or Rikku. I was trying to make the point of that in this one 2 of the "main" Females were in love with the main guy.
This is very true, and an exception to what I said, but there are two things to consider:
1. Tidus was such a vastly irritating character that seeing him disappear made many players (including myself) extremely happy.
2. The horrendous voice acting of the two most important characters to this scene removes nearly all emotional value of the ending of the game.
Regardless that yes the voice-overs were bad and that he was probably the worst FF character I have ever seen. He still dies/Is sent or whatever you wanna call it. It still mounts down to an unhappy ending breaking the FF mould.
I must confess that I am completely unfamiliar with that game. If it’s an example of a non-cliched love story, consider it a good-faith error on my part.
No Biggie its the only Uncliched love stiory I know.
The cliches are far older than FFVII is. That’s why they’re cliches.
Yeah I know but a lot of people dont really pay them much head in other games. You grow to expect them in final fantasy and cann pretty much predict how the game is gonna play out even before you have got very far.
I hath been slappedeth about by thine point. However, I rather like Freya, and like FF1 said, it’s more or less a footnote to the main plot.
Never did I dream into turning this into a pissing match between the three games.
Given the title of the thread, that sort of thing would be rather inevitable, wouldn’t you think?
I never said, or even implied for that matter, that VIII or even VII were better than IX on anything, let alone the love angle.
Then why did you bring it up in a thread that’s ostensibly dedicated to the comparative quality of the three (four) games? The very act, especially with the quote in your post, implies a quality comment, regardless of your claims.
CyanCyde, you can relax and have some decaf, guv.
I’ll try decaf when you start contributing to this thread. Guv.
This is true its always the unrequited love shit that annoys everyone whether they admit it or not.
Correct statement was correct.
There is your proof.
This is the rare topics I have seen that illustrates reasonably that FF9 may not be perfect.
Now…don’t you have girls to stalk in myspace or something?
Always, always 😀
There is your proof.
Explain to me how this states that FFVII is better than FFIX, and how your base, absurd speculation is in any way credible or verifiable.
If FFIX had the fanbase FFVII has, then Squeenix might actually make good, fairly original games instead of the crap spinoffs we’ve been getting.
There is your proof.
Thankfully it doesnt so we only have one batch of retards to deal with. Not two.
kthxbai
That directed at me, Joan?
EDIT O LOL I GET IT NOW TEKNOBLADE
IM STOOPID LOL
How in the fuck can you mistake that as directed at you?
How in the fuck can you mistake that as directed at you?
Ehhhh, I’m really tired.
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