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Final Fantasy IX is the ninth installment in the Final Fantasy series released by Square in 2000. It was directed by Hiroyuki Itō and co-produced by Hironobu Sakaguchi and Shinji Hashimoto. It is the third and last Final Fantasy in the main series to be produced for the PlayStation. Unlike Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII Final Fantasy IX was not ported to the PC. It was originally going to be a spin-off game but was eventually made into a main game. On April 2nd 2010 it was announced on Twitter that Final Fantasy IX would be added to the PlayStation Network and was released for PSN on May 20th 2010 for Japanese pla
After two Final Fantasy installments that featured an increasing sci-fi slant Final Fantasy IX was intended to return the series at least temporarily to its more fantasy-oriented roots. The characters who had been depicted in an increasingly realistic fashion in previous Final Fantasy games were deliberately rendered in a more cartoonish fashion to reflect this return to tradition. Among the most notable in the influences of previous Final Fantasy games is the presence of Black Mages represented foremost by the playable party member Vivi; other Black Mages appear as a crucial element of the storyline.
Final Fantasy IX was announced and developed in tandem with Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy XI. This three-pronged marketing effort was intended to provide gamers with the promise of three upcoming games of varied style and gameplay: an intentionally retro RPG in Final Fantasy IX a smoother evolution in style and design in Final Fantasy X and an online experience in Final Fantasy XI.
Gameplay Voltar ao índice »
Levels and Abilities
Final Fantasy IX retains experience points and levels but new abilities are learned by equipping an item that can teach an ability and gaining enough ability points to learn it permanently reminiscent of the Esper system in Final Fantasy VI. However in Final Fantasy IX abilities can still be used even when they have not been learned permanently. A little known feature is that abilities can be learned faster by equipping multiple pieces of equipment that teach the same ability; e.g. Zidane will learn Long Reach twice as fast if he equips both Thief Hat and Protect Ring simultaneously. The effect is boosted further by using the Ability Up ability.
There are two types of abilities in Final Fantasy IX: "Action" and "Support." Action abilities include techniques like Magic weapon skills and calling Eidolons. Support abilities have beneficial passive effects such as resistance against status effects and increased ***age to certain enemy types. A limited amount of support abilities can be equipped at one time governed by Magic Stones. Each support ability requires a certain number of Magic Stones and more stones can be gained by leveling up. Many abilities can be learned by most of the cast but some are exclusive to certain characters.
Field
In the field the pla
to interact with the object. As the game progresses different methods of traveling across the world become available. As with previous incarnations characters can travel by chocobo boat and airship.
Battles
Following the tradition started by Final Fantasy IV the game utilizes the Active Time Battle system in battle. When a character's ATB gauge is filled up that character can choose a command to execute. Normally enemies attack whenever their turn is up but the battle can be set to "Wait" mode making the enemy unable to attack a character while they are choosing a spell or an item from the menu.
In Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII the pla
Trance
- Main article: Trance (Final Fantasy IX)
Continuing the tradition started in Final Fantasy VI the game incorporates Limit Breaks although differently from earlier Limit Break systems. When a character sustains hits in battle the Trance gauge is filled up and when full the character automatically goes into Trance mode. Trance changes the character's appearance and either gives them a new skill or set of skills only usable while they are in Trance. E.g if Zidane has learned the ability Flee for his Skills ability set he gains the ability Free Energy for his Trance ability set Dyne. Zidane is the only character who is able to use new abilities in his Trance; most characters' abilities are enhanced for example Vivi gains Double Black which allows him to cast two Black Magic spells in quick succession and while in Trance Steiner's strength is boosted.
Character Classes
Final Fantasy IX has character classes something absent from the last few preceding games in the series. While not explicitly stated each character in the game has an obvious job ba
This is yet another return to tradition from Final Fantasy IX's recent predecessors in which characters were largely blank slates to be heavily customized by the pla
Active Time Events
- Main article: Active Time Event
Another new aspect of Final Fantasy IX are Active Time Events (ATE). When an ATE window appears the pla
Mognet
- Main article: Mognet (Final Fantasy IX)
Within the game Mognet is a postal system used by moogles. As the pla
Later on in the game it is revealed the moogles are only requesting that the pla
Setting Voltar ao índice »
- Main article: Gaia (Final Fantasy IX)
The world of Final Fantasy IX named Gaia is divided into four continents:
- Mist Continent the first playable area and the most heavily settled.
- Forgotten Continent a large land in the west where the sun sets.
- Lost Continent to the northwest almost entirely covered in ice.
- Outer Continent an arid desert wasteland to the north.
Characters Voltar ao índice »
- Main article: List of Final Fantasy IX Characters
- Zidane Tribal: The main protagonist. A Thief member of the Tantalus group and an inveterate womanizer.
- Vivi Orunitia: A young Black Mage but pure of heart.
- Garnet til Alexandros XVII: The female protagonist and princess of Alexandria. A Summoner with more emphasis on summons than White Magic.
- Adelbert Steiner: A noble Knight of Alexandria and the Captain of the Knights of Pluto.
- Freya Crescent: A Burmecian Dragon Knight who searches for her lost love Sir Fratley.
- Quina Quen: A Qu Blue Mage who joins the adventure to experience cuisine from around the world.
- Eiko Carol: A young Summoner with more proficiency in White Magic than summoning one of the last of her tribe.
- Amarant Coral: A Monk and wanted bandit accompanying Zidane to discover what makes him powerful.
Story Voltar ao índice »
In the world of Gaia Queen Brahne Raza Alexandros XVI of the kingdom of Alexandria lusts for power and is trying to increase her domain by conquering the surrounding lands. War is brewing among the neighboring kingdoms on the Mist Continent. Regent Cid of Lindblum is worried about how these troubling events will impact Princess Garnet so he dispatches the Tantalus Theater Troupe to Alexandria to kidnap her. A prominent character in Tantalus is the game's main protagonist Zidane Tribal. However the Princess herself yearns to escape from her wicked mother and is willingly kidnapped. During the operation Vivi and Adelbert Steiner Captain of the Royal Knights of Pluto and Garnet's guardian become involved much to Steiner's disdain. The plan soon backfires and Tantalus member Zidane is left in charge of the kidnapping. During their escape the theater ship the Prima Vista is shot down from the sky and lands in the Evil Forest.
Zidane decides to assist the princess to Lindblum on foot but Baku the leader of Tantalus dissents with his opinion and dismisses Zidane. Vivi and Steiner join Zidane in rescuing Garnet from Evil Forest's carnivorous flora and eventually escape the woods leaving Tantalus behind. The foursome venture through the Ice Cavern where Zidane defeats Black Waltz No. 1 Brahne's lackey. Arriving in the village of Dali Garnet adopts the alias of "Dagger" to blend in with the peasantry. The villagers kidnap Vivi and the rest of the party is soon shocked when they rescue him and find out the villagers are manufacturing Black Mages from the Mist for export to Alexandria. Garnet begins to ponder the possibility of returning to Alexandria to question her mother about the Black Mage business a notion Steiner approves of. After besting Black Waltz No. 2 they board a Cargo Ship piloted by soulless Black Mages but soon come under fire from Black Waltz No. 3. Vivi Zidane and Steiner confront the golem and leave the journey's destination in Garnet's hands. The princess hesitates but ultimately decides to go to Lindblum resulting in an erratic flight through the South Gate.
The four meet with Regent Cid at Lindblum who refuses to mobilize against Alexandria for fear of leaving his own borders unprotected. While his country holds the Festival of the Hunt Brahne begins her advancement into the Burmecia region home of Zidane's friend Freya Crescent. Zidane decides to travel to Burmecia with Freya whom he finds just before the Festival of the Hunt and Vivi to learn more about the situation but Cid orders Garnet to remain in Lindblum. In retaliation she tampers the festival feast with sleeping weed to place everyone asleep and absconds with Steiner back to South Gate. The remainder of the party ventures to Burmecia traveling through Gizamaluke's Grotto and in an optional event recruiting the gluttonous Quina Quen along the way. Upon arriving in Burmecia they find the desolate city in ruins. At the city apex they meet the Queen herself a mysterious man named Kuja and General Beatrix. The General promptly defeats Zidane's group and Alexandria sets its sights on Cleyra.
Meanwhile Garnet and Steiner rest in Treno and with Doctor Tot's aid take the Gargan Roo pathway to Alexandria where Garnet meets with her mother. Brahne turns on the princess and orders Garnet's Eidolons extracted magical creatures with great powers for use in future invasions. One of these summons Odin is used to obliterate Cleyra but not before Beatrix takes a jewel from the city's harp and Zidane's crew hitches a ride on the Red Rose back to Alexandria. The protagonists join forces with Steiner and free Garnet from Brahne's clutches with the assistance of the enlightened Beatrix. Zidane Vivi and Garnet attempt to use the Gargant system to flee back to Treno but their ride is spooked by a monster and ends up crashing in Pinnacle Rocks. After passing Ramuh's trial allowing Garnet to summon the Eidolon Ramuh the three witness the sacking of Lindblum by another of Alexandria's Eidolons Atomos. Sneaking into the city Zidane and Garnet meet with the now powerless Regent Cid who reveals Kuja is behind the recent strings of attacks. Cid says it is rumored the origin of Mist is in the Outer Continent and the party sets off to locate Kuja there. Along the way Quina finds the entrance to the Fossil Roo an underground tunnel leading to the Outer Continent.
Upon reaching the Black Mage Village Vivi discovers there are many Black Mages like him that can speak. He also discovers Black Mages have a limit on their life span of about one year. Even with this in mind Vivi continues to travel with Zidane and company. They encounter Eiko Carol a young girl and last of the Summoner tribe at her home of Madain Sari. Zidane convinces her to open the path to the Iifa Tree which they discover to be the source of the Mist. The group descends into the very core of the tree until they finally reach a shimmering and seemingly endless green pool at its ba
On the beach Brahne finally regains her former self and apologizes to Garnet before dying leaving the princess devastated. Garnet must now become the Queen of Alexandria but the ceremonies of her coronation are short-lived as Kuja promptly appears in the city and summons Bahamut to wreak havoc. The other party members fly in from Treno with Regent Cid and Eiko aids Garnet in summoning Alexander the holy Eidolon guardian of Alexandria. Alexander vanquishes Bahamut only for a mysterious elderly man to appear with the Invincible and destroy Alexander and a majority of the city. Garnet is so shocked by the devastation that she is rendered mute and she Zidane and their friends take refuge in Lindblum where Cid puts into service the Blue Narciss a ship that was commandeered from Alexandria and gives it to the party. They first stop by the Black Mage Village and discover Kuja's location. They follow Kuja to his Desert Palace but fall into a trap and are locked in cells. Kuja forces Zidane and three of his friends to fly to the Forgotten Continent and retrieve the Gulug Stone from Oeilvert in exchange for the life of their other friends. The ruins contain many illusions and artifacts from the ambiguous Terran civilization including an ancient Eidolon Ark which is defeated in order to obtain the Stone.
Meanwhile Regent Cid and the remaining four party members manage to free themselves from their prisons and shut down the palace security system Valia Pira. Kuja still manages to snatch the Gulug Stone from Zidane and absconds with an abducted Eiko to Mount Gulug. The heroes pass through Esto Gaza to track him down and witness Zorn and Thorn attempt to extract Eiko's Eidolons. Mog Eiko's pet moogle reveals her true Eidolon form through Trance and with her help the court jesters are destroyed. Deprived of further Eidolons Kuja formulates a new plan: to assimilate enough souls in order to enter a form of permanent Trance. He flees and Zidane's party find Queen Hilda Cid's wife and escort her back to Lindblum. She restores Cid to his proper human form and the Lindblum leader puts the finishing touches on his new airship the Hilda Garde III. Garnet returns to Alexandria to her mother's resting place. When Zidane follows her she recovers from her silence once more takes his dagger and cuts off her ponytail in a promise to continue to fight for her people and her adoptive mother.
Queen Hilda tells the party of Kuja's ambitions and link to the planet Terra and directs them towards Ipsen's Castle on the Forgotten Continent. Inside the inverted structure they find four elemental mirrors: seals to the portal to Terra. After defeating the worm-like Taharka and rescuing Amarant from his own arrogance Zidane decides to form four parties in order secure each elemental shrine simultaneously. The defeat of all four Guardians opens the path to Terra through the Shimmering Island.
The party head out on deck and get pulled into in to the path leading to Terra where a mysterious girl who resembles Zidane leads the party to the Genome village of Bran Bal. Her name is Mikoto and she reveals to Zidane his origins from Terra and that he was made by Garland. She leads Zidane to him who reveals Kuja is also a Genome and could be considered Zidane's brother. Aggrivated by all he has heard Zidane attempts to fight Garland on his own but can't even lift a finger and suddenly passes out. Garland reluctantly decides he has no choice but to make Zidane a regular Genome and seals him deep within Pandemonium. Zidane's friends free him and confront Garland whom they defeat. Though the party intends only to interrogate the old sorcerer Kuja chooses the moment to enter on the Invincible. He gleefully showcases his new mastery of Trance achieved by draining the soul of a person who refused to die to the very end Queen Brahne from the Invincible. Kuja promptly dispatches the party with an Ultima spell and announces his new motivation: to rule Terra and Gaia both. Garland clairvoyant to the end warns Kuja that his power is meaningless; the Genome responds by kicking his old master off the Pandemonium's precipice to his death.
However Garland remains stubbornly omniscient and from beyond the grave tells Kuja his new-found rule is for naught; a limit on his life-span was set when he was created and his mortal death is fast approaching. Kuja is no longer satisfied with world domination; his euphoria turns into rage and he hatches a plot to destroy the source of all existence: the Crystal. He begins by utterly obliterating Terra with wave after wave of Ultima spells but the party and resident Genomes escape by piloting the Invincible back through the Shimmering Island to Gaia. They suddenly see the resurgence of Mist in the air emanating once more from the Iifa Tree. Above the tree hovers the foreboding entrance to Memoria where Gaia's memories and Kuja await. The armies of Alexandria and Lindblum take flight to stave off the horde of Silver Dragons blocking Memoria's doorway and Invincible breaks through carrying the party inside Memoria. They defeat a slew of monsters Kuja created in opposition to the Crystal itself while witnessing the deepest moments of their lives intertwined with the earliest stirrings of Gaia. Garland's lingering voice guides them through the dimension before leaving them at the entrance to the Crystal World a realm where there is no time or space; only memories of every life originating from the Crystal.
Zidane and his friends descend the translucent pillars of crystal and face Kuja in battle. In a last effort to defeat the party Kuja unleashes Ultima on to the group devastating them. The party wakes up upon the Hill of Despair finding themselves in the presence of Necron a deity-like being that wishes for all existence to be wiped out and returned to nothing. Using all of their strength Necron is defeated and returned to whence it came Kuja teleports the eight heroes out of Memoria onto the banks of the Iifa Tree. The majority of the party returns to Alexandria on the Hilda Garde while Zidane stays behind to find Kuja. He locates his brother deep within Iifa and as Kuja accounts for his sins Iifa's roots converge on them both. The others believe Zidane dead and Garnet now the reigning queen of Alexandria slides into depression. In the game's closing moments the Tantalus Troupe appears once more to perform I Want to Be Your Canary for Garnet's birthday. During the play a shrouded form masquerading as Marcus casts off his cloak to reveal a returning Zidane. The city of Alexandria celebrates old friends cheer from the stands and the queen runs through the crowd of people and leaps into Zidane's arms.
Music Voltar ao índice »
- Main article: Final Fantasy IX: Original Soundtrack
Final Fantasy IX is the last Final Fantasy game with music composed exclusively by Nobuo Uematsu. It was also his most prolific score as the original soundtrack for the game had 110 tracks and an additional soundtrack was released with 42 more new tracks. Many people speculate that the reason why Uematsu no longer composed game soundtracks on his own after Final Fantasy IX was that he was simply overworked. Regardless years after its release Uematsu has stated on multiple occasions with little to no hesitation that both the score and the game itself are his favorite of all his projects to have worked on thus far.
Much of the music in Final Fantasy IX revolves around the themes of the J-pop ballad "Melodies of Life" composed by Uematsu and performed by Emiko Shiratori. The song itself was sung in Japanese for the game's Japanese release and in English for the game's North American and European releases.
Allusions Voltar ao índice »
- Main article: Final Fantasy IX/Allusions
Final Fantasy IX was intended in many ways to be a salute to the series' history and as such is filled with allusions and references to previous games. One of the most apparent is the similarity of the character Vivi to the Black Mage from the original Final Fantasy. Unfortunately despite the high quality of the translation overall care was not taken to ensure all of the various names and references matched up to those used in the previous English-language releases. Because of this many of the references with which the game abounds are completely missed by the non-Japanese audience. Examples are listed in the main article.
Trivia Voltar ao índice »
- Due to the radical departure from Final Fantasy VII and VIII early in development Square had not yet decided if the game would be titled Final Fantasy IX or be a gaiden episode.
- A Final Fantasy IX remake for PlayStation 2 had been considered by Square in early 2001 only one year after the original release. For some reason the project was either scrapped or never started development at all. Similar projects for Final Fantasy VII and Vagrant Story were also considered at one point but met the same fate.
- In May 2009 the video game website IGN interviewed Yoshinori Kitase and Takeshi Arakawa. During their discussion Arakawa mentioned he desired to make a sequel to Final Fantasy IX more than any other game. [1]
- According to 1UP.com[2] Final Fantasy IX is the only Final Fantasy in the series to not have its title logo designed by Yoshitaka Amano. This speculation is however unconfirmed.
- Final Fantasy IX has the most diverse cast of characters in the series as it has only three normal human beings (Steiner Amarant and Beatrix) and all the other playable characters are part of different races.
- Final Fantasy IX can have up to two pla
yers controlling the party during combat even if the feature is not mentioned in the instruction manual. - Final Fantasy IX is Hironobu Sakaguchi's favorite Final Fantasy title saying that "it's closest to his ideal view of what Final Fantasy should be."
- Final Fantasy IX has the most number of allusions in Dissidia Final Fantasy. The biggest one is Mognet. It is also said in Dissidia that the peak of life of the moogles happened in Gaia.
- The developers have stated they changed the ending seven times.[3]
- To promote Final Fantasy IX's release Square joined forces with Coca-Cola to produce a Final Fantasy IX themed Coca-Cola television commercial.
Packaging Artwork Voltar ao índice »
External links Voltar ao índice »
- Official North American site
- Archive of European PlayOnline guide
- Wikipedia's entry on Final Fantasy IX
- Final Fantasy IX Screen Shots



































