lol @ the VI-VII plot being the same. So true. I think VII and IX can be compared too. The game begins with a cocky hero Cloud/Zidane who teams up with a group of rouges called Avalanche/Tantalus who are out to defeat the evil Shinra/Queen. However later on it is revealed that the true evil is not the Shinra/Queen but on the mysterious white-haired Sephiroth/Kuja who is the real bad guy. Then again it's revealed that both Cloud&Sephiroth/Zidane&Kuja are connected due to being experimented on/created by Hojo/Garland.

I just found it very similar and yes they both share the same plot core of VI as well, but I played VII first so that's why IX reminded me of it so much. Also its characters are just like that of the 7th game too. Steiner and Barret for example share the exact same mannerisms and then there is Yuffie/Eiko and Amarant/Vincent. It's true that you could also compare Eiko to Relm, Selphie and Rikku and then compare Dagger to Rinoa, Yuna etc as well as Tifa, but I found the similarities between the two games to be very similar. I guess that is due to Square lazily recycling the same game after game though.

As for Amarant, well I found him to be rather unlikeable with no real relevance to the plot and his only function in the game seemed to be being the token 'mysterious loner' that every FF seems to have. I also found him to be rather under-developed compared to the major characters like Vivi and Zidane and felt that even the lesser playable characters like Freya, Quina and Eiko had more personality to them. Also Amarant always fails to get an emotional response from me. I don’t love him or hate him…. He’s just there. Plus I don't like how he looks, I can never even make out his face, which sounds like a small thing but is essential when you are trying to connect with a character.

As for Kuja I do like him. But that's the problem, I liked him too much. I never really felt that I wanted to stop Kuja and put an end to his evil deeds, because I didn't feel any hatred towards him. Both Kefka and Sephiroth had slayed people that I liked and therefore I wanted to get revenge on them, but with Kuja I always got the feeling that we could all settle our differences over a pint. I know Kuja did kill people but it wasn't really anybody I gave a damn about so it didn't bother me so much.

I don't necessarily want a clichéd moustache-twirling villain, but there is a problem when you try and humanize your bad guys that you can make them too likeable. Sephiroth falls into the same trap Kuja does really. I know he has so many fan-boys that think he's cool because he has a giant sword and wears black but he's not a bad guy at all. He always seemed more confused than evil and only the fact he kills the flower seller redeems him imo.

I do like deep villains, Metal Gear Solid's Sniper Wolf for example is a perfect bad guy, or girl in this instance. She isn't the stereotypical gah-haa-haa villainess that Kefka may be accused of being and she does have reasons for her actions, but you still want to defeat her. I'm all for trying to make the villains human, but I don't think Square have quite nailed it yet. However sometimes you just want plain crazy. To quote Scream "Did Hannibal have a motive? Did Norman Bates have a motive?" Sometimes simply having an evil character do evil things just because they are evil is much scarier and powerful.

Also Kuja isn’t even the final boss anyway which I thought was beyond stupid.

All of that is just my opinion so don’t get annoyed that you disagree.

I love Final Fantasy IX, just not for the above reasons. It’s hard to explain why it’s so good, but it’s the general feel of the game. It’s just dripping with imagination and a sense of.. well- fantasy, that hasn’t been seen since in the FF series. It’s as if a fairy tale has actually come to life and you get to live in it’s world. It’s a charming, funny game and above it’s simply FUN.