(Untitled)

[ptparatroopa]

Yeah, so... on disc two of FF9. I think it has a realistic shot to pass even FF7 and take the #3 spot on my rankings, despite being horrified from the "Six months since I found Vivi. Still too small to eat." note from Quan that I never found the first time I played the game, OMG HORRIBLE! :P

Comments

[deadeyedave]

I really like FFIX's "Skill learning" system, it let you feel like you had a degree of customisation to your characters, even though their archetypes are set.

Also like the defined roles, as opposed to FFVII and FFVIII where you just have a bunch of blank slates with different limit breaks.

Preference aside, somethings in FFIX are just straight up BETTER.

For example, the ability to auto-run, and the "!" that appears above your head when you're near a collectible item.

Both of these prevent you from holding a run button for dozens of hours of play, while constantly tapping x to see if there's anything there.

Also the story of IX involves all the characters, not just the ones you brought with you.

[ptparatroopa]

To be fair, FF8 does provide the auto-run option, but it was something that had to be manually set in the Configuration, whereas Zidane runs by default. Still, it's a definite improvement, and I totally agree about the ! prompts.

And yeah, I am a fan of the FF9 ability system. It's a good compromise for those people who don't like the set character roles. Although a lot of them seem situational to me at best, like "___ Killer" abilities. I mean that's cool for the token FF dungeon filled with undead things (if FF9 has one of those... I can't recall), but how often are you fighting tons and tons of birds, bugs or humans instead of a mix of everything

[bariyou]

The only thing about IX that I really disliked was the Chocobo's Hot & Cold. Or to be more precise, how you were only able to get the best of anything THROUGH CH&C. I love the music, and I love the premise, but I hate having to leave anything up to a random number generator. Especially if it's the best equipment the game has to offer for certain characters.
Also I kind of disliked the Synthesizing stuff, mostly because you'd get to the final disc and then realize that you can't synth something because none of the shops sell it anymore. It's a really good concept, but holy christ you either have to have a detailed list of EVERYTHING you need or just never throw/sell anything away.
Loved everything else though, especially the characters and story.