Faulty Claims...

[Remiel]

So, before I say anything- don't misunderstand me, because I love this game. It's definitely in my top 5 FF titales.

That being said, everything revolving around this game was advertised as "Returning to the roots" presumably to sort of get away from the neo-sci fi edge that Tetsuya and his crew took to the last two games.

But, my problem is that, it really wasn't a return to the roots. I mean, sure, they had characters that pretty much had jobs of the FF characters of yore (For example, Freya as a Dragoon, Vivi as a Black Mage, Zidane Thief, Amarant Monk, etc. etc.) But they were such out there iterations.

And to me, that's just a reimagining of the same FF themes, making FFIX the same sort of game that VII and VII were, rather than a "return to formula."

I mean, all the newer games have elements of the older FF's while adding newer elements, and FFIX did exactly that. We had fantasy, with minor future settings, characters with oldstyle, yet new additions.

But there were so many differences. I mean, the main villain wore a purple thong for christ's sake. Not to mention the main character had a tail...

Anyone see where I'm going with this? Or am I just ranting...?

 

[Bambi]

Ithink ot's probablymore to do withthe crystals than anything else, those crystals where like everywhere in the oleder FF's then just not in VI(?) VII & VIII. I suppose theres only so many times you can recycle the same old omg we must rescue the crystals story, but it worked

 

[The Flaming Amarant]

I see where yer going with this... I thought the same when I first bought FF9 and was standing in line reading the back of the CD case. It said "The crystal comes back!" and it had a Amarant running from an explosion that you never see in the actual game. Even in the Logo there is a crystal in the middle of it, I honestly was expecting it to be like FF3 or FF5 where you go get more jobs/classes from the different elemental Crystals.

Although misleading... its still a great game.

 

[Valkyrur]

Although misleading... its still a great game.

Agreed.

When they said, return to the roots, i suppose they were probably returning to the same line of thinking when they created Final Fantasy I and the rest of the legacy instalments (As addressed in this forums), a medieval setting...

I lost you when you mentioned these.

And to me, that's just a reimagining of the same FF themes, making FFIX the same sort of game that VII and VII were, rather than a "return to formula."

I mean, all the newer games have elements of the older FF's while adding newer elements, and FFIX did exactly that. We had fantasy, with minor future settings, characters with oldstyle, yet new additions.

But there were so many differences. I mean, the main villain wore a purple thong for christ's sake. Not to mention the main character had a tail...

First paragraph, I wouldn't deny this. In fact, i thought all the Final Fantasy games were same somewhat, the only differences were the themes...

To me at least. For Final Fantasy IX, its pretty evident its overall theme probably is 'Life', as can be seen from its theme song <Melodies of Life>, Vivi's constant question about whether we exist.. Seemingly like a thinker's thoughts, literally. I believe others had different themes too, but i can't see it clearly. No doubt, i admit i can't see what are the 'themes' of the other series, though i label IX with 'Life'....

Second Paragraph, not hard to catch.

Third Paragraph, many differences? That threw me off.. As to purple thongs, i admit Kuja has got terrible fashion sense.. And the tail, he belongs to a race called the Genomes... Like Zidane, who all have tails.

Well, that explains my confusion... From my perspective, at least. I mean no offense, but I'll appreciate further explanation though.

 

[Relient A]

FFIX is still the game that... Feels like the original titles. FFVII and VIII were good games, and there were plenty of FF elements, but they kinda strayed from the general theme that the previous 6 games followed. The setting was medeival again, the music was done in the more classic style, the characters were animated with less realism, it featured epic battles between large kingdoms, the old school class system was brought back, a city is built into a tree, there are dragons, the crystals are back, and...

I'm going to just stop. I've been playing Final Fantasy since Iw as like 7 or 8, and to me, this game is easily the winner for the "Returning to the Roots" category. If you don't feel the same way, I'm sorry, because chances are they won't be attempting anything like that again.

 

[The Flaming Amarant]

I'm sorry, because chances are they won't be attempting anything like that again.

And you know, thats a damn shame. I like the sprite ones alot more than the 3D ones, they just feel more developed. In fact FF9 is the only 3D one I really like, I mean 7, 8, 10, 11, 12 are cool and all, but like you said they have strayed away from the core material. They're all in big cities with guns and motorcycles and airships that don't look like your classic boat with propellors. Hopefully they do this again sometime, just to change up the monotony.

It'd be nice if FF20 was an oldschooler game, but to be honest they could do it before then and I'd be just as happy about it.