Current Events > Final Fantasy IX playthrough thread (expect SPOILERS. and frogs)

(+) Yeah! (+)

when it comes to massive plot twists like the biggest of the big ones in FF9, it makes me feel for any other designers/developers who come on to work on the series and have to accept it as canon

then again my guess is a lot of them don't care

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Have you ever played Star Ocean 2, because, if so...
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Apparently the name 'Bobby Corwen' is a tribute to Boco ('Bo Co')

Fair enough

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The Daguerreo theme is misspelled on the digital soundtrack ('Daguerrep')

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on one hand, not a very important location

on the other hand, it's an official release by a major game developer

Radiohead
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In the ending in which who we assume is Vivi talks about wanting to go on more adventures, it isn't like there is much else left to explore

they literally hit all the continents, including one that no one lives on, and went to another planet via a warp portal and back

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Also it's pretty ballsy for them to assume they'd get there and back OK. I have no idea if The Invincible is equipped for space travel, and even then, they'd all be dead by the time they could get back home.

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it's just the characters being stupid

listen to more Radiohead
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also we never really learned what Beatrix likes about Steiner

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I used to think 9 was probably the best FF OST. In hindsight I still think it's p good but I like 6-8 more

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I just went ahead and bought the FFXII: Zodiac Age OST.

Those two games are so different in so many ways that it's bizarre that they're part of the same series.

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I was just thinking about how ridiculous RPG overworlds are

Like, you having this little picture of your party's leader walking on a map representing the world and you're going so so so many miles on foot within seconds

idk it's late at night my brain's prob just being loopy

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they existed because of technical limitations. stellar processor, no need for an overworld. they're only still used for nostalgic purposes and in amateur 2D mobile phone rpgs anymore.
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That reminds me of a pointless thread I had some years ago on the Square Enix board here in which I was not a very big fan of FFX and this guy kept trying to rip me to shreds because 'Better Technical Capability = Objectively Better Game!'.

I told the guy that I missed overworlds, and it got him very, very mad.

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yeah man, gimme an RPG in which you have to take your characters to the bathroom everyday and make sure they eat a wholesome nutritious breakfast everyday

**** realism
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I just ate some rather gross (barely cooked) chicken

I'd rather eat a gysahl pickle

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I decided I'm not going to bother with Ozma or the hammer bc **** it

Before I allow this thread to drift to the farplane I'll wrap it up with general +s/-s/final (fantasy) thoughts

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you missed an entirely pointless extra minute added to the ending.
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After having my memory refreshed about Necron, I have to say:

Still pretty silly.

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Alright, so

+ Sweet, melodic soundtrack. Not a single bad track. Battle music is one of the better ones in the series. The overworld music isn't as deep as 6's or 7's, but it provides that fairytale fantasyland vibe they were likely going for. It's kind of a 'pop' approach to an FF soundtrack, and it works.

+ Good party diversity in terms of battle. I like fighters, so I kept Steiner in whenever possible. Stealing had an OK rate, so I had Zidane do that a lot. Having a healer practically 'broke' the game in terms of making it very easy, but hey, up to you if you want to use one.

+ The AP system is very straightforward. I had fun with Counter and HP bonuses.

+ Vivi is a good kid. I mean 'was', whoops

+ Tantalus is amusing, and keeping them active throughout the game instead of having us forget about them was a wise development decision.

+ Chocobo hot and cold is fun, as long as you don't get carpal tunnel from it.

+ The forest outside of Treno allows you to level up characters and buy stuff bright and early.

+ I very, very rarely had to use summons. Saved me a lot of watching time.

+ Finding stuff on the ground (gil, stellazio) made paying attention to surroundings worth it.

+ Quina being, at first, optional.

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- Storyline/plot has a lot of bizarre coincidences. A previous FF took a lot of heat for having one (or only one that people complain about, anyway), while this game has many and doesn't take a lot of flack for it.

- Zidane being designed to be the ultimate military weapon... IDK about that one, dawg. I liked it a lot more when I thought his tail was a cheetah tail, too. Monkey tail? Laaame, even if I understand the symbolism going on there. It seems like there are much more sensible ways to go about reviving Terra and taking out Gaia than what Garland and whoever appointed him had in mind.

- Lots and lots of humor, and then really, really bad stuff happens. There isn't much balance. Especially given the goofy character designs, the instinct to be appalled by the villains' misdeeds isn't as there as it could be.

- ATB is very slow, so a lot of battle is sitting and waiting.

- FF8's card game is a zillion times more fun. I don't even bother playing 9's, except when there's no choice.

- Hey let's ride thousands of miles on a massive bug going upside down to reach another continent

- FF7 set the bar high for FF overworlds, and I don't think any other game in the series has come close to matching it. I say that even though FF7 is not my favorite FF. Likewise, I think FF6 did the best job of creating empathy for its world. It's kind of like when a band releases amazing albums early on and even if they make good records later, it's hard not to think of what they achieved earlier in their career and judge them by that standard.

- Necron and the whole final boss situation. Even with the Kuja's hatred/'we've been watching you' explanation, it feels p silly.

- I mean, hypothetically, the fate of the entire universe rests on a spooky-looking Sesame Street reject that fights with a fork, a 6-year old who should be far more traumatized by life than she is, and an angry Ronald McDonald styled mercenary fighting a giant crystal man born out of some guy's hatred who has nothing to do with planet Earth and whatever other planets have life on them out there.

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is frogs a '+' or a '-'
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It's initially a positive and a welcome break from the main game, but if you want to get all of the goodies it gets tedious pretty fast. Particularly if you want to get to 100 and activate the Quale fight. Quale was a bigger challenge for me than Trance Kuja and Necron were.

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DaveTheUseless posted...

It's initially a positive and a welcome break from the main game, but if you want to get all of the goodies it gets tedious pretty fast. Particularly if you want to get to 100 and activate the Quale fight. Quale was a bigger challenge for me than Trance Kuja and Necron were.

You need to do frogs over the course of the game, otherwise it's going to take ages if you save them until the end.

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That, and don't follow a certain politician's advice and drain the swamp.

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you're supposed to not catch the golden frog or some shit i give up whatever
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Fun thing is on this playthrough I didn't notice a golden frog until toward the end. Not sure if golden frogs get held off on appearing until toward the end of the game, if they're based on how many you previously caught, or if it just worked out that way.

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I'll also admit that I didn't exploit Quina's blue magic potential, though I learned some spells for the **** of it. I remain amused that not long after Zidane promised better tasting food than frogs I had Quina eat a skeleton.

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don't knock it til you tried it

Quina is seriously fucking powerful
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to keep respawn from slowwing u want ot leave 1 adult male and female don't empty out the swamps.. i forget what effect gold ones have
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I think Gold ones just speed it up
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- Lack of video of Quina viciously eating the frogs alive.

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+ Zorn and Thorn actually being a badass monster

+ In Final Fantasy games, getting an airship tends to be a joyous and pivotal moment. In FF9, the last airship you get is the machine of DEATH that ruined everybody's life and killed a zillion others. Hooray!

- Basically all of Amarant's backstory and character development

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DaveTheUseless posted...

- Basically all of Amarant's backstory and character development

last time i played, i named him "Useless"
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His partner-in-crime whatshername is even more pointless, unless there was some sort of secret quest concerning her that I missed out on. I noticed if you head back to Madain Sari late in the game that you see her jumping around outside of the treasure room, for whatever that's worth.

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DaveTheUseless posted...

also we never really learned what Beatrix likes about Steiner

He's well hung. You know that 'clank clank clank' sound when he runs? Just his massive dong hitting the metal.
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^ tastier than a gysahl pickle
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I wonder if Zidane needs his lameass monkey tail to survive, or if he could handle it like Dagger did her hair and be legit.

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Also, I regret not naming her Garnet

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He can survive just fine, he just wont be able to transform into a great ape

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Actually on second thought I regret not naming everyone Kuja

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Actually on third thought I regret not naming everyone Frog

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name them all Necron
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Quale should have been the final boss

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Actually on fourth thought I regret not naming everyone Ozma and not fighting Ozma (well, I didn't, so I guess I can't regret that).

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Radiohead >>>> Final Fantasy 9
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