Final Fantasy IX

aka: FF9, FFIX, Finalnaja Fantazija 9, Zuizhong Huanxiang 9
Moby ID: 3556
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Special Edition

Description official descriptions

Final Fantasy IX tells the story of Zidane, the member of a team of theater actors who also happen to be a gang of thieves, and Garnet, the princess of Alexandria. Zidane and his buddies first plan to kidnap Garnet from her mother's palace. But shortly after the kidnapping, they realize the queen of Alexandria is up to something evil. Zidane, the princess, and other characters they encounter on their journey decide to join forces and find out what can possibly drive the queen to commit her cruel deeds.

The game's visual style is similar to the previous entry in the Final Fantasy series, with 3D character models, world map, and battle stages, pre-rendered backgrounds in individual locations, and CG cutscenes that advance the story. However, from the point of view of overall atmosphere and gameplay, the game tends to resemble older installments more. Like in Final Fantasy IV, each character belongs to a specific class (e.g. thief, black mage, summoner, etc.) which cannot be changed, having his or her own unique abilities. Combat utilizes the series' trademark ATB (active-time battle) system. Battles allow for the participation of four player-controlled characters. The player is able to choose these from a larger amount of available characters during later parts of the game.

Character abilities (magic spells, immunity to certain status changes, etc.) are contained within weapons and armor. Each of these allows the player to learn one or more abilities by equipping the item on a character and continuously participating in battles. Ability points are awarded after battles along with experience points, gradually filling the ability bar of the equipped part. Once the bar is full, the ability can be used by the character even after the equipment that allowed him or her to learn it has been removed.

The card mini-game from the previous installment is now called Tetra Master and is featured more prominently. Cards are now placed on a 4x4 grid and can attack other cards on diagonals as well as cardinal directions. Cards no longer have set stats, and instead have a range of values and arrow positions, making every card unique. Regional rule variations are gone, but at the start of every match one to five positions on the grid will be blacked out, changing the player's offensive and defensive strategies with every game.

Spellings

  • フアイナルファンタジーIX - Japanese spelling
  • 最终幻想9 - Chinese spelling (traditional & simplified)

Groups +

Screenshots

Promos

Credits (PlayStation version)

638 People (549 developers, 89 thanks) · View all

Localization Specialists
Producer
Producer
Producer
Producer
Producer
Producer
Producer
Executive Producer
Director
Director
Director
Editors
Art Director
Localization Assistant
Localization Manager
Music
QA Senior Manager
Senior Lead Analyst
Lead Analyst
Assistant Lead Analysts
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 90% (based on 72 ratings)

Players

Average score: 4.3 out of 5 (based on 219 ratings with 8 reviews)

An esoteric fairytale

The Good
The beginning of the game is wonderful: Final Fantasy IX fascinates with a very atmospheric fairytale setting. Every part - the backgrounds, the character graphics and the sound - supports it very well. The dialogue has much more humor than the two predecessors and sometimes I almost had the feeling I'm playing a comedy game. Not every gag is a winner and the silliness becomes overwhelming at times, but I still enjoyed it because it fits the atmosphere and setting well. The characters, with exception of one comic relief character which didn't work for me at all, are sympathetic and their dialogue is good enough.

The battle system is the standard ATB fare, but thankfully with four team members again. It offers no surprises at all and, because of the manageable random encounter rates, never becomes annoying. The character system has a new angle: now the characters learn abilities through the equipment they wear. If the piece of equipment is worn long enough, the abilities can be chosen even if the equipment is changed. I enjoyed this system because it creates an interesting trade-off: should I use a better weapon for the extra damage or do I keep the old one because I want to use its abilities?

FFIV is the most linear Final Fantasy so far. Of course there is a lot of uninteresting side content to explore, but the destination and the party composition is fixed for the vast majority of the game. However, since the plot is well thought out (up to a certain point) and the pacing is relatively fast, I don't consider this a negative point.

The Bad
There was one exact moment when my positive impression changed: towards the end of the game, the player visits a mysterious new world called Terra. Here the story became idiotic and esoteric hogwash. It completely lost me and I instantly stopped caring about the world and its characters - which is a shame because the combat started to become more interesting and challenging. It all accumulates with an annoying boss fight (the party can instantly lose it when the random number generator doesn't go their way), a stupid ending and a completely unsatisfied player.

Otherwise my biggest complaint are the too long animations, especially the summoning spells during battles. However, the most annoying instance is saving the game: instead of just standing on a save point and entering the menu, the player has to endure a long animation of a Moogle dancing around. In this version this point is mitigated by a comfortable auto save which kicks in after every screen change, though.

The Bottom Line
The majority of the game is very good and refreshing change compared to its two predecessors. If Square didn't flunk the ending so badly, it would have potential to become the best Final Fantasy. As it stands, it is still a worthwhile play, but can't hold a candle to Final Fantasy VI.

Windows · by Patrick Bregger (298869) · 2021

Not really improved over the prequels, but still a great game

The Good
The graphics in the final fantasy serie have always (at least on the psx) been wonderful. the 9th episode is no exception : The gorgeous painted backgrounds, the animation of the characters, the modeling of characters and monsters in battle, and the amazing (!!!) pre-rendered cut-scenes are all spectacular
The sound effects are good too, and the music is just one of the best one produced for a video game
The gameplay is as good as in other final fantasy games. Almost the same as in other episodes, which means it's great fun for those RPG fans.
Also, the optional side quests and secrets are better balanced. It is actually possible to discover the vast majority of them without a strategy guide (it ain't easy, but at least, it's not as impossible as chocobo raising in FF VII).
The story is involving and most of the characters you play are really likeable
It's got great longevity : expect between 30 and 60 hours of gameplay before you complete it, depending on how much you care for side-quests and world exploration.
The replay value is not great but at least, there is one, cos you may want to replay the game with a strategy guide to discover all the secrets you missed in the first run.

The Bad
The Graphics, while gorgeous, didn't really improve technically since FFVIII. Granted, maybe FFVIII already pushed the psx to its limits, but at least you could still be amazed by FFVIII if you had played FFIX. Only a very minor complain though
The story is very complex at times, especially in the end : chances are you'll beat the game without knowing exactly what good you have accomplished and how your actions did save the world. And where the hell does the final boss come from ?
The story is also nothing new. It's very similar to other FFs : characters have identity crisis, fall in love with each other, etc. Maybe Square should start thinking about new kinds of plot twists.

The game play is also very similar to previous FFs. I know, I know, there are changes, like the fact that your abilities lie in your equipment, but in the end, those changes are very minor.

The Bottom Line
This is truly a great RPG, with many major good things and many minor flaws (mainly the fact that it's just too plain similar to previous episodes). Anyway, It'll probably delight fans of the serie, and many other people as well.

PlayStation · by Xa4 (300) · 2001

Simply Unforgettable for all Reasons.

The Good
I haven't played many FF games but I was kind of amazed at how you could have 4 people in your party. I found it quite interesting. What I also found interesting are the stories they tell. (Gaia, Eidolons etc.) They are truly fascinating. This game is also humorous. I haven't seen much humor in FF games in a long time. The characters are amazing and they have some pretty cool background stories. They all look very neat and clean and they all have interesting names I just kept saying in my head over and over and over. One enemy in particular is very interesting. He seems very nice and all of the sudden he blows up a city or 2. That took me by surprise.

The Bad
While the characters do look neat and stuff, they all look like little children. Garnet is supposedly 16 but she looks more like a 12 year old. When I first put in this game, I said "Oh my gosh...they're all little kids!" I would've stayed with that too until they said Garnet was 16 so then I assumed they had to be teenagers. Now to some of my other problems with this game. This game is fun and all but it doesn't have a realistic touch like the other ones. In fact, this one is like those old cartoons where one person runs right pass another person and the person who was just ran by spins around in circles. That happens a lot in this game.

The Bottom Line
This is a very fun game to play. Go out and try to get the game.

PlayStation · by Rey Mysterio (23) · 2004

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

1001 Video Games

The PS1 version of Final Fantasy IX appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.

Cancelled PC port

Final Fantasy IX, like FFVII, and FFVIII, was to be ported to the PC. However due to poor sales, of Final Fantasy VIII for the PC, the PC version was aborted.

References

  • During a visit to one of the villages is a store. When you walk in there should be a boy talking about a huge blade being used by someone with blond hair. Brief mention of Cloud right there!

  • The name of the main character, rendered as Zidane in the English translated version, is another reference (along with Citan Uzuki from Xenogears) to Dr. Gitanes, the protagonist of Square's very first game, The Death Trap.

Zidane

Because "Zidane" is the name of the most famous french soccer player at the time, the "Zidane" character has been renamed "Djidane" in the French version.

Awards

  • Game Informer
    • August 2001 (issue 100) - #43 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll

Information also contributed by MasterMegid, PCGamer77, Rey Mysterio, Unicorn Lynx

Analytics

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Related Sites +

  • FF-Fan
    A fansite that offers all kinds of information on the entire Final Fantasy franchise, including walkthroughs, game media, discussion boards and fan art.
  • Final Fantasy Extreme
    Site that contains movies, wallpaper, codes, guides, walkthroughs, and general information on the Final Fantasy series.
  • Hint file for FF9
    Question and answer format will help you solve the game.
  • OC ReMix Game Profile
    Fan remixes of music from Final Fantasy IX.
  • Something Awful review
    A humorous review on Something Awful (PlayStation version)
  • Wikipedia: Final Fantasy IX
    Information about Final Fantasy IX at Wikipedia

Identifiers +

  • MobyGames ID: 3556
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Contribute

Are you familiar with this game? Help document and preserve this entry in video game history! If your contribution is approved, you will earn points and be credited as a contributor.

Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Grant McLellan.

Xbox One added by Cantillon. PlayStation 3, PSP added by Caelestis. PlayStation 4 added by mars_rulez. Android, iPad, PS Vita, iPhone added by GTramp. Nintendo Switch added by Kam1Kaz3NL77. Windows, PlayStation Now added by Sciere. Windows Apps added by Kabushi.

Additional contributors: MAT, Xa4, Unicorn Lynx, Indra was here, Jeanne, DreinIX, —-, Patrick Bregger, Thomas Thompson, MobyReed, FatherJack.

Game added April 2, 2001. Last modified March 25, 2024.