QuickNavigation - FF Odyssey Final Fantasy IX (Last updated on 11/25/2008)

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By: wsim

     Many RPG gamers felt quite disappointed with the way Final Fantasy VIII turned out and it came to a surprise to many gamers when Square announced that Final Fantasy IX would indeed return to the Medieval setting, just like the old-school FF games. This announcement came to the delight of many RPG veterans and hardcore RPG fanatics but some gamers wondered what FFIX would be like, since so many gamers were so familiar with the futuristic themes found in Final Fantasy VII and VIII. While Final Fantasy IX didn't enjoy the early hype that FFVIII did, many old-school RPG gamers were really looking forward to it, since they wanted to see the old-school Medieval setting return again, something they had not seen since the days of FFIV and FFV. As for the casual RPG gamer and gamers alike, FFIX was a breath of fresh air for the Final Fantasy series as Square now brings the FF series back to its roots with FFIX and to most gamers, it represented something new for a change. Gone are the futuristic spaceships, hi-tech weaponry and technology found in FFVII and FFVIII and with FFIX, Square brings gamers back to the old days of FF games, where there were large castles, Dragoon Warriors, Kings and Queens, Black Mages, swords and sorcery and the "Crystal" makes a comeback as well, hence the Crystal found in FFIX's logo. And if all that doesn't please RPG veterans and hardcore RPG gamers alike, then the return of Moogles in FFIX is definitely something special. Unlike in FFVII and FFVIII, where Moogles were hardly present at all, FFIX has lots and lots of Moogles and they play quite an important role in FFIX but yes, they are back! To many FF gamers, Moogles are considered to be one of the best things about FF games, many consider them cute and gamers who familiarized themselves with FF6 will no doubt remember Mog as a playable character in your party in that game. When FFIX finally was released in North America back in November 2000, it was what many people finally hoped for: An old-school FF game to be proud of and enjoy before the FF series starts breaking new ground on the PS2. With it's Medieval theme and classic FF roots, it's without any doubt that FFIX is another masterpiece from Square and while it's not as hyped as FFVIII, Final Fantasy IX still touches the hearts of many gamers, especially the old FF veterans and it does FFIX make gamers live "happily ever after", or is FFIX just another fairy tale with nothing special to offer? You will find out soon enough, at the end of my Final Fantasy IX review.

     Final Fantasy IX first takes place aboard the Prima Vista, which is the theater ship of Tantalus, a group of thieves sent by Regent Cid of Lindblum who are to kidnap Princess Garnet of Alexandria. Zidane Tribal, the main character of FFIX is also a member of Tantalus and Tantalus all agree to perform a play on the stage of the Prima Vista in front of the people of Alexandria. The plan is to kidnap Princess Garnet during the play and then take her aboard the theater ship and head back to Regent Cid of Lindblum and while Zidane tries to kidnap the Princess, oddly enough, Garnet then asks Zidane to kidnap her but she doesn't explain why at this stage of the game. Adelbert Steiner, bodyguard of Princess Garnet and Captain of the Knights of Pluto, the only troop of male guards in the Alexandrian army, notices that the Princess is missing and then later on, Queen Brahne of Alexandria orders Steiner to retrieve Garnet back. Steiner and the rest of the Knights of Pluto then try to find the Princess and after searching up and down the castle, Steiner spots Zidane with Garnet and Steiner eventually catches up with them. Some members of Tantalus trick Steiner and eventually, Steiner, Garnet and Zidane all manage to find themselves on stage by accident, right in the middle of the play! Vivi Ornitier, a Black Mage, sneaks in to see the play for free but he eventually gets caught and he runs from the Alexandrian Soldiers as he also gets caught on stage with Zidane and the others. Steiner then decides to fight them but to no avail as he is defeated by Vivi and Zidane and Steiner then manages to follow them straight to the Prima Vista. Queen Brahne then tries to bring the theater ship down by launching a cannonball to try and stop the ship from flying away with the Princess. But eventually, the theater ship then manages to fall down to a mysterious forest nearby with Tantalus, Vivi, Zidane, Garnet and Steiner on board.

     Once arriving in the forest, Zidane and the others then find out that Garnet is captured by a weird plant monster inside the forest and it takes Garnet away. Zidane meets up with Vivi and Steiner as they find Garnet trapped inside of the plant monster and then Zidane, Vivi and Steiner then battle the monster and during the battle, Zidane goes into Trance Mode and explains something about it to Steiner and Vivi and they eventually rescue Garnet from the monster. Later on, the monster then manages to capture Vivi as Steiner and Zidane then try to fight the monster. After the battle, Vivi and Steiner are poisoned and Zidane then takes them back to the theater ship to rest up for awhile. Inside the theater ship, Steiner is locked up in a room, taking some medicine to cure his poison but he then starts to think to himself about his duty and he plans to try and return the Princess to Alexandria soon. Zidane then gets permission to head out into the Evil Forest to find Garnet from Baku, who is the boss of Tantalus and then after talking with Vivi and Steiner, they then both join Zidane in finding the Princess. After going through the forest, Zidane and the others then encounter another large plant monster and Garnet is nearby as well and Zidane and the others then fight the monster. During the battle, Blank, another member of Tantalus then helps out Zidane and the others defeat the monster, a scene occurs in which lots of Plant spiders then infest the forest and Zidane and the others then help Garnet escape the forest but Blank then gets caught by the total petrification of the forest, which turns Blank into stone but just before he turns to stone, he tosses Zidane a map and Zidane and the others manage to make it out of the forest, just barely however. All of them then camp out at night around the outskirts of the forest and shortly afterwards, a Moogle named Monty shows up and gives Zidane and the others a Moogle whistle to use to "save" anywhere on the world map by calling a Mog. They decide to pass through the Ice Cavern for the time being and they then all head south of the forest to enter the Ice Cavern.

     Zidane and the others then enter the Ice Cavern and then after passing through parts of the Cavern, Steiner, Vivi and Garnet then falls asleep by a strong force of wind and ice on a pathway and eventually, Zidane manages to hear a weird bell-ringing noise nearby. Zidane then decides to check it out and he finds a Black Mage who is the one responsible for the ice-storm. It is revealed that he is Black Waltz #1 and that he is sent by Queen Brahne to recover the Princess and then Zidane fights with the Black Waltz. After defeating both Black Waltz and the Sealion, a monster he summoned during the battle, Zidane then goes back to the pathway and finds that the others had just woken up and then they manage to exit the Cavern. Outside the Ice Cavern, Princess Garnet then tells everyone else that she should change her name for the time being, to make sure anyone doesn't notice that she's a Princess and she then changes her name to "Dagger", which is named after one of Zidane's weapons but Steiner doesn't like the idea one bit. During the early parts of the game, it appears that Steiner isn't too keen on Zidane and his ideas but he seems to support Queen Brahne and he's normally concerned about Garnet's safety for the most part. From there, they all decide to head to the village of Dali, which is nearby.

     After entering the village of Dali, Zidane and the others then all decide to head to the inn nearby to rest up and plan what they intend on doing for the time being. After Zidane and Steiner talk for awhile, they find that Vivi has fallen asleep so they all decide to go to sleep for the night. The next day, Garnet then explores the village and learns how to speak like a normal village girl and learn how non-castle life is like and later on, Zidane heads back to the inn and finds Garnet but they notice that Vivi nor Steiner has returned yet. Zidane and Garnet then look for Vivi and Steiner and they find out that Vivi is captured by a bunch of villagers and is taken hostage underground. Zidane and Garnet then find a passageway which leads underground as they try to find out what happened to Vivi as well. Eventually, they find Vivi inside one of the crates underground and after going through the underground cavern, Zidane and Vivi then exit the cavern and they hide in a crate outside the cavern. Steiner then manages to cross paths with the crate and eventually, he meets up with Zidane, Garnet and Vivi and after they talk for awhile, they meet up with Black Waltz #2. Before fighting Black Waltz #2, Steiner plans on using the Cargo Ship nearby to get the Princess back to Alexandria, he doesn't tell anyone of course though! Shortly afterwards, Black Waltz #2 tells the others that he has come to retrieve the princess and return her back to Queen Brahne and since Black Waltz #2 doesn't care much, he decides to fight Garnet and the others to try and accomplish his mission. After the fight, Steiner then asks the person inside the Cargo Ship if they can get a ride on the ship and Steiner and the others then board the Cargo Ship. Vivi finds a whole bunch of Black Mages who look like him but they don't seem to notice that Vivi and the others are around, they seem invisible to them. Zidane then takes control of the ship and instead of heading to Alexandria, Zidane turns the ship around and decides to head to the nearby Kingdom of Lindblum instead! Steiner then yells at Zidane and he complains and whines and then the rest of the party head to the deck, only to find that Black Waltz #3 tries to attack them but the other Black Mages try to protect Zidane and the others but unfortunately, they all fall off the Cargo Ship and then Vivi gets mad and then he, Zidane and Steiner then engage in a battle against Black Waltz #3. After defeating Black Waltz #3, a scene occurs shortly afterwards in which a sky-chase occurs between Black Waltz #3's ship and the Cargo Ship, which eventually leads to South Gate being damaged and then they manage to escape the wrath of Black Waltz #3 as they manage to reach Lindblum.

     After arriving in Lindblum, Zidane and the others meet up with Regent Cid and after talking for awhile, Zidane decides to explore the town for a bit. After meeting up with Freya Crescent, a female Dragoon warrior who knew Zidane in the past, Zidane then decides to go find some of his friends in Tantalus as well. After meeting up with Tantalus, Zidane then talks with them for a bit and then Zidane decides to continue exploring the town for a little bit more. Vivi meanwhile, also explores the town and then buys a "Kupo Nut" inside one of the shops and then he hears about the famous "Festival of the Hunt" competition which takes place in Lindblum annually. Later on, Zidane finds Dagger singing on top of Lindblum castle and they check out the scenery and view of the castle for awhile. After that, Zidane then agrees to enter the "Festival of the Hunt" competition and tells Dagger that she owes him a date if he wins the competition tomorrow. The next day, Vivi and Freya along with Zidane meet in the guest room of Lindblum castle and they all agree on the prizes as well and then after that, a scene occurs where Steiner and Dagger are watching the competition from the crowd and they are cheering Vivi on. The competition lasts 12 minutes long and whoever gets the most points at the end wins the competition, anyways, depending on what happens, either Zidane, Freya or Vivi wins the competition. After they collect their prizes, a Burmecian Soldier who is severely injured and blinded enters the castle and dies in front of Freya and then Freya can't believe what happened, since Burmecia is her home kingdom and then after that, Cid gathers the others to have a "Festival of the Hunt" feast and everyone eats the food except for Dagger and then everyone gets poisoned by the food. Dagger then tells Steiner it was all a plan and that she wants Steiner to take her back home to Alexandria and Steiner willingly agrees. They then leave Lindblum and then after the others wake up, Freya tells Cid that she's headed to Burmecia to check out what is going on there and then Vivi and Zidane also decide to follow Freya as well. Cid opens the Dragon's Gate for them and tells them to head past Gizamaluke's Grotto to reach the Kingdom of Burmecia. Zidane, Vivi and Freya then head to Burmecia and they leave Lindblum and they plan on passing through the Grotto first.

     After entering Gizamaluke's Grotto, Zidane and the others find out that Black Mages have been destroying and killing Burmecian Soldiers and one Soldier tells Freya and the others to head to Burmecia and see the King as soon as possible. Zidane and the others meet up with Zorn and Thorn, Queen Brahne's court jesters and they then get attacked by some more Black Mages and then they later meet up with Master Gizamaluke. It appears that Master Gizamaluke is under control by some other force and he attacks Zidane and the others. Zidane and the others then defeat him and Master Gizamaluke then goes away and then Zidane and the others head to Burmecia. Later on, Dagger and Steiner then manage to go through South Gate and then they use a trolley to head back to Alexandria and shortly afterwards, the game reverts back to Zidane and the others. After arriving in Burmecia, Freya and the others find out that more Burmecians are being killed and injured by the Black Mages and then shortly afterwards, Zidane and the others hide behind some columns at the Burmecian Palace and they overhear Queen Brahne and Alexandrian General Beatrix discussing about their future plans and they plan to find the Kingdom of Cleyra soon, another place where Burmecians live in as well. Zidane and the others notice a mysterious man with them as well and then Zidane and the others confront General Beatrix and after a fight with her, Beatrix knocks them all out and then an FMV sequence occurs in which the mystery man walks up to Zidane and the others and looks on and then he then goes on his "Silver Dragon" and flies away as disc 1 comes to an end. While the disc 1 ending ain't that spectacular it still leaves the gamer wondering who that guy is and it's a nice way to conclude disc 1 and now I shall move on to disc 2 now.

     Dagger and Steiner then find themselves in a trolley station and then after finding and talking a bit with Marcus, a member of Tantalus, Marcus agrees to join them for the time being. Steiner of course doesn't agree that Marcus should follow the Princess along, he believes that Marcus will kidnap the Princess again and doesn't trust a thief. They all board a train and then later on, Black Waltz #3 returns again and stops the train for the time being and then Marcus, Steiner and Dagger fight the Black Waltz. After defeating Black Waltz #3 for good this time, Steiner, Dagger and Marcus then head back into the train and Dagger engages in a conversation with Marcus before reaching the lively city of Treno. Once inside Treno, Marcus then goes his own way and it is revealed that he plans on finding an item called "Supersoft" to revive his friend Blank from the petrification of the Evil Forest earlier on and then Steiner and Dagger explore the city for the time being. Later on, Steiner and Garnet then head to the inn and they take a rest until the next morning and after they wake up, they find Baku, boss of Tantalus and they tell Garnet and Steiner that they plan on stealing Supersoft from a noble inside Treno and Steiner hardly agrees with their plan. Dagger willingly follows the thieves with Steiner lagging behind and then while trying to find the Supersoft from the noble's house, the noble heads downstairs and then Dagger recognizes him instantly. The noble is Doctor Tot, a man who used to tutor the Princess when she was little and Dagger talks with him for a little bit and later on, Doctor Tot gives Dagger and the others the Supersoft and then Doctor Tot tells Dagger, Steiner and Marcus to head past the Gargan Roo to reach Alexandria. After going past the Gargan Roo, Dagger and the others finally reach Alexandria but then Zorn and Thorn capture Dagger and then they take her away and they manage to trap Steiner and Marcus in a steel cage for the time being. The game then goes back to Zidane and the others and they head west to "Cleyra's Trunk" to reach the peaceful city of Cleyra as they try and stop Queen Brahne's evil plans.

     Once they reach the base of Cleyra's Trunk, Zidane and the others then head past a long series of sand pathways and traps before finally reaching the Cleyra summit which is located very high above the ground and after exploring the peaceful city for a little bit, they find that Puck, who is the Prince of Burmecia, is trapped by a monster and Freya and the others decide to rescue him and they encounter the monster. After rescuing Puck successfully, Puck then leaves and then Vivi follows him as well and then Freya and Zidane head to the castle where the King of Burmecia is and then Freya performs a dance with the other Dragoons, which is a ritual of Cleyra and then the mystical harp which keeps Cleyra's sand-barrier up to prevent from invaders, breaks and then an FMV occurs. Meanwhile, Marcus and Steiner are inside the bird cage and then shortly afterwards, Zorn and Thorn take Dagger to her mother, Queen Brahne and after they talk for awhile, Kuja, who is really the mystery man, puts Dagger to sleep. Back in Cleyra, Freya meets up with Zidane and the others and then they find out that Alexandrian Soldiers have invaded Cleyra and then later on, a mysterious Dragoon takes care of the Black Mages and the heads away for the time being, the Dragoon is really Sir Fratley, the long lost boyfriend of Freya. General Beatrix then steals a mystical stone from Cleyra and then Zidane and the others battle her once again and after the battle, Beatrix escapes and then an FMV occurs in which Queen Brahne summons Odin and then Odin destroys Cleyra with his powerful lance and then goes away. Zidane and the others then go down south and after talking with Vivi for awhile, the game switches back to Steiner and Marcus in Alexandria. After escaping from the cage, Steiner then climbs up a couple of ladders and then he meets up with Zidane and the others. It is revealed that Zidane and the others have only 30 minutes to find and rescue Dagger from the sleep spell before she is to sleep forever and later on, they find Dagger and they encounter Zorn and Thorn. After defeating them, Zorn and Thorn then runs away and then Zidane and the others carry Dagger and they head to the throne room where they encounter one final battle with Beatrix. After the battle, Beatrix then notices that Dagger is asleep and after several tries, she breaks Kuja's spell and cures Dagger again. Then she joins the others and then along with Freya, she takes care of some enemies while enabling Zidane and the others to escape the castle for the time being. Zidane and the others then defeat some Black Mages and then they finally manage to reach the entrance of Alexandria castle only to get tricked by Zorn and Thorn again but then Marcus and Blank knocks down Zorn and Thorn from behind and then Zidane and the others then escape Alexandria castle and then after going past a series of underground tunnels, Dagger and the others find themselves at a place called "Pinnacle Rocks". After waking up, Dagger and the others meet a man called Ramuh and after solving his puzzle, Ramuh then allows Dagger to use him as an "eidolon" to try and combat against Brahne's evil summons and to try and stop her evil deeds of destruction.

     After several scenes, Zidane and the others then find themselves in Lindblum again and after talking with Regent Cid for a little bit, they explore the city for awhile and then they get escorted out of the city as Queen Brahne attacks Lindblum and Lindblum gets badly damaged for the time being. Zidane and the others evacuate Lindblum and then they head to a marshy swamp nearby and then Quale, Quina's master then tells Zidane to take Quina on a trip to explore the world and to taste and see more foods, since Quina only knows how to eat frogs only. After Quina joins Zidane and the others, they all head east to Fossil Roo and a scene occurs in which Queen Brahne then sends out two notorious bounty hunters, Lani and a mysterious Red-haired man to retrieve the Princess. Zidane and the others then go inside the Fossil Roo and they later encounter a battle with Lani, who is after the Princess. After passing through the Fossil Roo, Zidane and the others manage to find themselves in a new continent and then they enter a village called "Conde Petie". After exploring the town for a little bit, Vivi finds a Black Mage and then Zidane and the others try to chase after it, hoping it will lead them to Kuja. They chase the Black Mage to a large forest nearby and they find themselves in a forest maze with lots of pathways. After using the owls for help, Zidane and the others manage to reach the "Black Mage Village" in which there are Mages all over the place. Once inside the village, Vivi and the others find out more about the Mages and that they were all constructed by Kuja and they all have a short lifespan. Vivi wonders if he might die soon but Zidane and the others convince him to live life to the fullest and don't think about stuff like that and after a night's rest, they all decide to head back to Conde Petie.

     As they enter Conde Petie, Zidane and the others then talk to a little girl in the village and then Zidane and the others follow her to the mountain path nearby and it is revealed that the girl's name is Eiko. After passing through various vines and trees along the mountain path, Eiko wants Zidane and the others to follow her to a village called "Madain Sari" which is her home village. Zidane and the others follow her to Madain Sari and then they enter the village to and they follow Eiko into the village as well. It appears that there are Mogs all over the place and then Eiko plans on making a big meal for Zidane and the others. After the meal, Zidane and the others are offered to rest for the night and then they all go to sleep for now. The next morning, they all decide to head to the mountain path again, this time going to the Lifa Tree nearby instead. Eiko takes down the force field around the Lifa Tree and after exploring the Lifa Tree, they all encounter some monsters and then later on, they head back to Madain Sari again. Once arriving in Madain Sari again, some scenes occur and Dagger finds out more about her past and that she was brought up as a summoner as well and then later on, the Red-haired bounty hunter that Queen Brahne sent to retrieve the Princess then engages in a battle with Zidane only in a personal rivalry. After defeating the Red-haired man, he reveals that his name is Amarant and then he gives back what he stole to Eiko and then leaves the village alone. After meeting up with Dagger again, an FMV occurs and then during the next morning, Amarant decides to join Zidane's party and they all decide to head back to the Lifa Tree again. Zidane and the others head past the Lifa Tree and then they manage to confront Kuja and his Silver Dragon and after several battles with the mist monsters, they find Dagger and then some FMV sequences occur. Kuja controls the "Dragon King" Bahamut and then Bahamut torches Queen Brahnes ship and on the shore, a sad scene occurs in which Queen Brahne dies and she apologizes to Dagger about what she had done in the past and before she dies, she hands over the Kingdom of Alexandria to the Princess. After another FMV sequence of the Princess, disc 2 comes to an end with Queen Brahne dead and Garnet (I'll refer her to that name from now on....) then becomes the next Queen of Alexandria and now that concludes disc 2. Sad ending, well not really, I didn't like Queen Brahne anyways but now it's time to move on to disc 3, by the way, disc 2 is pretty good and continues the good pacing of FFIX in my opinion. Now on to disc 3!

      At the beginning of disc 3, Zidane is at a bar in Alexandria and he is feeling kind of down lately. After his friends leave him, the game goes back to Vivi and Vivi then meets up with the rest of Tantalus as they head downstairs to see a play and then the game goes to Garnet in Alexandria Castle. Doctor Tot gives Garnet some nice items and then a scene occurs in which Doctor Tot meets up with Eiko for the time being and Eiko wants Doctor Tot to help her write a nice love letter to Zidane. Baku then appears and then after a few scenes, Zidane meets up with Vivi again back at the bar and then later on, Freya and Amarant rejoin Zidane as well and then they all head to Alexandria Castle as they meet up with Steiner and Eiko again. They all head inside the castle and meet up with Garnet and later on, Garnet then heads back to her room and then the others then head past Gargan Roo again and then they manage to revisit Treno again. Inside Treno, they all find out that there is a big card tournament going on in Treno and then Zidane signs up for the card game tournament taking place in Treno. They find Cid at the card tournament and after talking with him for a bit, the game switches back to Kuja at Alexandria. Kuja then sends out his mist monsters to attack Alexandria and then Steiner and Beatrix fight alongside each other to protect Alexandria and then Garnet, back at Alexandria Castle, goes up some ladders and then later on, the game switches back to Zidane and the others in Cid's airship and then after some FMVs, Zidane climbs the tower and then some FMVs of Bahamut and Alexander fighting each other occurs and then later on, Zidane finds himself back at Lindblum and Zidane wakes up inside Lindblum's Grand Castle.

     Zidane finds Garnet near the telescope later on and then after talking with her, Zidane meets up with the others inside Lindblum Castle and then they find Cid. After finding Garnet and Eiko, Zidane then goes to find Cid and he tells Zidane to find 3 magic potions, in hopes that they might help Cid turn back to a human again and then Zidane goes out to find the 3 potions for Cid. Eventually, Zidane finds all 3 potions and after reaching the Castle again, Cid tries the potions but unfortunately, to one's amusement, Cid turns into a frog instead! Zidane and the others agree to leave Lindblum and they use a ship to travel to the Black Mage Village again. After entering the village, Vivi talks to the Mages for awhile and after checking out the village for awhile, Zidane and the others return back to the ship and they head to a place with some sandswirls and they enter Kuja's mysterious headquarters. After talking with Cid for awhile, Zidane then meets up with Kuja and Zidane and the others break up into two parties and Kuja forces one party to do a task for him or else he'll do something bad to the others. Zidane has no choice but to follow his orders and then Zidane's party then heads to the Forgotten Continent to a strange place called "Oeilvert" and they enter the place. Once inside the dungeon, Zidane and the others learn more about the other worlds outside of Gaia and then eventually, Zidane reaches the end and picks up a stone from the dungeon and the game then reverts to the other party, held hostage by Kuja. Cid, as a frog, then tries to find the key to free the others but the key is guarded from a monster so after a little mini-game, Cid manages to free the others and they head north to the "Desert Palace".

      Inside the Desert Palace, the other party manages to find lots of weird candles and staircases inside and later on, after going through the maze and collecting the bloodstones along the way, they encounter a boss and a battle occurs. After lighting one last candle further on, the other party eventually gets teleported and then meanwhile, Zidane and his party talk and confront Kuja for awhile but then he leaves and Zidane and the others head back to the World Map again and later on, they reach a place called "Esto Gaza" and enter Mount Gulug. After passing though the mountain, Zidane and the others encounter a couple of dragons and after defeating them, they meet up with Zorn and Thorn. After defeating them, Zidane and the others head back to Lindblum Castle again and later on, Garnet decides to cut her hair using Zidane's weapon and later on, Cid manages to to convince his wife Hilda to turn him back to a human again and Cid promises not to flirt with anyone again. Cid turns back to a human again and then he manages to finish his Hilda Garde 3 creation and then Zidane and the others take off on the new Hilda Garde 3 airship and they all decide to head to Ipsen's Castle, which is just north from Oeilvert. Inside the weird castle, which is Ipsen's Castle, Amarant then leaves the others and heads out first and eventually, Zidane and the others manage to meet up with Amarant again and they observe a bunch of weird looking medals and then they take the medals on the wall and later on, Zidane goes alone to find Amarant as he wandered away again earlier on and after convincing him to rejoin the party, Amarant agrees and then on board the airship, Zidane and the others then agree to find all the elemental shrines and Zidane sends two party members each to tackle each shrine, oddly enough, it appears that Quina will go with Zidane to go to the Earth Shrine and after defeating the Earth Guardian, they place a medal into a slot and later on, Zidane and the others find a new place on the Ice Continent, which looks like an entrance to a new world and they all decide to head into it.

     After arriving in the new world, which is called "Terra", Zidane and the others then meet up with a man named Garland and then after he leaves, Zidane and the others find a girl and they all follow her and eventually, they reach a place in Terra called "Bran Bal". Zidane and the others explore the town for a bit and then later on, he finds out that Bran Bal is his hometown and that he is a "Genome" and all the people in the town look similar to him and then the girl who Zidane followed tells Zidane that Kuja is Zidane's brother! Zidane couldn't believe it and then later on, it is revealed that Zidane's purpose was to live on Gaia and that he was different than the other Genomes but it appears that the other Genomes are lifeless people. Zidane can't believe that he was raised in such a lifeless place and that he originated from Terra, not Gaia, unlike the others. After gathering up the others, Zidane and the others then follow Garland and they end up in another place in Terra called "Pandemonium". After talking with Garland for a little bit, Zidane then wakes up and finds Eiko nearby and during the course of several battles, the other members of Zidane's party rejoins him and after the battles, Zidane talks a little bit with Steiner and the others and after going through some switches, elevators and some teleporters and traps, they encounter Garland and after they talk for a little while, Kuja's Silver Dragon battles with Zidane and the others. Right after defeating the Dragon, Zidane and the others then encounter Garland and after their battle together, it appears that Garland's airship, the "Invincible", is sucking the energy out of him and later on, Zidane and the others then battle Kuja in hopes of defeating him once and for all. After the battle, Kuja kicks Garland and then an FMV sequence occurs in which Kuja then turns to Trance Kuja and starts to destroy the world of Terra. After evacuating the residents of Bran Bal, Zidane and the others head back to the airship and then they find out that Terra is completely destroyed as disc 3 comes to an end. Pretty cool eh? disc 3 is one of the best discs in FFIX in my opinion and while it may not be as long as disc 2, it is more dramatic and has more twists and turns than in disc 2. Looks like the end is almost near, now if you're really anxious, it's time for me to talk about disc 4, let's move on then.

     During the beginning of disc 4, Vivi and the others find themselves in the Black Mage Village again and the other Genomes take a temporarily residence here for the time being since Terra is destroyed by Trance Kuja. After Vivi talks with some of the Black Mages for awhile, Zidane shows up and then they gather up the others before heading to the portal above the Lifa Tree and they all head into the portal to find Trance Kuja. After an FMV sequence, Zidane and the others find out that they are attacked by a swarm of Dragons and after defeating them for the time being, Zidane and the others then teleport into a new place called "Memoria". After entering Memoria, Zidane and the others talk about Trance Kuja for awhile and then they decide on who should go with Zidane inside Memoria. After deciding on the party, Zidane and the others head into Memoria and then after some flashback sequences in between and some boss battles, Zidane and the others finally meet up with Trance Kuja and then shortly afterwards, Trance Kuja sends out another monster to fight Zidane and the others. Eventually, Zidane and the others defeat the monster and then after some talking with Trance Kuja, Zidane and the others finally confront Trance Kuja and they fight him in what appears to be the final battle of the game. At the end of the battle with Trance Kuja, Zidane and the others then get badly injured by Trance Kuja's Ultima spell and Trance Kuja appears to be blown away as well.

     After waking up, Zidane finds the others lying down and then another guy talks to Zidane from above. Zidane has no idea who it is and the guy reveals that he is Necron and that he seems like a god-like monster and he believes that Zidane and the others will waste their lives like Trance Kuja did and that Necron reveals that he is from another world. Zidane then makes a party up to fight Necron and he believes the will to live is strong and he and the others fight Necron. After defeating Necron, he then realizes that the will to live is strong and then he transports Zidane and the others back to Gaia before being destroyed and then Zidane and the others manage to reach Gaia again. Regent Cid manages to find Zidane and the others and he tells them to board the ship so they can return home again and then Zidane tells the others that he has something important to do but the others object as the Lifa Tree is starting to have a violent reaction and they want Zidane to board the ship so they can escape with no worries. Zidane tells the others to take care and that he plans on trying to save Kuja, he believes that he can't just leave him there to die, even if he is evil, since he is Zidane's brother. Zidane waves goodbye to Garnet and the others as they leave and then after dodging the vines of the Lifa Tree, Zidane manages to make it to Kuja and then after they talk for awhile, Kuja claims his life is over but Zidane wants to rescue Kuja but Kuja does die out on Zidane. A series of scenes occur in which it shows the other characters gathering up for a reunion at Alexandria around one year later and at the reunion, it appears that everyone shows up except for Zidane and Queen Garnet is saddened but she claims that she must move on with life and then Tantalus puts on their usual play in front of Garnet again. During the play, Zidane reveals himself to Garnet and she is instantly surprised and happy for him. Garnet pushes through the crowd and hugs Zidane and at the very end, they are happy to see each other and the game ends in a romantic embrace by Zidane and Garnet which ends FFIX. After the credits roll by, the game goes to a "the end" scene where the traditional prelude plays and the game officially ends at that point. It's a happy ending and it closes out the game very well in my opinion and that concludes disc 4 and FFIX as well. Now that you know the storyline of the game, it's time to move on with my actual review and analysis of Final Fantasy IX.

     The graphics in FFIX are quite well-done, while not as big of a jump or as revolutionary as FFVIII's graphics, they are still great and they get the job done as well too.  The FMV quality is quite good as well but it's really not that much of a difference compared to FFVIII's FMVs though but nevertheless, they are still pretty good.  The backgrounds in FFIX look simply splendid and they are quite well-detailed and they push the Playstation to it's apparent limits in my opinion and it's quite amazing what the Playstation can still do even at this age.  This time around, the character designs take on the standard super-deformed style found in all the old-school FF games and Yoshitaka Amano is back doing the character designs once again which is a welcome breath of fresh air for most old-school FF fanatics since he always did a great job with the character designs in many of the older FF games.  Moogles are back again and they are redesigned for FFIX and they look much better animated in my opinion compared to the Mogs in FF7.  Most of the enviornments in FFIX are well-done and they seem to make a nice impact to the game too, the mist surrounding the mist continent is quite realistic and the World Map is nicely animated as well, it's similar to FFVII's World Map in terms of graphics but much better of course.  The Trance effects in battle are pretty nice, to say the least, well they may look weird at first but some of them are pretty cool after playing FFIX several times though.  The spell effects are not that bad as well, they are a jump from FFVIII but they aren't that much of an improvement in my opinion though.  The summon animations aren't that good though, some are pretty cool but unfortuantely, most of the summon animations aren't nearly as good as the ones found in FF8, they were ok but not that great in my opinion.  The graphics in FFIX are pretty good and they push the Playstation to it's limits but they aren't that much of a jump compared to FFVIII though so overall, I would say the graphics are pretty good but not nearly as revolutionary as FFVIII.

     The gameplay in FFIX is fairly decent, with a decent battle engine and some new tweaks in gameplay.  The trance system is good but it wasn't as innovative as limit breaks were and Trance moves are in general, quite weak compared to limit break attacks in my opinion.  While the ability system in FFIX is much more easier to learn than FFVIII's junction system, I find that the ability system is new and all but it's hardly innovative in my opinion and it seems a little recycled to me though.  Equipping gems and all is good and learning summons through special stones is a decent concept but one problem about FFIX is that you need enough Ability Points to learn an ability before unequipping weapons or armor, since if you didn't fully learn the skill then unequipping that particular weapon or armor to learn that skill will cause your character to stop learning that skill entirely until you equip it back again.  One thing about FFIX's ability system that isn't that great in my opinion is that the gameplay doesn't have too much variety in it and every character has his or her own unique abilities which is nice for variety in terms of skills but it really limits customizing characters the way gamers want since only people like Eiko and Garnet can do White Magic while the other characters have no healing abilities and only Vivi can do Black Magic while only Zidane can steal, etc.  The good thing is that the "Synthesis" concept in FFIX where you can combine some items or weapons/armor to make an even better piece of armor or upgrade to better weapons/accessories, is pretty interesting and partially innovative and it's one of the best parts of FFIX's gameplay.  New additions in FFIX's gameplay compared to other FF games is that items and things to interact with are now easier to find since that characters will have a "!" or "?" bubble over their heads if something to get or interact is nearby which helps since some items are hard to see at first.  Finally, the Active Time Events are a nice new addition to FFIX but sometimes they are time consuming but you can skip most of them but some are mandatory.  They are nice to have when exploring through a town and some a pretty funny as well and the bad part is that you can only equip one accessory in FFIX unlike 2 in FF6 but that's not really such a big deal in my opinion.  Overall, I would say that the gameplay in FFIX is decent, while not great, they still manage to get the job done and FFIX has enough tweaks in gameplay to please most RPG veterans alike, while not innovative, the tweaks are a nice new addition to the FF series in my opinion.

     The storyline is fairly good overall in my opinion but it's not without it's faults, of course.  The pacing of FFIX's storyline is pretty good but it tends to slow down and lacks in a few areas during the course of the game though.  The characters are quite well-developed, each having their own distinct personality and the game goes in some detail with some of their backgrounds and origins, not exactly to all characters but at least the main ones though.  While some characters can be annoying like Quina and all, they are still an interesting group and the characters are quite varied overall.  The twists and turns in FFIX are nice and all but they aren't too major until you reach disc 2 or disc 3 and most of the time you will find that the storyline in FFIX is well-written but sometimes kind of predictable but it's still not bad though.  I find that there are plenty of interesting relationships going on throughout FFIX which provide plenty of humor and drama throughout the game.  FFIX's story is quite funny, well-written and the storyline is more fantasy like which is great for veteren gamers but still, the storyline isn't quite up to standards with FF6 but it still holds it's own against other FF games though.  While lots of classical FF themes occur in FFIX like the Crystal and all, they don't play a big role in the game unfortunately but at least there are plenty of Mogs around, which is sure to please any long-time FF gamer.  While the storyline may seem good in FFIX for the most part, it definitely starts to go down after reaching the last disc of FFIX, and you find out that what you believe is the last boss ain't the last boss after all, in fact, a guy appears out of nowhere which totally doesn't make sense at all and to me, that drags the rating of the storyline down which is unfortunate since the storyline is pretty good besides that fact.  The NPC characters play a decent role in the game and some are quite good in my opinion, like the members of Tantalus and Beatrix and they do their roles justice in my opinion.  Anyways, the ending of FFIX is nice and all but it's way too predicable in my opinion and it's hardly surprising at all, Square could have been a little more creative in the ending in my opinion but the ending still leaves you warm and happy inside which is nice and the ending music also is good which helps too.  Overall, the storyline is pretty good but it could use a little better character development and the final boss should have been mentioned earlier in the game, not at the last minute, since that catches gamers off guard and wondering:  "Where the hell did this dude come from?".  The ending could have been a little more interesting and less predictable but otherwise, FFIX's storyline is decent in my opinion and holds it's own compared to other FF games.

     The music in FFIX is quite well-done and has some nice tracks as well like "Melodies of Life" and the theme in the "Black Mage Village" is pretty catchy and is upbeat as well.  Most of the tracks are peaceful in FFIX overall and while some fit the mood very well, some don't seem to fit the emotion and mood as well as you may think they do but still, most tracks in FFIX are pretty catchy and they are upbeat as well though.  Even though FFIX's music is pretty decent overall, the music tracks in the game don't seem to have much variety and most themes seem to be different variations and remixes of "Melodies of Life".  The sound effects are quite well done and the spell sound effects are good as well but the music overall is more 16-bit like than FFVIII although.  While FFIX brings back some tracks from previous FF games, the overall music in FFIX seems fairly uninspired in my opinion, other than "Melodies of Life".  Sure, there are several other tracks in FFIX which sound pretty good but overall, the music in FFIX mainly relies on a couple of themes only and the music seems to lack some creativity and emotion but at least the music in FFIX is good in the essential areas of the game though.  The battle theme is pretty good and the boss music ain't that bad neither but it could've been a little better though but the ending music in FFIX is probably one of the better things about the sound in FFIX.  Overall, the music in FFIX is pretty decent although it can be uninspired at times and it seems to lack a little bit of creativity and innovation but otherwise, it sounds like old-school FF like you know and love.

     Final Fantasy IX has a lot of fun mini-games and sidequests to keep gamers entertained for quite a while and the fun factor seems to be quite high in FFIX as well.  There are plenty of sidequests to do in FFIX and they are pretty enjoyable in my opinion as well and while a couple are tedious, the majority of quests in FFIX can prove to be fun and enjoyable for almost any RPG gamer.  Unlike in FFVIII, there are lots of mini-games in FFIX but they are more integrated into the gameplay and most of them are mandatory during the course of the game but they are still pretty fun though.  Most mini-games in FFIX are more like button-pressing tasks in which you need to press a series of buttons to create a mock fight on a stage, run past a guarding beast and so on.  FFIX also has a card game in it as well but this time it's much easier to play and you can collect rare cards during the course of the game, like in FFVIII and you can earn collector's points as well.  FFIX's card game is called "Tetra Master" and it's very difficult to reach the final collectors rank but the card game is easy to understand and fun to play overall though.  The Chocobo Hot and Cold sidequest is very long and tedious but you do manage to get some good items and stuff from it so it's worth a try anyways and it's the longest sidquest in FFIX.  For gamers who want a real challenge, they can complete the "Friendly Monster" sidequest and fight Ozma, who is the hardest boss in FFIX, but that's optional though but Ozma does prove to be a worthy challenge to the more experienced RPG gamers out there though.  FFIX is a very fun game, it has plenty of nice sidequests and mini-games to keep gamers hooked for hours and many weeks as well and it's one of the more fun FF games to date in my opinion.  With lots of enjoyable sidequest and some nice mini-games, FFIX is very fun and will keep even the most hardcore RPG gamer hooked for many weeks at least.

     Final Fantasy IX is a solid game with solid graphics, a well-written storyline and a decent system of gameplay as well.  While FFIX isn't really that innovative of a game, it is intended to go back to the roots of the early FF games and it pleases most of the old-school FF gamers and FFIX has some good characters and some memorable tunes as well.  While the music in FFIX ain't exactly creative or inspired, some of the tracks are quite good and they seem to get the job done but some tracks are forgettable.  FFIX proves to be a very fun game for all gamers, with lots of mini-games and sidequests to keep gamers busy for weeks and there are plenty of interesting sidequests for every gamer, casual or hardcore.  I believe FFIX is a decent RPG game, while lacking a bit in terms of gameplay and uninspired music tracks, the game more than makes up for it with a well-written storyline, memorable characters and lots of sidequests and mini-games that will keep gamers busy for weeks.  Overall, I would say that FFIX is a pretty good FF game, while not as good as FF7 or FF6, it's still good and while it's not revolutionary, it's more evolutionary instead and it keeps the old-school FF fanatics happy while introducing old-school FF for the first time to the newer RPG gamers.

Lyrics

Melodies of Life (Japanese Version)

Ate monaku sama yotte ita
Tegakari monaku sagashi tsuzuketa
Anata ga kureta omoi de o kokoro o iyasu uta nishite

Yakusoku mo suru koto monaku kawasu koto bamo kimetari mosezu
Dakishime soshite tashika mete hibiwa nido to kaeranau

Kioku no naka no te ofuru anata wa
Watashi no namae o yobuko toga deki runo

Afureru sono namida o kagaya kuyuu kini kaete
Inochi wa tsuzuku yoruo koe uta gau koto nonai ashitare totsuzuku

Tobu tori no mukou no sorade ikutsu no kioku azuke tada rou
Hakanai kibou mo yume mo todokanai basyo ni wasurete

Meguri aunowa guuzen toi e runo?
Wakareru toki ga kanarazu kuru noni

Kieyuku unmei demo kimi ga ikiteiru kagiri
Inochi watsuzuku eien ni sono chikara no kagiri doko made mo

Watashi ga shinou tomo kimi ga ikiteiru kagiri
Inochi watsuzuku eien ni sono chikara no kagiri
Doko made mo tsuzuku

Melodies of Life (English version)

Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark,
For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart,
To weave by picking up the pieces that remain,
Melodies of life - love's lost refrain.

Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why.
We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye.
And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told ?
Let them ring out loud till they unfold.

In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me.
Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name.

A voice from the past, joining yours and mine.
Adding up the layers of harmony.
And so it goes, on and on.
Melodies of life,
To the sky beyond the flying birds - forever and beyond.

So far and away, see the birds as it flies by.
Gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky.
I've laid my memories and dreams upon those wings.
Leave them now and see what tomorrow brings.

In your dearest memories, do you remember loving me ?
Was it fate that brought us close and now leave me behind ?

A voice from the past, joining yours and mine.
Adding up the layers of harmony.
And so it goes, on and on.
Melodies of life,
To the sky beyond the flying bird - forever and on.

If I should leave this lonely world behind,
Your voice will still remember our melody.
Now I know we'll carry on.
Melodies of life,
Come circle round and grow deep in our hearts, as long as we remember.

Movies

     (coming soon)

Music

     (N/A)