Final Fantasy IX

"Let me take you back in time, rewind to ‘89"

The third and “final” Final Fantasy released on the Playstation console hearkens back to the earlier days of the series. The previous two such games seemed to be taking the series in a new direction, in which the worlds were more human and modern, and intricate systems of different characters were being abandoned in favor of hack-and-slash physical attacks. Not to say that Final Fantasy VII and VIII were bad--each was a well-executed combination of old and new material--but the trend of these new element seemed to point to future installments becoming more generic and more bland. Fortunately, Final Fantasy IX halts this so-called progress and revives many elements from earlier titles in the series, particularly the successful Super Nintendo releases.

Thematically, this installment takes a step backwards as well, returning the story to a time of castles and chivalry, kings and knights. The plot centers on the crew of a airship, who double as a traveling theater troupe--until they rescue a princess and encounter some dark secrets. Like “Law and Order,” Final Fantasy games follow quite a typical progression, as the personal problems of your intimate family of characters somehow expand to be world-sweeping crises. The same happens in FFXI, but is executed here as well as I have seen it, better even that in FFVII, which truly set the tone for this game. The small scale issues at the beginning of the game--a princess running away from home, for instance--are beautifully personal and intimate, and draw out emotion in a way that I had not before experienced in a video game. Just so, as the crisis grows we feel the full effects. Destruction is leveled hugely upon the world, so that we really feel the threat presented by our enemy, and by the climax you’ll find yourself understanding that the destruction of the world is truly imminent.

The most welcomed reversion, by far, is the return to character-specific abilities. Instead of having every character able to Steal or cast black magic, only the thief is able to pilfer the enemy’s possessions, and the black mage to unleash his special arts. This is made possible by characters that fit nicely into a class; unlike the do-it-all SeeDs of FFVIII or Midgar’s all-round SOLDIER Cloud. Your hero, Zidane, is the thief. He has a monkeylike tail, which sticks off his behind for no apparent reason, and darkly suggests that some people might be doing more with the forest animals than fighting them in random battles. Nevertheless, it also shows off his agility and quickness, which are just the attributes your thief needs. Zidane is joined by the aforementioned princess, and her protecting knight Steiner, whose armor is in need of a polish but whose growth through the game makes him one of the most endearing characters. You’ll also be joined by Vivi the black mage, who has the darkest backstory of any Final Fantasy character yet, but is also one of the most compelling characters, with his combination of black mage power and childlike innocence. These four are the heart of the cast; those who join them are not nearly as deep or as full-fleshed as they are, but in this fantasy saga there is room for all comers.

As I said, Final Fantasy IX returns to a strict class system. Each character can only learn certain abilities, some for use in battle and others as support skills. All abilities, however, are learned by equipping items or weapons with an appropriate characteristic. By fighting battles and gaining experience with such an item equipped, a character actually learns the ability himself and can use it whether the item is equipped or not.

One system which is not so well executed in this game as it was previously is the limit break scheme. This feature is now called Trance, but it serves basically the same purpose. Unfortunately, this is really not as useful as in previous games, simply because it does little more damage than some regular attacks, and the special effect, which involves some kind of plasma-electricity rings engulfing the character in question, is frankly stupid looking. What the hell, Square.

Nevertheless, beyond this the battle system is pretty well-conceived; you have four characters in your fighting party, and the annoyances of assigning abilities and junctioning is all gone, quarantined in the “unlucky eighth” installment of the series. One nice thing about FFIX is that the battles are a little tougher: lets face it, FFVII’s Emerald Weapon and FFVIII’s Omega Weapon really weren’t difficult, but the special boss in this game, Ozma, has a cooler name and is besides fairly challenging. The monsters seem to be drawn and animated in much the same way they were in the previous game, looking very good by themselves, but not so good when thrown against the background -- I feel they just look very much like a separate model, and don’t really fit in with their environment.

Still complaining about FFIX’s graphics is a tricky question, because this is truly among the more beautiful games on the Playstation. FMV is used somewhat more sparingly than in FFVIII -- apparently they learned something from the fans who complained -- and here those scenes which are presented are truly the emotional and dramatic climaxes of the plot. We see in full glory and color all the best moments of the story -- both the most violent and spectacular ones, like attacks upon great cities or the unleashing of powerful dragons, as well as the emotional and passionate ones, like the first kiss between our hero and his true love. Color and light are used very effectively in the overworld and city backgrounds as well; most of the locations feature bright colors, yet softened, seemingly reflecting the innocence of the common people in their cities. When out characters head to a dark lord’s lair, or a mysterious castle, or even the villain’s own headquarters, dark colors and stark outlines reflect the evil of our adversaries.

While the graphics seem to have been brought to the limits of the Playstation’s technology, the orchestration has remained much the same through the PSX trilogy -- in a word, excellent. Nobuo Uematsu once again provide some spectacular music. There is so much of it that nothing can really stand out, but it provides excellent accompaniment to the game, and there is never a moment when one feels the music is lacking, so one cannot complain. I think, however, that the Final Fantasy music team would be well served by an infusion of new blood -- there is too much remixing and remaking, and some of these songs have been heard too many times. I don’t think this same old stuff can bear out another installment, but it serves admirably here.

The card game craze makes a return in FFIX, but it seems even more incomprehensible than it was before. You play cards on a grid and flip over opposing cards, as before, but it’s hard to know when you put a card down what will happen; there’s a random element to it that makes it impossible to know. Still, the card game is fun enough -- the main problem is that it no longer has an impact on the real game. The best thing about FFVIII’s card game was that card could be converted into real, useful items for use in battle, so you felt like there was a worthy point, beside earning each and every card. No longer.

The other main sidequest is the Chocobo Hot & Cold game. Chocobos seem to be like Mario lately, in that they’re thrown into all sorts of little games that they don’t seem to fit; I’m looking forward to Chocobo Paint coming out someday. Or maybe they’ll make a fun boxing game with a chocobo as the referee. Anyway, apparently chocobos are great treasure hunters in addition to being good for racing; the Hot and Cold game is your worldwide search for various caches of rewarding gifts. In addition to finding the game’s best items, you’ll also find upgrades for the Chocobo that allow it to explore new areas; eventually, your bird will even be able to fly. I always thought chocobos were flightless birds, like penguins, or Big Bird, but I’ve been proven wrong I guess.

Perhaps the final element that has been worked into FFIX, which was really ignored in the previous installment, is a sense of humor about the whole adventure we’re going on. The eighth episode had a very somber tone, with all our heroes seeming too concentrated on their job from the very beginning, and lacking personality. Here, the efforts of Zidane to be a ladies man, the egregious mistakes of the gallant galoot Steiner, and the wide range of interesting minor characters add some much needed lightness to the game, and rarely does this humor seem forced, because all these people also have a sympathetic side and serious concerns. There are funny characters, but there are no fools, and the game is well served by this.

As Square’s last effort on the Playstation, it seems to me that they have finally gotten over the obsession with showing technical brilliance, which they have proven in plenty, and returned their full focus to the game itself. Let us remember, this is a team that, working on an entirely new platform, for a new company, put together FFVII, acclaimed as one of the great games of all time. Square without doubt has what it takes to produce unparalleled games, when they want to -- and here they have proven it again.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/19/03, Updated 06/19/03