I’ve always gone back and forth between what my favorite Final Fantasy game is: IV, IX, or X. After the first week of quarantine (and in lieu of a working FFX), I think my decision has been made.
Final Fantasy IX gets a little flak for being slow to start which, I don’t agree with. The first fight of the game comes ten seconds in, and it’s a boss fight (where you can steal good gear, by the way) and the game introduces the wonderful cast. The humor of Zidane and his crew, the childhood naivety of Vivi, and the stoic/close-mindedness of Steiner all revolving around the high-class, but with a justice-seeking attitude of Princess Garnet/Dagger. As the literal play unfolds and becomes a very... nuanced story for this audience. Brought on by a princess' need to flee and her wannabe abductors, turned liberators, the great protector Adelbert Steiner plays his part in the act by “acting” his part perfectly. As though he weren't acting at all.
I really like the first few hours of FFIX because it introduces us to a good portion of the cast and shows us exactly who they are. Zidane is a cocksure thief (and my favorite of his job), Garnet is a princess with a strong sense of justice, Vivi is a child unsure of who he is in this strange world, and Steiner is an overly loyal/nationalist idiot. Those are good places to start a story from. Many of us are or know people with similar traits. Like Vivi, I’ve been lost in the world for fifteen years. Like Dagger, I just want the see the world thrive. Like Steiner, I’m kinda stupid and occasionally overlook faults of things for what I perceive/hope to be a greater good. While not being him these days, in my youth I was overly sure of myself, akin to our main hero. Nothing came of it but, I used to think I could rule the world.
The play ends when Queen Brahne “bombs” the theatre ship, which in FF terms, means she launched a sentient ball of fire. They land in the Evil Forest and Vivi’s personality takes stage as we’re truly introduced to his fear of himself and his powers. Not a lot of mages in this world, you see. As they fight and exit the Evil Forest, we here the overworld theme for the first time. I mention that because IX has the second-best world map theme....maybe third. The party enters the Ice Cave and everyone falls asleep except Zidane.
I'm going to be notational from here on out rather than in-depth analysis. No one cares about a 20 years old game at this point so I'll get on with it.
Zidane enters the boss fight outnumbered, but being the hero, wins and we move on. I remember reading about a costume change for him if you kill the Sea Lion before the Black Waltz which, sadly, isn’t true, but every time I’m here, I always think about trying it on the off chance.
Anyway, Dali happens and Steiner acts dumb while we learn that Vivi might not be real but manufactured, setting up with his game-long struggle to come to terms with, not only his future but his past.
The coolest scene in FFIX happens and Vivi assists in the destruction of a giant, mountain-sized, door.
Lindblum happens and Freya is my favorite character in the game, mostly because Dragoons are the best class; fight me. I’ve read cut content made her character lost all meaning and growth in the second half of the game so, if anyone at Square was ever thinking about the next FF sequel, it should go to Freya and Sir Fratley.
Chocobo Hot & Cold is my second favorite mini-game ever. Not even gonna question it since it’s not even close.
This is also when the game starts getting real. Gizamaluke's Grotto has a lot of carnage and death. A once whimsical game turns into a war sim and the feeling gets heavy. But it’s only going to get worse. Dozens of rat-men are slain my creatures who resemble Vivi and the enemies even brainwash a peaceful...priest? What was Lord Gizamaluke before this? Another reason to want a sequel!
Then we reach Burmecia, the land of eternal rain (but never floods). It gives you Cancer (a side quest coin) and you see the utter destruction of this town which makes the last dungeon seem like a snowball fight. We meet the truer main villain and get curb stomped by the best character in the game, General Beatrix.
We go back to a re-escaped Garnet and we see how much she’s changed in a short time while we begin to notice that Steiner is beginning to question his Queen. We also learn of what became of Zidane’s crew and their next plan to save their Bro.
Next is Treno where Dagger is definitely changed...and then she gets captured sneaking back into her own house after midnight. She’s put to sleep and her secret essence is stolen from her and, oh boy...
Back to Zidane: they climb a tree. It gets destroyed by a giant summoned Odin. While the party (minus the quirky Quina) escapes to the Queen’s ship, we learn rad-ass Beatrix is also questioning the Queen.
Anyway, we save Dagger, Beatrix kinda joins us, Steiner becomes super cool, and Freya’s arc ends as those three stay back to defend the kingdom while the other party members go to a new continent. Meet the Irish dwarfs and then learn of Vivi’s true origin: he’s a weapon of war made by Kuja, who we met in Burmecia. The other Black Mages he meets tells him of his lifespan and, despite that, they’re trying to live their best lives. Some are shopkeeps, one guy runs an inn, two are raising a Chocobo; truly, a good life lesson. Just try your best and live life to its fullest, regardless of where you came from. fate means nothing to these Black Mages. Everyone seems to be having a good life in spite of all that’s happening around them. Maybe my favorite village in all of video game-dom.
Zidane and Dagger get married, as do Vivi and Quina (Vivi wins this round) and we meet the main white mage of the game. Eiko is a good party member with the best white mage spells, but I always feel iffy using her. She shows up too late and I have this rapport with Dagger already so... Comedic relief it is. She’s also a child Garnet seeing as Maiden Sari is also Dagger's home before it was destroyed before she drifted to Alexandria and replaced the baby princess who she, coincidentally, looked just like. Although, I guess all babies look alike so I can forgive this.
We go to another giant tree, beat a slightly tinier, maybe mechanical, tree inside it. Meet with a useless party member in every way named Amarant. He seems cool and probably the games "needed" edgelord, but he serves no real plot relevance. Maybe in the sequel.
We’re reminded that this game is super heavy when The Queen is killed by Kuja and Garnet, mourning her twice-lost mother, takes the throne and we go to disk three.
Alexandria is destroyed by Bahamut who is, in turn, destroyed by my favorite FF summon, Alexander in the coolest cutscene in FFdom. Fight me. But he's is, in turn, destroyed by the random showing up of a dude named Garland (no from FFI)
Garnet loses her voice and becomes useless for a bit giving Eiko a chance to develop your rapport which is great (but in an annoying fashion) game design. Eventually, the party is split up and you have to do two dungeons with each party side which also shows off that maybe I was wrong about Amarant and he’s a very versatile all-rounder. It’s also around this time Eiko became, not only my healer but also by tank and DPS.
Thanks to the Chocobo Hot & Cold game, you get some end game gear here (and before) for Eiko, Freya, and Amarant with a little exploration. We also learn about the origins of the world and begin Zidane's back story.
Then we chase after Kuja who’s now in an active volcano which plays music from FFI and we meet Cid’s wife (who he cheated on) and get the airship. And then go to a new planet, called Terra, which is actually inside of our planet...or something.
There we learn Zidane is also manufactured by Garland (not the one from FFI) and he
s supposed to destroy the world because Kuja sucks at it. He has a panic attack and a top tier song plays while his friends remind him of who he is and why they’re his friends. He and Vivi have a very similar story arc which is the only real terrible thing about FFIX.
Anyway, we save the rest of gnomes, who Zidane and his brother, Kuja, are, as Kuja destroys Terra because he didn’t suck at his job after all and lights off celebratory fireworks. They meet the Black Mages and we enter disk 4 as we go into the final dungeon.
Yadda yadda yadda, We play cards with invisible gods, and Kuja is beaten and someone name Necron shows up to Amarant all over the place, but pretend he doesn’t exist even if he’s the only hard fight in the game since he just sorta makes everything confusing.
Kuja tells Zidane to live and, a year later, makes out with Queen Garnet and everyone, except Vivi, lives happily ever after.
There was no need for this to be so long, but my love for this game makes me want to write. I’m so happy that Zidane was a charismatic main character and not some wannabe silent protag edhelord. Steiner’s character growth is one of the best in all of video games. Vivi’s bittersweet ending and Garnet turning into a great leader all make me love this game. I’m sad Eiko, Freya, and the rest don’t seem to have clear, albeit seemingly happy, endings but...there’s also my headcannon sequel.
The characters are mostly top-notch, the music is among the best of Uematsu’s illustrious work, and the story being actually kinda coherent, unlike the past few entries into the franchise, all made me want to write poorly scribbled notes into a phone for two hours before bed. Not only my clear choice for best Final Fantasy, but I’ll officially declare FFIX as my third favorite video game of all time. Sorry, Xenogears. Still love you. XOXO
I’m gonna try to make these smaller in the future, I promise. Once I get a clearer vision of what I’m doing and a game I love slightly less, that’ll be easier.
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