Let's Play the BEST GAME EVER!!! (FFIX)

[Pumpkin]

So as some of you may know, FINAL FANTASY IX IS THE GREATEST GAME IN EXISTENCE. Okay, that's a bit subjective, but it's a super solid RPG and really the game that got me as in to the genre, and video games in general. I wouldn't be where I am now without this game. It was always there for me in good times and bad and yada yada it has a special place in my heart, blah blah, ~*~MAJESTIC~*~

So here we go, Imma play some FFIX for yous guises! Enjoy
(SPOILER)

I am soooooo hype. This is the Steam version so I am excite to see what they've improved.

So we start off with a cutscene involving a ship being tossed around the raging seas. The camera zooms in finally for us to see a woman and a young girl.

As you can see, the real-time graphics are done by Akira Fujii. Thank you Mr. Fujii.

Alas, twas all but a dream and we are greeted to the face of a beautiful princess awakening from her slumber and opening up the windows to the kingdom below. Queendom, I guess.

Don't compare those two images too hard.

So anyway, we learn who did the character modeling while an airship sails in to the kingdom.

On it, we take control for the first time of a monkey-tailed young man.

Ugh, dem graphics. I know some people have already seen the crisper, cleaned up graphics by playing on emulators but this is my first time not playing it on the PS1 discs and it is AMAZING. I can actually see Cinna's ugly mug!

I am all butterflie-y all over again.

I figure in the interest of being open, I will let you all know that I am doing the max gil option in the game. I've played it many times before, I'll still be grinding, I didn't do the levels or abilities or any of that. But dang it if I don't want to be rich! I didn't change much else, just sped up the battles and a few other preference based options.

Here is our young mystery man:

So after poking around the airship while the game harasses me to light a candle, we get some info!

Afterwards, we finally light the candle and are greeted by 3 dudes. We now get to choose our name.

I normally name my characters in this game other things, but with the Let's Play I'll just stick to default.

Note: The game may or may not have already lied to you.

I am liking the new name input screen, looks pretty smooth.

After naming our character, our little group is attacked by a weirdo in a dragon mask.

To battle! Which means stealing for 15 minutes while Cinna dies.

For those of you who are not familiar with the game, it means stealing for 15 minutes while Cinna dies.

After the battle we get laughed at by this jackass and rounded up in to the meeting room. It is time for... THE PLAN!

How will we accomplish this? By posing as a theater troupe!

Now anyone who has played this game knows that this is the point when you troll the Boss by repeatedly asking if you're supposed to kidnap Queen Brahne.

Keep doing it for about 15 minutes AAAAAAANNNNDDD

Ruby shows up and you get one extra line of dialogue!

Worth it.

After finally confirming the actual kidnap target, the Prima Vista docks in Alexandria, revealing the best character in the best game:

*hype intensifies*

Oh, also the logo and whatevs

We now get to take control of the cute little dude I just showed you. He is immediately bumped in to and falls over, upon which a nice little girl returns to him his dropped ticket.

The grace. The dignity.

Tip for beginners: Instead of walking forward when you take control of the little dude, exit the screen behind you for a whole other area.

So we quickly learn that a play is going on in Alexandria (the one Tantalus is performing) and the nobles have come to watch it while the peasants scrimp and save to maybe afford a ticket to the show. Most watch from the rooftops.

Also, some more info:

Good Guy FFIX acknowledging the historical contributions of women.

Tip for beginners: Search around the walls and such to find hidden treasures!

Here's our new fella, by the way, Best Character McGee:

And upon exploring, we find more info:

There will be a quiz. I also get to suck at jump rope, yay! I'm not used to using a keyboard for this game. That is the only reason I am not good at the jump rope mini-game.

The ONLY reasons

Tip for beginners: Make sure to explore the whole city before going to the ticket booth!

So after exploring and stealing Hippaul's secret treasure, we head to the ticket booth for some info dump:

It is finally time to show our ticket but it turns out...

And that's how we didn't get away with forgery.

Anyway, we run in to a rat-faced kid who bumped in to us earlier and he has a proposition for us.

That sounds reasonable! So with our help, the rat-faced kid steals a ladder.

Tip for beginners: Stick around in the alley for a second to meet Alleyway Jack who will teach you about a card game. Don't linger for too long though or he'll steal some of your gil.

After learning about cards from Gilgaaaaaaaa......lleyway Jack, we head back to the rat kid who sends us up the bell tower, which is interrupted when a Moogle falls on us.

We get to meet our first moogle friend and also see Stiltzkin, the great traveling moogle!

The moogles act as your save points and also

We get to deliver mail for the moogles !

I'm going to stop here for now because it's 2 am on a Tuesday, but gosh I love this game.

Will Tantalus kidnap the Princess? Will the point-hat boy get to see the play? Tune in next time!!