All You Final Fantasy IX Fans: Where Were You When It Mattered?

[Izayoi]

I'm always reading people singing the praises of Final Fantasy IX, talking about how refreshing its charming visual style is, the beautifully woven story and characters, and how Ito deserves to be the director of Final Fantasy XVI.

I don't disagree with any of that, but I often wonder where were you all when the game was launched under a tirade of constant mockery and low sales?

I still remember how in nearly every forum I visited at the time, FFIX was being criticized for its "shitty muppets" designs and "Disney-fied" story. Even major gaming sites at the time were joining in the mockery, despite also giving it the high scores it deserved.

And then World of Final Fantasy comes out, and people were also quick to bash on the refreshingly charming art style once again, this time yelling at the game for looking like some Lego/Funko knockoff and hating on all the dialogue and characters (both which I personally found hilarious).

So when you're all wondering why Ito won't be named head director of FFXVI by now, well....it's your fault.

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I bought it on launch, and again later (when it was had the classic branding)... And then so many times after on all of the platforms it was available for.

I was a staff member for a fansite at the time and I wrote lots of content praising the game, and was singing its praises on forums as well.

Don't look at me, man!

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

I bought IX at launch and played the hell out of it.

 

[Nose Master]

I bought a copy on launch day. I poured over every snippet of info every magazine had on it. I bought it again on PS4. What more do you want from me, man?

 

[Dougieflesh]

I was 9 and had no money. I'm glad I played it when I was older so that I could appreciate it more. It's easily the best out of the PS1 Final Fantasy games.

 

[Nikus]

I bought it on launch day (Euro version), bought it again later for the US version and 60Hz, and my first copy is signed by Sakaguchi. Bought it again recently on Steam. What else do you expect me to do

 

[Orbit]

I was playing it on my ps2. So don't you put the blame on me.

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Don't you put that on me Ricky Bobby!!! lol sorry had to (from the will farrell nascar movie).

I was playing Final Fantasy X due to learning about Final Fantasy from Kingdom Hearts. I wanted to go back to IX but the graphics just hurt my eyes.

 

[Nikus]

I bought it on launch day (Euro version), I bought the official guide, the official soundtrack, action figures of all the characters, then I bought the game again later to play in 60Hz with the US version, and my first copy is signed by Sakaguchi. Bought it again recently on Steam. What else do you expect me to do

 

[oliverandm]

So when you're all wondering why Ito won't be named head director of FFXVI by now, well....it's your fault.

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That's probably the reach of the year. Congratulations.

 

[Regulus Tera]

Playing PS2 games of course

 

[Coolsambob]

I had it on order at my local Electronics Boutique store, and picked it up 2 days before release whilst I was sick from school. I did my bit. I also bought the guide and even looked at those horrid online bits.

 

[Druffmaul]

I was playing in on day 1 and enjoying it a lot. Wasn't a huge fan, though. I loved that after the first five all being variations on the pseudo-medieval vaguely D&D-ish/LotR-ish theme, VI, VII and VIII veered sharply into left field. IX veered sharply back and while it wasn't bad, it felt like pandering to the vocally butthurt "old school" fans who hated VII and VIII for being "too sci-fi." (A lot of these people hadn't been playing FF as long as I had.) No doubt it's a great FF in and of itself, but in the franchise timeline between VIII and X it feels like a weird anomalous blip. It came as no surprise to me that the two or three friends of mine who I'd turned on to FFVII and VIII when they came out turned up their nose up at IX when I showed it to them. They had no experience w/ the earlier games and thought it was the lamest design choice ever.

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

Final Fantasy 9 is such a mess. From the stupid looking ape who doesn't respect women's (Garnet's) personal space you are forced to play as, to flop characters like Amarant, Quina, and Steiner, a dull and slooooooow battle system, and a story that fell off the rails by the finale, with a final boss that literally came out of nowhere, is it any wonder it sold so poorly?

Final Fantasy 8 is a masterpiece and Square at the height of their creative peak. No wonder FF9 felt like such a disappointment, it's like following up Born This Way with Artpop.

 

[RDreamer]

It was, I think, the first game I had ever got on launch week. I knew it'd be very different from FF8 and was ready for that. Loved the game.

 

[hydrophilic attack]

it was long ago, and i was just a kid, not really comfortable with either writing in english, or just interacting on the internet in general

it is a charming game, even if the world has moved on from hold-cross-to-bildungsroman gameplay in RPGs to more active and/or tactical battle systems than the dreary SNES–PS1-era ATB

OP, i do think you may be taking the ancient and storied FF fan vs FF fan war a bit too seriously

 

[Zip]

I was under the age of 10.

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I was 9.

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Sorry, I was 5, couldn't do much

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.

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Like most others here, I was like 5 when that game came out.

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I was 5 and unable to drive to my local Walmart.

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...And we're all very disappointed in you.

 

[strife85]

was my second fav FF game behind 7 when it came out. I supported it :D

 

[Sadist]

Playing the ever loving fudge out of it?

Still think its the pinnacle of FF games. Bought it on Steam, will probably tripple dip on Switch.

 

[Abylim]

I got FFIX for Christmas that year, loved it but not as much as FFVII.

Bought WoFF when it launched and praised it on the old forums.

I don't know I think I did my bit?

 

[Deleted member 9746]

I bought the game.

Where were YOU?

 

[BriGuy]

I bought it at release and played it on my PS2.

 

[Doctor Doggo]

Playing the game on launch day. And so were all my friends, because we had good taste.

 

[Noriea]

I am two physical copies and one digital /shrug

 

[BentMyWookiee]

I started playing when it launched on PC in the US and I got immediately addicted to the game. I would pour hours into it every day and neglect school work and my social life. The time commitment needed to progress in FFXI was insane back in the day. But I loved every minute of playing that game.

I think I kept up with it playing regularly until around after the Wings of the Goddess expansion came out. I have very fond memories of the game and have popped back on for a month or two on several occasions. I have a lot of good memories with the game and would love to jump back in if I could spend the time on it.

 

[Deleted member 176]

looking into it, I only found out video games existed about a year before it released

 

[LegendofLex]

I didn't play any Final Fantasy games until after X came out because my first console was an N64, and I didn't own a PS2 until 2005.

I'll be buying the game for the third time on Switch. I'm mad that there's no physical edition.

People discover games years later and become fans. It's not like everyone who is a Final Fantasy fan must have been a Final Fantasy fan since VII came out since that was the sales peak for the series.

 

[Lothars]

I played it when it came out and I was underwhelmed. I'm still not a fan of it.

 

[carlsojo]

I was let down by the art style coming off of 8 the same way I was let down by the art style of WindWaker coming off of Ocarina of Time.

Also I was 12.

 

[HanSoloCup]

It was the first game I ever pre-ordered, on this Amazon site of all places back in 2000. I was so excited when it came in. It and FFVI are my favorite games of all time. I was there.

 

[Perzeval]

I was playing the game instead of messing around on forums at that age.

 

[Gaia Lanzer]

I, uh, was 20-frickin' years old... and I pre-ordered it at Gamestop, picked it up day 1, loved it back then (was singing its praises) and STILL love it to this day.

I ain't part of the problem, bub! I'm OG Final Fantasy! Hell, I'm the one that wants FFXVI to be to have a world/setting similar to FFIX (SD characters or realistic-like ones, I don't care either way, I want to see a world like THAT again... in HD and a single-player FF installment of the main series).

 

[Man Called Aerodynamics]

I was in college, played it and thought it was slow and boring. I'll take FF13 any day of the week. Sorry. :)

Started with the series on the NES btw.

 

[Nikus]

I wanted to go back to IX but the graphics just hurt my eyes.

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This hurts my eyes.

 

[Cess007]

I was in college, played it and thought it was slow and boring. I'll take FF13 any day of the week. Sorry. :)

Started with the series on the NES btw.

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[GalaxyDive]

Yeah, I was busy playing it and loving it when it released. And then buying it on Steam, again on PS4 just for the theme, and will be buying it yet again on Switch.

 

[cardboardboxer]

I had it preordered, got it day one.

After I was so letdown by FF8 it was a hugely anticipated title for me. And oh boy it delivered. It was the last one I really loved.

Can't wait for a Switch version to replay it.

 

[Jakenbakin]

I was playing it at a friend's house, having my God damn mind blown, then telling my mom I needed this game NOW.

 

[Skel1ingt0n]

My (much) older cousin accidentally ran over my bike when he was staying with us over the weekend. I was in 7th grade, and it was the spring after release (I think). He took me to Walmart and told me to pick out three games to apologize - I told him I was good, I wasn't even mad and the bike still worked, but he insisted.

I got Dark Cloud, Bomberman on GCN, and FFIX.

The first two are completely forgettable. FFIX is one of my top ten of all time. I've only beat it twice though - then, and years later on the Vita around release time. I need to give it another whirl.

 

[Deleted member 2340]

I bought the game around 12 times over the spans of a few years. I would buy it for myself and give that copy to a friend or family member and buy another copy for myself.

I bought it on every rerelease it saw.

From its release up until I got married in 2012 I played and beat it atleast once a year if not twice a year.

I think I did my part.

 

[Professor Beef]

I got it day 1, and the only version I haven't purchased is the PS4 version because I already have the *Steam* version. Hell, I even bought the extremely shitty FF9 strategy guide. You know, the one that was fucking barebones in terms of information unless you went to the now defunct PlayOnline website.

Don't ask ME about my dedication. I MORE than did MY part.

 

[Shadout]

I was 'PC only'.
First FF was 13... yeah...
FF9 is easily my favorite.

 

[XVerdena]

I was 6, and I played it, multiple times. One of my fav games of all time.

 

[Casualcore]

I was playing it, enjoying it, and looking forward to DQ VII. I was a young adult, focusing too much on college and playing games to pay attention to gaming communities. I barely registered the negativity around it. For me, it was a return to form, because FF 2/4 and 3/6 were my jams. I'm not interested in playing it again, though.

 

[How About No]

I was playing it on my PS2 (I missed out on most of the PS1 cuz ours broke in 97) in 2001 when i got it for Christmas

(Medal of Honor Frontline and FFIX were the first two games i got with my PS2 lol)

Also I was 11

 

[Egida]

Bought it, played it, loved it. Everyone at school was playing it, it was the main game talk during months. At that time the name Final Fantasy commanded prestige, it wasn't just a game, it was something else.

 

[SPRidley]

In what fucking parallel universe is more than 5 millions copies sold worldwide poor sales. And what if it didnt sell as much as VII and VIII, it has the best metacritic of any FF, and is praised now.

Stupid loud people hated the game, mainly 13 year olds that masturbated at the edginess of the 2 other games (and we still have this types of kids, fans of shadow the hedgehog, black yoshis with wings, kingdom hearts lore...) but is a game that was praised by older audiences, and as the audience grew, started to be more popular and loved, and turned into the one of the most beloved of ff by a great amount of people now.

I didnt had a PSX at the time, but a friend lend me his when he got the ps2 (I was 16 at the time), with a bunch of games (the really famous ones, including the 3 FF games), started and beat 8, liked the beginning but wasnt much of a fan of the rest, started 7 and couldnt deal with it, the started and beat 9 and it turned into one of my favourite games ever. Still remember the friend that lend me the psx was more of a VII and VIII fan, and said that he found FFIX childish, so he was surprised me and another friend were liking so much the game. He then beat it again and loved the game more than the others. The age you play it seems to really make you experience the game in other ways, and I would say the same happens to VII and VIII but in inverse.

That title over alexandrias castle with the music in crescendo still gives me goosebumps. Is one of gamings more treasured memories for me.
Ive bought it on the psvita, steam, and will buy it on switch.

 

[Aexact]

I mean. FFIX came out at a weird time. As each FF was getting more and more extravagant looking, FFVIII to FFIX was more of a sidestep. It also came out the same year as the PS2 with the proper series upgrade FFX, with its voice acting and better graphics, just around the corner. Like, no wonder it gets lost in the shuffle.

It's Sakaguchi's favorite and thereby objectively the best.






... objectively!

 

[Raskol]

Bought it day 1 and loved every moment. The general perception among fans and reviewers seemed overwhelmingly positive to me as well. So I can't say I really understand this thread. But FFIX is surely one of the greatest in the series.

 

[TheYanger]

I was right there saying it was the best FF since 6. So don't even @ me. It's the ONLY top tier FF since they went 3d.

 

[Hayama Akito]

Holy fucking shit this thread makes me feel super old.

It was 2000/almost 2001, the game sold pretty well for a console that was going to die with the next generation right there. Most people who hated it was just because FFVII was their first FF and they wanted the edginess back. In 2000 Linkin Park was the best shit ever, so you can imagine why some people (especially teenagers) hated the game and wanted the dark sci-fi/2deep4you stories back. it was slightly similar to what happened to Wind Waker.

 

[SOLDIER]

Holy fucking shit this thread makes me feel super old.

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No kidding.

I was hoping to slightly trigger the folks who were old enough to whine about the dramatic shift in art style and how they came around it years later.

Instead I learned that I'm the equivalent of the sad old guy sitting in the bench across the park.