Retrospective: Final Fantasy IX

20 Jul, 2011

Developer: Squaresoft [Now Square-Enix]
Producer: Squaresoft
Platforms: Playstation
Release Date: Japan: July 7th, 2000; North America: November 14th, 2000; Europe: February 16th, 2001; Austrailia: February 22nd, 2001.
In Ten Words Or Less: An absolute masterclass in game design, flawless in every aspect. Perfect.

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The greatest video game of all time. It’s a bold claim, and an accolade many attribute to a whole array of different titles. Amongst this list, however, a select number are mentioned by almost all – Metal Gear Solid, Knights of the Old Republic, Goldeneye, Ocarina of Time and Final Fantasy VII are arguably the most common examples. There are good reasons for this; you’d be hard pushed to find any gamer or critic who will disagree with any of the praise these games receive, and you’d be harder pushed to find flaws in any of the aforementioned games.

That’s not to say some games aren’t overlooked, of course. Shadow of the Colossus, despite receiving perfect scores across the board from gaming publications, sold about as well as the Dreamcast. The same can be said about the games spiritual predecessor, ICO. The imminent high definition remakes are set to remedy this, but they weren’t the record-breaking smash hits that they deserved to be upon release.

This is also the case with Final Fantasy IX. After the sheer brilliance of VII, and the graphical improvement and innovation of VIII, IX is overcast by the shadow of the series from which it hails. Even Square Enix, the development team behind the series, refer to themselves as “The creators of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VIII & Final Fantasy X” when plugging new instalments. For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone could be ashamed of IX, let alone deny its existence. No, it doesn’t innovate. It doesn’t require a mastery of tactical combat, nor does it ask for a triple digit amount of hours to see everything it can offer. It’s not relentlessly difficult, and it doesn’t present unbalanced boss fights as “end game content” either.

So, why is Final Fantasy IX possibly one of the best games of all time? It takes everything we love about video games and refines it to the nth degree. No other game generates such atmosphere and emotion without effort. Never does any aspect of the story feel forced upon the audience either, despite the amount of cut scenes present across the four-disc adventure.  Speaking of which, this particular story is worth the play through alone. Drawing from various influences, most notably Norse mythology, Shakespeare and Tolkien, the narrative feels familiar, but never rehashed or predictable. The game is also paced perfectly throughout – there’s hardly a dull, unnecessary moment in the game’s entirety, and considering that it’ll take thirty or forty hours to reach the final bosses, it’s nothing short of a miracle.

The premise behind the story is wonderfully simple, beginning with the kidnapping of a princess. You take control of the leader of a gang of thieves as the whole plan begins to come together. Amidst the daring escape, the ship crashes, and as a result, you lead your newly formed party of misfits to the safety of your hideout. Much more sinister forces lie in wait over the course of the game, as you’d expect, with the game eventually spanning the width and breadth of two worlds in their quest to prevent the world’s imminent destruction. What really makes this stand apart from every other role playing game though is the game’s decision to form a hero out of an individual who, on paper, should be the villain of the piece. Such a simple twist on the story allows for a new perspective on typical fantasy stereotypes, such as the gallant knight and the helpless princess. It’s this satirical approach to – and conscious embracing of – the traditional fantasy setting that makes IX unique.

It’s not just in the plot department that the game excels, either. Without the inclusion of voice acting, the game relies heavily on the soundtrack to generate the right tone, atmosphere or emotion to accompany the dialogue. This in itself is a blessing – the lack of other audio in IX allows the compositions to breathe, successfully leaving a lasting impression on the player. The Final Fantasy series has always been known for its high quality soundtracks, but IX takes this above and beyond the call of duty. From the sweeping overture to the dramatic final boss fights, the playful Chocobo themes to the haunting Esto Gaza, every aspect of the audio is spot on. It’s a soundtrack worthy of various accolades in its own right, and it’s the highlight of Nobou Uematsu’s outstanding back catalogue.

A generic criticism of the series in general is the complexity of the gameplay. VII’s materia system worked relatively well, but it made characters reliant entirely on the powers of the materia they were holding. It also meant for long hours of customisation in order to walk into combat with a balanced party. VIII replaced that with the Junction system, which allowed the game to be an absolute pushover after a good two hours of grinding at the first foray into the world map. It also meant that Magic became a stat enhancing trait, and using it in battle often came at the expense of your characters own parameters. Finally though, it meant that you had to worry about every individual statistic yourself, with mistakes often punishable with the Game Over screen.

IX’s system learnt from the mistakes of the previous games, while devising a system in keeping with the setting of the game. Rather than have the player customise characters to a role of best fit, IX returned to the tried-and-tested class system of much earlier installments. You’re now picking a character for what they individually bring to combat, with each character learning from a set school of moves. Bringing the right team of four to the fight in the first place is now instrumental to success, and forces a different sort of tactical thinking than other entries in the series.

Abilities are now learnt via equipping certain weaponry and armour. Instead of switching entire move sets between characters, each character learns abilities and spells over time, meaning that regardless of what equipment you select, everyone can still perform to the best of their abilities. This simpler system lacks diversity, but it makes up for this with an added degree of character development and realism – dedicated wizards knew about as much magic as martial artists, according to the mythos of VII or VIII.

This constant refinement is echoed in all aspects of gameplay. The combat is considerably more accessible, whilst still remaining tactical and fluid. Controls across the entire game feel responsive and natural, with easy-to-navigate menus and diverse level design. The game shifts from 3D to 2D landscapes with ease and style, and it’s this charismatic game design that spills over into the visual aspects of IX. Graphically, the game will forever be known as the best looking game on the original PlayStation, but even now the game’s art style has stood the test of time. The charm and wit of the dialogue is shown through delicate animation, with the large heads and huge weapons only adding to the sense of fun that IX offers by the tonne. The world map remains one of the best worlds created in any game to date, and each location contained within it is detailed to an unbelievable extent.

The only area where the game really shows any sign of faltering is perhaps the optional side quests on offer. Hades, Ozma and Tantarian are all fantastic boss battles, and the Chocograph system is a magnificent world-spanning treasure hunt, but beyond that, the game lacks some variety. Tetra Master is a good distraction, but it pales in comparison to Triple Triad, the card game from Final Fantasy VIII. The cards themselves offer no use in terms of equipment customisation or acquisition, meaning that the whole thing just feels like an afterthought. Chocobo Hot & Cold is also by far the most frustrating mini game ever to grace the Final Fantasy series, with many of my gameplay hours spent looking at the word, “Kweh.” On a more positive note, however, the hardcore among you will relish the Excalibur II side quest – racing through to the end of the game in under 12 hours is an astounding feat in its own right, but those of you looking for 100% completion will also have to fully explore areas that later become sealed off, or purchase items that are only on sale at certain events.

There will never be a perfect video game. This is a sentiment shared by just about all of the gaming press, as well as the gaming public. With that in mind though, I believe nothing will ever get as close as Final Fantasy IX did. Even with the imminent demise of the Japanese role playing game, IX stands not only testament to the ability of the genre, but also to the ability of games in general. The perfect combination of incredible storytelling, human emotion, immersion and aesthetics, it’s a perfect example of what the video game medium can be, and perhaps what it should be.

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