Republished on Tuesday 19th September 2017: We're bringing this review back from the archives following the game's remastered release on PlayStation 4. The original text follows.
As far as Final Fantasy games go, Final Fantasy IX is one of the most cohesive, charming entries in Square Enix's beloved series. It marked the franchise's last showing on the PSone, and although Final Fantasy VII is always brought to the forefront of conversation whenever Japanese RPGs are mentioned, it's definitely possible to argue that IX has aged far better than its PSone brothers, and in some cases, it's even stood the test of time more capably than Final Fantasy X on the PlayStation 2.
Its everlasting youth is down to a number of factors. Although it's full of jaggy, blocky character models by today's standards, it still remains one of the best looking games on Sony's first console, mostly due to an absolutely brilliant art direction that's like a mix of Victorian flair and extravagant Japanese styling. It's charming, elegant, incredibly detailed, and simply a pleasure to behold, even 14 years after its original release.
On the gameplay side of things, the title's quite traditional, featuring the series' trademark active time battle system and several different ways to power up your party – and what a party it is. The game's cast is stellar, from chipper protagonist Zidane to the weird and wonderful Quina, and each member of the group comes with their own abilities. Timid and loveable black mage Vivi makes use of the franchise's magic spell staples, while grumpy knight Steiner's all about martial prowess. There are even combination techniques to consider, where two characters team up to unleash devastating attacks that come with boosted effects.
When you're not slashing and smacking the snot out of brilliantly designed monsters, you'll be exploring the classic's large and varied world. The map itself undoubtedly seems a bit barren by today's standards, but the game's many towns and dungeons are beautifully crafted. The bigger locations, like the grand city of Lindblum, are intricate and practically beg to be explored. The environments are also full of intrigue, thanks to colourful NPCs that spout often comedic lines of dialogue.
Indeed, the title's writing still more than holds its own, and even though there's no voice acting to speak of, glorious CG cutscenes are excellently choreographed events that you'll look forward to seeing once you decide to move ahead with the plot. Speaking of which, Final Fantasy IX's story is full of gripping twists and turns, hilariously stylish bad guys, and, of course, catastrophic God-like powers. At times, it's so well paced that it's difficult to tear yourself away, especially as your ragtag group is thrown from one perilous situation to the next. The narrative does tend to slip into more predictable territory as it nears its finale, but by then, you'll already be captivated by the fantastic cast, and the 30 plus hour journey will have been more than memorable.
And who could possibly forget Tetra Master – the title's ridiculously addictive card game? Simple but staggeringly effective, Tetra Master sees you take on dozens of NPCs throughout the release, beating them at their favourite hobby in order to snag their best monster cards, adding them to your ever-growing collection. Tired of grinding for ability points and experience? Catch the next airship back to Lindblum and destroy some street urchin with your horribly overpowered deck. Tetra Master provides a whole different perspective to your adventure, and it remains one of the series' best optional time sinks.
But perhaps Final Fantasy IX's greatest achievement is its sublime soundtrack. Composed and arranged by industry icon Nobuo Uematsu, the title's music sews the game together perfectly, with superb scores adding extra emotional depth to every scene. However, it's the action orientated tunes that steal the show, providing a real sense of urgency to battles and other tense scenarios. In short, game soundtracks just don't come much better than this.
Conclusion
Despite being over a decade old, Final Fantasy IX has retained its original brilliance shockingly well, and bears all of the hallmarks of a true PSone classic. It's from a time when Squaresoft was at its creative peak, with the game's incredible art direction and astounding musical score being enough to put many modern releases to shame. Graceful, superbly crafted, and utterly engrossing, Final Fantasy IX remains an absolute masterpiece.
Comments 35
ahh FFIX in my opinion THE best of the Final Fantasy series, great characters, great art, great world and not to mention the story (which has quite a few similaritys with DBZ) was the most fun a charming the series as produced
I wish that we had a sequel to this instead of all thoses FFXIII sequels (also why were there any sequels to FFXIII as it had a good resolute ending which they then had to change with the dumb time travel asspect in XIII-2)
I've always wanted to try this game. I haven't played a lot of Final Fantasy games (Only IV, VIII, X, and XIII), but this has been on my list for a while now. I've actually wanted to play it more than VII. Doubly so now.
@DerMeister I really recommend it for $10 digital! 9 was my first FF and it got me hooked. 7 and 8 seem so serious cause of the art direction, but 9 makes you feel like a kid again
Be it nostalgia , but I miss the main final fantasy games having these types of character designs. Newer games are ,for lack of a better word, a bit too emo or something like that lol.
Yup as it deserves, was saying in my mind "anything lower than a 10/10 is invalid to me".
Best Final Fantasy ever.
Ahhhy second favourite FF of all time, and only second by a very, very small margin. Phenomenal game!
All hail Vivi!
hmm, what I recall of this game was the first hour was a brilliant beautiful cut scene, then you get trapped outside some thicket forest, and Vivi is the best magician in any FF game.
Other than that I don't recall much. I think it had the misfortune of coming after 7 which was my first JRPG of any type and was unbelievably good, and then 8 which I played back-to-back straight thru. This just seemed too fantasy generic. And then 10 was epic. It's like the forgotten middle child.
@FullbringIchigo Yeah, FFXIII should've stopped at the first game for effect. I love the sequels, but the storylines transition awkwardly from game to game.
Also...like others, FF9 is also my favorite FF game (and JRPG for that matter). I need to change my avatar to Stiltzkin...kupo! It's raining right now and I wish I were in Burmecia. Aaahhh!!
Darn i still aint played this game yet, i ll grab it if it ever comes to the ps4 store
This is one of the only main snes and newer final fantasy games that I haven't played. I'm really curious to try it. I can't imagine it being better than the trifecta of vi, vii, and x, but I'll have to try it.
A lot of people I know preferred ff8 I personally think it was much more enticing than ff8 and kept some of that magic I had enjoyed in ff7.
The best ff in my humble opinion only just infront of ff6. I have played this game so much times lol it has charm,great art styling,characters,story. Perfect rpg in every way. all hail vivi
I havent liked a final fantasy game after 7 other than the 10. This and 8 were blah.
I want to see FF12 remastered for Vita, because I really want to play that game with modern graphics. Granted, by the time the game ever came to fruition the Vita will have been long, LONG gone, and maybe even handhelds at large :/
This was my first Final Fantasy game.
Oh man, the nostalgia... I think I may get this on my Vita right now.
Great review!
http://art.penny-arcade.com/photos/215126646_YBbQk-L-2.jpg
Sorry I don't know how to actually put the image in the text box @_@
Loved it.
This is one of my gaming sins. I have never played 9. I have it on my Vita but never got around to it
I still own the original PS1 version, but have only beaten the game once so far.
I've also beaten Final Fantasy VII...as for VIII, dunno if I could try playing it after getting used to PS3 era games.
@JaxonH
Me too! If I am correct, some time ago, somebody of Square Enix said that maybe they would work in a remaster of FFXII after finish FFX remastered.
For me, FFIX was the best experience I had with a game in PSONE. I still remember the incredible main theme, Melodies of Life.
As I grew up I always maintained FFVII was my favourite game of the series, largely I think because it was the first I played, and one of the games that was instrumental in getting me hooked on RPGs. But looking back now, particularly in light of my FFVII playthrough last year, I can see how this may well trump it. Been a good 5-6 years since my last full run of FFIX, and my PS1 copy is unfortunately broken, but I just picked it up for £3.99 in the PSN store sale, so can't wait to get stuck in again!!
As you can see by my avatar, FFIX was THE best FF, I love everything about it! The characters, music, art direction, the battle system, I can replay this game hundreds of times over and still enjoy it! I wish THIS game would get more praise than 7, its a much better FF experience!
Never heard of it!
Absolute masterpiece, 10/10, I fully agree!
Looking forward to playing it again, I didn't spend too much time on the card games previously, might have to give that a real try this time round.
I wish I had time to play this again.
Now that it's available for PS4 definitely give it a try
Imagine if this game was remade nowadays. It would have no charm, poor and cheesy writing, bad voice acting and crappy action combat with a bad camera.
There is nothing false about this review.
@DerMeister I can't recommend it enough. IX is my absolute favorite FF game and one of my all-time favorite RPGs. Like Charlesnarls said, it makes you feel like a kid again. It's charming, with a great story, memorable characters and fun gameplay. You won't be disappointed.
I played this one a very little on my PSP back in the day. I hope it's as good as everyone says it is (and not another FFX which I felt was mediocre/boring)
@ThePathsofPain I'll definitely be playing it sometime soon. I'm currently in the middle of FFVII, but I'll likely get this afterwards if the price is right. I'm kinda shocked I haven't played it in the 3 years since I wrote that comment.
Look like i have to get IX for my vita. This console will never die for me. I always keep finding something great to play.
One of the few FF games I've never played. I'll check it out at some point.
So excited to try this FF out... secretly hoping for FFVIII to get the same treatment as that game introduced me to the series...
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