 Release Dates: Japan: July 7, 2000 North America: End of October 2000 Squaresoft has once again pulled off another Final Fantasy game. Previously games such as Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII turned out to be huge successes and generated many sales for Square. However, FFVIII did not bring true rpgers a feeling of delight. The game was rather a disappointment in my opinion. Well let's just hope that Final Fantasy IX will not be a disappointment and will bring bliss to all RPG players. This stunt that Squaresoft is trying to pull off might actually be worth it because the game goes way back to the original Final Fantasy and has crystals. Finally, there is something actually eager to wait for. The current characters that have been revealed are Jitan Triball, Vivi Ornitier, and Edward Steiner. Jitan is the main character of the game and he is a member of a thieves' guild. He is 16 years old and has a way with girls. Vivi is a black mage and is 9 years old. He is a very weak and frightened child and often wonders why he is like that. In addition, Edward is a Royal Knight and is 33 years old. His job is basically to protect and serve a princess. However, he is not a very bright person. So far the characters are very interesting in the game. There are 5 more characters yet to be revealed so don't think that these 3 are the only ones. Otherwise, the game would turn to be a major failure. The game has a storyline that is not clear at the moment, but in due time we will. It is slowly unveiling itself in the current gaming news since it will soon be released in Japan. Currently we know that it will be involving crystals from the early hit release of Final Fantasy, which started off this whole fantastic series. The city's in the game will be all floating instead of them being on land. The game currently seems to have in interesting storyline. Basically, the game revolves around Vivi who is a weak-willed child that has no desire to live or to exist. This amount of information is not enough to determine the whole storyline, but at least we have a glimpse of it. It could and might even possibly be related to some of the other Final Fantasies. Sakaguchi, the creator of the Final Fantasy series, has stated that when engaged in battle, you only control the most interesting character. This might seem odd, but it might be a good tactic in RPG's and FFIX could possibly be the most overwhelming game you have ever played. The classes or jobs in the game also are very interesting. They refer back to some of the previous Final Fantasy games such as FFV and FF Tactics. The jobs are basically predetermined, but however, you will still have the power to learn new abilities. Many true Final Fantasy players will experience a keen interest in this game. FFIX will retrieve a reminiscent return to 4 character battles like one of its older predecessors. In addition, it will have a full-blown battle menu with wide array of commands, which will be changes as the game progresses. This is quite unclear right now, but there is a resemblance to Final Fantasy Tactics since it had a system of learning and choosing abilities. The fantastic part about this game is that it is going to have class and battle systems that will allow each and every player to take their own way to approach the game. Moreover, you will probably expect the game to have the ability to customize the custom characters, which is quite interesting. There is one difference in this game that makes it unique from all other games, the way you win the battles. The game will not include predetermined ways to win each battle, but rather will involve different approaches and strategies to beat each battle. Many rumors have been spread about FFIX and many of them are probably false, but some can be true. One rumor is something that could definitely be possible. It has been said that the player will have options and choices to choose as he plays the games. This could quite possibly impact the storyline of the game and it can very well not. It would be nice to see that it would change the storyline as in then everyone would have a reason to play the game again. The game has many innovating features that will make original Final Fantasy players and new RPG players want to purchase the game. Let us all hope Final Fantasy IX turns out to be a huge success both in Japan and here in the US. - GoD |