Final Fantasy IX Impressions

[Bubba]

So it's been long overdue but I've finally started this little beauty on my Vita. I'm just using this thread to post my impressions, thoughts, gripes every now and again whilst I plough through. Feel free to join in the discussion/tell me how wrong I am about everything.

I've just arrived at Gukelukepooky's Grotto or whatever it's called. My team are all around level 12-13 at the minute. I've spent a decent amount of time getting a load of blue magic for Quina so hopefully those levels are high enough to be getting on with.

I've tried to avoid spoilers for the game as much as possible but 5 years on a Final Fantasy site means I have a decent amount of knowledge on the game. I've been stealing A LOT with Zidane which is pretty boring but I know it reaps rewards. It's not much different to drawing magic in FFVIII, I suppose.

I managed to impress all 100 nobles after about an hour of trying which I thought was pretty decent. I sucked big, fat, hairy balls at the skipping though. I think I got to about 40 before I thought "smurf this". I've also noped out of the card game, Tantra Master. It just seems like a more complicated version of Triple Triad so I've just not bothered after my first couple of games. I did enjoy chocobo-digging though. It was nice picking up items without stealing for a change. Plus, I found a few of those chocographs and one of them gave me a big haul of elixirs!

Anyway, I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. The story has me intrigued and it's nice to have job classes again. What do I think of the characters so far? Well...

Zidane - I'm not sure yet. He's a bit of a creep. Demanding dates from Garnet left-right and centre. How about you let her make her own choice, slick?
Garnet/Dagger - I'm warming to her. I initially thought she was standard-fare princess but her attempts at blending in with the common folk have been endearing.
Vivi - I just want to give him a big cuddle. He's vulnerable and unsure of himself but he's also a badass black mage wreaking destruction on enemies. My favourite so far.
Steiner - I'm losing my patience with him a little. I liked him at first but he's far too overprotective of Garnet.
Freya - Too soon to tell. She hasn't been in my party long. Plus, I'm still sore that she beat me in the Festival of the Hunt. Oh yeah, I sucked at that too :(
Quina - I think she's (I know she's genderless but get a feminine vibe) great :) Again, she hasn't been in my party long but she's very likeable so far.

[Pumpkin]

Vivi is great. I hated Steiner at first but he has one of my favourite character arcs in the game

[Fynn]

Steiner is great

Funnily, even thought s/he's genderless, Quina always struck me as more masculine than feminine. Funny how that works!

[Pumpkin]

I've always seen Quina as more masculine as well

[Bubba]

Maybe it's the name. Quina sounds like Tina or Gina to me :shrug:

[Pumpkin]

So you pronounce it like Queen-ah? I always say it like Quin-ah

BF says Key-na





WHAT AN ENIGMA QUINA IS

[Fynn]

I say kuh-FEE-nuh. Because thats how the qu part is supposed to be pronounced

[Pumpkin]

Fynn, that's stupid. You're stupid

[Bubba]

Fynn's probably right. I dunno.

Maybe it's the fact that he/she is wearing what looks like a big dress?

[Karifean]

Quina always struck me as more feminine than masculine.

Stealing is typically all Zidane does all game when I play ^^ until Thievery does max damage that is.

[Fynn]

Karifi can confirm my pronunciation is correct

[Karifean]

See your pronunciation may be the correct one, but most people say kuh-FIE-nuh out of habit.

[Cell]

I didn't like IX on first play, it's jumped up highly in my estimation since.

Pluses: Steiner, Beatrix (who is a huge plus), Blank
Minuses: Quina, Vivi, Eiko.


I'm one of the few who dislikes Vivi. Character never did anything for me at all.

[Bubba]

The music here in Gizamaluke's Grotto is rather splendid.

[maybee]

I say kuh-FEE-nuh. Because thats how the qu part is supposed to be pronounced

I say it like the food Quinoa so like " Kween- ah "

Everybody says it differently ^^;

[Wolf Kanno]

The trick to winning Tetra Master is to make sure you always go second. If you get the chance to place the final card, you'll win the match like 90% of the time. Technically is has more complex rules than Triple Triad but's it's surprisingly less complex since most of those rules really don't matter like they do in TT.

Steiner is kind of a buzz kill at first, but he becomes hilariously endearing after awhile since he is largely fretting about crap no one else cares about.

[Sephiroth]

Because thats how the qu part is supposed to be pronounced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lITBGjNEp08

[Freya]

I hated Quina my first play through but I hate blue mages sooooo

but my last one i've been working on i've been trying to get all the blue magic so I like them more.

You're about to hit a lot more Freya Story though so I am excited and hope you like her as much as I do :D (if possible)

I pronounce Quina is Kwen-ah. I think Quin had a influence by all his names across the years like Quin and Tonic, and Quinnifer and all that it was more based off Kwen than anything with a fee in it. Also I've known a Quinne personally and it was pronounced like Gwen but a Q sound. So that influenced it too

[maybee]

You're about to hit a lot more Freya Story though so I am excited and hope you like her as much as I do :D (if possible)


One awesome thing about FFIX is that the female characters are amazing.

[Cell]

Freya is a great character, second to my personal favourite in IX (Beatrix).

[Bubba]

I'm getting a tad peeved with the constant stealing. Every boss has a tonne of stuff and I've just got to wait around watching Zidane fail to steal about twenty times before I can start dealing any serious damage.

It took me a ridiculous number of attempts to steal just two things from the water boss thing in Gizamaluke's Grotto. I couldn't be arsed waiting around any longer as I was burning through potions and ethers. Once I'd killed him, I looked up the boss and apparently he had an Ice Staff that I could've swiped as well. No doubt I'll need that at a later point for some insanely difficult challenge. Am I gonna have to take half an hour on every boss to get every item? Because smurf that...

EDIT: Also, what the hell was this all about?

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[Freya]

So you don't HAVE to steal. You get some items earlier than normal that way but you'll still for the most part get them as you play.

[Bubba]

I guess I just don't like missing stuff. If I know an enemy has something cool I WANT IT NOW. I suppose I could just cool it with my OCD stealing. I don't want to ruin the story for myself as it's been great so far.

Is there any boss anyone can think of top-of-their-heads that's worth waiting around to steal from?

[Laddy]

Zidane is an extremely likable character if you overlook the actual fucking creep thing.

[Bubba]

Is there any boss anyone can think of top-of-their-heads that's worth waiting around to steal from?

Thanks for all your help Final Fantasy nerds :colbert:

So I did a little exploring and found another chocograph. My yellow chocobo has now turned blue! This could mean that he's levelled up or he's contracted pneumonia. Either way it's exciting!

[Pumpkin]

Yes

Including one extremely annoying one near the end of disc 2 have fuuuuunn

[Rez09]

One awesome thing about FFIX is that the female characters are amazing.

Dat Queen Brahne.

[Wolf Kanno]

Is there any boss anyone can think of top-of-their-heads that's worth waiting around to steal from?

Thanks for all your help Final Fantasy nerds :colbert:

So I did a little exploring and found another chocograph. My yellow chocobo has now turned blue! This could mean that he's levelled up or he's contracted pneumonia. Either way it's exciting!

All of the bosses tend to have some good gear so it's always good to steal from all of them when you can. Also, unlike the rest of the series, you can steal from enemies multiple times and getall of their loot. Ark is probably big one to steal from for me.

[Bubba]

I don't like fake treasure chest boxes. I ain't got time for that sh*t. Give me some treasure and let me be on my merry way.

Anyway, I've ventured into disc 2 now. Poor Freya's hometown of Burmecia has been twatted by that pesky black mage army. It looks like the king could still be alive though. Also, it looks like Freya has some unresolved issues with Michael Fratley Lord of the Dance. Don't we all, love...

I had a scrap with Beatrix and was fully intending to rob her of everything. I managed to steal one item before she bailed as we were unworthy opponents :colbert: I thought you all said Beatrix was awesome?

Also caught up with events involving Garnet/Dagger and Steiner on their travels back to Alexandria. Met Marcus again and he helped us beat up a Black Mage boss. Good job as well as I didn't have Zidane there to nick stuff for me. I'm only grabbing one or two items from the bosses I think... I just can't be arsed.

It looks like I'm just about to stop off in Treno with Marcus. I might do some leveling though as Garnet/Dagger & Steiner and not even in double figures yet...

[Freya]

Treno is a fun town, theme wise.

[Bubba]

Treno is a fun town, theme wise.

Looking forward to it :D

Unfortunately, I had to deal with my own stupidity first. I decided to boost a few levels for Garnet, Steiner & Marcus outside Treno. I got a distinct whiff of the time when Daenerys was stranded outside the city of Qarth in Game of Thrones... so I should have known something was going to go wrong.

I spent my morning train journey merrily cutting down foes outside the gates of Treno. Nothing too troubling, the odd spider and flying bug thing. Raised a few abilities, levels were coming along nicely. Towards the end of my train journey I used a quick tent then decided to see what was in the nearby forest... bad move.

I met three of these Mandrogora things that just looked like Hoppip from Pokemon. They all decided to use this 'Chestnut' move and my entire party was wiped out within about four moves. What the mother-smurfing hell, game?

The best part is that when I used my tent, I didn't bother to save. Why didn't I, you may ask? Because I called Mog by accident not long ago... and when I told him I didn't need him he got in a mood with me. This being the case, I didn't want to pester him for a tent AND a save this time.

I WAS AFRAID I WAS GOING TO HURT THE FEELINGS OF NON-EXISTENT FINAL FANTASY MOG.

Smurf my life.

[Bubba]

On the plus side, I'm very much enjoying the bloopy bleepy overworld theme.

[Freya]

OH

FUN TIP

Call and cancel mog like 11 times, eventually he starts getting REALLY uppity.

[Bubba]

OH

FUN TIP

Call and cancel mog like 11 times, eventually he starts getting REALLY uppity.

I'll Youtube it. I'm in his bad books enough as it is...

[Bubba]

Oh man, there's so much stuff to bid for at the Treno auction house.

Anything worth spending my hard-earned gil on?

[vivi_carol]

Depends on which disc your currently on. Disc 2. Reflect Ring
Disc 3, the Dark Matter ​and the other key items for various other items like Excalibur, y'know.

[Bubba]

Thank you! I'm on disc 2 so I'll be sure to grab the reflect ring.

The piano music here in Treno is lovely :D

[Bubba]

How cool is Cleyra? A city/villagey/tree-thing contained within a sandstorm? Awesome.

Climbing Cleyra's Trunk was a chore-and-a-half though. I kept getting stuck in those sand-whirlpool things. I managed to learn White Wind with Quina though which is coming in very handy. Auto-Life was learned too. My blue magic spells are totting up!

I loved Cleyra Village at the top of the tree. It reminds me of Lothlorian from The Lord of the Rings only with severe weather conditions. Young Prince Puck got himself into a spot of bother with a sand boss so we had to lend a hand. I gave stealing the items a go but lost patience after 6 or 7 turns. I only snagged an Annointment but I just can't be arsed with the slog.

Freya is re-united with her love but... he appears to have lost his memory. How incredibly sad :-( I was only joking when I called him Michael Flatley but Freya participates in a bit of Celtic Tiger with her kinsmen... weird. The harp player was a tad enthusiastic and she accidentally broke the harp... along with the sandstorm spell protecting Cleyra. Whoops.

On the plus side, the view is now much better but the Black Mage Army showed up to put a dampener on things. I'm currently helping the village people (of Cleyra... not YMCA fame) escape the evil clutches of the evil-doers. I was hoping to have completed this section on my lunch but I had to cut things short right in the middle of the mayhem.

I leave for my train soon so my adventures will continue momentarily!

[Bubba]

Beatrix is a dick. I don't know what you nerds are raving about. Steiner is the same. I'm sure it's still early days but I'm middle of disc 2 now!

[charliepanayi]

Steiner being a dick in the first chunk of the game (and Zidane winding him up constantly) is part of his charm! It's fun watching him change as the game goes on and wrestling with his conscience. I've never been quite swayed by Beatrix though, possibly because I got annoyed that I had to lose to her three times.

[Freya]

Beatrix is a badass dick. Where you are now though is a bit of a turning point for many characters.

DO YOU NOW UNDERSTAND WHY FREYA IS GREAT THOUGH?!

[Fynn]

Beatrix wins because of disc three

If you don't like her after those scenes, you are a heartless monster and that's a fact

[Bubba]

Yeah, Freya is great so far. I've always loved dragoons though. I guess I'll just see how Beatrix and Steiner pan out.

Steiner and Marcus just escaped their cage. It took me AGES.

Also, what's up with the outfits for the Alexandrian Soldiers?

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[Pumpkin]

I thought those were just like peach pants for a while BUT NO

[Freya]

Well you see, they have to do a lot of running to chase you down. So they need that freedom!

Plus booty.

[Anemone]

I'm playing FFIX as well! This is my second playthrough though, not my first. I'm using a guide this time to find things I missed going into it blind. I sort of wish it was all new for me again though... it's such a charming game.

[Bubba]

This is my second playthrough though, not my first. I'm using a guide this time to find things I missed going into it blind.

This is always my approach too! I don't like guides first time me round as they're hugely spoilerific. If I enjoyed the game though I'll definitely play again with a walkthrough.

This will not happen with FFII :colbert:

[Bubba]

Picking this back up again after a real-life brush with death. I'm now almost free of the flu that threatened to end my life prematurely.

So Zidane and everyone (apart from Quina) had managed to hitch a ride back to Alexandria Castle on that flying red ship that the Queen has. They meet up with Steiner and Marcus and help Garnet to escape. Beatrix finally realizes that she's working for a total nutjob and lends a hand. About bloody time too!

Our escape is scuppered though and we crash-land in a forest that reminds me a bit of the Moghouse mini-game from FFVII. The Queen has stolen all of Garnet's Eidolons but we met another one here... the charming Ramuh.

Next followed a cut-scene in which Queen Brahne and her mage army invaded Lindblum. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that Queen Brahne is definitely a baddie. Zidane, Garnet and Vivi jump off Pinnacle Rock and we're back in the (now decimated) city of Lindblum.

I finish work in 20 mins and will continue my journey on the train ride home. I'm interested to see what happens with Beatrix now she's decided to be a traitor to the Queen. She's got her work cut out to get into my good books though. She referred to us all as "fools" more than once and that is not something I easily forget. THE NORTH REMEMBERS.

[Bubba]

We leave the city of Lindblum because well... it's a sh*thole since the invasion.

We head to another sh*thole (the marsh) but this was a much better sh*thole because Quina was here! I did some more frog catching (I now have 13... no idea if this is good or bad) but Quina was clearly not satisfied with my skills. She decides to go chasing after some on her own and we end up at some excavation site. Sounds like fun, let's give it a go.

It was not fun.

After literally one screen I'm being chased by a green, freakazoid dragon-thing. To make matters worse, there are huge axes swinging back and forth across the screen. I was smurfing awful at dodging them too and ended up fighting green, freakazoid dragon-thing about five times.

How are we rewarded when we finally navigate all the swinging axes? That's right, a boss fight. Some chick called Lani. Cheers game. To be fair, it wasn't too bad. Managed to steal a couple of nice things right off the bat. Dagger's spamming of Ramuh and Vivi's Fira kicked her arse.

I then romanced one of those weird roof-crawling taxi monsters by buying it flowers and chocolates. We'll be making things official on Facebook very soon. Hoping to get out of this place soon. It's creepy.

[Freya]

Rally ho! You're almost out of it! I think the roof crawling monsters take you out. :D

[charliepanayi]

Fossil Roo is great, and then there's a whole new continent waiting on the other side!

[Bubba]

Rally ho! You're almost out of it! I think the roof crawling monsters take you out. :D

I kind of feel sorry for those dudes. Crawling around on the ceiling giving lifts to everyone. All they ask for is some flowers... how sweet! I hope they get paid holidays and sick leave :colbert:


Fossil Roo is great, and then there's a whole new continent waiting on the other side!

Aah, some fresh scenery! Excellent. I've quite enjoyed searching for those chocographs too, bring it on :D

[Bubba]

So after a horrible start, Fossil Roo turns out to be a great little jaunt. It was basically the Mines of Moria from LOTR but without the balrog, goblins or dead dwarves.

Whenever I see a switch or two my heart always sinks. Memories of that five-switch room in the original Tomb Raider come flooding back. This actually wasn't too complicated though. I could have done without the random encounters but my Zidane/Garnet/Vivi/Quina party is beautifully balanced.

There was the odd treasure hunter dotted about and I gave one of them a potion so I could do some digging! It wasn't particularly fruitful. I spent a good 30 mins chipping away and only got a couple of ores (already maxed out) and a couple of hi-potions. Not worth it.

We did some Uncharted-style vine climbing which took us to the last switch. We then had a final one-night-stand with the flower-loving roof-crawlers and we were out of Moria!

I was greeted grandly with the words 'Outer Continent' and things on the overworld were looking rather splendid! The mist from the old place was gone and it was bright and sunny! I got into a few spats with some of the new baddies (good ol' Cactuar made an appearance), pitched a tent (in a non-rude way) and saved. Looking forward to doing some exploring tomorrow!

[Freya]

Yeah! No mist over there. isn't that strange?

[charliepanayi]

Time to meet some Scottish dwarves.

[Bubba]

Time to meet some Scottish dwarves.

Just like the ones from FFI !!

[Fynn]

FF: the one fantasy universe where Dwarves aren't Jewish stereotypes

[charliepanayi]

FF: the one fantasy universe where Dwarves aren't Jewish stereotypes

I think Terry Pratchett would take umbrage at that if he were still alive!

[Bubba]

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[Wolf Kanno]

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[Loony BoB]

Tried that with FFXII, promptly restarted about 10 minutes afterwards.

[Bubba]

Tried that with FFXII, promptly restarted about 10 minutes afterwards.

Luckily, I made a thread detailing my exploits. I'm hoping I don't have to do the same!

[Loony BoB]

Aye! To be fair, mine were about five or more years between starting and continuing xD

[Bubba]

Haha, my FFVI playthrough had a five year gap too. Definitely started that one from scratch :D

[Bubba]

I have managed to re-immerse myself sufficiently that I actually remember what's been going on. Lovely :)

So, I'd reached the outer continent and arrived at the dwarf settlement of Condie Petie. I do enjoy conversing with the dwarves! Almost makes me miss Glasgow... almost. From here we entered the Forest and it turns out that in the world of FFIX, owls are blood-thirsty creatures. We had to follow the forest path without bumping into these airborne demons or else suffer a horribly gruesome death... or something.

We couldn't get past the next dwarf settlement without agreeing to get married. Wow, that escalated quickly. Dagger and Zidane get hitched and the latter is still a sleazy bastard. Literally trying to jump on her for a kiss. Stop it. The option to marry Vivi and Quina appears immediately after and of course I choose to get them hitched too because why not? Dammit, they deserve happiness too. Quina's "I... so happy" made me love him/her even more. Zidane even redeemed himself slightly in the conversation with Dagger about their marriage only counting whilst in this location. His comment "Bliss is so fleeting..." genuinely made me laugh out loud on the train!

We then meet little Eiko on the mountain path and I'm getting a strong whiff of Yuffie from FFVII. Maybe slightly less annoying... we'll see. Boss fight! We are ambushed on the path by Shrek's grumpy uncle...

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What a beast!

I've just about given up stealing from bosses now as it's stifling my enjoyment somewhat. We leave the path and and eventually arrive at Eiko's home of Madain Sari. What further fun and frolics will the gang have? Stay tuned!

[Bubba]

So I kind of agree with Zidane that Madain Sari is a sh*thole.

Eiko has a bit of a crush on Zidane and is planning on making a huge banquet for us all. She doesn't seem like the Gordon Ramsey-type though. Where is Quina when we need her?! She'd buggered off to eat a Mog when we found Eiko. I wasn't sure how many to cook for even though Eiko counted off ten people. I didn't know whether Quina and the mog she was chasing would make an appearance? I went for twelve as it seemed like a good number for a banquet.

I'm glad I made extra as Quina turned up on the end of a fishing rod moments later. She helped Eiko with the rest of the meal. Dagger meanwhile was gawking at the Eidolons so I initiated the meal with Zidane. Looked good! Kinda made me want fish. Think I might have salmon for tea tonight... anyway.

It looks like we're headed for the Iifa tree, which I can't help but read as LIFA tree even though it must be a double 'i' otherwise the 'L' would be capitalised. Never trust a double 'i'... this is why I hate skiing at the Winter Olympics. Apparently, the Iifa Tree has an Eidolon there who has another Eidolon babysitting for it or some sh*t I can't remember... I should start paying more attention. Anyhoo, I can sense a boss battle coming up. Wish me luck!

[Bubba]

Oooh I do enjoy a good dungeon full of undead enemies. Especially with Dagger and Eiko being my white mages. We tore through the Iifa Tree and ended up fighting Treebeard at the end. The mystery surrounding the Mist was finally solved. It was a by-product of the trees magic and once we'd ended the threat, the mist was gone!

We had back to Madain Sari for nachos and mojitos. Our drunken celebration is short-lived however as Lani turns up with a stooge to try and steal Dagger's Royal Pendant. She kidnaps Eiko and is generally a dick before her stooge (Red) rebels and turns against her, driving her away! Cheers dude :D You seem like an awesome fella let me pour you a mojit... what? You want to fight me? *sigh*

He was a slippery customer. He'd obviously stopped by the Celadon Department store and bought TM32 - Double Team. He was jumping all over the bloody place. He was no match for sleazy twat Zidane though and the fight was soon over. Turns out Red was actually The Flaming Amarant whose fortunes had taken a bit of a downturn after he was kicked out of the Royal Hanneford Circus for suspected arson. We're a forgive-and-forget kinda crew though and we were happy to let him join the team :D

[Wolf Kanno]

Amarant has always been one of those characters I like but kind of wish I used more. I think he's my most neglected party member overall despite having some great quirks to him. He does try too hard to be like Shadow though, but it just doesn't work without the dog. Maybe he should use Quina...

[Bubba]

He looks like he can take care of himself. I haven't had the chance to use him yet but I'll give him a trial. Quina has actually been the most fun to use so far. I've always enjoyed blue mages. I spent an obscene amount of time getting Gau's rages in FFVI. I've already got a healthy chunk of Quina's moves. He/she is a first choice party member at the minute.

[Freya]

I always thought it was shame that he was such a late addition to the party. By that point I already had my party favorites and he didn't meld into that well.

[Wolf Kanno]

I feel Amarant's biggest issue as a party member for me has always been how fragile he is. Despite a good health pool, his lack of good armor and low magic defense never did him any favors by the point he pops into the game. His Trance was also the least obvious of the party though it's pretty good if you have the right skills on him.

Quina ultimately replaced all of the White Mages on my team. My final team is usually Zidane, Vivi, Freya, and Quina. I'll throw Steiner in there as well if I feel I need more offense. Hell, I'd replace Zidane with Steiner if the game ever gave you the option outside of the few moments you can. :grumble:

[Bubba]

Revelations back at Madain Sari... we learn that Princess Garnet's early years were spent right here! Interesting...

We head back to the Iifa Tree and.... smurf me with a rusty ragnarok... all hell breaks loose! Kuja is here telling how he helped manipulate Brahne into starting the war and then, as if it to prove the point, Brahne herself shows up with her entire army! Fisticuffs between the two are clearly imminent and our party is slap-bang in the middle. I think executing the Homer-Simpson-retreat-into-the-bushes technique would be a fantastic career move at this point.

Kuja and his luck dragon evade Brahne's cannons until she eventually calls on the big daddy of all summons - Bahamut! This backfires drastically as it turns out Bahamut and Kuja are old college buddies and used to get baked together behind the science block. Bahamut turns on Brahne and basically takes a huge dump over her and her entire army.

Brahne subsequently snuffs it on a beach and Garnet is promoted to Queen of Alexandria! Zidane doesn't take it too well and takes the Bubba approach to dealing with problems and gets plastered in a bar in Alexandria. There was a genuinely hilarious situation when Eiko writes Zidane a love letter which changes hands about six times. Zidane decides the best way to forget about Garnet is to go and play poker in another town so we all head back to Treno for card game shenanigans!

[Bubba]

So I had absolutely zero intention of trying in this Tetra Master tournament. My experience at the game so far was I-hope-it's-similar-to-Triple-Triad... I may have attempted one game very early on but that's it. An embarrassing first-round exit would be acceptable in my eyes...

HOWEVER. I experienced some unexpected success!

Round 1: No idea how I managed a win here. My tactic was 'put my cards nowhere near theirs' which seemed to work. As my opponent went first, I got to put the last card down and sneaked a 6-4 win!

Round 2: I assumed I'd just got lucky in round 1 so went straight into the next one expecting to get my lily-white butt spanked. Not the case! I actually steamrollered this guy and managed to win the match 9-1 and I have no idea how!

Final: Now I'd gotten this far I really wanted to win the thing so I saved beforehand. I'm glad I did because I got my arse handed to me five times in a row by Regent Cid. By sheer dumb luck I scraped a 5-5 draw sixth time round, then managed to edge him 6-4 in the replay. I was rewarded with a Rebirth Ring so I hope it was worth it.

In summary, I have no idea how to play Tetra Master and I hope never to have to play it again.

[Wolf Kanno]

That's the last time you're required to play it.

You're about to witness one of my favorite moments in the whole game really soon. :eager:

[Fynn]

I actually love Tetra Master ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Wolf Kanno]

I actually love Tetra Master ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, but Triple Triad is better. Not to mention the rules make more sense than TM.

[Bubba]

I actually love Tetra Master ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Yeah, but Triple Triad is better. Not to mention the rules make more sense than TM.

To be perfectly honest, I haven't really given it enough time. I'm sure I'd appreciate it more if I learned the ins and outs. It isn't as instantly accessible as Triple Triad though. Plus, I don't want to get too bogged down by mini-games. TT & Blitzball stopped my playthroughs of FFVIII & FFX dead in their tracks.

So far though, I'm really enjoying FFIX! I think it's a wonderful entry. It's got the old-school Final Fantasy magic that I've sorely missed. Some of the dialogue is genuinely hilarious and the characterisation of the main party is glorious. It's not just the dialogue though, it's full of lovely little touches that just make it... warm and welcoming. Like Mog being chased by that dog in Treno when you're trying to save the game :lol:

Excited to see how the story ends. NOBODY BETTER DIE, SQUARE :colbert:

[Fynn]

NOBODY BETTER DIE, SQUARE :colbert:

:sweat:

[Bubba]

NOBODY BETTER DIE, SQUARE :colbert:

:sweat:

:Freybert:

[Bubba]

Holy crap, and I thought hell broke loose before?? Straight after our card game glory, Eiko tells us of a dire situation in Alexandria.

We cut there and Kuja is destroying the city with Bahamut! Beatrix and Steiner heroically rid the city of an over-sized cockroach situation. Meanwhile, Zidane, Eiko et al were on their way to Alexandria via airship when Eiko's pendant starts glowing. She does a magical, slow-motion swan dive straight to Garnet (who is on the roof of her castle). They say a quick prayer and man...

...Alexander is summoned! Alexandria! I get it! A pair of wings wrap around the castle, as if it just drank the world's supply of Red Bull... and the two summons duke it out. Alexander takes Bahamut's best shot and retaliates with a load of exciting, glowy-red little squiggly lines and Big B is gone!

Kuja again calls on the Eye of Sauron to try and enslave Alexander like it did with Bahamut. Nothing doing. Then, to top everything off, bloody Garland appears! He says he's gonna kick both Kuja and Zidane's arse then uses the Eye of Sauron to blow up the castle. Luckily, Zidane swoops in to save Garnet before another beam completely annihilates the entirety of Alexandria.

Zidane then wakes up in Lindblum and I'm left to try and comprehend the clusterf**k of awesomeness that I've just witnessed.

[Fynn]

Yeah that’s p. much the best part of the game

[Bubba]

Yeah that’s p. much the best part of the game

So what you're saying is it's all downhill from here? Way to put a dampener on things, Fynn.

[Fynn]

Oh far from it. But this bit is sweet as hell.

[Bubba]

Joking man :D

I'm still so blown away by that. Incredible stuff.

[Bubba]

On a side note, I got into a random boss fight in the middle of all this. I’ve picked a few fights in my life, but never have I been upset enough to challenge a bookcase...

The boss was this weird book that I had no idea what to do with. Every now and then a purple Diglett would pop out and let me damage it a decent amount. Then it would snap shut and bombard me with heavy hits. I used about 5 or 6 elixirs fighting this bastard. I literally couldn’t read him. It’s as if he was... well, as if he was a closed book. Which he was, most of the time. Anyway, I got there in the end but where the hell did that come from??

Nice xp bonus though.

[Fynn]

Pretty sure it’s one of the game’s two superbosses. I never encountered it personally and it’s only available at this specific time, if I’m not mistaken. The other works normally - waiting for you at the end of the game (and it’s tough as balls)

[Wolf Kanno]

One of three optional bosses actually. Though in Tantarian's case, he can only be fought on two occasions which are the two times Alexandria Castle is utilized as a dungeon, not counting the opening of the game. He's actually a fun callback to the book enemies from FFV, and his design is actually based on one of them. He actually has some pretty good items to steal off of them though one is notoriously difficult to get, and he's one of two enemies that actually drops an accessory item when defeated.

[charliepanayi]

The people in Treno must be really happy that they're the only major town in the game that doesn't get annihiliated at some point.

[Fynn]

Ah right. I completely forgot about Hades

[Freya]

The people in Treno must be really happy that they're the only major town in the game that doesn't get annihiliated at some point.

Ha, never thought about this. Think of the refugees they're making profit off of (Since treno is all about that profit and gambling)

[Bubba]

Not made too much progress since the Alexandria attack but I have got myself a boat now!

Garnet is traumatised to the point where she can't speak. There's a welcome change of pace as Zidane attempts to find ingredients to a potion that will turn Regent Cid back to himself... though I much prefer him as an Oglop. We have a leisurely jaunt around Lindblum and eventually locate everything we need. Nice :-)

Of course, it doesn't bloody work and Regent Cid is now Regent Frog. He's a bloody nice frog though as he gives us a big, blue boat to track down that pesky Kuja. There's an ATE where Quina materialises in Lindblum and fancies a quick tickle of a pickle. I'm glad I decided to trek back to Lindlum to see him/her as (apart from getting her out of trouble) she's now back in our party. Hooray! Blue Mage!

We board the blue boat and we are heading to the Black Mage Village. However, the entire map is now open to me so I may do a little bit of exploring :D

[Bubba]

So I may have forgotten the deal with Chocographs... I've collected 6 of them and I've managed to find 3. My chocobo is blue now so I don't think I'm doing too bad.

Do I have to go back to the Chocobo Forest to dig up more Chocographs? Do I have to find all 6 of the ones I've got before any more can be dug up?

75415

[charliepanayi]

So I may have forgotten the deal with Chocographs... I've collected 6 of them and I've managed to find 3. My chocobo is blue now so I don't think I'm doing too bad.

Do I have to go back to the Chocobo Forest to dig up more Chocographs? Do I have to find all 6 of the ones I've got before any more can be dug up?

75415

You can go back to Chocobo Forest, and if there are no Chocographs to find there, the Moogle there will tell you before you play. Otherwise assume you can dig more up. Also, I think once you have the boat and a light blue chocobo you can get to Chocobo Lagoon as well (though it's a bit of a zig-zag route on the chocobo as I recall) and find more Chocographs there.

[Fynn]

I remember really digging (ha, get it?) Chocobo hot and cold on my first playthrough... and then completely ignored it during my marathon. I can’t even explain why

[Bubba]

Yeah, I enjoyed Hot and Cold much more than I did Tetra Master. The prizes seem pretty decent as well so I might allow myself some sidequest time and see what I can dig up.

What am I missing out on by not playing Tetra Master? Is there like an awesome summon like Knights of the Round to gain?

[Fynn]

You’re just missing out on Tetra Master. Which is a terrible thing.

[Bubba]

So there is zero reward for it? Not even a card mod option like FFVIII?

[Wolf Kanno]

Outside of just collecting and upgrading the cards, nothing. Tetra Master gets you nothing of any real value.

[Freya]

Yeah no bonus whatever from playing it really.

And yes, once you get all you can at the forest, you can find the chocobo lagoon, you'll need to use your chocobo to get to it. You'll get some chocographs there and bleed that one dry too. After you solve some more you'll get another choco color and be able to do even more stuff! Then you can go back to forest and do some more digging in spots you couldn't before. Again, find the chocograph locations, get a new color, then you can go back to lagoon and go into the deep water! Solve those and you can get the final color! I don't remember if it goes Forest, Lagoon, Forest, Lagoon or a different order. But you have to unlock more colors to get to more places in each. That allows you to get to the Chocobo Air Garden, it moves around the map so you gotta find it in one of... I want to say five places? There is a secret super tough boss there.

The boss is also effected by another minigame thing. Have you ran into any "friendly monsters"? If you find all of them it makes the super boss a little easier.

[Bubba]

The boss is also effected by another minigame thing. Have you ran into any "friendly monsters"? If you find all of them it makes the super boss a little easier.

Quite a few actually! I’ve just come across one today in fact that wanted a moonstone. The ones up until now have just wanted ores.

It said something about whether I’ve met Garuda, I think? Don’t know if I have or not. Am I on the right track?

I will crack on with Hot and Cold and pretend Tetra Master never existed.

[Wolf Kanno]

The boss is also effected by another minigame thing. Have you ran into any "friendly monsters"? If you find all of them it makes the super boss a little easier.

Quite a few actually! I’ve just come across one today in fact that wanted a moonstone. The ones up until now have just wanted ores.

It said something about whether I’ve met Garuda, I think? Don’t know if I have or not. Am I on the right track?

I will crack on with Hot and Cold and pretend Tetra Master never existed.

Yeah, there are nine friendly monsters, and you'll know all of them due to the different battle theme they play when encountered. There is a fake friend called Gimme Cat who demands a Diamond and doesn't have the friendly battle theme play as well but he's a fake friend and you should just kill him.

[Freya]

The boss is also effected by another minigame thing. Have you ran into any "friendly monsters"? If you find all of them it makes the super boss a little easier.

Quite a few actually! I’ve just come across one today in fact that wanted a moonstone. The ones up until now have just wanted ores.

It said something about whether I’ve met Garuda, I think? Don’t know if I have or not. Am I on the right track?

I will crack on with Hot and Cold and pretend Tetra Master never existed.

Yeah, there are nine friendly monsters, and you'll know all of them due to the different battle theme they play when encountered. There is a fake friend called Gimme Cat who demands a Diamond and doesn't have the friendly battle theme play as well but he's a fake friend and you should just kill him.

As you should do with all Fake Friends :stare:

This encouragement of violence is brought to you by your friends Wolf Kanno and Freya. (we're friends okay. pls.)

[Bubba]

he's a fake friend and you should just kill him.

As you should do with all Fake Friends :stare:

Ahh you see, I’ve done this before and found the police ask too many questions. Luckily, they’re all buried in the same place and there’s zero chance of them being found.

I managed to find the location of six chocographs I’d collected. One of them was Faraway Lagoon and it helped me find the Chocobo Lagoon/Forest place thingy! I can now unearth a load more and go hunting :D

Expect a severe lack of story progress for the next few days...

[Freya]

Some you can't get to yet I don't think. Hmm Well I think disc 3 is when you can get stuff but i don''t recall if you can get all of it just yet. It's been a bit

[fat_moogle]

Go, Bubba, go! Congratulations for finally getting around to playing this game :D I hope you're enjoying it so far. You're doing better than I ever did with Chocobos / chocographs. I think I only ever found like, two locations? And I never got a different colour chocobo.

[Bubba]

Go, Bubba, go! Congratulations for finally getting around to playing this game :D I hope you're enjoying it so far. You're doing better than I ever did with Chocobos / chocographs. I think I only ever found like, two locations? And I never got a different colour chocobo.

Yeah, thoroughly enjoying it so far! I am officially sidetracked by Hot and Cold though. I found four chocographs at the Lagoon and spent a good few hours tracking them down. I did not like the 30 second time limit in the lagoon, especially when the depth you had to dig was like 70-80 per chocograph :colbert: If you didn’t find it within the first 10-15 seconds you might as well just stop trying. I much prefer paying twice as much for a full minute just like my first visit to Pandora’s

Finding the locations was tricky. I didn’t know which tracks to call Chico from. I kept going in circles in the reefs around the islands. Got there in the end though (last one was on the bloody Mist continent) and I now have the Mountain ability. Little Chico is now red!

[Freya]

Look at you growing your baby Choco! What a great Choco dad you are

[Bubba]

Look at you growing your baby Choco! What a great Choco dad you are

Well I think my experience as a father with the sleepless nights, nappy changes, grazed knees, constant demands of attention... have helped in no way whatsoever. I am a great Dad to little Chico though! I'm calling him Chico as he's giving off a strong Mexican vibe.

2 more chocographs found this morning. Just about to head on lunch and go digging for more!

[Bubba]

Three more Chicographs found on my lunch! I've now collected 15 of them and found 9 of the treasures.

What's the deal with the chocograph pieces? I assume when I've found enough they'll form a full chocograph giving me some awesome power which will mean less grinding for the final boss?

[Freya]

Yeah they make a solid chocograph and you get the final special power i think

[charliepanayi]

Wait until you have to find the Ocean chocograph

[Bubba]

Wait until you have to find the Ocean chocograph

It’s... it’s not just a picture of a patch of ocean, is it?

I found two more on my train ride home and Claude Mene informs me that’s my lot for Chocobo Forest! My son has gone to bed and I now plan to spend the rest of the evening hunting treasure while MissH watches her Love Island garbage.

[charliepanayi]

Wait until you have to find the Ocean chocograph

It’s... it’s not just a picture of a patch of ocean, is it?


Pretty much!

[Depression Moon]

Yeah, I've played IX about 14 times, but I can never remember the location of the Ocean chocograph.

[Bubba]

You know, this is my favourite incarnation of the Chocobo in Final Fantasy. I feel me and Chico have connected and he might just be my favourite ever Chocobo! I absolutely love this mini game. Contender for best ever, in my opinion.

I now have the Ocean ability for little Chico and we’ve collected 20 chocographs. After an initial dry period, I had some late success last night! I’ve now found 15 of the 20 treasures. I haven’t found the Ocean Chocograph yet though because daaaaaammmmmnnnnnnn.

Although, I can’t seem to access the Western continent?? There’s nowhere to park my ship and Chico (despite climbing Everest-size mountains in three seconds) can’t seem to climb the little cliffs of the continent? Have I got to wait till later in the story?

[Freya]

I think you might until you get the airship. Well Unless you got all the chocographs, The pieces one gives you the last thing. And you might be able ot get there with that choco. I don't remember

[charliepanayi]

You can't access the Forgotten Continent until you get an airship later on (and after that, also when you get a chocobo that can fly I think)

[Bubba]

Well I found the ocean chocograph and have 17-out-of-20 treasures. The last three I can't get at the minute, I don't think. I'm missing a chocobo skill for one and the other two are on the Western continent. I suppose I better get back to the main story then!

We headed for the Black Mage Village. It was eereliy, earily, eereylie, strangely deserted. We find one of them moping about the graveyard like a freak and it turns out that... oh crap. They've gone off to worship Kuja as he's promised them eternal life. This is not good.

Some positive news though, it looks like we're about to find ourselves an airship! I should be excited that we're able to go off and confront Kuja but honestly... I'm more excited to pick up those two chocograph treasures on the Western Continent!

[Black Magic Shopkeeper]

Some positive news though, it looks like we're about to find ourselves an airship! I should be excited that we're able to go off and confront Kuja but honestly... I'm more excited to pick up those two chocograph treasures on the Western Continent!

RPG priorities, man. Gotta love 'em.

[Wolf Kanno]

Chocobo Hot n' Cold is one of my favorite Mini-games in the series just slightly behind Triple Triad.

[Bubba]

Chocobo Hot n' Cold is one of my favorite Mini-games in the series just slightly behind Triple Triad.

I think this is how I feel too. It's very close though!

[vivi_carol]

The LAST time I do anything nice for this bitch ass community.

[maybee]

The LAST time I do anything nice for this bitch ass community.

https://www.sbs.com.au/programs/sites/sbs.com.au.programs/files/styles/body_image/public/project_runway_lol_wut_disbelief_omg_what_is_happening_are_you_serious_are_you_kidding.gif?itok=xzmu L4E6&mtime=1469780167

[Bubba]

After my disappointment over not being able to access the Western continent, things take a fortuitous turn!

I mean, it's not in terms of our party... we fall into a sandpit in the desert and all get captured by Kuja. He then forces us to go and retrieve a Gulug Stone or else he'll kill everyone. That's a tad disappointing. However, the main FFIX quest of hunting down chocographs is well-and-truly on!

I spend an absolute bloody eternity trying to find the damn chocobo tracks. I even walked all way to the Oeilvert place that Kuja was on about. Ahh, no real rush for that. I eventually locate them and track down the two treasures on the Western continent. Beautiful, I now have 19-out-of-20 chocographs! My only slight worry is that the last one needs a skill I don't have? I've normally upgraded my skill from finding treasures but I've found them all?

Ahh well, I suppose I'll do this Gulug Stone sidequest for Kuja and save my friend's lives.

[charliepanayi]

Who did you put in the Forgotten Continent party?

There are a few more chocographs to find later in the game, is your chocobo dark blue yet? That means it can go in deep water and then it can turn gold which means it can fly

[Bubba]

Who did you put in the Forgotten Continent party?

Well Kefka said I wouldn't be able to use magic so I went for a physical line-up.

Zidane, Steiner, Quina and Eiko.

I stuck Eiko on the end to be my designated Hi-potion caster. Quina has strong physical attacks as well as being my blue mage.


There are a few more chocographs to find later in the game, is your chocobo dark blue yet? That means it can go in deep water and then it can turn gold which means it can fly

Yeah, he's dark blue! He can cross Oceans it's just the flying power I need now.

[charliepanayi]

Once he can fly you can reach Chocobo Air Garden to dig up more stuff. There are also cracks and bubbles dotted around the world your Chocobo can dig up stuff from.

[Bubba]

So I've been a bit embarrassed by my recent experiences on here hence it's been a little while since I updated.

So, we were on our way to Oeilvert for this Gulug Stone. There were these annoying Epitaph enemies that had the ability to clone someone from our party. The clone would then kill the real party member and I would become very sad. Even if you revive them, this crappy clone just kills them again. I eventually worked out that it only produces the clone a few times then it just uses regular attacks. I ended up grinding here (despite my lack of magic) as the experience I got was awesome!

The level itself was strange. I activated a few projections which were very confusing. For some unknown reason, Zidane was able to translate the writing attached to them. The big moon projection said MOTHER (Which is also a recent film starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem and is truly awful) but I don't know what this means.

The other projections mentioned something about the Invincible battleship. I also learned about the rise and fall of the Terra Reich. Then all of a sudden I was in that room with all the faces in from Game of Thrones. Very disturbing. The weird masks/faces here chatted sh*t to us all which freaked me the hell out and I left ran from the room screaming.

After another weird projection with two planets fusing together (I have no idea what's going on) we get into a boss fight. It was tricky because half my team kept getting confused but I eventually emerged victorious. We have the Gulug Stone!

Right, prepare yourselves for my story of stupidity and frustration...

[Bubba]

So we cut back to Kuja's Desert prison place and it seems Regent Cid Frog has the opportunity to help release my team and hooooo booyyyy...

The mini-game involved sneaking up on an ugly, red monster stuck behind bars. Firstly, why is he sneaking? He's behind bloody bars!!

Anyway, I could only edge him forward when this monster back was to me. I tried the slowly-slowly approach first but still ended up getting caught out loads, including twice right at the end. When I finally got the key I had to complete this shady mini-game by placing weights on a scale. This took me for-f***ing ever to do and I despise it with every fibre of my being.

I was so close to using a guide for the end bit because I just couldn't be arsed with it anymore. Ugh.

[Black Magic Shopkeeper]

Ah, yes. The infamous weights minigame. Just about the only thing that I truly hated in the entirety of FF9.

[Bubba]

Ah, yes. The infamous weights minigame. Just about the only thing that I truly hated in the entirety of FF9.

There were no clues to the right order anywhere and that f***ing frog took an eternity to move them round. Ugh. I did not care for it.

[charliepanayi]

I didn't have any problems with that scales mini-game. Lighting all the bloody candles in the palace on the other hand...

[Bubba]

I didn't have any problems with that scales mini-game. Lighting all the bloody candles in the palace on the other hand...

I actually didn't mind this. It was more of a trial-and-error puzzle and at least it didn't have a bloody timer!

That's right, kids. I have another update imminent. I've actually been powering on with this for a while now. I was just waiting for a quiet day at work to type it up.

TODAY IS THAT DAY.

[Bubba]

TOMORROW IS THAT DAY.

Fixed :monster:

So the f**kery that was the scales mini-game was over and Froggy Cid has opened the doors to our team's cells. Good job, you ribbety mother smurfer!

Our team exit their cells just in time as the floors to the cells were opening which would have led to our jovial characters falling to a horrible death. Correctional facilities in FFIX are pretty harsh, man. Our team meet reconvene with Froggy Cid and we save the game with greatest named Mog of all time... Mojito.

Next we have Charliepanayi's beloved lighting-the-candles-in-the-palace bit. I honestly didn't mind this at all. Kinda like an old Resident Evil-style puzzle. A bit of trial-and-error and we eventually found a magical staircase leading to a boss fight. I tell you what, it was lovely not having to spam steal with Zidane. Wish he'd be absent from the party more often! Boss was easy enough to topple and we switch to the other group.

Stay tuned for my next update where I finally get my own airship!

[Bubba]

Where would you say is the best place to grind in this game?

[Karifean]

Definitely the island full of Yans (the one closest to the center of the four continents IIRC). They also happen to be the hardest random encounter in the game and capable of killing you with ease if you don't dispatch them quickly. Odin can come in handy tho if you have him.

[Wolf Kanno]

Where would you say is the best place to grind in this game?

That stretch of land you can reach from Gizamaluke Grottoe where you battle Shield Dragons. If you've taught Quina Lv. 5 Death, it's one of the best grinding spots in the game with little risk of a TPK.