I had not thought it possible, but Final Fantasy IX has become my favorite Final Fantasy game. X had that spot for as long as I've been playing games in the series, but IX topped it, and it is easy to see why.
Presentation: This game is beautiful. It was one of the last games released for the PlayStation, and it really pushes the hardware to its limits. From the moment you begin the game, the visuals blow you away. Speaking of which, this game has one of the best openings I have ever seen. The movies alternate with gameplay graphics, and the transitions are seamless. Even after the prologue, when you enter a new area, it is introduced with its name in different scripts. This adds to the characterization of each part of the world.
Characters and Story: I'm going to spend more time on the characters here because while the story is great, the characters really sell it. Zidane makes a fantastic lead, cocky but willing to take advice. Dagger goes through major character growth. Vivi rocks the entire game. Steiner makes me laugh, but he worms his way into your heart too. I think the only character that doesn't quite measure up to the others is Amarant.
Gameplay: On the whole, quite excellent. The battle system hasn't changed a whole lot from previous games, but timing seems to be much harder in this game due to not being able to tell the order of who goes after a particular character (enemy-wise). It changes your strategy, and can be downright annoying, but adds another dimension of difficulty to the game. The only complaints I have are that there aren't very many side quests, and your party is split up for at least 3/4ths of the game. However, unlike FFIV, your party stays pretty balanced throughout.
Music: This game has one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard. Nobuo Uematsu really outdid himself here, and this was the last FF game he really composed for. Sometimes the music reminds me of early organ music, but then you have tracks for places like Treno, which sound suspiciously like ragtime. Then there are two main themes that keep changing in instrumentation and style throughout the game depending on where you are. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the evil themes! The music when you enter the Iifa Tree is particularly creepy:
Gameplay: On the whole, quite excellent. The battle system hasn't changed a whole lot from previous games, but timing seems to be much harder in this game due to not being able to tell the order of who goes after a particular character (enemy-wise). It changes your strategy, and can be downright annoying, but adds another dimension of difficulty to the game. The only complaints I have are that there aren't very many side quests, and your party is split up for at least 3/4ths of the game. However, unlike FFIV, your party stays pretty balanced throughout.
Music: This game has one of the best soundtracks I have ever heard. Nobuo Uematsu really outdid himself here, and this was the last FF game he really composed for. Sometimes the music reminds me of early organ music, but then you have tracks for places like Treno, which sound suspiciously like ragtime. Then there are two main themes that keep changing in instrumentation and style throughout the game depending on where you are. Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the evil themes! The music when you enter the Iifa Tree is particularly creepy:
This game definitely deserves a 5/5 rating. Go play it!
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