FINAL FANTASY IX

It's a classic for a reason. If you love a good old school JRPG you will love this game.

Bem do bom

never played before but i love this game so much now! ZIDANE is my fav character so far

bring back old memories

It's basically The Wind Waker of the Final Fantasy Series. It has some pretty glaring problems but it's so charismatic that they don't matter. The story and presentation are the best parts of the game. The characters are all really enjoyable to spend time with, with distinct personalities and roles in combat that often blend archetypical jobs together. Steiner, for instance, combines the Knight, Dark Knight, and Spell Blade roles into one with his various abilities and the power to have Vivi the Black Mage enchant his sword. While you could call the game dated looking, the aesthetic is incredibly distinct, using basically the same visual trickery the original Resident Evil games did to create a surprisingly detailed and rich world. The music is fantastic throughout, too, with a variety of tracks that are catchy and effective. The plot is basically a swashbuckling fairy tale, kicking off when a band of performers kidnap Princess Garnet from Alexandria for reasons that are at first unknown. It involves the cast pretty naturally, and gives them time to breathe and be in the world if you decide to take your time and explore. It lets the more linear story sequences pay off in a big way since the slower moments make you care about everyone involved. The main twist on gameplay is that your characters learn combat and passive skills via the equipment you use. It's simple stuff, and does a good job of encouraging engagement with Zidane's thieving skills to nab rare, and often times missable, equipment that offer skills you won't find anywhere else. It can be a bit grindy depending on how completionist you want to be. And on that note, the game very much demands a guide if you have any dream of 100%ing it. There are entire elaborate mini games locked away in very specific story segments, there are entire game spanning side quests that require some serious grinding with mini games that are, charitably speaking, tedious. I gave my best shot to, say, Chocobo Hot and Cold, a treasure hunting mini game that unlocks new mobility options but relies on some unenjoyable mechanics. The card game, Tetra Master, can be fun but it also has more RNG than I would care for. You can wring a lot of extra play time from the side content, but I found it to not be that enjoyable. I will also say that for how fun the story is, there are some weirdly under developed elements. For instance, Freya, the game's Dragoon/ Paladin, has a side plot involving a lost love that is never extrapolated on in any meaningful way. The final party member that joins kind of comes out of nowhere, and for how long they spend on him, he never really becomes super interesting. They tried to make him Shadow from VI, but he came across as severely under written as opposed to mysterious and aloof. Lastly, the game introduces some crazy stuff near the end and I did sometimes find my eyes glazing over as they attempted to explain the weird meta physics going on. It's still enjoyable and the ending is great, but it's worth noting that elements of the plot really needed some refinement. Still, I can completely understand when someone says this one is their favorite mainline entry. It is a fantastic remix of all the games up to that point, and offers a great cast on a fantastic journey.

11/10 "ooo, softs". The finalest of fantasies.