Final Fantasy 9 Review
"I loved this game and I recommend it to anyone who remotely
enjoys RPG's"
Graphics
Graphics matter a lot to me, but luckily I was not disappointed.
There are two types of graphics, the in-game graphics and the Full Motion
Video (FMV) graphics.
The in-game graphics although not superb, maybe even a bit ordinary
do their job quite nicely. They're not detailed enough to slow the game
loading times down and they're not shabby enough that the characters
are unrecognisable. If you ask me, they're just right. The only fault
I could pick with the in-game graphics is when the characters walk up
steps; sometimes they just don't touch those steps.
But the FMV is where the game really stands out. The graphics are perfectly
smooth and clear. The colours really stand out and everything is in
sync (meaning there are no problems like the step problem mentioned
above). Although there are no words in the video clip, which is sometimes
an annoyance, the facial expressions on the characters make up for this
superbly. You can read the emotions of their faces. I wish Square had
included a Movie option so I could watch some of these clips again.
Graphics = 8/10
Storyline
The game sticks to the storyline quite well and doesn't veer off from
it. For the whole game I knew why I was going somewhere, which is a
good factor in a RPG. First time playing the game the story is hard
to follow, but second or third time through you see the little hints
at the start the appear later on.
Storyline = 8/10
Music
The music seems to vary in this game, with some music being absolutely
fantastic and catchy and other being really repetitive.
The great music in the game I found were points like Kuja's theme which
I really enjoyed listening to and made the battles with Kuja much more
exciting. Also while on battles the battle music was really good and
got you into the mood of the battle, although when levelling up you
encounter the battle music so much it might be found annoying, but I
never did. Also a song deserving a comment is the one sung by Princess
Garnet, this was a really lovely song. I think square needed a song
player added to the menu.
The other types of songs now; the annoying ones. I played the card game
a lot in FFIX and the music for that is a 8 second clip, repeated non-stop
for the whole time while you're playing cards. This really got on my
nerves.
But overall I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the music in this game.
Music = 9/10
Difficulty
If this game has any weaknesses it would be this. This game is WAY too
easy. This really disappointed me, as with a harder difficulty this
game would've lasted longer and made it more enjoyable.
In my first go at this game I completed I with dying 2 times. This was
also because I made a couple of stupid mistakes, like casting flare
on myself and killing 2 of my characters. :P.
What really annoyed me was the final area, you battle around 6 bosses
and then 2 final bosses and I killed all of them easily, with out the
best weapons even. But even so this game takes a long time to complete
because of the sheer size of it and especially because of the side quests.
As an extra note I should add in the Optional Bosses, these were the
only hard things to beat in the game. Ozma, the ultimate boss in the
game is actually quite a challenge but you soon overcome him as you
learn his moves. The only boss I could not beat was Tantarian, a giant
book. This was because to beat this boss you have to hit him with a
damage of 150-200hp to get him to open himself up. And my characters
were just too powerful to such little damage. Also this boss occurs
very early in the game and my characters were strong enough to kick
everything else in their way, but too weak for this boss (he killed
all 4 of them with 1 thundaga) =(.
Difficulty = 3/10 (3 for the optional bosses)
Side Quests
The side quests in this game you either love or you hate. I personally
love them, but other people thought they were a waste of time.
Card Collecting
There are 100 cards to collect and some of them are really hard to get,
like having to beat card masters. I hated the card game at first but
grew to love it.
Mognet Central
Mognet, a communication system to deliver letter between
Moogles (weird little things that save your game and let you use tent)
has broken and you must travel on an epic quest to and from different
moogles until finally you get the tool to fix Mognet. This is a good
side quest because it makes you search for the different moogles and
you must travel all over Gaia. The real bad thing bout this though was
after spending long hours over this side quest I finnaly complete it
only to receive an item I already have and isn't that great. Square
should've made it a super-rare item.
Chocobo
Hot and Cold
This is the biggest side quest in the game and with out
it you can't complete some of the other quests, like the card game.
Only certain cards an be gotten through Chocobo H & C. It involes
going to certain places and searching for Chocographs, these chocographs
lead you to treasures in the world. This is great cause it takes a while
to find where exactly the treasure is and when you do you usually get
sweetly rewarded for it. Some of the best weapons in the game can only
be obtained this way.
There are many of smaller
side quests, but buy the game to find out about them!
Side Quests = 9/10
Conclusion
I love this game, I really do. I'd give it 9.5/10 if
I was asked (I never give anything 10/10) but I have tried to be critical
with this review so therefore:
Graphics 8
Storyline 8
Music 9
Difficulty 6
Side Quests 9
Overall Execution 10
My Personal Opinion 9.5
Total 59.5
Average 8.5
So you get 8.5 if you
do it the mathematical way, but this doesn't take into account the over
impression of the game, how much you liked it, etc, etc.
I loved this game and
I recommend it to everyone who even remotely enjoys RPG's.
-ÇlõûÐ
Please don't copy this
review, if you wish to use it for your site please ask permission first.
I also need a second opinion, you don't have to write 3 pages like me,
just a paragraph. Mail me if
your intrested
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