FF9 General

[Nate]

In honor of my sweet new profile pic (which sums me up pretty well I think), I propose a thread about Final Fantasy 9, especially since it just got released on PSN a few days ago.

Of the numbered Final Fantasy games, 9 has been my favorite. I love 5, don't get me wrong, and 5 is probably my second favorite, but 9 is just...well, it did almost everything right.

I'm not too fond of the ability learning system, though. I dislike having to learn abilities from equipment, especially in a game with a Synthesis system AND missable items. Didn't keep a Mythril Vest from all the way back in Disc 2? Guess what, you can't make the best light armor in the game! That annoys me. I would have vastly preferred a system like Tactics, where AP can be earned by itself in battle and then used to purchase skills however you like. I do realize that would lead to some weird balance issues though...like saving up all your AP so Vivi learns Flare on Disc 1, or ruining the surprise of noticing "Hey, know all those cool skills Beatrix knew? Well Steiner can learn them too! Didn't see that coming did you?"

Still it's not enough to ruin the game and it works okay I suppose, and it does at least provide a good reason to run around and find those Chocograph treasures...although having to do that horribly, terribly annoying Hot and Cold Game is a different story...I hate that game so much.

Anyway, characters. The characters in this game were pretty good. Quina is a personal favorite of mine, because they've never done a character like it in a Final Fantasy game before or since. Quina is vastly different from say, Umaro in FF6 (which is the only character that's really comparable), in that Quina is intelligent, just obsessive. Quina talks silly, but it's not because Quina is dumb, it's because all Qu talk like that (Quale and Quan provide proof). And Quina is actually a skilled artisan, as it proves in Madain Sari. But Quina was a fun character, like nothing that had ever been done before. In combat, Quina wasn't very useful...Blue Magic DID have its uses, but it was fairly situational, and Quina's forks dealing random damage didn't help its fighting abilities. But as a character, Quina was fantastic.

Steiner is my second favorite character, but I am annoyed by a few aspects of his character. I'm not against the fact that he's used for comic relief early on in the game. That actually worked really well, I think. What annoys me is how he's portrayed as horribly incompetent. I think the scene that makes me irritated the most is that throughout the early parts of the game, Zidane calls Steiner "Rusty." I always just took it as Zidane belittling Steiner just because Steiner was being inflexible and rude. But then in Lindblum, Steiner attempts to talk to a random citizen and they tell him "You really should scrape that rust off your armor." That bothers me. It bothers me because it means Zidane wasn't really insulting Steiner so much as saying the truth. It bothers me because Steiner was, as far as I was concerned, supposed to be a proud knight...he even tells a few of the Pluto Knights at the beginning of the game "You're the reason nobody relies on men in Alexandria!" You'd think someone who was so devoted to his job wouldn't wear dirty rusty armor.

I'm not above thinking that may have been a line that was completely made up in the English translation, and the character says something different in Japanese. If that's the case, that was a really bad decision on the part of the localizers. I try to ignore that line (though it's hard to) because it changes Steiner's character from a devoted, hard-headed knight to a bumbling buffoon, worthy of all Zidane's ridicule. Just doesn't sit well with me.

Amarant...is the one character I don't like at all in 9. Now, I'm not talking from a combat perspective. He's immensely powerful and useful in combat, one of the best characters to fight with. But as a character he fails in every conceivable way, I think. I think a big part of this is his really, really bad character model. His arms are longer than his legs, which looks really stupid. No one's arms are that long. Combine that with his Popeye-like forearms, and it looks doubly stupid. And on top of that, he's always hunched over in combat, making him look like some sort of red-haired gorilla. This doesn't seem to work well with his Japanese name, which was "Salamander." He should have been tall and slender, which would work with that name, plus his combination of monk/ninja abilities, the body type would work better.

I also feel he got a bum deal from Zidane, and it's another scene I think knocks down Zidane's character a bit. It goes like this. Amarant was a security guard in Treno. Zidane breaks into the house Amarant is guarding, and steals something. As he runs away, Amarant catches him...but Zidane plays a trick on the other guards, framing Amarant and causing him to become a wanted man, for a crime he didn't commit...just so Zidane could get off scot-free. It's not even like Amarant was a random thug who was trying to shake down Zidane...if that had been the case, then I would be more sympathetic to Zidane and think maybe Amarant deserved it. But Amarant was just trying to do his job, and Zidane ruined his life, for no reason...which is pretty contradictory to Zidane's whole "I like helping people and I don't need a reason to help them...except this one guy who I decided to screw over because if I didn't I'd have to deal with the consequences of my crime!"

Amarant provides some amusing commentary (the Brahne vs. Kuja scene at the Iifa Tree, where he goes "Eh just sit back and enjoy the show. My money's on Kuja to win") but overall he doesn't do a whole lot of anything except talk about how the rest of the team is a bunch of losers. He's a wasted character, he's awesome in a fight but contributes nothing to the story.

Anyway. WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

[Cloud500]

I downloaded it last week and am playing it for the first time. This is an excellent game from back in the day when effort was put into making a game. The graphics aren't the prettiest in the world, but considering when it was made it holds up quite well. The music is just as great as any other game with music composed by Uematsu. I really like the character designs and models( I do like Tetsuya Nomura's art and character designs, but it's nice to try something new every once in a while) ; I know some people thought they looked childish, but they look great and convey a wide range of emotions.

I really enjoyed playing the Final Fantasy ports on the GBA (IV, V, and VI), but was a bit reluctant to play this after being very disappointed with VII (probably the most overrated game ever. Boring villain and mopey and whiny characters. And just to clarify things, I chose this username years ago before actually playing the game.) and VIII looked even less appealing. So I decided to give the last PSOne Final Fantasy a go can say that I am not disappointed in the least. Zidane is an RPG hero who has a positive attitude and doesn't constantly go around pouting and wondering what his purpose or saying that he can't do anything. The supporting cast is great as well. The various characters in the supporting cast are just as great. On a side note, did Brahne's character design remind anyone else of some of the characters in Katsuhiro Otomo's Cannon Fodder?

In terms of gameplay, yeah I would like it if we could go back to the time when characters could learn character specific skills just by leveling up, but the ability system in this game isn't so bad. I love everything else about the battle system, though. I also like just being able to expore in the game. After playing XIII, this game made me realize just how much I missed towns, NPCs, and world maps.

I'm on the third disc, so I'll probably add some more comments after I finish the game. I still don't know whether or not I like it more than VI, but regardless this is the best RPG, or rather game, that I've played in a long time.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I stopped somewhere on disc three and never finished. Sad. I've forgotten the whole story now and I don't want to start from the beginning again.

[Rocketshipper]

I liked it a lot. Melodies of Life is a good song, and I think it has one of my favorite endings in the Final Fantasy series (even with that out of nowehre final boss). Had a very interesting story and some great action packed CGI segments that I loved (Alaxander vs Bahamut FTW!). I really liked how the summons were a big part of the story in 9 and not just a class of really powerful spells (most FF games) or a plot-device for explaining some memory loss (FF 8). I also loved all the little nostalgic callbacks to the "old-school" pre 7 FFs. My little pet fan theory has always been that FF 9 takes place in the same world as FF 5, since it had the two different planets, and the empty locations for the 4 elemental crystals and little things like that.

I also recall that FF9 had like the worst stratigy guide EVER!! It was that one where, instead of giving you usefull information, it told you to go look up information on Square's tie-in website, which is now down completely, making the guide completely useless, except for pretty pictures. I didn't really like the "learn abilities from equipment" system either, because it reminded me a bit too much of FF 6 (of which I am not a fan) and it seemed like it would require too much grinding to equip all my characters with a well rounded arsenal of abilities. I used a gameshark for quick AP gain. The next time I play, I might try it the normal way, although I have much less free time these days, so I may still cheat just for the sake of time.

[goldenspines]

I only just started playing FF9, but I will post my limited thoughts on it so far (and I may add more stuff later, like, two years from now when I actually finish the game. Yes, it may take me that long).

I don't play too many RPGs, but I enjoy them when they are done well. FF9, so far, has had fairly simple to use gameplay. I still don't get how abilities work exactly, but I suppose I'll figure that out as I go along. XD

The characters (the ones I've met anyway) are not annoying yet, which is always a plus in my book. Zidane makes a nice main character. And most of the other characters are fairly balanced in strengths to make a nice team (even though Garnet is only useful for healing right now. But I get the feeling she'll get better once she levels up). In terms of my favorite character, I like Vivi. Probably because I like cute, little creatures that try their very best (and that burn stuff).

The battle system is okay so far. While I'm not always fond of the "loading bar" for your character to attack (they also had this in Chrono Trigger, and those character bars loaded a great deal faster than they do in FF9, btw), I think it works all right in the game (maybe I'm only having a bit of trouble because I'm in Wait mode? I dunno). Also, after finally getting the hang of some controls, I think I'm liking the battle system better. XD One thing I will say about the battle sequences is the music. I very much enjoy the music during a majority of the battles. It's not annoying like some battle music in other games. In all honesty, the music makes me not dread random monster battles as much. XD

The graphics are spiffy for the time they were created; both in and out of battle. The cut scenes are nicely animated too.

I always like games that I can actually play without having to do too many special/hidden tricks or whatever in order to win. Granted, tricks can make it easier, but at least it's not impossible to just play through it without trying to get the super special awesome weapon at the beginning of the game in order to win against the first boss. I'll always have the game to replay if I want to try tricks and stuff later. But on my first time through, it's nice to just have a challenge, but not an impossible task. I can't wait to finish the game (even though it may take me two years XD)

[Mithrandir]

Loved it. Throw tents at your enemies. That is all.

[Jingo Jaden]

IX Is epic. It's either that, or VI which is my favorite.

[Nate]

My little pet fan theory has always been that FF 9 takes place in the same world as FF 5, since it had the two different planets, and the empty locations for the 4 elemental crystals and little things like that.

I doubt it, but, for fun, here you go:

http://www.gamefaqs.com/ps/197338-final-fantasy-ix/faqs/10947

A big list of all the references and callbacks to the other games in the series, plus other games, plus all the other references...like the blatant Star Trek reference in Lindblum. It also answered a question that had been bugging me for AGES, that being the statue in Lindblum Castle where Zidane says "There's no place to insert the medal." Apparently it's a reference to Resident Evil 2. Who knew?

I also recall that FF9 had like the worst stratigy guide EVER!!

Yep, it was awful. Hideous. It was the one that would give you hardly any info and would say "Want to know how to do this? Go to PlayOnline!" Fortunately Square seemed to learn from their mistake.

it seemed like it would require too much grinding to equip all my characters with a well rounded arsenal of abilities.

Nah it really doesn't. Most abilities only take about 20-30 AP to master, which is roughly 15-20 battles depending on the area. Plus there's always the ability Ability Up which doubles the AP that character learns. As long as you don't run from every battle, you'll keep up with the ability learning and shouldn't ever fall behind.

The only time it becomes an issue is when Amarant joins your party and doesn't know any abilities, and you have to end up equipping him with the weakest equipment so he can learn everything. Steiner also ends up slightly behind at the beginning of the game, since he gets the least amount of play time out of everyone. Garnet would be as behind as him, but she has so few abilities that you can learn at that point that she doesn't really count as behind.

Garnet is only useful for healing right now. But I get the feeling she'll get better once she levels up

Spoiler: She doesn't.

She learns the worst White Magic spells, Eiko gets all the good ones, and her summons are somewhat powerful mid-game but by Disc 3 she's the second weakest party member. And then they decide to make her even MORE useless because at that point of the game, there's a big story-related event that causes Garnet to get all pathetic and useless. The effects on her are that she is unable to enter Trance, and on top of that, she will constantly fail to do anything when you choose a command for her in combat, with the game giving you the message "Dagger couldn't concentrate! Command failed!"

By the time she gets over that, she's completely useless. Vivi can deal better elemental and magical damage, Eiko can heal better, and Amarant/Freya/Steiner deal as much or more damage than any of Garnet's summons can. She's definitely the second-worst character battle-wise in the game (Quina only being worse because Blue Magic is situational, Forks deal random damage, and Frog Drop takes a long time to deal large amounts of damage...of course, if you happen to catch 101 frogs to get Quina's Frog Drop to deal 9999 damage every time, then Garnet becomes the worst character by a huge margin).

(maybe I'm only having a bit of trouble because I'm in Wait mode? I dunno).

No. Keep it in Wait mode. The difference between Wait and Active is this: when you choose a command like Black Magic or Item, another menu opens up. In Wait, the bars stop filling up and enemies don't attack while you're in that menu. In Active, bars will still fill up and enemies will continue to attack you while you are in that menu.

You should go to the menu and turn the battle speed all the way up to fast, though. It only helps a little bit, but every little bit helps. When your characters gain more speed and can learn Auto-Haste, it becomes a bit more bearable.

[goldenspines]

Spoiler: She doesn't.

8(
At least I have the other characters to look forward to. XD

No. Keep it in Wait mode. The difference between Wait and Active is this: when you choose a command like Black Magic or Item, another menu opens up. In Wait, the bars stop filling up and enemies don't attack while you're in that menu. In Active, bars will still fill up and enemies will continue to attack you while you are in that menu.

You should go to the menu and turn the battle speed all the way up to fast, though. It only helps a little bit, but every little bit helps. When your characters gain more speed and can learn Auto-Haste, it becomes a bit more bearable.

Impatience could also be my problem. XD But thanks!

[Rocketshipper]

I remember now that my favorite late game stratigy was casting reflect on one of my characters, and then having someone with that one reflecting ability (forgot what its called) bounce spells of of them to the enemy for double damage. That was very satisfying ^^. made healing a bit of a pain though.

I didn't like that FF9 brought back the the spells that hit EVERYONE on the field, including your party. I always thought those spells were never worth bothering with. Why would you ever want to cast them? Even if you protect yourself like by casting float on the party to avoid earthquake, it never seemed like those spells did enough damage to make them worth the MP cost and the extra trouble of protecting your party from them.

[Bobtheduck]

This is one of about 20 games I need to finish... But one I will be very interested in finishing. Better than 12, for sure.

[SnoringFrog]

I loved this game but it's been years since I played through it. I started a 2nd playthrough, but it turns out my disc hangs up when Puck (I think that's his name) leads Vivi onto the rooftops of Alexandria. Which means the best thing I can do in the game is jump rope. Woohoo...

I always loved Vivi, even before I started playing and I read his quote in the manual "How do you prove that we exist? Maybe we don't exist..." I loved that quote, and Vivi's entire search for the truth of what he was. It was kind of sad in all the situations where Vivi is rejected and hated because of what he is, though.

I found Quina hilarious, and thus tried to use her in combat however I could. Usually I would get her to learn Mighty Guard (was obtainable in early game, 64mp for shell and protect on everyone) and...I forgot the other 2-3 blue magic spells I always liked. Always wanted 1000 needles for her but never got it.

As much as I loved Freya, she was never very useful for me because she and a few others disappear from the story for a bit. When they got back, they were too far behind for me to care about leveling them, and thus Freya, Steiner, and...I'm not sure who else, got left behind in the mid-20s/30s.

Amarant was an awesome character in battle for me, except for one fight. I gave him the "Return Magic" ability, which was usually helpful, but then I fought the Kraken. Everytime Amarant was damaged by a spell, Kraken was given about 4000HP back. Eventually, Amarant died and I refused to revive him, which made the battle go much faster.

My final boss battle in the game was interesting too. I had Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Amarant. By the end, Vivi and Amarant had died, and Zidane was in beserk (I think, I just know I didn't give him commands and he always attacked). All I did for the remainder of the battle was have Garnet alternate casting her best healing spell on Zidane one turn, and herself the next. Surprisingly, I won that way.

Fun fact: FFIX was one of the first games I played where I went against the default naming of the characters--well, A character. Garnet. When she wanted to change her name to Dagger, I changed her name to....Garnet.

Edit: When I was younger, I always wanted this game because I felt it was the updated version of the original Final Fantasy (which I played a lot when I was really young). It had a Thief, the person in the red hat, the person with red hair, the white mage, the magic person in blue with the brown hat...lol. When I played through it I also came across the four fiends again, whichfurthered the idea in my head.

[Bobtheduck]

Fun fact: FFIX was one of the first games I played where I went against the default naming of the characters--well, A character. Garnet. When she wanted to change her name to Dagger, I changed her name to....Garnet.

On FF6, where they have ALL CAPS for the names, I usually give them properly spelled (upper AND lowercase letters) names, but I did once name Edgar the name he gives himself when hiding. You know, "I'm not Edgar, I'm..." something... I don't remember it now. I like playing with the names for things like that, but it took a LONG time for any payoff, and I don't remember what happens.

Changing the dog's name on Earthbound (or favorite food) is much quicker.

[Nate]

I remember now that my favorite late game stratigy was casting reflect on one of my characters, and then having someone with that one reflecting ability (forgot what its called) bounce spells of of them to the enemy for double damage.

ReflectX2. It's...well it's an okay strategy. It works well enough, but I find black magic to be fairly worthless late game, especially if you have the good weapons for Zidane/Steiner/Amarant.

That was very satisfying ^^. made healing a bit of a pain though.

Not if you put Reflect-Null on Garnet/Eiko. :p

I didn't like that FF9 brought back the the spells that hit EVERYONE on the field, including your party.

I'm pretty sure the only spell that fits that description in 9 is Night, which is Blue Magic...and it has its uses if everyone has the Insomniac ability equipped. I know for a fact Earth Shaker doesn't hit the party ('cuz I used it in a boss fight last night).

EDIT: Whoops, forgot about Doomsday, Vivi's spell that deals Shadow damage to everybody. That's actually a fantastically useful spell though, since all you need to do is equip everyone with items that absorb Shadow damage, and then it becomes "Deal craploads of damage to the enemies and heal everyone in your party at the same time." In fact, one of the big strategies to defeat Ozma (the superboss of 9) is to have Vivi and Amarant in your party, both equipped with Return Magic, and have everyone with Shadow absorbing equipment on. Ozma casts Doomsday, hurting himself and healing your party, then Vivi AND Amarant both cast Doomsday in return, doing even more damage to Ozma and ensuring the party will be completely healed if they weren't already.

Usually I would get her to learn Mighty Guard (was obtainable in early game, 64mp for shell and protect on everyone) and...I forgot the other 2-3 blue magic spells I always liked. Always wanted 1000 needles for her but never got it.

That's because Cactuar is hard to find in 9. It's a fairly rare encounter...at least early on. The good Blue Magic spells are Mighty Guard, 1000 Needles, White Wind, Auto-Life (though this one becomes less useful once Amarant joins, since Aura does that plus Regen, and if he's Tranced he can do the entire party at once), and Level 5 Death (this one is unbelievably useful for level grinding against Grand Dragon).

Other neat Blue Magic spells are Frog Drop (which can do consistent 9999 damage if you keep up Quina's frog catching), Twister (only real consistent source of wind damage), Earth Shaker (only source of earth damage), and Bad Breath (but it seems to hit less in this game than others). Limit Glove is EXTREMELY situational but really really nice when it works...it does 9999 guaranteed damage if Quina's HP is 1.

When they got back, they were too far behind for me to care about leveling them, and thus Freya, Steiner, and...I'm not sure who else, got left behind in the mid-20s/30s.

That's a big mistake. XD Steiner is hands-down the second best character in the game (second only to Zidane). He seems sort of weak when you first get him, but at the end of the game when he's got Ragnarok, with the Shock ability? Huge amounts of damage. Heck you don't even need Shock, just Ragnarok by itself is plenty.

Freya is fairly useful too, if you use Grand Dragons to level up, because each one you kill adds to Freya's Dragon Crest ability, which will do 9999 fixed damage if you kill enough dragons. Until then though Freya is one of the weaker characters to be sure.

Amarant was an awesome character in battle for me, except for one fight. I gave him the "Return Magic" ability,

HA I did that with Vivi against the Kraken too. XD But fortunately Steiner, Zidane, and Vivi were able to deal enough damage that Vivi's healing it was annoying, but able to be overcome.

but I did once name Edgar the name he gives himself when hiding

Gerad.

Also fun is naming Red XIII "Nanaki."

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Egads, I need to play this game again. It's been on my mind for WEEKS, and I finally pulled out my strategy guide AND a friend gave me a transcript of ALL OF THE INFORMATION THAT WAS EXCLUSIVE TO THE ONLINE PORTION OF THE PLAYONLINE GUIDE. =,= I need to find what my wife did with this game.

[uc pseudonym]

I enjoyed FF9 on many levels. I even think it looks fairly nice. Not that I’m a fan of the cartoonish style, it’s just that I think they didn’t have the technology to do something closer to realism until the PS2 (I did not enjoy looking at FF7 or FF8).

Getting abilities from equipment has the occasional disadvantages, but I enjoyed it overall. Considering that your equipment build doesn’t matter until late game, it was nice to have some other objectives than just numbers. Plus, it makes equipment more than something you’ll just discard shortly when anything better comes along.

Steiner is a good character (Shock), though I’m obviously preaching to the choir here. I didn’t particularly like Dagger, but I wish she had better spells because Eiko is very low on my list of characters. For the FF series.

Anyone here go for Ozma? I felt like it was the first super boss to give a satisfying challenge since FF5 (not that the Weapons were completely boring). The only problem is that you have to do the entire Chocobo minigame and track down the friendly creatures. At least the latter one allows for the Doomsday trick.

Are we doing the spoiler thing? Just in case, I’ll tag one of my main complaints with the plot:
[spoiler]The Invincible. When I first saw the giant eye I was interested, thinking there was some kind of Elder God or force beyond the Eidolons. But no, just an airship that looks like an eye. And Garland just sort of dies too. That's no fun.[/spoiler]

[Nate]

Considering that your equipment build doesn’t matter until late game, it was nice to have some other objectives than just numbers. Plus, it makes equipment more than something you’ll just discard shortly when anything better comes along.

I'm still not fond of it (especially since there are missable items), but I do admit that at least having abilities tied to equipment gave a reason for searching out some of the better equipment, as opposed to say, FF8 where it's like "Yeah, I COULD go out and get the items to build Lionheart, but I can beat every enemy in the game with this sword already."

Still not worth going for Excalibur II though. Come to think of it, I wonder if it's even possible to get that on the PSN version of FFIX (since there's no way to skip cutscenes like there is on the disc version).

Eiko is very low on my list of characters. For the FF series.

I'm curious as to why. I admit she was quite a bit annoying, but she's supposed to be six, so it fits for her to be a brat. I'm assuming you meant character-wise, at least, as opposed to combat-wise.

Anyone here go for Ozma?

I fought Ozma once, but didn't expect to win (and I didn't). I will go for beating him on this playthrough, though, since beating him will mean there's only one optional boss I'll have never beaten in a FF game. That being Omega Weapon in FF8, who is complete and utter BS. Sorry, Square, but luck-based fights for superbosses is not good game-making.

The only problem is that you have to do the entire Chocobo minigame and track down the friendly creatures. At least the latter one allows for the Doomsday trick.

You don't have to track down the friendly creatures, the only advantage that gives you is being able to attack Ozma physically. You can still beat him without using the Attack command if you don't want to do the friendly monsters quest (in fact I think most strategies don't even use the Attack command anyway).

But yeah you do have to do the Chocobo minigame, which can be time-consuming, and I still hate it. :\

[Radical Dreamer]

This is one of those games that I would love to play, but will never be able to find anymore. XD I was able to borrow it from a friend a couple of years ago, but I only had enough time to get about an hour into it, and after that I had to return it. XD Such a shame! I've always liked the art style in it, though. Yoshitaka Amano's character designs are FTW.

[Nate]

You can find it easily on PSN! All you have to do is buy a PS3 for 300 dollars! COME ON IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT.

Nah but you can probably snag a cheap copy on Amazon or something.

http://www.amazon.com/Final-Fantasy-IX-Playstation/dp/B00004Y57G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=videogames&qid=1277588507&sr=8-1

There you go, new copies starting from 14 bucks. That's pretty cheap.

[MasterDias]

I have fond memories of Final Fantasy IX. It was the only Final Fantasy game that actually made me laugh. I remember finding that last boss really irritating though. Grand Cross was painful.

As for Ozma, I did fight him a few times, but never defeated him. I actually have a fairly poor track record in defeating those uber-powerful optional bosses. By the time I finish the game and do the other sidequests, I'm generally ready to move on to something else. I did beat one of them in Final Fantasy VIII. Whatever that first one's name was... Ultima Weapon?

This is one of those games that I would love to play, but will never be able to find anymore. XD I was able to borrow it from a friend a couple of years ago, but I only had enough time to get about an hour into it, and after that I had to return it. XD Such a shame! I've always liked the art style in it, though. Yoshitaka Amano's character designs are FTW.

If you don't have PSN, buy it new off Amazon for $13.49.

[Fish and Chips]

I love FFIX, though most of you should know this by now. It's sort of strange in that I really don't care about the rest of the Final Fantasy franchise whatsoever, however that works out, so I have to correct people who think I like the whole series just because I enjoyed IX.

There are better RPGs out there. On paper, I could name a couple of them, fundamentally better, inherently better, more competently put together than IX, including one that predates it - but it's still my personal favorite. FFIX occupies a special place in my heart.

I stopped somewhere on disc three and never finished. Sad. I've forgotten the whole story now and I don't want to start from the beginning again.

When I was a kid, FFIX was the first serious RPG I had played up to that point (not counting Pokemon). I didn't understand anything and played generously tactlessly, somehow through sheer luck managing to make my way to disc four, Memoria, where Deathguise ate me alive in under a minute. Reloading after a convenient game over screen, I looked over my party setup and realized I didn't stand a chance against Deathguise, not with the way I had things.

So I restarted my game from disc one. Right there. Everything I'd played through for the last two months, I ran through the steps again - actually learning how to play the game this time. Deathguise, I should note, is the third-to-last boss in the game. That's how much time I had invested in it. That's how close I was to finishing it. And I started over completely.

On my next playthrough I ran Deathguise into the ground. One of the most satisfying feelings I'd ever had.

Oh wait, still gotta fight Kuja and Necron.

On FF6, where they have ALL CAPS for the names, I usually give them properly spelled (upper AND lowercase letters) names, but I did once name Edgar the name he gives himself when hiding. You know, "I'm not Edgar, I'm..." something... I don't remember it now. I like playing with the names for things like that, but it took a LONG time for any payoff, and I don't remember what happens.

Gerad.

Also fun is naming Red XIII "Nanaki."

I've always been partial to naming Garnet "Sarah."

Anyone here go for Ozma? I felt like it was the first super boss to give a satisfying challenge since FF5 (not that the Weapons were completely boring). The only problem is that you have to do the entire Chocobo minigame and track down the friendly creatures.

Funny story, actually.

As a couple of you were aware, back in 2009 I did a little 100% Completion Run of FFIX - of course, including all bonus bosses. Now the only boss I'd ever found in any previous playthroughs had been Tantarian, so I decided to do a little homework on who I had left to clear. Everyone unanimously agreed Ozma was nightmarish, whereas the moderately less celebrated Hades was a pushover excuse for a boss. Seriously, the only even remotely dangerous moves he has are Cleave and Mustard Bomb, and having body temperature equipped negates Mustard Bomb and he rarely ever uses Cleave, forget that guy. If you can take down Ozma, he's nothing - in fact, go beat Ozma first, so Hades can say something amusing about it when you face him. It's hilarious, we swear.

So I do the Chocobo Hot and Cold side quest and am preparing to fight Ozma - except that I've done the Friendly Monsters side quest, so physical attacks can now hurt him, and I've leveled up Zidane's Thievery and Freya's Dragon Crest, learned Shock for Steiner and No Mercy for Amarant, so my party does 9999 damage each guaranteed per turn, except Amarant who does a slightly less dependable roughly 7770. With this setup you can kill any enemy in the game in two or three turns. This includes Trance Kuja and Necron. And Ozma. And because that wasn't enough, I also threw Pumice Piece in there just for giggles. And equipped Auto-Reflect.

Ozma went down like a PUNK. I don't think he laid so much as a scratch on me. And then he got his own magic reflected back on himself and committed suicide. I was awesome.

So I get back to Memoria, time to take down Hades, right?

"Wh-what!? You've defeated Ozma!? ...I've come to far to retreat. Onward!"

And then Hades used Cleave.
And then Hades used Cleave TWICE. In a row.

I won by virtue of damage output, but when he died my party was on its last legs HP speaking.

So yeah, that's whatever that is.

[uc pseudonym]

I fought Ozma once, but didn't expect to win (and I didn't). I will go for beating him on this playthrough, though, since beating him will mean there's only one optional boss I'll have never beaten in a FF game.

Do you know the thing about Ozma's speed? Realizing it made a significant difference for me, anyway, so I'll explain because probably someone doesn't know:

Ozma does get normal turns, but it also gets to preemptively attack before you, no matter what. And the turns do stack, which means that if you did everything wrong you could potentially be getting hit with five attacks every round. But while Ozma is in the process of preempting someone, you can quickly put in all your commands without provoking any more retaliation.

Still not worth going for Excalibur II though. Come to think of it, I wonder if it's even possible to get that on the PSN version of FFIX (since there's no way to skip cutscenes like there is on the disc version).

Yeah, I never even tried for the Excalibur II. I think I've heard that you can do it without skipping cutscenes, but that it's rough. It's even less worth it since the sword doesn't teach any skills you can't get elsewhere and you're already maxing damage with Shock.

I'm curious as to why. I admit she was quite a bit annoying, but she's supposed to be six, so it fits for her to be a brat. I'm assuming you meant character-wise, at least, as opposed to combat-wise.

Oh, it fits. I just don't think it's a very good idea to have a six year old character, because six year olds tend to be annoying and not interesting. Especially when we have to stop the plot for a while so that she can cook or talk about her crush on Zidane.

You don't have to track down the friendly creatures, the only advantage that gives you is being able to attack Ozma physically. You can still beat him without using the Attack command if you don't want to do the friendly monsters quest (in fact I think most strategies don't even use the Attack command anyway).

Hm. I thought that Ozma absorbed shadow if you hadn't done that quest (thus weakening the Doomsday trick), but my information could be wrong. I never tried the battle without it because I already had all but one of the friendly creatures by the end of the game.

So yeah, that's whatever that is.

That's bad luck, is what it is. I only saw Cleave once, though admittedly the battle didn't go on for very long.

The difficulty of Ozma can vary as well based on the attacks chosen. I actually beat him twice because the first time the AI made bad choices and it was too easy. Not that it would matter against your party. Mine didn't have Thievery or Dragon's Crest because I didn't realize those could be raised to 9999 until it was too late for me to want to try it.

[Nate]

Hm. I thought that Ozma absorbed shadow if you hadn't done that quest (thus weakening the Doomsday trick), but my information could be wrong. I never tried the battle without it because I already had all but one of the friendly creatures by the end of the game.

I checked on the Final Fantasy Wiki, and you're right. There's actually two benefits to the friendly monsters quest.

Completing the Friendly Monsters Side Quest before tackling Ozma offers some advantages to the player. Once completed, Ozma will no longer be 'out of reach' despite being a flying opponent, and it is possible to hit it with physical attacks. Ozma will absorb Shadow (and thus be healed by Doomsday) unless the side quest is completed.

So yeah Ozma would be significantly harder without doing that.

Especially when we have to stop the plot for a while so that she can cook or talk about her crush on Zidane.

I actually liked that part a bit, because it showed Quina was actually skilled at stuff, and learning more, and isn't just some frog-obsessed weirdo.

But her whole "I love Zidane! Wait no, I hate him! No, I love him! I have no chance with him so I don't care! But I want to be with him!" got annoying.

Okay, so, going through Memoria again, I realized that this part of the story confused the crap out of me because it seems to make absolutely no sense. Since some people may not have gotten this far, I'll spoiler tag it. Anyway it's about the events in Memoria.
[SPOILER]Okay, so we witness Alexandria being destroyed again. Quina doesn't see it, because she wasn't there. Makes sense.

Then we get the scene of Garnet and her mom in the storm at Madain Sari. Zidane sees this]

[Mr. SmartyPants]

Also fun is naming Red XIII "Nanaki."

And naming Frog as "Glenn". XD

[Nate]

I have done that literally every single time I've played Chrono Trigger after my first playthrough.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I
have
found
my
ARTBOOK!!!

I love this book.

[SnoringFrog]

My second playthrough I spent a lot more time working on Thievery, didn't know about Dragon's Crest though. Also, I spent a few hours just pressing X over and over leveling Steiner and Vivi to beat that optional book-boss (only optional boss I ever beat) the first time you could find him. I got crazy lucky, especially when my strategy of trance-Steiner flame swording and getting a critical hit utterly collapsed, but it worked out and I won, somehow.

Hades slaughtered me when I fought him, so instead I just played cards with him a lot. I loved playing cards in Memoria.

[Bobtheduck]

And naming Frog as "Glenn". XD

I do that one, too. And I give Robo his original name, too. I sometimes name [spoiler]Magus "Janus"[/spoiler] but the surprised is kind of ruined by that time.

[Nate]

Oh yeah, I almost always name Robo "R66Y." It's a bit of fun to hear Marle say, "R66Y? That's a terrible name! Let's think of a better one! How about...R66Y?" It's just too bad that there isn't enough space to name him
[SPOILER]Prometheus.[/SPOILER]
So anyway I got some of my Memoria facts wrong. I'm a bit further than I was last post, and I was going mostly from memory on it, so...
[SPOILER]Okay, so Garnet DOES see the memory of the girl on the ship, and realizes it's her memory, and is confused why Zidane saw it too.

I am almost 100% positive though that at some point Zidane does ask why he has memories of Gaia if he's from Terra, and that question never gets answered. I'll have to get further to see...I think it may be right after the "underwater" place when Vivi and Freya say that Gaia used to be covered in water, but that's at least an hour or so of game time away.

So it's still confusing.[/SPOILER]