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

[Leeness]

I've purchased it three times!

I actually didn't own a PS1 at the time, but I remember seeing a commercial and being so hyped that I rented a PS1 and FFIX. It was my first PS game and FF. Bought a PS1 and 9 later and played the hell out of it. <3

I still break it out every couple of years to play through the whole thing again.

 

[Wein Cruz]

OP admits to just wanting to annoy people for no good reason. Quality thread.

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

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.

Click to shrink...

Mhmm.

See? You messed up. Should have chosen Aeris, not Tifa.

 

[Echo]

Man, I was 9 years old and absolutely mesmerized by what I thought was one of the best love stories ever told lol.

Zidane went soooooo far for Garnet, and when Zidane was in trouble Garnet helped him. It was all kinds of doki doki. It's all mushy but I loved it.

... but I was 9. So I wasn't like arguing on forums and shit. But hey, WoFF is legit amazing too. Triple dipped from PS4>PC>PC Maxima Edition.

 

[Skyebaron]

Bought it day 1 and loved it. Its my favorite PS1 era FF.

 

[Dreamboum]

Why did it matter then more than now ?

 

[z1ggy]

I was 18 back then, getting started at uni. Bought the game day one since i was (and still am) a fan of FF. To be honest i was dissapointed at first because it was like i got FF VI, VII, VIII, Parasite Eve and i expected something more serious. But the game won over me and i loved it.

 

[BasilZero]

I didnt have a Playstation and only had a N64.

 

[Augemitbutter]

bought on launch, same as VII and VIII. i thought it was overall fun, but not fun to play once you get into battles. shit was slooow, way too slow. i was pretty indifferent about the story. i enjoyed vivi and steiner mainly. the rest is not so memorable. music wasn't as good, but still good ofc. i also remember being pretty addicted to the chocobo mini games. if battles were faster i would've played the game multiple times, but i guess fun battles are rarely the focus of FF. at least X got battles right.

dunno what else to say. it's a memorable JRPG of its time. FF always had problems. today FF has even more problems. but people give them money so whatever.

 

[mrmickfran]

I was 6 and wasn't even into gaming at the time.

Though I do love FFIX dearly

 

[Buff Beefbroth]

I was there day 1.

It sits just under VII as my alltime fav in the series.

If anything, the narrative of it being underrated is new to me. It was the hottness back when it came out.

 

[Professor Beef]

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.

Click to shrink...

Please tell me more about how you made this thread with bad intentions.

 

[arglebargle]

I was playing the game and enjoying it.

Click to shrink...

Yeah same. I always assumed sales were down because viii sucked and people felt burned.

 

[Deleted member 21003]

I got it for christmas that year. I was ten.

 

[Truly Gargantuan]

Being a shy middle schooler with few friends.

 

[Druffmaul]

I was there day 1.

It sits just under VII as my alltime fav in the series.

If anything, the narrative of it being underrated is new to me. It was the hottness back when it came out.

Click to shrink...

It didn't get a mountain of shit dumped on it in a raging backlash of the sort we've been seeing over the last 10 years or whatever... it was a little more subtle than that. But there was undeniably a sizeable "Meh" reaction in 2000. Not what would have been considered standard FF fanbase reaction at the time.

 

[DjDeathCool]

I was discovering Final Fantasy for the very first time. Bouncing around the series based upon whatever ROMs I could fit on a floppy disk at my friend's house and bringing them home to my very crappy computer I put together out of spare parts from thrown away machines. By the time I got around to realizing how awesome the series had become on Playstation was the time I started saving my heard earned money JUST so I could play Final Fantasy IX since that seemed to have everything I knew and loved from the 2D games. By the time I had saved up enough the hype train had moved on to other things but I was still so happy to be able to finally play it!... So my tl;dr, answer to your question was that I didn't have internet or anything to play it on and was barely old enough to get through a Final Fantasy game on my own.

 

[Distantmantra]

I was in college and gladly bought it at full price.

 

[MulderYuffie]

I was 8

But FFIX has really always been my favorite.

 

[Deleted member 19533]

I bought the game on release day. So what you said doesn't apply to me at all. Lol

 

[Comet]

I bought day 1 along with the official guide and figures of Viví/Zidane. I was in 7th grade lol

 

[tiesto]

We were busy constantly checking PlayOnline :P

I bought it at launch and played through it quickly after. Only things I remember complaining about were the extremely slow combat and the Worst Strategy Guide Ever.

 

[Aja91]

Don't put the blame squarely on the fans. Squaresoft should've known better than to release it that late in the systems cycle.

 

[UberTag]

I was giving my Dreamcast most of my time and love at that time. My apologies for not doing my due diligence.
(For the record, I did still buy the game at launch. And that abhorrent strategy guide as well.)

 

[asmith906]

I was under the age of 10.

Click to shrink...

So was I. I used to get $5 for allowance every two weeks. I saved up for weeks and on release date my parents took me to walmart to buy the game. I didn't quite have enough but they were so impressed with how much I had saved up they put up the rest of the money to buy it. Actually the first game I've ever bought on release date.

 

[Notaskwid]

Thanks
I was 10 and it was my first FF. I've bought it again over 5 times since then.

 

[jb1234]

I was playing it. Really don't appreciate your tone, OP.

 

[1000% H]

So was I. I used to get $5 for allowance every two weeks. I saved up for weeks and on release date my parents took me to walmart to buy the game. I didn't quite have enough but they were so impressed with how much I had saved up they put up the rest of the money to buy it. Actually the first game I've ever bought on release date.

Click to shrink...

Look at Richie Rich over here with an allowance and whatnot.

 

[Retsudo]

Launch day buy, and no internet at home at the time. Was also last year of highschool, so i had bigger issues than going online (@school) to talk smack about something that was amazing. Still my favorite FF till this day.

 

[Jiggy]

Man, I was like 7

 

[Kientin]

Got it when it first came out (by that, I mean my mom got it for me) and also later down the line when it came out on steam. Though it definitely is not my favorite FF, I do like it.

 

[Ayirek]

I was playing Final Fantasy IX.

 

[Custódio]

I was trying to save money to buy an SNES.

 

[KINGOFSHIBUYA Ltd.]

My older sister got it for her birthday and we took turns playing it on our own save file

I didn't go on forums to argue with nerds back then.
Looking back at online climate and the awful takes everyone seemed to have, I think I made the right choice.

 

[Dax]

On the frontlines. I bought it the day it came out and it has been my favorite game ever since. Nobody I knew as a kid gave a damn about it, though I always went on about how special it is. People who never gave it a chance due to its art direction really missed out and I have no sympathy for them.

 

[Sectorseven]

I bought it

 

[Joltik]

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.

Click to shrink...

So this is that "Thread Backfire" the kids all call it, huh?

 

[Rzarekta]

I bought FF9 day one and loved it ever since. Way too many people moved on to PS2 when FF9 came out, but PS2's library was garbage at that point and FF9 should have done way better in sales. People suck, as usual.

 

[DukeTogo1300]

I was playing it and loving it. I feel like I'm defending myself against an unreliable narrator here.

 

[Deleted member 5621]

Good game gets bad press at time of the release because people are dumb and want things instead of appreciating what they have, news at 11.

 

[Kneefoil]

The critics were correct both times when it came to the art style.

 

[noyram23]

Bought a bootlegged japanese copy + a local typo filled guide, a bootlegged english copy day 1-ish (we're dirt poor and lived on a third world country, there's no legit copy even sold here iirc). Years after when I have my own income bought a legit PS1 copy, bought a digitally from PSN for Vita, bought a Steam port and bought the PS4 port. I'll be buying the Switch again.

You can't say I never supported my 2nd favorite game of all time :) Now if only Konami does that to Suikoden 2 so I can throw them my wallet

 

[Proc]

Lunar silver star story complete was my only jrpg jam back then. I'm playing through ps1 final fantasy now to completion for the first time. I just went on a date at the golden saucer in ff7 tonight. I don't think I ever left Midgar when I played as a kid.

I'm sure I'll love 9. I love the quality of life stuff on the PS4. Undecided if I'll play on original hardware or not because I still own the discs. My backlog goes back to my tweens.

 

[Cup O' Tea?]

I did my part and bought it on release.

I even got the strategy guide which was one of the worst guides ever made. Need to know this secret? Log in to PlayOnline and enter this code....

 

[Deleted member 29660]

I bought it, beat it. Had a french manual so when I went to the store about it a rather pissy looking girl slapped an english manual on the desk.

Two of the disc holders were also broken on the first day.

I remember how it was said to be returning to the games of old but it felt like they entirely missed the nature of said games. I liked the game but it felt like some people trying to make the old games without any clue what made them special.

Also name drop to The GIA for revealing the first images of concept art.

 

[Deleted member 8166]

I still had a 486 PC and no internet lol. I was but a child!

 

[Amnixia]

Didn't it, and 8, sell like 5m+ copies?

Anyway, I did my part I bought if for my brothers PS1.

 

[Deleted member 48897]

Who had a PS1 back then? I sure didn't. It finally came to Windows like 2 years ago!

 

[stone616]

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.

Click to shrink...

I bought it and played it and loved it. Still own my black label PS1 copy.

 

[Consensual]

I was playing the game and enjoying it.

Click to shrink...

Yup, this. I was playing the game for a lot longer than I should have, because I never realised you could use shoulder buttons to switch your magic attacks from one target to multiple targets. So, boss battles lasted forever because I was healing people one at a time, like some sort of crazy fool.