10 Reasons Why Final Fantasy IX Is The Best Game Of The Series

10. The Art Style Is Both New And Nostalgic

Stack Final Fantasy IX against its contemporaries, VII and VIII, and you'll easily notice which one sticks out. While the former two strive for a more '90s-anime art style, IX goes entirely the other direction with a more cartoony and fantasy inspired aesthetic. This carries through not just in the characters, but also the environments, to create an ensemble that immerses the player in the fabulous world of Gaia.

Much of this comes from FF IX's origins as a side-project, made to reflect on the series' origins rather than continue the grungy drama of its two predecessors. The game had even been developed in Hawaii, setting even its inception in another country. This was a project in the hands of a nostalgic producer, and a crew of tanned programmers who would come into the office after spending the mornings surfing.

The outfits and art evoke a simpler time. The black mage Vivi, for example, looks like a fully rendered version of the original black mages from the 8-bit games in the '80s. Freya, the dragoon, dresses very similar to the forgotten red mage design, and princess Garnet even dons the classic white mage robe for a moment in the opening.

Having come right after VII and VIII, with their cyberpunk grime and LED ridden futurism, it feels like the first breath after a coma when seeing IX's classic airships pulling into walled kingdoms, as armored guards patrol the city streets below. It comes across as one of the few games aware of its aesthetic roots, and celebrates them rather than shuns them.

Final Fantasy IX does the impossible when mixing old-school art with the graphical capabilities of the PlayStation, and shows just what those 8-bit towns looked like in the imagination of the kids playing Final Fantasy I on their NES in 1990.