There are very few games that I finish, and even fewer become my favorites. Final Fantasy IX earned its place on my list of all-time favorites this past weekend, which is a remarkable feat considering that it was released nine years ago.

FFIX was not one of my favorites when it was released. While I enjoyed the game at the time, I wanted it to be more like Final Fantay VIII, my favorite at the time. As a middle-schooler, I didn't mind the angsty protagonist in FFVIII and found the spunky lead in FFIX to be less appealing. I wanted FFIX to be more serious. I was also relatively green as a player; FFVIII was my first RPG. I didn't understand why FFIX's mechanics were far superior.

FFIX was designed to be forgiving and very rewarding for those who invest a little time. While playing through the third and fourth discs, I found a lot of fun sidequests. Some of my favorite sidequests were those that used chocobos. Special chocobo-specific areas, such as Chocobo's Forest and Chocobo's Lagoon, include a mini-game where you can dig for treasure. While many items are health or status ailment potions, the best items by far are the chocographs. Chocographs are essentially clues to find hidden treasures. Some treasure chests give your chocobo the ability to traverse mountains, oceans, and even the skies. Others contain very valuable items, armor, weapons, and cards. Treasure is hidden throughout the world map, and the hunt feels like a real adventure.

I also really enjoyed the optional moogle sidequests. The moogles are adorable creatures who play a big role in FFIX. They allow you to save in the game, but they also provide valuable comic relief, especially in dark areas. Moogles are constantly writing letters to each other and they ask you to deliver them. The letters may not tell you anything essential to the story, but they are great for flavor. Moogles are always so happy to hear from each other and they have a positive outlook even when cities are crumbling around them. The idea of delivering letters for moogles may seem ridiculous, but you are actually providing a valuable service since the moogle mail service, Mognet, has been out of commission. There is an optional sidequest at the end of the game to get Mognet running again. It is very rewarding to fix this service, as it frees you from mailman duties and helps all the moogles you met throughout your journey.

There are several other clever design choices that help players get the most out of the game. Fairies are special encounters scattered throughout the world that can help you learn abilities much faster. There are also special enemies called Grand Dragons that provide a massive amount of experience, helping characters level up. Quina's ability, Level 5 Death, can kill them in one hit. These are great enemies for leveling, as Freya's Dragon's Crest ability does damage equal to the square of the number of dragons killed. Thus, 100 dragons killed gives her a guaranteed 9999 (max damage) attack for minimal MP. While this type of strategy may seem like exploitation, such clever design choices are likely very carefully made to help players level up for the end of the game.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I used a strategy guide and additional online guides to get the most out of FFIX. Some of the features are so well-hidden that you practically have to buy the guide if you want to be a completionist and not waste half of the game running into walls, looking for items. The strategy guide is also very helpful when it comes to bosses, as you can equip to guard against status effects such as heat that could otherwise create a very frustrating battle. I understand that some feel that strategy guides are cheating, but I find that I enjoy elaborate RPGs such as FFIX much more when I don't have to worry about missing something. Unfortunately, the official guide for FFIX was designed to promote the use of the website PlayOnline, which is now a FFXI site. This means that certain details are left out of the guide, which is part of the reason why I constantly looked up answers in FAQs and Walkthroughs. I happened to miss a particular item that was only available for a brief period of time because it wasn't listed in the guide, and I was very disappointed. Initially, I thought the game wouldn't limit the availability of an item, but it appears that there are a few optional items that are the exception.

By the time I reached Memoria (the final area), I was at the top of my game. I didn't want the story to end, but I had played through all the side content and enjoyed every minute of it. I'll admit that there were some frustrating moments during my many attempts to beat Ozma or the stubborn Yan, but the victories were very sweet. I became addicted to auto-regen and rarely had to heal my party. I had three characters that could consistently do maximum damage attacks and my inventory was overflowing with potions and other valuable resources.

After playing consistently every night, I was sad to see FFIX end. The game had a very satisfying ending. I became attached to my characters - the story fleshed them out and made them feel real. It's going to be difficult to find an RPG to follow FFIX now that I've seen how good they can be.