While I was watching the most recent Nintendo Direct last week, I was hoping for two things: news about Animal Crossing and a Switch release date for Final Fantasy IX. We still don't have new information about Animal Crossing, but FFIX is available now!! The news about FFVII releasing for the Switch in March came first, which made me assume that IX wouldn't be out until after that. Once Melodies of Life started playing and Shiva appeared on the screen a few seconds later, I started squeaking with joy.
FFIX came out almost 19 years ago. It was one of several games that I loved watching my older siblings play and one of the first video games I ever played on my own that didn't have Nancy Drew as the protagonist. (Those Nancy Drew games are also exceedingly awesome, though. I'm sure I'll write about them at some point.) When I first played it for myself, I was so young and new to games that I didn't realize I could seek out random encounters in order to level up before fighting a boss so that the fight wouldn't be quite as difficult. Nostalgia is probably part of why I'm so enchanted by it, although 92% of its 3,598 reviews currently on Steam are positive, so that should tell you something. Honestly, whether you value soundtrack, story, gameplay, characters, humor, or sidequests, you'd probably love FFIX.
The composer of FFIX's soundtrack, Nobuo Uematsu, has said in interviews that this game's soundtrack is the part of his career that he's most proud of. I completely understand why! The songs are beautiful and fit well with the story and characters. Getting the piano book for the soundtrack is one of the few things that ever made me excited to play the piano as a teenager. (I highly recommend opening this playlist of the songs in another tab while you're reading.) There aren't a whole lot of wordless songs that I can easily remember the title of, but I can name or at least give context for pretty much all of these songs.
The game's plot is lighthearted while still provoking thought. During your travels around the beautiful world, you uncover schemes and secrets relating to the characters and the overall conflict that's going on. There are amusing "active time event" scenes showing you what's happening outside of your current party and other scenes that might make you cry. The story is comprehensive, satisfying, and evokes a whole lot of feelings.
Since it's an RPG, gameplay is fairly straightforward. You can walk around in the environments, talk to the NPCs for non-essential bits of dialogue, go on sidequests, and choose what your party members do during the turn-based battles. Each character has equipment that will affect their stats and help them learn active and/or support abilities. You choose which support abilities you want to enable, so there is some customization even though the characters have pre-assigned classes.
All eight party members have distinct personalities, motivations, and troubles. It's easy to get attached to them while you play because you get to know them and watch them progress as you move the plot forward. Zidane, the main protagonist, is a loveable thief who wants to do what's right. Princess Garnet has determination and a strong desire to be a good ruler for her kingdom. Vivi, despite having powerful magic skills, is timid and concerned about his purpose in life. Steiner is a loyal knight who takes his job of protecting the princess very seriously, to the point that he's willing to tolerate mischievous Zidane for Garnet's sake. They (and the other four playable characters) each grow as people/beings as well as in their fighting capabilities.
Something that shines in this game is its humor. There are fun things that NPCs will say if you talk to them, silly interactions between the main characters, and small details that really didn't need to be part of the game but add a smile with their existence. The jokes aren't distracting from the story or annoyingly frequent; the balance of humor and seriousness is somewhat similar to Marvel movies, in my opinion. My favorite ridiculous detail is that if you summon Moguo the moogle too many times without saving or using a tent (which is what his purpose is), he'll get increasingly angry and eventually threaten you.
Nearly every Final Fantasy game features chocobos, and IX incorporates them into an addicting part-minigame part-sidequest. You can play Chocobo Hot and Cold to get money, items, and treasure maps that lead to more money, items, and chocobo upgrades. Your chocobo can learn to climb mountains, move through water, and even fly! I'm pretty sure you can complete the story without ever getting a chocobo, but I have no idea why you'd ever do that unless you were trying to speedrun the game.
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| This is a screenshot I took after a round of Chocobo Hot and Cold. The remastered version of FFIX has a few built-in cheats, including one that speeds up the game. I discovered that the cheat doesn't affect the timer for this minigame, which is why I was able to find eight items and still have forty seconds left on the clock. Hehe. |
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| Moogles are very weird, but very cute. They're small creatures with wings and giant poofs sticking out of their heads. |
I realize that a video game from the year 2000 is a pretty obscure topic to be writing about, but it's something that sparks so, so much joy for me! Now that it's on the Switch (and Steam and mobile), maybe people who didn't play it on the PlayStation all those years ago will pick it up and go adventuring with Zidane and friends. I highly recommend that you do. :)
Love,
Lizzie
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