Welcome to our review of Final Fantasy IX, the classic game released on Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. We played it on Xbox!
Selling over five million copies since its release in 2000, FINAL FANTASY IX proudly returns on Xbox One and other platforms! Experience the adventure once again with characters and pre-rendered movies featured in high definition, as well as a new booster system with a selection of various modes such as “high-speed” or “no encounters”!
Zidane and the Tantalus Theater Troupe have kidnapped Princess Garnet, the heir of Alexandria. To their surprise, however, the princess herself yearned to escape the castle. Through a series of unusual circumstances, she and her personal guard, Steiner, fall in with Zidane and set out on an incredible journey. Meeting unforgettable characters like Vivi and Quina along the way, they learn about themselves, the secrets of the Crystal, and a malevolent force that threatens to destroy their world.
As this game was originally brought to the original PlayStation, it was a great commercial success and is considered easily as one of the better titles of the era and quite possibly the best of the franchise, even if some FF7 fans might disagree! I enjoyed it way back when for its return to the classic medieval style in graphics as they took the series back to its roots. Unlike the more futuristic games like 7 and 8, but that is a whole discussion better left to another time and place.
As this game already proved to be a remarkable entry in the franchise and being critically acclaimed, I do not think I should change the original plans for my review, I wanted to see how it lived up to its reputation and how it aged. I will not be going into detail on how it plays and how the active time deployment meters work. My sole job for this review is to see if you ought to buy it or not.
So, let’s start with the beginning, did it age well?
There are two points that need to be taken into consideration here, story and graphics. First off, I will shortly divulge on the story. As it was critically acclaimed, it has a very high reputation to uphold and I do think it lives up to my old memories. The game has a strong storyline and it did not feel old or boring at any point.
Next up, graphics. Here I need to mention two parts, the action and the backgrounds as there is a clear difference between both. The backgrounds actually look bad in my humble opinion. They felt mostly untouched and in grim contrast with the retouched action. Where the backgrounds look like they did not belong at all, the foreground is clearly reworked and looked very crisp. A grim contrast to say the least.
Another thing I noticed, the low speeds in transferring from the moving around to the fighting scenes, I counted up to 9 seconds at times prior to getting to the fighting. I play on an Xbox One Slim, not a pro, but still felt that 9 seconds was pushing it. It was also the one bad thing I could think off prior to writing my review. Everything else is fine while playing the game.
So how do you rate one of the best games in its genre being remade for current consoles?
I actually think I should not give it a physical score, but a recommendation will be made instead. If you want to play a game that did survive the test of time in a splendid way, this is the one to try!
Fans of the RPG genre most likely already own it or have played it before, but anyone looking to venture into this genre, I can easily name a ton of great games, Dragon Quest 11, Neverwinter games, Skyrim, South Park, other Final Fantasy games like 7 and 12, …. But when you are being honest, 9 is in that same summary of great titles.
My two thumbs up for this game!
