Final Fantasy IX

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Final Fantasy IX
North American box art
Developer(s)	Square Co., Ltd.
Publisher(s)	JPN Square Co., Ltd. NA Square Electronic Arts UK Square Europe EU Infogrames AU Square Europe
Designer(s)	Hironobu Sakaguchi (game producer, original concept) Shinji Hashimoto (game producer) Hiroyuki Itō (game director) Shukou Murase (main character designer) Kazuhiko Aoki (scenario writer, event planner) Yoshitaka Amano (original character designer, image illustrator, title logo designer) Nobuo Uematsu (composer) Hideo Minaba (art director)
Series	Final Fantasy series
Release date(s)	JPN July 7, 2000[1] NA November 14, 2000[2] EU February 16, 2001[3] AU February 22, 2001[4]
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Mode(s)	Single player, limited multiplayer
Rating(s)	CERO: A (All Ages) ESRB: T (Teen) USK: 6+ OFLC: M15+ ELSPA: 11+
Platform(s)	PlayStation
Media	4× CD-ROM

Final Fantasy IX (ファイナルファンタジーIX, Fainaru Fantajī Nain^?) is a console role-playing game developed and published by Square Co., Ltd. (now Square Enix Co., Ltd.), and the ninth installment in the Final Fantasy video game series. It was released in 2000, and is the last numbered Final Fantasy game for the Sony PlayStation video game console. The game was developed alongside Final Fantasy VIII, but took a completely different path in line with fans' requests to return to the series roots via castles and other allusions to games in the series. Final Fantasy IX introduced new features to the series, such as the Active Time Event, Mognet, and a revamped equipment and skill system.

Set in the fantasy world of Gaia, Final Fantasy IX's plot centers on a war between two nations, sparked by an ambitious queen. Players follow a young thief named Zidane, who joins with the others to defeat the Queen.

This incarnation of the series was influenced heavily by the original Final Fantasy, and the game consequently has nostalgic qualities for long time fans. Reviews were generally positive.^[5]

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Combat 1.2 Equipment and abilities 2 Plot 2.1 Setting 2.2 Characters 2.3 Story 3 Development 3.1 Music score 4 Reception and criticism 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Gameplay

In Final Fantasy IX, the playable character is navigated throughout the game world, exploring areas and interacting with non-player characters. Most of the game occurs in towns, dungeons, caves, and similar areas, which are referred to as "field screens".^[6] To aid exploration on the field screen, Final Fantasy IX introduces the "field icon", an exclamation mark appearing over their lead character's head, signaling that an item or sign is nearby.^[7][6] Players speak with moogles to record their progress, restore life energy with a tent, and purchase items^[8] — a deviation from previous installments, which used a save point to perform these functions. Moogles may request that the player character deliver letters to other Moogles via "Mognet".^[6]

Players journey between field screen locations via the world map screen, a three dimensional, downsized representation of Final Fantasy IX's world presented in top-down perspective.^[6] Players can freely navigate around the world map screen unless restricted by terrain, such as bodies of water or mountains. To overcome geographical limitations, players can ride emu-like chocobos, sail on a boat, or pilot airships. Like previous Final Fantasy installments, travel across the world map screen and hostile field screen locations is interrupted by random enemy encounters.^[6][9]

Final Fantasy IX offers a new approach to town exploration with Active Time Events (ATE), which provide character enrichment, special items, and prompts for key story-altering decisions.^[6] At specific points, the player may view events that are occurring simultaneously in different locations. ATE is occasionally used to simultaneously control two teams when the party is divided to solve puzzles and navigate mazes.

[edit] Combat

Whenever an encounter with an enemy appears, it shifts directly to the "battle screen" with the enemy on the opposite side of the characters, which uses the familiar Active Time Battle (ATB) system designed by director Hiroyuki Ito and originally began with Final Fantasy IV. The character's command list is presented in a window opposite the ATB gauge list; while all characters can physically attack the enemy or use an item from the player's inventory, they also possess unique abilities. For instance, the thief Zidane can steal items from the enemy, Eiko and Garnet can summon "eidolons" to aid the party, and Vivi can use black magic to damage the opposition.^[6]

These character-specific commands change when the player goes into "Trance mode", which is activated for a short duration when an uncontrollable gauge fills as character sustains damage in a style similar to the Limit Breaks used in Final Fantasy VII. When the gauge is full, the character's strength is amplified and the player can select special attack commands.^[10] Zidane's "Skill" command list, for example, changes to "Dyne", allowing him to execute extremely powerful attacks, and Vivi's "Black Magic" command evolves into "Double Black", allowing him to cast two magic spells in a single turn.^[6]

A character's performance in battle is determined by numerical values ("statistics") for categories such as speed, strength, and magical power. Character statistics, in turn, are driven by experience; when players win battles, they are awarded "experience points", which accumulate until characters gain "experience levels." When characters "level up", the statistics for their attributes permanently increase which may also be amplified by the types of equipment the character is wearing. Winning battles also awards the player money (Gil), Tetra Master playing cards, and ability points (AP).^[6]

However, while the player will receive the normal spoils (Items, Gil, AP and the occasional Tetra Master playing card), no experience points are rewarded upon defeating a boss.

Also, through the Configuration screen, one can change the Battle Style from Normal to Custom, which allows for two players to control two different characters during battle. These controls are only effective during combat in Battle using the ATB system, and two controllers must be plugged into the PlayStation.

[edit] Equipment and abilities

Final Fantasy IX deviates from the style of fully customizable characters featured in the last two titles by reviving the character class concept, which designates a character to a certain role in battle.^[11][12] For instance, Vivi is designated as a black mage and is the only character who can use black magic; Steiner is a knight and is the only character who can use sword skills.^[10] Because characters are less customizable, players are forced to weigh the mission objectives against their character's abilities; if players travel to an area with an anti-magic field, they are best suited to bring warriors rather than mages.^[6][10]

The basic function of equipment in Final Fantasy games is to increase character attributes; arming Zidane with a Mythril Vest, for example, increases his base defense statistic. In Final Fantasy IX, equipment also supports character development through an ability system. Abilities are character skills embedded in weapons and armor, which the character may use once the item is equipped. Once the character accumulates enough ability points in battle, the ability becomes usable without having to keep the item equipped.^[6]

Abilities are classified into action and support categories. Action Abilities consume magic points (MP) and include magic spells and special moves that can be used in battle. Support abilities provide functions that remain in effect indefinitely (e.g., the support ability "Antibody" nullifies poisonous attacks), and must be equipped with magic stones to be functional. The maximum number of these stones increases as the character levels up. In the American (or NTSC) version of the game it is possible to complete the game in under 12 hours, doing so earns you the 'Excalibur II' Sword for Steiner, which can be picked up near the end.^[6][10]

[edit] Plot

[edit] Setting

Main article: List of Final Fantasy IX locations

Final Fantasy IX takes place on the four continents of Gaia. Most of the world's population resides on the Mist Continent, named so because the entire continent is blanketed in thick mist. Lands outside the Mist Continent — the Outer, Lost and Forgotten continents — are uncharted territories and not explored until late in the game. Several locations on the parallel world of Terra and the dream land of Memoria round out the game's areas.

In Final Fantasy IX, the game's developers sought to make the game's environment more "fantasy-oriented" than its PlayStation predecessors. Since the creators wanted to prevent the series from following a redundant setting, Final Fantasy IX distinctly breaks from the futuristic styles Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII via a medieval setting.^[13] In the game, the advent of steam technology is only just beginning to rise; the population relies on hydropower or wind power for energy sources, but sometimes harness Mist or steam to power more advanced engines.^[14] Continuing with the medieval theme, the game's setting is inspired by Norse and Northern European mythology. According to director Hiroyuki Itō, "[The development team is] attracted to European history and mythology because of its depth and its drama."^[13]

[edit] Characters

Main article: Characters of Final Fantasy IX

The eight main playable characters in Final Fantasy IX are Zidane Tribal, a member of a thieve group called Tantalus and a womanizer; Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (alias Dagger) the Princess of Alexandria who has a strange connection to "Eidolons"; Vivi Orunitia, a young Black Mage but very pure of heart; Adelbert Steiner, the Captain of the Knights of Pluto and loyal servant of Alexandria; Freya Crescent, a Dragon Knight from the destroyed city of Burmecia; Quina Quen, a genderless Qu whose master wants him/her to travel the world so that s/he will learn about cuisine; Eiko Carol, a Six-year-old girl living in Madain Sari, the lost village of the Eidolon summoners; and Amarant Coral, a bandit and bounty hunter framed for a crime committed by Zidane that he tried to prevent. Other main characters include Regent Cid Fabool, the charismatic leader of the Lindblum kingdom and uncle to Princess Garnet; Queen Brahne, Garnet's mother and the power-hungry Queen of Alexandria; General Beatrix, the powerful leader of the female knights of Alexandria; and antagonist Kuja, an enemy of the planet Gaia. Other minor characters and groups also appear; their significance and backstory are revealed as the game progresses.

[edit] Story

Final Fantasy IX begins as Tantalus, undercover as a theatre troupe, fulfills Cid's request and kidnaps Princess Garnet (who, ironically enough, wants Zidane to kidnap her). Zidane immediately falls for the beautiful princess. During the operation, Steiner accompanies her in his attempt to protect her, and Vivi becomes involved through circumstance.

Tantalus' airship crash lands in a dark forest, leaving Zidane in charge of the operation. Brahne dispatches elite black mage soldiers to retrieve Garnet, who has adopted the name "Dagger" to conceal her identity.^[15] When Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, and Vivi reach Lindblum, Brahne launches an offensive on the kingdom of Burmecia. Freya learns of the news while in Lindblum, and Zidane and Vivi accompany her to Burmecia to battle Brahne's army. Garnet returns to Alexandria with Steiner to negotiate with Brahne, but they are captured and Brahne begins extracting eidolons from Garnet. Meanwhile, Zidane's party is defeated by Beatrix, an Alexandrian General, and the Burmecians retreat to Cleyra, a kindgom shielded by a perpetual sandstorm. Alexandria's ground forces invade the city and steal a precious jewel needed to complete the legendary "Jewel", the stone that could summon Alexander, who is in fact Alexandria Castle. After the attack, Zidane and company follow the army back to Alexandria through telepods, and Brahne uses the eidolon Odin to obliterate Cleyra. At Alexandria, Zidane's party works with a disillusioned Beatrix to rescue Garnet and escape Alexandria Castle.

Afterwards, Brahne attacks Lindblum with the eidolon Atomos and her army, and Cid surrenders to spare the lives of his constituents. With Cid's help, Zidane and his allies plot to destroy Kuja, the architect of Brahne's military campaign, who is based on the Outer Continent. On the Outer Continent, they discover a secluded village of renegade black mage soldiers. Vivi wrestles with his limited lifespan, and Garnet begins to reciprocate Zidane's affection. At the village, the party learns that Kuja was sighted at the Iifa Tree. En route, they meet the sole survivor of Madain Sari's tribe of summoners, Eiko, who offers to guide them; and Amarant, a battle-hungry mercenary who follows Zidane to understand his strength. At the Iifa Tree, the party destroys the Tree's mechanism for distributing the mist, thus stopping its flow. They spot Kuja being pursued by Brahne, who wishes to destroy her only rival in power. To destroy him, she summons Bahamut, an eidolon and the king of dragons. Kuja uses the Invincible to turn Bahamut against Brahne, which destroys the entire fleet and kills Brahne.

Zidane's group returns to Alexandria, where Dagger is crowned the new queen. Shortly after Dagger's coronation, Kuja uses Bahamut to launch an attack on the city. Dagger and Eiko summon the forbidden eidolon Alexander, who defends the city and defeats Bahamut. Thrilled by Alexander's display of power, Kuja attempts to capture him with the Invincible, only to learn that an angry Garland has assumed control of the ship. With it, Garland destroys Alexandria castle, but Zidane saves Dagger and Eiko in time. With the help of Cid's naval vessel, the party once again searches for Kuja. Their pursuit eventually leads them to Mount Gulug, where Kuja learns of Trance's incredible power and the party learns of Kuja's plan to destroy the world.

After Zidane and his comrades learn that Kuja is from the parallel world Terra, they break the seal of the Shimmering Island, the gateway between Gaia and Terra. There, they teleport to Terra, but also allow Kuja to attach to the slipstream of their journey. In the Terran city of Bran Bal, Zidane learns the truth of his origins and the backstory of the game's plot. At 5,000 years old,^[16] Gaia is relatively new. At the time of the planet's birth, a much older planet, Terra, reached the peak of its prosperity, but the people realized that their planet would soon collapse upon itself and they would be destroyed. As they had done before,^[17] they planned to save their civilization through the assimilation of another planet, and they turned their sights toward Gaia. A Terran named Garland was created to deal with Terra's plight and oversee the assimilation.^[18] For Terra to absorb the planet requires that Gaia — which, in its infancy, is vibrant with life — be weaker than Terra. Garland's first forceful attempts at destroying Gaia's life failed, so he waited until Gaia's civilization evolved enough to gain the power to use destructive "eidolons,^[19] summoned beasts of incredible strength. Garland proceeded to create an entity known as the "Iifa Tree", whose purpose was to block Gaia's souls from returning to the planet.^[20] Deprived of its vital cycle of souls, Gaia would eventually weaken enough to allow Terra's souls to fill the void. The Iifa Tree's secondary function and the complement to Garland's master plan was intended to speed up the delivery of souls to Necron: the Tree channels the stagnant souls through its roots in the form of "Mist" which, in turn, spawns monsters, foments abnormalities in the human mind, and stimulates the fighting spirit, all intended to increase the likelihood of war.

Garland also created "Genomes", superior humanoid beings designed to serve as vessels for the souls of Terra's people.^[21] Twenty four years prior to the game's events, Garland gave life to a defect Genome whose strong will and ambition were unbecoming of a proper vessel.^[21] Rather than discarding the Genome, Garland used him to his advantage and sent Kuja, his "angel of death", to wreak havoc upon the world, speeding the process of reaping souls and further draining the planet of its life.^[21] Kuja, however, was designed only to last until a worthy Genome –- Zidane –- came of age.^[22] Unable to see a Genome with more power than his own, Kuja discarded Zidane onto Gaia, the world he would destroy.^[23] Eventually Garland grew to fear the power of the eidolons he had longed for,^[24] and so he destroyed the summoner's village of Madain Sari with his warship, Invincible. One of the summoners, Jane, managed to escape the destruction with her young daughter, Sarah, and sailed to the kingdom of Alexandria. Jane did not survive the trip, and Sarah was taken in by the king and queen of Alexandria, who noticed that the girl looked remarkably similar to their own recently deceased daughter. The king and queen adopted the girl to raise her in their daughter's place as Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII.

The group flies to the Iifa Tree to stop Kuja's plans for destroying the world, and battle their way into Memoria, a place created out of memories. There, they travel billions of years through spacetime to the genesis of the universe, which was born out of the Crystal, the harbinger of life. They prevent a desperate Kuja from destroying the Crystal, but with his death rattle he unleashes a catastrophic Ultima spell, killing the group, who end up in the soul-sorting process on the Hill of Despair. On death's door they are confronted by Necron, who, independent of Garland's intended role, has concluded that humanity desires nonexistence, the ideal state of the universe, and so plans to destroy the Crystal. They triumph over Necron, and a dying Kuja saves the souls of the party, teleporting them to the base of the Iifa Tree. Zidane decides to stay behind to find Kuja. He says, "I can't just leave him. There's no way I could live with myself. I'm going." He says his goodbyes to the group. After a bittersweet parting with Dagger who asks him to come back, Zidane jumps into the Iifa Tree. He finds Kuja but Kuja dies in his arms as the Iifa Tree collapses upon them.

An unspecified amount of time passes (long enough for Dagger's hair to grow back). The others believe that Zidane is dead, and Garnet, now the reigning queen of Alexandria, attempts to cope with her new life. In the closing moments of the game, Tantalus is performing the play, "I Want To Be Your Canary" (ironically shown at the beginning of the story in which Garnet's kidnapping occurred) in Alexandria on the theater ship. A character in the play "Marcus" reaches for the brooch of his cloak, then turns towards the royal seating and throws his cloak off. However, instead of Marcus, Zidane is the one under the cloak saying, "Bring my beloved Dagger to me!"

Dagger gets up from the throne and rushes towards the main doors to the castle, only to be blocked by Steiner and Beatrix. The two of them open the doors for the queen, who then rushes out into the crowd. Along the way, she loses her royal pendant, and willingly removes her crown right before jumping into Zidane's arms on stage. The crowd goes wild as Steiner and Beatrix hold up the Save the Queen to create a "spotlight" of sorts on the two lovers.

[edit] Development

Development of Final Fantasy IX began before Square had finished development on its predecessor, Final Fantasy VIII. The game was developed in Honolulu, Hawaii. As the series' last game on the PlayStation, Sakaguchi envisioned a "tribute" to the series that went back to "the old-style Final Fantasy." Sakaguchi's vision was consistent with players' feedback. In its conceptual stage, however, the game's developers made it clear that the title would not necessarily be Final Fantasy IX, as its break from the realism of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII may have alienated audiences. This led the Gaming Intelligence Agency to speculate that it would be released as a "gaiden" to the main series. By late 1999, however, Square had confirmed that the game would indeed be published as Final Fantasy IX, and by early 2000, the game was nearly finished. In the meantime, more details on the game's storyline, gameplay mechanics, and character details trickled in. Final Fantasy IX's release was delayed, however, to avoid a concurrent release with rival Enix's much-anticipated Dragon Quest VII (released as Dragon Warrior VII in North America). When it finally did release, Final Fantasy IX received positive reviews from Famitsu.

Final Fantasy IX was also the benchmark of Square's interactive PlayOnline service. PlayOnline was originally developed to interact with Final Fantasy X, but as those plans fell through it became a strategy site for Final Fantasy IX. The site was designed to complement BradyGames' official strategy guide for the game, where players who bought the print guide had access to "keywords" that could be searched for on PlayOnline's site for extra tips and information. This caused fury among buyers of the guide, as they felt cheated for the expensive print guide. The blunder made GameSpy readers' "Top 5 Dumbest Moments in Gaming" list,^[25] and Square dropped the idea for Final Fantasy X, which was under development at the time. The original site is available through this link

[edit] Music score

Main article: Final Fantasy IX albums

Final Fantasy IX is the last Final Fantasy game with music composed exclusively by Nobuo Uematsu. It was his most prolific score, as the original soundtrack for the game has 110 tracks, and an additional soundtrack, Final Fantasy IX Original Soundtrack PLUS, was released with 42 more new tracks. Like its previous game, Final Fantasy VIII, and its later game, Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy IX features a J-pop ballad, Melodies of Life, which was composed by Uematsu, written by Hiroyuki Ito (as Shiomi) (Japanese) and Alexander O. Smith (English) and performed by Emiko Shiratori. The song itself was sung in Japanese for the Japanese release of the game, and in English for the North American and European releases.

[edit] Reception and criticism

Reviews for Final Fantasy IX were generally positive, with praise to the graphics and nostalgic elements. Later the game was voted the 24th-best game of all time by readers of the Japanese magazine Famitsu^[30] and 42nd by the users of the website GameFAQs.^[31]

Final Fantasy IX, though a top seller at the time^[32], did not sell as well as Final Fantasy VII or Final Fantasy VIII in either Japan^[33] or the U.S.^[34] The strategy guide also gained criticism; the book's given links are no longer accessible on the PlayOnline website, but Square-Enix backed up all the files for the guide and placed them in a new site, although it is severely hidden (A link is provided in the reference).^[35] Tetra Master was seen by GameSpot as inferior and confusing compared to Final Fantasy VIII's mini-game Triple Triad, as the rules for it were only vaguely explained in the game and there were very few rewards earned from playing it despite its extensiveness.^[36]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Final Fantasy IX site @ Square Enix (North America)
• Official Final Fantasy IX site @ Square Enix (Europe)
• Final Fantasy IX at Wikia
• Final Fantasy IX at the Open Directory Project (suggest site)
• Final Fantasy IX at MobyGames

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