Who finds this game kind of overrated?

Ouch! and Vivisteiner, two members that I greatly respect, pretty much hit the nail on the head. I'll just throw in my two cents and reinforce that Kuja was probably the best villain from an analyst point of view (Kefka wins on sheer fun value, of course.)

As far as the battle, it's probably the most refined and polished that the ATB system ever got before becoming a clustersmurf. Load times don't really bother me in the slightest.

I still remember when I first started lurking these forums many years ago, this was THE black sheep of the series. I love that it's gotten more attention. My prediction is that either the FFII or FFIII fandoms are gonna spike next, then people will call those games overrated. Vicious cycle. Well, no matter what others think, this will probably always be my favorite FF for fun, silliness, amazing visuals (pre-rendered backgrounds, R.I.P.) and a really salient, touching plot.

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Originally Posted by asukaevaunit02

Overrated is not a word I would associate with IX, save that for another Final Fantasy *cough* VII *cough* ;)

Though I would have to agree battle pace is quite slow, especially after playing XII and XIII. But that isn't enough of a reason to say its overrated.

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I agree.

I feel the hype around FF7 is extreme.
whereas you hear so many people who did not even bother with FFIX.
Ive played both, thoroughly, about 5 times each and I can say that though they have some similarities FFIX is far better. I feel more attached to the characters and the side quests are more interesting to me. the moogles, choco hot and cold, all that is more fun. The only downfall is Zidane. He is a weak main character in my opinion. (weak personality and whatnot, not physically) and They could have had someone more bad ass like cloud.

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Originally Posted by Lamia

However, the games battle system is completely weak sauce. Character customization is almost non-existent with the exception of toggling passive abilities learned off weapons. All of the characters have assigned skills, roles, and weapons and armor and abilities are learned from weapons and armor. Character development is just a matter of learning all the abilities off of all their weapons and armor. The only dynamic this system brings is an increased importance of collecting certain weapons and armor and the case were you would not immediately unequip a weapon or piece of armor for a superior version until you have learned the ability. Other flaws were wasted trances and slow battle speed.

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Gotta disagree on this part. The beauty of FFIX's customization is that your characters only have a limited amount of resources to activate abilities. You can build a super-warrior with Zidane or a specialist kind of thief. It actually is more engaging, to me, than systems where your characters just get progressively better with more and more options. You have to actually think and use your resources wisely as to which kind of character you're going to build, within the limits of their job class(es). For much of the game, you also get equipment at a fast enough rate where you have to actually decide whether to learn the abilities with one or move on to a more powerful item, or just re-equip an older one with a useful ability for the area you're in. Game Director Hiroyuki Ito had a name for this system, swap and trade or something, and it was brilliant to me.

When I first beat FFIX I thought it was the best game I've ever played. I don't necessarily think it's the best in the series after having played through all of them, and the later ones a few more times, but it's still an extraordinary experience and a very personal game for me.

This thread is having a nap now :) Feel free to make another one if you want do discuss this further!