2000 - Final Fantasy IX
Damn, we up to the new millennium, huh? I’ll be perfectly honest with you, this one’s another that’s really hard to write about. But again, we’ll try.
I have a memory of walking into a Best Buy as a kid and seeing Final Fantasy IX on a shelf and instantly being enamored. Something about the cover with that little monkey boy really did it for me. I think I played it a few times as a rental, but I never got far. Eventually, I was given a copy of this game and it swiftly became one of my favorites.
While I’ve talked about my love of FFVIII and I can’t deny that, when it came out, I loved FFVII, IX was a sort of breath of fresh air for me. If you’re unfamiliar, Final Fantasy IX was seen as a return to form and an homage to every game that came before it; VII and VIII are very much departures from any game before them, having much more tech in general and relying less on the four crystals storyline which marks many of the previous entries. IX returns to this, but kind of puts a twist on it that makes it new.
There's a ton here to say and I won't bore you with another long discussion of mechanics. Instead, I'll say that what I think FFIX does really well is its characters. The beginning of the game has you see Garnet, play as Zidane, and then play as Vivi. These three becomes our sort of main cast. You might be tempted to think that this game is about Garnet and Zidane and Vivi are passengers on her journey, like Terra and Locke in FFVI. You'd be wrong the game is really a bout Freya. The game sort of splits protagonisity between the three: each of them has their own driving arc that becomes relevant at different points in the game. All three of them have a sort of shrouded past that we learn more about as the game goes on. Vivi is arguably the first, then Garnet, then Zidane. Each of them struggle with the reality of their past as it is revealed to them and sort of deal with it in different ways.
Particularly for Zidane, he has to learn what he was literally made for and to reckon with that. It’s an extremely powerful moment because we see Zidane, an incredibly peppy, cheeky goofball, downcast and depressed. And we go through a series of fights, during which each of the other party members encourages him. It's a strong moment for Zidane and for the other characters. It hits so hard as he goes through this realizing not only does he get to choose his own destiny, but that his friends are there to help him out. I think these dual realizations make this moment really hit. Again, it’s an incredible moment and I almost certainly cried when Steiner’s turn came up.
And this obviously doesn't touch on Vivi's story (Q.Q) or Garnet's. And I have barely mentioned the rest of the cast, all of whom are fairly well fleshed out characters in their own right--there's some discussion to be had about Amarant and how there seems to be a sort of wasted potential or scrapped storyline there, but the point stands. There is no way I’ve done justice to this game, but it is one of my favorite games of all time. If you haven't played it, perhaps think about it.