(no subject)
So, since I beat Ozma today, I went ahead and finished FF9. Overall, it was worth the wait of 6.5 years to finally to see how this damn game ended. I finally got to see Zidane's backstory, and I was even okay with his one emo moment since it was awesome to see everybody else come to fight with him. I also found the ending to be VERY satisfying, unlike the hollow shell that was the ending of FF8. I can't believe there used to be a time that I bitched about how FF9 was the worst 3D FF, seriously.
What FF9 has, and what FF8 lacks, is heart. All of the characters feel important and you get the sense that they actually changed as a result of their adventures. Compare that to FF8. How did Selphie, Zell, Irvine, Quistis or, hell, even RINOA change in FF8? It's like night and day. FF9's story also wasn't filled with crazy space exploration and extreeeeme time travel like a certain OTHER FF, and the character interaction was top notch.
That last part was what I really admired about FF9, and it was something that I really admired about FF6 as well. Sure, it's obvious that a few characters aren't as important to the main plot as the others (as I might have complained about Freya and Amarant's insignificance once or twice in the past *cough*), but the writers do a good thing and make sure there's all kinds of tiny relationships established between the different characters. They don't dominate the storyline, but they add flavor to it.
Obviously, everybody is connected to Zidane in some way since he's the main guy. I don't mean that. I mean how Freya and Amarant are frequently paired together on missions and hang out during off-time, how Vivi and Quina are connected due to Vivi's relationship with Quan, how Steiner respects Vivi due to his black magic, or how Freya and Beatrix are connected due to the events in Burmecia and Cleyra. Stuff like that is secondary but it adds a lot to a good story for me.
On top of that, the game is gorgeous for its console, the characters have defined roles in battle, and the customization system is great. Sure, I do wish that Freya didn't fade away after the start of disc two or that Amarant got more than two freaking seconds of FMV time, but when my complaints about a game are that MINOR, it's pretty damn awesome. Oh, and since I marathoned the first eight games before playing FF9, the references to the past games were like the cherry on top of my awesome sundae.
I didn't even mind all of the ridiculous sidequests. I caught 125 frogs with Quina, did everything there was to do with Chocobo Hot and Cold, got all of the ultimate weapons and armor, taught every spell and ability to every single character, and even got a full set of Tetra Master cards without cheating for them.
The game was just that damn good, and I'd definitely say it's better than FF7 even. Is it better than FFX? I'll have to decide that after I start/finish my replay of FFX. But right now it's for certain a top three Final Fantasy game, and potentially a top two if FFX doesn't grip me like it did in 2004.