Board 8 > Andy Plays Final Fantasy IX

(+) Yeah! (+)

Oh, something you've hopefully already noticed, but there are usually a bunch of hidden items sprawled around towns and things. A [!] will pop up if you're on top of one (normally up against walls and in corners and things).

---

Dagger is a fine name. They shouldve just made her real name more boring

---

When I first played the game I inadvertently named Dagger the name of a major spoiler. It was hilarious.

Also, for people who are familiar of my game handle Terrane it comes from this game. It's what I named Vivi when I first played the game and I fell in love with the character that I became fond of the name.

---

I don't see the reason for wasting time on stealing, this is just anti-fun measure and you shouldn't bother with it

The thing is, plenty of times in games I am also doing "anti-fun" things in the sake of getting 100%
But in FFIX getting 100% in the first run is literally impossible so why bother? just play as you enjoy
Unless somehow you enjoy grinding and stealing from bosses and resetting whenever you don't get the item..


---

I mean the things you can steal are pretty damn good.

---

Nanis23 posted...

I don't see the reason for wasting time on stealing, this is just anti-fun measure and you shouldn't bother with it

I kind of agree. I've tried to only go for rare steals even casually and it broke me. It's just so mind-numbing sometimes.

---

Going for the 1/16ths kinda sucks but I don't think it's really that bad. I don't remember any taking me more than like 10 minutes. The 1/256s sure, that's just terrible.

---

Oh I don't plan on resetting boss fights or anything like that, but up til now I've just used Steal once on bosses and then got straight down to fighting, so knowing there's several items to get helps me. Bosses aren't really any trouble at the moment either so there's no harm in keeping Zidane on steal duty for now.

most_games_r_ok posted...

Stealing sucks. Spent like 6 turns trying to steal the Mage Masher from the opening fight with Baku. With 4 thieves! Took so long Cinna and Marcus both died and Zidane almost did too.

Lol I got Mage Masher early but that's great.

Grand Kirby posted...

Also, for people who are familiar of my game handle Terrane it comes from this game. It's what I named Vivi when I first played the game and I fell in love with the character that I became fond of the name.

I am just now realising that you must be Terrane on the Discord server!

---

My philosophy on stealing rare items is to have Zidane try every turn but otherwise fight the boss as normal. If I don't get it, I don't get it. I'm too old and life is too short to steal-grind.

---

The stuff you get from stealing, at least early, is stuff you can get later anyway.

IIRC, I don't think there's any straight up missable things you can only get through stealing from a boss. Though I believe there are in rare cases extra copies of limited availability things you can get by stealing. Though I think this is only late in the game anyway.

---

Well, it's helpful to have them as early as possible just because of the skills they can confer.

---

Oh, also, it was alluded to earlier but there are definitely missable things from shops and even missable abilities tied to missable equipment. I'd recommend at least buying anything that teaches someone an ability they don't have. The most notorious example of this involves a couple of Vivi's spells.

---

I'll try my best!

Lindblum is a nice place to walk around. I really like that the party splits up and goes on their own adventures in towns. We get an autograph from a famous actor and synthesise an Ogre for Zidane, which proves very useful in the coming battles. Garnet sings a tune that will surely recur, and we get a nice montage of how all the characters are doing at the moment.

The Hunt Festival commences (love that half the townspeople see this as ridiculous and the others see it as important), and thanks to his new Ogre Zidane wipes everything pretty easily and wins. I'm a bit disappointed here, from the intro I thought we'd get to pick who to play as and I would've picked Vivi over Freya over Zidane. And his reward is just Gil, boo. Ah well.

Burmecia is under attack (haven't mentioned this yet but it's great to see rat people in a game, not a very common fantasy race!), and Dagger drugs everyone and convinces Steiner to come with her so she can convince her mother to stop whatever war she's waging. It's a pretty reasonable plan but from the earlier conversation everybody was acting like she would be on the front lines in Burmecia, so I don't think she got her idea across very well. Nevertheless Garnet continues to be very resourceful and quick on her feet even if a bit impetuous and blind to her own position. I get Rinoa vibes from her, for sure.

Freya joins the crew and we head to Burmecia, but not really. This is the first time we've been free on the world map in ages so I of course look everywhere I can, starting with Qu Marsh. Those tutorial moogles live here, cool! And we also recruit Quina, a strange beast very fond of frogs. Interestingly Vivi notes the other Qu's resemblence to his own grandfather, but upon hearing the name Quan he acts strangely and claims not to know the man (while contradicting himself). Hmm...

Quina is a Blue Mage, and while I'm not always massive on the class I'm liking how it works in this game so far. I have gotten Mighty Guard (but can't use it), Vanish, Angel's Snack and Magic Hammer for now. Freya is a Dragoon, which is always cool. I like her design though I can't really make out her face.

Next up is the Chocobo Forest, where I spend a good while playing Chocobo Hot and Cold. It's pretty addictive, even if it's not very... good. Maybe I just like hearing that music from the beginning stage duel again. I get treasure from one Chocopiece thing, and get a fragment of another piece and another whole one that I can't find at the moment.

Gizamaluke's Grotto is decent, we fight some more Black Mages and I use the bells in the wrong place so miss out on whatever's on the upper walkway. I leave up the vines near the newlywed Moogles and get wiped out by a Grand Dragon's Thundaga. Well, the Moogle did warn me. The boss is made tougher by Zidane's refusal to get a successful Steal, but he eventually gets an Ice Staff which gives Vivi access to Blizzara. Aw yeah!

The game cuts back to the rest of the party (love when games do this) and Steiner lucks himself and Dagger through the bottom of South Gate. They have some nice dialogue here. Up the gondola they go, and the other crew eventually arrives at Burmecia (that sand tornado will just have to wait til later, I guess!). I love the atmosphere of this place, rain always helps create a good mood. Freya is pretty interesting, and I like that Vivi and even Quina are getting bits of development here. I'm guessing Quina is optional so it's nice that s/he is still a part of the group. I save in the vault and leave the palace for another day. Feels like we're building up to something here for Vivi.

---

I actually prefer to let Freya win the Festival of the Hunt (and there's an easy way to do that) since you get an accessory if she wins.

And while I'm not a big fan of Chocobo Hot & Cold, it's definitely the most worthwhile mini-game in FFIX.

Burmecia is fantastic because rain makes everything better. Music is excellent as well.

---

I adore Chocobo Hot & Cold, I find it super fun, and it's even better with the x3 speed since it speeds everything up but the timer.

Yeah x3 speed breaks Chocobo Hot and Cold. Very easy to get the maximum of eight items and the associated bonus points using it.

Quina is currently optional, but you would eventually need to recruit them if you didnt now.

---

Burmecia is where I realized I love FFIX

---

Oh I didn't even have x3 on for Chocobo! That's very good to know. Does that work for the Hunt Festival too? I noticed the timer kept ticking during very slow battle animations.


---

I believe so. The 3x speed generally doesn't affect the game's internal clock (it also makes getting the aforementioned item that requires speedrunning the game way easier/compatible with getting other missable stuff).

---

That's cool. I have used the 3x occasionally during battles on the world map, but in general I'm OK with things as they are. There's a weirdly long load time for the first battle in each new area it seems though, guessing it's loading the background or something.

I won't cheese the 3x if there's timed plot missions in future though, I'd like to do things as intended!

---

LordoftheMorons posted...

I believe so. The 3x speed generally doesn't affect the game's internal clock (it also makes getting the aforementioned item that requires speedrunning the game way easier/compatible with getting other missable stuff).

This. When I went for the plat last year I was able to speedrun for that item and the associated trophy in like 4 or 5 hours.

I wouldnt recommend using it for Chocobo hot and cold. It basically breaks that game. Theres supposed to be a progression where you get faster over time as you visit more forests. Theres some late game equipment you can get there that you really shouldnt have a chance at getting this early.

---

andylt posted...

And his reward is just Gil, boo. Ah well.

It's kind of weird that the best item for this event is gotten only if you throw the hunt yourself.

---

andylt posted...

Gizamaluke's Grotto is decent, we fight some more Black Mages and I use the bells in the wrong place so miss out on whatever's on the upper walkway. I leave up the vines near the newlywed Moogles and get wiped out by a Grand Dragon's Thundaga. Well, the Moogle did warn me.

Lol schmuck bait at its finest.

Also choco hot and cold is great, especially when you get to the other maps and start ranking up your chocobo
---

We kick things off today with what seems like an important sequence (and a very cool one). Queen Brahne is here in Burmecia herself, and we are introduced to our scantily clad villain Kuja. I thought I recognised Beatrix's name as a party member, but she doesn't seem very reticent about what she's doing so maybe not. We have a fight with her that isn't so bad until she cheats to get us into a cutscene. For some reason they don't murder us (really don't know why they wouldn't, especially as Kuja seems to see Vivi as a threat), and they head to sandland to continue their conquest. Maybe it's not a conquest though, because they don't actually leave anyone stationed here. They just want the Burmecians eradicated, hmm...

I like the short guard and tall guard. Hope we keep checking in with them.

Back with our steadily-more-underleveled princess and knight, we meet up with Marcus and Cinna, and Garnet decides to help out Blank. Garnet and Steiner become more progressively at odds over the period of time we spend with them here, Steiner gets pretty annoying with his duty and Garnet just seems annoyed with his presence at this point, though she herself is still reasonably blind to her own privilege in several ways (really like the realism with this). We fight Black Waltz #3 once again, though this time it's more sad than anything. The poor soul really has no drive or mind of its own, and is purely fulfilling its orders (look at how poorly this goes for them, Steiner!).

Marcus joins the crew but he seems unable to learn any abilities so he must be a temporary member. We detour to find Quan's Dwelling (If only Vivi were here!), where there's a bunch of Ethers, a hot spring and something in the water Garnet points out that we can't get. Nobody's home, though.

Treno is great, the City of Nobles is filled with sleaze and an exploited underclass. I feel bad for opening a 1 Gil chest before some guy can open it. Kuja is here for some reason, and is in league with the auctioneer. He seems very willing to let Garnet run home. We get some card rules, but the game still refuses to tell us the most important part! Gah! I don't take part in the card competition, I'm not very good at that game.

Marcus takes us to steal some Supersoft, and there's a really nice silent boat ride where Garnet and Steiner are in their own heads. Steiner is very very slowly beginning to question himself, though he's firmly in the denial stage still. We meet Doctor Tot, a name I cannot take seriously, and which is thankfully mocked by the innkeeper. He gives some vague background world lore about Eidolons, summoners, magic stones and things being erased from history 500 years ago. It's mostly your standard fantasy stuff that will surely come into play much later, but hopefully it doesn't override the class themes that are the main reason I'm interested in the plot so far. Please don't pull a Tactics on this front, FFIX!

Doctor Toot shows us an underground insect transport thing. Poor insect. We ride on it for a bit, and are stopped to face an annoying boss that spams String, slowing our party to a crawl. I don't seem to have an item that undoes Slow, which is annoying. The beast eventually runs away, not sure if that's scripted or I timed out. We then finally arrive back at Alexandria, although it's a place Steiner and Garnet haven't been before. Garnet recalls something about her ancestors being here, but then we are captured by Zorn and Thorn under the Queen's orders.

Freya (who I am really liking) composes herself and we travel west to... Creyla? I didn't write the name down. You know where I mean. We climb the sand tree thing (really cool concept, although the dungeons are all pretty short so far) and arrive at the settlement, where I leave things for today. Quina learned Auto-Life on the way, which is probably good, but I failed to learn White Wind from a Zuu which kept casting it on itself and Swallowing the party, so I had to run. As annoyingly long as the battle intros are, the random encounter rate seems to be pretty low when not on the world map.

We're gonna have to have a reckoning the next time we control the Alexandrian group, strangely enough it seems like Garnet will have a much easier time accepting the truth than Steiner. Very interested to see how that will go down. And Vivi may have to wait a while longer to find things out, he seems to be back on the backburner for the time being.

---

Cleyra is the name. This part of the game is fun.

---

andylt posted...

For some reason they don't murder us (really don't know why they wouldn't, especially as Kuja seems to see Vivi as a threat)

Cause they don't see you as a threat is why! I mean, Beatrix just mowed you down without even trying. Hate that fight with her in particular because she actually has something worth stealing too. And Kuja viewing Vivi as the primary threat here is an interesting take because I don't think that's what most people get from that scene.

andylt posted...

The beast eventually runs away, not sure if that's scripted or I timed out

Scripted to run when you do enough damage to it.

Some fun stuff in Treno and there is a bit to do in Cleyra as well. And yeah, Zuu is annoying for sure. I find it best to equip Zidane with Bird Killer and a slightly weaker weapon to do just enough damage to eat it.


---

most_games_r_ok posted...

Cause they don't see you as a threat is why! I mean, Beatrix just mowed you down without even trying. Hate that fight with her in particular because she actually has something worth stealing too. And Kuja viewing Vivi as the primary threat here is an interesting take because I don't think that's what most people get from that scene.

I stole some stuff from her but it was stuff I could buy at Treno so can't have been that good. Vivi now has the 3 -aras in his possession at least (not learned all 3 yet).

And I guess I should've specified Kuja said 'that boy' could be a threat or something like that, but I assumed he meant Vivi because Zidane is a nobody and Kuja seems to have created the black mages so would naturally have an interest in Vivi. I'm surprised others didn't read it that way, IIRC the scene even cuts to show Vivi after he says that before it shows anyone else too. Guess I misread it, wish there was some event viewer so I could watch it again!


---

I don't know if the Switch version makes any distinction, but Burmecia marked the end of disc one. You're in disc two now!

---

I don't think Kuja views the black mages as people, so I'm not sure he'd call Vivi a boy.

---

I can understand the confusion when this would be ones first time seeing Kuja before his connection to the plot becomes clearer.
---

mnkboy907 posted...

I don't know if the Switch version makes any distinction, but Burmecia marked the end of disc one. You're in disc two now!

Theres no clear indication on Switch

---

Yeah there's no indication of a disc change, I was actually wondering when that would be, thanks! It does make sense as an end of disc scene, even if it's not as big as FF7+8's Disc 1 endings. How many discs does IX have anyway?

---

4 discs
---

andylt posted...

Yeah there's no indication of a disc change, I was actually wondering when that would be, thanks! It does make sense as an end of disc scene, even if it's not as big as FF7+8's Disc 1 endings. How many discs does IX have anyway?

4 discs, but the game is about the same length as VII and VIII.

---

In my experience the game feels a bit lengthier than VIII.
---

Hoo boy, a lot to talk about today.

The Cleyran people are... pretty boring tbh, but the town looks nice. We meet Puck of all people and discover he is the prince of Burmecia. After the antlion fight we witness a strange dance to strengthen the sandstorm protecting the town, but something goes wrong and the storm disappears entirely.

Meanwhile Dagger finally sees her mother, and Brahne acts disturbingly nice to her. I choose not to believe her, and Kuja shows himself. It seems the plan is to extract the Eidolons from Garnet, and Zorn+Thorn imply that this has been the plan since her birth. Was she really just an incubation pod for Eidolons for Brahne her whole life? Dagger has said that her mother has changed since Kuja arrived, so I'm not sure.

Freya gets an Emerald from the High Priest, and the four of us climb back down the tree trunk. Partway down Freya realises we've been tricked, and Cleyra is under attack from the Black Mages. We rush back to try to save everyone, I'm not sure if I'm successful but I get about 8 items from those who survive. Did they really just ice that guy who we saved in Burmecia? Dang. Sir Fratley appears out of the blue to help us, though he has no memory of Freya or his own past. Very strange. He leaves as soon as he appears, and Freya takes comfort in the knowledge he is alive. Poor Freya though.

After Beatrix steals the Cleyrans' jewel we have another boss fight, where I get very lucky and steal all the items she has on her within a few turns. She brings us to our knees once more and escapes via Black Mage, so the gang decides to follow her. Quina doesn't like heights, so stays behind (lol, heck of a way to remove someone from the party!). We arrive on the Red Rose airship, and... Cleyra is utterly destroyed by Odin, by Brahne's will. Jeez. So much for Freya saving them this time round! And all those people we 'rescued' a few moments ago, dead... pretty brutal. Beatrix herself is pretty interesting here, still villainous but aware that she is mindlessly following orders, and it seems she realises a major line has been crossed when Brahne orders Garnet's beheading. Still she was completely fine with sacking a kingdom and slaughtering others until this point >_>

Back with Steiner, the Ice Brand I picked up is incredibly OP and one shots the soldiers. He quickly levels up to get back in line with the others, just in time to reunite with Zidane and the gang! I don't know how Zidane knows Brahne's exact 30 minute timeframe for executing Dagger, but whatever. The time is extremely generous (I do not use 3x speed at any moment in this for authenticity's sake!), I pick up another Ice Brand and we soon reach an unconscious Dagger. I fail to steal anything from Zorn and Thorn. Zidane and the party decide to just... let Dagger rest, right in the middle of the castle we are being chased in? I guess?!

Steiner finally reaches his breaking point over these few scenes, and it's really good stuff. The life he has devoted himself to for so long is in service of evil, and he reacts pretty understandably tbh. I really like how Steiner and Zidane interact with each other here, it's been so long since they last saw each other but there's no bickering or anything, they are both too overcome by what has since happened.

We then have yet another battle with Beatrix, where I steal yet another Ice Brand. I mistakenly thought this was a battle we are supposed to lose and quickly get a game over, turns out I just got unlucky with her Shock spamming. After the second try and a Cloud Strife limit break she pauses and, thanks to Zidane, realises that Brahne wasn't lying before. Being faced with Garnet's actual unconscious body here seems to be her personal breaking point (not the complete annihilation of Cleyra, though!), and she switches sides. This is another good scene. Freya at least refuses to forgive her but accepts her help (glad it's not one of those 'the villain is good now so we just forget all the murders they did' stories), and Beatrix is at least as strong as a party member as she was as a boss. Her MP seems much more limited here though! I'm very interested in where she goes as a character from here, and how her relationship with Steiner will change things. He was naive and in denial, but she was very aware of at least some of the atrocities being committed in the name of the queendom, so it could be an interesting dynamic.

The other 4 flee, until Steiner decides to heroically go back and help his fellow knights. Dagger is very underleveled. Zidane, Vivi and Dagger reach the Gargant and after another snakey boss they crash into Pinnacle Rocks (have I mentioned that I really like the 'area name in massive font in central part of the screen, in a font that is fitting for that particular area' thing? Because I do!), where Ramuh confronts Dagger and offers a test. Brahne meanwhile hires some mercenaries (one is typically arrogant, the other seems to know Zidane) to take out Dagger, Zidane, and Vivi (!). The whereabouts of Steiner, Freya, Beatrix, Marcus and Blank are unknown. I leave things here.

Man I absolutely loved this whole section of the game. Easily my fav part so far. Steiner (and Beatrix!) finally accepting the truth on some level. Zidane acting much more mature. Freya just blindsided and broken by her perceived failure at Cleyra. And Dagger being very aware of her damsel-in-distress position, and obviously feeling very guilty that everyone is risking their lives for her, and not knowing the right thing to do. Really, really good stuff for everybody.

---

So one thing about that timed castle sequence is that theres actually an optional boss fight! It would be quite difficult now, and you actually have one more chance to fight it next time you visit the castle (without the time limit)

Location spoilers: check out the library

---

I'm not sure if you recognized it, but the "prince of a desert land gets attacked by a giant antlion" is a big reference to Final Fantasy IV.

The destruction of Cleyra is one of the most memorable moments in the entire series for me. It's such a gut-punch, but also that sight of Odin riding across the sky and blowing up the tree like a nuclear weapon is such an incredible visual.

---

Oh cool! I did wonder if there was secret stuff hidden around but there were no chests off to the side that I saw and whenever I went away from the main path (by accident) it just reached a dead end. I did find some of Steiner's knights. Haven't clicked the spoiler bar but I will be sure to scour the castle next time round, thanks!

Grand Kirby posted...

I'm not sure if you recognized it, but the "prince of a desert land gets attacked by a giant antlion" is a big reference to Final Fantasy IV.

...I don't know how this didn't occur to me. Maybe if Puck had a harp I would've gotten it >_> That is great. I have been wondering if the constantly rotating party thing is an ode to IV. I do love that as I hate having to pick and choose party members!

And yeah that scene is really good, Odin is a fitting Eidolon to do something like that with, and the fact that's the first thing we see of them in the game, too.

---

Another funfact is that you can technically level up Garnet enough to have enough MP to properly summon the eidolons she already has before they are extracted.

(and a random note that the reason the first snakeboss ran away is because its in fact the same snakeboss you fight again in the second gargant sequence.. but now its reached its adult stage)
---

That whole section of the game really is a whirlwind.

"**** they just killed an entire country"
"**** they just blew up an entire country"
"**** they're trying to kill Dagger and we might not make it in time"

The punches just keep coming
---

FFIX borrows a lot of FFIV's plot beats.

But yeah, that part of the game is awesome, and it stays awesome for a while. Disc 2 is the best.

---

andylt posted...

have I mentioned that I really like the 'area name in massive font in central part of the screen, in a font that is fitting for that particular area' thing? Because I do!)

When I first played KH I thought "they're doing that thing from FFIX!"

---

htaeD posted...

Another funfact is that you can technically level up Garnet enough to have enough MP to properly summon the eidolons she already has before they are extracted.

Lol that's cool but does take away from her journey here! Guess there's no unique dialogue for it?

We learn the tale of a hero, and get to decide the lesson from it. I of course choose the 'everybody is flawed, heroes are human' angle, but either would've sufficed. I like that Vivi worked out the point of the test. Zidane has a line here: "Why try to give meaning to what the main character of the story chose?", which might well have some meta-relevance later on!

And oh boy,
Emeraldegg posted...

The punches just keep coming

you weren't kidding! Just as we start to introduce Eidolons into the plot and Garnet begins a new journey, Brahne invades Lindblum. Hoo boy, at this rate there'll be no world left to save before long! Treno better watch out. There's a cool cutscene here of the incredibly quick one sided invasion, featuring an unnamed Eidolon that sucks up the Industrial District and everyone else with it. I'm trying to think of what past summon this could be. Cuchulainn? Pandemona? Perhaps something I'm forgetting. IIRC the only game before this one to use the term Eidolon is IV, maybe something from there.

Pretty heavy stuff in Lindblum. Cid wisely surrendered (for once surrender is not seen as a cowardly move in an RPG!) but the city is still in pieces. There's some really nice dialogue between Zidane and the locals regarding a dying black mage. Zidane tries to explain that the mage is human and under Brahne's control, but the old man counters not by disbelieving him, but saying that if this is the case, he should make sure the Black Mage understands the pain and suffering it has caused by killing his son. Oof. There's also variety in how the Alexandrian soldiers feel about using weapons of mass destruction (actually the term used ingame!) in the invasion, and one named Nicole unsuccessfully attempts to stop her former friend (presumably) Justin from leading a rebellion. Hopefully this will come back around, his speech was nice. The dialogue for NPCs in this game is absolutely top tier.

Even the fire in the Synthesis shop is cold, as if it were weeping. We toss around some ideas with Cid and land on a plan to go to the Outer Continent, where Kuja seems to have come from (on a silver dragon). I send the arrogant actor Lowell to Ruby, and there's mention of Brahne building an opera house. I assume this won't come to pass given we already had a theatre opening, but man it would be cool. On our way out of Lindblum the Alexandrians seem to become wise to Cid's scheming, so I don't have the highest of hopes for his well-being whenever we return.

We head to the marsh and reunite with Quina (was Quina just removed from the party earlier to make room for Steiner?), then descend into Fossil Roo. What does Roo mean in this context, anyway. I run from a weird looking boss and kind of regret not staying to fight it. Oh well. We fight Lani, who seems very focused on attacking Dagger, and she flees while pretending we weren't overpowering her. I don't care for her at all. Then we have some very simple puzzles involving Gargants as we go through the underground. There is however one chest I can't get on the screen with the vines and the switch for the exit. Don't know what it was!

I also don't excavate any items in that one area, though I do uncover Kuppo. Quina finally gets White Wind off of one of the annoying Griffins, which weirdly drop the same Peridots that Ramuh gave us before. Guess he wasn't that unique! Before we know it we're on the mistless Outer Continent. The first fight here is with a Ladybird who gives us a juicy 20AP and sends us to Yeti. I seem to recall an enemy called that previously, but maybe I'm mixing things up with VI. Anyway I leave it here for today, what wonders await on this new land? How are the rest of the gang doing? Who will get annihilated by the rapidly expanding Alexandrian Empire next time? I'll have to wait to find out! Having a great time with this.

---

The hero's story is a reference to FF2, for the record.

---

andylt posted...

There's a cool cutscene here of the incredibly quick one sided invasion, featuring an unnamed Eidolon that sucks up the Industrial District and everyone else with it. I'm trying to think of what past summon this could be. Cuchulainn? Pandemona? Perhaps something I'm forgetting. IIRC the only game before this one to use the term Eidolon is IV, maybe something from there.

First time it's been a summon, but it's something you've fought as a boss in FFV.

---

There's a cool cutscene here of the incredibly quick one sided invasion, featuring an unnamed Eidolon that sucks up the Industrial District and everyone else with it. I'm trying to think of what past summon this could be. Cuchulainn? Pandemona? Perhaps something I'm forgetting.

It wasn't a summon in its previous appearance. Atomos, boss of FFV's Barrier Tower.

We head to the marsh and reunite with Quina (was Quina just removed from the party earlier to make room for Steiner?)

I think FFIX wanted to have a homage to secret characters like Umaro and Vincent, but didn't want it to be possible to permanently miss anyone. The compromise was to make Quina optional in Disc 1 (ish) and mandatory later on.
---

I was going to ask if you wanted to know about the references to the first three FF games since you haven't played(?) them, or if you'd rather play them later and realize then what the references FF9 made to them were. But if it's the former, then for the FF2 reference Ramuh's story is a direct retelling of a plot from that game.


andylt posted...

IIRC the only game before this one to use the term Eidolon is IV, maybe something from there.

FF9 was the first game to use the word Eidolon actually. IV only started using the term in the remakes (the original translation just called them "Summons").

andylt posted...

Before we know it we're on the mistless Outer Continent.

When I first played FF9 my save file got annihilated three times at basically this exact point. It's a testament to how much I liked this game (and just how much I wanted to see what the world outside of the Mist Continent was like) that I kept on replaying the game...

---

I don't really mind either way about the references to I-III, I will eventually play them but I don't think they're supposed to be largely plot heavy anyway. That's a cool way of incorporating a reference with the story!

MalcolmMasher posted...

It wasn't a summon in its previous appearance. Atomos, boss of FFV's Barrier Tower.

Ohhh that dude. That makes sense, it was a cool boss! So it's some dimensional thing huh, hm...

Grand Kirby posted...

When I first played FF9 my save file got annihilated three times at basically this exact point. It's a testament to how much I liked this game (and just how much I wanted to see what the world outside of the Mist Continent was like) that I kept on replaying the game...

This reminds me of how my FFVIII disc 2 must've gotten scratched somehow because at some point it just continually crashed during the Battle of the Gardens sequence. I was so annoyed as a kid that I couldn't replay Disc 3!

---