On July 19th Final Fantasy IX was released in Japan, and the game has indeed sold itself to myriads of gamers who cherish everything that Final Fantasy represents. It's not out yet for America, but I will be describing some of the events and circumstances of the game you can expect to see when we finally do get to play this blockbuster of Squaresoft.

If you were introduced to the series of RPG's by Final Fantasy VII (I can attest that the whole reason I bought a Playstation was to play this game) and Final Fantasy VIII, you will find that Final Fantasy IX definely imbued with a shift in artistic license toward the earlier themes and imagery conveyed by the games that were relased before the polygon era on the NES and Super NES. It's a nostalgic romp in a world of airships, wizards, dragons, damsels, castles, and chivalrous knights clasping claymores forged of magical alloys. Technology (often powered by magic) will still be in the game, but drastically reduced in terms of influence upon the storyline. The game will be a retrograde to a time when Squaresoft was a much smaller company and their games still managed to captivate audiences of gamers worldwide. Producer Hironobu Sakaguchi and Character Designer Yoshitaka Amano, as well as musical Composer Nobuo Uematsu, Role Playing's dream team, are collaborating to bring those mystical epic legends into the modern gaming era. Final Fantasy's roots will be embellished far beyond that which we once saw on the Nintendo and the Super Nintendo incorporating many of the best aspects of Final Fantasy's VII and VIII into what could be the best classical themes RPG ever made.

The character cast of the game will include eight different characters capable of joining your party and occasionally others will join to aid in development of the storyline. The main character, following the in almost godlike footsteps of Cloud Strife, and Squall Leonheart, is Zidane Tribal, a 16 year old theif looking what every teenage boy wants - a girl. The interesting contrast about Zidane Tribal to his predecessors is that he is not quite human, and has a tail. As the storyline unfolds in the game we discover more and more about his past, his lifestyle, and even go along with his exploits until the ultimate goal of the game is established. I already know some details about his role in the game, but at this point I'll leave the juicy stuff out as not to spoil anything.

Other characters include Vivi Ornitier (say that 10 times fast, I think it's spoken like Vee-Vee Or-nite-teeaire), a little black mage (you'll recognize these guys from Final Fantasy's I (NES) and II (VI - Japan, SNES). These guys are identified as the blue wizards with the pointy hats and no face with two glowing dots for eyes. He's apparently a mage in training in the game, and it's the mages that command the approval of the masses. It also seems that his identity is often in question as he searches for answers about himself and the people/circumstances he encounters.

Princess Garnet Til Alexandros the XVII (That's 17 for those of you who are Roman Numerally challenged) is the main descendant of a royal family in power in the world of FFIX. At the beginning of the game she appears to be rather naive about her subjects and existance as a normal person. Her "wet behind the ears" nature is often mistaken as an indication that she is insensitive and self-serving.

Other supporting characters include, Salamander Coral (man, Squaresoft these names just get stranger and stranger) a guy in Rastifarian dreadlocks who tends to appear self centered and Egotistical and lends prowess to power. There is also a night by the name of Adelbert Steiner a 33-year old knight in the royal army and protector of Princess Garnet. There's Freya Crescent, a "Dragoon Warrior" with a turbid past that comes back haunts her in the game. She has the ability to sense the changes in the natural environment. Quina Quen, is a chef, must be the comic relief for the game with what I've come to gather from sources is a giant spork? Huh? (You're guess is as good as mine) From what I've learned about the game it would seem his goal is to become the greatest chef in the world, that's it. (talk about you're deep character there). Another Female character I've learned about is Eiko Carol a very intelligent and mentally formidable child prodigy that is often underestimated by her peers. She was the product of being raised from birth with a village of Moogles (Ku, Ku, Kupu!).

The world of Final Final Fantasy IX is called Gaia (hmm, not too original there, but it's still good) which has been fragmented into varous ruling national republics. The cool thing about Gaia is that the landscape truly takes full advantage of the license granted by the fantasy genre and comprises of a series of floating continents with floating cities in the clouds that are traversed between by airship. The main character Zidane originates from the Kingdom of Lindblum, ruled by none other than the most venerable regent, Cid. Lindblum borders on the Kingdom of Alexandria which is a warring state that has perpetuated fear and terror in many of the small outlying villages and townships. In general, the beginning of the game involves Cid procuring the assistance of a band of mercenaries to kidnap the Princess of Alexandria, in effort to find the motivations behind her mother, Queen Bahne's actions. She ends up not really knowing what or how her mother has been acting in this manner and joins up with Zidane Tribal and Steiner to unmask the deception that seems to be at play here. The storyline seems to focus on themes involving the philosophical searching for the meaning of life, experience, and the connection of the living spirit of existance itself. (I'll shut up now before I unwravel too much)

It has been indicated that gameplay time might be on par with Final Fantasy VIII at about 40 hours (probably considerably more if you complete all the sidequests) The sidequests themselves allow for many player initiated adjustments to be made the style of playing that the gamer chooses to embrace. The characters in the game and how they develop on a gameplay level depend upon the changes that you make to them and the items that you equip them with. It kind of meshes a lot of similarities to other systems (not the draw system though) into the mix. By gaining more AP on a paticular weapon it's associated abilities become learned by its bearer/weilder. The same item can also adjust different character's statistics differently. All the characters have abilities unique to themselves only. For Example Zidane Tribal can steal (Mug) items and perform special attacks. Garnet can summon monsters and cast white magic. Vivi, the black mage, can Cast Black Magic and can restore that magic though a feature that allows for him to charge. Certain character's installed into customized parties can enable cooperative abilities and spells that aid in battling opponents. Salamander has many abilities and even has similar skills to Zell and Tifa before him with certain button order configured attacks. Eiko can summon restorative creatures and uses solely white magic. Interestingly enough Quina has a built in "Morph" or "consume" ability where attacks are gained by consuming his foes. What's great about Final Fantasy IX is the return of a Quad Party format where there can be four characters on the screen simultaneously adjustable to front, middle, and back attacking. (wizards in the back, warriors in the front, the classic RPG rule) MP and HP return. There are limit breaks that each character attains as well but's not quite what you would expect. It would seem that as a character takes hits and HP is diminished a "trance" bar grows larger and once reaching maximum the character is able to tap into extra abilities and special spells. Summons are back.

As you journey through the gaming environment there are many hidden areas to explore and special events that happen specifically associated to one character of the active party.

You know, just last year when I debuted my Final Fantasy VIII site, I thought about how far things have come, and how they used to be, and in all honesty, this new addition to the series blends the good feelings generated with the new Final Fantasy's with those of old favorites from the past that will never be forgotten by the collective memory of gamers everywhere. It's so good to see the Fantasy back in Final Fantasy, and the future for this series looks bright. Final Fantasy X will be for the Playstation 2. Good God, with a canvas like that to work with, the dream team at Squaresoft could easily usher in RPG's that will bring us gamers and absolute RPG fans to the level of euphoria. Ahh, yes, it's great to be a gamer.

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