Final Fantasy VIII (FFVIII) was the first RPG that I finished, so it will always hold a special place in my heart. After finishing FFVIII, I played several other RPGs, such as The Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Cross, and Final Fantasy IX (FFIX). When I first played FFIX, I was disappointed that it wasn't more like FFVIII. I wanted the characters to look more realistic and the world to be less quirky. I still enjoyed the game; I just wanted it to be more of a sequel.

One of my best friends absolutely loves FFIX. After hearing him praise it over and over again, I decided to give it another try. It was possible that I had been blinded by my love for FFVIII and didn't judge FFIX fairly.

FFIX is full of charm. There is plenty of humor, from the silly lines to the unique characters. There is a sense of playfulness in the art style. The main character has an as-yet-unexplained monkey tail, and the characters have tastefully exaggerated proportions. The art portrays a lovely fantasy world with towering castles, quaint towns, and a variety of painstakingly-detailed natural areas. The environments are full of rounded edges and each area feels very distinctive. As characters run through the 2D levels, there is a sense of scale, and the people seem to fit right in among the colorful backgrounds. The world may be a strange place filled with hippo people, humans, and a variety of other creatures, but the art really sells it. Even the game design supports the style, filling the world with children running through town squares and little vignettes that flesh out my companions.

The game design is very forgiving and fun. The gameplay constantly supports the story, allowing the player fun opportunities from the beginning, such as finding a lost cat, sneaking over rooftops to watch a play, and digging for treasure. I get a real sense of adventure from exploring the areas, and I am constantly rewarded with hidden items and opportunities. The opening sequence was very exciting and organic, combining still-impressive FMVs with in-game cutscenes and gameplay. The combat is a traditional turn-based system common to Final Fantasy games of the time. Characters have special abilities to use during combat, such as magic, summons and powerful attacks. All these special attacks, as well as passive skills, are called "Abilities" and can be learned from armor and equipable items. This is by far one of the game's greatest strengths, as it is a very simple system that is easy to customize. Players can choose which abilities to equip and learn based on their priorities and play style. For example, players can learn "Level Up" and "Ability Up", which help characters level up faster and learn abilities faster. While these abilities are relatively expensive to equip, they can greatly reduce the time spent grinding. Players can also choose to counterattack, guard against almost any status effect, or automatically cast a potion when damaged. These abilities make the game much more fun, as they allow the player to work around issues that could otherwise become frustrating.

Aside from the ability system, the game is very forgiving. If a player misses a hidden item in a certain area, it is never lost forever. Players can often purchase that item in the next town or village; finding it in a level simply allows a player to have it earlier. Also, there are many features scattered throughout the world to help players, including chocobos (for faster travel without random battles) and fairies (who can help players learn abilities much faster).

FFIX feels like a very authentic Final Fantasy experience. The developers clearly focused on the story and authenticity of the world. There was a sense of strong leadership as well; the game has a unified vision despite its length and many unique areas. The Final Fantasy series seemed to go downhill after FFIX, with FFX being little more than a display of 3D tech with bland characters and limited originality. Although I didn't play FFXI, I found that FFXII was very unforgiving and I quit partway through. FFIX represents a peak in Japanese RPGs for the PlayStation, and its character, charm, and friendly mechanics are very rewarding for those who are willing to invest a little time. I hope that modern developers will be able to apply similar mechanics to new games. After all, graphics and fancy new features don't make a great game; it's the imagination that counts.  

In my impatience to begin FFXII, I dove right in without following my usual routine. This pre-RPG ritual involves reading the game’s manual (cover to cover) and the overview in the strategy guide that comes before the walkthrough. This system has worked well for me in several RPGs, such as Chrono Cross, FFVIII, FFIX, FFX, and Kingdom Hearts.

After playing FFXII without the benefit of the additional reading, I had the constant feeling that I was missing something. I was afraid I would screw something up in the licensing (leveling) system and ruin the rest of my lengthy experience. I was purposely avoiding playing FFXII for about two weeks because of my constant dilemma: when I wanted to game, I didn’t want to read, but when I was able to sit down and read, I had to do so for class.

At the encouragement of my sister, I was finally shaken out of my paralysis and sat down to read FFXII material on an otherwise empty Friday night. Two hours later, I regained the confidence I so sorely lacked. I now had an intellectual understanding of the leveling process, key mechanics, and new Espers. I could now play, knowing that I would make informed choices.

By the time I finished reading, I had only a few hours to play. I was able to go through a couple missions: one for a sunstone and another through a castle underground.

The sunstone quest was structured traditionally, but with one key difference: I was by myself for the first half of the mission. While the “go here, talk to a certain person, go there, get an item” pattern was the basis of the quest, I couldn’t even get more information until I had battled several creatures of the desert by myself. Most of the monsters weren’t too difficult, but I was running low on potions by the time I got to the village. I had been following the maps in my guide to try and collect scattered items in treasure chests, but some chests appeared to have mysteriously vanished. (I found this issue earlier as well – are randomly spawning chests a new feature?)

Once in the village, I found a friend who would fight with me and make my life easier. I was rather confused when read in my guide that she had the Cure ability, but I couldn’t figure out how to make her use it. I don’t know if I stopped paying attention during an earlier tutorial, but I soon discovered that spells had to be purchased. I find this system to be rather redundant, since you earn points in battle that have to be spent to earn an ability such as Cure. Essentially, you have to buy the spell twice (once to get the license and again to get the spell itself). Although the magic regeneration is fairly rapid, I find the spell acquisition process to be cumbersome. I wish the game had made the acquisition of vital spells such as Cure more clear.

My second mission involved running around a castle’s underground waterways. I got to fight alongside some neat characters – a sky pirate and his partner in crime, a striking female warrior of another race. I had been getting used to the fighting system at this point, but there were still some issues for me to iron out. I was shocked after I set my main character to constantly heal everyone and then my female warrior got knocked out. I soon realized that my MP (“Mist Points” like magic points) had grown too low and I could no longer cast cure.

FFXII has been the butt of many jokes for being a game that could "practically play itself." However, from my reading and experiences with the automation system, I can see that that is quite an exaggeration of the truth. It still takes a great human mind to harness the A.I. behind the battle system and use it to its full advantage.