Convince him to play FF9?

[Cry For Garnet]

1) The Music

In terms of music, I would think that FFIX had my favourite soundtrack, largely because I felt that said soundtrack complimented the events of the story much more effectively than in other games in the series. I'm not a huge fan of the darker orchestral music that was more commonplace in FFVII and VIII, songs such as 'You're not alone' and 'Song of Memories' I feel are much more emotionally moving and have a greater effect on the player, certainly on me, to such an extent that I will play final fantasy IX so that I can listen to the music, I know I can do this anytime I want, but playing the game and watching the events of the game unfold as I listen to the music has an emotional effect on me that has not been replicated by anything before or since. One area I believe that the series has taken a huge downturn in is in the music and the soundtracks, the compositions of Nobuo Uematsu were truly inspiring and it makes me sad that Square Enix now favour the use of mainstream music such as the Leonna Lewis songs in the XIII series, songs which have no significant emotional value and no relevance to the story, over the masterworks of Uematsu. As I said i'm not a huge fan of his darker pieces, but in Final Fantasy IX, there is not one piece that I dislike. (Apart from Vamo Alla Flamenco, countless hours of hunting for chocographs and that gets damn annoying.)

2) The Characters

In terms of characters, I would have to say that I favour FFIX once more. I have heard people who critisise the plot and characters of the game for being somewhat unimaginative, but the things that I love about FFIX are not the characters themselves, as individuals, but instead the interactions between two or three characters. Primarilly the love story that unfolds between Zidane and Garnet, but also more subtle examples such as how Zidane is constantly picking on Steiner in the first two disks and how Steiner constantly judges Zidane in Reply, and also the hilarity of how many of the characters try to determine what gender Quina is and what its motives are. Also the mini-stories that transpire between a character and another less significant character or characters, such as Vivi's interactions with the black mages in the black mage village. One thing that I do critisise though, and I do this for all Final Fantasy games, is that, out of the 8 playable characters, there are some which are much less integral to the story than others, this is one of my very few critisisms of the game, but even I have wondered, would this game by that much less enjoyable if Quina or Amarant were not in it? Obviously I disagree with this entirely, but I understand why some people do feel this way.


3) The Individual

As the name suggests, Garnet is far and away my undisputed favourite character in the whole of the Final Fantasy Series. First of all because she is so unbelievably beautiful, I know a lot of people prefer Yuna, Rinoa or Tifa, but for me Garnet is a cut above the rest, both in her soothingly gentle face and also how her costume excentuates her beautiful body. This, in tandem with her delicate personality, the gentleness of her speech, her kindness, her ability to forgive, this all inspires and brings out emotion in me in a way that no other final fantasy character does. The epitomy of how I feel this way is in how she sings the 'Song of memories'. This song is the song of childhood and indeed of my entire life, what i'm about to say will sound very cliche and fake but I assure you it is not. This song had an unbelievable effect on me in my teenage years when i suffered from servere depression following my parents divorce, this was during a time when I had seriously considered suicide In my times of need I would put this song on my stereo, curl up in a ball, listen to it and cry my problems away, even today, years later, I still do this sometimes, and for this reason, Garnet is my favourite character, for saving me.


4) The Antagonist

Kuja was my favourite villain, partly because of his ambitions as the main antagonist of the game. An ambition to end all existance is not a new concept as far as villains are concerned, but to wish the end of existance purely because you cannot stand being a part of it is a whole new level, also, there is a certain comical value to Kuja's personality, both in the fact that he is ridiculously feminine, but also his childish tantrums that we witness at various points in the game, such as when he has a hissy fit when he learns of his finite existance. For me this was a welcome change from some of the more sinister and abstract antagonists such as Kefka, Sephiroth and Ultemicia. In a way, making Kuja rather unintimidating has the opposite effect in that it seems so much more significant when he gives in to his darker side. Oh, and also the fact that he is pretty damn tough, not many villains can destroy a planet without the use of some diabolical and non-existant weapon. Kuja can.

5) The Storyline

Again, Final Fantasy IX, this game is primarilly about saving the world, as many Final Fantasy games are, but this is also a journey of self discovery for many of the characters. The way in which the 4 primary characters (Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Steiner) learn so much about themselves as the storyline progresses is something I have not seen in any other game to the same extent. This is one of the main reasons why I abelive number IX to be the most significant emotionally, the way in which these four characters question their very existance and purpose in life is something that I can relate very strongly to. There are so many scene in this game that made me shed a tear as I watched them for the first, second and twenty second times (I have played through Final Fantasy IX 22 times, beat that) the scene in Madain Sari when Zidane tells Garnet that story of Ispen is one example, the scene in which Vivi walks to the cemetery to talk to No. 238 is another, there are many scenes equally and more emotionally significant to this, for me, the idea of saving the world and existance is secondary in this game, it is almost irrelevant.

6) The Ending

No points for guessing this one, my favourite ending is that of Final Fantasy IX, call me a sucker, but this is the happiest ending of the Final Fantasy games, it is the most storybook, fairytale like, and the most cliche, despite all this, I honestly did not see it coming, this is a culmination of everything I like about Final Fantasy IX, and i'm not ashamed to say I always cry at the end. It is subtle little details that make it all the more emotionally significant, such as how Garnet originally thinks Steiner and Beatrix are blocking her way and also how she does not move to retrieve the Falcon pendant as it is snapped from her neck, I could go on and on about this and every other cutscene in the game for about 100,000 words, because there is nothing that I don't see as significant, and moving in this game, a true masterpiece in every area.