WK Plays FFIX

So a more proper update of what I've played so far.

Pros:

This game is charming as smurf. I really don't know why the world and characters grab me so much, likely because IX doesn't take itself as overly serious as later entries do. It's been pleasant to have sight gags and humorous scenes sprinkled throughout the story so far. I really feel it adds more weight when the game decides to be serious.
I find it interesting going back through character popularity contests from the forum that so many of FFX's memorable minor NPCs are basically just memes like Blitzball Boy and Stay away from the summoner lady, whereas FFIX has legitimately fun NPCs to converse with. Granted Spira is a more broken world at the moment, but I would argue that what makes IX's setting hurt more is when the trout does hit the fan and suddenly the charming NPCs you liked are actually hurting or even dead. X could have used a few more before and after moments for towns.
I really like the game's ability system. I'm an equipment fiend who likes my gear to have solid stats and abilities and so finding treasure and stealing from bosses finally have some weight again. What I do like about the mechanics is that it forces you into a choice of limiting yourself with weaker gear to maintain a useful ability versus going for better stats at the expense of less useful skills depending on the situation. It's managed to make the early game feel more challenging. Really becomes obvious with Steiner whose first weapon has a useful support skill but gets overshadowed statistically fairly quickly. Now I have him with a weapon scaled for the part of the game he's in and he's an absolute beast.
Yay for cool spell effects!!!
Vivi is absolutely adorable and ranks as one of my favorite characters in the series, so it's been a blast watching the little fella go through his existential crisis.
Garnet is not exactly my favorite character in this game, but coming off of FFX and my long rant about Yuna sort of escaping any character defining consequences, I am learning to appreciate her more this time through.
After playing through so many FFs with clueless protagonists, it's refreshing to have world traveled Zidane be the one informing the rest of the party about the going ons of the world.
I feel Steiner is such an underrated character. I can see how some fans sort of hate his role as "stopping having fun" dude and "Lawful Stupid" because it can be annoying, but he's so charmingly innocent sometimes and it's been nice being in Treno and watching Dr. Tot trying to reason with his black and white mentality.
I managed to get a 100 nobles satisfied!
I also managed to steal all the items off Beatrix in Burmecia. Though I did have to reset a few times to get it to happen.
Burmecia might be one of my favorite locations in IX. I love the rain, the war torn vibe of the place, and the music.
I think Freya and Steiner have the best character themes besides Tantalus.
ATE'S are fun and it's a shame they are never used again in an FF. I even managed to see all of the ATE's in Treno, though I had to use a guide for that one.
I think one of the satisfying things about Quina as a Blue Mage is that the whole surrounding area they are recruited in is filled with Blue spells, helping you build them pretty quickly. I don't think I've ever played an FF where I managed to get access to Mighty Guard this early.
I love the Mog Bro tutorials, really reminds me of the tutorial interludes Mog and Kappa would do in FFVI.
Chocobo Hot N' Cold!!! Super fun and I've already upgraded Choco to River Blue.
As anyone who read through my playthrough of XII can tell you, I appreciate when FFs have lots of hidden goodies and rewards exploring and talking to everyone. Not that FFX doesn't have this stuff either, but it felt rather subdued compared to what IX and XII had to offer.
I love Tantalus as a group, the whole team has a fun dynamic and it's always a treat when they pop back into the story. I'm sort of curious to know how strong Baku really is and even more curious to know if he can use Trance?
IX has my favorite save points in the series, I love how Moogle-centric this entry is.
One of the real joys of IX is being really familiar with the whole FF series and spotting all the little references.
I am really surprised how much history lore IX really drops on the player. I also thinks it's interesting how Alexandria quietly reveals it's more militant nature in this way as most of the statues and landmarks found in its region celebrate fallen soldiers and references the various wars it has fought whereas Lindblum's talks about its founding, it's traditions, and celebrates innovation that helps the people. It's a nice touch and as stated in the FFX thread, I prefer this more organic style of learning a world's history over someone just explaining it to me like a lecture.
Likewise, I like the methodical world building going on here as you reach places like Dali and can slowly uncover the town being in a bit of a conflict as some members want to stay as a small farming community, whereas the rest of the town is okay being a Black Mage weapons producer. Its adds a lot of character to the world.
I've been really loving the FMVs in this game so far. I think IX has my favorite in the series.

Cons:

I don't think I can properly convey how much I hate Tetra Master. The fact the game hides most of the rules to you is really annoying and even knowing those rules, there are still hidden parameters that can make you lose if you're not aware of it.
Despite winning the Nobles approval, I forgot to speak to Queen Brahne, so I didn't pick up the Moonstone :cry:
If I had to really make a complaint about FFIX's battle system, it's that due to how slow the bar fills even on the highest setting and due to the fact status buffs like Protect and Shell are based off a hidden timer of like maybe a minute and a half, these spells lose a lot of their value because they often only last one, maybe two rounds at most. It makes auto-abilities more useful but it also means getting Mighty Guard so early is not as useful and further weakens the defensive options for Garnet and Eiko. Thankfully status debuffs seem to run on a much longer timer, so at least Garnet can still be useful with Blind and Silence.
I am about to hit Vivi's drought of good abilities now that I'm on the second disc. I sort of feel his -ra spells should have arrived somewhere in the middle of this disc as opposed to the tail end of Disc 1.
I feel bad for Steiner because he really does get sidelined a lot for most of the game. He's only really active for the first two dungeons and then he's missing in action in Dali, stays on the sidelines during Lindblum, and then is gone until Disc 2. He even pops up a bit in story bits, but they are non-combat sections. I can see how people feel he's underwhelming especially since your other team is getting their asses handed to them by Beatrix.
I'm going to be honest, I'm not really a fan of the remaster options the game gives you. It just all feels unnecessary.