Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 21

21: Final Fantasy IX (PS1)
Developer: Squaresoft
Year: 2000

To hate upon Final Fantasy IX is to hate upon one of my favorite Christmas presents in the history of Christmas presents.  I remember seeing commercials for this game for a month prior to its release and thinking to myself “Damn, that’s a lot of awesome!” And the fact of the matter is, it IS a lot of awesome, still. What’s to dislike about a game that’s made of awesome?

Some people badmouthed the return to super-deformed characters and graphics. After FFVIII came out and had Squall and co. looking like human beings for once, going back to big headed, small armed, inhuman lookin’ freaks of nature was a “step in the wrong direction” for most people. But let’s look at this as an entire package, rather than one piece of the puzzle. One of the things that makes Final Fantasy IX so damn good is all the toss-backs to previous games. After VIII – the clamoring people did for a game they recognized – Square decided to do one final sword-and-sorcery-style game, as a nod to the franchise. And so they crammed the game full of as many links to previous games as they possibly could.

For starters, many of the elements in the game borrow heavily from other titles in the series. Each character has a “Job” – a system lifted right out of the FF games of old. While they can’t switch the job, and while some jobs (Red Mage!) are missing from the main party roster, these traits make each character invaluable for a small period of time. Unlike VII and/or VIII, this game didn’t feature characters who were merely stronger or faster, but added to the strategy needed by making them all different. Steiner’s Knight class paired with Vivi’s Black Mage class made it much more interesting to combine the two than Cloud and Cid or Zell and Rinoa could ever have been; no matter how you combined characters in the previous two games, the results were based upon only your input, meaning you had full control over every stat and HP point. FFIX adds challenge and balance by removing many of these abilities from the player’s hands.

Another element they borrowed is an over-the-top, kinda space-age story under the layers of the main narrative. Final Fantasy V, for example, featured space aliens and shit, and FFIV had a trip to the goddamned moon to do battle with some kinda space ghost/wizard guy. So, while some people complained that finding out about the characters’ home world and the combining of planets stupid, lets not forget that many of these elements ring back to classic Final Fantasy titles and plot elements, only this time the game makes them its own. This narrative also allows for interesting – and odd – characters to have use in combat but less so in the narrative. People hated Quina for a number of reasons, but not only do his/her Blue Mage capabilities make him/her well worth having in the party, she’s/he’s no different than the character of Gogo from FFVI; kinda stupid, almost worthless, but if applied right, a valuable member of the team.

All in all, Final Fantasy IX has a ton to offer, despite any inherent flaws it may appear to have upon first glance. I mean, let’s even get down to brass tacks and talk about the gorgeous soundtrack, the lush visuals and expertly crafted CG cutscenes, or the inspired and wonderful combat system. Let’s also mention that this game made is possible to skip summon scenes for the first time, which is a wonder and a relief at the same time. This game also gave us the character of Vivi, one of Final Fantasy’s best party members and characters, ever. And this game is funny as shit, sometimes, too. Overall, my “guilty pleasure favorite” in the Final Fantasy series is IX, a game unlike the rest, but somehow better for it.

Classic Moment:
I for one love the scene where you finally find out about Vivi’s dad. In a game with a narrative arc single-mindedly focused on what it means to be alive and what it means to have an origin, Vivi’s character arc sets the stage for the entire rest of the game, a game in which the three main characters all have to deal with discovering who they really are. Its powerful stuff and – from time to time – actually tugs on the ol’ heart strings. Plus, finding out that Vivi’s dad was one of Quina’s people is just downright silly, making the game provide a moment to smile in an otherwise dark narrative.

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Added April 4, 2017
Possibly the best FF Square ever made. Not my favorite, but possibly the best. My love for Vivi is never-ending.