/vr/ - Retro Games

>Zidane/Steiner/Freya/Amarant

>Iifa Tree

>the song that plays when you're in Memoria

>yeah, Lindblum

>do the moogles count?

>>3603089
Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Freya
Lifa Tree
Frontier Village Dali
Frontier Village Dali
What?

>>3603089
>Haven't had a good FF9 thread in a while

My FF9 disk 1 stopped working a while ago and would freeze when I tried to enter Lindblum for the first time. I tried it again on a whim a few days ago expecting the same instead I heard the most beautiful sound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynbUHMxYAyI

I talked to Cid again, did some synthesizing, got my Kupo Nut and played some cards with the freak. It now Freezes when I try and talk to Garnet at the castle.
I just want to play Chocobo hot'n'cold again

>>3603089
>When you desperately need money but are afraid to sell gear in case you need it to synthesize at some point in the future.

>>3603284
Just download and burn a copy of it. You should be able to swap the disc at any time if you keep the lid sensor closed.

>>3603293

>He doesn't know the Cotton Robe trick

>>3603302
So tell me about it instead of being a smug greentexter.

>>3603304

Sorry I was meant to link this as well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynbUHMxYAyI

>>3603304

Shit I meant this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY4NdyWe1FI

There still users in this thread who still not played FF9
please keep it spoiler free

>>3603331
I know you're trolling, but you can make this post for literally any game-specific thread on /vr/. Why you gotta pick on poor FF9 like this?

The first time I played FF9 I ignored Quina completely, so I figured on my second playthrough I'd use them and get their blue magic. I was going through the game magic hammering all magic using bosses into oblivion, when I got to the Kuja fight on Terra. Flare Star costs 0 MP

Remember when the community was so retarded everyone believed the Iifa Tree and Necron were one just because it said so on a wikia?

I remember arguing over this on /v/, and then one day all the fan pages got changed like nothing happened. At least they're not embarassing themselves anymore, Silent Hill fans should learn from FF's.

>>3603331
I've always been a person who believes people shouldn't randomly spoil games no matter how old they are. But really, what would somebody expect going into a thread specifically about FF9? I avoid threads for games I've yet to complete if I'm worried about spoilers.

>>3603378

i always thought that was retarded. Necron was just some asshole from beyond creation. Being tied to the Lifa Tree was to small for what he actually was.

I've gotta be honest I still don't understand what the fuck happened in the end of that game. You go to fight Necron because Kuja destroys reality but Kuja teleports you out of the fight to a reality that was destroyed?

>>3603414
I don't think Kuja actually destroys reality, I think he only destroys Terra and Zidane&Co prevent him for doing more? But I could be remembering wrong.

Upon seeing Kuja's actions, Necron, "god of Death", decide that people's self destructive nature mean that it's worth for them living anymore. But seeing how Zidane&Co fight for survival, make him change his mind, makes him think that if they fight so hard, then there must be something worth living for he's not understanding.
Kuja teleports and saves the team because apparently, the whole situation made him change his mind as well.

The entire Iifa tree=Necron theory was based on a single thing: the fact that the Iifa tree claims he never really dies and that he'll be back. However, that is solely meant to hint at the return of the mist at the end game.

>Lifa Tree
it's Iifa, as in iifa

>>3603414
Whole game revolves around the totality and inevitability of death. I assumed that it was more of a thematic reveal and that the fight took place in a vacuum. Another theory of mine was that Necron just embodied entropy and was more like the other side of the coin to the Crystal.

I feel like Kuja does 'kill' the party and 'destroy' the crystal, but the whole final encounter is something that happens out of their frame of reality. I have no in-game reference for this, it was just the conclusion I came to when I finished it.

>>3603089
>Zidane, Vivi, Freya, Steiner
>Conde Petie Mountain path
>Too many to name. Probably that piece that plays during the last theater performance. Dark messenger, grand cross and Beatrix's theme are also my favourites.
>Yep, Lindblum. But Daguerreo is also cool.
>Beatrix the best Paladinfu

FFIX is probably still my favourite game. Somedays it's MGS1 tho.

I can't shake the thought that Dr Tot would have been a great member of the main cast. Scholar or Alchemist would've been so much more interesting than Amarant. I really wish Eiko wasn't a White Mage, too - she made Garnet irrelevant.

>>3603516
>it's Iifa, as in iifa
>MFW I'm 27 and I just now learn this
>Yesterday I learned that the Mona Lisa is wearing a veil on her head
>Last week, I learned that Lucozade is named that way because of glucose
>That same week I realized that DMC4 Nero's attack names have a poker theme because he has a really strong hand
>A fortnight ago I realized that Braev Lee uses the Default command quite extensively during his boss fight, meaning that "Braev Lee Defaults", making for a pun on "Bravely Default". And that Ciggma Khint is an anagram of Magic Knight
>I just now while typing this realize that "fortnight" is short for "fourteen nights"

I'm need to lie down.

>>3603539

Garnet can die in a fire. All her Eidolons are shit, take to long and are all offensive. Eiko had far less but at least they varied

>>3603539
I would've preferred Garnet being replaced with a Red Mage

>>3603548
The thing that blew my mind about Eiko's summons is that Carbuncle has different effects depending on which gemstone she has equipped

is the moogle sidequest worth doing?
I don't think I ever completed it as a kid

>>3603548
>Eiko had far less but at least they varied
http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Eidolon_%28Final_Fantasy_IX%29#Eiko.27s_summons

Carbuncle and Fenrir have variants depending on Eiko's equipment

>>3603547

It's good to learn new things about something you thought you mastered years ago. I just Learned about the added cut materia last month after playing FFVII for almost 20 years. It was just lying there in the snow that whole time. God knows how many times I ran past it

>>3603547

>A couple of months ago everybody lost their shit about the "new" zodaic sign
>mfw I already knew it existed thanks to FFIX

>>3603563
>FF9
Tactics is on the phone.

>>3603568

I didn't play tactics until years later. It didn't release in my country

>>3603331
The way the devs randomly made the plot up as they went along, I'd say they were spoiling it for themselves on a weekly basis

>>3603563
>>3603568
Was Ophiuchus mentioned by name in FF9 and FFT? I could have sworn they called it something else in those games...

>>3603719
Serpentarius, but that's synonymous with Ophiuchus.

>>3603735
YES that's right, thanks.

>>3603719
Ophiucus was the final stellazio coin you'd have to collect in IX.

>>3603547
Ready to have your mind blown again?

The music that plays in the Iifa Tree dungeon is a remix of the moon surface music from FF4.

>>3603763
YOU MEAN THERERE REFERENCES IN IX TO OTHER GAMES IN THE SERIES

>>3603768
xD

Seriously though you wouldn't guess that about the Iifa Tree music unless you were really paying attention.

>>3603763
nice catch, never made the connection

The Book Of Sealing track from FFV was reused in FFVII as Sephiroth's theme - Those Chosen By The Planet

>you will never wear one of Garnet's dresses

>>3603284
>played some cards

The biggest flaw in a great game. Why couldn't it have an actually playable card game like FF8?

>>3603925
The card game isn't bad, it only LOOKS complicated but it doesn't have as much depth as FF8's. The issue for me is that you don't gain anything from it for the game's chore gameplay, like in 8.

>>3603923
More like
>You'll never grope Garnet's ass

>>3603925
I like the card game, but it's pretty confusing at first since the game doesn't explain it very well. It's actually pretty fun and requires you to consider the entire board even in the earlier turns.

>>3603925
The worst thing is that all it needs to be fun is to remove the random HP element

>>3603089
>implying amarant would ever make a joke, especially one that makes steiner laugh

>Favorite endgame party?
Bog standard: zidane, dagger, vivi, steiner
really like freya though; used her my first time

>Favorite dungeon?
pendemonium

>Favorite music?
Very tough; I have probably 15 on my ipod
If I have to pick one straight from the game, I'd pic "the thing I must protect", but theres a remix of pandemonium that I really love.

>Favorite town/city? the answer is Lindblum btw
yes, lindblum. Honorable Mentions: burmecia and black mage village

>favorite NPC?
again, very tough. There's so many in this game that I actually like. If by NPC you mean characters that you cant pick to be on your team (even though several get to fight with you), then I'd probably say blank. Cid is a close second, right off the top of my head.

>>3605226
>unironically using an ipod

>final party
Zidane, Eiko, Quina, and Steiner

>fave dungeon
Pandemonium

>fave town
Whatever the nighttime city was called. That one.

>fave npc
You get control of Beatrix for a bit so I guess my answer is the Black Mages who form the Black Mage village.

>Final Party
Zidane, Garnet, Vivi and Steiner

>Favorite Dungeon
I really liked Ipsen's Castle but also have a soft spot for the Ice Cavern

>Favorite Music
Honestly, it's a toss up between Gargan Roo and the Black Mage Village. They're both just obnoxiously enjoyable.

>Favorite Town
Definitely Lindblum
(Honorable Mentions to Treno and Alexandria though)

>Favorite NPC
It's such a tough choice cause I like a lot of them. If I had to pick just one, it'd be Blank

>>3603089
>>Favorite endgame party?
Zidane, Freya, Amarant, Quina
>>Favorite dungeon?
Ipsen Castle
>>Favorite music?
>>Favorite town/city?
Lindblum
>>favorite NPC?
Baku

Get on my level plebs.

Just kidding. But seriously, I took this pic myself. Probably like 10 years ago or more, now.

That was the last time I really played 9. I thoroughly enjoyed it then, though.

Those summer days getting high while being edgy then sneaking past my parents to go play FF9 for hours. Nothing else to worry about.

Anyway not saying this is evidence of awesome gaming skill or whatever, but I do think it is an interesting artifact, and it happens to relate, so I just thought I'd stop by to leave it here.

I hope you have enjoyed this post.

>>3607797
My best level up memory was figuring out a way to safely beat Grand Dragon's up Gizamaluke's Grotto at the start of Disc2.

It is possible to have all your 4 characters at this point immune to all of Grand Dragon's attacks, except for his regular physical attack which only kills one character at a time.
However it takes to acquire the right gear, in sometimes semi obscure ways.
I wonder if it was intentionnaly left by the devs....

BTW your level99 are probably not maxed out. Hidden of sight to the player in the game, specific gears will increase specific stats at level up.

>>3607797
>Zidane in the back row.
You really were high.

>>3607814
I have a theory that FFX was balanced around not leveling up at all because doing that is actually nowhere near as hard as you would think it is.

>>3607797
>unironically having Garnet in your party
>and levelling her up to 99

at least you renamed her, full marks for that.

>>3603089
Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, Steiner
Lifa Tree was rad
Not Alone
Treno
Beatrix

>>3603586

There is so much great, unused preliminary art for FF9. It's incredible.

>>3607797
>>3608181
>From now on I'll be called Garnet!

>>3607797
>Those summer days getting high while being edgy then sneaking past my parents to go play FF9 for hours.
did you perhaps get something backwards, here?

>>3608339
check out pic related

>>3608395
who else did this:
>"Nanaki? Who is Nanaki?"
>"Nanaki is Nanaki."

>>3608514
Yeah, I have that book already. There isn't a lot of the super-mega-preliminary art in it.

>>3603089
>Favorite endgame party?
Eiko/Amarant/Dagger
>Favorite dungeon?
Burmecia (if you count it as a "dungeon," otherwise Memoria). I love rain.
>Favorite music?
End theme. Along with above where I almost named Memoria my favorite dungeon, FF9 is a rare game where I can say that the endgame doesn't disappoint.
>Favorite town/city?
Treno, though in spite of the music. Nighttime reigns
>favorite NPC?
Ruby

>>3603089
>>Favorite endgame party?
Zidane, Freya, Quina, Amarant
>>Favorite dungeon?
Burmecia.
>>Favorite music?
Either https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSJM2y-J5zs or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tog9GjczJVE
>>Favorite town/city? the answer is Lindblum btw
Correct.
>>favorite NPC?
Beatrix

>>3603089
>Favorite endgame party?
Vivi alone.

Or rather, Vivi with:
- everyone around him dead (shit happens)
- bersker status (the boss threw it IIRC)
- regen (lucky me, all my characters had it)

So I had to sit and watch the boss hit Vivi alone for X damage and the regen gave back X + a bit HPs. And since I couldn't control anything, Vivi was stuck with physical attacks.

Strangest last boss fight ever.

>>3609448
>Nighttime reigns

>>3603089
>Favorite endgame party?
Freya, Steiner, Vivi, Zidane
>Favorite dungeon?
Memoria, Oelivert, Iifa Tree.
>Favorite music?
Terra. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1kNuPj2vO8
>Favorite town/city?
Black Mage Village, Esto Gaza, Lindblum.
>favorite NPC?
Blank, Garland

>>3609771
I guess Blank is a player character at one point, so forget I said that.

>>3609725
What can I say? It speaks to my vampire soul.

Has anyone tried getting through the endgame with a weird party of, say... Quina, Eiko, Garnet and Vivi?

>>3610716

>Casterfight: The Team

Yeah, kinda OP desu

Then again, by the time Quina has Angel Snack, White Wind, LV5 Death and Mighty Guard, do you even need another mage?

>>3603089

>Fav Music

Melodies of Life, Treno, Frontier Village Dali, Chocobo (both the beachy ukulele/overworld and spanish flamenco/treasure game) Overworld music (another version of MoL),

>Fav City

Dali, Treno, Alexandria, Lindblum

>Fav thing ever in FFIX
Moogles man...Kupo? Best rendition of Moogles in FF universe.

>>3603331

Why are you even here?


>I-I came for da muzak!

>Favorite music?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXlE8ZESSEI

>>3603768

Well IX is pretty much what the Trio had in mind when they made FF. It's the almagamation of previous FF's, and it their 'best', and last work together. They also state it's their favorite of the bunch.

Also, in tha Auction house, all the useless Key items you could bid and win are artifacts from the older retro-FFs.

inb4 it's bait

>>3607797
Zidan?

>>3603089
man, I love this image

>>3611069
Vamo' Alla Flamenco and Quina's theme

>>3611105
Whoa what the fuck

>>3610742
>do you even need another mage?

You don't need a mage, period. Amarant and Freya have plenty of healing to go around.

>>3611105
>>3611243

>>3607797
>MFW when I accidentally hit backspace on the name selection screen and still went to lvl99 with it

ff1 came out in 1987
ff9 came out in 2000 and was an homage to the earlier ff's (the "later" ff's came out about a year or two apart in the mid 90s)
today is 2016

ff9 is 3 years close to ff1 than to today

feel old? cuz i sure fucking do

hell, ff12 was close to 9 than today, TWICE OVER

>>3611536
*closer

how did I fuck that up twice?

>>3603089
Would've been best FF if it weren't for the weird out of sync combat.

>>3609630
>>favorite NPC?
>>Beatrix

My man.

Here's a link to my FF9 fanart folder - enjoy!
http://imgur.com/a/y7cUK

>>3611667
This makes me wonder, now that FFIX is on PC, has there been any hack that lets you swap character arounds and play as her or anyone else?

I think there IS a Beatrix hack of the PS1 version though - as she IS playable.

Although desu every time we get to the Steiner/Beatrix scenario, I'd knock her out so Steiner gets double the exp (at this point in time he's behind in terms of lvl and those monsters in Alexandria give tons of exp).

>>3611675
I really wish that if they ever did a remake of FF9 that all guest party members can join the party during the endgame (not in Memoria though) so that you can do extra quests with them. More endgame stuff in general would be nice, plus harder superbosses. Ozma just isn't all that good, plus the highest HP of any opponent is 65K or so.

>>3611376
literally what

>>3611667
>tfw you will never have a battle-harded cyclops waifu.

>>3612308
>you will never creampie her empty socket

>a subset of mage weapons called "rackets"

>mfw they're lacrosse sticks

IX is still my personal favourite JRPG, but mostly out of nostalgia at this point. Just looking at OP's pic alone stirs up those comfy feelings I had when I played it.

>>3613953
This is such a weird phenomenon.

Like... i've been tempted to play through FF9 again (and DQ8, and BoF2, and so on) but I know they'll never be as fun as they were when I was younger. There are just too many things about them that I know would annoy me:

FF9 - the speed of battles, the loading times, the fucking Cleyra dance scene, the stupid "summon the knights" unskippable minigame in Alexandria Castle

BoF2 - the grind, the golden-fly section, the grind, the repetitive crappy music, the grind, the absurd random encounter rate, the grind, and the grind.

Plus I'm a completionist so JRPGs always take me 20 hours longer than they should.

>>3614374

> Plus I'm a completionist so JRPGs always take me 20 hours longer than they should.

This. FFIX is probably my favorite RPG of all time, and literally the only thing that keeps me from replaying it is this. Even on replays, I tell myself that I'll just go through the story, but I know I'll find myself 80hrs in tying up side quests.

I booted it up in July and stopped myself from continuing when I found myself refusing to advance through Alexandria without skipping rope 1000 times. I don't feel like spending countless hours on world map treasure hunting, auctions, grinding on Grand Dragons outside Gizamaluke's Grotto, card collecting, character sidequests, etc.

Well, I mean, except that I really DO want to spend countless hours on that stuff. As a completionist, I won't enjoy the game unless I do, and FFIX has some of the most fun and satisfying 'extra' stuff to do of any JRPG, from a completionist point of view. But I'm in my thirties with a job, a home, and a family. I don't have 80hrs to spend on it, and I know I'll feel cheated out of the experience if I don't get it all done.

I 100 percented FFIX (minus Excalibur II, which I did on a separate play through) on my second playthrough, before Internet walkthroughs were a thing, using that huge ass primer of a strategy guide that contained hundreds of footnotes that required you to go to playonline.com and enter passwords to get guides for virtually all of the bonus content in the game. That experience alone kind of cemented me as an RPG completionist. I have a lot of nostalgia for this game.

I miss this game.

>>3614619
I just can't sit down and play a game for multiple hours anymore. It's the weirdest thing. I just... get antsy and need to do something else. It's like I'm just not as willing to invest big blocks of time into it the way I used to.

Which makes no fucking sense, because my life is way less cramped now than it was before. I'm married with a job, but I still have more free time than I did when I was in school. I don't have homework now. I'm not studying for midterms. So why the fuck can I not sit still and play through a 70-hour game in the course of a month or so? Getting old is fucking weird.

I played FF9 for thirteen hours the day it came out. There's no way I'd be able to stomach that now.

>>3603935

What I want to do is gently rub lotion over the blank spot on Beatrix's face where her eye used to be.

Unless it's just a hole in which case I would prefer to convince her to get a fake eye and then, you know. Have sex with her. :(

>>3615978
It's because when we're young, anything we want to spend our time on is worth spending time on. We have sooooooooo much time. As you get older you start to feel like time is gradually moving faster, and you can't spend it all in one place or you'll run out of it. It sucks.

This game would be such a good week-long staycation for me; but, like you, I can't justify spending time on it, no matter how badly I want to.

>>3616615

I'm now married with two kids. I'm playing through FFVII again but I only ever have time for an hour a night in the weekdays. And honestly that's all I need. I'm just going to play to Sephiroth and leave it at that. Do I really need to smack Ruby and Emerald again or get the Master Materia?

I imagine that's what I'll be like when I play IX again. I beat the game in 12 hours to get a sword and I did the lvl 1 challenge. It was fun when I was a kid but I just can't care about shit like Mognet anymore

>>3614374
>>3614619
>>3615978
>>3616615
>>3616637
I have the Steam version which, whilst you can opt to use the modifiers to make it dirt easy, you can also make the game run at three times the speed. I polished the main story off in about 6 hours casually with these all on.

Also the in-game clock still runs at regular speed so now you can all have Excalibur II.

>>3616441
Here's a pic that (whilst not the best art) will give you summat to ponder over. I too would also like to engage in the loving act of coitus with her. Sadly I am a 5'8" manlet and official art puts are around about 5'10" / 5'11".

>>3617276
>I have the Steam version

>>3603089
I believe that FF9 is the weakest of the PS1 Final Fantasy games. Fuck you.

>"The world beyond the Mist Continent is uncharted territory"
>"Nobody knows about the world beyond our continent"

>Get the Blue Narciss and sail to Esto Gaza
>Full of tourists


Could never figure this one out.

>>3617432
That's arguable.

The soundtrack, however, is objectively the best.

>>3617432
>unironically being this wrong

>>3617490
You don't visit Esto Gaza until the Mist is all gone, right? Maybe the Mist disappearing allowed people to travel overseas safely.

Fuck if I know.

>>3619793
>Maybe the Mist disappearing allowed people to travel overseas safely.

Actually I'd say it's probably more the contrary. At first you see tons of airships in the overworld, which seem to be the main transport mean around the world. Those airships are mistpowered, and they're gone when the mist itself is gone.

I don't think it makes any sense, and it's just a badly thought way of re-doing what FFIII did by enlarging the world tenfold at one point through the game.

>>3620338
Thing is it's only on one continent - maybe they felt there wasn't any reason to leave since they enjoyed their homeland so much?

>>3621115
>Thing is it's only on one continent
Indeed you're right, I had forgotten about that. The Mist only spreads to the entire world at the end game; at the start of the game only the Mist continent has mist (duh); hence why they're mist powered airships can't reach other continents.

They do have boats though so it still doesn't fix the issue, only making it less obvious.

>>3621154
Never try to make complete sense of JRPG plots. It's futile.

>>3603089
>all these Freya fans
Back in the day I felt like I was the only one in my group of friends that thought she was a badass character. What makes her so popular?

>>3624582

Dragoons where always popular.

>>3624582
>What makes her so popular?

1. Dragoon
2. Grill
2a. Only playable female character who isn't underageb&
3. Extremely useful party member
4. Furfaggotry is part of the equation, let's not kid ourselves

>>3624767
It's definitely the fifth one. QED she has twice as much porn as Garnet.

>>3624769
>she has twice as much porn as Garnet.

how the fuck do you even know that

>>3624776
paheal

garnet is cute, don't hate

also fuck completionism desu. sucks the fun out of things. just breeze through and enjoy the ride. you'll get 80% of the fun with 20% of the effort, thanks pareto you glorious bastard.

also we're all too old now, and for what purpose would you want to get 99 of anything anyway.

>>3608395
I thought I was really clever by naming her Garnet2 first time I played. I thought the game wouldn't let you use Garnet again.

>>3624794
>garnet is cute, don't hate

who hates Garnet? I always felt she was one of the stronger if not strongest written lead heroine.

She's got a strong personal stake in events and learns things over the course of the adventure that she actually utilizes in pretty clever ways. She's not even defined by her role as a love interest, and her relationship with Zidane only serves to strengthen her growth rather than define it like what happens with Rinoa or Yuna.

Do kind of wish she kept rocking the WM robe though. but eh, small complaint.

>>3603089

I always loved Daguerreo for a town.

For music Treno or Dali.

>>3624794
>also fuck completionism desu. sucks the fun out of things. just breeze through and enjoy the ride. you'll get 80% of the fun with 20% of the effort

Lel kek jej, funny story... the first time I played FF9, I got through it as fast as I could and I fucking hated it.

Second time through, I took my time and did everything and I loved it. I didn't grind to 99 or anything autistic like that, but I did all the sidequests and got all the best equipment etc. It's way more fun like that.

the haircut scene was reeeeeeeetarded

>>3625076

you're retarded

>>3625076
>Lel kek jej
if this wasn't enough of a tell, you hating on short hair makes it clear as day that you're a fucking pleb

>>3624957
i pretty much agree. only FF12's ash is more of a fully realized character with her own agenda, but that's not retro.

>>3624970
same, that orange jumpsuit is... eh

>>3625161
>>3625332
XD great memes guys

>>3625336

12 really would have been a lot better if not for Van

>>3626675
i don't hate vaan. he's alright. it was obvious the bigwigs forced matsuno to use some marketable teenage fuccboi as the main character and the more you progress the more he feels just tacked on and running with the big dawgs, but for what he is, he's alright. not aggravating me.

>>3626709
Was the game always supposed to have 6 playable characters? Or was it just going to be 4?

Vaan and Penelo are both tacked on. I wonder if other, better characters got replaced for them or if they were just thrown in.

>>3626803
Vaan and Penelo are your R2D2 and C-3PO in XII. The story is told through their perspective as characters belonging to the lowest social class in their respective universes' stories, without actually being the center of the plot.

In a sense they are tacked on, but they serve the purpose of not knowing very much about the world and setting the tone of being thrown into a large plot, much like the player.

>Squeenix still hasn't fixed Thunder Slash by themselves.

This is straight embarrassing by now, Christ it's just one miswritten byte.

>>3626709

He's still a pretty huge idiot. Every time he does or says anything all I can ever think about is someone's annoying kid brother trying to fit in.

>>3626803

It would make sense. The active party size was four so if that was the case you'd be fielding the whole team the whole game.

>>3626816
>Vaan and Penelo are your R2D2 and C-3PO

Bullshit. R2 and 3PO at least had plot relevance and would occasionally do things.

Here's a random ass question.

I vaguely remember seeing a commercial or trailer for the game that used a bit of public domain classical music. Anyone know what the fuck Im on about? I can't find it anywhere.

>>3626879
FF9 is all about references to earlier FF games so it makes sense that there's a stupid bug like that

>>3626934
>The active party size was four

It was three.

>>3627362
Three + Guest

>>3626709
That's exactly what happen. Basch was originally meant to be the main character, but he wasn't enough of a prettyboy for the test audiences, so they had to asspull Vaan and awkwardly shove him in.

>>3627373
that 3+1 might easily have just been a fully formed four character squad. bash, ashe, balthier, fran rolling and fucking shit up.

i know i'm the minority but i love fixed parties. i have no need to swap out guys and force my imagination to not think the sidelined people are just standing around awkwardly in the background watching the party get their ass kicked.

>>3627529

Well the thing about fixed parties is they generally keep characters relevant better. When you get into having teams of 8 or 9 you end up with looser reasons for them to be following you around on the quest. Even in FF9 more than a couple of characters end up just tagging along for no reason and are overshadowed by the larger plots they don't really contribute much too.

>>3628101
yeah, i agree. it's what i liked about FF4 und FF5, and i adored the shit out that early stage in FF6 when your huge roster was split into three fixed parties with their own episodic adventures. absolutely lovely.

>>3628110
>that early stage in FF6 when your huge roster was split into three fixed parties with their own episodic adventures. absolutely lovely.

The first half of FF6 might be the best JRPG experience ever created.

The second half, however...

>>3628163

I like 6 a lot but the plot just stops. It becomes open world and all you have to do is power up to fight Kefka.

I wonder if originally it was going to be more guided like normal, but then production went south. so they just dropped all the segments onto the map and let the player have at them.

>>3628163
>The first half of FF6 might be the best JRPG experience ever created.
yes yes yes. plot and pacing were tight and engaging. i will say that the unique melancholy feeling of world of ruin has its own charm, and to be honest it doesn't really fall behind the first half for me based on that alone.

what other split-party games are out there? front mission 3 (sorta) and front mission 4 (fully) come to mind.

FF9 is good, but it's soooo fucking slooowwww.

The battles take forever to load up because the fucking camera spins around for 10 minutes.

>>3628185

I don't think you understand how things work. It doesn't load because the camera spins, the camera spins because it's loading.

>>3628185
PS2 fast disk speed makes this a lot more tolerable. It's almost as fast as the PC version (without the option that lets you skip the rotating cam, obviously.)

>>3628195
>PS2 fast disk speed makes this a lot more tolerable.
Wait really?

Hows the PS2 speed compared to an emulator?

My love for FF9 mostly comes from the beautiful environment art and fun character designs (hair not included).

Aside from that I just like drawing Freya... *cough*

>>3603089
>Zidane, Eiko, Steiner, Amarant
>the last one
>the song when Steiner and Beatrix are defending the city
>the one where literally everything happens(probably lindbolm)
>Beatrix if she counts

>>3628629
>I just like drawing Freya
post pr0nz plz

>>3628649
Sorry, got more important things to do.

>>3628676
We both know that's not true.

>>3629054
underrated post

>>3628590
>Hows the PS2 speed compared to an emulator?
It's faster than the default emulator speed, but obviously you can do frame advance on an emulator.

>>3629159
overrated meme

>>3628680
We need more of these, but requesting more of Beatrix.

>>3603089
>Favourite Endgame Party?
Last playthrough I did Zidane/Freya/Amarant/Quina
It ended up being really damn good. I'll use it again on the next playthrough as well just because it seemed much more fun.

>Favourite Dungeon?
You could probably count Burmecia as a "dungeon", since you don't get to be there when it's normal, everything's fucked up and it's swarmed with enemies, so i'll go with that.
>Favourite Music?
A tie between Dali and Bran-bal.
>Favourite Town/City?
A tie between Dali and Bran-bal again.
>Favourite NPC?
#1: Beatrix
#2: Lani
#3: Ruby

Why'd the best girls in the game have to be NPC's?

>>3611248
>>3631438

>>3611248
>>3631438
>Why the long face?
>...
>Crescent.
>Oy.
>Pbbfffheheheheh
>Slurp

don't tell me i'm the only one

>>3631525

yes you are, retard.

>>3631530
would your mom be proud of your language?

>>3631532

Would yours be proud of your apparent dyslexia?

>>3631569
>>3631532
>>3631530
shut the fuck up and post more 9

>>3603309
>all that for 100k gil

>>3635507
60,000 gil, actually

>>3603309
By the time you get the means to do that money shouldn't really matter unless you're doing a low level run.

>>3635605
Even less incentive to do it

>>3636076
Yeah exactly. It's pretty stupid considering how late in the game it is.

>>3628701
something that always bothered me about this image.

>>3636723
it's not a profile picture. she turned her head.

>>3636723

Eiko, Steiner, Zidane, Quina
Iifa tree
Madain Sari theme
Madain Sari
Regent Cid

Garnet is the least-useful character in the game.

Prove me wrong.

>>3638423
she gets my dick hard fwiw

>>3603284
Can anybody explain this "Disk suddenly working for no apparent reason" shit?

Years ago, my Final Fantasy Tactics disk stopped working. I tried everything in the world for two straight days to get it to work. Nothing.

A couple of weeks ago, I put it in the same PS1, started it up and it ran perfectly fine without doing anything to it.

>>3639019
Trump won the election and Made FFT Work Again

>>3608514
>>3609373
Yeah this books kind of a disappointment. The pictures are really small and there's like 10+ pages of screengrabs from FMV in the game. At least a lot of the production art is up on the final fantasy wiki in higher res. There's not a lot of pre-production stuff that's been released which is a real shame.

Best girl for Zidane?

>>3640379
Well they have their tails in common...

>>3640379

Why does /vr/ love FF9 so much while /v/ hates it with a passion? I think it's personally the best FF ever and I have so many memories with it. What are some legitimately bad things about it?

>>3642663
>Why does /vr/ love FF9 so much while /v/ hates it with a passion?
More adults use /vr/.
>What are some legitimately bad things about it?
Glacial combat. Pretty everything else about it was fantastic.

>>3642671
>Pretty everything
*pretty much everything

>>3642663
>what are some legitimately bad things
Man it feels like yesterday I did this. Alright let me put a disclaimer that while I don't prefer replaying this game over the other titles (excluding 2) i DO like it
1) Trance sucks
2) Garnet sucks as a character you can play with
3) Only three characters develop despite almost every member having a few hours devoted to them. Feels like an episode of a series where they look into a characters background but at the end of that episode the character keeps acting the exact same way and is neither better nor worse for it
4) That tonal shift after the first disc
5) the everything after the first disc
6) Really easy to break before you leave the first disc this is NOT a minus to me, but it's not really good gameplay design
7) Trance fucking sucks
8) Tetra is awful
9) Customization feels like a step so far back that you can't even see where it landed. (of course with matters relating "feel" this is subjective) the reasons I feel this way is:
1 - Characters already have their own specific archetypes so you can't change the core of a character
2- Everything being tied to gear syncs really well with your desire to steal, but feels like your progression is exceptionally linear
[10] Fuccboi Kuja this is subjective so I'm not going to count it
[10] Zidane's complete lack of situational awareness. also subjective so it doesn't count
10) Trance fucking sucks fucking dick
11) The entirety of everything that is everything about Necron
- How he appears
- how the fight is
- how he dies
- his impact (or really lack of) to the story in any meaningful way that SUPPORTS the story
12) Actually this is more shit about Necron. Who the fuckity fuck greenlit this.
-His motivation for wanting to destroy shit is flimy
-His appearance is not foreshadowed in the least
The only thing that disappoints me more than this is the everything of third birthday
13) Fuck trance

>>3642679
> Really easy to break before you leave the first disc

How? The only thing I can think of is grinding frogs for Quina but that would take forever, at least leave the game turned on for long.
Only thing I know of is beating Grand Dragons up Gazamaluke's Grotto, I found a way to do it SAFELY but it takes quite a bit of equipment finding and is only possible at the start of disc2, not at the end of 1.

Or perhaps you mean other ways, I know there are some attacks which are incredibly strong which speedrunners and no level up runs use but I never really digged into those.

I do get what you mean about the lack of customization. After FF8, or even 7, it feels like such a step backwards. I think they at least should have made it clear that certain equipment gives certain stat boosts when leveling up, that alone would have made it feel like there is more feel like there is more to it.

Another thing I dislike about 9 is the storytelling and it's ultra linear, cutscene based telling. In FF8 if you wanted to udnerstand everything you had to read notes, talk to NPCs, finding hidden scenes, etc which were very often VERY relevant to the MAIN story. In FF9, those are barely present and when they are, they are just there to add characterization to the characters.

I think that a lot of these flaws : storytelling, the trance, the lack of customization, are a direct 180° because of FF8 and what people complained about it (still do) and what the devs think was wrong. For instance, limit breaks were too easy to abuse, hence Trance. Many people didn't get the story completely because you had to find so much on your own, so they didn't put much outside of cutscenes anymore, there were too many ways to break FF8's system, hence such a limit one, etc
The thing with Necron though is just that they wanted to it like old FF did, like FF4 which was FULL of unexpected plot twists. I didn't think it was good THEN, still don't in FF9.

>>3642663
>/v/ hates it with a passion?
I'v never played fallout 3 or New Vegas but everyone I know irl prefers 3 and /v/ prefers New Vegas.
Its a board for contrarion children I can give a lot of examples of this but chose 2 games I have never played

>>3642679
>>3642709
One thing though about Necron is that he is being forshadowed but only during Memoria. His story and acts make sense, but only according to Memoria and not before. His final behaviours though, are directly related to Kuja and Zidane&co actions and decisions.
Issue was that everything about him... the writing was just abbysimal. So a lot of people were like "wtf was that anyway"; and I still can't believe so many retards believed Necron=Iifa Tree because of ONE line the Iifa Tree says to foreshadow the return of the mist... that just shows how misunderstood, and how bad, Necron's writing was.


Also, some characters do evolve.
Steiner learns to be not so stuck up about rules and his job and that sometimes to do what's "right" you have to cross the line.
Garnet becomes stronger. From a little girl, to a woman. Vivi learns life very quickly. Amarant learns to care for other people.

FF9 does make up for a lot of that because it has a magnificient, attaching and lively world full of character. But its system and ultra linear storytelling give it little replay value. I've 'only' played it 5 or 6 times, against 10-15 times for FF8...

>>3642716
>Also, some characters do evolve.
That's why I said 3
Everybody knows Steiner and Vivi change. And Garnet by virtue of everything moving forward involving her in some ways changes. To be honest I can't remember Amarant so I'll just take your word for it. I haven't played it in awhile. When it was new and fresh I think I put 4 playthroughs in it because it was the latest and greatest. After FFX came out and I started running that I just dropped back to doing more FF8 runs.

>>3642709
>is beating Grand Dragons up Gazamaluke's Grotto
That's the way. Though to be completely honest I can't remember much on how I went about that. Again it's been really long.

>>3642716
>the writing was just abysmal.
Was this a fault of the localization or is it just bad altogether? With older games I can never tell which is which.

>>3642718
>That's the way.

Okay - well; I found how once. Basically, Gran Dragons have three attacks: a thunder attack that damage the entire team. A poison attack against 1 character, and the regular physical attack.

The key is to be immune against thunder and poison; and to have a ton of phoenix downs and have someone dedicated to reviving others every time Grand Dragon uses his physical attack.

Being immune to thunder is easy: coral rings. You get 1 at the festival of the hunt; but for the 3 others, it's a little more tricky and is the reason why I said this is only possible at the start of disc 2 and not at the end of disc 1.
At the start of disc2 you're in Treno with Steiner and Garnet. There, you can make Coral Rings at the blacksmith but for that first you need to backtrack by foot to Dahli (find the way to cross the gate on the road) and buy equipment there which you'll be able to turn into Coral Rings at Treno.
Then, as long as they are not equipped to Steiner and Garnet when it's time to get back to Zidane&co, the Coral Rings will be in the inventory for them (magic!).

Being immune to poison is a bit trickier IIRC because not all characters have to learn it from the same equipment. I don't remember specifically but you may need to do some chocobo treasure hunting or steal the right item.

Then - to make things better, you can learn exp+ but again that requires chocobo treasure hunting if you want Freya to learn it. Also, you may want to teach Quina Mother Guard.

It's not that easy and it takes time; but once that's done you can get to level 30+ in no time; and if you spend a few hours more, you'll get to lvl50. Keep in mind Garnet and Steiner will remaine level 10-15 in the meantime; but anyone who joins the party after that (Eiko, Amarant), their level will be an even number between all of your characters.

>Was this a fault of the localization or is it just bad altogether?

Some people claim the Jap version is better but I can't know that for sure.

>>3642663
it's not as good as 7 or 8
too kiddy

>>3642751
>it's not as good as 7 or 8
>too kiddy
I never understood the "too kiddy" argument. 7 and 8 were fucking kiddy ass stories too, they were just slightly more vulgar (omg swearing!!) than earlier titles.

>>3642827
>7 and 8 were fucking kiddy ass stories too
Yeah, even the most "grown up" final fantasy games are like barely teen novel tier. Harry Potter has more adult oriented themes.

>>3642836
I don't think I can agree with that. I don't think I'd read a story to my kid where a clown fucks over the entire world.

>>3642663
>caring what /v/, which is one gigantic shitpost, thinks

>>3642679
>Characters already have their own specific archetypes so you can't change the core of a character

This is a good thing. The Final Fantasy series switch to "EVERYONE CAN DO EVERYTHING LMAO" in FF6, 7, 8, 10, and 12 makes every character functionally identical, and that's boring as shit and makes combat less strategic. And we're talking about JRPGs here which aren't known for making players think strategically.

>>3644348
I disagree with the meat of this post, but agree about set characters being great in FFIX, for different reasons.

Customization in III, V, and the Tactics series, where party building basically becomes its own metagame, make for far more strategic combat than set parties do. There are a variety of different approaches to battles depending on playstyle.

Why the set party in IX is great is because it makes for characters with far more depth and complexity, and much more room to grow. Because let's face it, the Final Fantasy games that are good can only excel in one of two categories: Fun combat, or great story and narrative. The ones that do both decently well but don't excel at either aren't typically regarded as the 'good' FF games. FFIX probably has some of the best ambiance of any FF title, and it's partly due to how fleshed out and memorable the characters were. We couldn't have that if every character could do everything.

>>3644348
>EVERYONE CAN DO EVERYTHING LMAO
you mean like in the first Final Fantasy game?

>>3643330
>a clown fucks over the entire world
enjoy your next four years

>>3645210
Too soon anon

>>3644348
>The Final Fantasy series switch to "EVERYONE CAN DO EVERYTHING LMAO"
>in 6

a bit earlier than that, anon

>>3645220
no, anon, it's too late. it's too fucking late.

>>3645231
Is that guy from FF3?

Has anyone else had problems running FF9 on original hardware? Like my copy will run but I sometimes have to reboot several times to get it to recognize the disc. Every once in a while the game will hang when loading a new area and I have to reset. Its so frustrating I have basically given up trying to replay this. I have had this occur on different machines when all my other games run fine. The disc is flawless btw, not a single scratch or blemish.

>>3643330

Honestly, you can get away with some pretty dark shit in a kid's story so long as you aren't explicit about the details and are sure to end things on a good note.

>>3646540
You should probably be playing it on a PS2 or PS3 anyway. The load times are faster.