Playing for FIRST time! What not to miss?

[maestoso]

Hi Friends,

I'm going to play this for my first time ever (even though I've owned it for a long time!).

I was just wondering if you would recommend that I keep an eye out for anything in particular. I hate it when I get to disk 3 and then discover that I missed something really cool on disk 2, you know?

Also, are there any awesome online guides that you'd recommend?

[Hyzenthlay]

-White magic opportunities.
-Some of the weapon perk opportunities.
-The chances you have to gain free weapons (vertually all the good ones can be obtained for free)

Mainly just have fun, don't worry. A second run through is great, too. Just sit back and take the story in. I love FFIX. My favourite.

RALLY HO!

Hyz.

[Xanatos]

I suggest you avoid using guides on your first playthrough, it takes all the fun out of it, besides, Final Fantasy IX is a fairly easy game, in other words you wont have hard time if by any chance you skip few items.

[maestoso]

I suggest you avoid using guides on your first playthrough, it takes all the fun out of it, besides, Final Fantasy IX is a fairly easy game, in other words you wont have hard time if by any chance you skip few items.

Completely guideless, eh?

Well, if I won't miss anything important, then perhaps I'll just throw away the security blanket, then.

[Sakaea]

I'm jealous, firstly. Second of all, have fun! It's got great replayability, so you can worry about getting EVERYTHING the second time around.

[Firefly]

you can worry about getting EVERYTHING the second time around.

I agree with this! Just sit back and take in the beauty and awesomeness of my favorite game,Final Fantasy IX. Once ya beat it,you'll be dying to replay it and THEN you can do everything if you missed a few things

[Cereal~Killer]

If you want a walkthrough, try one of these. They're pretty informative.

Walkthrough:Index - The Final Fantasy Wiki has more Final Fantasy information than Cid could research

There are some things called Stellazio coins that would be a good idea to pick up as you go. They're kind of hidden, though.

[maestoso]

So, I started tonight. I just got out of the petrified, evil forest. I'm on my way to some kind of snow/ice cave.

Initial reaction: Wow! I know this is an older game, but I think the pre-rendered graphics are so beautiful and detailed. The music is phenomenal as well. I look forward to getting more involved in the story.

What do y'all think about the card game? I personally don't like it. Is it useful in IX (i.e., you get better armor or things), or is it just more of a sidegame for fun?

[loaf]

The 10,000 gil at the very beginning of the game.

[Cereal~Killer]

So, I started tonight. I just got out of the petrified, evil forest. I'm on my way to some kind of snow/ice cave.

Initial reaction: Wow! I know this is an older game, but I think the pre-rendered graphics are so beautiful and detailed. The music is phenomenal as well. I look forward to getting more involved in the story.

What do y'all think about the card game? I personally don't like it. Is it useful in IX (i.e., you get better armor or things), or is it just more of a sidegame for fun?

Yeah, I think you'll like the story. It has this certain charm to it. I love it.

As for the card game, no you can't get better armor or any other items from it. Only cards. There are a few rare cards though that you can try and get for completion's sake. And at one point in the game, you'll HAVE TO play the card game to advance the story.

[maestoso]

UPDATE: I just arrived at Lindblum.

I loved the ice cave and Dali. One of my favorite things about these games is that I feel like I see so many amazing places. Dali was so quaint and just lovely. The music was so peaceful. It really reminded me a lot of the Calm Lands in FFX.

[RainingOasis]

I would watch out for some of the summons and also never throw away old equipment, you never know when you need to synth a new weapon. The card game is hecka fun, once you get farther in the game there will be a reason for the cards (that's all I'm going to say I don't want to spoil it for ya) If you do miss the summons for whatever reason you can always go back. Forgot one more thing, be sure to steal from the bosses they usually have really good items.

[Mindu]

To add to what Ikuzo said, it would be worth using Zidane's Detect ability on bosses to see if they have anything worth stealing. They almost always have good items on disk 1 and 2, but towards the end of the game they didn't have. Also, make sure you play the chocobo hot and cold game to find "chocographs", which show the location of hidden treasure chests on the world map. You can only find so many chocographs at once, and the moogle will let you know when you cannot find any more at that point in the game. You can find a certain Octagon Rod towards the end of disc 1 by doing this as soon as you get the opportunity, and the Bio spell is exceptionally powerful for so early in the game.

Damn, I wish I was playing it again for the first time. Quite honestly, I played it too many times between 2001 and 2004, and just haven't had the motivation to play it again in the seven years since. I don't even own a copy anymore, but I'll play it again someday on the PSN.

[maestoso]

Guys, thanks for all your advice so far. I'm having such an amazing time playing the game. I just got to the destroyed Lindblum. What a beautiful game.

[blondeandy]

Just started it myself too, part of my playing all games from 1 onwards(11 to be replaced by x-2 and xiii-2 will replace xiv) and after 30mins i'm loving it already. Seems more to my style although i'm not knocking viii, put over 100 hours into that badboy. Am doing it guideless too as found using the guides for vii and viii i found it hampered the playthrough and i still missed stuff! Hope you enjoy it!

[loaf]

Everyone should know about the 10k gil at the beginning of the game.

[Michael Swayne]

Not only that, but Queen Brahne also gives you (as Steiner) a Moonstone when you get 100. That is good for Steiner and Zidane early on with Beast Killer, and I think Garnet learns Shell from it, too (I could be wrong about the Shell part).

[Mindu]

You're correct about Shell. I suppose it's handy against Black Waltz II, but I think by the time you fight III on disk 2 it's not really necessary, because he only uses weak spells anyway.

Something I forgot to add before is that Ethers are plentiful in this game and can be sold for 1,000 gil apiece.

[Diamond Dust]

I'd pay good money to be able to have Final Fantasy IX erased from my memory just so I could relive how I felt playing it first time around - incredible.

[Rowan]

What hyzenthlay said. Dont miss out on opportunities to steal from many enemies and bosses as they pocess very useful equipment that wont be available until later at whatever point you are at. Also, dont miss out on mognet and the moogles. They provide helpful bonuses sometimes upon succesful deliveries of mail.

and yes diamond dust, If only we could play these games again like it was the first time. FF7 would be my choice.

[Xithor]

You gotta know the Cotton Robe way to make money. It's a great way to make 60,390 gil every time. It involves buying Wrists and Steepled Hats, synthing them into a Cotton Robe and then selling them. You make 610 gil per Cotton Robe so 99 x 610 = 60,390 gil woot! But enjoy the game, my favorite and one of the best!

[Michael Swayne]

One important thing: Be sure to investigate everything possible. There is a series of battles throughout the game against "Ragtime Mouse". It isn't a normal battle. But he will quiz you on things you may (or may not) have read in the game. There are some good AP and Gil to be made in these battles.

So, read everything. You never know when that information may come in handy.

[Nidogod]

Hopefully it's not a violation for me to post a link to a guide here:

GameFAQs: Final Fantasy IX (PS) Miss-able Items FAQ by Rebirth Flame

There are quite a few items you can miss out on. If you want to get a treasure hunting S-Rank I suggest you at least glance over it. This game is full of crap you can miss and have no idea it was even there to begin with. Like going back to Dali ONLY during the Treno Card Tournament to get coffee from the Mayor's house.

[Mindu]

I've got a question. Where the hell was that Magician's Fingertip that the old man wanted to trade for Excalibur? I managed to get an A-Rank without a FAQ but I could never find that item anywhere.

[Nidogod]

From the Final Fantasy wiki:

A key item called Magical Fingertip is one of the items available in the auction. The Magical Fingertip can be given to the old man near the inn in Daguerreo to obtain Excalibur. However, the player must first talk to the man to make Magical Fingertip appear in the auction. Second, the player needs to have bought Une's Mirror, Doga's Artifact, Griffin's Heart, and the Rat Tail, and sell them in the town, to make the Magical Fingertip available. Additionally, Doga's Artifact and Une's Mirror can be taken to the Black Mage Village's gramophone, to play "Doga and Unei" (The Truth) from Final Fantasy III. Aside from these uses, owning these key items can increase the Treasure Hunter Rank.

[Mindu]

I suppose unless I have an OCD it wasn't really worth pursuing in the end. Ragnarok was more powerful, anyway.

[Nidogod]

Yeah FF IX has a lot of key items that you really have to go through a lot of trouble to get and they do practically nothing. The freaking airship the coffee guy gives you for collecting all the coffee is the worst.

[Nas Lost]

FF9 was awsome, im glad you're enjoying it.

[lmiddleham]

Reading this makes me jealous. I started playing this in Nov but i must have bought a bad copy (bought it yrars before and never got into it) Im near the end of disc 2 and i go down the lift in the iifa tree and the game doesnt load the next scene. If i could just get past it I could probably carry on no probs but its not to be. I may have to find it on an emulator if i can figure it out and start from scratch. You all make it seem worth it!