FFIX fails to get back to the series' roots

[Trance_Kuja]

I laugh at anyone who says Sephiroth is even a good villain let alone better than Kuja. Sephiroth kills people and wants to hurt the planet..... Kuja on the other hand starts off starting wars and tricking people (not like that slash everyone Sephiroth). Kuja then wants to take power from his master (another part of his personality, yes personality something sephiroth lacks). Then he ends up facing his own mortality and decides to destroy everything (good reason, not Sephiroth's 'because mommy said so'). Kuja is the best villain in Final Fantasy history (not oppinion as his views and personality make up a great villan, Kefka is just crazy which isn't a redeeming for a MAIN villain).

[forgotten_fantasy]

I feel that 9 had great graphics you only didn't like them because you were used to 1-6 style. Overall the graphics had way more detail and didn't feel rough like 6's graphics. The thing that set FF9 apart were the great cut scenes that were good to watch and added alot to the story.

[Neo-Omega Mk XXV]

I laugh at anyone who says Sephiroth is even a good villain let alone better than Kuja. Sephiroth kills people and wants to hurt the planet..... Kuja on the other hand starts off starting wars and tricking people (not like that slash everyone Sephiroth). Kuja then wants to take power from his master (another part of his personality, yes personality something sephiroth lacks). Then he ends up facing his own mortality and decides to destroy everything (good reason, not Sephiroth's 'because mommy said so'). Kuja is the best villain in Final Fantasy history (not oppinion as his views and personality make up a great villan, Kefka is just crazy which isn't a redeeming for a MAIN villain).

As the author of my signature said on another occasion: "Kuja is a disappointment as a villain. He is a Dr. Evil stereotype with a bishonen character design."

I feel that 9 had great graphics you only didn't like them because you were used to 1-6 style. Overall the graphics had way more detail and didn't feel rough like 6's graphics. The thing that set FF9 apart were the great cut scenes that were good to watch and added alot to the story.

I liked the overall graphics in FF8, and some of the pre-rendered backgrounds in FF9 (Memoria looks nice). What I didn't like was the way that the cartoony/SD designs looked in the form of full sized 3D polygonal models (I think Chrono Cross pulled this off better). The PSX's hardware doesn't do a good job in FF9 as the texture mapping was just too primitive and the polygon counts were low. Your characters and some of the monsters look like big, grainy puppets. It contributes to the overall "kookiness" of the game that puts me off. The cut scenes were pretty good though.

[Yukki-Chan]

This was actually the first FF game I ever played which is why I'm so in love with it, (I've played on every Final Fantasy before this also). People have commented on the cartoony style which I thought was quite charming, I think it was done in an effort to make everything a little less morbid. I mean it's going to be more disturbing to see a kingdom full of properly proportioned people burned alive by black mages than it will if they were all chibi's, remember kids flaming chibis are funny.
Also the FF9 game was made to incorporate the differences in proportion of the characters surroundings to the actual characters that were found in the original games (It would be more noticeable if they had visible ceilings I'm sure).
As for Kuja I first thought he was a she (he was wearing a thong and I was 12, come on) but overall a pretty cool badguy, not the best but good in the fact that you could relate to him in the way he reacted to his mortality ( I'm not saying we all want to blow up the world but in the fact that if we do bite the big one that the world is going to keep on going without us, this fact may get one or two people thinking hey well I don't really want that)
The graphics were good for their time, the choppy graphics of the battles and ingame characters were the weakest point and even then I've always thought they were pretty cool. I mean this was on the PS1 look at the other games that were out for it and not just the RPG's they were all choppy by todays standards
My contribution is over *bows*

[Ashley Schovitz]

How does Alexandria look anything like Emerald City of the town with the dwarves in the game? I mean look at the comparisons!

[Neo-Omega Mk XXV]

I don't think that Alexandria literally looks like anything in the Wizard of Oz. I was referring more to its general atmosphere (and that of the whole game). FF9 has an atmosphere that one might describe as "whimsical", "zany" and "kooky", like TWoO but not like the rest of the FF series.

[Goldenboko]

Consider this....

Many of the game's terminology, names, and roles where tributes to the past...

-Vivi was designed like the past Black Mages (Last appearence of Black Mage before FFIX: FFV). Also the Black Mage race reentered the series.

-Garland was a tribute to well... Garland of the past (FFI)

-Kuja in many ways was a tribute to Kefka. (Kefka looked silly and got made fun of for that, same with Kuja. FFVIKefka started off as the right hand man of a Ruler only to overthrough him same with Kuja. FFVI and FFIXKefka and Kuja both obtained the power they wanted.)

-Deathguise was named after Deathguise.

- A return of the old Summons (Ramuh, for example)

[darksword12]

Consider this....

Many of the game's terminology, names, and roles where tributes to the past...

-Vivi was designed like the past Black Mages (Last appearence of Black Mage before FFIX: FFV). Also the Black Mage race reentered the series.

-Garland was a tribute to well... Garland of the past (FFI)

-Kuja in many ways was a tribute to Kefka. (Kefka looked silly and got made fun of for that, same with Kuja. FFVIKefka started off as the right hand man of a Ruler only to overthrough him same with Kuja. FFVI and FFIXKefka and Kuja both obtained the power they wanted.)

-Deathguise was named after Deathguise.

- A return of the old Summons (Ramuh, for example)

Don't forget the moogles! They own.

[Reles]

I believe that there's no way that future games are necessarily going to root back to the earlier FFs. I think Final Fantasy has become popular because each game is individually different from the rest. I haven't necessarily considered FFIX to be created as "cartoony" because they want it to resemble earlier games, I just figured it was creating a different environment and characters that strayed away from the FFVII and FFVIII look.

I don't feel this game is anything disney-ish. I think back on some of th e places like Burmecia and Treno and think these cities are very different from anything I have ever seen. The characters to me are also well-developed. Steiner can get a bit annoying, but he's definitely interesting. Zidane's a total pervert. Quina's just weird...etc. And I liked Kuja, he ended up not being as bad as you thought he was.

[Goldenboko]

Consider this....

Many of the game's terminology, names, and roles where tributes to the past...

-Vivi was designed like the past Black Mages (Last appearence of Black Mage before FFIX: FFV). Also the Black Mage race reentered the series.

-Garland was a tribute to well... Garland of the past (FFI)

-Kuja in many ways was a tribute to Kefka. (Kefka looked silly and got made fun of for that, same with Kuja. FFVIKefka started off as the right hand man of a Ruler only to overthrough him same with Kuja. FFVI and FFIXKefka and Kuja both obtained the power they wanted.)

-Deathguise was named after Deathguise.

- A return of the old Summons (Ramuh, for example)

Don't forget the moogles! They own.

Ah yes, who could forget the moogles (me appearently).

[Vivisteiner]

Bah. Final Fantasy IX is the best game ever.

I just came back to these forums after a long absence, so I cant be bothered to post a long post. But FFIX is the definition of Final Fantasy. Ahh this game is the best in my mind. By a clear (but not massive) difference.

[ReloadPsi]

People dislike FFIX because they're horrible idiots.

*ahem*

No, it does get back to its roots in one respect: There's a Black Mage who's completely useless and gets upstaged embarrassingly by the Summoners :P
Gimme one of them Red Mages running around the towns and villages anyday.

[Elpizo]

People dislike FFIX because they're horrible idiots.

*ahem*

No, it does get back to its roots in one respect: There's a Black Mage who's completely useless and gets upstaged embarrassingly by the Summoners :P
Gimme one of them Red Mages running around the towns and villages anyday.

Vivi is FAR from useless. If anything, the summons are useless. Eiko and Garnet are healers, who cares for their summons? They don't do massive damage unless you take time to collect 99 of a summon's gem and even then you have to be lucky to not have to heal that turn and to have the full summon animation.

Vivi's Trance + Flare (2 times) = win

Or

Vivi's Trance + Shadow Absorbing Equipment + Doomsday = win

And Vivi + Steiner is win as well. But Steiner has Shock, so you don't really need Doomsday sword.

[Bolivar]

i have to agree with the threadstarter.

IX used to be my favorite in the series. But after my last play a few months ago i was left with a feeling of disappointment from the ending.

I realized IX does not stackup as a standalone FF, but is a tribute to the series - for no reason but the sake of being a tribute.

Which it fails at. The game is loaded with references to older FF's for no reason other than to reference them.

I find it ironic that all the elitists who lament over square's commercial exploitation of the series pick IX as the 2nd best (because, of course, no game could EVER possibly be better than VI). Because here it is - this game is the biggest commercial milking of the series. It simply uses old names on things that have nothing to do with older games, nor do they enrich either IX or the point of reference.

I have to also agree that the lightheartedness and cartoonishness defeat the objective, although those are 2 points i really like about it.

i also have to agree that XII actually accomplishes references done right, but i have such a love-hate relationship with that game, im not going to get into it.

[Roogle]

I agree with the topic starter, Neo-Omega Mk XXV.

Final Fantasy IX, to me, was not a special game. It took elements from previous Final Fantasy games and made a somewhat lighthearted attempt at reliving the classic moments of the series.

I have to admit that I am heavily biased, and, because of this, I disliked most of the cast because it consists of demihuman characters.