(To avoid giving out spoilers, only the bare basics will be discussed in this first article)
Introduction:
Released by Square in the year 2000, Final Fantasy IX is the ninth installment in the Final Fantasy series. This title sought to return the game temporarily to its fantasy roots after two games grounded in science fiction. Final Fantasy IX saw the return of the more cartoony elements while still maintaining a level of seriousness. This was the last Final Fantasy game whose musical score was composed entirely and exclusively by the illustrious Nobuo Uematsu. The soundtrack is also his most prolific with 110 tracks in the original soundtrack and an extra 42 released in an additional soundtrack.
Short Story Summary:
Final Fantasy IX revolves around a young thief, star thief of Tantalus. Tantalus is a band of thieves that uses theater as its cover. As the game opens up, Tantalus is arriving in the Kingdom of Alexandria to perform I Want to Be Your Canary for the princess’ birthday. The reason they’re really there is to kidnap the princess, Garnet Til Alexandros XVII and take her back to their home in the Regency of Lindblum. This seemingly simple task sends him and the rest of the cast on a whirlwind adventure across the world and even crossing over into another dimension.
Gameplay Mechanics:
Final Fantasy IX utilizes the same experience system that is seen in most Final Fantasy games. You fight in random battles, you earn experience. You earn enough experience and you gain in levels. You gain in levels to raise your base statistics that will help you stay alive. It also brings back the AP system. You equip an item with an ability that a particular character can learn and as you fight in random battles you earn AP. When you have enough AP you will be able to equip or use that ability without the special equipment necessary. For example: The bronze vest will allow you to use the Jelly support ability which prevents petrification. Until you gain enough AP, you need the vest in order to equip Jelly. Once you earn enough AP, you have “learned” Jelly and you will be able to take off the Bronze Vest and equip another piece of armor to work on another
ability.
The Active-Time Battle is back (Hereafter referred to as ATB). Each character has a time gauge and when say Zidane’s gauge fills up it is his turn and you will be able to choose what you want him to do for that round. You can also choose to either have everyone else wait while you make your choice (Wait) or to keep the battle moving (Active). Wait is recommended if you’re a beginner and you want time to learn the controls. If you are a veteran, than Active is the one for you.
Outside of battle the controls are very simple. You use the directional buttons to move up, down, right or left. You use the confirm button to initiate an action, to talk to people, etc. You use the cancel button to stop yourself. You use the menu button to enter the menu which allows you to make changes to your current setup.
Save Points are kept alive in the iconic Moogles which appear at regular intervals along your path. Talk to these moogles to use a tent and/or save your progress. With the Moogles come a new side-quest called MogNet. Some moogles will have letters that they will need you to deliver to other moogles that you will meet later. This sidequest is among the more silly ones but it is fun and has some good rewards upon it’s completion.
Remember the Chocobos? They’re here too. They play almost as big a role as they did in Final Fantasy VII with a little less tedium and just a little less hassle. The Choco Hot-Cold Game is a fun break from the action and it has lots of rewards. For a mere 60 gil a minute (30 gil for 30 seconds in certain areas) will allow you to use Choco to dig up valuable items. You may never need to buy potions, ethers, elixirs, phoenix downs, etc ever again with the help of Choco Hot-Cold.
Another new addition to the gameplay is the Active-Time Event (ATE). When you enter in a new area, it is not uncommon for your party to split off. When this happens you will sometimes get the option to view what’s going on with the rest of your party, a character or two at a time. At times, these ATEs will yield valuable items and a lot of laughs too.
Setting:
Final Fantasy IX takes place mainly on the planet Gaia. Gaia has four major continents. The Mist Continent is the one the player begins on. The Outer Continent is made available in Disc 2. The Forgotten Continent and Lost Continent are then made available in Disc 3.
Main Characters:
Zidane Tribal: The main character. He plays the role of thief. With the main character in the role of thief, stealing is given greater emphasis. Now enemies have at least four items that can be stolen with different rates of success. Zidane is a young boy with a love for the ladies.
Garnet (Dagger) Til Alexandros XVII: A princess with the powers of the summoner and white mage. Her lack of confidence in herself and her ability makes her unable to use her summon abilities early in the game, making her more useful with her white magic.
Vivi Orunitier: A black mage, Vivi starts out as a unsure child but matures into a fine mage with a firm handle on what life is really about. Naturally his focus is his black magic and smart players will do everything to take advantage of that.
Adelbert Steiner: A knight, Steiner is the tank of the game. He wields powerful broadswords and wears heavy armor which lowers his agility but really cranks up the defense. Early on, Steiner is more comic relief than anything but as the story progresses he goes from a knight blindly serving his queen to a man fighting to protect his princess, his friends, and the lady he loves.
Freya Crescent: Freya is the dragoon of the game. With her jump command she can deal double damage to a foe. Of course, it might be more practical to use her as the defense she is and keep her on the ground, after all, she can deal just as much damage in two hits as she can with her jump command. Freya is on a quest to find her lover who disappeared years prior. When her people are threatened, she gladly accepts Zidane’s aid and joins the party.
Quina Qu: Quina is the silly character who really seems like he has no real purpose at all. However that couldn’t be further from the truth. Quina is a valuable asset with his ability to eat monsters and learn Blue Magic. Quina may seem like the atypical ditzy character with his preoccupation with food but one can really take what he says as advice for how to really live life. “I do what I want, you got problem?”
Eiko Carol: Eiko enters as the character who should be considered too young to join the party but does anyway. She is 6 years old and like Garnet, she also is a summoner although her greater focus is on her white magic. She is one of the only two summoners left in the world and she wants to follow her grandfather’s advice never to leave Madain Sari, her home, but she also does not want to be alone anymore and wants to follow Zidane whom she develops a crush on. Her sisterly friendship with her precious moogle, Mog, proves invaluable later in the story.
Amarant Coral: Amarant is the last playable character that joins your party. He is the martial artist of the party and he has a bad attitude to boot. He joins the party in order to figure out just why Zidane is so strong despite showing such weaknesses like emotions and discovers just what teamwork really means.
Kuja: No Final Fantasy game is complete with the ultimate villain, the one who wants to either conquer the world or destroy it, sometimes both. Kuja in the beginning wants to collect souls to help revive his world and defeat his creator, Garland. However, his motives soon turn to destruction. Can our band of heroes defeat him? Or is the world of Gaia doomed to destruction?
Find out as we follow the game from start to finish in an epic walkthrough complete with pictures and videos.
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