Too Slow ?

[maybee]

I keep on seeing that newer and younger fans are struggling getting into this game because the battle system is just too slow for them. While they can get into other older Final Fantasies fine, with IX they are just finding the battle animations just too slow and frustrating, and they have to speed everything up.

Has this always been a thing ? Or is it just a newer generation who's more used to games like Kingdom Hearts, Crisis Core and Final Fantasy XV with fast and quick action rpgs ??

Because I've never saw IX's battle system being slow or even annoying. Then again I might of just been too busy humming along to the battle music all the time, idk. I have noticed that the camera loves to dance and swing around and show the characters, background and monster before the battle begins as Square most likely wanted to show off the impressive psone graphics at the time, which was neat years ago, but would be pointless today.

Man, I feel old. ;A;

[Fynn]

Tbh, and no one ever agrees with me on this, I always found FFVII’s battle system to be the slowest. In that game, all the action was paused so that you could every spell happen from every angle. In FFIX at least the bars never stop filling up!

[MJN SEIFER]

I'll have to play it again to be sure, but the only thing I remember that was remotely close to this is that the game would sometimes slow down during magic attacks (literally slow down, even the music would be slower), at least on my discs it would. From the sounds of it, though, they're saying the actual animations are slow, as in they take to long to finish, yes?

I never noticed what Fynn is saying about Final Fantasy VII either, but again I will replay - I know Ultima was shown from several angles before it was cast, but I just assumed that was because it was Ultima, and it needed to look "cooler" somehow. On the subject of slow animation. though, feel free to take a coffee break when Super Nova is cast...

[Shiva95]

I find FFIX's battle system a bit slow, and I'm not a newer or a younger fan. That being said, it doesn't annoy me either. It's still fun!

[Wolf Kanno]

I find this complaint against IX is similar to the "Linear Design" of FFX complaint, where it was an actual complaint against the game on release, but as time passes and newer generations come, the issue has just become more obvious with age.

For IX, it is slower than it's predecessors. Partly because of the long intro animations for every battle, partly because the ATB gauge is criminally slow compared to the last four entries even with the Battle Speed set to it's highest standards. This is actually intentional because the game is suppose to invoke a feeling of the NES entries Regular Turn Based combat since the game is suppose to be a nostalgia title.

As for what Fynn is mentioning with FFVII, he's basically talking about how the ATB Gauge will completely freeze whenever you use a summon, limit break, or major spells. These are usually accompanied with camera tricks and stuff and the point is the combat is pausing for the sake of cinematic drive. With that said, the ATB fills up noticeably faster in VII than say FFVI, and it does have some time saving features like a unique "group hitting" animation for the basic Elemental spells instead of the previous entries tendency to simply cast the same spell for every enemy, shaving off a few seconds here and there.

In truth, I feel that FFXII is the fastest entry in the series, where even special techs and high level spells eclipse X-2's mechanics since both the ATB requirements feel more manageable and you don't have to deal with the Garment Grid nonsense for prep work. Gambits also help of course. It was not uncommon to have battles end before you even realize you were in one.

[fat_moogle]

The only time I found the battle system to be slow is when a character was entering or leaving the "Trance" state. Other than that I found it perfectly fine.

[Black Magic Shopkeeper]

I've never considered FFIX's battle system to be "too slow". Slow at times, yes. But I also really enjoy eating, drinking or chatting while playing my games, so it's a nice pace for me. Now Chrono Cross on the other hand.... something about that seems "too slow" to me. I can't really put my finger on it though...

[Example]

The battle system is the worst in the series, barring maybe II which I haven't played but have heard a lot about. The random encounters and combat in general take way too smurfing long, made even more unbearable by the ridiculously high encounter rate and being grindy as hell even compared to other FFs at the time. The way the screen transitioned and how the camera would pan around the battle environment before loading all the assets in fights, the extremely long battle animations which don't pause the timers for status effects like Haste or Slow, all make the game's pace crawl every time you enter a battle.

[maybee]

The battle system is the worst in the series, barring maybe II which I haven't played but have heard a lot about. The random encounters and combat in general take way too smurfing long, made even more unbearable by the ridiculously high encounter rate and being grindy as hell even compared to other FFs at the time. The way the screen transitioned and how the camera would pan around the battle environment before loading all the assets in fights, the extremely long battle animations which don't pause the timers for status effects like Haste or Slow, all make the game's pace crawl every time you enter a battle.

You know..... got to agree here. Trance doesn't help matters either. Disagree about the high encounter rate though. FF 1- FF6's encounter rate is much much much higher imo . But the Trance system is a pain and the camera swinging around showing off everything isn't good either.

[Sefie1999AD]

The reason why FFIX's battle system is awfully slow is a sum of many bad design choices. First, the beginning of battles have a 6-second whirl, a 2-second black screen and an 8-15-second camera pan around the battlefield. That already means you'll need to wait for 16-23 seconds for the battle to load. After that, an ATB bar takes up to 8 seconds to charge on the fastest speed (in most FFs, it takes 3-5 seconds to charge). Most of the spell animations are very long.

The biggest flaw, however, is the action queue. Let's say you give all your characters orders as soon as their turn is ready. Rather than executing the orders immediately, they stand idle and wait for other actions to take place first. Sometimes I've clocked that I've given a character a command, an he/she performed the move 50 seconds later. In that time, so many things have happened that the context of the battle may have changed completely, and the command I gave the character is no longer sensible at the time the character executes it. One of the situations I hate is when I've already given someone an order, then 30 seconds later the character gets hit by Heat status, and when he/she finally performs the move, he/she dies instantly.

Ironically, while the ATB gauge keeps charging during animations and is supposed to make battles faster, it makes it easier for the turn queue to pile up. That's why, my solution for making the battles faster is just as ironic: reduce the battle speed from fastest to normal. When the characters take longer to get a turn, such clustersmuuurfs with the turn queue happen less frequently, and the action feels smoother, with you having shorter idle periods.

Finally, being a "I'm a perfectionist and want to steal all of the boss' items" person makes the boss fights extremely slow, since the steal rates are really dreadful when the RNG decides to mess you up. The battle against Sealion and Black Waltz 1 is especially terrible since you're controlling only Zidane. First you wait 8 seconds for Zidane to get a turn, you use steal and see it fail, and this pattern repeats for ages.

This makes me really wonder how I was so patient when I was 14 years old. Back then, I played the game on an emulator, and my computer wasn't strong enough to play it, so the game ran at about 2/3-3/4 speed all the time, and I still didn't find the battles overly slow or boring. Now that I've been replaying the game, the story is still great as ever, but the battle system really ruins my interest in the game.

[Example]

Now Chrono Cross on the other hand.... something about that seems "too slow" to me. I can't really put my finger on it though...

Probably because it literally forces you to spam attack over and over and over again until it let's you use a spell, which can only be used once per battle, and enemies for some reason are able to interrupt your chain of attacks and have more turns than you.

[Sefie1999AD]

I never thought Chrono Cross' battles were slow or boring. At least you're actively doing something most of the time, while in FFIX, you can easily spend almost a minute idle, just watching the characters stand in the "preparing to take action" pose, being stuck in the turn queue for a long time. Then again, I was also around 15 when I played Chrono Cross, so I may have plenty of nostalgia blinding my memories there.

[Kibbs Kibbard]

OG FFIX was a little slow on scenes, battles and etc., but for it's time that wasn't exactly horrible also it had more graphics than it's predecessors by a little more than the norm and it didn't bother me and those that I knew played it. The PS 4 port isn't slow by comparison and has been quickened it feels like with extra animation in battles... it's fine the way it is.

[Edge7]

I think I first played this game for the first time around the time I had beaten FFVI, so I wouldn't say I was spoiled by the modern games. I think the thing that killed the game for me was in addition to the slow speed of battles (with only 1 other speed option), the way you learned abilities through your equipment really dragged the pacing of the game for me. I would have moments where I would stop the quest to grind all the abilities out of a weapon/piece of armor so I could equip the better one I just obtained. The PC version's fast forward feature seems like it would help the process, but I hate playing games on my laptop. Maybe I'll double dip and buy the PS4 version at some point down the road.

Also, Chrono Cross's battles can go on a little long, but I wouldn't say they're slow. I guess it depends how tough the enemies you're facing are.

[MJN SEIFER]

Been watching YouTube videos of Final Fantasy IX battles, and they are indeed slow at times, with characters taking ages to do things after the command has been entered. Steiner had Auto-Potion on one video, and it was a one on one battle (the monster in the shop in Treno), and it slowed the battle down, like hell! It was literally "attack, potion, attack, potion..." it took forever for Steiner to do the actual command he was given.