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FINAL FANTASY IX

Outstanding! The modern ports of Final Fantasy IX are a great way to play the game, despite a few technical shortcomings that weren’t present in the original.
FINAL FANTASY IX Game Cover
89%Game Brain Score
story, music
grinding, stability
95% User Score Based on 7,736 reviews
Critic Score 83%Based on 13 reviews

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FINAL FANTASY IX Game Cover

About

FINAL FANTASY IX is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Square Enix and was released on April 14, 2016. It received positive reviews from critics and very positive reviews from players.

Experience the adventure once again with characters and pre-rendered movies featured in high definition, as well as a new booster system with a selection of various modes such as "high speed" or "no encounters"!

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FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
FINAL FANTASY IX screenshot
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95%
Audience ScoreBased on 7,736 reviews
story1.4k positive mentions
grinding286 negative mentions
  • Beautiful and emotional story with strong themes of life, identity, and friendship, featuring a memorable and lovable cast of characters.
  • Classic turn-based ATB combat system with strategic depth through equipment-based ability learning and a satisfying progression system.
  • Outstanding art direction with charming fairy-tale visuals, stunning pre-rendered backgrounds, and an orchestral soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu that perfectly complements the game's atmosphere.
  • Combat can be slow-paced with lengthy animations and unpredictable Trance limit break system, which may frustrate some players.
  • Certain party members have underdeveloped story arcs and some side content or mini-games, like Tetra Master and Chocobo Hot & Cold, can be tedious or frustrating.
  • The PC port has technical issues like crashes, stuttering, and lacking widescreen support which are mitigated by using community-made mods for improved graphics and gameplay quality.
  • story
    3,047 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Final Fantasy IX is widely praised for its rich, engaging, and emotionally impactful story that blends whimsical, fairy-tale charm with darker, mature themes like life, death, identity, and self-discovery. The game features a memorable cast of well-developed characters whose personal stories intertwine seamlessly with the main narrative, creating deep emotional connections. While the plot can sometimes become convoluted near the end and pacing slows in parts, the overall storytelling, character development, and nostalgic world-building make it one of the best and most beloved entries in the Final Fantasy series.

    • “The story is rich and engaging, supported by charming character designs and strong character development that make the cast truly memorable.”
    • “With a whimsical world, a deeply personal cast of characters, and a story that blends lighthearted charm with existential depth, Final Fantasy IX is a rare gem that only shines brighter with time. The writing is warm and often poetic, and while the plot takes a few odd detours late in the game, its emotional core never wavers.”
    • “The story centers on Zidane Tribal, a cheerful thief who becomes entangled in a conflict that spans kingdoms and realities. The cast—especially Vivi, Steiner, and Garnet—deliver strong emotional arcs that make the story resonate even decades later. The combination of music, visuals, and story maintains a cohesive tone throughout the entire adventure. For newcomers and veterans alike, it remains a masterpiece of storytelling and atmosphere.”
    • “Amarant could be written out of the story altogether and nothing would be lost, and Quina should have been a temporary companion at best.”
    • “I would say this game could have been a lot better if they sped up combat and improved the story pacing of the first 2 and a half discs, and then expounded more on the antagonists, especially the final boss which is sort of a wtf. There are also some other unresolved plot points.”
    • “My issue with the storytelling is that sometimes you might miss cutscenes (ATEs) and characters will "teleport" to the end of the story arcs, making it confusing to understand how they went from point A to point B.”
  • music
    1,226 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The music in Final Fantasy IX, composed by Nobuo Uematsu, is universally praised as a masterpiece and often considered his finest work, perfectly complementing the game's atmosphere, story, and characters. The soundtrack features memorable, emotive, and varied tracks that enhance both exploration and combat, with fans lauding themes like "Melodies of Life" and "You're Not Alone." Despite minor technical glitches in some versions, the original orchestral score remains a standout highlight that deeply enriches the overall classic RPG experience.

    • “Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack is obviously top-notch, as his scores tend to be, and many consider Final Fantasy IX to be his magnum opus.”
    • “The soundtrack is a masterpiece, an amazing mix of orchestral music that perfectly matches the game's whimsical art style and heartfelt story.”
    • “The music is incredible, perfectly complementing the dialogue and immersing you in the emotional tone of every scene.”
    • “The music is incredibly samey, which was the most disappointing as I've heard multiple times it was one of the best.”
    • “So in the end, all you get is a picture-book like experience with repetitive music, extremely basic gameplay, one of the most schizophrenic ATB systems ever conceived, but apparently this game is beloved because the nerds love Vivi, and that's all it takes to distract the weirdos from the reality that this game is genuinely one of the most lacking modern FF games I've ever played.”
    • “The major sound issues are my biggest gripe about the port but thankfully the music seems to work just fine and I haven't had any issues with sounds in FMV sequences.”
  • graphics
    1,091 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Final Fantasy IX's graphics retain a nostalgic, charming PS1-era aesthetic with stylized, cartoonish character designs and beautifully detailed pre-rendered backgrounds that evoke a storybook feel. While the remaster improves character models and resolution, the backgrounds remain largely unchanged and somewhat blurry, leading to a visual contrast that some find jarring. Community-developed mods, especially the moguri mod, significantly enhance the graphics, adding widescreen support, HD textures, smoother animations, and quality-of-life improvements, making the game more visually appealing for modern players without losing its original artistic spirit.

    • “Use the Moguri mod and enjoy the game in widescreen with graphical improvements, widescreen, 4k cutscenes, etc.”
    • “The character art, backgrounds and camera angles are all very enjoyable (especially if you play with the Moguri mod which upscales the visuals whilst remaining faithful to the original artwork).”
    • “Of the three main Final Fantasy titles originally released on the PlayStation, Final Fantasy IX is the most polished, has the nicest graphics both in and out of cut scenes, and holds up the best for a modern player in my opinion.”
    • “The juxtaposition of such extreme contrasts in graphical fidelity create an eyesore visually and isn't pleasant to look at.”
    • “Sadly, square-enix released a shoddy unpolished version on steam and newer consoles with mediocre menu visuals, unnecessary sound effect changes and, worst of all, incredibly blurry background images.”
    • “The graphics are rather poor by today's standards (and even 2016's standards) and the game doesn't run at ultra-wide resolutions.”
  • gameplay
    869 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The gameplay of Final Fantasy IX is a nostalgic return to classic turn-based RPG mechanics, featuring the refined Active Time Battle system and an engaging equipment-based ability learning mechanic. While praised for its strategic depth, charming simplicity, and rewarding progression, some find it slow-paced with occasional frustration due to the trance system's automatic activation and high random encounter rates. Enhancements and mods improve speed and usability, making it a solid, enduring experience for fans of traditional JRPG gameplay.

    • “The gameplay was simply phenomenal in its basics -- even despite the trance system being the most chaotic/nonsensical of the limit break systems given that it gives you zero control over when to properly execute them, the gameplay itself completely goes back to good ol fashioned spells, mp and stat growth instead of the absolute nonsense that was FF8's junction system.”
    • “After the utter gameplay oddity that was FF8, FF9 is what I consider to be not only a "return to form" for how Final Fantasy was meant to be played, but also a love letter/sendoff to the entire original golden age of this IP, that spanned for 13 years.”
    • “Gameplay is approachable yet rewarding, with a flexible ability system that makes progression satisfying without ever being overwhelming.”
    • “The trance mechanic could use some improvement, especially in this remaster, if not for the option, always felt needed, to activate it at any given time instead of automatically triggering whenever the corresponding bar is full.”
    • “The combat and party building mechanics are extremely shallow and disappointing.”
    • “So in the end, all you get is a picture-book like experience with repetitive music, extremely basic gameplay, one of the most schizophrenic active time battle systems ever conceived, but apparently this game is beloved because the nerds love Vivi, and that's all it takes to distract the weirdos from the reality that this game is genuinely one of the most lacking modern Final Fantasy games I've ever played.”
  • grinding
    296 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Grinding in this game is often described as time-consuming and sometimes tedious, particularly when leveling character abilities, farming for rare items, or completing certain sidequests like chocobo hot-and-cold. However, the game includes helpful quality-of-life features such as speed-up modes, auto-battle, and boosters that significantly alleviate the grind, making it more manageable and even enjoyable for some players. While the original pacing and slow battle animations can make grinding feel frustrating, these modern conveniences enable players to focus more on the story or bypass excessive grind if desired.

    • “Most of the gameplay isn't grindy, but there are a few grindy achievements, such as killing 10,000 enemies.”
    • “Granted, you have to grind monsters and the ability points gained do not help much when some characters need a huge amount of AP to gain abilities, but it isn't that grindy compared to other games.”
    • “Little to no grinding is required to keep up with combat.”
    • “With all the grinding you'll have to do, I feel the game doesn't really respect your time.”
    • “The ability system may take the cake for dumbest JRPG system designed, where you have to choose between equipping stronger gear as enemies become stronger and losing out on abilities (because you're trying to play at a reasonable pace) or spend hours grinding out battles for 2-3 AP apiece just to master a skill that lets you see the items that you will spend 30 minutes trying to steal before you rage quit and watch the rest of the game on YouTube.”
    • “- The final boss - is pretty impossible - unless you spend gazillion years grinding - which I am not going to do - still everything till the final final boss was awesome!”
  • emotional
    277 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Final Fantasy IX is widely praised for its deeply emotional and heartfelt story, featuring memorable, well-developed characters whose journeys evoke a broad range of feelings from joy to sorrow. Its narrative blends whimsical charm with mature, philosophical themes like identity, mortality, and connection, often culminating in poignant, tear-jerking moments. The game’s orchestral soundtrack by Nobuo Uematsu further amplifies its emotional impact, making it a timeless classic that resonates powerfully with players.

    • “The cast—especially Vivi, Steiner, and Garnet—deliver strong emotional arcs that make the story resonate even decades later.”
    • “Vivi's journey of self-discovery is heartbreaking and beautiful.”
    • “Final Fantasy IX is a beautiful, thoughtful game with timeless themes, heartfelt characters, and a world that feels alive with both magic and meaning.”
    • “Very slow gameplay, a boring story (I am a fan of FF X and FF XII, where the story was complex and interesting), not fun mini-games, and the worst card game in the entire series (even FF VIII has better cards).”
    • “Convoluted and boring story”
  • character development
    168 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Final Fantasy IX is widely praised for its exceptional and nuanced character development, with memorable arcs especially for main characters like Zidane, Vivi, and Dagger, contributing depth and emotional engagement throughout the story. While some secondary characters receive less focus, the overall narrative balances light-hearted and serious themes skillfully, supported by distinctive, charming character designs that, despite being cartoony and divisive, effectively complement the game’s whimsical yet mature tone.

    • “The story is rich and engaging, supported by charming character designs and strong character development that make the cast truly memorable.”
    • “This game has by far the best plot of the first nine games; the characters are really well made, all have their own motivations, and you have actual good character development through the game, which made me grow attached to a lot of them.”
    • “The emotional depth and character development are what set this game apart and make it truly special.”
    • “Everyone in the party roster outside of the main 4 characters (Zidane, Garnet, Vivi, and Steiner), with the exception of Eiko (kind of), has absolutely no character development.”
    • “The character development was poor except for a couple of characters, and I felt there was a lot of wasted potential.”
    • “Secondary character development is lacking, and ATB system is a bit slow.”
  • humor
    162 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The humor in Final Fantasy IX is widely praised for its charm, wit, and effective balance with darker themes, delivering genuine laughs through quirky characters, witty dialogue, and playful banter. It skillfully blends lighthearted, silly moments with emotionally resonant storytelling, making the humor feel natural and enhancing the overall adventure. While a few comedic elements may feel hit-or-miss for some, the game's humor is largely seen as a key strength, contributing to its lasting appeal and distinct personality within the series.

    • “The dialogue is full of humor and heartfelt moments, and the interactions between the characters foster a genuine sense of camaraderie that's hard to find in other games.”
    • “Final Fantasy IX brought in so many emotions for me, it made me laugh, cry, smile, angry, stressed, all of it.”
    • “The story blends heart, humor, and heavier themes seamlessly, delivering an adventure that resonates long after the credits roll.”
    • “Quina especially felt tacked on for comedic value but rarely ever made me laugh, and just felt annoyingly unfunny.”
  • stability
    91 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game’s stability is mixed, with many users reporting frequent bugs such as freezes during battle transitions, menu glitches, overlapping audio tracks, and controller issues, especially with Xbox One controllers. While some find it mostly stable and playable—especially with community mods—others describe it as a buggy, poorly optimized port that may require troubleshooting and frequent saves to avoid lost progress. Overall, stability varies widely depending on platform, mod use, and controller setup, but persistent technical issues remain common.

    • “The Steam version runs great, with handy boosters for a smoother experience.”
    • “Great classic game, runs great on Windows 10 and 11, never had any issues.”
    • “Game runs great and has no problems crashing; I don't think this game has ever crashed for me even once.”
    • “This port suffers from a terrible glitch that freezes the game every 3 hours, unfortunately.”
    • “Lost progress from weird game bugs (game freezes with music still going when entering combat, for example) a few times now.”
    • “Many good gameplay aspects, but it's sad they didn't fix some glitches or adjust the monsters since this game has 4 monsters that you can't avoid experience from (otherwise full level 1 play is possible although you might want to level up for end game bosses).”
  • atmosphere
    43 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    Final Fantasy IX is widely praised for its rich and immersive atmosphere, blending whimsical, fairytale-like charm with moments of melancholy and depth. The combination of stunning pre-rendered backgrounds, expressive character designs, and a magical soundtrack creates a warm, nostalgic medieval fantasy world that deeply engages players. While some note a tonal shift in later parts, the game's overall atmosphere remains a standout element that enhances its storytelling and exploration experience.

    • “The pre-rendered backgrounds, expressive character models, and whimsical architecture create a fairytale-like atmosphere.”
    • “Its unique atmosphere, incredible characters, engaging story, and wonderful soundtrack create this game full of whimsy and charm that’s hard to let go of.”
    • “The art direction, character designs, and music come together to create a warm, whimsical atmosphere that hides surprising depth.”
    • “After a major city gets blown up, the game takes on an odd tone that doesn’t quite match the earlier atmosphere.”
    • “It has a childlike fairytale look and atmosphere up until what was formerly disc 2.”
    • “The game could have actually been pretty decent if they had these characters as the main party, changed the magic/passive system to something closer to FFVI, and simplified the story so that it isn't so incredibly stupid to match the fantasy atmosphere of the actually pretty good first 4 hours of the game.”
  • optimization
    42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game's optimization delivers generally smooth performance and improved graphics on most systems, including lower-end hardware, with quick load times and stable gameplay. However, some users report occasional stuttering, crashes, and texture loading delays, indicating inconsistent optimization across platforms. While the port is stronger than recent Final Fantasy titles, it still needs patches to address these stability and performance issues fully.

    • “The remastered version cleans up much of the graphics and helps this game run smoothly without need for emulation, while maintaining the core experience. Built-in cheats are mostly quality of life improvements, such as no random encounters when backtracking with kupo nuts or increased speed.”
    • “The port itself is very good with no performance issues, unlike some more recent Final Fantasy ports. The updated character models look fantastic compared to their classic counterparts.”
    • “I'm currently about two hours in and the game runs smoothly on my year-old laptop that is not meant for gaming, so I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys JRPGs and the Final Fantasy franchise.”
    • “Frequent crashes, frequent stuttering and choppiness, and no effort has been made whatsoever to address the poor frame rate on the world map.”
    • “It is clunky, slow, terribly optimized, no proper key bindings.”
    • “Its a great game but the game needs to be patched and optimized; I keep crashing randomly.”
  • replayability
    31 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The game offers substantial replayability, enhanced by an active modding community and built-in features like speed toggles and game boosters that refresh the experience. Players appreciate the depth added through side content, mini-games, and rich storytelling, making multiple playthroughs rewarding despite some linearity and limited character customization. Overall, its blend of memorable music, story, and enhanced graphics contribute to its strong lasting appeal for both new and returning players.

    • “Now with built-in enhancements for the less patient modern gamer (e.g. speed x3 toggle), added to the insanely deep yet optional Memoria patcher and assortment of mods, the game's replay value for original players has gone through the roof.”
    • “Traversing through the beautifully designed world, participating in mini-games, and uncovering secrets adds layers of depth and replayability to the game.”
    • “FFIX has a ton of replay value if you enjoy this game like I do; completing this game once is not enough in my opinion.”
    • “2nd playthrough is needed and it doesn't add any real replay value.”
    • “Still, compared to other Final Fantasy games, the lack of character customizability limits its replayability; Vivi learning 'Reflect x2' can only be so cool.”
    • “Not much replay value.”
  • monetization
    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative

    The monetization of the game is widely criticized as a blatant cash grab, with complaints about high prices despite low effort and outsourcing, and a lack of meaningful improvements or PC features. However, it is also noted positively that the game avoids microtransactions and DLC, which are common in modern games. Overall, players feel the value does not justify the cost.

    • “No problems, and they didn't mess it up by trying to implement microtransactions or DLC!”
    • “It's a shameless cash grab.”
    • “Don't give them money for this zero-effort cash grab.”
    • “They could have done so much better but they outsourced it and kept the price high as a cash grab.”
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83%Critics’ scoreBased on 13 critic reviews
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36h Median play time
38h Average play time
7-60h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 23 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

FINAL FANTASY IX is a role playing game.

FINAL FANTASY IX is available on Nintendo Switch, PC, PlayStation 5, Phone and others.

On average players spend around 38 hours playing FINAL FANTASY IX.

FINAL FANTASY IX was released on April 14, 2016.

FINAL FANTASY IX was developed by Square Enix.

FINAL FANTASY IX has received positive reviews from players and positive reviews from critics. Most players liked FINAL FANTASY IX for its story but disliked it for its grinding.

FINAL FANTASY IX is a single player game.

Similar games include FINAL FANTASY X/X-2 HD Remaster, FINAL FANTASY VIII, FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered, .hack//G.U. Last Recode, Final Fantasy VI and others.