ffIX underrated for ps1

[the_sandman]

i believe that ff9 is the most underrated final fantasy game for the ps1. and i blame sony for releasing ps2 right after ff9 was released so all the hype is towards ff10 and people forget about ff9.

reasons why i think ff9 deserves more ratings..

- it had the best character system. the main character zidane had a big affect on every character in the game. their connections with each other were great. we see the respect between steiner and vivi. we see mistrust between zidane and steiner. we see rivalry between amarant and freya. we see friendship between zidane and vivi. we see the sisterly love between garnet and eiko. we see the annoyance eiko gives amarant. these connections between the characters made the game so great...we dont see these things from characters in ff7 or ff8. in ff7, the characters totally dont connect, they just work together with no conflicts with each other. a perfect teamwork. in ff8, all the characters are pretty much ignored expect squall and rinoa.

- it had the best music. i guess this is an opinion rather than a fact. but you guys cant deny that the music didnt touch you. they were memorable, esp. the ending song. each city had its own music, and the music and the settings are totally similar. and that song "you are not alone"...oh man when that scene came up, it was touching to see the friends that zidane decided to forget about, come back to help him..than dagger finishes it by healing him in the middle of the battle and making him come to his senses...that scene would not be the same without the music.

- the fact that its a tribute to the series was a great idea. i loved it...bringing back the old memories, making us think "this all seems familiar"

- i liked the fact that final fantasy IX was back to the classic medieval setting after the 2 series before it were so futurific. ff7 or 8 didnt give me the final fantasy feel with all the guns and overtuned weapons. it just didnt seem "final fantasy" without a king or a ruler or kingdoms and esp a princess.

- the main character was also the best. he wasnt dull like the other two. his attitude was more realistic because we all know everyone has a sense of humor. all guys are flirty with girls, and like to "holler" like zidane does. squall and cloud are just not real. if a girl like quistis..or aeries approached anyone...no ones going to sit there and act like theyre not hot. theyre teenagers. be more realistic. i'm not actually telling the makers to make them more realistic since their attitude depends on the storyline of the game. im just saying, zidane seems to connect to majority of the gamers.

- people say sephiroth was the best "bad guy" in the FF series. i say kuja was better. sure sephiroth killed more, characters that mattered in the game, such as the president of shinra, or aeries (which is why most people think of sephiroth as the worst), and he did attempt to destroy the planet...keyword being attempt. people seem to forget that kuja actually did destory a planet. he destroyed the planet of terra, and destoryed majority of gaia (alexandria, cleyra, lindblum, burmecia, madain sari), killing both of garnets mother. killing spree wise, kuja got more points. sephiroth didnt really have anything but, strength like most one man army. kuja had power, he completley controlled those black mages and eidolons. even zorn and thorn ended up betraying alexandria for kuja. so power is another point added to kuja. but sephiroth does earn a point for his badass sword.

- the ending was also well thought of. it even made my 2 cousins cry, lol. you cant tell me that wasnt cool what zidane did. hiding under the robe. i mean it was obvious it was zidane, but it was pretty cool. than came the movie where garnet runs to zidane, very emotional and touching i must say. i wouldnt say its the best ending, since i think ffX ending was better. for some reason, i'm a fan of sad endings. they just seem to leave you wanting for more.

- oh and, dagger was def the hottest out of aeries and rinoa. aeries is pretty, and very innocent looking. but i'm a fan of long black hairs...and a fan of princesses. and rinoa is just too pale. lol when she turned all psycho from the sorceress...she actually looked like a ghost.

and for the battle system, ff9 wasnt too great in that. i think ff8's junction was pretty fun. difficult to learn, but once its learned, its pretty fun and very tacticle

[McLovin']

Well obviously FF9 is better than its precursors...meaning 1-5 maybe.

[Vyk]

I won't say 9 was a bad game. But I don't think it was underrated. I played through it. And it was well made. But it was an absolute chore to actually beat it. And I really don't know why. But about 80% of the way through I just got bored with it. Plus I played straight through instead of ever stopping to level. Apparently that's a bad idea. I hate games that expect you to waste time leveling. If they want you to be at a certain level they should give you enough experience to get there. And using random encounters to increase playtime is old hat. Two or three boss fights I thought I was supposed to lose considering how badly I got trounsed. You go down in the first three rounds and then see game over, something's wrong.

Its not like I skipped anything. I never ran from any battles. There's no reason my characters should have been that under prepaired except they seem to expect you to find a spot with big bad guys and run around in circles. And that's a part of old RPGs I was willing to say goodbye to. They didn't have to throw that in there just 'cause they were looking back. They advanced on character depth and development and plot intricacies. They should have made advancements in encounters and leveling systems

But yeah. That's not what made me want to quit. The story just didn't have what it took to keep me enthralled. The characters were deep but there wasn't really anything worth caring about. To me Vivi was the only one anyone could relate to or get sympathetic towards.

Amarant had no personality. Steiner was cliche. Quina was just... there being weird. Eiko was just there being annoying... I dunno. Maybe if it wasn't so tedious. But there's my two cents. Maybe I'll trudge through it again someday

[boys from the dwarf]

i wouldnt call it underrated. FF9 is widely considered the only truly great FF inbetween FF9 and FF12. surely youve heard people calling FF12 the first good FF in 5 or so years. its my favourite FF. some people are just ignorant and dont even try to like it and dislike it for no reason.

[Lilliputian Hitcher]

i wouldnt call it underrated. FF9 is widely considered the only truly great FF inbetween FF9 and FF12.
Err, I don't know what you're basing that on but sales and the existence of FFX-2 dictate that FFX was far better received by fans than FFIX.

I would say that FFII, FFIII and FFV are far less popular than FFIX (and that of course is just out of the main series) but yes, FFIX is very underrated considering how great a game it is.

[Sefie1999AD]

I think FFIX is indeed underrated. Almost everyone keeps talking about the FF games around it, such as FFVII, FFVIII and FFX, and FFIX gets hardly any attention. FFIX was my second favorite FF, its strong points being, IMHO, one of the most thoughtful storylines in the series, excellent characters and character development, return of the FFIV-style fantasy world and my favorite soundtrack in the series.

[Hambone]

FFIX isn't that underated. But it is kinda. It wasn't my favorite Final Fantasy.

Favorite FFs:
1. X
2. VII
3. VIII
4. V
5. IX
6. VI

I didn't think it was that great of a game but it was okay.

[daggertrepe]

I made a thread about this a while ago. So many arguements could come out of it becasue it truly is underrated compared to the other final fantasies. But it all comes down to opnions in the end.

[The Crystal]

FFIX is underrated because of the many FFVII and FFVIII fanboys that NEVER played a FF game, that come before FFVII.

[auhin]

Yep, that always happens. IX, the true masterpeice, gets dumped on. Most of my friends had never heard of IX, they just knew about Squall and Sephiroth and Auron. Never did they mention Steiner or Quina.
IX is the best. Period.

[LunarWeaver]

I love IX myself as well 8) Sometimes I do think it is underrated because many have silly reasons for not liking it. If somebody simply does not enjoy it, I can accept that and not call it underrated...But if somebody won't play the game because of the art style they used (and there are many "OMFG THEY'RE CHIBI AND MORPHED CAN'T TOUCH IT" out there), then that's kind of silly to me... X is still my favorite though.

[Zeromus_X]

Especially since before X, realism was only used in VIII.

My friend even said


Hmm...chibi style just doesn't work for Playstation games.

I mean wtf. All the FFs before VII had chibi. FFVII had chibi models outside of battle. Was is really that surprising that another FF game in the series, which has a good deal of cute chibiness going on, would have even more?

But anyway, enough ranting.

FFIX is a very good game, I don't really see how anyone can speak against it. Cramming everything that defines 'Final Fantasy' into four discs of creamy FMV and fun battle deliciousness is pretty hard to not sink your teeth into. But, if that isn't your thing, so be it.

The one thing I didn't like was

The false advertising of 'The Crystal comes back roflz!!1one'. Ugh, yeah, one cop-out Crystal at the end of the game. I know Deus ex Machina is a fun game that Square likes to play (at least in the FF series), but come on. Thanks alot Square. I was hoping for four or more elemental Crystals, instead I get these stupid mirrors. Hopefully FFXIII will have better Crystals.

But nevertheless, I still enjoyed the game thoroughly. I'd play it again, but my Disc One stops playing from a certain point. :cat:

[Lilliputian Hitcher]

My friend even said


Hmm...chibi style just doesn't work for Playstation games.

I mean wtf. All the FFs before VII had chibi.
And, you know, weren't on the playstation.

Although I have to agree; disliking the chibi-style graphics is rather stupid, especially when you consider that the character models still managed to be far more detailed than anything in FFVII or FFVIII.

[Zeromus_X]

Well, he is a big FFVII fan, so I just found it rather ironic.

[Toodleena]

Yes, I think it's underated. Probably because... well, I've always thought people didn't like it as much because the characters looked different, like short, and I know that doesn't really make a difference but some people I think liked the realistic "height" and looks of VII and VIII, also they were set in modern times or the future, and IX wasn't. But, yes, it's very underated.

[Vyk]

I think the problem with FFIX is it didn't really make you question anything like the other games around it tried to. You didn't question your character's faith, or sanity, or emotions, or anything. It was all neat and polished with very little drama between characters.

In Seven you have to wake Cloud up from years of delusional fantasy by literally getting inside his head with the person he cares about most, and the person who cares most about him.

In Eight you have to follow Squall as his life-time worth of an anti-social shell completely breaks down and see him deal with being emotionally naked and vulnerable for pretty much the first time since he was like five and how he manages to cope with that and grow from it

Ten you get to watch Wakka's discriminating bigotry crumble away as he realises his faith may not be morally justified and he (and most of the population) was turned into basically a racist by political fear-tactics. And you have to question if your main character is even REAL

Nine made you wonder about Vivi's sentiency and Zidane was made in a lab or something, but both were just kinda accepted and shrugged off. The only plot or character element I think that compares this game to the rest is having a meglomaniacle psychopath for a villian.

Ever since Kefka bad guys have been manipulative and/or power hungry freaks. Sephiroth loses it. Ultimecia lost it long ago, and manipulates others numerous times. Kuja loses it and manipulates the queen. And Seymore is pretty much the top of politics in Spira, his views are pretty skewed, and he can manipulate anyone because they pretty much accept anything he says as law. Except Wakka, which is a nice turning point in character development for him.

IX just doesn't stand out. It's too... safe? It could have used more drama I guess and less antics. In my opinion. I think that's why it never really grabbed me. And probably the same for some others that prefer games around it over it

Edit: and don't get me wrong. I loved the atmosphere of the game. I just think it could have challenged the characters and the gamer's thoughts a little bit more. None of the characters grew through the game. They pretty much just were who they were. Even after certain self discoveries

[LunarWeaver]

I think you make some good points Vyk, but many of those things is actually why I liked it. Maybe I was just ready for a different than VII and VIII.

While I enjoyed Squall and Cloud's development too, the rest can't be said for the rest of the cast in those games for me, although I do like all of X. IX made me care about everyone except Quina (comic relief what can you do), and I typically like games to be very focused and not all over the place. I really felt like they did good job keeping the spotlight on Zidane and Garnet while giving everybody else a chance to strut their stuff. Not everybody got equal treatment, looking at you Freya, but it was much more balanced than most RPGs I've ever played. I guess that's why I liked it so much.

I didn't mind the plot either... I think IX's plot is less debatable simply because it's clearer and doesn't use so many metaphors and hoopla to explain itself. Which is good in a lot of ways, since we have theories like Laguna is a Shumi or some crap running around out there. I don't really want Vivi = Quina theories.

But I do like the more expansive and complicated plots too... IX is kind of a throw-back in many ways. It was more complicated than I ever expected it to be at least. Now if only that trance system didn't exist :lol:

Still, for me it goes 1)X 2)VII 3)VIII 4)IX and I have a feeling XII is going to bitch-smack itself into the number 2 all-time favorite spot. So I can't really argue that IX is the greatest of them all because I don't think so either... But I can say many people don't give it a chance or are unfairly harsh on it.

[Vyk]

I agree with a lot of what you say too. Which is why I point out I love the atmosphere. And watching the characters interact. It just didn't grab me for a 60 hour inter-active haul. But I did enjoy them. I don't think I would have changed anything. Just added to it, to make it more (for lack of a better word) "interesting" :] but yeah, it was deffinitely more fair to the side-characters. I wish Beatrice could have joined the team. I think she'd have made the whole thing a little more ...uh awesome?

[auhin]

Frankly, it was all the "religon is false" atmosphere in X that made me turned off to it. IX kinda stayed away from trying to project any "anti-business" or "anti-religon" messages into you head. In VII, you're fighting against a big corporation, in X you battle the "preists" of that day, but in IX... You save kingdoms.
Sounds more fantasy to me. :/

[The Crystal]

About the game not making you question many things... Like i said before, people that don't like a game, don't try to question it. This is why some people think that the game is so simple. You want questions?
Why was Mt. Gulug sealed? What is the Gulug Stone and why it was in Oeilvert? How the Eidolons(Summons) are created, and what is the connection between magic and memorys in FFIX? What is Ozma? What is Necron?
All of this is mentioned and explained in the game. You just have to pay close atention to the game, and analyze it.

This is one of the most complete FAQs that i readed about the game, and everything that say in it, is proved with images and dialogues of the game: http://faqs.ign.com/articles/657/657330p1.html

Seriously, after you read this, you will see that this is one of the most complex games in the series.
Hell, even Quina have a reason in the story(and is not only comic relive).

[auhin]

I've always thought Quina was important. :) She nd Steiner are my favorite characters.

[rubah]

I thought it was overrated, except the exquisite graphics it had.

[Zeromus_X]

You can make anything 'more complex' if you over-analyze it. Which a majority of those 'plot analysis' do. It's true, FFIX is very straight-forward as compared to FFVII and VIII, chock full of symbolism and other ambiguous things. Nothing needs to be thought about. Indeed, you only need to think a little to understand the things in the other mentioned games. Another reason for this is because of FFIX being a tribute to the older games, it doesn't really use any new story elements or have a particularly innovative battle system (which isn't a bad thing).

Edit: This was in response to The Crystal, before rubah and auhin posted.

[LunarWeaver]

The Crystal, I'm not saying Quina doesn't have a place, but 95% of the character is nothing but spitting out lines about being hungry and needing food. That's 95% comic relief.

And people overanalyze the Final Fantasy games way too much. None of them are that complicated. I don't really have trouble understanding any of them, and I definitetly dont need a FAQ to tell me about IX.

All anybody needs to know is that Vivi exists in FFIX and that's enough to warrant a playthrough http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i29/LunarWeaver/Misc-ViviSprite.gif

[auhin]

Yep, Vivi was a cool. I prefer Palom better (because he's basically me) but Vivi still ownz. There's not really any characters in IX that I hate. IX has a great knight, dragoon, and blue mage. Plus, it has the best battle system.
I liked FFTA because they used it as well.

[Darkwing Bahamut]

It's not uderrated at all, it gets just as much praise from its fans as the other FF games. The reason why some people dislike it is mostly because of the cartoonish and doll like character designs and the world it's set in. FFIX stepped away from the innovation of VII and VIII, and returned to a more traditional look and feel. The story is set in a mostly medieval society, as opposed to VII and VIII's futuristic settings.

[The Crystal]

I still think that people pick the plot holes of the other two games, and over-analyse them, making VII and VIII, BECOME complex. But people don't want to analyze IX, so they just say that the game have plot holes and is straight-forward. This is my opinion.
Anyone that want to see how this game is complex, can read that FAQ in my last post. You just have to click in the link.

[the_sandman]

after reading some comments, i still do believe that ff9 is underrated. if you think about it, ff7 came out with advent children, dirge of cerberus, and that other game about shinra or something. we see the romantic ff8 pictures everywhere. squall and rinoa. i've been to so many myspace with the squall and rinoa banner or backgrounds. they come out with X-2 because everyone loved X so much. if you visit the site called www.trueswords.com , you can see that they have the squall's gunblade, clouds buster sword, sephiroths long sword, tidus's water sword (yes, real metal). and guess whose weapon is missing from the list. yep, zidanes. i thought his double sword thing were pretty cool. and i'm sure the sword makers would make it along with the other FF swords, if they even heard of zidane or seen zidane. i've never played kingdom hearts 2, but i can probably guess that theres no ff9 characters in there.

[Zeromus_X]

Vivi. :) :cat:

[Darkwing Bahamut]

Tetsuya Nomura, the director and concept designer for KH2, didn't do the character designs of FFIX, he only did it for VII, VIII, X, and X-2. So it shouldn't come as a surprise that there so many FFVII and FFVIII characters in KH2 yet so few FFIX characters. And Vivi only appeared in KH2 due to fan requests.

[auhin]

^That's my ONLY problem with the KH games. Everything else is great, except for the sickening bias against IX. I'm used to seeing Zidane skipped over. It's sad, really, seeing as he is 10x better than the other three mainstream heroes (Cloud, Squall, Tidus).

[Zeromus_X]

It isn't bias, Nomura didn't design Vivi. He was relunctant to add any other of his non-character designs, even though apparently he originally concieved Setzer.

And it isn't like Vivi does anything of any relative importance anyway the game anyway, none of the FF characters really did.

[Materia Hunter Yuffie]

yes FFIX was underrated

[The Crystal]

yes FFIX is underrated

Fixed

[Sefie1999AD]

FFIX is underrated in many other ways too. Look at all the FF concerts and Black Mages albums, they mostly have songs from FFVI and FFVIII played there, even though FFIX had the best soundtrack in the series, IMHO. The staff working on FFIX is mentioned pretty much nowhere, but the one working on FFVII, FFVIII and FFX is mentioned in so many places. It's weird since I don't think the "Sakaguchi generation" did that much worse than the "Nomura generation". Sure, Sakaguchi generation had FFII and FF: TSW, but mostly they made good titles (FF1, FF3-6, FF9) whereas Nomura generation is a lot more unstable, IMHO (they did FFVII, AC and KH games, but they also did FFVIII, FFX, FFX-2 and DoC).