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  • Locked thread
Ubiquitous_
Nov 20, 2013

by Reene
Mega64, would you post some of the lost art of FFIX as we get to some of those backgrounds in-game? There's so much detail lost in the compression to PSX resolution ratios. If you haven't seen it, just put it into Google. I was going to link it, but it contains spoilers.

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Digital Jello
Nov 2, 2012

Now I have a machine gun. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Black Mage Knight posted:

It really feels like when they were making this game they were doing it as if they were making the last FF ever, so they made it as referential as possible.

That's XIV's job now...if people have the patience to find said references.

Black Balloon
Dec 28, 2008

The literal grumpiest



The only problem with this game is the load times, specifically the battle transitions. Literally everything else is perfect. Consequently, play it on an emulator. Then the game is literally perfect.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Ubiquitous_ posted:

Mega64, would you post some of the lost art of FFIX as we get to some of those backgrounds in-game? There's so much detail lost in the compression to PSX resolution ratios. If you haven't seen it, just put it into Google. I was going to link it, but it contains spoilers.

I'll probably do some art updates just because holy crap, there's a ton of fantastic art for this game.

FeyerbrandX posted:

I have one complaint about the game as well. Well, not the game exactly.

To Find out what that complaint is, type "FUKU" Into Playonline!

On the other hand, Brady Games also published the actual artbook for the game, so that was a very big plus.

The only reason I bought a strategy guide in the first place was because I didn't have internet access at the time, else I would've just used GameFAQs like a normal person. So yeah, I wasn't happy with that loving piece of poo poo guide. That said, I still have my copies of the strategy guide and art book for some reason (well, the art book's pretty sweet).

Don't know if this will work out, but since I'm on vacation and staying home I'm gonna try to have an update every day this week (but definitely don't expect that in the future).

Fedule
Mar 27, 2010


No one left uncured.
I got you.
I gather the strategy guide is being reprinted and yes, they are actually putting in all of the stuff that was gated on PlayOnline. Good times.

I got the original guide too. At least it had some okay art.

Polsy
Mar 23, 2007

I downloaded most of the online strategy guide (needs Flash) a while back, I guess I never went through it thoroughly because I've only just noticed I'm missing a few bits.

Polsy fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Jul 6, 2015

Moxie
Aug 2, 2003

Black Mage Knight posted:

It really feels like when they were making this game they were doing it as if they were making the last FF ever, so they made it as referential as possible.

It is the last FF ever though

Mr. Highway
Feb 25, 2007

I'm a very lonely man, doing what I can.
Judging by the response so far, I must be in a weird minority in that I like the game but don't consider it my favorite. This game has a lot of charm, the return to a more fantasy setting was refreshing (although I had nothing against the sci-fi settings in VII and VIII), and traveling the world map on the first disc felt immersive. There are, however, small, nagging problems that keep me from ranking the game higher.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

Mr. Highway posted:

Judging by the response so far, I must be in a weird minority in that I like the game but don't consider it my favorite. This game has a lot of charm, the return to a more fantasy setting was refreshing (although I had nothing against the sci-fi settings in VII and VIII), and traveling the world map on the first disc felt immersive. There are, however, small, nagging problems that keep me from ranking the game higher.

No, I'm much the same. It's a really fun game (and it has my favourite Chocobo theme this side of Crazy Chocobo), but VI will always be the one I claim as my favourite.

IX was also the first game in the series I never bothered finishing all the side-quests/optional bosses for, and I definitely do not regret that.

Lotus Aura
Aug 16, 2009

KNEEL BEFORE THE WICKED KING!
It's definitely a good game, but it's not amazing or anything. Certainly nowhere near "literally perfect" even if you discount the godawful load times.

Charlett
Apr 2, 2011
I love FF9. It might not be my favorite game (Maybe not favorite FF either) but it's just so much fun, and I really enjoyed every minute of my playing it. It's so pretty and the characters are a lot of fun. It's one of the few games I will go back to playing when nostalgia hits. When I saw Mega64 was doing this, I won't deny my excitement. I'm going to be watching this one a whole lot!!

Sum Mors
Feb 21, 2008
I don't know if I'd place FFIX at the top of the list, but I'd definitely put it in the top 3. (Probably 3rd) The game is mildly challenging at points, but easily broken over the knee, as they should be. Every character feels useful, and has their own way to destroy things. The music is of course great, the graphics at the time were amazing.

Weak points are, as other have mentioned, the poor strategy guide, card game (thankfully not forced on you!) and probably one particular bit in the game where the story slows to a halt. It involves a forced airship ride.

I'll be watching this. :munch:

Xander77
Apr 6, 2009

Fuck it then. For another pit sandwich and some 'tater salad, I'll post a few more.



Are you going to redo every terrible LP of a great Jrpg on the archive?

I'm ok with that.

Orcs and Ostriches
Aug 26, 2010


The Great Twist

Black Balloon posted:

The only problem with this game is the load times, specifically the battle transitions. Literally everything else is perfect. Consequently, play it on an emulator. Then the game is literally perfect.

A friend of mine was replaying this on his PS3 a while back, and I joked about load times being terrible. He disagreed, so when the next battle transition started I started my stopwatch.

36 seconds from the start of the battle transition to inputting his first action. And then I pointed out how slow the battle animations are for everyone, and I think I killed his enthusiasm for the game.

I really wish I could like this game, but I always found it an unplayable slog full of unlikeable characters. And throwing steal on the main character and having enemies with a ton of items to steal made a slow game even slower. The music kicked rear end though.

Still excited for the LP though, because I do want to see as much as the game as possible.

Fedule
Mar 27, 2010


No one left uncured.
I got you.
What IX really needs is a remake on hardware that can actually handle it.

I don't know how I'd feel about a remake that significant changed the battle system, though. I mean, sure, it was slow and clunky and used long animations to hide longer loading times but at the same time it is one of the most balanced JRPGs ever made. The poo poo that people have figured out from doing low-level speedruns is insane and it'd be a shame to lose that.

Death Zebra
May 14, 2014

I thought I hated this game for some reason but thinking back I've actually played it through 2 or 3 times even doing the chocobo minigame for my friend. Actually, it's just the characters' appearances and animations I don't like.

Does the PS3 load the encounters quicker? I bought it from PSN store 2 years ago and having to wait 30 seconds for every encounter to begin would only further discourage me from finally playing it again.

Son Ryo
Jun 13, 2007
Excuse me, do you know where Saiyans hang out?

Fedule posted:

What IX really needs is a remake on hardware that can actually handle it.

I don't know how I'd feel about a remake that significant changed the battle system, though. I mean, sure, it was slow and clunky and used long animations to hide longer loading times but at the same time it is one of the most balanced JRPGs ever made. The poo poo that people have figured out from doing low-level speedruns is insane and it'd be a shame to lose that.

I would love to have the battle system significantly changed-- or at least the godawful equipment system. I basically can't play this game, despite how charming it is, or FFTA because that system where you have to equip outdated gear to get skills just kills me.

BravestOfTheLamps
Oct 12, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
Lipstick Apathy

ProfessorBooty posted:

The only reason to say this is a bad final fantasy is because it gave us a taste of what a modern final fantasy could be, and instead we got something else.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine a bunch of rich twats riding a sports car, forever.

Brony Hunter
Dec 27, 2012

Motherfucking Mannis

They'll bend the knee or I'll destroy them
Oh boy :allears: FFIX is my favourite Final Fantasy game and one of my favourite RPGs of all time. It's so...charming, with an insane level of detail, a brilliant cast and one of the best game soundtracks I've ever heard. Such a shame the loading screens let it down. So glad to be here on ground level.

Vookatos
May 2, 2013
Oh boy! I just started playing this for the first time, and it's really cool to see this! Going to follow this, and learn what bullshit Square secrets I've already missed. Going to agree with the people here, so far it's my favorite Final Fantasy!

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.








Today, we won't be dealing with Zidane's adventures.



Instead, we're gonna hang out with the pluckish little black mage we saw in that last FMV.



Welcome to Alexandria!





Here! You dwopped your ticket. Bye-bye!





This black mage is actually another of the eight main playable characters, though we won't know his name until the end of the update (unless you look at the Tindeck link).



The Wrist we stole from Baku earlier gives this fella some nice evasion boosts.

Don't worry, I'll get into the gameplay mechanics in due time.



We can also take a look at our ticket. Something seems a bit off...



We can go south from the starting screen and find this large area with lots of people to talk to.



Most of Alexandria's populace is lower-to-middle class. There's actually a nearby city where the elite live.



Our character's a bit odd, as you might have guessed. He's clearly a black mage, but by all accounts he's a kid. He's also not a very talkative sort.





Funnily enough, all the kids in town are excited to see the nobles, while the nobles don't really want much to do with them.





I don't know why these guards feel compelled to switch positions. Also, we can't leave the city.



Alexandria has a predominantly female military. It's very reminiscent of Troia from FF4 with its exclusively-woman government and guard. And much like Troia, the male residents are all too happy to enjoy the sights.



There's also four different pieces of treasure in this area alone. Alexandria's pretty big and has a ton of treasure.



We also got our first card. More on those later.

The other treasures here are a Potion, a Lizard Man card, and a Sahagin card.





How can you not love this.



Back to this screen. There's a couple of Potions hidden around here.



Rude.





As I said, kids are just crazy about nobles.



It's a jRPG, let's commence with the breaking and entering.





I'm not done with Ilia's dress yet. Come back later.
Rahaha. Every year, it's always the same. You're spoilin' them grandkids, I say!





Ilia is the name of that nice girl that picked up our ticket for us. It also could be a re-use of the name "Elia" from FF3 but nothing really suggests a connection there.



Of course, we can loot a Potion and Fang Card from this place.



I feel terrible taking this from a senile old woman so I load state to give it back.

Next screen:





He even has a fancy trumpet.

There's more gil and another Goblin card here.



This is Hippaul. He's a lot like the other kids except he's a hippo-boy.



Sadly, I don't think our little friend is of drinking age.



But I feel he's content to chase birds instead anyway.



But it'll also be the last time we'll be so busy.



We don't get any red mages in our party sadly, but a few of them do exist in this world.

We can loot a Potion, Flan card, and some more gil from this bar. We're not even close to done with all this treasure!



You better head straight to the ticket booth in the square. You have to get your ticket stamped there before you can enter the castle.

No treasure here, but there is a pretty nice and helpful guy. The actual people of Alexandria are pretty nice and friendly for the most part.





The item store is the only shop open right now. I've been finding so much stuff that I don't really need to buy anything.



And that includes cash.



Right in front of us is the ticket booth, but before we go see the show we've still got a good bit to explore.



To the southeast, there's a florist selling flowers to a noble couple. Play season must bring in a lot of commerce for this nation.



These two stores are the weapon and synthesis stores. I'll explain synthesis once we visit a shop that's actually open.



I'm so happy...





There is an Ether here. I imagine that will be handy for a black mage.





Have you tried looking on the ground? Our buddy's already accumulated a small fortune just picking up things off the streets from those clumsy nobles.



Heck, right in this shop there's a Remedy.



Hippaul's a doof.



We can't visit the castle at this time.



This is a better version of a Phoenix Down. More on these later though.



Next up, the inn.





What!? I don't believe this!!! I have a reservation, dammit!!!





(City people are so scary.)

To be fair, I don't know if this place even has any rooms.



Apparently fish man can breathe just fine.



OH MY GOD



PLEASE



DON'T KILL ME



This game takes a page from FF7 by having a huge variety of minigames. Some are pretty fun, while others...are like the Jump Rope minigame.



It's pretty simple. Hit the button to jump the rope. If you miss, you're done.



The catch is the tempo changes the longer you play. The other catch is the only rewards are cards and a key item to prove to your friends and family that you actually wasted time playing this minigame. You get this by jumping one thousand times without failing.

I'll pass.



Next screen has this guy.



He's kinda rude.



We've finally nearly explored every area of Alexandria. Just got another home to loot.





This is Ilia's home and thus this is probably her money.



I tried that last year. But them guards, they caught me lickety-split! Gwahaha!



The people hanging out at the docks are less-than-pleasant to talk to.





Sure, we've got some good will already from cleaning up Alexandria's garbage, but what's one more nice deed? Sure thing.

Thanks!



The last area we can visit is this church. Or rather half a church really. Surprising that the stained glass is still intact for the standing walls.

There's a Tent and Potion here.





We can also steal Hippaul's cards and never use them.



As for the cat, it's all the way back next to the statue dedicated to stupid teenager.



It's a cat.



Come here!





Were you expecting a reward from a poor kid?





Because he simply forgot to give it to us.

I'm gonna watch the play from the rooftop with Mittens!



I'm sorry I stole your money and you don't even realize it yet.



We've done everything there is to do besides jump rope until I go unconscious from bashing my head against a wall. Let's go see this play already.





We can just show our ticket, but instead let's get some background information.

Also, this guy's the first character where I couldn't find concept art that matches his appearance. He has horns and hooves though, so I went with the bison image. Edit: Nevermind, found it.

What's showing today?

This year's performance is the masterpiece "I Want to Be Your Canary." The Tantalus Company is performing.

What kind of troupe is Tantalus?

They're star performers from Lindblum, the regency to the west, with accompaniment by Lav Layderce!

What's "I Want to Be Your Canary" about?

This play is a tale of romance between a noble and a peasant! You really must see it!

Tell me about Alexandria!

The Kingdom of Alexandria is a fine country, ruled by Queen Brahne.

Who's Queen Brahne?

Did you know Queen Brahne has a beautiful daughter, Princess Garnet?

Tell me about Queen Brahne!

Unfortunately, I've heard strange things about Queen Brahne recently.

Who's Princess Garnet?

Today is Princess Garnet's sixteenth birthday, you know!

Tell me about Princess Garnet!

Her Highness is a beautiful princess, and everyone in Alexandria loves her!

Is Princess Garnet really that pretty?

Why, she's the most beautiful princess in the history of Alexandria!



Anyway, we've got all the info we're gonna get out of the guy. Let's show our ticket and see the show already.



What's this? There's something odd about this ticket...





...Welp. Poor kid.

Now, now. Don't cry. I know how you must feel. Here, I'll give you these. Do try to cheer up now, hmm?



He then gives us Goblin, Fang, and Skeleton cards.



So we're kind of screwed out of going to a show now, but at least we can learn this game's card game! That's a worthy consolation prize, right?



You've been hammering the same spot for hours. Maybe you're just not good at your job.





And then Dante the whatever he is wanders off to the bar.





Wait...this guy is in an alley. Surely he's Alleyway Jack?



But I'll let you in to see the show if you become my slave!



Well, we did come all this way... Sure.

Awesome! Now for your first assignment! You go stand over there and see if anyone's comin'!





Looks clear to me.

Awesome! Engage according to mission parameters!



Like we have any moral quandaries about stealing at this point.





If you know who I am, you probably wanna challenge me to a card game, huh?



Well... Why not? I finished one job already. Follow me, kid!

And so the young boy followed the shifty-looking man who hung out in alleys to a seedy bar.





So he goes into a big tutorial about the card game before playing with you. I'll skip all this for your benefit. Instead, we'll play a quick game.



That's my job!





First, you pick your cards. We've got thirteen just from looting Alexandria. You can have multiples of the same type, and they can even have different stats and arrow lay-outs.



You pick five, your opponent picks five, and the first player is chosen randomly.



Tetra Master is a significantly worse version of Triple Triad. First off, if you play a card against an opponent, if you have an arrow pointing at them and they don't have an arrow on your card, you convert that card to their side immediately.



The stats refer to attack, defenses, and type of attack. It doesn't really matter because there's a large amount of arbitrary randomness added to rob any strategy out of this game.



Which is a shame, because this could be pretty cool if they didn't screw up how card fights work. If you have arrow vs. arrow, the two cards fight, which is where the stats come into play. Then comes a big chunk of randomness that can lead to a weaker card defeating a much stronger card. Whoever wins converts the losing card and any other cards its arrows are pointing at. You can have some pretty big swings that way.





Like so.





I still lost and end up losing a card. I don't care because I don't plan to ever play this again besides the one time it comes up in the story.

You see, there's no incentive to play. In FF8, you could convert your cards into items and spells which you could then use to break the game in half twice-over. You can't do that here, there's not even any tournaments or anything besides a one-time deal. The only incentive is to up a card rank thing where you have 100 unique cards all with different arrow patterns and even if you get that the game glitches up anyway.

Tetra Master sucks and let's stop talking about this terrible card game.





This is the only town where I'm called Alleyway Jack. I go by other names elsewhere. They're also just aliases, of course. You wanna know my real name? I'll tell you when you get better.

You learn his name by getting a lot of treasure.



Always polite.





What kind of jerk would sell a fake ticket to a little kid!?

Anyway, the rat kid's probably still waiting for us, so let's catch up with him.







It's very dangerous. You go first.

If you insist...





That's Kupo. He's a moogle.
Kupo!
And this is slave number one! Try to get along, okay?
Kupo! Pleased to meet you!

Moogles have been a thing since FF3, made another appearance in FF5, and then became pretty popular in FF6 when we got a playable one who could dance and jump like a total boss. They were pretty much gone besides minor cameos here and there in FF7 and FF8, but they are back full-force for FF9. This game is full of moogle goodness.





And you can regain health if you have a Tent, kupo!

That's because moogles are this game's save points. Even in the overworld you'll be calling upon a moogle to save for you.



Of course.

Glad I can help, kupo!







We've got just one more matter of business before we finally see the play.



Kupo! Stiltzkin! Why that getup? You leaving, kupo?
Yeah, and this time I might be away for a long time.
I'll miss you, kupo.
Now, don't you worry. I'll write.
Okay, kupo!
Well, I'm off. Take care! Oh, and say hi to Mosh in the castle for me.



Was that a friend of yours?
Yes, kupo. A very special one, kupo!!!



Before we do that, let's go ahead and save.





Tent lets us restore HP and MP, of course. No need to do that yet.

Save lets us save the game.



And every time we get this nice animation.





Mognet is a lengthy sidequest that there's no reason not to pursue since it usually follows along directly with the main plot.



Mognet is a mail delivery system between moogles! We can send and receive letters to and from moogles in other locations! Kupo! But delivery has been very sporadic lately! So I want you to help us deliver mail! Kupo!



As I said, no reason not to.

I have a favor to ask, kupo!





Doing Mognet is very simple. Just go to each and every save moogle you encounter and select Mognet until they won't do Mognet stuff anymore. Now we have a letter on the backburner that we don't need to worry about for the time being.



Now, I'd say with the busy day we had so far we've definitely earned a nice relaxing view of the play, right?

Alright, the play's gonna start if we don't hurry!



Lemme guess... You're afraid of heights, aren't you? It's okay! Just pretend you're on the ground!



Come on, already! We're runnin' outta time!



Don't worry! It won't fall!



No point in worrying now, right?



We can steal money from three different bird nests up here.



I don't even know your name!



As the music suggested, it's Vivi.

So your name's Vivi, huh? Kinda funny name...



Puck's likely a Shakespeare reference. There's a ton of those this game, it seems. I'll let people more knowledgable than I point those out, though.





C'mon, let's go!



Next time, we'll finally watch the play.

Mega64 fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Aug 6, 2015

Giovanni_Sinclair
Apr 25, 2009

It was on this day that his greatest enemy defeated, the true lord of darkness arose. His name? MARIO.
Oh cool a FFIX LP, it's one of my favorite FF games as a kid and been meaning to replay for awhile. Enjoyed the last LP and am sure am going to enjoy this one too.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.
Here's something cool: July 7 marks the 15th anniversary of the game's release in Japan.

Kaboom Dragoon
May 7, 2010

The greatest of feasts

Huh, also my birthday. Less interesting, but y'know.

Brunom1
Sep 5, 2011

Ask me about being the best dad ever.
Oooh, there's so much I absolutely love about this game - the music, art direction, characters... I get that VII is like THE big name of the series but, to me, this one is the absolute best.

Reckon this one will take forever to run through everything but I'll keep tabs on it for my nostalgia fix!

Camel Pimp
May 17, 2008

This poster survived LPing Lunar: Dragon Song. Let's give her a hand.
I did play this game, but I only rented and only got to the 2nd disc or so. I don't remember a hell of a lot about it, other than the fact that Vivi is goddamn adorable and the best :3:

Tuxedo Ted
Apr 24, 2007

Tuxedo Ted posted:

You better become Jump Rope King, Mega64.

quote:

The other catch is the only rewards are cards and a key item to prove to your friends and family that you actually wasted time playing this minigame. You get this by jumping one thousand times without failing.

I'll pass.

You're dead to me.

So It Goes
Feb 18, 2011
This is my favorite final fantasy game. Its biggest problem (which to be fair is pretty significant) is the battle speed/animations/having random battles in general are really slow paced. Still a great game and the best part of having PS emulators is you can bind a speed-up button to hit every battle transition. Some things like the card game system, the limit-break equivalent aren't too great, but they aren't negatives or anything either.

idonotlikepeas
May 29, 2010

This reasoning is possible for forums user idonotlikepeas!
One day I may play this and not rename Vivi to Orko.

...nah.

Edward_Tohr
Aug 11, 2012

In lieu of meaningful text, I'm just going to mention I've been exploding all day and now it hurts to breathe, so I'm sure you all understand.

idonotlikepeas posted:

One day I may play this and not rename Vivi to Orko.

...nah.

Why not? You have the power. :v:

EponymousMrYar
Jan 4, 2015

The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.
I actually prefer Tetra Master over Triple Triad, mainly because it's BS was the sort I could get behind compared to what FF8's card AI could do (Random, Plus, Combo :suicide:) when you don't know how to use the Card Queen.

This into sequence is pretty well done. There's tons to explore and see and get but if you don't care about any of that you can just go to get your phony ticket checked, ignore most of the card tutorial and bam, be ready to see the play rather quickly. Compared to more modern takes of the series it's wonderful.

Rabbi Raccoon
Mar 31, 2009

I stabbed you dude!
Hey Mega, would you mind getting rid of the "here" icon? I always found it distracting from the gorgeous visuals this games has. Kinda draws your eye to it. But that might just be me.

This game does an amazing job making the cities feel alive. You really get a feel how big everything is. And Alexandria Castle is a freaking monolith.

Mega64
May 23, 2008

I took the octopath less travelered,

And it made one-eighth the difference.

Rabbi Raccoon posted:

Hey Mega, would you mind getting rid of the "here" icon? I always found it distracting from the gorgeous visuals this games has. Kinda draws your eye to it. But that might just be me.

This game does an amazing job making the cities feel alive. You really get a feel how big everything is. And Alexandria Castle is a freaking monolith.

Shouldn't be a problem. If anyone else has requests like that feel free to let me know and I'll probably be down to do them.

Also, probably won't be making many avatars for this one since these GIFs are already big file size-wise and they take up a good bit of time, but I couldn't resist this one.



e: If people have avatar requests of any GIFs during the LP let me know and I'll do my best to make them.

Mega64 fucked around with this message at 02:40 on Jul 7, 2015

Blaze Dragon
Aug 28, 2013
LOWTAX'S SPINE FUND

Oh man this game. I didn't play it in full, I left somewhere around disc 2, because life had other plans for me and then I couldn't remember what I was doing, but still I enjoyed it a lot. Really good game, really good characters and music, the whole thing is great and I should really complete it on my own if I ever get free time.

That said I have my share of problems with it too. Beyond the speed thing (emulators have quick speed for a reason), the Limit Break system is absolutely terrible. Not letting you activate them when you want makes them go from a possible tactic to completely luck-based. It's likely the single worst Limit Break system in the history of the franchise, perhaps second to FFVI because at least you'll see these happen. Also making you learn abilities from weapons and equipment is bad too, and I hated it FFTA2 before I hated it here. At least here you can get the goddamn weapons though, that's already an improvement over the Tactics Advance games.

The fact that this doesn't ruin the game and it's still really, really good says a lot about it, really. I'm fully looking forward to the LP!

ApplesandOranges
Jun 22, 2012

Thankee kindly.
Vivi is the best character and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. :colbert:

I mean this game is chock full of some great characters (Zidane included) but Vivi has such an amazing story that he wins top spot in my heart always.

It's weird but I'm also really glad this game didn't have voice acting; it would just be odd, and some characters which were tolerable in the game would become annoying if fully voiced.

SonicRulez
Aug 6, 2013

GOTTA GO FIST
After having watched the game speedrun and LP'd many times, I finally picked it up and played it for myself earlier this year. Good game, but not my favorite Fantasy. Used a Walkthrough cause I like not missing stuff when it comes to games I don't plan on playing more than once. I'll be keeping tabs on this LP, just because I like LPs of games more after I've played them.

Chuu
Sep 11, 2004

Grimey Drawer
Just discovered this thread. I'm a little late to the love-in, but this is one of my favorite games of all times, so much so I've always been scared to go back and replay it in case it hasn't held up to my memories.

The load times. I don't remember the load times being bad at all -- and the load times in Chrono Cross drove me up the wall. If it really was 36 seconds though . . . I don't know how I'd react to that.

Emy
Apr 21, 2009
Final Fantasy IX. :neckbeard:


I played this game very shortly after Final Fantasy VII, and among the substantial differences between the two games is the style of the soundtrack. The music in FF7 was quite functional, and at times downright excellent, but I still can't help but feel that FF9's soundtrack is a step up from that. Part of it is the switch in instrument choice, due to the game's aesthetic, but I think FF9's music generally just has more going on in it. Vivi's theme is one of the more FF7-like tracks, since most of it is bare-bones.

It's more evident in the arrangements made for live orchestral performances, but 9's music seems more suited to that because it already incorporates a wider range of instruments as well as more small flourishes with those same instruments. Which is pretty impressive, since to the best of my knowledge, both used the same technology (which I think was basically MIDI with a soundfont, or some proprietary format to the same effect). If anyone knows anything about the technical side of FF9's soundtrack in more detail, I'd be glad to hear it.

MonsieurChoc
Oct 12, 2013

Every species can smell its own extinction.

Fedule posted:

Fun fact: Final Fantasy IX has bar none the best, finest, most awesomest opening hour of any game of its type.

More than anything else, the thing that comes through the strongest about it is that the entire game was made by people who loved what they did.

I disagree.

The entire first disc is amazing.

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Fister Roboto
Feb 21, 2008

You missed a neat little reference in the town square of Alexandria.



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