Review 5

Final Fantasy IX

The Good: Where to start? Visually it’s a stunner, with gawk-inducing CGI and gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds. The text translation is also top-notch, with a clean, subtle take on different dialects and how they reflect social class. The card game has undergone a significant overhaul from the FFVIII version, though it’s just as addictive. Also noteworthy is the skill system, which adds a strategic element to equipping your characters. Speaking of characters, the crew’s better developed this time around. The main hero, Zidane, is a Han Solo-esque rogue rather than “the mope” of previous Final Fantasies. In many ways Zidane embodies the feel of the game, upbeat and whimsical. It’s a welcome change coming from a franchise that was beginning to take itself too seriously.

The Bad: Same old random monster battles with annoyingly frequent encounter rates. Also, there’s no feature that allows to you automatically heal yourself after combat. Didn’t the development team take any notes from the Chrono Cross crew?

The Ugly: Queen Brahne and Quina Quen. Woof.

Despite a few nagging shortcomings FFIX should please the majority of the series’ fans and spawn some new moogle groupies. It’s a throwback to a much simpler Fantasy, when rickety airships ruled the skies and spell animations didn’t take a bathroom break to finish. Check back with us for continuing coverage and a full review come November.

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Disclamer: Some of the graphics in this archive were not created by Time Capsule. They were acquired from a number of different sites on the net. The authors of the graphics in this archive may not agree in the use of their graphics in commercial projects. Time Capsule does not take claim of ownership to any of the graphics in this archive and any use of them is at your own risk.


	Final Fantasy IX The Good: Where to start? Visually it’s a stunner, with gawk-inducing CGI and gorgeous pre-rendered backgrounds. The text translation is also top-notch, with a clean, subtle take on different dialects and how they reflect social class. The card game has undergone a significant overhaul from the FFVIII version, though it’s just as addictive. Also noteworthy is the skill system, which adds a strategic element to equipping your characters. Speaking of characters, the crew’s better developed this time around. The main hero, Zidane, is a Han Solo-esque rogue rather than “the mope” of previous Final Fantasies. In many ways Zidane embodies the feel of the game, upbeat and whimsical. It’s a welcome change coming from a franchise that was beginning to take itself too seriously. The Bad: Same old random monster battles with annoyingly frequent encounter rates. Also, there’s no feature that allows to you automatically heal yourself after combat. Didn’t the development team take any notes from the Chrono Cross crew? The Ugly: Queen Brahne and Quina Quen. Woof. Despite a few nagging shortcomings FFIX should please the majority of the series’ fans and spawn some new moogle groupies. It’s a throwback to a much simpler Fantasy, when rickety airships ruled the skies and spell animations didn’t take a bathroom break to finish. Check back with us for continuing coverage and a full review come November. * * * * * * * Copyright (C) 2000 TC Studios Disclamer: Some of the graphics in this archive were not created by Time Capsule. They were acquired from a number of different sites on the net. The authors of the graphics in this archive may not agree in the use of their graphics in commercial projects. Time Capsule does not take claim of ownership to any of the graphics in this archive and any use of them is at your own risk.