Did you love FF9?

[The Big Boss]

that's just stupid. so what they're trying to say is that throughout the rest of the game the other characters aren't talking/interacting with squall? they're just having a lovely wee chat amoungst themselves? ....oooook

 

[RevRaptor]

Naw they is saying that the last half of the game is squalls death coma, as he dies slowly.

http://squallsdead.com/

personally I think they are over analysing things a bit too much.

http://www.esotericarticles.com/Final_Fantasy_8_Ending_Analysis.html
this is the version of events I choose to believe.

I believe at the end of disk one it is Ultimecia's screwing with time that ends up saving Squall and also explains the game getting weird at that point. Time and reality are being messed with and are mailable. I think Rinoa's desire to save him saved him just as it did at the end of the game.

 

[Ranorak]

While part 8 was my favourite, I did like the actual fantasy setting better of 9.

Plus...vivi.

 

[Phlakes]

I'm actually playing it for the first time right now. I just started Disc 3 but I haven't had much time between work and everything.

And it's awesome. I played VII first a few months ago and loved it, and everyone said this was the best to go on to other than VI ('cause it's hard to go retro when you start with 3D). They were right.

 

[Icaruss]

Did't finish it, come to think of it its the only Psone FF i din't beat.Its not like its a bad game hell if it wasn't called FF i'd probably like it a lot more. it just don't compare to 6,7, and eight for me. Story bored me some what and the charcters were just sort've there and about as intersting as carboard, Expect Vivi the little mage that could. Sorry thats just my feeling on it ,feel free to tear me a second anus now.

 

[Wondermint13]

FF9 eh..?
I dont hate it. But I really didn't like it. I didnt see any real depth in the story and failed to fall in love with the drama and sense of adventure that I have done with almost every other FF game. But what killed it flat for me was that damn thing you pick up in the swamp.. Quina Quen. I mean what sort of character is that...? was it Square's attempt at applying humor to a game or something? That character was all kinds of wrong!
The reason I forgive FF9 was because it did something partically well with the other characters. The Warrior (Steiner) Looked like a Warrior, knights armour with an actual helmet on his head and a f***ing sword! Booyah! A Warrior!! No argument.
And a Wizard/Mage (Vivi) that had a -f***ing Wizard's hat- and a staff! Booyah! No argument!
As for Freya? F*** Yeh!

Ok, so FF9 balances itself out into an alright game.. I just felt (being a FF fan) that it lacked alot of the usual Final Fantasy charm I'm used to playing. Thus being the only FF game before 11 i havent completed because I simply didnt give a shit how it ended. I admit I played half the game not even knowing how or why I was doing something. Too many 'just because' moments... ...pity.

 

[TitanAtlas]

Final Fantasy 8 was Awesome... till i discovered in Disk 2 Squall was Dead all Along!!!

Woaaah, wait, what? When does that happen?

He was still alive even at the very end if my memory serves me correctly...

Well not exactly.... remember in the end of Disk one when he gets struck by a Ice shard in the chest? Thats the moment he died (let me tell you here this is a heavy theory going on trough the FF community and that makes perfect sense to the context, bringing sad news to those who love the game and tears to those who loved our dear protagonist).

Has i was saying our hero gets struck by a giant ice shard... he then awakes in a prision with no scrath, and witouth explenation to how he got healed fom such a fatal wound.

The game procceds to take a weird turn after the end of Disk One... everything that made sense, and feeled in character in disk one, took a wild WTF turn at Disk two, with moon ships, and lion people from space (LAGUNA! LAGUNA!).

Its hard to explain everything witouth giving a basis.... so ill be sending you a site with the arguments to why me, and many members of the community think Squall died at Disk 2 is like a dream, with flashbacks towards the end (when hes trying to remember Riona face but cant... its all blurry, like youre trying to remember someone from the past and cant picture her face), to the place where he died (in the end while hes trying to remember her face youre backgrounds are the place where you died), to the white screen (when the helmet breaks and a shard gets struck into you (like a sword), showing squall shedding a single tear, and a white screen (representation of a person passing away), with a single feather (representation of ascending to a better place), alont with the credits beying a representation of personnal paradise (people who died are in the credits, everyone acts goofy and happy, and he has a last moment with the women of his dreams... take in mind She in Disk one was never into Squall, she loved Seyfer alone... he disliked Squall heartless behavior and the fact he never shared feelings with her, and in Disk two shes madly in love for him-basicly his imagining getting the girl).

Like i saied im sending you a link to the site trough private message...

 

[The Big Boss]

Naw they is saying that the last half of the game is squalls death coma, as he dies slowly.

http://squallsdead.com/

personally I think they are over analysing things a bit too much.

http://www.esotericarticles.com/Final_Fantasy_8_Ending_Analysis.html
this is the version of events I choose to believe.

I believe at the end of disk one it is Ultimecia's screwing with time that ends up saving Squall and also explains the game getting weird at that point. Time and reality are being messed with and are mailable. I think Rinoa's desire to save him saved him just as it did at the end of the game.

i didn't believe the idea at first but after reading this i feel stupid for having never seen it in the first place. Amazing! Thank you!

 

[Someone Depressing]

Yep. It was...Decent. Yes, there was some improvements needed there and there, but it's FF, what more could you want?

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

The combat is arguably the worst of the PS1 games.

But the story and characters are good...

But dear god, was the combat a bore. It just felt...inferior...to 7 and 8 for some reason. Despite the same basic mechanics.

 

[creager91]

FF7 was my favorite but 9 had its charm to it that made it awesome as well, I will say this though the ending of 9 IMO is the best one of any of the series it was just such a cliche moment but it was done so well that I still loved it

 

[Atmos Duality]

FF9...love-hate affair here.

Loved:
-Class-centric skills and characters. This is the last time we will ever see this in a Final Fantasy title (that isn't some shitty MMORPG).
-Freya Crescent
-Enemy design
-Combat elements were strong and well-balanced. The game rewards experimentation and preparation, rather than forcing you to find the ONE AND ONLY WAY TO BEAT THIS BOSS (*cough*FF13*cough*)

Dislike/Hated:
-Pretty much everything else
-Vivi was an emo undergoing an existential crisis
-Zidane and Garnet annoyed me; couldn't really connect with either one.
-Quina....uh...the less I say, the better. But seriously: A French stereotype joke taken to the N-th degree is a playable character????

 

[conmag9]

Well, given that I've just really started playing it myself (just got to disk 2 a few days ago)...

I'm loving it. It's not my favorite in the series (10 still takes my top slot), but it's probably my second. Love the setting I've seen so far, the characters (albeit some of them are a bit...hyperfocused in personality). That said, I've only played 12 and 13 very much aside from those, so I can't say anything about the series as a whole.

 

[Rewold]

I can't describe with words how awesome FFIX is.

 

[Talon_Skywarp]

Beatrice needs a good slamming and I would happy marry Kuja, you wierd cross dressing thing.

Best Final Fantasy ever.

 

[DanielBrown]

Apart from the retarded Trance-system; I liked FFIX very much(haven't played it for many, many years). I wouldn't say that I love it.

 

[Sir_Auron_the_Badass]

Oh, hell yes! It's tied with X for my all time favorite of the series (that I've played; still looking for a version of VI I can play since I've heard that its story and gameplay are phenomenal). While some people may not have liked the art style, I thoroughly enjoyed it as it actually felt like a fairy-tale story book come to life. Plus, all the characters felt really defined and likable, and you could truly sense what motivated everyone to do what they did. I'm noticing a lot of Quina hate here... Am I the only one who actually liked that character?

I could go on and on about how Square got so much right with it... but I'll stick with just two points:

1) Memoria is the best final level ever. Actually, fuck that, it's the best level ever. Never have I seen an art department so brilliantly display their talents, nor seen level design that tied into the story, and the very themes, of the game so well.

2) Pre-emptive post for a point that I just know is going to get brought up.

Spoiler: For those going to ***** about how Necron came out of nowhere...

If you pay attention during the last level, it is made clear that Kuja has gone to destroy the crystal at the centre of the universe. This crystal is what keeps the universe going so, in essence, Kuja wants to destroy the universe.

Now, when you fight Kuja, pay attention to what happens at the end of the battle: you don't beat him. Kuja wins. How so? Because as a last act, he casts Ultima which clearly wipes out both your party, himself, and the crystal that's spinning behind him. You lose the boss battle, and Kuja destroys the Universe, if only technically.

How does this Necron tie into this? Because he is FFIX's version of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, all rolled into one. The crystal is destroyed, your characters are killed, and wake up at the gates of oblivion, where Necron is getting ready to roll out and destroy everything. He even says so himself: "I exist to return life to the zero world". As Necron puts it, all life exists merely to seek death. His function is to enable that and, freed by the crystal's destruction, he plans to do so. The final battle is essentially your party trying to stop Armageddon from taking place which, considering how the game is a meditation on how life is always worth living, is pretty apt.

Is this theory supported by Square? Actually, no. Their own Ultimania has a different account of what Necron is. The trouble is that the Ultimania article is a) written years after the game, by people not involved with it, and b) completely balls. Don't listen to it, and instead consider the theory in the spoiler tags. I believe it thoroughly explains where Necron comes from, his role in the game, and how he ties into the themes of the game. Which is more than the bloody Ultimania does...

Could not have said it better myself. I found Memoria quite interesting as well (wouldn't call it my favorite level ever, but still pretty high ranking). I also hear a ton of flack towards Necron, but I completed everything, paid attention to all the lore and what was going on by the time I beat it the first time, and I didn't question his inclusion at the end-game; it just made sense that a "destroyer of worlds" type being would appear when the planet's life source and guardian was destroyed.

 

[EscapeGoat_v1legacy]

I quite liked Final Fantasy IX. I wouldn't say it was amazing, and I wouldn't put it amongst my favourites of the series, but it was enjoyable, and it was nice to go back to a proper fantasy land after the steampunky, darker-and-edgier games that were VI, VII and VIII, even if I did like those games as well.

I will say this though: For £7.99 off the PSN store for my PSP, its got to have been one of the most worthwhile PSN purchases I've ever made. Long-lasting, great story and characters and its just good old-fashioned fun.