Squaresoft
Final Fantasy IX

The legacy of a masterpiece like FFVIII is heavy, very heavy, especially for someone like me who loved that game almost viscerally and was eagerly waiting to get my hands on its worthy successor. However, from the very first interactions, it became clear to me that "Final Fantasy IX" would remain an eternal second in my view; sure, the combat and character management system is decidedly simpler and more intuitive than its predecessor, the plot, though less refined and rich in nuances is engaging and well-structured, the graphics have improved and the cutscenes are absolutely spectacular, even more so than those of FFVIII. The treasure hunt with the Chocobo, the main side mission of the game, is a delightful pastime, and the core theme of the soundtrack, "Melodies Of Life," is even more beautiful than "Eyes On Me," yet FFIX remains inferior to the previous chapter in all key aspects: for instance, the world of FFVIII is somewhat imaginary but ultimately perfectly plausible, almost parallel, and this is an element that adds a particularly unique charm to the game, while the world of FFIX, also due to the caricature style of the characters and the presence of anthropomorphic animals, ends up being blatantly fictional and unreal, despite the presence of various fascinating locations like the city of Cleyra, Kuja's sumptuous palace, the arcane planet Thera, and the visionary Place of Memories.

The real Achilles' heel of FFIX, however, is the characterization of the characters, starting with the two lead actors: the thief-gentleman Zidane, although likable, doesn't have the depth of Squall, and Princess Garnet is little more than a faded replica of Rinoa; even worse are the two main supporting characters, the knight Steiner, very useful in battle but far too annoying and caricatured as a character, and the black mage Vivi, who, you can call me insensitive, is at times as cloying as Jar-Jar from Star Wars; even worse are the "villains": the obese Queen Brahne, the effeminate Kuja, and his jester minions Zorn and Thorn, who seem to have come out of a costume party and really pale in comparison to Edea and Seifer. Overall, the best ideas come from fairly secondary characters like the shaman girl Eiko and the "knightly women" Freya and Beatrix, who in terms of character depth and evolution throughout the plot hold up very well against the characters of FFVIII.

If you then add that the card game (Tetra Master) is simple to learn, but is decidedly less technical and engaging than the previous "Triple Triad," somewhat like a game of slapjack compared to poker, and the optional secret boss in FFVIII is a gigantic monster called Omega Weapon compared to a sort of multicolored rubber ball named Ozma here, the gap between the two RPGs becomes a noticeable chasm, which, however, does not in any way impair the quality of "Final Fantasy IX," which remains a perhaps lesser but very dignified and enjoyable work. Perhaps, if taken on its own, it would even deserve 5 stars for graphics and playability, and it has rightfully earned a place among my relics alongside "Final Fantasy VIII," which is at the same time the reason I own FFIX and perhaps why I could never fully appreciate it.