Final Fantasy IX is also one of my favorite games ever, so I like the idea of this thread a lot. It's good that you gave more details about what you enjoyed about FFIX, as I was about to ask you that when I read your original post.

Quote Originally Posted by Ergroilnin View Post
Graphics. By graphics I don't really mean it has to be like PSone graphics but the style? I really liked it. I liked the fantasy feel it had to it, with just a little bit of a technology in it.
Well, FF1-6 all have medieval fantasy worlds with some elements of technology. FFXII, FF Tactics and Lost Odyssey come to my mind too.

Music. To this day FF9 has the most memorable sountrack I ever heard in game. Seriously just play me first few seconds of the main screen of the game and all the memories reappear. I even have the complete sountrack in my playlist.
FFVI also has one of the most memorable soundtracks in the series. Other great mentions go to FFXIII-2, FF Tactics and FF Type-0. As for non-FF games, I'd mention Lost Odyssey once again, and Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.

Characters. I mean seriously every character in this game was so goddamn unique in both personality and looks.
Hmm, hard to say what kind of characters you'd want, but FFVII, Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross all had characters I grew fond of.

Character system or whatever should I call it. I liked that everyone had their own skills and abilities that others simply couldn't replace. Sure I love FFX for example but when at the end of the day the only thing that diferentiate the characters in battle are their limits, it's kind of dull.
FFIV, definitely! And Chrono Trigger, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Super Mario RPG. Also, while their character growth systems are slightly different, I'd highly recommend FFV and FF Tactics for their addictive job systems.

Learning the abilities. I don't know why but I simply adored the way you learned skills, magic and abilities in FF9. Sure toying with materia in FF7 offers like infinite possibilities and is very fun in it's own way, I still prefered the way FF9 done it.
This is a tough one since I don't remember many games having a similar ability learning system. FF Tactics Advance maybe, though I haven't played that one much. I think Lost Odyssey also had a system where you learned abilities by equipping certain weapons and armor.

The story. Okay I know that at least at the beginning, the story was kind of cliché. I mean, princess, thief who falls in love with her, knights etc? Who would ever thought of that! But then it slowly evolves in simply epic story and finishes with cliché ending. That's just me but I loved every second of it (okay smurf the part with fossil roo but otherwise? Loved it.)
Both FFIV and FFVI have some similarities in their storylines, and I'd also recommend Chrono Trigger, Kingdom Hearts and maybe Seiken Densetsu 3.

Open world. While I kind of became lazy nowadays and I do enjoy the more linear games, I always thought of FF9 world to be perfect. It wasn't too small, it wasn't too big and you pretty much always more or less knew where to go but you could dick around on your way there.
I think FF1-9 were all like that. Chrono Trigger and Seiken Densetsu 3 are also like that.

I guess this list covers my most loved points about FF9 (even though they are kinda generic still I guess). I know that there really isn't any game that does everything the way FF9 does but if some game had at least a little similar touch about it, I would love it.
When I think about FFIX as a whole, similar games that first enter my mind are Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy IV in that order. They're all excellent games.

Quote Originally Posted by shion View Post
I might recommend Suikoden II. The music is absolutely beautiful, it has a great story (although its more political, not sure if that's a turn off for you), and it has a wide cast of characters, some very memorable. It has 108 characters so they can't all be memorable but the ones who stick out are wonderfully written. They are customizable, but some characters just have their strengths. I suppose there isn't much in the way of differentiating though. Suikoden V is also a strong contender, the characters and story aren't quite as strong as II, and its slow to get going, but its still a great game.
Ohhh, good to know. Thanks!