7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Thank you Sqauresoft...thank you
Date of Review: Nov 21, 2000
After such complete garbage from Sqaure like Final Fantasy 8 and Chrono Cross, I was really beginning to lose my faith in my once most respected company. But now, with the release of Final Fantasy 9, and having played and beaten it, I can now say that all faith that was lost before, has been completely restored.
HIGHS - Well....everything really. The graphics are very similar to FF8, or in other words very good. The pre-rendered backgrounds are very detailed, and not one hint of slowdown is prelavent anywhere in the game. (cough cough Chrono Cross).
The sound effects and music are downright amazing, much better than the previous Final Fantasies (read: The trumpets sound like trumpets and not kazoos). The battle theme will surely induce wave after wave of nastalgia.
Then there's the story. It doesn't get much better than this, really. With the exception of Lunar, this is in my opinion the best story ever concieved for an RPG. I'm not going to give anything away, so let's just say that it will not dissapoint, and it WILL keep you hooked to your PSX for quite a few days. I truely could not stop playing until I beat it. And as a side note, even if you don't like the game, it's worth finishing just to watch the ending. Truely spectacular.
The gameplay is quite similar to FF6. Every single character you get is unique, something which was lacking in the previous Final Fantasies. The abilites you learn for each character come from the items you find or purchase in shops. You can use the abilites that are attached to certain pieces of equiment as long as you have that equipment on your character, or until you gain enough AP through battles to learn that ability permanently. Since multiple characters can use the same equipment, there are usually several abilites attached to a piece of equip, but this does not mean that every character can use the same abilites.
Ugh..now for the gritty LOWS.
LOWS - HArdly any. It's hard to name some without nitpicking. There are too many random battles...but that's pretty much become FF tradition. Also, the game isn't very difficult. The only really HARD bosses are the last three that you face. The last boss is truely an insane challenge.
Well, there ya go. You can flame me/compliment me or whatever at chancello2@hotmail.com. I truely feel that this is the best Final Fanatsy to date, even rivaling the mighty FF6. But too bad Sqaure still can't pump out a game that can top Lunar: the silver star story.
You must buy this game NOW.
