Printable View
After seeing how much hate there was for FF8 and how some people managed to mention their dislike of FF9, I need to know: Why? I plyaed all the way through it, the story was decent, nothing overly spectacular but servicable, and it had the best set of characters in an FF game in a long time to me. I admit the music isn't that memorable, but some people make it seem as if FF9 gave them butt scabies. I need to know.
I think it's because it brings back all the major themes in the series, so people complain "it's not original". They're all nuts. FF IX was incredible, and I'm not even a huge FF guy. Definitely one of the top 5 rpgs I've ever played.
Edit: and I loved the music.
Sloooow battle system, and such a ridiculous, disney-style ending. I mean, who didn't see that coming? Some pretty infuriating "sell a strategy guide" puzzles, too.
It just found the whole thing very mediocre throughout. I'm not such a big fan of the series, I'll admit, but I do enjoy them on a base level and expect a few 'wow' moments somewhere in the game. But FF9 just didn't come up with the goods.
I really liked it. Sure, it isnt my favorite FF game by far, but I thought it was fun and I really liked the characters, especially Vivi. FF really needs a big change to be good again. Unfortunetly, it looks like they are going online for that change... :( I just want a new non (less) random battle system.
I think the battles seemed slower because it was back to being 4 party members in battle. Didn't really stop to notice it. Yeah, that ending wasn't special, but then again almost all FF endings have disappointed me on one level or another. I got to say that the "love story" if you can call it tha was alot more believable than in 8, where it took 3 damn CDs for the dickhead to realize the girl liked him. Put me in a situation like that and I'd have a 3-some going that would make the whole Garden jealous.
FF9 was the only FF I sorta tolerated. Mainly due to Vivi... he's so cool... ;)
Same here, it's probably my favorite after FF6. I really like Vivi too, sure he's based on the old black mage design but he really grew on me, I even went out and bought an action figure. I don't really see how the battles are any slower than before, maybe because certain characters like Vivi and Garnet were too specialized like old FFs so they had trouble causing normal damage? The ending was cool, sure you saw it coming, but it's to hard to not expect it after 9 FFs. Would it really be better if Zidane dissappeared? He's a decent hero so it's all good, I wouldn't have minded it if Tidus went away for good though.
I like it. I'm actually playing through it again right now.
Hmmm...For someone who claims to dislike the series, I sure do like a whole lot of them. :p
You must understand that a breed of gamer exists that is so jaded, there is absoluetly no salvation for them.
FFIX was a masterpiece, plain and simple. The graphics were gorgeous, the battle system was classic, the music (no where near FFVI) was a welcome return to the past.
I, personally, found the characters to be the most intruiging, loveable, and positively memorable.
Some mentioned they were playing through it a second time. That sounds like a grand idea.
Y'know, myself and everyone else with two braincells to rub together saw that ending coming. I'm even all bitter and hate emotionally manipulative Disney tripe. But I'll be damned if I didn't have a huge smile on my face after that ending anyway. For whatever reason, it just worked, and is probably one of the most satisfying endings I've seen in a game.Quote:
Originally posted by Mode7
Sloooow battle system, and such a ridiculous, disney-style ending. I mean, who didn't see that coming?
I don't know, I figured 'em all out after a little while. It may have taken some messing around, but I never felt cheated by them like, say, Silent Hill's ridiculous brainsmashers.Quote:
Some pretty infuriating "sell a strategy guide" puzzles, too.
How was it mediocre throughout? For one, it had some of the best graphics on the system. I personally loved the understated soundtrack. The world had tons to do, and plenty of nooks and crannies to explore away from the main storyline. The story itself may not have been Kafka or anything, but it definitely kept me motivated. And enough happened to the characters that I could really buy into that I felt I'd played something worthwhile, rather than the usual nervous Japanese schoolboy nonsense.Quote:
It just found the whole thing very mediocre throughout. I'm not such a big fan of the series, I'll admit, but I do enjoy them on a base level and expect a few 'wow' moments somewhere in the game. But FF9 just didn't come up with the goods.
I don't know, I'm not suggesting it was the best game ever made, but there are hundreds of games a month released that are so much more deserving of being called mediocre than FF IX.
hehe, it seems like some of you would have been much happier if every character died or some sort of horrible, sad melodramtic ending were to ensue. What ever happened to a 'happy' ending being good?
Or is that too passe, unhip, and unreal for these days of mature gaming?
Personally, I loved the ending. It doesn't have the same impact the second time around, and you could see it coming a mile away, but the way in which it was done was awesome.
I didn't play all that much bet it seemed adequate. I would have played it but by the time it came out there were lots of much better RPGs in the US and I no longer felt the need. The biggest problems were the same problems all the FF games have. FF just isn't a stand-out among RPGs any more. IT's aged too much.
I can't say I've ever agreed with you more. The ending to this game literally brings tears to my eyes.Quote:
Originally posted by StriderKyo
But I'll be damned if I didn't have a huge smile on my face after that ending anyway. For whatever reason, it just worked, and is probably one of the most satisfying endings I've seen in a game.
Puzzles? I never getting stuck on anything...Quote:
I don't know, I figured 'em all out after a little while. It may have taken some messing around, but I never felt cheated by them like, say, Silent Hill's ridiculous brainsmashers.
Alright, as to why the battle system seems slow is for a number of reasons. For starters, they use the active time gauge, but characters don't attack right after you tell them to. Because the game loads the animations and effects for the spells and attacks on the fly, there's a pause that must be suffered before anything can happen. This is most noticable when the game seems to be completely paused, where you've chosen actions for your entire team and the enemies or boss is just sitting there, and nothing happens for a few seconds. It looks like a stand-off, and is highly annoying. Why the loading is so much longer in here then in previous games I don't know, but I think it has to do with the higher-quality effects and characters. Watch it in high-res on an emulator and you'll see how insanely gorgeous this game actually is (the only drawback being that the pre-rendered backgrounds aren't quite as good as the characters and the transition from FMV to static picture sticks out like a sore thumb), especially in battles.
However, the slower battle system is the only problem I have with this game, as I love almost everything else. The story, while not highly original, is well-done and beautifully told, keeping you in touch with everything else going on and wonderfully paced. The characters fit together perfectly, and never come off forced for their situations (Amarant's reason for joining is rather trite, but his thoughts and desicions later on help make up for it, not to mention he looks sweet as hell).
The soundtrack overall isn't the greatest ever (many tracks are instantly forgettable), but the major ones are incredible, there's some great, great stuff on there.
Haha! I see a Final Fantasy topic and you think I won't respond?
Actually, I really liked IX. The characters were a lovable bunch and really grew on me after a while. Especially Zidane, can you say "PIMP DADDY!!"? I knew you could.
Vivi was also a cool lil mo'fo. Especially when he got completely pissed off in that one cutscence that I'm sure everybody remembers.
Overall this was one of the better Final Fantasy games, but it wasn't without its faults. Namely, A) The slow ass battles. Not tediously long like FF8, but it felt like you were fighting in molasses.
B) Too much emphasis on PlayOnline. Cryptic clues and nonsensical hints helped nothing and arranging it so that there was no way you could possibly know how to obtain some of the more powerful items in the game without accessing PlayOnline killed any replay value this game could have had.
C) The ending. Yeah it was OK in a saccrine laced doughnut kind of way, but COME ON!!! I was utterly insulted by this brain-dead, Walt Disney, Smurf-flavored excuse for a conclusion. The whole thing reeked of extremely lazy writing and felt like one big, reeeeallllllllly lame cop-out.
Other than these bothersome points, I actually liked this game.
EDIT: I almost forgot one other thing I didn't like about this game.
The last boss. What the fuck was he and why was he even there? It made absolutely no sense why I was suddenly fighting him.
Yeah, I hated that as well. Especially since he was just a ripoff of other FF final bosses, with no new attacks (though they were all called something different, and had new animations, they all had the same effects as what came before), and the slow battle system was the worst here, as recovering from SuperNova- er, I mean Grand Cross was a pain in the ass.Quote:
Originally posted by Master of 7s
EDIT: I almost forgot one other thing I didn't like about this game.
The last boss. What the fuck was he and why was he even there? It made absolutely no sense why I was suddenly fighting him.
Sounds like FFX, but without the PlayOnline part...Quote:
Cryptic clues and nonsensical hints helped nothing and arranging it so that there was no way you could possibly know how to obtain some of the more powerful items in the game without accessing PlayOnline killed any replay value this game could have had.
Not every character. Mostly just Zidane.Quote:
hehe, it seems like some of you would have been much happier if every character died or some sort of horrible, sad melodramtic ending were to ensue.
It's all in the presentation. And like I said, it was just such a goofy, disney-style piece of manipulative tripe that I had trouble staying in my chair and watching it.Quote:
Or is that too passe, unhip, and unreal for these days of mature gaming?
Nice character animation, though.
Personally, I loved Final Fantasy IX. I thought it was the best of the Playstation Final Fantasies, and a nice throwback to the old days. The characters were very likeable, Zidane was the third best hero the series has had behind only Cecil in IV and Locke (I guess he was the hero) in VI. I also loved Vivi, that lil guy freaking ruled, black mage with personality ;)
Oh please, FFIX's ending kicked freaking ass compared to that of FFVI. It's been months since I last picked up that piece of garbage and it still pisses me off that Square ruined a great game with that piece of shit ending. However, back to FFIX, it was a pretty kickass game, however I agree with whoever said they wouldn't mind if Zidane died, he was a pretty shitty main character, Vivi shoulda been the main char. -.- :jest:
i didn't like final fantasy 9 because it felt forced. people were complaining about the sci-fi themes of 7 and 8, so square churns out a cliche ridden game more akinned to final fantasies of yesteryears.
because of this, the characters were overly cartoonish, the story too disney-esque. nothing about the game felt genuine. everything was produced like a boy band (translation: see what people want and slap all that together to make them happy).
ps - zidane, much like the poster on this forum, was very annoying to me. vivi wasn't that great either. and i swear, all the girls all the psx final fantasies are the same. i know they were all based off of the artist's girlfriend, but man, that's kinda lame when they all look nearly identical.
I liked FF9, imo it's the best FF game after part 3, at least of the ones I've played.
FF7 and 8 suck, 10 & 11 look awful, I still remember when square cared about quality and not just making $$$$$.
Sigh.
Well, It may sound strange but I still yet to have played FF9 :) I missed out on that when it came out, and since then never had a chance to pick it up. Maybe sometime in the future I will, but I need to finish FFX first, plus there are many more games that require my attention before I can get to FF9 :)
Speaking of FFX, I'm playing it now, and having great time, so its sad to hear all this bashing this game gets as well :( Time for FFX defense thread, I say :)
The ending brought a smile to my face. I think it was the simple fact that you could see it coming that did that. I really do hate when they pull a final boss out of their ass at the last moment. No real backstory for Necron, nothing. Lame. And I hate the fact that Terra seemed like one big public service announcement. Don't believe me? Talk to all the citizens in Terra again.
Well, I'm getting way behind on my prg playing. I just dont have that much time anymore, and rpgs are quite time consuming. I will definately pick up FF9 one of this days, but I need to finish FFX first, and Valkirie Profile is next on my list of rpg's to play.
Alot people here are running on the beleif that the older FF games were any less cash based excercises in rehash than the new ones. Eveyone misses the "good ol' days" but I really don't think it was any better than now. Main difference is that back then we had fewer alternatives, because all the best RPGs on SNES got left in japan.
I just hate the GAY look of the main character
He is a bit afemenate. But I like the game.Quote:
Originally posted by MajinRyu
I just hate the GAY look of the main character
Was the ending predictable? Sure. But it was happy! When was the last time a Final Fantasy game (FFX included) ended entirely happily?
Matsuno (of Ogre Battle/Tactics, FFT, and Vagrant Story fame) is co-directing XII. Maybe he'll give the series a kick in the ass. I'd rather he was directing it by himself and Sakaguchi had nothing to do with it, but it is Sakaguchi's series after all.Quote:
Originally posted by Mman
FF really needs a big change to be good again. Unfortunetly, it looks like they are going online for that change... :( I just want a new non (less) random battle system.
As for IX, I can't say anything because I haven't played it. VIII completely killed what little interest I had left in the series after VII.
If I remember correctly, most people here loved it, and I was damn near the only one who couldn't stand the story and characters. Or at least voiced it.Quote:
Originally posted by andyrose
We had one about 6 months ago. :p
Which (true to TNL form) eventually turned into a discussion of whether the 3D models in FFX conveyed more emotion though facial expression then the highly-animated 2D body language of Valkryie Profile between Shidoshi and me.
Hmmm, no, but it sure as hell was cliche. It really wasn't a BAD ending, I actually found it very satisfying (so satisfying in fact that I didn't feel like playing through it again), but it was rather... uh... predictable.Quote:
Originally posted by Hero
Or is that too passe, unhip, and unreal for these days of mature gaming?
I liked FF9, but out of the four in the series that I've beaten, its my least favorite. 7, 8, and 10 are all tied for first, and then 9 comes behind it. I think I'm the only one who really loved eight (now THAT was an ending). My reasons for not thinking FF9 was God's second child: story felt rather thrown togethor. Seriously, for the first disk or two it seemed like they were just sorta wandering around with no real ultimate goal. Reason 2- it didn't have anything or anything that just really really captivated me. Wait, no, I take that back. The first 5 hours or so were just amazing to me, but it just sorta went downhill from there. FF7 really caught me due to... uh... just about everything but the graphics. FF8 caught me with the story (cept for the whole orphanage thing, wtf was THAT about?), battle system, and side quests. And FFX caught me primarily with the new battle system and the story. FFIX had a great, simple battle system, some really fun, cool characters (Vivi and Steiner spring to mind), and awesome graphics for PS. But none of that in FF9 was just spectacular for me, and the story only took away from that (well, at least until about the end of disk 3 where they start to actually have a purpose for doing things). Overall, I thought FF9 was a very good game, but it wasn't in the league of 7, 8, or 10. Had great music, btw (love that overworld theme, LOVE IT!). But then again, I think FF8 is one of the best RPGs ever, so maybe you shouldn't listen to me. ;)
I really like FF 9
it was rather enjoyable
but I do have a couple of complaints
I thought the end battle was to hard and cheap
also someon mention about the slowness of the battles and the pauses,
well not only that but the active time bar seemed to fill up really really slow, maybe that is how slow 7 and 8 were and i dont remember but it was really slow
Yeah, the ATB bar was a bit too slow for my tastes, and stealing multiple items from bosses is a HUGE, HUGE pain in the ass. Whenever I got to a boss w/o Zidane in the introductory part of the game, before you can switch around, I would cheer.
What really makes this game great is the character design... and what exactly is wrong with being Disney-esque? A little Disney once in a while never hurt anyone; not every game has to be blood and guts and drama.
Anyway, FF9 is great. Where's the hate for this game? I haven't noticed all that much...