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

Final Fantasy is a series known for great music. Even when a game fails in the eyes of the fans, it certainly succeeds in their ears. So when one game out of this series is held on a pedestal by its fandom, then it doesn't simply go toe-to-toe with the other games that share its title, but with the entire art form as a whole.

IX wins over long-time fans immediately upon the first battle, hitting the classic bass-line of the original game's battle music. The game continues to wink and nod at its past, featuring both the Prelude, and the legendary theme of the series, in a rendition packed with enough bombast for a fireworks festival.

Even with an armory's worth of old songs to hit fans with, the game isn't scared to pull something new on its players. IX will not rest on its laurels, and wants to use all it has at its disposal to go beyond established melodies so that it can better set the tone for its new cities, dungeons, and temples. Like a dancer in the Black Swan role, it knows precisely all the rules, and just when to go beyond them.

The game doesn't stop at just establishing the mood for its environments. In many ways, the soundtrack is motivated by the narrative. It works with the story to enhance every one of its most intense moments. This is a soundtrack that wants to make you smile, relax your shoulders, tighten your grip on the controller, and even shed tears at its command. With the baton in the hands of renowned composer, Nobuo Uematsu, it'll do just that.

On a technical level too, IX shows a mastery of the PlayStation's sound-chip that the VII and VIII had yet to achieve. VII's soundtrack does showcase some legendary melodies, but they're ultimately hindered by the technical growing pains that followed the switch from the SNES sound-chip. VIII might have displayed a more of a mechanical mastery of the PS1's musical capabilities, but was plagued by odd decisions, like the inclusions of steel drums and a jaw-harp.

IX brings both of those positives together, the melodies and the mastery, forming a nuanced synthesis.