10 Favorite FFIX Moments

So my favorite game in the series is celebrating its 18th anniversary today, and I wanted to celebrate as well by revisiting the game and experiencing some of my favorite moments again. This gave me the idea to compile them all in form of a post, so I figured it would do no harm to share my ten favorite moments in Final Fantasy IX as an anniversary special. There will be spoilers (obviously) and a bunch of things I can't include, so before I start I'll list some honorable mentions.

Honorable mentions:

Festival of the Hunt

Escaping to Lindblum

Beatrix's change of heart

Cleyra gets attacked

Entering Pandemonium

Vivi's origins revealed

Garnet's origins revealed

Destruction of Lindblum

10. Eiko's Love Letter

This game obviously has a lot of serious and amazing moments that will appear later on, but I can't ignore the funny and lighthearted parts it is also known and loved for. The humor especially throughout disc 1 and 2 is just great, but my favorite is the event with Eiko's love letter at the very start of disc 3. After disc 2 the game decides to take a step back and give us this short, yet enjoyable series of events that start off in Alexandria. Eiko finally decides to confess her love to Zidane through a letter, but gets stuck in the castle and now has to rely on Baku to deliver it for her. Things don't go as planned, Baku loses the letter, Steiner and Beatrix somehow get involved and this leads to a simple misunderstanding, which becomes the starting point of their comedic, yet adorable romantic sub-plot. Watching those two interact in a way we hadn't seen before and the whole Tantalus group going around Alexandria and not really helping is a fun way to take a break from the previous loss. It might be disappointing for Eiko, but things would've been less interesting and out of character, if everything had gone as planned.

9. Confrontation in Burmecia

I can't believe I'm ranking this moment so low, but while making this ranking I realized just how much the game adds after this, which has had a stronger impact in the story. Needless to say, this is a part every fan of the game re. Queen Brahne is proven to be behind everything, the party gets defeated by Beatrix, and the game finally introduces the main antagonist Kuja, whose motives are a mistery at that point. This is the first real defeat the party faces, as the fight against Beatrix is already decided before it even begins due to the difference in experience. Silently getting mocked and left behind by Kuja doesn't really make the scene better and should've left most players feeling bitter afterwards.

8. Opening Sequence

This game honestly has my favorite opening out of all Final Fantasy games. It really doesn't leave you waiting for too long and lets a lot of crazy things happen only a few minutes apart. I love how the game switches between characters/settings and uses cutscenes to introduce the most important characters at that point. The whole kidnapping plot at the beginning turns out to be completely pointless (in a good way) and therefore just becomes a ridiculous and funny event for both story and gameplay. Learning the gameplay basics and exploring Alexandria as Vivi is endearing, Zidane and his troupe are likeable right away, and the whole escape sequence is fun and exciting.

7. Garnet's Return

ittedly, there isn't much going on in this scene compared to other entries, but it's still one of my personal highlights. Seeing Garnet struggle after the battle in Alexandria was heartbreaking after all the effort she had put into becoming more independent and strong just to rule her kingdom. All of it had been crushed just after one night, not to mention that this took place soon after the death of her mother. So when this moment came up that was supposed to symbolize Garnet overcoming her state of depression, it changed the game's perspective and made it much more positive. The fact that she was able to overcome her insecurities mostly by herself and basically being reborn, as shown through Garnet cutting most of her hair off, made it seem like the events would be much easier to take on now that this part was over with. So this moment ranks high for me, even though not much is happening it carries a lot of emotional and narrative weight in my opinion.

6. Alexander vs. Bahamut

Everything that happens during the fight in Alexandria is just amazing. Steiner and Beatrix fight side by side, there's some clever foreshadowing of Garland including Kuja's true motivations, the party rushes back to Alexandria just in time so Garnet and Eiko can summon Alexander together, which leads to a fight between it and Bahamut. The fact that two summons are facing against each other makes this moment memorable enough, but there are also many smaller, yet interesting bits that make everything feel complete.

5. Bahamut gets captured

Top 5 now, and starting strong with my favorite moment in disc 2. I was originally considering to call this scene Kuja vs. Bahamut, since that's pretty much the highlight that distracts from the main party and Brahne. However, this whole scene is far too one-sided to be considered a proper fight, but that's what makes it so great in my opinion. Kuja gets attacked by Bahamut, one of the strongest summons in not only FFIX, but the entire series, and he gets away with nothing but a scratch. As if that wasn't already epic enough, he also manages to capture Bahamut and control him, which he uses to destroy Queen Brahne and the entirety of her Alexandrian fleet. The results are devastating, the party is defeated, and Kuja easily escapes with one of the most powerful summons in his hands now.

4. You're Not Alone

Another really emotional moment shortly before the final battle stages. We see the usually cheerful and loveable Zidane struggling to accept his true identity and reason for being created, which makes him isolate himself from his friends. Little does he know how much he actually matters to his friends and how much of an impact he has had on their lives, so after they help him get through a few fights in Pandemonium he comes to accept himself for who he is and takes the words of his friends to heart. I have to it that written and out of context it may sound cliché, but anyone who played the game knows how perfectly executed and beautiful this scene is.

3. Kuja destroys Terra

Words can barely describe how much I love this scene. It's so short, but it has such a strong impact due to the events that trigger it in the first place. After the party gets tricked and defeated by Kuja nothing seems to be in his way. The party lost, Garland is no longer a threat, victory is in hands now. Or it would be, if it weren't for the fact that Garland was hiding Kuja's limited lifespan from him all along and revealed it at the very last second. Kuja struggles to accept that fact, since up to this point he managed to overcome every limitation put against him and now there's one barrier he will never be able to overcome: death. The fact that he's the only one of his race having to worry about this doesn't make things better and since he doesn't know any other way to cope with the situation at hand other than the means he used before, he decides to take the world with him, starting with Terra. This is such a powerful and tragic scene, since it further develops Kuja's character after it was revealed to be more relatable and human through Garland and Zidane's discussion in Pandemonium.

2. Kuja's Redemption

This scene. Where do I even start, what's not to love about it? I already mentioned how much the dialogue between Zidane and Garland, followed by the destruction of Terra and the crystal, managed to further develop Kuja's character and make him more relatable and human. This scene takes all that and does it right, if not better. There was no need to even give him this kind of redemption and besides from Golbez perhaps no prior antagonist ever got that kind of treatment. But I'm glad the creators decided to do so, because getting this final scene with him and Zidane made Kuja into something no prior antagonist had become: a tragic hero. He did something anyone would have done in his situation, and even though Zidane, the moral com of the game, confirmed that he would've done the same if he had been in the same situation, Kuja feels remorse and regret. He also gives up on his self-centered attitude completely and talks about how he truly deserves to die for the things he did, something he would've never said out loud before. Besides from the way his character was ultimately portrayed, the interaction with him and Zidane added a lot to the scene. They might have not exchanged a lot of words, but it was truly unique to see these two polar opposites possibly helping and understanding each other even after all the things that happened between them. If it was only for the writing this scene would be my definite number one, but there is one moment that I love just as much for other reasons and decided to put on the first spot instead.

1. The Ending

Similar to the opening, Final Fantasy IX also features my favorite ending out of the whole series. Everything about this scene is great. It's beautifully animated, the background music was never more fitting than in this scene, and it's both a happy and tragic ending in my opinion. Tragic, because we read Vivi's last words before we see Zidane return. The idea that he was never able to see his best friend again before his time ran out is just sad and tragic. Thankfully the game doesn't end there, but lets Zidane return in the best way possible, a stage play. Before that it also shows how some other characters we have met throughout the game are trying to improve their lives to the best of their abilities and working on their own happy end. Zidane and Garnet's reunion is one of the most heartwarming and beautiful scenes in the whole series for me, and it's perfectly finished as the credits roll, which recap the main events of the whole game while "Melodies of Life" is played.

This already concludes my list of my favorite Final Fantasy IX moments. If there are any other scenes you think I should have mentioned, feel free to share them.

And once again,

Happy 18th Birthday Final Fantasy IX!