One of the last RPG games on the ps1. A great final fantasy. Truly worth playing. A very exciting game.
Final fantasy 9 (ff9 for short) is one of the later versions of final fantasy brought out on the playstation 1.
Final fantasy 9 came out in 2000 - 2001. So a pretty old game.
Storyline:
This is where the game exceeds. It has a long storyline. From the beginning of the game the storyline begins with a griping entrance to the scene and remains like that for the entire game. In the storyline a lot of things come forward. Love, sorrow, pain, hope, arrogance and the fight between good and evil. Everytime when you think a time of peace has arrived a new evil comes into play. There's always something bad happening. For the storyline true moments of peace and joy rarely come into play. And next to that, When following the storyline strictly you will get drawn into it. Giving you a feeling of how the main characters feel and think. As if you're watching a movie.
Graphics:
Another point where the game exceeds at. For a ps1 game it has outstanding graphics. During regula gameplay the enviroment you're into looks the most realistic. The characters though look a little unclear compared to it. In the outside world which is outside of the cities the graphics are less outstanding. If you played any of the earlier version of final fantasy you know what I mean. You can almost compare it to how good the characters in final fantasy 8 look when walking in a town. Now for the cutscenes. The cutscenes (The movies that play sometimes through an event in a game) look amazing. This are the graphics the final fantasy series are famous for. These cutscenes have very high quality graphics. These graphics are the most realistic in the game. When watching them it's nearly as if it's reality you're looking at.
Game play:
Actual game play only comes forward in the countless fight you'll have throughout the game. Final fantasy 9 has a semi-real time battle system. When in combat you have an ATB guage. I have no idea what that means though. And when the guage fills that character gets the option to take actions in battle. Most character have 4 commands. 2 of them are unique for each character. The other 2 are the same for all characters. In final fantasy you fight in a group of 4 people. Less at times other characters aren't available.
Difficulty:
It's hard. The difficulty is hard for those who never played the game and also for those who did. On the lower levels there's no way to make it easier in anyway. It'll always be hard no matter how experienced you are. Later at the end of the game it will become easier. Slowly but surely. But still there remain some battles that are very hard even at the higher levels. And that's good. It's very challenging.
Boss fights:
The difficulty of the game is hard as just mentioned above. Of course that also occurs for the boss fights. Especially the boss fights. Well not every boss fight is hard. There are also some easy ones in the game. But there are as good as no boss fights that are a piece of cake. In these battles you're not supposed to hold back. If you do it might mean game over for you. Making a wrong decision in a boss fight can be very troublesome for you. Especially at the lower levels. Also at the higher levels. But at the higher levels you don't have to worry as much as on the lower levels. And boss fight come quite frequently. There are lots of boss fight. You can't avoid them. Most of them force you to fight a boss. But no worries. There are also a very few that are optional.
Side quests:
The game doesn't have many side quests. Please note that side quests are optional. They aren't nescesary to complete the game. But then can give you some nice benefits for later. And some of them are really helpful for facing later bosses. They unlock new possibilities and even an additional boss fight. And very useful equipment can be gotten from it. But side quest can rather take a lot of time to complete. Please don't forget that.
Characters:
The characters in the you play as are all different from each other. And I mean Completely. Each character has his own unique personality that barely matches that of the others. They also show it clearly in conversations. You will get a good impression of what a character is like. Own way of talking, own way of thinking, own way of expressions. They all show it it very clearly making the game more like a true story. This isn't only for the characters you'll be using but this also occurs for all other characters you'll see in the game. Though you won't see much of most other people throughout the game. Mostly the main character next to the ones you're using. Like the bad guys.
Ease of play:
The game is easy to play and to understand. Throughout the game you'll get tons of toturials explaining lots of subjects in the game. Like card games, trance, battle system and synthetis shops and how navigation works. It's very organized and paying good attention to it will make things much easier and more fun for you to do.
Mini games:
As in other final fantasy games and a lot of games outside of the final fantasy series this game has a few mini games. One of these mini games in playing a cards game. Most mini games are for fun only and don't really have an actual use. But there are a few that has '' some '' uses. Some of the mini games will earn you new items. And one of the mini games unlocks a new boss. But hey that's enough spoiling.
I hope you learned from my review and if you find it helpful in any way the please recommend it. Have fun when playing this game.
Rating: 10/10
Difficulty: 9/10
Graphics: 10/10
Time spent: 100+ hours.
Overall: 10