Final Fantasy 9 was an unusual entry in Square’s popular JRPG franchise. After the series had advanced drastically with the previous two entries, Final Fantasy 9 felt like a step back. It had much more in common with the Nintendo-era games than its immediate predecessors. It was also released on the PS1 right as the PS2 was launching, and the world was eagerly awaiting to see what Square would do with the new hardware rather than what they were doing with the old.
It means that Final Fantasy 9 is often an overlooked title in the series, which is a shame, as it has a lot of great elements that could justify it as the best game. From its unique visuals to its emotional core, there are many reasons to love Final Fantasy 9.
6 Distinctive Art Style
The immediate reaction players might have to Final Fantasy 9 is how unusual its art style it is. After the previous two games were going for a gritty sci-fi look with semi-realistic visuals, Final Fantasy 9 threw that out entirely, going for a cartoony look. Characters had exaggerated features, wide eyes and wore outlandish clothing, while in-game locations often evoked a whimsical fairy tale look.
These visuals are one of the game’s greatest strengths though. Every character passes the silhouette test, and their quirky looks make each party member and NPC incredibly memorable. The locations were evocative, a far cry from Midgar’s green-tinged metallic corridors in Final Fantasy 7. From the sprawling European-style architecture of Lindblum to the winding branches and vines of Cleyra, the visual style of Final Fantasy 9 makes it truly feel like a fantasy land.
5 It’s A “True” Final Fantasy
With Final Fantasy 7 and 8, Square was shifting the series into a new era, driven by advancements in tech with optical media and the shift to 3D graphics. These two games would drive the direction of the series going forward, where magic and technology collide in games built on visual spectacle. While those games were excellent, there’s a feeling they led to making the series a mixed bag of concepts with no single identity connecting each entry.
Final Fantasy 9 dodged that trend, as it sticks much more closely to elements of the Nintendo-era Final Fantasy titles. A more straightforward fantasy world with a good vs. evil story, it feels like the more natural evolution of the series after VI than the two games that came between. Traditional elements such as chocobos and moogles are prominent, summons are part of the story, and characters are assigned specific classic job classes. It’s much easier to place this alongside older games and know they’re the same series, which is less easy to do with other entries since the PS1.
4 Job Classes
After two entries where party members were largely interchangeable thanks to the Materia and Junction systems, Final Fantasy 9 sticks rigidly to the traditional Final Fantasy Job system. Each party member is assigned a Job which they stick to through the whole game. Protagonist Zidane is a Thief, Vivi is a Black Mage even down to his appearance, Princess Garnet is a White Mage and Summoner, and so on, while their abilities were learned through using their weapons.
This has the effect of giving each party member a specific role in battle, allowing for more strategic party composition throughout the game. Players know that they’ll need Vivi for powerful magic, Garnet for healing, or Steiner for heavy melee attacks, which is a much better system than the previous games’ system of making everyone feel largely the same aside from their weapon.
3 Moogle Save System
Save points in games rarely have character, largely because it’s unnecessary. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Resident Evil typewriter or a Dark Souls bonfire, most save points are just a thing to interact with to save progress and little more. In Final Fantasy 9, however, the save points are the franchise’s beloved fuzzy mascot race, Moogles. These adorable cat bats will chat with the player and make a note of their adventures, enhancing the game’s whimsical feel.
However, the presence of Moogles goes even further as they have a mail delivery side quest, allowing players to pass letters between save points to reveal a separate story. It’s a unique and charming way to handle saving that helps add more character to the world-building.
2 Active Time Events
Final Fantasy 9 may look simple on the surface, but it has an intricate and detailed plot underneath its cute exterior. Each party member has their own story arc, and side quests are plentiful. With all this going on it could have been difficult to keep track of everything going on. This is where the Active Time Event system comes in.
Occasionally during the story, a notification will pop up asking the player to press Select to view a scene happening to a different character somewhere else. These give an insight into what another character is up to at that moment, which even includes important NPCs. While many of these events are optional, so they don’t distract while the player might be focused on the main quest, they do provide a lot of additional context and help flesh out characters outside the main plot.
1 Vivi’s Story
Final Fantasy 9 has one of the most beloved characters in the entire series, a young Black Mage named Vivi who travels with the party as he figures out his place in the world. He’s clumsy, shy, and naive about the world, but he’s kind at heart and wants to be useful to those around him.
He also has one of the more tragic and heart-breaking stories out of the main cast, and his journey ends up becoming one of the main emotional cores of the whole game. His characterization, his arc, and his ultimate fate have won over fans of the series over the years, making his story one of the best in the entire franchise.