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Release Dates
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Statistics
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- 16 February 2001
- 7 July 2000
- 14 November 2000 |
Title: Final Fantasy IX
Developer: Square-Enix (Squaresoft at time of release)
Publisher: Square-Enix (Squaresoft at time of release)
Platform: Playstation One
Disc(s): Four
Genre: RPG
Players: 1
Our Rating: 9/10 |
The story of FFIX starts with Zidane, a young member of the famous band
of thieves known as Tantalus. Posing as an acting troupe, Tantalus sneak
into Alexandria Castle onboard their airship the Prima Vista. Their mission;
to kidnap Queen Brahne's daughter, the heir to the alexandrian throne Princess
Garnet Til Alexandros and return with her to their hideout in the city of
Lindblum. While the rest of the band put on their performance Zidane and
his friend Blank slip inside the castle walls and attempt to capture the
princess, a task which is made much easier when it turns out that she actually
wants to be kidnapped! However they must first contend with Adelbert Steiner,
captain of the knights of Pluto, who pursues them onto the theatre ship
during the performance.
As if this wasn't enough trouble already a young black mage called Vivi
accidentally blows their cover and all hell really breaks loose. Although
the Prima Vista manages to escape the city it suffers heavy damage from
Alexandria's cannons and crashes in Evil Forest, a deadly place filled with
all manner of monsters. With no other method of transport the companions
are forced to fight their way out and continue their journey on foot. On
it they discover Queen Brahne's sinister plot and learn that all is not
as it seems as they find themselves thrown into an adventure that will take
them to all four corners of the world and beyond, bringing them into contact
with new allies and deadly foes.
Review - By Sorrow Shade
Plot - 9/10
Graphics - 8/10
Music - 7/10
Battle System - 8/10
Gameplay - 9/10
Difficulty - 6/10
Overall -9/10
Plot - 9/10
FFIX's plot is truly excellent. Filled with twists and turns the well
developed story-line makes for compelling gaming. The characters are well
thought-out and almost all of them undergo a lot of development during
the course of the game.
Zidane, the main character, is a member of Tantalus, a renowned band of
thieves. When the group are hired to kidnap princess Garnet they consider
it a reasonably simple assignment. However, once the princess is in their
possession things start to get ugly and they are forced to make crash
landing in Evil Forest. When it's discovered that the princess has been
captured by the monsters of the forest Zidane enlists the help of the
black mage Vivi and reluctantly joins forces with captain Stiener, the
princess's self-appointed bodyguard, to recover her. After rescuing her
and battling their way to the city of Lindblum they discover that Queen
Brahne of alexandria is planning to conquer the continent using an army
of killing-machines provided by a mysterious wizard known as Kuja. It
falls to Zidane and his companions to try and find a way of stopping the
queen's plan before it is too late and set out on a journey that will
see them fighting alongside the dragon knight Freya, the blue mage Quina
and others.
Graphics - 8/10
FFIX's graphics are without a doubt the best graphics seen on any PS1
game. Although they look a little dated now they are still fairly impressive
and the cutscene graphics are a pleasure to watch.
Music - 7/10
Although a few tracks like the battle music and the Treno theme can get
a little trying after a while overall the music is rather good. Most of
the location music seems to fit it's places well and it's likely that
several tracks will remain fixed in your head for some time after.
Battle System - 8/10
Although the ATB system (a sort of cross between real-time and turn-based
battle system) may take a little getting used to for someone new to the
FF series, it's not particularly complex, meaning that the battles themselves
are fairly straightforward affairs. The Limitbreaks have been replaced
by something called trance, which, while fairly similar in principal,
has a few differences. As with FFVIII you still have to use it as soon
as you go into which can be a bit of an annoyance once the bosses start
to get tough.
Gameplay - 9/10
If you're determined to fully complete FFIX then you'd better set aside
quite a lot of free time as there are is a LOT of stuff to do. From chocobo
treasure hunting to the Tetra Master card game and more besides, FFIX
is plentifully supplied with sidequests.
That said, FFIX is still a pretty linear game so the only real reason
to replay it would be to try to get some of the items or complete any
sidequests you missed last time around (although if you are in possession
of a certain item it is possible to effect the game's ending).
Difficulty - 6/10
Although an RPG beginner will find it fairly challenging to begin with,
any good RPG player will probably breeze through the earlier half of the
game as most of the bosses really aren't that tough. It's only once you
get towards the end of disc 3 that things start to get tricky and by the
end the battles can be quite nerve-wracking. Despite this it's still a
good game for beginners (it was one of the first RPGs I played).
Overall - 9/10
All-in-all FFIX is a great, entertaining game whether you choose to focus
solely on the compelling story-line or take your time and try to finish
all the many sidequests. But a word of warning: it may well result in
you missing out on your sleep.
By Sorrow Shade.
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