That's just one opinion though. I think the game has a few flaws, but don't they all?

"I believe Necron, the final opponent fought in Final Fantasy IX, is the central function of the Iifa Tree, the mechanism that interfered with the Cycle of Souls. To put it another way, Necron is the true form of the Iifa Tree, that aspect of it that lies beyond the material plane and interferes with the cycle of Gaia's souls on the spiritual plane. For evidence of this, we must first look to Garland's observations and

conclusions concerning life:

(In Pandemonium)

"But think for a moment... Isn't life death itself? It must kill other

life-forms to survive..."

"Sometimes it even kills those with whom is shares blood..."

"To live is to give life meaning, yet one must take others' lives to

survive..."

"A mature civilization becomes aware of this paradox..."

"Terra's souls will sleep until they forget such nonsense. They will begin a

new life in a new dimension."

"It's a world in which life and death become one..."

"That is the dimension in which we are meant to live, as beings that

transcend life and death!"

We find very similar conclusions stated by Necron:

(Above the Hill of Despair.)

"All life bears death from birth."

"Life fears death, but lives only to die."

"It starts with anxiety."

"Anxiety becomes fear."

"Fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate... hate leads to suffering..."

"The only cure for this fear is total destruction."

"...Now, the theory is undeniable."

"Kuja's action proves it. All things live to perish."

"At last, life has uncovered this truth. Now, it is time to end this world."

...

"I exist for one purpose..."

"To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no

crystal to give life."

"In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life

desires."

With this in mind, recall that Garland created the Iifa Tree. That it would be aware of Garland's (him being its maker and having assigned it its function) beliefs and could have sought to analyze them as a result -- with the actions of another of Garland's creations, Kuja, as the basis of the analyzation -- is something to be considered.

Something else to consider is that Garland states that the Iifa Tree's true form was not the Tree itself, that being only its material form:

Garland

"ALL YOU SAW WAS THE BACK OF THE TREE..."

"Even now, the Iifa Tree blocks the flow of Gaia's souls, while it lets

those of Terra flow freely."

...

Zidane

"What are you talking about? And what is this weird light?"

Garland

"That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of

souls."

"The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the blue changes to crimson,

all will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."

"THAT IS WHY I WRAPPED UP THE LIGHT IN THE IIFA TREE, TO PREVENT THE CYCLE

OF THE JUDGEMENT OF SOULS ON GAIA FROM INSIDE THE PLANET."

"SUCH IS THE IIFA TREE'S TRUE PURPOSE, ITS TRUE FORM. ALL YOU SAW WAS ITS

MATERIAL FORM."

"The flow of Gaia's souls cannot be changed simply by stopping the disposal

of Mist."

This would mean that the mechanism which interrupts the Cycle of Souls was something not on the physical plane. With this in mind, recall that when Kuja is defeated, he says that he if he is going to die, he isn't going alone, meaning he intended to kill Zidane and the others with his final attack. He then proceeds to blast them with an Ultima Spell. ...Now keep in mind further that after the screen fades out, when it fades back in, we find Zidane and the others laying in an area that ISN'T the area where Kuja was fought, and which is called the "Hill of Despair" according to the Menu Screen. In addition to this, the moans of tormented souls can be heard in the background.

In other words, the implication is that when Zidane and the others were hit by Kuja's Spell, they were KILLED, and then came face-to-face with the Iifa Tree's true form on the spirtual plane, it attempting to dismiss them from Gaia as it had done to all the souls up to this point, as was the purpose Garland said the Tree had been given.

Also consider that after the defeat of Necron, the gateway to Memoria explodes and the Iifa Tree goes into a spasm, flailing its vines and roots about, then dying soon after. We can be certain that the Tree died, as Mikoto can be seen briefly during the ending walking across a vine of the Tree, it no longer violent and thrashing. For that matter, had the Tree not been undone, we would be left to wonder why Gaia's assimilation by Terra was never completed, seeing as how Kuja said that the assimilation was nigh at hand before the final

battle with him.

Necron being the core mechanism of the Tree would account for the Tree's demise, whereas Necron not being so would leave us to question why the Tree died for seemingly no reason."

o.O That was rather long. Well, if anyone could be bothered to read it I hope it soothes your "Necron-is-a-random-final-boss" sentiments, as it did mine. There's a lot more to the FAQ, which I'd recommend reading as well, so feel free to check out gamefaqs for the rest (it's titled "Plot Analysis" under the FFIX FAQs page.)

And yes there are many flaws and unanswered questions of FFIX which I'd love to change. But isn't that part of the fun?

Take FFVIII, for instance. The final enemies and optional bosses like Omega Weapon are either ludicrously easy or ludicrously difficult. If you've done all the optional quests, and know how to use your GF abilities and Limit Breaks, then crushing Omega is a breeze. But without having done those quests, trying to fight him is pure suicide.

The reason for this is due to attacks that deal tens of thousands of points of damage. Eden and Renzokuken rack up damage quite rapidly. And if you're lucky enough to get Lion Heart, then you'll deal close to 100,000 with that attack alone. Using the spell Aura, you can use and abuse your Limit Breaks. Using the item Holy War, your party becomes invincible. Where's the challenge?

In IX, the normal enemies will challenge you throughout the game. Or at least, they'll prevent you from just holding down the X button while you do something else. I have an excellent strategy for fighting Necron, but sometimes, something goes horribly wrong and I lose anyway. The fact that you can't block the spell 'Mini' definitely helps.

You'll also note that no single attack can ever deal more than 9999 points of damage. Of course, enemies don't have ridiculously high HP, but you get the point.

Another thing I disliked about VII and VIII are that the characters are pretty much the same except for their Limit Breaks (in battle, anyway). VI suffered from this as well, but since everyone had individual skills, it wasn't as bad. I want a change in party to mean a change in strategy, which is why I like IX and IV so much. And of course, numero Uno. Based off that statement, you'd think I'd be a major fan of III, V, and X-2, but for the most part you'd be mistaken. I like III, V's so-so, and I don't care too much for X-2.

Where are the chocobos? Yes I'm aware that the Japanese do have the extension PocketPlaystation or something like that and that holds the chocobo miniquest for FFVIII, but I don't live in Japan and can't access it. I felt sad without the cute adorable chocobos, I really missed them from IX...go the Chocobo Hot & Cold game! On that note, where are the moogles!? How can FFVIII be a Final Fantasy without moogles and chocobos!?

Okay...I'm back to normal.

Wow, I don't see many fans who like the older Final Fantasy series, it's nice to know I'm not alone. I also like FFIII, FFVI and I've heard FFIV is great...wish I could play it. My VI is malfunctioning on me so I haven't been playing for a long time.

But the Chocobos are in VIII. There's an entire mini-game quest involved with it. There are six dome shaped forests across the world, from which you can summon a chocobo. If you solve the riddle, you can summon one for free. Solve all six puzzles, and you'll get a MiniMog card at the hidden seventh forest.

But I grew up on I, IV, and VI. IV being my all-time favorite. Though it was years before I could beat a Final Fantasy. I had a bad habit of running too often and proceeding without leveling up. -_-' I finally beat I at the end of the 7th grade some years ago. I then beat IV, then IX. The order's fuzzy after that.

Haha. My bad, I completely forgot about the the dome forests in FFVIII. I guess I must've been too freaked out about progressing the game than actually spending time to play with chocobos...how sad. That's probably the same reason I didn't play the card game as much too. My favourite games are in IX, lots of minigames to play. Even through my third time of the game, I still haven't been able to complete them all...

I first started with FFIX quite a few years after its release. At that time didn't know anything about a Playstation or GameBoy (yes I know, how very sad) and when it got introduced to me I didn't think much of it. After I finished IX I went hunting for more, therfore I got VIII, VI and XII. However I think XII was a waste of money.

You've played the original Final Fantasy? That's wonderful, I've always wanted to know what its about, but its too old for anyone to care about. Though I know there are the occasional old game lovers out there who've played them. I know little bits of these games, and that's what I really liked about IX (moving the topic back to the original...). It was a game made as a tribute to the older Final Fantasies, and since I couldn't get my hands on the earliest versions I could still play IX and generally know what they might have been like.

I actually liked the card game in VIII more so than IX's. But I like IX's subquests overall 'cause they're not as horridly tedious. Chocobo breeding in VII, need I say more?

I haven't enjoyed XII all that much myself. I've only made it to the mine, but I've lost interest.

FF I & II have been released on the Playstation, GBA, and the PSP. But the hand-held versions of FF 1 are way too easy. They're worth it only for the extra content. If you want a real game, get Origins for the Playstation. They've improved gameplay, but you can opt to turn the improvements off. So your attacks won't be redirected if an enemy is killed, and you won't be able to revive allies in battle. It's rough, but that's how everyone did it on the NES.

My god, no revival during battle? I can't imagine Final Fantasy like that but I guess I'll have to compromise now. If I was playing like that I wouldn't have survived the first disc...or section, part, whatever it is. That's funny, I haven't heard anything about re-releases of FF 1 and II on Playstation, and I'm pretty sure I've been watching all the FF news that's been going around. Maybe it's because I'm in a different country, and so it hasn't been introduced yet...what a shame. I think the older games are so neglected, and I quite like the idea of having jobs and dungeons. They had a bit of it in IX, but not enough for my tastes.

Oh course, FFVIII's card game is more complex than IX so its more interesting, however I just opted for the easier one ^^. But I still had a few complications during the Treno Card Tournament... I really wanted that oglop card. Yes I agree, their quests were rather pointless at times, but I just thought the minigame of finding the fragments of a vase in Winhill and kicking the tiny chocobo to obtain it was just cute. And then the mama chocobo came...

The only time I play FFXII is when my hyper-active cousin plays, and only after do I pick up the console and do a bit of training for the heck of it. I only enjoy watching the plot scenes and laughing to myself when similar themes are repeated from previous games or cliches appear for me to criticize. Predicting the storyline before any trace of it is revealed is also one of my favourite pastimes when watching her play. Sometimes I can be so tough on these things.

What section is the mine part? Sorry, the entire thing has blurred from my permanent memory. I'm sure it's of no important significance.

The game(s) I want the most at the present are FFIII, FFVII, Crisis Core and a new FFVI. But I'm doubting I'm getting them any time soon, that is until I get a job. And I don't know when that's going to happen.

D: How did I not notice this topic?

In my opinion, this was probably my absolute favorite Final Fantasy, with VII coming in a veeery close second. For one, Zidane was a breath of fresh air after Cloud and Squall, and his lively personality really captivated me. I loved Dagger (she's cute and determined) and Quina (I hear s/he gets a lot of hate, and I don't understand it. I think Quina's pretty cool) and Freya (nonhuman characters are made of win) and Eiko (six years old and so headstrong) and Beatrix (freakin' awesome character, it's practically cheating to use her, she's that good) and, of course, Vivi!! (What's not to love?)

The storyline was easy to follow but not without it's share of plot twists and exciting turns. It was complicated but at the same time still relatively simple for even the slower thinkers to understand, but incredibly fascinating. Zidane's whole identity crisis also gave an interesting twist that added a lot of depth to his character, I think.

The music was superb, the only soundtrack I like better would be VII's. But still, IX had some of the best and most suitable music around. Aboard the Hilda Garde just spoke of riding airships and soaring around the world, Song of Memory embodied perfectly Dagger's inner peace and deep sorrow for her ruined hometown, Quina's Theme was just screaming of quirky Qus and frog hunting.

The gameplay was engaging and lively and I never did get sick of random battles. The battle system wasn't actually anything too special (it does lose points for the less-than-satisfactory Trance system) but the ability stone (that's not what it's called but I'm having a brain fart) system was straightforward and simple but still made structuring your characters easing and led them all down the job routes that they were "supposed" to take.

Ergh, I could go on for ages (seriously, I could). But I won't bore you and I'll just say that Final Fantasy IX is indeed, a completely fabulous game.

Oh, and the ending was one of my favorites ever. Enough sadness to make you shed quite a few tears, a lot of heartwrenching lines, but in the end, a happy enough of an ending to make you shed some more tears, and an emotionally satisfying end. Seriously, it was the perfect package of an ending.

Nope. You can't cure Stone either. But for all the FF 1 info, go to fforigins.com (they had the name first). This guy has all sorts of stuff, like the classes, maps, suggested parties, stupid parties, and even a solo Red Mage quest. But if you like the Job system, then III and V are the games for you. X-2s kinda iffy, though it does use the Job system. IX's more like IV, in that the characters had set classes, unchangeable. 1 has set classes, but you got to pick from six classes in any combination for a party of four.

IX's card game seems a little unpredictable with the card battles. I'm never sure exactly whether I'll win or not. With VIII, I could plan it out better, assuming I understood all the rules. I don't really mind 'pointless' side quests, just tedious ones. Like VIII's Queen of Cards side quest. I gave up on that and just beat the game.

I'm supposed to tell everyone that Basch is alive. That's all I remember.

You won't be disappointed with III, VII, and VI. Work on getting V, if you can. II's kinda iffy. I place it as my least favorite Final Fantasy, even less than X-2. The battle system is innovative, but irritating. You build certain stats or spell power by performing certain actions in battle. Losing HP makes your HP total go up, casting Fire a lot makes it level up (magic can go up to level 16), attacking enemies raises your strength and proficiency with that weapon, etc. Sounds fun, but it means a lot of battles, and I mean A LOT of battles. After several times of having my data erased, I finally beat it last year, along with the GBA (and PSP) extended storyline, Soul of Rebirth. That's a short little story of all your dead party members in the afterlife.

And I have to agree with pretty much everything Smiley said. Quina's my overall favorite Blue Mage. Although I might have to put FFIV's soundtrack above IX's, it's not a wide gap in between them. And of course, I like that the characters have specific abilities, rather than being completely customizable. That kinda defeats the purpose of having more characters than you can fit in your party.

V, in my opinion, did the job system best out of III, V, and X-2. Though I actually can't speak personally for III since I haven't played, but I have watched my friend play it and I think I prefer V's. There were just so many to choose from, it really lent a feeling of being the ultimate controller of what happened to your characters but still giving them routes and paths to follow.

As for X-2, for the longest time I thought it was the stupidest blip possible on the part of Square Enix's judgement, but not too long ago I gave it another try and found that I really quite enjoyed it. Not as good as X and I really think Yuna sold out (what happened to the innocent, naive summoner we knew and loved??) but still, not as completely atrocious as I had previously thought. The Dressphere system would have been a lot more appealing to me, I think, if it weren't... dresspheres. The mere idea of "dresspheres" and "Garment Grids" and "changing clothes for new abilities" really put me off at first. It all just sounds so silly, like Barbieland Wonder Dress-Up.

I actually preferred Tetra Master to Triple Triad (anyone else think so?), just because I rocked at Tetra Master and I was a load of tuna at Triple Triad. I still am not 100% on the mechanics of Tetra Master, but in the end I always did well, which led to a great fondness for it xD (We all love what we're good at, no?)

Basch? Eh? FFXII? I actually really enjoyed that one as well, and if you were to ask me anything about any Final Fantasy, I'd know the most about XII. I went kind of crazy obsessive over that one, even though IX is my favorite. (Balthier makes FFXII about 83 times cooler than it already is too ^^)

VII & VI are both very good games, if you ask me, but I guess I'm more partial to VII. Maybe because the characters and storyline intrigued me more, or the superb music (though VI's was quite stunning as well [Terra/Tina's Theme is so beyootiful]) or maybe it was just the supercrazy THREE DEE GRAPHICAL EXCELLENCE!!

I actually own II (Origins version) but I haven't gotten around to playing it yet. I really should.

Quina is probably my favorite Blue Mage too. I mean, nobody else really stood out to me. Iono, Quina's just so kooky and lovable and so unlike anything else that I can't help but love him/her. IV's soundtrack is smashing too (what am I saying, I love 'em all! Nobuo Uematsu is a stinkin' genius), things like Theme of Love really tore at my heartstrings. And yeah, the character-specific abilites in IX really made for a nice, paved path to structuring your characters the way they were meant to be structured. As for being completely customizable (i.e. License Board style), I like the freedom of that kind of system to do what you wish with it, but then again, it doesn't lend towards making certain characters shine in the positions that you would think they would belong to (like Basch as a tanker and Penelo as a white mage), because in the end in XII, every character's stats were so similar that Penelo could be your tanker and Basch your white mage and it really wouldn't matter that much at all. A little sad, because all the past FF's have had at least paths they set characters on to develop into (and in some cases you could branch away, others not so much), but in XII you were kind of pushed out into open air, with just a cry of "FLY BIRDIE FLY" (lul worst metaphor I've ever made) and that was about it.

Though now I sound like I'm dissing XII, which I'm so not because I actually adore that game to pieces.

All in all, IX is SUCH a worthy play in comparison to everything else :)

Truthfully, I liked III better. Seemed less tedious. I finally beat V last year playing through it with a friend. We didn't beat Omega or Shinryu, though.

I know what you mean about X-2. But there are two things that really bug me about it. One being that the side-quests vastly outweigh the actually storyline. Two is the music. The techno feel didn't really fit in a Final Fantasy game, to me. But there were a couple themes that I liked. The actual battle system wasn't half bad. Of course, when you have a job system with only three characters, you have to have some way of switching during battle, like X did, sorta. And you learned abilities during battle, instead of at the end.

Let's see, Blue mages...first came about in V, where it could be anyone, same as VII with Enemy Skills. The actual Blue Mage Characters are Strago from VI, Quistis from VIII, Quina, and Kimarhi from X. With Quistis and Kimarhi, the Blue Magic just isn't accessible enough. In VI, you get Strago late during the World of Balance, and by that time you've already made your characters and magic work. The 'Lore' just seems kinda unnecessary. Leaving Quina as the clear choice for best. Of course, as with any Blue Mage, you have to put some effort into him to actually make him useful. But Eating the enemies is much less irritating than waiting for the spell to be cast against you like in V and VII. But it's more challenging than VIII and X, which only require a single gesture. So you can really feel satisfied when Quina's an uber useful character without pulling your hair out.

I don't mind customization, but I like there to be some difference between the characters. Not just Limit Breaks, which can only be used under certain circumstances, anyway.

Truthfully, I liked III better. Seemed less tedious. I finally beat V last year playing through it with a friend. We didn't beat Omega or Shinryu, though.

Ah, well, I suppose I don't have anything to say to that either because I've never played III (it's the only FF that I don't have a suitable console for D:).

I never beat Omega or Shinryu either.

I know what you mean about X-2. But there are two things that really bug me about it. One being that the side-quests vastly outweigh the actually storyline. Two is the music. The techno feel didn't really fit in a Final Fantasy game, to me. But there were a couple themes that I liked. The actual battle system wasn't half bad. Of course, when you have a job system with only three characters, you have to have some way of switching during battle, like X did, sorta. And you learned abilities during battle, instead of at the end.

That's very true, I didn't really enjoy that about X-2 either. The fact that the gameplay was so nonlinear was a little odd for me. Of course, completely linear "only one way to go" isn't fun either, but you just had so much free reign that sometimes I would accidentally complete chapters (bye bye Full Throttle) or do something that wasn't required for the storyline and it was a little... er, irritating, maybe? That's not quite the word I'm looking for, but oh well. I guess the way you phrased it, Raider, is just about right. The sidequests outweighed the storyline, which should never happen in a game.

The music, in my opinion, was actually quite good. For not being Uematsu and having to live up to that name, I think Matsueda and Eguchi did a fine job. Eternity (Memories of Lightwaves) was one of the most hauntingly beautiful things I've ever heard, and 1000 Words is a nice main theme too. Though the X-2 soundtrack did have it's share of mediocre themes. Things like Yuna's Theme were total "WTF?" moments. That techno-y bouncy theme that sounds sickeningly similar to Rikku's Theme (though Yuna did become quite a lot more Rikku-ish in X-2)? I thought it was worlds different from the peaceful and beautiful sound of Yuna's Theme of X. And Paine's Theme was laughable as Paine's theme. As someone so rightly coined it on YouTube, it sounds like supermarket music.

X-2's battle system was pretty good, I agree. The battle music didn't wear old for me like it did with so many other games, and the actual system would have been a lot more enjoyable had it not been dresspheres, of all things. Learnings abilities during battle was pretty useful considering that all of a sudden Yuna had learned Full Cure mid-battle. Which was nice ^^

Let's see, Blue mages...first came about in V, where it could be anyone, same as VII with Enemy Skills. The actual Blue Mage Characters are Strago from VI, Quistis from VIII, Quina, and Kimarhi from X. With Quistis and Kimarhi, the Blue Magic just isn't accessible enough. In VI, you get Strago late during the World of Balance, and by that time you've already made your characters and magic work. The 'Lore' just seems kinda unnecessary. Leaving Quina as the clear choice for best. Of course, as with any Blue Mage, you have to put some effort into him to actually make him useful. But Eating the enemies is much less irritating than waiting for the spell to be cast against you like in V and VII. But it's more challenging than VIII and X, which only require a single gesture. So you can really feel satisfied when Quina's an uber useful character without pulling your hair out.

The process of elimination which you used does makes sense. Strago was too slow and late in joining for me that I didn't bother with him, regular magic worked fine where you might have used Lore, and Quistis and Kimahri have to have been in their Limit Break/Overdrive modes respectively to use their Blue Magic. So that leaves Quina, who rocks for the reasons that you stated.

I don't mind customization, but I like there to be some difference between the characters. Not just Limit Breaks, which can only be used under certain circumstances, anyway.

Customization is nice, but distinct characters and roles they fit into during battle are important too, I think.

- WAS

To boot, Quina's blue magic is much more useful than Strago's in general. Frog Drop is easy to boost, and it makes an excellent secondary white mage with White Wind, Angel Snack, and Autolife. Strago, meanwhile, doesn't have anything that can't be easily dominated by Terra, Celes, or Relm, except for Bad Breath which is only useful in a few specific circumstances (which I can't think of right now). Grand Train is good, but it's not Ultima, Flare, or an -aga spell for usefulness.

Quistis and Kimahri's requirements for blue magic disqualifies them. Of course, Quistis is the same as all the other FF8 characters with how easy it is to twink your whole party into ubergods with junctioning, and Kimahri is the versatility character in a fairly open game - I made him into a second black mage, but he can literally fit any of the other character's roles quite easily.

I think I'll go back to my file on X-2 once I finish IX. All I have left are Ozma and the final bosses. Strange though...Ozma seems more difficult than I remember him. And I'm wearing armor that protects against Shadow damage this time (I don't know what I had last time). Granted, I'm using Freya this time instead of Steiner, but that can't make that big a difference.

First time I played X-2 (haven't quite beaten it yet), I made it to chapter 5 with only about 50% completed. Then my brother got a player's guide, and I was like, "WTF!!!!". I'm currently in chapter 2, learning abilities. The battle music doesn't get on my nerves, but I don't find myself humming it like I do other themes. Even II's theme, which I got so tired of after hearing it so often, I still wound up humming.

Dresspheres are a little off as a concept, but I took it as a "rose by any other name" kinda thing and just went with it.

I'm with Shadow, Quina's magic is fairly useful. Twister and Earth Shake are the rarely used elementals given to him. And Limit Glove is good when fighting guys like Iron Man who can lower your health to 1 in a single shot. And Angel Snack is almost vital when fighting Ozma and Necron. And his comments are positively hilarious!

Dear god... someone's been busy. I go away for a day and this much happens without me? I wish I had this much free time... but anyway I'm so excited now! Okay, where to start:

Just a question DragonRaiderX9; what exactly do you mean when you say 'iffy'?

Hmm...Quina in IX, wasn't my favourite character I'm afraid. She/he's okay when it comes to plot, but I sometimes couldn't stand her inconsistent attacking. Sometimes the things she/he said in the storyline didn't make any sense to me (maybe because of my apparent lack of humor) or that it had nothing to do with the plot. But she/he's still a loveable, comical character. I also wished that she/he had more character progression; I wanted to know how she/he was connected to Vivi's grandpa, and if she/he was really searching for something special in the world. I didn't spend that much time on collecting/eating Blue Magics (even though I should, bad girl...) so I didn't have enough for a decent magic attack. This is one of the things that I wanted to correct in my third time through the game, along with many others. However my older sis is in love with Quina and mass trains her Blue Magic skills, preparing her for Necron. I suppose that's also my goal.

I haven't finished VI because it's damaged and so I haven't even gotten the character Strago. But I agree; any late characters kinda ruin the plan you have of your current ones. Amarant was one of these. I had to spend so much time teaching him nearly all the abilities and by then I had gone overtime. Quistis' Blue Magic was pretty much used to win Ultimecia entirely, but any other time before that I never got the chance. And as I said before, this is a disappointing thing.

I'm supposed to tell everyone that Basch is alive. That's all I remember.

Oh yes, I'm just slightly past that part. I thought the whole shouting out to the people that 'Basch lives!' was tedious, but slightly amusing. But I also hate Vaan's voice so that was a downfall. And the licence board system was a pain for me...I was completely confused at the start but now I think I'll be okay. Sure, it let you lead your characters into whichever job you wanted them in, but they'd still be generally the same.

My, I've never heard of that type of system that V is. Now I'm curious. Maybe I should lend it off my cousin... I don't think I have enough patience to go through so many battles for strengthening characters. Now I don't know much about X-2 or X. Dresspheres? Sounds daunting. I'm still not really used to ps2 battle systems so I don't think I'd like it very much.

I found IX music lovely and flowing. It fit well with the story and taking in the themes (ie. Alexandria, medieval) it used the right instruments, conveying the correct emotions. It was a bonus that Dagger's Theme was adapted into many different variations for music all over Gaia and it also made sense; her theme being the song of memory, song of life that reflects in everything else. I agree with WAS, it's a beautiful and simple song. And yes, that's how I got this username. I know it's plain and simple, but I like it that way.

Terra's Theme in VI is also beautiful (I'm in love with the Wanderer of Time at the moment). In fact I love nearly all of Uematsu's work; I think they're all stunning and moving. He has a gift, I just wish I had it too. IX's battle music I'm so used to already that when I hum to it I alternate to each different part of the music at different intervals when I'm bored. VI's is more entertaining and I especially like it's boss theme (my adrenaline starts pumping every time I hear it). VIII's was a refreshing change from the traditional older FF music, but as they all do its battle theme also got too repetitive and so I varied it too. But in general I love VIII music because of its full use of the orchestra and compiling mulitple repeated themes into it's ending and beginning themes. Once again it used variations of 'Eyes On Me' throughout the game, but I still enjoyed it. However there was this one song; Silence And Motion I think it's called, was the theme for Esthar and it was the most annoying FF song I've ever heard. What exactly were they thinking when they composed that one? I just can't seem to understand. VII was also just as wonderful and majestic, and the Main Theme has got to be one of the most beautiful and simple songs out of all the FFs, in my opinion. As you can see, I am quite fond of my music. ^^

I'm going nearly off topic but anyway...I never found the monster that gave Quina Twister. I've gone through the final battles about 3 times, just by going back to my finished game file and reopening. I know I shouldn't, but it can be so entertaining sometimes to switch my plan around and change tactics. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose according to the different combinations of characters and attacks I use. I used to always use Zidane, Vivi, Dagger and Steiner, but now I use Amarant, Zidane, Eiko and Freya. In my third time through I'll make sure to use Quina too. And when I'm done I can watch that beautiful FMV again...

Iffy...which game? I used it twice. X-2's been dissected already, mostly, so you can tell what I meant there. II's just way too tedious. Thank goodness it's also rather short. If you're not a die-hard FF or RPG fan, I'd shy away from that one.

I actually did it this time, got all of Quina's Blue Magic. I got over half prior to the end of Disc 1! You can get three from Carver Spiders, Axe Beaks, and Bombs around Lindblum above the Mist. On a side note, I did not know prior to this playthrough that Bombs could be fought there! Towards the later part of the game, Quina should generally be put in the back row and treated as the Mage s/he is.

Now, I'll try and explain V's battle system, just so you get the idea. Every time you find one of the four crystals, you're given five or six classes you can change into at will. Let's take the main character, Bartz, and two of the first classes: Thief and White Mage. Note that magic is separated into six different levels of power. Say Bartz is a White Mage. His commands are Fight, White, a blank space, and Item. He is able to cast all White Magic, regardless of level. After battle, he gains x amount of ability points (AP). When he gains enough AP, he'll gain a Job Level, and permanently learn White 1.

Now let's change Bartz to a Thief. But he still knows White 1, and that skill can be equipped to the blank command space, making your command list look like this: Fight, Steal, White, Item. But he is only able to cast up to Level 1 White Magic, regardless of what magic you possess.

You get the idea. I hope this gives you an idea on whether or not you'd like to play the game.

Strange, I've never really felt myself get tired of a battle theme (save for II). They're usually some of my favorite music in Final Fantasies. Although I love the Prologue. Ever since I heard it in I and IV, I've never grown tired of it. Its name suits it perfectly.

Garuda. I fought it in Mount Gulug, but you can still find it on the hill above the Gizamaluke Grotto. The plateau with all the Grand Dragons, except you fight Garudas in the forest. Anyway, my favorite team for Ozma and Necron is Zidane, Eiko, Quina, and Steiner. Zidane and Steiner deal the damage, Eiko is the strongest White Mage (and a possible Phoenix revival is always good), and Quina heals Mini. And uses Frog Drop when not otherwise occupied.

Yes I think you did describe X-2 as iffy, but yeah I get your point. I started collecting a lot of Blue Magic in the beginning too, but then I kinda forgot about it and continued basic training. This time through I must remember... To be frank I've never really liked Blue Magic because it all seemed to be random and useless, but now I see the fault in that.

Wow. Strangely enough I'm now very intrigued to play V, even though I have a feeling I'm going to have a lot of problems. And to think, I just made it through the junctioning system...

It's not that I'm tired of them (or did I say that last time?), it's just that I've heard it so many times that the tune is permanently engraved into my memory and so I try to find things inside it that excite me. I did a lot of leveling up in IX but I couldn't fight Ozma because I didn't finish the chocobo quest... and I still managed to go overtime. Surely, I'm not the only one who's done that?

Is the Garuda the one where I get Twister from? I use Garuda training a lot nowadays, and it levels up my characters in one battle. But it's also a game of chance, and pressing the reset button constantly. I still think it's worth it.

The last time I played the ending I used Freya, Zidane, Eiko and Amarant. I made Freya do her Dragon's Crest hitting for 9999, Eiko's Terra Homing (also 9999), Amarant throwing all the high level weapons that have no use anymore and Zidane just healing and attacking. Sometimes I win easily, sometimes a few Grand Crosses get in my way. Strangely enough that attack doesn't seem to affect my characters very much, only taking away HP. I didn't equip many status ailment abilities on but I still don't get hit. Only on my first try did I nearly die from the Grand Cross.

And the more and more times I play this game I dislike Dagger more and more, in both plot and skills. I don't know why but she seems so weak, even though it's hardly her fault and she tries so hard sometimes. She's not very useful in battle, especially in her silenced period. However I don't find myself liking Eiko that much, due to her winging and clinging onto Zidane. This only leaves Freya, but I still think the entire matter about Sir Fratley was so suddenly dropped at Cleyra, and then never mentioned again. And then at the end you see them together, but he doesn't even remember anything about her and we don't know how they got to that point. Freya's situation irritates me.

This is so odd but just recently I was playing IX, then I died in Garuda fighting and I was listening to the prelude and thinking, 'This is so pretty...maybe I should die more often...'. I just love the FF melodies that get reused in every one of their games, it's a classic.

Wait. Did WAS say that X-2's music wasn't done by Uematsu? How does that work?

I think I'll go back to my file on X-2 once I finish IX. All I have left are Ozma and the final bosses. Strange though...Ozma seems more difficult than I remember him. And I'm wearing armor that protects against Shadow damage this time (I don't know what I had last time). Granted, I'm using Freya this time instead of Steiner, but that can't make that big a difference.

Ozma was such a beast D: I'm ashamed to say that I've never actually beaten him. I've just watched multiple friends of mine struggle and one of them triumph (man, we were losers back then, having so much trouble).

First time I played X-2 (haven't quite beaten it yet), I made it to chapter 5 with only about 50% completed. Then my brother got a player's guide, and I was like, "WTF!!!!". I'm currently in chapter 2, learning abilities. The battle music doesn't get on my nerves, but I don't find myself humming it like I do other themes. Even II's theme, which I got so tired of after hearing it so often, I still wound up humming.

Yeah, if you look at the official guide there is SO MUCH to do that you didn't even realize was possible, and so many sidequests... it's crazy. I assume that's what caused the "WTF" moment. I've beaten the game before, but the best ending I've gotten is the Good Ending. Don't think I'll ever get the Perfect Ending, to be honest.

Dresspheres are a little off as a concept, but I took it as a "rose by any other name" kinda thing and just went with it.

After you play X-2 for a bit dresspheres start seeming a little less stupid, but in the beginning it sounded oh-so unappealing. And turnoffish. Like pure fanservice.

Quina in IX, wasn't my favourite character I'm afraid. She/he's okay when it comes to plot, but I sometimes couldn't stand her inconsistent attacking. Sometimes the things she/he said in the storyline didn't make any sense to me (maybe because of my apparent lack of humor) or that it had nothing to do with the plot.

Quina wasn't my favorite character either, but I thought s/he was still pretty awesome. I wouldn't say her comments were outright thigh-slapping hilariousity, but I do think they were amusing and that s/he was very lovable throughout the food-related comments and sometimes being quite deep without even realizing it. Iono, I just loved everything about Quina.

I do agree that more development on Quina might have been nice, but I didn't feel the need to know a lot about Quina.

Oh yes, I'm just slightly past that part. I thought the whole shouting out to the people that 'Basch lives!' was tedious, but slightly amusing. But I also hate Vaan's voice so that was a downfall. And the licence board system was a pain for me...I was completely confused at the start but now I think I'll be okay. Sure, it let you lead your characters into whichever job you wanted them in, but they'd still be generally the same.

That was a slightly off minigame, but I didn't mind it. And it definitely was amusing.

The License Board was a great concept, I think. But it kind of goes awry if you don't know what you're doing and end up having a very unclear set path for your characters. Something else I was a little unsure of was that the specifics of what each unrevealed license was remained veiled. Sure, it'd say "Heavy Armor 6" and the LP cost, but that was about it, and I wish it would've taken a more Sphere Grid-like turn and at least let us see where we're headed and formulate a plan from there.

My, I've never heard of that type of system that V is. Now I'm curious. Maybe I should lend it off my cousin... I don't think I have enough patience to go through so many battles for strengthening characters. Now I don't know much about X-2 or X. Dresspheres? Sounds daunting. I'm still not really used to ps2 battle systems so I don't think I'd like it very much.

V's battle system isn't bad at all. And X is a wonderful game, the ending made me weep. The storyline, gameplay, music, it's got it all. I highly recommend it. Though X and X-2's battle systems are astronomically different. Dresspheres aren't that complicated of an idea at all, actually, once you're introduced to them. Just changing outfits for new roles and stats and abilities. And if you think of it less like "changing outfits" give you these different roles and just as an option to switch roles, it becomes a lot less silly in my mind.

I personally think PS2 battle systems were quite innovative. Like the Conditional Turn Based (?) system in X, and the battle system (don't know the specific title) in XII. Adored the lack of random battles, because those do grate on my nerves after a time. X-2 was pretty decent, once you ignored the idea of playing dress up in battle.

Strange, I've never really felt myself get tired of a battle theme (save for II). They're usually some of my favorite music in Final Fantasies. Although I love the Prologue. Ever since I heard it in I and IV, I've never grown tired of it. Its name suits it perfectly.

Meh, I think in X I grew weary of the Battle Theme, but that may have just been because I spent ages remodeling the Sphere Grid and in the Battle Arena maxing out my Sphere Grid. I was a weird, obsessive kid.

Er, by Prologue, are you referring to Prelude? I know songs have different names depending on where you live, so I just wanted to make sure. And if you are in fact referring to Prelude, I love it too. The constant scaling up and down is very lovely and then the nice, harmonizing chords that come it are just beautiful. Go Nobuo.

Yes I think you did describe X-2 as iffy, but yeah I get your point. I started collecting a lot of Blue Magic in the beginning too, but then I kinda forgot about it and continued basic training. This time through I must remember... To be frank I've never really liked Blue Magic because it all seemed to be random and useless, but now I see the fault in that.

Blue Magic can often contain some spells that that effects no one else can achieve, which in IX, mostly, I find insanely useful. White Wind in Oeilvert saved my life. Of course, you can get by without Blue Magic, but I've always found it an asset.

The last time I played the ending I used Freya, Zidane, Eiko and Amarant. I made Freya do her Dragon's Crest hitting for 9999, Eiko's Terra Homing (also 9999), Amarant throwing all the high level weapons that have no use anymore and Zidane just healing and attacking. Sometimes I win easily, sometimes a few Grand Crosses get in my way. Strangely enough that attack doesn't seem to affect my characters very much, only taking away HP. I didn't equip many status ailment abilities on but I still don't get hit. Only on my first try did I nearly die from the Grand Cross.

My final party of choice is Zidane, Dagger, Steiner, and Quina. I've fluctuated it many times, like switching Freya for Steiner or Quina for Amarant, but that's basically it. Sadly, by end game my Vivi was almost obsolete. Back then I was never able to get him high leveled magic, so he just fell by the wayside. But I do love his character.

Sounds like a very nice battle plan, actually. Even at the very end, though, I'm reluctant to use/throw anything. I'll still be stingy about my Elixirs and Megalixirs and Ethers. It's crazy, but I am.

Ahh! Lucky! Grand Cross was always killer for me. I had next to no guards against any status ailments xD I really should have, but I didn't. Ah, well.

And the more and more times I play this game I dislike Dagger more and more, in both plot and skills. I don't know why but she seems so weak, even though it's hardly her fault and she tries so hard sometimes. She's not very useful in battle, especially in her silenced period. However I don't find myself liking Eiko that much, due to her winging and clinging onto Zidane. This only leaves Freya, but I still think the entire matter about Sir Fratley was so suddenly dropped at Cleyra, and then never mentioned again. And then at the end you see them together, but he doesn't even remember anything about her and we don't know how they got to that point. Freya's situation irritates me.

Really? I like Dagger, I think she's good-willing and determined. Unfortunately for her, everything seems to go wrong and she's experienced a lot of traumas, no matter how hard she tries to do good. I can definitely see where any character could be hated on, and I understand dislike for Dagger. It's just that my personal opinion is that it's not her fault and I can't blame her for her silenced period, because experiencing the destruction that she did could definitely lead to lack of focus and muteness.

I think Eiko is all right, but even when Dagger was silenced I'd use her just because I wanted her and Zidane to battle together :P I have odd quirks like that. My playable OTPs must battle together. Though Eiko can be clingy, I still think she's feisty and headstrong and a cute little kid.

Freya was never much of a white mage for me, more of a hard hitter. Like a Steiner or Amarant. I found her and Fratley's story quite sad, but the holes left in it were healthy, in my opinion, because it just leaves nice room for speculation, but not too much that you have no idea what happened. It didn't irritate me, per se, but I did think it was quite tragical.

Wait. Did WAS say that X-2's music wasn't done by Uematsu? How does that work?

Yes, I did. And no, Nobuo Uematsu did not create X-2's or XII's soundtrack. In X-2, it was Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi who created the music, and in XII it was Hitoshi Sakimoto, although Nobuo did compose the song "Kiss Me Goodbye" for XII. Also in X, Nobuo collaborated with Junya Nakano and Masashi Hamauzu for many of the songs.

I was a little surprised when Nobuo took no part in X-2's soundtrack, but it turned out pretty good, I think.

- WAS

Alright, IX's done! I struck the devil's luck this morning and crushed Ozma with a flurry of Frog Drop, Dragon's Crest, and regular attacks from Zidane. Now, my discs are kinda scratched up, so I missed part of the ending cutscenes. Still, it was fun. I'll start back on X-2 later tonight or tomorrow.

Yeah, that was the cause of the WTF moment. I think that one of X-2's failing points is that the entire party is a single gender, meaning that players of the opposite gender (like myself) sometimes have a hard time relating to the characters. I can easily say I enjoyed X more; Wakka is awesome!

You can get a little char. dev. on Quina if you take him/her and Vivi to Quan's Dwelling, though you might already know that. Of course, I always did kinda wonder why s/he stuck with the group all the way through, but...oh well.

Er, by Prologue, are you referring to Prelude?

No, where I live they're two different songs. Prologue is the theme they play during XII's title screen. It was used in the first one after the Light Warriors defeated Garland and crossed the bridge to start their real journey. It was also big during IV. And you hear it in some of the games' credits.

Dagger's more of a Summoner than a White Mage, a difference that becomes more obvious after you get Eiko. Her summons can be useful, especially using Atomos and Odin in Memoria. Eiko's clingy, it's true, but she's also a desperately lonely 6-year old. And she did loosen up after the Alexandria disaster.

Yeah you guys have such good points, and yes I partly agree to them.

Congrats DragonRaiderX9, I never got the courage to face Ozma....but I promise I will!! Even after so long I still protect my FF games and handle them with care. If they had one scratch I'm be so upset...

I already found out about the Vivi/Quina stuff but it wasn't enough to satisfy me. I wanted to know more, and I didn't think it did enough justice to Quina's past to just leave it like that. I think all the characters in the game, in fact every Final Fantasy game, deserve to have their own little story, their own little spotlight. I do realise this would make the games much more tedious and pointless at times, but I'd have liked it to be fairer for everyone. While playing VIII I started feeling sorry for Zell, Irvine and Selphie because the storyline mainly followed Rinoa and Squall. Of course I don't blame them for doing this (considering how VIII's was a love story), I just think it centered too much on just their development and no one elses. They were supposed to be like a family, but yet the players barely knew as much about the lesser characters compared to the main ones.

Prologue and Prelude...I know that they're two different songs. I've heard them both and they're both beautiful and soothing. WAS is right, the ascending and descending scales of the Prelude are truly captivating, except the rare times when the continuous notes started to annoy me after the millionth time of hearing them. But like the rest, I really appreciate FF music.

I had no idea that Nobou Uematsu didn't compose all the FF music...I'm so dumb ^^. I quite like XII music, I wasn't sure what it was but I knew something was different about it. It was refreshing and new and I think it fit the game well. But I'm glad they still included the preludes and FF theme music that has made history through the years.

I agree, Dagger is more the Summoner. I found her quite strong, but I tended not to use her near the end. It's not that I hate her, its just that the more times I go through her part I realize little things, habits that she has that annoy me. I mean, the first few times through I was absolutely in love with her character, humming her theme song everywhere I went and reading masses upon masses of romance fics. But I guess I've kind of moved on from that obsessive point, looked at her in a realistic way, taking in all her faults and attributes.

One of the main reasons I always swamped the characters around for Necron was because I always used Steiner, Zidane, Dagger and Vivi for nearly every boss battle. They became the regular group and I never bothered to really change that.

Even at the very end, though, I'm reluctant to use/throw anything. I'll still be stingy about my Elixirs and Megalixirs and Ethers. It's crazy, but I am.

LOL yes, I admit, I'm exactly like that too. Only on my third/fourth time through the ending I forced myself to throw away my prized Tridents and Excalibur, continuously reminding myself that I could just restart the game and I'd still have them. I'd always have a plentiful batch of elixirs and ethers, but I was still reluctant to use them. Even though I had plenty of gil to buy them back.

I want to know what's wrong with my discs. Or maybe it's the PS2? Either way, I missed the credits and consequently, the song that went with them. -_- Anyway, when you fight Ozma, remember that Ninja Gear will absorb Shadow damage for Zidane (and Amarant, if you use him). And Pumice Pieces will cover your other characters. Just don't do what I did and forge them into a Pumice before fighting Ozma. Ark is worthless there, anyway.

That's what I like about VI. If you look hard enough, most of the fourteen characters have their own backstory. The exceptions are Mog, Umaro, and Gogo. It really makes you feel like you know the characters, and since there is no main character, no one really gets overemphasized. But like Mog, Quina's just one of those characters who doesn't really need a lot of characterization. Add in the fact that he's pretty simple-minded, and...well, you get the point.

Hey, don't feel too bad. Before I came here, I didn't even know who Uematsu was. I don't pay too much attention to the credits, you see.

True...but at least Dagger's a realistic female lead. When you can really feel for a character, you know they did a good job. Personally, I like Zidane as a lead character. As cool as Cloud and Squall are, they can be real a-holes, you know?

I like to switch out my characters and become more familiar with each of them. Though in the end, Steiner was my favorite melee character, and one of my favorites in general. It's the first time the protagonist travels with someone who's opposed to his mission.

Geez...don't you hate that? You spend the entire game conserving supplies and magic, and when you get to the final boss, it's too hard to get out of that and go nuts on 'em. There's not really any real solution to this problem, it's just irritating.

You should get a new game... no one should have to miss out on any cutscences and endings.... The last time I played my PS2 it made this horrific screech, then I realized that I'd put in two discs at the same time...whoops. Wait, I thought the Ark was supposed to be the best edolion? Someone told me that... Have you gone against Hades? You probably have considering how you can forge the Pumice Pieces together.

I didn't think that we needed 14 characters to progress the story, but at least you wouldn't get bored of them. I only knew about Uematsu after finishing IX, when I was curious at to whom composed these beautiful themes.

I found her a bit more realistic than Rinoa...and yes, I fully embrace Dagger's strong points. She was too naive for me in the beginning, but she matured and found her own power. Altogether she's a pretty good character who's developed well. Zidane is entertaining, helpful and kind but he's not my IX favourite character. I know everyone likes him because he's different from Cloud and Squall, but he just doesn't stand out enough for me. For some reason, I don't especially like anyone from this game...still don't know why.

I'll always use my secondary characters instead of the main ones, and always kill off Zidane when training because he's too strong... Yes, mean but it's needed. Steiner as a character, I didn't mind, and his love story/mystery with fellow general Beatrix is always amusing to watch. It's good that he finally accepts Zidane as a friend, and even contemplates if he's good enough for the Princess...another classic moment. I think he travels with Zidane because it doesn't seem right to leave...if you know what I mean.

Yes I was stingy...didn't want any of my saved items to be used. But then in VIII I never ever used a potion. Strange.

Heh, I would except no one around where I live sells PS1 games. -_-' Ark is the best summon, but he's Shadow based, which is bad against Ozma. Plus, by the time you get him, you'll still get more mileage with moves like Frog Drop and Shock anyway. Oh, and beating Ozma grants you a free Pumice.

I liked the parts of the game that requires multiple parties working together. Heck, Kefka's Tower makes you use up to 12 characters. Personally, I ignored Umaro and Gogo. I got them for the sake of getting them, but then I left them alone.

I mainly like the fact that Dagger doesn't immediately start fawning over the main character. As for Zidane, I like his optimism and his comments make me laugh from time to time. Overall, I'd say it's my favorite of the FF romance plots. Not like X, which has Tidus and Yuna making out in a pond from out of nowhere it seemed like.

The whole thing with Brahne must've been ** Steiner. Having his loyalties questioned like that. Makes you think, don't it?

Yes yes, I know, how terrible that no one sells PS1 games anymore. But luckily I got IX and VIII from a local game store that had a few copies of old Final Fantasies. But heck were they expensive...however, it all ended up being very profitable don't you think?

This may be too much of a personal question, but whereabouts do you live? I'm in Australia and Final Fantasy isn't really big here...disappointing. But there's always Ebay (even though that's unreliable at times). Oh, and the last time I saw the original VII game being sold (placed in a shiny glass box) it was about $174 dollars....er, no way. I went to a holiday to my hometown Malaysia and bought a pirated copy. Of course that failed too because my ps2 hadn't been modified to fit it. I've never been much of a pirated fan anyway.

Wow. Never knew Quina could be such a useful weapon... do you always use her/him the most?

I don't know much about Shadow magic in IX...it didn't really come up that often in my battles. The only time I used Holy was when my Vivi reflected it off from Kuja, and yet it wasn't that effective. However it was ironic that Kuja used it... turned out that he had a good part inside of him like everyone else, though I'm quite sure it was already obvious. He's a pretty good villian, except the corny lines he says which generally get on my nerves. And now that I think about it, does anyone else get reminded of Sephinroth when they see Kuja? I'm not so knowledgeable about VII, but they look so similar, and have similar situations and pasts.

Group work is good, it's just that the first time it happened in VI I wasn't prepared and screwed it up multiple times. Yes, very sad. Oh, Kefka is a strange villian...the weirdest I've ever come across. Running cowardly away from battle like that, and then massively strong the next moment... If there are too many characters then some will have to be neglected. I haven't fully played the game so can you tell me, do all the characters have some development?

Oh she didn't like him at all in the beginning. She constantly dismissed him, still in her majestic manner. Then she ran off, and felt slight regret at doing so. He saved her and then it started to grow. I agree, their entire love story is rather amusing and touching, and I think more realistic than others. It wasn't overdone, over dramatic or love at first sight.

Steiner's world partly shattered that day, finding out the lies in his servitude. His loyalty is exceptional and it's a great quality of his, so sad that it had to be broken. At least he still kept vigil over Garnet, still fighting for his kingdom even if his leader has gone down the path of destruction. Still can't believe that Brahne had forgotten what his name was after all his years in service. Shameful.

I understand how some people might really hate Steiner, but if you really think about his situation, then he turns out to be quite a wonderful man.

That always works. We had a store called Gamemasters, but it shut down last year. It still has an online thing, though, maybe I should check that out.

I live in the U.S.A., where IV and VI were first released as II and III. -_-' FF shot up in popularity after VII was released. I wonder how much an original copy of the first FF would go for?

I try and balance which characters I use, just so I can get familiar with them all. Of course, in the first two discs, Quina gives your party a little extra bite when it needs it. Things like Twister and Earth Shake are good when you first get them, but lose their edge after while. And Lv. 5 Death will slaughter Grand Dragons in an instant. Frog Drop is arguable his best move, you just need to know how is works. Lv. x Number of Frogs caught = Damage. Completely unblockable damage at that.

Me too. Did you ever make it to the big battle at Narshe? I learned that Locke and Gau do not make a good team. Anyway, Kefka might be strange, but he strikes me as the evilest villain in FF history. Plus, he's the only one who actually has a successful world destruction plan. Almost every character has a little something, but you might have to dig for it. For instance, try taking Edgar and Sabin to Figaro Castle, and you'll learn about their past. You see Shadow's past in dream sequences, but I forget how. Mog, Umaro, and Gogo are neglected, but you're never obligated to have them in the party anyway. It's still better than Chrono Cross with 44 playable characters. Need I say more?

They got along well enough when Zidane wasn't hitting on her. But the friction made for a nice touch that wasn't seen too often in FF romances. Yeah, VIII had some at first, but Squall was a jerk anyway. Heh, I still love the line during the play in IX's ending. "No cloud, no squall shall hinder us." Heh heh...

He might act like something's stuck up his rear end, and he'll probably die an early death due to stress, but you can't ask for a better knight to serve you than Steiner.

Mine was called GameTraders and was run by a bunch of guys. I always felt nervous walking into the store, feeling the burning gazes of the other male customers and once, one little boy asked his brother in a very loud voice,"What's she doing here? She not a guy." Not such a pretty memory. But I still got my games, and the staff were kind enough to sympathize with me.

Oh, so FF would have been easier to find considering how it's released directly to your country and not ordered. Sigh. I wouldn't know, but do they have advertisements and commercials of Final Fantasy in USA due to it's popularity? Probably not now, but in the past. Surely I'm not the only one who's seen the Coca Cola commercial? I'm still amazed that they made it. Hmm...you can maybe get one from a collector or something, but it would be difficult. And even so, it would probably be...a bit pricey. I'm thinking, $100+? Oh wait, I saw the re-release of FF1 on DS I think...and quite a reasonable price. Maybe you should check it out.

I found Quina handy in the beginning when I started collecting Blue Magics, but I didn't like using MP much because I'd have to use Ethers, tents or healing places, but there wasn't a healing place nearby, and that would waste Ethers and tents, and... well, you get the point. The first time through I only used an Ether once, and then decided to save them up for only dire emergencies. But then I never used Magic a lot either, so the use of an Ether was diminished.

Go the seemingly unlimited power Frog Drop! Blue Magic seems to me my new best friend. ^^

Lv. 5 Death kills Grand Dragons? Now that's something I never knew. I'm sure it will come in handy when I decide to play IX again, whenever I get to it. Do you think that Quina is a guy? I make the mistake of referring to it as a girl sometimes because I'm still unsure about it's genre. My sister thinks Quina's a girl because she's always sticking around Zidane and asking him to take her to new places, pleading for more adventures. I guess that's a reasonable theory.

Sadly, I never got to the Narshe battle. I was stuck in an area after falling from a waterfall and I kept meeting Gau who I have to keep chasing away. My stupid VI has no shop system, so I can't buy a thing. Also, after equipping a weapon and swapping it with another, the previous disappears from the inventory. Somehow I managed to survive without buying and lived solely on save points, Locke's stealing, treasure chests and hard training. I think I was doing relatively well, until I was required to buy something to progress the game. Oh how cruel...

44 characters? They must be very vague on the majority of them.

Yes, good chemistry they had, but it wasn't dead obvious or thrown right into our faces. I really like that about their story. "No cloud, no squall shall hinder us..." when I read that line for the first time I immediately knew that it involved VII and VIII even without playing them. It's an ingenious statement, and also quite romantic... sigh, there I go again with the lovey dovey stuff. *ahem*

What do you think happened at the end about Beatrix? It wasn't very clear about why she had to leave, and what happened when Steiner stopped her. At least it leaves an air of mystery.

Oh...wow, this is awkward. I thought you were a guy. -_-' If it helps, I've been mistaken for a girl once.

Yeah, but II and V took awhile to get here, and III just came out near the end of '06. They have commercials nowadays, but video game commercials were rare back during the SNES era. At least, I think they were. I remember one for Super Mario RPG, but that's it. Wait, which Coca-Cola commercial? Maybe they only sent one over there. They released FF1 on DS? News to me. I know they sent III, and they're working on IV.

After playing a bunch of FFs, I became good at rationing my magic, and building up the characters helps as well. During Lindblum, when two or three new weapons become available for Zidane, I send him out alone to learn the abilities from the first two. Last time, he went from Lv. 7 or 8 (I forget which) to Lv. 15. Which is good for Freya and Quina. Other times, since I had Quina in the front row, s/he still did decent damage most of the time, so that kept me going. And late in the game, I abused the Half MP ability.

I'm not really sure, but I think of him/her as a guy mostly 'cause I name him/her after my friend Shane, who is decidedly a guy.

Ouch! That hurts. Frankly, I'm impressed you made it that far. Which version do you have? You might try finding it for the GBA.

Yes, and at least half of them are optional. Some of them don't even really affect the storyline prior to your getting them. The selling point of the game is the crazy storyline. You might have to play it a couple times to fully understand what's going on. Either that, or read it online.

I hadn't noticed that line's meaning until I read it on a reference guide. -_-' I tend to miss things like that, literal minded as I am.

I think she was doubting herself. That maybe she didn't deserve to be a general after her 'failings'. But it really seemed like an independent decision, and not because she had to. But I loved the whole 'love note' thing during Disc 3. It added a needed comic relief from the seriousness in Disc 2.

Ha ha....it's ok. I kinda get that sometimes from people I'm introduced to on the net, considering how I talk so much about video games they just presume that I'm male. I suppose I could say, I'm used to it? Oh, when I first met you I wasn't fully sure that you were a guy either, so I had to check your profile. ^^;

How strange that must be, to have FF commercials on TV... Do you mean you've seen more than one, or none? I wasn't really aware of when the older Final Fantasies were released, only after I knew about them. It wasn't advertised much either, so I had no clue.

I would have thought you knew about it already, considering how they were ordered from your country to Australia. However, I think I got FF1 on the DS wrong, it was actually re-released on GBA sorry. FF2 and FF4 are also on GBA and FFIII is on DS. FFXII is the newest Final Fantasy ps2 game, and its sequel XII Reverent Wings in on DS. Don't think I've seen XIII yet, though everyone knows about it and the new ps3. And I might have seen V in GBA, but it could also be my hallucination.

I've seen a trailer of XIII showing the wonders of the modern ps3 battle system, and I must admit I'm a little terrified. It all looks so...daunting, and so brilliant in graphics. Do you have a ps3?

Have you seen the VII ps3 trailer? How I wish it would remake that game...

That's what I did too, especially before receiving other characters so it increases their levels to match your current characters. But the downfall is that my Zidane ends up 10 levels ahead of everyone else, and I'd like them all to be balanced. I never leave a character and not train it with the rest of the group. When I accidentally equipped Half MP on Steiner I was confused as to why he had no MP left. After that I didn't really use it anymore because I didn't want to waste MP. For the ending part of the game, I equipped Vivi and Amarant with Return Magic, which I found extremely useful. Similar to a Reflect except permanent and being able to still heal characters.

My version was the GBA, I just have to remember to get a new one. I originally wanted it on the Playstation, so I would have gotten the Anthology including IV and V. Why, why didn't I just pay the extra money to get it? I'm truly regretting that decision now, but it can't be helped. However, it would have been strange to see a GBA type system on a TV screen, other than it's re-released beginning and ending scenes. That's the main reason I wanted the Playstation version.

Now that's interesting. I must really get other games, but I've no time to play. But I'm guessing it's still a good game?

Did Save The Queen come with the general title? If not, then why part with her favourite sword? I'm very glad Steiner stopped her in time.

It is hard to tell sometimes. But if that's true, then at least we don't fall into our respective gender's stereotypes.

I started seeing them for FFX. I recently saw one for Crisis Core.

Oh yeah, the GBA. FF 1 & 2: Dawn of Souls, I have that one. V is on the GBA as well, and they're releasing an updated version of IV for the DS. I just read an article on it in Nintendo Power, and it looks awesome! The Spoony Bard finally stops being so useless!

I don't, actually, too expensive. Plus, so far I'd only want to play Kingdom Hearts III and (maybe) FFXIII. But the further away FF travels from its roots, the less interested I find myself.

I think they're still debating on it. Personally, I just hope that the battle system remains (reasonably) intact. I'll be irritated if they switch it over to FFXII style.

Wait...what? Steiner doesn't have Half MP, and if he did it wouldn't make him run out of MP faster, as Half MP halves MP consumption. I think you mean MP Attack. Anyway, the main character almost always ends up way above everyone else. I just kinda go with it. Although that is kinda the one thing I don't like about games where you switch characters. You don't always get a feel for your characters, you know? In FF 1, you use the same characters throughout the game, starting at Lv. 1 and becoming whatever you build them up into. You just don't see that anymore.

I'd recommend against the PS1 version only because of the loading times going into battles. If you're used to the SNES version like I was, then you really feel the wait.

Oh yes, it's a game worth playing. It stands alone just fine, but it's officially a sequel to Chrono Trigger. Just be ready to take notes. ^_^

I don't know if the sword came with the title, but I think the Japanese are big on symbolism. I'll bet that Beatrix saw her sword as representing herself the General. But I'm with you, it's a good thing Steiner stopped her. She's a more than worthy general. And Rusty could stand to have a girlfriend. Maybe he'll finally relax a little. Maybe...

Ha ha....it's ok. I kinda get that sometimes from people I'm introduced to on the net, considering how I talk so much about video games they just presume that I'm male. I suppose I could say, I'm used to it? Oh, when I first met you I wasn't fully sure that you were a guy either, so I had to check your profile. ^^;

It's interesting how ambiguous someone's gender can be online. And I know what you mean, memory- it would appear that video gamers are stereotypically male.

How strange that must be, to have FF commercials on TV... Do you mean you've seen more than one, or none?

I started seeing them for FFX. I recently saw one for Crisis Core.

Never seen an FFX commerical, though I've seen plenty for Crisis Core. It makes my heart twinge and ache with longing for a PSP and Crisis Core. I've watched all the cutscenes in Japanese and English (I prefer Japanese, the English VAs are just plain dung). It's quite high up on my wish list.

I've seen a trailer of XIII showing the wonders of the modern ps3 battle system, and I must admit I'm a little terrified. It all looks so...daunting, and so brilliant in graphics.

I'd only want to play Kingdom Hearts III and (maybe) FFXIII. But the further away FF travels from its roots, the less interested I find myself.

I've been following every bit of news on XIII and Versus XIII so fanatically. I'm really invested in it, and I do hope it's released sometime in early 2009. I think the graphical excellence can only further my love of XIII, and every complication about it makes me love it all the more- it seems like Square Enix isn't holding anything back.

Really? Only a maybe? I guess I can understand those who love FF at it's roots, but I feel like the more innovative Squeenix gets, the more I appreciate the hard work and beauty of FF. I have to say I love the idea of FFXIII, and I can't wait for it's release.

Do you have a ps3?

(Wasn't directed at me, but I'll answer anways...)

It was pretty pricey, but yes, I do. He's fantastic (Blu-ray makes the sun shine brighter). The whole package, though, including the top-quality HDMI cable that you have to buy separately costed approximately $700, though. Expensive stuff.

Have you seen the VII ps3 trailer? How I wish it would remake that game...

I think they're still debating on it. Personally, I just hope that the battle system remains (reasonably) intact. I'll be irritated if they switch it over to FFXII style.

Square Enix has officially announced that they are not currently planning on remaking any of the PS FF's, though that's not to say they never will. I'm thinking that since it would most probably be for the PS3, it'd be some time after XIII and Versus XIII came out, if they did remake VII. I'd look forward to that, too. The tech demo looked stunning.

the downfall is that my Zidane ends up 10 levels ahead of everyone else, and I'd like them all to be balanced. I never leave a character and not train it with the rest of the group. When I accidentally equipped Half MP on Steiner I was confused as to why he had no MP left. After that I didn't really use it anymore because I didn't want to waste MP. For the ending part of the game, I equipped Vivi and Amarant with Return Magic, which I found extremely useful. Similar to a Reflect except permanent and being able to still heal characters.

I actually sort of enjoy it when a main character ends up twelve or so levels about the rest of the party. Generally I'm pretty obsessive over making sure everybody is leveled equally, but in the cases of Cloud, Squall, or Zidane, I enjoy letting them be the powerhouses and bulldozing certain enemies.

Return Magic is amazing. Just amazing.

In FF 1, you use the same characters throughout the game, starting at Lv. 1 and becoming whatever you build them up into. You just don't see that anymore.

Yeah, FF at it's simplest is the best. Though I enjoy the leaps and bounds FF has made over the years. You could say that XII lets you level up the same characters throughout the game and build them into whatever you please, but it's a lot more than that when trying to compare I to XII.

My version was the GBA, I just have to remember to get a new one. I originally wanted it on the Playstation, so I would have gotten the Anthology including IV and V. Why, why didn't I just pay the extra money to get it? I'm truly regretting that decision now, but it can't be helped.

I have the Anthology version of V and VI. IV comes with Chrono Trigger in the Final Fantasy Chronicles package. I don't see much difference, but then again I've only heard of the differences in theory, not in actuality.

I'd recommend against the PS1 version only because of the loading times going into battles. If you're used to the SNES version like I was, then you really feel the wait.

Never had an SNES in my life, so for me the wait wasn't too excruciating going into battles. Though I suppose if you're impatient it does wear on your nerves quite a bit, or if you're using to quick loading. Is that the main difference between the two?

I don't know if the sword came with the title, but I think the Japanese are big on symbolism. I'll bet that Beatrix saw her sword as representing herself the General. But I'm with you, it's a good thing Steiner stopped her. She's a more than worthy general. And Rusty could stand to have a girlfriend. Maybe he'll finally relax a little. Maybe...

Ah, symbolism. I didn't even think of questioning that scene at the end, though I can see the symbolism of it. Giving up the Save The Queen, giving up her role as General who saves the queen, etc. Meh, I think Beatrix is awesome. It's almost feels like cheating to use her, she's that good ^^. And I love Steiner x Beatrix. They're cute, and who wouldn't love them after the Love Letter Scene?

Yeah, sorry, I just kind of walked in randomly :/ My subscription called to me.

- WAS

Yes, yes...stereotypically male, how sad. Not saying anything against guys, but I sometimes wish there were more girl gamers to talk to (not to mention other girls who like the things that I do). In the state team I play in I'm constantly surrounded by guys because no other girl wa