I think Final Fantasy IX was the easiest Final Fantasy game I had ever played. The battles were easy, there were lots of cutscenes, the ability system was simple, and it had an overall good story line. But it is not in any way on the same level as 7 or 8. I didn't find the battles boring though and I thought the ability system was way easier than having to deal with the Junction system that 8 had, that thing pissed me off. You really need to play it all the way through though to rate it properly.