Final Fantasy IX

I like Final Fantasy specifically because it reinvents itself with every new game. That said, the exact nature of the reinvention is often seemingly arbitrary, leading to a couple of all-time classics and a couple of unplayable disasters. This laissez-faire approach to game design even extends to the modern re-release of Final Fantasy IX, which makes a few minor but consequential changes that ultimately diminish the overall quality. The original PlayStation release is quite enjoyable. Square’s wheel of game ideas landed on “homage to the classic pre-VII era,” and the result is one of the least inventive but also least controversial titles in the series. It also benefitted from the studio’s greater experience, featuring the most gracefully-aged FMVs of the time and an uncommonly sharp translation. It also has a terrific soundtrack, which practically goes without saying for this franchise.

Gameplay-wise, IX returns to the static character roles from IV and VI with the medium roster size of VII and VIII. I’d argue that its overall feel is closest to V, however. Like in that game, characters gain temporary abilities and traits from a swappable feature (equipment instead of jobs in this case), but can learn them permanently over time. The overall difficulty is on the easy side, which allows players to regularly cycle through their equipment to fill out their arsenals and explore every facet of the battle system. At least, that’s how it used to be. In the modern version, the random encounter rate has been decreased, but the rewards for battle weren’t adjusted to compensate. As a result, your party is guaranteed to be underleveled, underfunded, and underequipped for the second half of the game, unless you make up the difference by grinding. It breeds a desperate and frustrating experience, as formerly minor nuisances (like enemies queuing their attacks during animations without telling you) become significant hindrances.

The other notable alteration the re-release makes is to the visuals. The character models have all been cleaned up, which unfortunately means they now clash with the unimproved prerendered backgrounds that look terrible on a modern display. Fortunately, the rest of the game’s artistic identity remains intact. Barring some truncated side plots, the story of Final Fantasy IX is incredible. It has unusually wide emotional range, being almost certainly the funniest game in the series and one of the saddest at the same time. I especially appreciate its interludes featuring party members and side characters going about their lives, which create a believable sense of place and personhood. Even the relatively straightforward plot’s final descent into abstract hyperbole works in the context of a genre throwback, because it comes across simply as self-parody.