Final Fantasy IX was the first Final Fantasy I liked. I played FF X and FF X-2 years prior, when I was around 7 or 8, thinking I would get more Kingdom Hearts since I was absolutely crazy about that series at the time. And, of course, I didn’t. I went into FF IX in my teen years after falling in love with turn-based games like Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. And Final Fantasy as a whole stuck with me ever since. This game doesn’t have the best soundtrack in the series, or the best combat system, or even the best antagonist. But it instead focuses on creating an incredibly consistent experience. Each Final Fantasy before this one has had at least one pretty major issue for me, aside from VI, which has a bunch of tinier issues. FF IX has a handful of issues for sure, but they aren’t glaring like the ones in FF VII or FF VIII are.

The story is presented mainly through dialogue scenes and character animations. This game uses its character models best out of the ones in the PSX era, as they display mannerisms much better. The pacing of the story has an incredible rhythm to it, where it feels hard to stop playing. I never felt like it dragged during any sections or that there wasn't enough exploration of a character’s feelings regarding events in the story; it always felt just right. The tone shifts from light and enjoyable to dark and gripping seamlessly throughout the game. I generally love the humour in Final Fantasy games, but there are times when it feels too jarring, namely in FF V. But this game has my favourite sense of humour in the series. It’s wacky and silly while still being mature enough to make for some very satisfying punch lines and moments. The game also has a system called the Active Time Event System. A system where you can see some dialogue from various other characters as they’re separated from Zidane. I liked this a lot as it gave me tidbits of characters exploring the world on their own, even if these moments are insignificant to the story.

This game has the most consistent party in the series by this point as well. Each FF before this one always had a few characters I just didn't like. But the worst character here is Quina, and they aren’t even that bad since they don’t annoy me. My favourite moment with them was at the start of disc 3, where Quina hasn’t shown up at all since the end of disc 2, and I’m well over an hour into the disc. And the very first time someone mentions food in an ATE, they just appear in the scene, and I could not stop laughing. That sums Quina up. Zidane is a strong contender for being my favourite Final Fantasy protagonist. He’s witty, smart, and charming, but most importantly, he has the most satisfying character arc out of any protagonist in the series. He goes from a sleazy flirt to a confident and determined person. And it’s done throughout the story very naturally. Garnet is our female lead for the game, and I adore her as well. Her journey of self-discovery throughout the game is fascinating and empowering. Going from an ignorant girl due to her status to one who can stand up on her own two feet to do the right thing, no matter how much it pains her.

Steiner is just as good as Zidane and Garnet; his development throughout the story is probably the most in-your-face one, along with Beatrix (who should’ve been a party member). Both of them go from characters who can’t do anything without any orders to finding their own will and way to accomplish what they feel is right. Freya is great, I love the message of her story, although I wish we got a bit more of her in the 2nd half of the game since she isn’t around as much after the events in Burmecia. Amarant is about as decent as Quina, maybe a little better, since I enjoyed his character towards the end of the game quite a bit, as he’s used to develop Zidane further. And Eiko, I like about as much as Freya. I enjoyed seeing her connection and bond to Garnet in the game and found it very wholesome.

The true star of Final Fantasy IX is Vivi, though, the single best character in a Final Fantasy game. His journey is frightening, disorienting, and depressing. But the hopefulness of his arc by the end is cathartic in every sense of the word. He goes through struggles mentally that no one should, especially at such a young age. Knowing how short his life span is, and thinking he was made just as a weapon of mass destruction. It’s heartbreaking to see him go through that. But he fights to protect nonetheless. And his final monologue at the end of the game nails that feeling of his journey perfectly. Just thinking about it makes me wanna cry.

The romance between Zidane and Garnet is great. It feels much more natural than Squall and Rinoa’s relationship, and also had me more invested. I loved seeing their highs and lows together and the way they grew as people every time they were separated in the story. It led to probably the most natural romance in the series and one of the most natural I’ve seen in a video game.

As for our antagonists for this game, Kuja is great, although he has a similar problem with both Ultimecia and Sephiroth for me. There’s not enough of them for me to be fully invested in them, but that applies to Kuja the least out of the three. He’s the best from the PSX era and honestly one of the best in the series. I don’t mind that he isn’t around enough, since everything surrounding him with the likes of Queen Brahne, Garland, and just Terra in general is great and are powerful driving forces that kept the game fresh throughout.

The combat systems in FF IX aren’t as strong as VII and VIII, in my opinion. I still like it quite a bit since the pre-planning in the game is a lot of fun, but the actual combat isn’t all that amazing and is probably the part of the game that holds it back the most. The party building is fun, but it doesn’t offer as much variety and freedom as previous games do. Trance is probably the worst iteration of the limit break by this point. Its biggest issue is that you can’t choose when to activate it. Leading to it being useless a lot of the time since you end up using it by accident on a turn you don’t wanna use it on.

The atmosphere and art direction are where the game shines the most for me, aside from the writing. We have dungeons and areas like Burmecia that have this melancholic and haunting atmosphere. A lot of the game leans into magical and moody due to the setting and tone, which creates a very memorable sequence of areas supported by incredible music. The backgrounds for the game have a mostly warm colour palette, fueling a sense of nostalgia that the game already holds in other aspects. But also has colder and more alien backgrounds as seen in the last fifth of the game. Ipsen’s Castle, Pandemonium, and Terra were my favourite areas in the game. The stone wall in Ipsen’s Castle is hilarious.

The character portraits and designs are all memorable and unique. The mix of different races really helps their individuality. This also applies to other characters in the world as well. The character models themselves have so much life in them, which assists the dialogue in the game. I did this replay with the Moguri mod, and it's kinda incredible how good it looks. And finally, I adore the soundtrack for this game. It’s atmospheric and mysterious but also has a whimsical side. It’s fantastic together with the visuals, and the music from Terra onwards is perfection and some of the best I’ve heard from Uematsu.

I personally don’t think FF IX needs a remake; many other FF games like III and VIII deserve it much more, as I feel they can expand and execute ideas from those games far better with today’s tech. FF IX still holds up extremely well. This is the Final Fantasy that got me into Final Fantasy. Its unique atmosphere, incredible characters, engaging story, and wonderful soundtrack create this game full of whimsy and charm that’s hard to let go of.

9/10

full review: https://bckl.gg/m9Gj