Overview

Final Fantasy games hold a special place in the world of Role Playing Games, the success of which can be traced back to Final Fantasy on the Nintendo far back in 1987, Japan. Although its fame was limited within the country of its origin, the seeds of the very idea grew to give Final Fantasy VII, which was the first game operating on a Playstation engine, spreading through the whole world. Arguably, before, the series has already been popular in the United States with Final Fantasy IV and Final Fantasy VI, but the Final Fantasy games originally on Sony Playstation was a generation to split opinions. Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX have produced controversial discussions all over the world. Irrespective of their particular appeal to each person, what they all have in common are their lasting impressions on the player. I am here to give the reader a review of the last Final Fantasy game running on the Playstation engine; Final Fantasy IX.

Body

Story - Although not exactly at the beginning, the silhouette of the main story goes like this. You assume the role of Zidane Tribal, who lives and works in a small group called Tantalus. The latest coup shall be the abduction of Princess Garnet of Alexandria during the performance of a theatrical piece. To their ignorance, the Princess has already sought escape on her own. Together, they closely manage to escape, while the airship takes damage and force-lands down into a dark and mysterious forest. Not long afterwards, the kidnapped subject is missed. Zidane and the others decide to rescue the Princess. Barely after saving her, they once again run for their life as the forest unfolds its secrets, turning itself and everything within into stone. Being on the outer world, our party is on their way to Lindblum. As their adventure goes on, they will encounter other characters and events that will uncover their past as well as set up new mysteries.

At first this story looks really like another "bandit captures princess" story, with all the conceptions related to it. But it shall not be a reason for you to reject the game, as the story contains unpredictable twists even for experienced RPGamers. Besides, it has been set up in such a sweet way, backed up by a lot of little side events, ensuring most of the people will not remain unmoved by the emotion presented. While the story may not have an introduction as impacting and epic as the ones of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, it is more bound to create heart-warming feelings on the overall. (9/10)

Graphics - As is common with Playstation games, you will find yourself playing this game through a 3D world. Compared to previous games, the overall appearance has been massively enhanced, rendering this game superior to its predecessors easily in terms of visual appeal.

On a deeper thought, only the improvements of the graphics could make it possible to create characters that diverge from human beings so evidently, and still for them not to look like some kind of pixelated mass that can move. Having undeniably the cartoonist touch, the developers had to make sure to their creativity was within its limits. Indeed do the graphics help to improve the authenticity of the characters, although they are still not real in a "human" sense, but this could be justified with the fact that it is a fantasy game.

Independent of the graphics when you take control over the game, SquareSoft has gone into a revolutionary fashion with FMV's coming in. Maintaining this unique tradition, Final Fantasy IX was able to produce a perfect blend of movie and game, this adding to the general gaming experience. I believe the FMV sequences belong to the decisive factors of why so many players are awed by a Final Fantasy game, especially since the they are always breath-taking in a beautiful way. Whereas the gaming graphics have been outdated by many other titles nowadays, the FMV sequences will always remain a timeless treasure. Nevertheless the gaming graphics will certainly please those, whose eyes are not excessively demanding. (9.5/10)

Gameplay - The interesting and enjoyable idea that is fairly responsible for the success of Final Fantasy IX as well as other RPGs basically is the development of your characters. You will gain Experience Points for defeated enemies to eventually level up. Levelling up means that your characters get stronger, and hidden abilities are disclosed. Final Fantasy IX follows this pattern, still the concepts around it varies within each Final Fantasy game.

Like previous titles, Final Fantasy IX uses the system of active time battle, where a bar is filled up slowly to determine when it is time to take actions. If a bar of a character is full, you can choose one of many available fighting options. Active time battle is a neat idea for battling, as some status changes within your characters can directly affect the time the gauge needs to fill up, for example slow or haste or even stop. In my opinion it makes fighting more dynamic and thus real, as you can plan your actions in advance, providing you have a quick perception for the situation.

As with any relatively recent Final Fantasy games, your characters can unleash stunning and most effective special attacks if a special situation is given. In the case of Final Fantasy IX, they take damage up to a certain point, then the trance status is activated. While Final Fantasy VII applied this kind of special attack as well, the ninth instalment often lets you perform two or three of these critical attacks. Considering this limit bar is filled up much slower than it was in the former, it is fair enough. Personally I favour this limit system over the one of Final Fantasy VIII, as it tempted the players to abuse these special techniques.

Beside battling, there are many interesting mini-games that offer a change to your main quest. For those who like card games, playing "Tetra Master" can be a pleasant break. Another cute mini-game is "Chocobo Hot and Cold," which is a treasure hunting adventure. You mostly gain useful items for your explorative efforts. Although many people underestimate the importance of such seemingly childish mini-games, I find them to be an integral part of the gameplay. (10/10)

Music - What is a Final Fantasy game without its music? Throughout the whole game the player is accompanied by atmosphere-filling tracks, which almost always suit the given situation, be it a fierce battle or an unwilling farewell. Square's venerable composer Nobuo Uematsu made sure. The Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack will always be as pleasant reminder for the good times you had playing the game. There are some really great battle tracks which play in the game, and there is a lot of inspiration from the varying melodies, too. (10/10)

Summary

The ninth chapter of Final Fantasy is indisputably a worthy sequel to its predecessors, surpassing them in terms of graphics and sound quality. Personally I found Final Fantasy IX more challenging of a game in comparison to other Final Fantasy titles, thus making this game not a piece of cake to beat. Furthermore, like a book, the game hides little aspects that makes it enjoyable to discover every time you replay it. Ever since I touched a Final Fantasy game for the first time, the whole definition of gaming has changed for me, as Final Fantasy is what you would call an experience rather than just a game played several hours to eventually fall into oblivion. It is an experience of understandable emotions within 60-80 hours. It is an experience of twisting events throughout 4 discs. It is an experience for about 20 dollars.

Percentage Overall Score: 97%