Is FFIX technically the best game in the PS1 series?

[SuperSabin]

I remember playing this game here and there and it had all the references to other FFs, and it used the basic battle system with the summons and abilites different characters can learn. It even brought back the card game used in VIII. So I was wondering if all that makes it the superior PS1 FF title without the hype and whatnot?

[loaf]

The only thing FFIX has on all the other is....

Final Fantasy IX is Hironobu Sakaguchi's favorite Final Fantasy title, saying that "it's closest to his ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be".

[Kaiden]

Rating the ps1 titles for me goes 7, 9, 8.

Graphics: 9, 8, 7

Story: 7, 9, 8

Characters: 7, 8, 9

Side Games: 7, 9, 8

Setting: 9, 7, 8

Rating just 9 without the other 2, I thought it was an awesome game. I just never really liked any of the characters. Vivi was my favorite and only because he was a "black mage". The only other problem I had with the game was the final boss. I hated bringing in some strange guy/thing/god that we didn't even hear of before. I really liked the story (until the final fight) its right up there with 7. The use of summons in the story was really cool.

[belakkaleb88]

well 9 is certainly the most polished. the only thing i didnt quite care for was the battle system just seemed too slow.

[belakkaleb88]

oh and the card game in 9 was pure junk compared to 8 haha

[smurphy]

It certainly had the advantage of coming later than VII, VIII and Tactics but although it may have the most polished graphics and the like because of that I dont think it is technically better because it lacks the ambition of VII and VIII especially. I think the packages as a whole in VII and VIII are better rounded and despite coming earlier the FMVs in VIII are graphically superior.

As well as that the loading times( in the PAL version anyway) are slightly longer. I think VIII edges IX on technical terms.

[GypsyElder]

I think that's probably how the game was meant to be since it does have TONS of other FF references but I think its just a matter of opinion. Personally I would say yes but that's because it's my most favorite game ever so my vote doesn't count.

The only thing that puzzles me about the game is that it didn't get as much hype as all the others on playstation and I don't really understand why that is. I definitely think there's 3 times as many FFVII and VIII fanboys/girls than IX and I think it has more to do with character design than the game itself. I'm not getting into it though unless someone asks

[belakkaleb88]

i would say the whole hype thing would have to be because of when it was realeased the ass end of ps1. personally i think its a great game just not as popular as the others maybe because the peoplethat got into ff with 7 and 8 got used to the futuristic or near futuristic settings and disliked the look of 9. but who knows im just ranting now. they are all awesome!

[Zidane77]

Always been my favorite game, remake and sequels are something ive been looking for.
I agree to the person that said it was slow, needed to have faster battle system and less crazyness like Excalibur II.
The card game was also alot better in FFVIII, i liked the music in this one better.
Beside the card game,exII and slow battle system i always enjoy the quality of this game and i think it's superior to any other FF,except maybe VII but still beats it at graphics and more content.

The US version is faster than the PAL version so ive realized playing the US version is something i wanted to realize sooner
Makes the battle mode faster and using a emulator is 5 times better graphics than playing it on ps3. (even with smooth rendering).

[Jenova]

Not nessicarily, If it is in your eyes, it is, but it might not be for other people. It's all about opinion

[markandrewkinzett]

This is not the best Final Fantasy game. This is my least favourite one I have played but it is still fairly good just not as good as the others I have played.

[Zidane77]

The best Final Fantasy game. Just had to make my statement too
Has everything that a good rpg is supposed to have and being a ps1 game its definetly the best done ever.

[Robbo]

I do love IX but i have to say VIII is the best IX would probably be second to it though, i didnt really enjoy VII as much as i would have without all the hype that comes with it.

I think VIII is best because....
The protagonist is far better in my opinion as is the Gunblade.
The card game was soo much better.
The in-game music was better (i think that's kind of a weak argument though haha)
The FMV sequences were better in my opinion ( only because they are called humans in IX and they don't look like Humans at all)
I have yet to find a fist type that is all free spirited and aggressive (im some way into disk 2)
There was a tutorial on Summons ( i was just wondering why i couldnt summon Ramuh, Stupid Peridot)
Freya,Zidane and Garnet seem like the only mature characters in the whole game so far( It felt a lot like babysitting)
Quina annoys the crap out of me.

Although IX does have it's Good Points:
Garnet is so much more tolerable than Rinoa.
Ultimecia was physically known about in the game for an amazingly short amount of time.
Moogles are fun save points
The in-game graphics show more detail.

[Hiji]

I never had a good vibe with medieval Final Fantasy (like XI, XII, and XIV) or the westernized or modernized (XIII). But I might have a change of heart for XIII-versus. It'll depend on how good they can pull it off.

Final Fantasy IX

I don't know. I tried to live up to the hype for Final Fantasy 9, but their character designs lost me. It seemed to go Disney, semi-Kingdom Hearts, which I couldn't vibe well with an actual Final Fantasy main title.

Kingdom Hearts I and II are one of the best PS2 games, but having that sort of vibe coming off of 9 didn't seem to fit right. So I have to, sadly, remove it on my tops.

Final Fantasy VIII

This Final Fantasy was very intriguing for a main title. It suited well with a mesh with technology and magic a lot like Final Fantasy VII. It won me over more because of its ability to fit the characters well with the design, and the design itself had been more mature and mystique.

I'd put this game as #2, though in the main series.

Final Fantasy VII

I'm not really a super-final fantasy fan. Heck, I prefer Chrono Trigger and (never played Chrono Cross) over Final Fantasy, and Dragon Warrior VII in the same line of love as Final Fantasy in whole. However, I have to say, Final Fantasy VII is not of pure hype. Sorry. I have to say it.

I researched on and on, and have to say, whatever these people have seen in VII, it has to be respected. All my years knowing about Final Fantasy, I never tried touching VII because of the hype over Sephiroth and whatnot. I saw so many Sephiroth noobs on the rise at its peak of time (early 2000s) in RP sites, Neopets and Gaia. I then in early 2010, finally played out of boredom. First I played Final Fantasy V (nearly beat that in 2 weeks. Quit at the last boss), played Final Fantasy X a day later my second time (beat it in little over a week), played Final Fantasy VI a day later (nearly beat it but my baby brother broke the CD), then Final Fantasy VII... After that, Dragon Warrior VII, and another game I can't remember off-hand.

EDIT: Oh. I played FF XIV as well.

I did this all this summer lol

I have to say, no game served me the same vibe over adventure, setting, and character development as much as Final Fantasy VII in the FF series. And I was being a critic the whole time with these games. I was mad in all of them for annoying grinds, but got through that easily and could review the games unbiasedly. And I before had been very biased against VII.

It's my #1 on my list in the main series when it comes to adventure, setting, and characters.

Luckily, I can't say I put it as #1 outright. Right next to it happens to be Final Fantasy X, but for other reasons than adventure, setting, and characters. I could see how Tidus could annoy people, but I liked how he wasn't a robot-warrior like Cloud. It gave him us a new blend in the series to relate him to a real teenager. And we usually don't like what's totally fantasy go too far to the annoying personal depths of reality.

I kept playing the game despite that and the final weapons. It was annoying that they had to be so difficult to earn. I didn't get but three: Yuna's, Auron's, and Riku's. The King Cacutar leveling method made me change hopes and like it a lot. But it's that struggle of trying to level up fast vs level up boringly which made me lose out on the vibe I had on the game. Otherwise, it earns #1 spot over music, storyline, and graphics.

But none of them can topple Chrono Trigger.

[Leon]

FFIX was my first FF, so it holds that special place in my favorites list. But even I have to admit there are some good games out there.

However, I'll say this. I believe it's one of the most underrated games out there. You always hear people talking about VII, VIII and even VI to some extent. But in all of the FF forums I've been to there has been little praise for this particular title.

The best? No. Underrated? Yes.

[Robbo]

FFIX was my first FF, so it holds that special place in my favorites list. But even I have to admit there are some good games out there.

However, I'll say this. I believe it's one of the most underrated games out there. You always hear people talking about VII, VIII and even VI to some extent. But in all of the FF forums I've been to there has been little praise for this particular title.

The best? No. Underrated? Yes.

There are actually a lot of people in this forum who's favourite is IX. i think there is at least 5 or 6 on my Vm's page.

Gypsy Elder always proclaims her love for this game.

btw Character Design??

[GypsyElder]

btw Character Design??

Absolutely.

[Robbo]

I meant would you tell us why it is about character design.I like Zidane more than i do Cloud although there were a lot of good chars in VII

[che]

Trying to decide which of the PSN FFs were the best is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. Since none of them were really drastically different as far as graphics or character design, except FF8's fail on that (Zell: COOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), you can only compare literal qualities. Character design, story (and I don't mean did you like it, I mean the complexity etc), graphic output, gameplay (did it use a good design, was it successful?)

Otherwise any of the 3 could be considered someone's "best" PSN FF game.

That being said, FFIX was the best.

[Leon]

There are actually a lot of people in this forum who's favourite is IX. i think there is at least 5 or 6 on my Vm's page.

Gypsy Elder always proclaims her love for this game.

Is that so? I guess I finally came to the right place!

I got a question, a random one. I never played VII, and haven't finished Disc 1 from FFVIII (though now I have the money to download from PSN). When it comes to superbosses, is Ozma the hardest? I've hard of Omega Weapon's attack that inflicts 9998 damage, which I think is pretty sick (in a good way).

[+ Revenant +]

Final Fantasy IX
I certainly thought FFIX was technically the best FF on PSX, maybe of the whole post-SNES era. IMO it had the best graphics, best music, most appealing characters, the funniest and least convoluted story, best English translation and probably the most heart. The card game was rather chaotic and the ultimate villain came out of nowhere, but that didn't stop it from becoming my favorite FF--and it wasn't even the first one I played. It was the last.

Final Fantasy VII
Really good game with absolutely outstanding play, side quests and music. It was a revolutionary title in the series, and the first Final Fantasy I have vivid memories of playing. (First was FFI, but that was a long time ago.) So why don't I call it the best? Ultimately, the plot and characters didn't live up to the gameplay. The premise of freedom fighters vs. evil gov't was well done (if unoriginal), but by Disc 3 the story had just spun out of orbit and was hard to follow. It had a cast of mostly one-note characters, which was good for a start, but few of them got much development. Overall it just wasn't one of my favorite RPGs.

Final Fantasy VIII
A well put-together and very misunderstood game with a lot of potential--and because of that, it's a shame VIII wasn't any better than it is. The story was a lot more original than FFVII or IX's, and the characters were more realistic and less gimmicky. The gameplay was overly complicated and tedious. You had to draw a ton of spells early on to have a decent supply later, and the GF/junction system was more of a distraction from the decent gameplay than an enhancement. Once again the story went nuts toward the end, with too many complications and not enough reason to continue. It barely even had a main villain until the final act, and she came out of left field. VIII was not a bad game at all, but it never really grabbed me either.

[tseris4ever]

What's with all of the complaining regarding character designs? I thought they were downright awesome. At least there weren't any scantily-clad females or leather clad sado-masochists.

[89vision]

It was my second Final Fantasy game, VII being my first. I had seen my brother play VI when we still had or Super Nitendo and I was amazed at how good it was, it kind of shocked me. But, when i played VII I disliked it strongly, I couldn't stand Cloud's personality because it seemed like he had no emotion. The plot was good, music was good but it just seemed to hi-tech for a fantasy game.

But in terms of being the best Final Fantasy I think it was. It had points that all hit (in my opinion).

Great characters, great music, great story etc.

[Xithor]

Final Fantasy IX character design I thought was fantastic. Zidane and Kuja were my two favorite designs just because of the metamorphosis both of them went through throughout the game. Zidane went from careless and sneaky thief to not understanding why he was who he was back to finding something to fight for.

Kuja on the other hand was merely a puppet when he thought that he was always in control and it crushed him, he went insane and tried to get back in control by destroying everything.

But IX is my favorite, not because I played it first, it was my second behind VII but it was just the best in my opinion.

[scorptatious]

Out of all the Final Fantasy games I have played so far: 7, 9, 10, 10-2, 4.

I have to say 9 is my favorite. With 7 in a very close second.

[Linus Li Lelouch]

FFIX is an excellent game, that fact I will never deny at all. The graphics, story, and the characters were all unique in it's own special way.

FFIX takes FF back to the old days before it got all serious with the arrival of FFVII and FFVIII. Subconsciously I may always say FFVIII was my favorite but when I first got VII, VIII, and IX on ps1 (got them all at the same time), I definitely played all 3 of them for about an hour and IX was the one that got me hooked in that one hour hence why it was the first one out of the 3 I manage to beat first.

In theory subconsciously, I will agree with the title of your thread.

[ZantetsukeN]

I love IX. It's the best FF game apart from VIII (as you may or may not know, nothing will ever beat VIII for me). I think what's good about it is it seems as though Square new it was the end of an era, being the last FF on PS1, so they went all out and tried to make an epic game.

IX has got so many references to previous games in the series, which is fun to see every once in a while. From the subtle little ones, like Zidane recalling a certain spiky haired guy using a sword he sees in a weapon shop, to the big ones, like the Black mages looking like they do in the original FF.

Classic battle system, memorable music, side quests, epic storyline. All of these things make this game so good, and has kept me picking it up and playing it for over 10 years (makes me feel so old, but I'm not ).

[markandrewkinzett]

Not a bad game but to answer your question in a word. NO!!!

[Locke4God]

NO - it absolutely doesn't.

I enjoyed both 7 and 8 both for characters, story, battle system, upgrade system, and sidequests more than 9.

[Xanatos]

If we're to ask Hironobu Sakaguchi, father of Final Fantasy, or look at overall score than yes, Final Fantasy IX is indeed the best game in franchise, after all it's closest to Sakaguchi's view of what Final Fantasy should be, and holds the biggest score on metacritic, though in the end it all comes to personal opinion.

There's a clear difference between favorite, and best, Final Fantasy IX may be my favorite game, though I don't consider it to be the best, that title goes to Final Fantasy XII. No other game in franchise can't compete with IX when it comes to music, and allusions, with that I agree.