Final Fantasy IX

[Some guy]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

It's not hated. Quite the opposite. IX is usually praised to infinity and beyond by many hardcore fans of the series. It's the credible game to like. Everyone who is too cool to pick VII as they're favourite because it's so mainstream and "casual" usually picks VI or IX instead (that's not to say it isn't their favourite, but it's often presented as some sort of anti-VII statement). Out of all the classic games, II and VIII both get a whole lot more hate than IX.

My thoughts exactly.

I don't really remember which FF I played first ... I was rather late to the party and played them all one after the other (FFX wasn't out yet I think); in which order, I don't know.

That said, personally, I prefer VII and VIII more than IX (or VI for that matter):
- Graphics-wise: every FF has it's own charms, and I don't usually judge games by graphics. Though out of all the FFs, I prefer VIII's designs ...
- Story-wise: I'm not saying IX's story isn't good, but the end was ... *ahem* Necron.
- Character-wise: while I loved Vivi and Dagger, the others weren't as good (I have a soft spot for Steiner though). FF VI on the other hand has so many characters most become irrelevant by the end.
- Gameplay-wise: I know it's how classic RPGs work, but the character builds in IX all end up the same (for different players or playthroughs) because there is not enough customization, even the abilities are fixed per character but at least there are some choices to make. The trance could have been good too, but you have no control over it (it's so frustrating having it activate on random encounters). On the other hand, VI, VII, and VIII allowed for more customization while keeping the characters different enough (through weapons, armors, and limit breaks).

These are my reasons, it's mostly subjective so feel free to disagree.

VII is my favorite FF by the way.

 

[Elysium]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

IX was my first, and has remained my favorite throughout the years. The only one that came close for me was VI. Hell, playing the games that came before IX did nothing but make me like it more because it helped illustrate just how much love and care went into the creation of IX. I can't explain it very well, but everything in IX just clicked for me. I like the setting and I like all of the characters (yes, even Quina). The story was engaging and funny (for actual deliberate "joke" reasons, not meme-worthy mistranslations and butcherings), but still dramatic at the right moments. I felt more for some of IX's individual characters than for the entire casts of others.
If my first was VII or VIII, I'm not sure if I would've gotten into the series the way I did.

I've seen that Quina isn't very popular, which is odd to me because I think s/he is one of the most bizarre and hilarious characters. Oh, well. IX wasn't my first game or FF, so I don't think nostalgia has much to do with my feelings. I played IX a long while after X and KH, and a slew of other games.

I agree, the cast is the strongest point. In most other FFs, I might enjoy 2 or 3 characters, but I enjoyed everyone here except for Amarant and Eiko. Personally, it's my favorite soundtrack of the series. The only FF I don't really like is XIII, but that's mostly due to the battle system.

 

[Magnus]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

I was stating my opinion, disagreeing with your theories and statements purely on opinion and facts that I know about the game [ex: That Yoshitaka Amano didn't do the character designs, there's a difference between him and the actual character designer which I felt did a really good job capturing the look they were going for on the game.]

You started off making a statement that was almost entirely false and accusatory that anyone who likes IX would obviously take offense to because we like it because, well, we like it. We all have our specific reasons [Our first, the characters, etcetcetc.] but that isn't anyone's problem but our own. You almost entirely dismiss it with your statement.

Which is where I got the "hipster bullshit" statement from. I actually never said you said it, but I know that mentality exists, just like people make fun of girls who like Pikachu as their favorite Pokemon. I know the mentality exists, doesn't make it right. I don't like that mentality in the video game world that you're not as big of a fan if you like the "popular" one.

Personally, I tried VII, VIII, and IX at the same time after playing X. IX is the one that shone through all these years. IX is the one that is plastered everywhere in my room like some sort of shrine. It just happened because it stuck with me so hard.

If my passion for this game has come out as "attitude," I apologize, that was never my intention. I'm just purely disagreeing with your generalization of the fanbase.

And my intention was never to accuse you or people who like IX in general of anything. But I will say that my statement was not false at all. Period. I was specifically mentioning that there are people out there who feel too cool to pick VII as a favourite and like to look down on those who do (and like you mentioned, there are people who think that they are above picking the most popular choice in other situations as well). Their favourites more often than not happen to be VI or IX though. Clearly, these people are not representative of IX fans in general and I never said they were. These people most certainly do exist though. I've seen many of them out there (and they tend to be pretty vocal, which is what I was getting at in the first place - IX is far from being the underdog, it's usually the first non-VII game to be mentioned). You're not one of them. I get it. There was never any need for you to get worked up over what I said because by your own admission it doesn't apply to you. But my point still remains, there are unfortunately a lot of stuck up people out there who will bash VII in comment sections about Final Fantasy because it's "overrated" and they often happen to mention that VI and/or IX are better. Try to look for these kind of comments while browsing IGN, Kotaku and sites like that. You will come across plenty of them.

Anyway, getting back on topic. The way character design was handled with this game is quite odd. Yoshitaka Amano is the original artist for most characters in the first six games. Tetsuya Nomura is responsible for a great deal of the characters that followed. In IX, there were three character designers, but none of their illustrations were used. Instead, more or less all of the illustrations that were officially made to promote the game were drawn by Yoshitaka Amano. Even though he didn't come up with these characters, that doesn't make the gap between official character art and actual in-game representation any less wide. While it's hard to say anything about the older games for the most part, everything Nomura has drawn have been realised as close to his drawings as possible. The same can also be said about Akihiko Yoshida's designs (he's by far my favourite illustrator associated with Square, by the way). I personally like some of Amano's drawings for the game and I really enjoyed Nomura's take on Zidane and Kuja, but the way they were depicted in the actual game is ugly as sin imho. I wish the game had looked more like Chrono Cross, which has a similar vibe to its design but has much better execution. Serge and Zidane are very similar characters, but Serge looks sooooo much better imo.

EDIT: Here's a comparison.

Serge just looks so much better in every single way.

Also, if you haven't checked it out yet yet, I think that the Dragon Quest series should definitely right up your alley.

 

[Elysium]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

I personally don't think he looks better as far as the FMVs. The in-game models I'd agree, they are better, but the character from CC isn't as small/short as Zidane, which probably makes it easier to give more detail. I still think the in-game graphics are better than the in-game graphics for previous installments of FF though. I personally didn't like Kuja's design for Dissidia, but different strokes. Zidane was okay...

 

[Annoyance]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

#WheresFFIXSquare?

Seriously I just want a side game, anything really at all. FFIX is dead and buried and I'm so tired of it being ignored. I'd be happy with any sort of side game or mini game released, honestly, just because they've now given every fucking other game attention and love [or pushing it for money] but /nothing/ for IX except lazy cameos from the main three, mainly to make the crazies like me shut up.

 

[gamerobber7]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

#WheresFFIXSquare?

Seriously I just want a side game, anything really at all. FFIX is dead and buried and I'm so tired of it being ignored. I'd be happy with any sort of side game or mini game released, honestly, just because they've now given every diddlying other game attention and love [or pushing it for money] but /nothing/ for IX except lazy cameos from the main three, mainly to make the crazies like me shut up.

You have a point. Most of the other games have been remastered and/or remade now. Might as well do IX too. I really like the characters and it's my second favorite FF game.

 

[Rydgea]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

mainly to make the crazies like me shut up.

You are not alone.

music reference intended

 

[SephirothZ]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

FF8 and FF9 will need the same treatment as FF7, so it may be awhile before we see or hear anything.

 

[Annoyance]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

VIII at the very least had the PC port brought to Steam. I know it isn't much, just a port, but the same was never done to IX.

 

[robvandam111]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

It will have its day. FF8 and FF9 definitely deserve to be revisited.

 

[Blackdrazon]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

Of all the main-numbered titles and their direct sequels, VIII and IX are the only ones without remakes that are more than a few generations old. Unfortunately, XII and Revenant Wings might be in worse shape, since they aren't available for sale at all!

(EDIT: This also applies to most of the games in the Compilation of VII, but I think it's more notable that XII, a whole numbered title, is essentially missing from store shelves.)

Well, uh. XII, Revanant Wings and... *mutters* FFV: Legend of the Crystals. But maybe that last thing is better left in the past.

 

[Zul]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

One thing I never knew until recently is that your stats go up higher if you wear the right equipment while leveling up.


I.e power-leveling early on=lower stats.

In addition, you lose out on ability stones unless you stay level 1 all the way to getting Amarant.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

One thing I never knew until recently is that your stats go up higher if you wear the right equipment while leveling up.


I.e power-leveling early on=lower stats.

In addition, you lose out on ability stones unless you stay level 1 all the way to getting Amarant.

Yep, that's why it pays off to get Vivi's Stop spell as soon as it is possible.
Since Stop in FF IX can cause game over, it can also let you win a battle if you manage to stop all enemies.
This does not give you any EXP and Gil, but does give AP allowing you to learn abilities despite staying on low level.

It's also imperative to know which equipment gives good stat boosts and when you can first obtain those.

 

[Annoyance]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

I just switched out equipment as I maxed out the skills you learned... I'm not sure I follow.

Like I would get mage masher early in the game and switch it once I'm done learning the abilities the default weapon gives Zidane. Stealing allows you to get weapons early on if you steal from bosses so...is that what you're talking about?
is

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

I just switched out equipment as I maxed out the skills you learned... I'm not sure I follow.

Like I would get mage masher early in the game and switch it once I'm done learning the abilities the default weapon gives Zidane. Stealing allows you to get weapons early on if you steal from bosses so...is that what you're talking about?
is

The idea behind this approach is to max out the stats of the characters. There are certain equipment pieces in FF IX that give additional stat bonuses to a characters base stats after a certain number of level ups, like i.e. the Magic Racket granting Magic +2 to Eiko or Dagger or Lamia's Tiara giving Magic + 1 and Spirit + 1 to anyone who wears it.
In order to get this bonus, you need to have the corresponding equipment piece equipped for the number of required level ups.
Most of the equipment that has such a bonus though does not become available until mid-way into the second disc at earliest, the best pieces can be got only on Disc 3 and 4.

Thus, if one wishes to get the strongest characters possible, it is advised to keep your character level as low as possible until you get the equipment pieces with the suitable stat bonuses so each level up counts towards the extra stats.

This requires you to flee from nearly every random encounter and otherwise avoid getting EXP. Once Vivi learns Stop though, you can enter battles against enemies that are vulnerable to stop and gain AP to learn abilities even on Lv. 1, allowing you to not rely solely on the AP from bosses.

Look at the FF IX section here for a more in-depth explanation.

 

[Space Cowboy]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

Like I would get mage masher early in the game and switch it once I'm done learning the abilities the default weapon gives Zidane.

I would spend so much time on that first battle against Baku to get Mage Masher.

Similarly trying to get that flute from hilgagagagagagagagagas for Eiko.

 

[Annoyance]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

I had no idea about any of this... I just knew about the ability system and thought grinding was necessary... o__o"

I beat the game just fine before but... damn.

I may need to play it again. Things just got 10x more complicated.

 

[Sephiroth0812]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

I had no idea about any of this... I just knew about the ability system and thought grinding was necessary... o__o"

I beat the game just fine before but... damn.

I may need to play it again. Things just got 10x more complicated.

It's only something for perfectionists or those who really like to delve deeply into the system of the game though.

If you're just out to enjoy the story and play the game for fun it might become a little exhausting in the long run. ^__^

 

[Zul]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

Yeah, AFAIK you can easily still do max damage per round without paying attention to stat maxing through certain abilities.

And the highest HP an enemy has in the game is 50-60k or so IIRC which is tiny.

 

[Rydgea]

Re: Final Fantasy IX - "This is an age-old ritual between friends!"

Ugh, I'm still doing the level 1 / perfect stats run through that was posted on Gamefaqs. Honestly, it's a little painful - kindof sucking the joy out if it for me. I just love IX enough to do it this once.