Oh Final Fantasy IX, I believed the people that said you were one of the best Final Fantasy games in the main-line series. I didn't even have to buy a sequel to beat you...granted, there is no sequel and the closet we have is Dissdia but my thoughts on handheld gaming is kinda known here. And after pouring over 50 hours, getting a good portion of the sidequests and ultimate weapons & stealing more than I should have I have one word for those people....WRONG! I haven't seen this many wrongness in a supposedly great game since the first Devil May Cry but unlike Devil May Cry, I have nice things to say about its gameplay. So with that said, let's get this review of Final Fantasy IX over with.
So you play a Zidane, some guy in this thieving/theater group that's out to kidnap Princess Garnet of Alexandria and perform a play while they're at it. Things get weird when Garnet demands that the group kidnaps her, which they do with gusto. But due to some WACKY hijinks, they also get a child-like Black Mage and a Knight Captain tagging along with them. But the mood is about to change as Queen Brahme...of Alexandria has been warring with the other cities in her vicinity and using various Eidolons to destroy them which is bad. Then it's discovered that this weird, effeminate arms dealer, Kuja, from a faraway land is using the Queen as a pawn in his grand scheme to take over the world and rule it and stuff. That's also bad and the gang plus some other guys you find team up to stop Kuja.
Now from what I wrote, this sounds fairly standard and straight-forward doesn't it? Well it's not as straight-forward as it might seem. This game is pretty told in an episodic nature but it's not really told in that since the game wants you to treat as one story where each bit flows into the next. The thing is that the game takes little time to develop each "episode" properly so when the next one begins you're utterly lost on how you got to the next episode. I was utterly confused on what I was doing and what was happening after I got Garnet and before Kuja came aboard but I will also admit, I might just be dumb. I will also admit that the story actually crystallizes into being understandable by the end of Disc 3 but if you have to do that that late in the game, your story isn't very good. I mean I blasted Final Fantasy X's story but like it or not, it made sense. It may have been weak, especially the first 10 hours but you knew what was going on, like it or not. Hell, VII's story was basically a mind screw but each bit flowed wonderfully to the next bit so that you had to pay attention but it wasn't deliberating confusing you.
But a weak story can be overcome with good gameplay, it won't get a perfect score but it won't be a total waste of time either. Here...doesn't happen but there's some good things that I'll get out of the way first. You get abilities from weapons that you have to grind for to keep. I thought that was pretty good and it was more fun grinding for abilities than grinding for levels. The battle system had the potential to be good fun since there is beauty in its simplicity but there's the one fatal flaw in it, the ATB system. I've said it before that I'm not a fan of it but let's face it, it's here and there's nothing I can do about it. I even don't mind it when it's done well like in Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VII. In IX however, it's like everyone is soaked in molasses in January. You input a command and you wait, then it's done and repeat. Then the enemy attacks, you wait and then you get hit. The whole point of ATB was that you didn't wait! You just hit a command and then they will do it right then and there. If you're going to make the player wait, go back to the turn-based system! At least X did that right.
Then there's the Trance system which is the biggest waste of time in the game, by far. The idea of Trance is a pretty good one since it's pretty much Limit Breaks with a lot more options and a lot more power plus it lasts a few turns instead of one. The problem is that getting to Trance is such a hassle. You get hit and the Trance bar fills up, that's not a problem but it's so slow in filling up in that it's never dependent on how much damage you get. It's like there's one set increase per hit and it's a small increase every time. Then when you do get Trance it's almost always at the end of the battle, you already have your comrades set to attack and the enemy dies with the next attack. You also don't get to keep your Trance power-up either so all that damage you took was for nothing. However, when you are actually in a position to use your powers it is generally worth it.
The best thing about this game is how appealing the characters are. They are full of joy and life with moments of seriousness being few and far between...granted they do get serious when it's called for. The characters all have their own arcs and have great moments of character development. Of course, this finds a way to screw that up since a few arcs end way before the game ends making those characters just free-loaders who help you through some tough times and helps you kick ass and stuff. It's not a horrible flaw but it just bothered me when characters I liked lost their significance fairly early on.
Final Fantasy IX is a highly overrated game that's loved by the Final Fantasy fanbase only for the fact that it wasn't VIII. The fact that I barely like it is a damn miracle due to some horrible flaws in this. The story is pretty much random scenes thrown together through sheer force of obligation. The battle system could have been fun if it wasn't so slow. The Trance system is horribly flawed and ultimately useless. The music and in-game graphics are forgettable, but the FMV's are awesome, action-packed and very suspenseful. The characters and dialogue are very appealing even if they lose importance as the game goes on. There's stuff to like in this, the sidequests are the most fun you can have in a Final Fantasy game, but it's not one of the great Final Fantasy games.
7/10
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