So I have a real unpopular opinion when it comes to Final Fantasy, that being that there is no truly great Final Fantasy game.
The first one I ever played was XIII, which I somehow trudge through for 60 hours, telling myself that surely I'm missing something and wanting to give my first entry the benefit of a doubt. Nope, it just sucks. Then I played IV, which is alright. I like how nonsensical, almost child-like, the story is, but the gameplay is very stale with very little flexibility from the player's part. Then came the fan favorite, VI. This is a game where so much about it is exceptional but the actual gameplay is only serviceable. It's a shame that a game with such a large roster of weird and eccentric personalities ends with all of them spamming Ultima spells. Nevertheless, I would consider VI to be a really good game that falls short of greatness. Something that can't be said for VII, which aside from its majestic OST, is mediocre from beginning to end. It has all the issues from VI but with none of the positives. There's a few neat storytelling moments, such as the brief moment of playable Sephiroth, but overall it's just some middle of the road anime. I then came across V, which may in fact be my favorite. The gameplay and customization was actually enjoyable for once and for all the flack the story gets for not being serious enough, I welcomed the lightheartedness of it as it almost came across as a spoof on the series' storytelling cliches. It still had a few shortcomings that kept it from being great, such as some the dungeon design and how needlessly serious the story gets later on, antithetical to its comedic beginnings. Finally, I also played Tactics, which I liked but couldn't stand how unbalanced and grindy it was. I actually stopped playing right at the beginning of chapter 4. So yes, I did get past Wiegraf. Fuck that fight.
So after a handful of mainline games and a beloved spin-off, I had simply decided that the fans of this series and I, probably don't meet eye to eye. Half of these games were flawed but enjoyable while the other half was just flawed. Still, due to every mainline entry being so different, I was still interested in checking a few more out. Two games in particular caught my eye. The first was XII, which I still haven't played, but am intrigued by its systems. The other one is what this thread is all about. Hironobu Sakaguchi's personal favorite entry; Final Fantasy IX.
Let's cut to the chase: The first disc of FF9 is an utter masterpiece. Playing it for the first time, I really felt like I was playing Sakaguchi's magnum opus. From the immaculate pacing to the synergy between the gameplay and the story, this was poised to be the culmination of everything the series had been building up to. Even the skill system fixed my issues with 6 and 7 where every character played virtually the same. The cast of four had incredible chemistry with Steiner being perhaps my favorite character in the series. And the cities/towns were an absolute highlight, up there with the best from Dragon Quest. I was giddy with excitement for the rest of the game. The type of excitement that only comes around once in a while, when you're in the early parts of a game/film/show and everything is already absolutely sublime, so you expect to either keep it at that level or, better yet, somehow get more incredible. Finally, I thought to myself, a great Final Fantasy game.
And then disc 2 happens.
What follows is a slow and gradual decline that still hurts to remember. FF9 is a good game, maybe even the best in the series, but it could have been so much more.
The first clue that I got that something was wrong was when the cast visits Cleyra, a city that the game had build up continuously as impenetrable, only for it to be eviscerated in a matter of minutes. This felt to me like a lost opportunity where the game never managed to truly convey the city's status as a stronghold in a tangible manner. But still, this was simply a small misstep, nothing to worry about I said. And then the main characters use magical teleporters that are conveniently installed on the enemy's airship to rejoin the other party member's. And this is when I started getting worried. This felt like a such a cheap asspull from the writers to reunite the party in the most nonsensical way. Why the fuck would these transporters be there and why wouldn't the enemies use them as well? What's even the point of having airships if you can instantly teleport to other locations? This unfortunately set a precedent for what was to follow for the rest of the game.
Oh look, Garnet lost her voice, how dramatic. Except she gets it back in less than an hour.
Here's Amarant, he's a badass who's gonna join your team and he sure seems mysterious. Except he has no personality whatsoever and is completely pointless.
Zidane is just a charming rogue character who goes against the archetypes of the previous melodramatic protagonists. Except he's actually a clone, or something, from an alternate dimension and this gives him an existential crisis that's just a repeat of Cloud's.
Here's Garnet and Eiko's backstory as summoners, this sure seems important to the overall narrative. Nah, forget all about that and let's focus on this dimension warping villain.
Boy I sure hope we get more info on Freya. Nope, the writers forgot she ever existed.
Wow, I love how operatic and gleeful Kuja is as a villain, almost feels like a satire on Sephiroth. Surely they won't do anything wrong with him. Oh what's that, he's also a clone from a different dimension and he also goes through a generic existential crisis. Well, Fuck Me.
And so on and so forth. FF9 was at its most elegant and masterful when it kept things simple. I truly wish the cast was kept at 4 with Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner since they're also the only ones the plot develops in any significant way. The chemistry between them was magnetic whereas every additional member felt underused in comparison. There are still moments in the latter parts of the game that manage to briefly recapture the game's earlier sense of magic but they are far and few.
In summation, I like FF9 overall and I adore the first disc specifically. So much so that I wish the rest of the game was just as great.
The first one I ever played was XIII, which I somehow trudge through for 60 hours, telling myself that surely I'm missing something and wanting to give my first entry the benefit of a doubt. Nope, it just sucks. Then I played IV, which is alright. I like how nonsensical, almost child-like, the story is, but the gameplay is very stale with very little flexibility from the player's part. Then came the fan favorite, VI. This is a game where so much about it is exceptional but the actual gameplay is only serviceable. It's a shame that a game with such a large roster of weird and eccentric personalities ends with all of them spamming Ultima spells. Nevertheless, I would consider VI to be a really good game that falls short of greatness. Something that can't be said for VII, which aside from its majestic OST, is mediocre from beginning to end. It has all the issues from VI but with none of the positives. There's a few neat storytelling moments, such as the brief moment of playable Sephiroth, but overall it's just some middle of the road anime. I then came across V, which may in fact be my favorite. The gameplay and customization was actually enjoyable for once and for all the flack the story gets for not being serious enough, I welcomed the lightheartedness of it as it almost came across as a spoof on the series' storytelling cliches. It still had a few shortcomings that kept it from being great, such as some the dungeon design and how needlessly serious the story gets later on, antithetical to its comedic beginnings. Finally, I also played Tactics, which I liked but couldn't stand how unbalanced and grindy it was. I actually stopped playing right at the beginning of chapter 4. So yes, I did get past Wiegraf. Fuck that fight.
So after a handful of mainline games and a beloved spin-off, I had simply decided that the fans of this series and I, probably don't meet eye to eye. Half of these games were flawed but enjoyable while the other half was just flawed. Still, due to every mainline entry being so different, I was still interested in checking a few more out. Two games in particular caught my eye. The first was XII, which I still haven't played, but am intrigued by its systems. The other one is what this thread is all about. Hironobu Sakaguchi's personal favorite entry; Final Fantasy IX.
Let's cut to the chase: The first disc of FF9 is an utter masterpiece. Playing it for the first time, I really felt like I was playing Sakaguchi's magnum opus. From the immaculate pacing to the synergy between the gameplay and the story, this was poised to be the culmination of everything the series had been building up to. Even the skill system fixed my issues with 6 and 7 where every character played virtually the same. The cast of four had incredible chemistry with Steiner being perhaps my favorite character in the series. And the cities/towns were an absolute highlight, up there with the best from Dragon Quest. I was giddy with excitement for the rest of the game. The type of excitement that only comes around once in a while, when you're in the early parts of a game/film/show and everything is already absolutely sublime, so you expect to either keep it at that level or, better yet, somehow get more incredible. Finally, I thought to myself, a great Final Fantasy game.
And then disc 2 happens.
What follows is a slow and gradual decline that still hurts to remember. FF9 is a good game, maybe even the best in the series, but it could have been so much more.
The first clue that I got that something was wrong was when the cast visits Cleyra, a city that the game had build up continuously as impenetrable, only for it to be eviscerated in a matter of minutes. This felt to me like a lost opportunity where the game never managed to truly convey the city's status as a stronghold in a tangible manner. But still, this was simply a small misstep, nothing to worry about I said. And then the main characters use magical teleporters that are conveniently installed on the enemy's airship to rejoin the other party member's. And this is when I started getting worried. This felt like a such a cheap asspull from the writers to reunite the party in the most nonsensical way. Why the fuck would these transporters be there and why wouldn't the enemies use them as well? What's even the point of having airships if you can instantly teleport to other locations? This unfortunately set a precedent for what was to follow for the rest of the game.
Oh look, Garnet lost her voice, how dramatic. Except she gets it back in less than an hour.
Here's Amarant, he's a badass who's gonna join your team and he sure seems mysterious. Except he has no personality whatsoever and is completely pointless.
Zidane is just a charming rogue character who goes against the archetypes of the previous melodramatic protagonists. Except he's actually a clone, or something, from an alternate dimension and this gives him an existential crisis that's just a repeat of Cloud's.
Here's Garnet and Eiko's backstory as summoners, this sure seems important to the overall narrative. Nah, forget all about that and let's focus on this dimension warping villain.
Boy I sure hope we get more info on Freya. Nope, the writers forgot she ever existed.
Wow, I love how operatic and gleeful Kuja is as a villain, almost feels like a satire on Sephiroth. Surely they won't do anything wrong with him. Oh what's that, he's also a clone from a different dimension and he also goes through a generic existential crisis. Well, Fuck Me.
And so on and so forth. FF9 was at its most elegant and masterful when it kept things simple. I truly wish the cast was kept at 4 with Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner since they're also the only ones the plot develops in any significant way. The chemistry between them was magnetic whereas every additional member felt underused in comparison. There are still moments in the latter parts of the game that manage to briefly recapture the game's earlier sense of magic but they are far and few.
In summation, I like FF9 overall and I adore the first disc specifically. So much so that I wish the rest of the game was just as great.
