I just started this too! I've played through all the FF's starting with 1 and now I'm here. This game is absolutely so charming, I'm in love with it.
btw 8 was awful. might even beat out 2 for worst
your comment is kinda funny saying they went back to the cartoony style of 7. 7 felt like a massive tonal shift to being more serious and gritty in both artstyle and world building compared to 6. I think it probably only feels cartoony compared to 8 because the graphics weren't quite there yet, but I think being more like 8 was their goal. I'd say 9 is a return to 6 rather than 7
The batman villians all seem to be one big joke that batman refuses to laugh at - SantaRPG