The GWJ JRPG Club Version 2.5 HD Remaster: Now playing Final Fantasy IX (Q2 2023)!

Usually I can guess where the votes are going to go, but this time, I just don't know...

I did include FF9 because it is an option for me and it would give me something to play on my RP3+. But I thought it was a big letdown back in the day after 7/8 so I wonder how much I’ll be able to get into it this time round.

I'm in the same boat as Bobby and Mr Chris, curious to revisit a game I have only the haziest memories of from 20+ years ago. I do remember it feeling like a step backwards from FF7/8 but I think that was something to do with the combat rather than the change in art direction.

I didn't rate FFX all that highly at the time either, but came around on that when I replayed it last year.

In my online circles at the time along with gaming media that I followed, everyone was really down on FF8, and FF9 was meant to be some amazing return to the absolute greatness of the SNES FF games. Which, now having played most of the way through FF4/6 and about 20 hours of 5, I don't really get. Anyway, I'm sure my expectations negatively impacted my experience.

"Solid" might be a bit much to say about 8's mechanics. They're very complex, and allowed for far more customization than was usual at the time for Final Fantasy, even compared to 7's Materia system. Certainly there's fun to be had in min-maxing complex systems.

But they're also very unintuitive and unbalanced, and making the most of them tends to come back to a lot of tedious grinding to steal spells (which are items now, dontcha know) from enemies. Trying to figure out the game's convoluted systems without the benefit of a strategy guide is a pretty frustrating experience. I get why some people like the game mechanically, but it's not, like, great.

I recall finding Final Fantasy 9 far more straightforward mechanically. Not simplistic, but more intuitive and less convoluted. As I recall the story is... okay, but takes a sharp turn into anime bullsh*t in the third act, as JRPGs are wont to do.

I don't remember the setting being particularly memorable, nor many of the characters other than Vivi and Steiner. And I remember Zidane being particularly insufferable in that "pervy shonen kid protag" kinda way.

I do feel like FF9 has seen a general reappraisal in recent years, almost entirely for the positive. People really dig the medieval fantasy setting, they connect with Garnet, Steiner, and Vivi, and it the beginning has a great sense of adventure with a strong Saturday morning cartoon vibe overall. I think most people agree the ending is pretty bonkers and isn't what tends to be remembered, and the minigames are questionable at best. But it's a quality entry in the series overall, and I think it'll be interesting to see what folks think playing it today free of any expectations or nostalgia.

The prerendered cutscenes and soundtrack of FF8 really nailed it for me, particularly compared to the janky ones in FF7 where I guess they were still finding their footing. The setting and plot were intriguing, if a little hard to follow at times. Characters were a bit hit and miss. The draw system I really liked, particularly once I realized how overpowered it was and that you no longer needed to waste your time using summons. Which looked cool but were way to long and unskippable. Spent way too long playing the card game as well. Really, it was the perfect next step from FF7 for me at the time. Pretty much everything in FF9 felt like a step backwards, which I guess was the intent in some ways but still. I missed that melding of sci-fi and fantasy staples and that sense of epicness, which I guess, having started with FF7, were what FF was for me.

FF10 was a bit of a return to form but I think I had other issues with it so I never finished it.

Holy cow! That snuck up on me somehow. I might have to turn in my FF fan badge if I can't finish this one though (having failed at FF6).

Well, I didn't vote for FF9, but how can I resist Vivi? I'm in.

I was seduced by the lure of Kenshi in the CRPG club this quarter, but spoiler alert, you'll have my vote for Breath of Fire 3 next quarter, as that's one I've somehow never quite gotten around to despite being interested!