Previews
STORY
Final Fantasy IX is set in a world called Gaia. Gaia consists of
four ruling countries. So far, two of the countries have been named: Lindblum,
(ruled by regent Cid) and Alexandria, (ruled by Queen Brahne).
Gameplay starts aboard the thieves'
airship, in the dark, until Zidane lights a lantern. Here we
learn of Regent Cid's orders to send the thieves to Alexandria,
where they're to pose as performers and kidnap Princess Garnet.
With much fanfare, the theater ship glides to a stop before
Alexandria Castle. Players are introduced to Vivi, who's been
duped into buying a counterfeit ticket for the evening's big
show. You guide the little mage across rooftops so he can sneak
in for free. Zidane and his fellow thieves infiltrate the theater
ship and start the play. Soon, Zidane heads off to capture the
Princess. Ironically, she joins the band willingly, and everyone
escapes Queen Brahne's wrath on the thieves ship. Her feathery
Black Mages pursue and force the thieves down into the Evil
Forest. They make it out, barely, and return to Regent Cid in
Lindblum.
Final Fantasy IX will 'revive' the crystal, or
so the press release from the Tokyo Game Show claims. The
crystal(s) will be central to the overall theme and plot of the
game. At this moment it's still not clear how big a role crystals
will play, but as one appears in the Final Fantasy IX logo, it's
safe to say you won't be able to avoid them.
- Airships - In the brave new world
of Final Fantasy IX Airships seems to be the predominant
form of transport. Entire buildings are mounted aboard
mammoth Airships that travel around the globe. One such
instance is the 'Prima Vista', a traveling theatre.
- No Central Character - It has been
stated that the story of Final Fantasy IX will not centre
around any one character, (as seen in Final Fantasy VI).
- Dragons - There has been an large
amount of FMV shown that involved dragons in some way.
Whether the scaly beasts will impact the plot in someway
is anybodies guess at this stage, but it would certainly
fit with the theme we've seen so far...
Final Fantasy IX has been confirmed for
release on PlayStation, and not PlayStation2 as previously
thought. Whether Final Fantasy will see it's third PC outing is
yet to be confirmed, although after the success of the last two
PC games, it is highly likely. It has now been confirmed that the
Japanese release date of Final Fantasy IX is the 7th of July
2000, (earlier then previously published). Also Square have
promised the European gamers a Final Fantasy IX release in a
number of languages by the 4th Quarter of this year, (2000),
which means that the US release will probably be between
September and November.
ABILITIES
Action Abilities - Action abilities
are commands, magic, summons, etc. that can be used during
battle. For example: Steal/Mug.
Status Abilities - Status abilities alter the physical and
metal attributes of your characters. For example: Strength +10%.
Don't worry, Final Fantasy IX won't be featuring hard trace
beats, house music or DJs of any kind, Trance Mode will be
replacing what we've come to know as Limit Breaks.
