Final Fantasy IX
Players follow a thief named Zidane Tribal who kidnaps princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII as part of a ploy by the neighboring nation of Lindblum.Envisioned by developers as a retrospective for the series, it departed from the futuristic settings of Final Fantasy VI, VII, and VIII by returning to the medieval style of the earlier games.[3] An extensive optional quest involves sending and receiving letters from Moogles and other non-playable characters via Mognet, an in-game postal service.Like previous Final Fantasy games, players enter battles caused by random encounters with enemies while traveling across the world map or hostile field screens.These allow the player to view events unfolding at different locations, providing character development, unique items, and prompts for story-altering decisions.[1][5] For example, the thief Zidane can steal items, Eiko and Garnet can summon "eidolons" to aid the party, and Vivi can use black magic to damage the opposition.[1] The speed and order in which the characters and enemies take their turn varies according to their agility, an implementation of the Active Time Battle system first featured in Final Fantasy IV.Cleyra, a neighboring settlement that seceded from Burmecia due to its appreciation for war, is situated in a giant tree in the desert, protected by a sandstorm.The main playable characters are: Zidane Tribal, a member of a group of bandits called Tantalus who are masquerading as a theater troupe; Garnet Til Alexandros XVII (alias Dagger), the Princess of Alexandria who runs away with Zidane; Vivi Ornitier, a young, timid, and kind black mage with an unknown origin; Adelbert Steiner, a brash Alexandrian knight captain and loyal servant of Princess Garnet; Freya Crescent, a Burmecian dragoon searching for her lost love; Quina Quen, a Qu whose master wants them to travel the world so that they will learn about cuisine; Eiko Carol, a young girl living in Madain Sari who is one of the last summoners; and Amarant Coral, a bounty hunter hired to return Garnet to Alexandria.[6] Other important characters include Cid Fabool, the charismatic Regent of Lindblum; Brahne, Garnet's adoptive mother and the power-hungry Queen of Alexandria; Beatrix, the general of Alexandria's all-female army; Garland, an elderly Terran male tasked with saving his world; and antagonist Kuja, an arms dealer and pawn of Garland who questions his own existence.[q 2] Zidane's team finds that the Alexandrian forces, headed by Beatrix, conquered Burmecia with help from Kuja and the refugees have fled to Cleyra.On the Outer Continent, the party defeats Lani and meets Eiko, a summoner who lives with a group of moogles in the village of Madain Sari.[q 20] One year later, the game reveals the cast's fate: Tantalus arrives in Alexandria to put on a show; Vivi has implicitly died as Black Mages only live for a year, but he has left behind several identical "sons," as well as grown to understand the meaning of life; Freya and Fratley are rebuilding Burmecia; Cid has adopted Eiko; Quina works in the castle's kitchen; Amarant and Lani are travelling together; and Garnet presides as queen of Alexandria, with Steiner and Beatrix as her guards.[10][11] In the game's conceptual stage, the developers made it clear that the title would not necessarily be Final Fantasy IX, as its break from the realism of VII and VIII may have alienated audiences.[19][20] During writing sessions, Square gave him a travel break in Europe for inspiration, where he spent time admiring ancient architecture in places like Germany.Unlike the stark realism of its predecessors, the high fantasy undertones of IX allowed for a broader spectrum of musical styles and moods.The blunder made GameSpy's "Top 5 Dumbest Moments in Gaming" list, and Square dropped the idea for Final Fantasy X, which was under development at the time.[31] Square Enix re-released the game as part of the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Ultimate Box Japanese package in December 2012.[35][36] Final Fantasy IX sold over 2.65 million copies in Japan by the end of 2000, making it the second-highest selling game of the year in the region.[55][56] In 2001, the game received a "Gold" certification from the Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD),[57] for sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.[63] Francesca Reyes of Next Generation called it "an imaginative return to the roots of the Final Fantasy series that hits the RPG mark dead-on".[5] IGN also noted that even the Active Time Event system helps expand the player's understanding of the characters' personalities as they grapple with many ideas and emotions.[46] Critics acknowledged that Square primarily built the storyline upon elements found in previous Final Fantasy installments, such as evil empires and enigmatic villains.[64] The main villain, although considered by GameSpot to be the least threatening in the series,[5] was seen by IGN as an impeccable combination of "Kefka's cackling villainy" and "plenty of the bishonenosity that made Sephiroth such a hit with the ladies".[4] RPGFan felt that the music was "uninspired and dull" compared to previous Final Fantasy titles and criticized composer Uematsu for reusing some tracks from past iterations of the series.[5] During the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences honored Final Fantasy IX with the "Console Role-Playing", "Art Direction" and "Animation" awards, as well as received nominations for "Game of the Year", "Console Game of the Year", "Original Musical Composition", and "Character or Story Development".[68] Rock Paper Shotgun named the title their 4th best Final Fantasy game available on PC, praising the cast and its eclectic group of heroes.[69] Though overshadowed during its initial release by other Final Fantasy titles, the game has been recognized for its mature themes, including mortality and handling death and is considered a JRPG masterpiece.[73] In June 2021, Cyber Group Studios and Square Enix announced plans to develop an animated television series based on Final Fantasy IX.
Developer(s)SquarePublisher(s)Square EnixDirector(s)Hiroyuki ItoProducer(s)Hironobu SakaguchiShinji HashimotoDesigner(s)Kazuhiko AokiProgrammer(s)Artist(s)Shūkō MuraseWriter(s)Composer(s)Nobuo UematsuFinal FantasyPlatform(s)PlayStationAndroidWindowsPlayStation 4Nintendo SwitchXbox OneGenre(s)Role-playingSingle-playermultiplayerrole-playing video gameZidane TribalGarnet Til Alexandros XVIIQueen BrahneFinal Fantasy VIIIFinal Fantasy VIPlayStation StorePlayStation 3PlayStation PortablePlayStation VitaCyber Group StudiosGameplay of Final Fantasynon-player characterspre-rendered backgroundsMooglesrecord their progressoptional questworld maptop-down perspectivechocobosrandom encounterstake their turnagilityActive Time BattleFinal Fantasy IVTranceFinal Fantasy VIIexperience pointsmagic pointsCharacters of Final Fantasy IXanthropomorphicandrogynousgourmandsVivi OrnitierAdelbert SteinerFreya CrescentQuina QuenEiko CarolAmarant CoralBrahneBeatrixfull-motion videogaidenhydropowerwind powerYoshitaka AmanoThe Dark CrystalMusic of Final Fantasy IXmedieval musicdulcimerFinal Fantasy IIoverworldEmiko ShiratoriShirō HamaguchiDragon Quest VIIMetreoncosplayedcomputer-generatedCoca-ColaPlayOnlinestrategy guidesWindows 10GameRankingsMetacriticFamitsuGame InformerGameProGameSpotNext GenerationTouchArcade4th Annual Interactive Achievement AwardsConsole RPG of the YearOutstanding Achievement in Art DirectionOutstanding Achievement in AnimationGolden Satellite AwardsElectronic Gaming MonthlybishonenositySephirothAcademy of Interactive Arts & SciencesConsole Role-PlayingArt DirectionAnimationGame of the YearOriginal Musical CompositionCharacter or Story DevelopmentMoguri ModOverClocked ReMixJapaneseHepburnYouTubeDark Horse ComicsGamesIndustry.bizCBS InteractiveGameSpyImagine MediaEnterbrainDengeki PlayStation