Game #923: Final Fantasy IX(Switch)

 No Black Mages were harmed in the porting of this game... I think.

 So I've a little secret.... while I turned into a massive Final Fantasy fan after playing 7... Final Fantasy IX never really did it for me. After FFVII and FFVIII this new artstyle didn't really do it for me. I wanted to play it because, hey, it was Final Fantasy, but I wasn't as excited as I was about VIII before it released. I started playing it once, got about as far as Lindblum and never touched the game again.... until this new rerelease on Switch.

 Alright, so a few years later... I still don't like the artstyle they went with. I know it has its fans and what not, but this is not my cup of tea. On that note, this rerelease updated the character models, so it looks as good, if not better, than the FFVIII rerelease. I also failed to care about these characters, except for Vivi, who I think is one of the best characters in the series. Steiner's arc was interesting, but I think they could've done more to show him developing.

 On the other hand, the gameplay is definitely a step up from FFVIII, not like that's saying much. We're back to character jobs, although you can't change them. Zidane is the thief, Steiner is the warrior, Amarant is the monk, etc, every character has a specific role and unique skills only they can learn. Throughout the brunt of the game you can't even pick your party, so you'll probably get to try every character sans Amarant who I don't remember being mandatory at any point in the game.

 Every piece of equipment, meaning armor, weapons or accessories, have a few skills that can be learned by specific characters if worn enough, since you earn XP and AP after every battle. In theory, it sounds really neat, find new equipment, equip it, battle enemies, and earn skills.... but in practice, it's a grindfest almost as bad as FFVIII's magic drawing. Alright, so your characters don't REALLY need to learn every single skill, but enemy encounters drop about 1-2 AP per battle, so you're looking at farming random encounters. Thank god this re-release has a 3X Speed option.

 Besides battle skills, you also learn passive skills, and this is one of the coolest things about the game, for characters can earn ability slots and then you can customize your characters with various passive buffs, such as permanent Haste or Regen, or immunity to poison or other afflictions. I thought this was REALLY cool, but once again, a grindfest. Ability slots are earned by leveling up, and these passive skills are learned like any other skill, defeating a ton of enemies.... so... it's a really good system, but man, it is a rather hefty time investment.

 This is touted as being the easiest PS1 Final Fantasy, but I don't agree with that. There are way too many basic enemies that have instant-death spells, or means to kill you instantly, such as the new 'heat' status that kills you if you had an action lined up when your character got afflicted with it. Plus, since your party now increased to four members, enemies have larger health pools, so random battles take longer to get through without spending mana.

 I wasn't too much of a fan of the mini-games. Alright, as much as I love FFVII, I'll admit that the snowboarding mini-game sucks, alright? I admit it, it's boring and sloppy. But it's a single instance, the other mini-games are fun, decent or at least not a pain to get through. This game, however.... there's a very annoying 'swinging cage' event that's hard to understand what you REALLY need to do and if it's working at all. I had to look it up, and of course, I wasn't the only person having trouble with this thing, and even after I read what I had to do, it still took WAY too long to complete. And then there's the hot-and-cold mini game in which you must mash the A button as long as the enemy has its back turned on you. Under a time limit. And what about the card game? Even if you try ignoring it, at one point Zidane MUST register for a tournament and you MUST win at least two duels. I didn't care about the card game, I didn't want to learn how to play it, so forcing this on the player sucked.

 This rerelease comes with built-in cheats, such as learning every skill without needing so much ap, having all your attacks deal 9999 damage, instant turns+healing, 3X speed.... so as tedious as the game can be, there are ways to make it a more lenient and fun experience if you care about the story.

 Final Fantasy IX is definitely not a bad game, but sadly, it didn't really hit the right notes for me. I can appreciate the game for what it is, but I doubt I'll be replaying it any time soon. I'm glad I finally scratched it off my bucket list though.

 7.5