Stratadrake's Full Review: Final Fantasy IX for PlayStation 1
Okay, on the count of three, let's all admit that the name "Final Fantasy" is an oxymoron considering the dozen games that bear this name.
One....
Two....
Three?
At least this time, it seems like this one will truly be the Final Fantasy for the PSX console, and its name is Final Fantasy 9.
This will be another one of my longer reviews, measuring in at 32K; so if you lack the time to read through it all, I've highlighted the important parts. Although, it is my sincerest wish that you do set aside the time (clear your calendar if needed) to read it all!
Personal Tilt: +0 of 5
This is not to say that I am perfectly, 100% neutral and objective in respect to FF9; I can't possibly be that. This instead means that I have enough complaints about FF9 (and FF in general) to equally neutralize everything that I liked about it. I heard that FF9 would do a lot of "returning to its roots", i.e., leaving the cyber-punk worlds of the FF7 and FF8 I never played and returning to the well-known fantasy world that made previous FF's such an adventure.
In my experience, the only Final Fantasy games I've played are the FF original (8-bit NES), US FF2 (aka FF4), FF5, and US FF3 (aka FF6). So, I've already had a lot of experience to see what the typical, "classic" FF universe is like. Final Fantasy 9, thankfully, returns to that glimmering, shining universe.
For the record, I do not own FF9--I merely rented it. In short, I was impressed--and being the old-school RPG'er that I am, is nowadays a difficult thing to do.
Graphics: 8 of 10
Technical Merit: 3 of 5
Cinematics: 5 of 5
By definition, I cannot award pre-rendered scenery and pre-generated FMV sequences any PSX technical merits, because they were rendered using different (more capable) hardware, and are mere images displayed on the PSX. It takes no technical power at all to display a simple image, which is why I say this. I still cannot understand why the Final Fantasy series uses so many pre-rendered images to view the scenery instead of pure 3D. At the least, they should have done what Quest for Glory V, Zelda 64, and now Myst 3 are doing with pre-rendered scenery. This little trick is to panoramically render the scenery, and display it in a slightly warped fashion (as if you were looking at the inside of a cylinder). This would give the impression of scenery actually "rotating" from one camera angle to the next. Instead, FF9's scenery merely scrolls from side to side; and up and down. The scenery does not zoom in or out. I understand that with PSX hardware, these two methods would cause a noticeable bit of pixelation...but I would prefer to see the effect of the camera "following" my characters as they walk about their business, rather than to be restricted to the distant camera angles so well-known to the Final Fantasy series.
The real-time 3D used for the free-roaming World Map and turn-based battles, however, do qualify for technical merits, of which I would award them a 4 of 5 rating. They're textured, and the fog effects are well used to portray distance; but the lack of real-time dynamic lighting effects is still a demerit, and their loading times are tedious. Another demerit is that you cannot adjust the camera angle in FF's battle sequences. In Legend of Dragoon, you could press R2 to adjust the camera between one of several angles. You could view it from the front, side, or top (depending on the scenario), and just having the ability to do so gave a whole lot more true 3D feel to the battles. Here, in FF9, FF9 decides the camera angles automatically and you don't have any say in it. Perhaps I missed an option in its Game Configuration menu, because I would really like to have had a controllable camera during battle. However, I found nothing in the game manual even remotely mentioning camera control.
Another staple of FF9's technical merit is the presence of soft-skin modelling techniques. This allows the charcters' textures to "flex" and "breathe" as they move about, and although it's difficult to notice for some creatures and characters, it's as plain as day for others such as "Lord Gizamaluke" and Ironites. Hard-skin models, remember, are the types of 3D objects that are composed Lego-block style, piece by piece; whereas "soft-skin" models are composed of a single wireframe mesh that can be flexed, stretched, and rotated however necessary.
And cinematically? Forget everything about pre-rendered scenery and movies not qualifying for technical merits; because they blow the roof off of the cinematics. Whereas technical merits are supposed to be an objective rating, cinematics is a subjective rating that judges how "good" the graphics look. In FF9's case, Square would be hard-put to improve FF9's cinematics, since the CGI movies are very well nicely done (some even mixing pre-rendered CGI with the drawn 3D characters) and the pre-rendered scenery is very colorfully rendered. Not only that, it is colorful; Green is green, red is red, and although there is a large amount of gray stones and orange torches dominating the cities, the world has been given a very cheerful rendering.
Soundtrack: 8 of 10
Musical Score: 3 of 5
Sound FX: 5 of 5
FF9's soundtrack is okay, but unfortunately, its musical score doesn't hold a candle to Final Fantasy 6. Then again, I have seen many gamers regarding FF6 as having the best soundtrack ever, so in a way, FF9 has a daunting musical precedent to conquer, and that it couldn't. Almost as a rule for RPG's, the soundtracks of RPG games are synthesized using the PSX's hardware rather than being streamed from the source CD's; this not only means that the soundtrack can be evaluated by technical standards, but it also means that they can stuff more musical themes into the game. However, evaluating music by technical standards is almost pointless; because ever since the days of the SNES, musical hardware has long been at the point to synthesize great music...and FF3/6 is the proof.
Yet for some reason, I can't remember a single entire tune from FF9 (a sure sign of having rented it for but a day), and I haven't played enough of it to figure out whether or not it has the familiar--and favorite--"Chocobo" theme that was introduced back in FF4 (US FF2). At least FF9's combat tune is remarkably familiar with that of the previous Final Fantasies, so the soundtrack is by no means unfamiliar to the series.
Sound FX are, as always, a great addition to the musical score, fitting all the cuts, slashes, bops, and energy bolts that fly across the arenas during combat. I can't go into much detail here, because most of these sound FX are your "typical" mix of sound FX heard during games.
Gameplay: 8 of 10
Controls: 4 of 5
Mechanics: 4 of 5
The best thing to happen to the Final Fantasy series is the first few words of FF9's manual, which read as follows:
Congratulations! You do not need this manual to play Final Fantasy 9!
Finally taking lessons from the computer world, Final Fantasy 9 has introduced the concept of "What's This?" help to its universe. Whenever you have a question about Final Fantasy's mechanics, either during the in-game menus or during combat, simply press Select, and Mogster the Moogle will explain what that option does. In fact, you can use this to get descriptions of an armor's elemental properties--for example, "Desert Boots" reduce damage from Earth-based attacks by 50%, and a "Cotton Robe" reduces damage from Thunder-based attacks by 50%.
What happens in Final Fantasy 9? First off, Zidane, a member of the Tantalus gang and actor's group, is going to the city of Alexandria to perform "I want to be your Canary" in front of the Queen. During the performance, they also plot to kidnap Princess Garnet. Plans take a change for the better (and for the more-hilarious) when Garnet reveals that she wants to be kidnapped, and in no time at all, you'll get a hint as to why. Apparently, the indescribably-ugly Queen Brahne is up to something truly evil, and regent Cid of Lindblum has asked for your--and the Princess's--help in what looks like preparations for war. And when Garnet is missing, the enraged Queen Brahne starts a man-hunt to bring the Princess back, preferably alive. By the end of the first disc (which is how far I managed to get in one rental), the plot deepens somewhat with the appearance of a quiet (and undoubtably powerful) man named Kuja. Who is this man? Why is he helping Brahne? Why is Brahne so evil? It is questions like these that help to make the story more interesting, and you don't learn the answers until much later.
In fact, the question of Brahne's evil may very-well have no answer at all. Brahne doesn't need a reason to be evil; it seems that she "just is" evil. This makes her a bit more entertaining than the average villain. You don't need to know why she does what she does, you just need to know that she is doing so. It reminds me of Kefka from Final Fantasy 6, who--even to this day--is my favorite RPG videogame villain.
When Square advertises that "The Crystal Returns" on the back of the FF9 case, they may very well be right--but not necessarily in the literal sense. There indeed is an elemental crystal of sorts in the city of Alexandria, and although it isn't the crystal-dominated world of early Final Fantasies (from FF original up to & including FF5), it is indeed the same world of early technology and wizardry that made the past Final Fantasies such an adventure.
And, expectedly, many of the familiar gameplay elements have returned. Departing from FF7 and FF8 while returning to previous games yields the return of the familiar four-member party and its "front/back row" system. Having four members in combat at once is far more versatile than the previous three.
Random-encounter battles make their return yet again (for a 9th time in a row), and I find myself complaining yet again. By now, the concept is getting old; and this time around, the random battles take an even longer time to load than you ever thought possible (about 8 seconds of waiting; ouch!!!). I understand that this concept is based on some fantastical "statistic" of having to fight something while travelling from point A to point B (i.e., say a 10% chance of a fight per game kilometer), and while this type of system was easier to make than, say, the location-based encounters you'd find in things like Zelda and Mana, it is no longer appreciated. Random battles are the one element that I most sincerely hope Squaresoft does away with, and soon. I still prefer contact-based battles ŕ la Legend of Dragoon, Mario RPG, & Paper Mario, where you--the player--are given the choice on whether to fight your way through, or avoid the enemies entirely. In fact, I remember the first time entering the city of Vector in FF6. If you were caught by any of the roaming guards, a fight would ensue, and afterwards, you'd find your team hiding near the entrance while things cool down. It's something you want to avoid doing, especially since during that portion of FF6, you're trying to sneak into Vector unnoticed. Can Square please do something like this again?
The familiar, laissez-faire ("hands off") battle system has returned, in its "classic" mix of turn-based and real-time that Square proudly dubs the Active Time Battle system. It's like this: You give orders to your team members in real time, but those orders are executed in a turn-based manner. When their combat window pops up, time won't stop for you to make a decision, so if you wait too long to give orders, the monsters will get their combat turns & attack you. Once you've given an order to your characters, they will wait for an open spot in the battle (when no one else is attacking) to perform that order. Afterwards, their next "turn" won't come up for a litle while (about 10-15 seconds avg.) .
FF9's combat orders are remarkably similar to the previous FF games. First off, there's the "Fight" command. Plain and simple, tell a member to "Fight" and they will attack using their equipped physical weapons. The accuracy, damage, and etc. of their attack is all determined by their statistics and random chance; while you do have a general idea of how much damage you'll inflict, and how often they'll hit the opponent, you have no control over this. Which brings to mind one thing I liked about Legend of Dragoon's "Addition" system and Mario RPG / Paper Mario's "Timed Hits". In those other games, you have to pay attention to the battle in progress, and if you hit the right button at the right time, you inflict extra damage, up to & sometimes exceeding 2x normal. In FF, however, you sit back and watch, having no sway in how well they'll attack.
Second on the list is a special skill command, such as "Steal" for Zidane, "W Magic" for Garnet, and "Jump" for Freya the dragoon. Each character has a different special skill, which makes then intrinsically unique--a nice thing. Some characters may have a "Skill" command which opens up a menu of MP-consuming skills related to their job, or class. For example, Steiner can use "Magic Sword" abilities, Garnet can perform Summons, and Zidane has thief-related skills such as "Detect" (allowing you to see what treasures can be stolen from enemies) and "Mug" (fight & steal simultaneously).
Then there's the Item command, which plain and simple, opens up your vast inventory for use during combat. Potions, Phoenix Downs, Ethers, and etc.; if you have them, you can use them.
Next is the "Row" command (hold shoulder button L1). This switches your character from the front row to back row, or vice versa, for the duration of the battle. Every one of your team's characters can be put in the Front or Back rows, before combat or during. The front row is the default placement for most characters, but if you need to strategize, you can use the back row. When placed in the back row, all damage--incurred from and and dealt by--direct, physical attacks is halved. Placing a character in the back row has no effect on magic, or on indirect attacks like Freya's "Jump" ability. Characters (like Vivi, Garnet, and Freya) who specialize in indirect or magical attacks should generally be placed in the back row for its defensive bonus.
And lastly, is the "Defense" command. Unlike the "Guard" command in Legend of Dragoon (which gave you free HP and status protection), FF9's "Defense" command--like previous FF games before it--isn't very useful at all. The Defense command reduces damage by 50%, but only against physical attacks. Magical attacks still inflict full damage, and this gives no protection against status attacks. The good news, though, is that once on "Defense", the character remains that way until & unless you issue them another order. If you want to save their turn for something special (like a finishing more, for example), simply put them on "Defense" until you need to use them--even for the entire battle if you need to.
Familiar Final Fantasy status conditions such as "Poison" and etc. have returned--and this time around, every one of them is listed in the manual. There are a bunch of new conditions as well:
- Scorching. If you've ever used the "Air Anchor" tool in FF6, you'll know what it does. Scorching is similar; unless cured, the character will get KO'd if they do any action.
- Freezing. FF6 had something similar, where a character is frozen solid for a long time unless thawed out by a fire-based attack. This time, though, it's a bit more powerful--if the frozen character is hit by a physical attack, they're instantly KO'd.
- Venom. This is a combination of Poison and Paralysis, and it also drains MP from the character.
- Muddle. I never liked this status condition, because in early FF's, it caused the character to suddenly "switch sides", attacking your team and using healing spells on enemies. This time, though, Muddle is supposed to be more realistic--where the affected character attacks a random target.
In addition, most magical effects have some visible indicator; things like Slow, Haste, Reflect, Safe, Mute, and Shell now display an on-screen icon when in effect--even for the monsters. So if you put "Mute" on a monster, you'll know when he's affected by it and know if he recovers from it.
A nice and innovative element is that about many of the harmful status effects dissipate after the battle is over. Minor poison, sleep, slow/haste, these are some of the many conditions that wear off after battle. Other, more serious, conditions like Venom will linger after battle and mandate a cure. But at least this time around, you won't have to carry around as many curatives simply to ward off low-level poisons and other annoying status ailments.
Once again, the familiar "experience & level" system is back. Destroy monsters, gain experience. Earn a lot of experience, go up a level. My classic complaint about this system, is "what happens if you run away"? Usually, the penalty for fleeing combat is forfeiting all experience you would have gained if you won. I don't like this; because in the hypothetical scenario of defeating 9 of 10 monsters, then having to flee due to extensive injuries, you would forfeit all of the experience that you should have already acquired 90% of. Major enemies, once again, don't give you any experience; only the minor ones do. I have never understood this logic, myself--you would think that major enemies be worth more.
Which reminds me of a rare Final Fantasy element--rematches with major opponents occur more in FF9 than before. My favorite rematch is the one against "Black Waltz No.3". In the rematch, Black Waltz 3 is obviously near-death from the previous fight (even struggling to stand on his feet); but somehow, he managed to stumble into your way for one last time, one last battle.
Another system has been brought back--the "Ability Points", or ABP system. If you have played FF5 from the Final Fantasy Anthology, you'll already be familiar with the ABP system. beat monsters, gain ABP as well as experience. Gain ABP, get new abilities. This time around, the ABP system is different. Whereas in FF5, you could assign your characters any job or class (mage, lancer, knight, etc.) and they'd learn skills specific to that job, in FF9, each character is given a permanent class. Once a thief, always a thief, and etc. This time around, the abilities you earn are determined by what weapons and armor you equip to your characters.
Abilities come in two types--"Action Abilities" (like spells) are MP-consuming commands that you can use in battle, while "Support Abilities", are things that you can equip when not in combat. Support abilities include status protection, damage boosters like "Bird Killer", and other miscellaneous abilities like "Protect Girls" which allows Zidane to shield characters like Garnet from direct, physical damage.
As soon as you equip a certain weapon or armor, any usable abilities contained therein are immediately made available to your character. This is important--not every character can learn every Ability. Only Vivi can learn Black Mage spells like Fire and Blizzard, while only Zidane can learn thief-related skills like Mug and Bandit. There is, though, one catch to the ABP system. You may permanently keep an Ability only when you have acquired a sufficient amount of ABP during combat (you can check your ABP progress on the Equip & Status screens). Otherwise, if you remove the particular weapon / armor, your character will lose whatever abilities it granted them. Some abilities require more ABP to permanently learn than others, so at times you may have to "budget" your abilities and decide which ones are worth learning.
One thing helped by FF9's ABP system (unlike FF7's Materia and FF8's Junctions) is how each character differs from each other. Zidane is a thief; Garnet is a white mage; Steiner, a knight; Freya, a dragoon; and Vivi a black mage. There's a character named Quina who can be classified as a Blue Mage, and a few others that I hadn't encountered during Disc 1 whose jobs/classes and abilities fall into categories reminiscent of FF5. There are a number of job-classed NPC's, like "Red Mages" whose job is a combo of white & black magic. Each character learns a different set of skills. Many support abilities can be learned by all characters, but there are others that only certain characters can learn. While some may complain because of this, I prefer characters to be unique. I don't like games where the characters are only as uniquely skilled as you are want them to be. I've seen FF7 and FF8 drawing complaints because their "Materia" and "Junction" systems, respectively, were the only means by which characters could be made to house different skills.
Final Fantasy's element type-matching system is back, and this time around, the elements are both explained in the manual and told to you by Mogster. Fire still works great against ice and undead; ice is still great against dragons & fire; thunder still works on most water creatures; earth is once again useless against flying monsters; and the "Light" and "Shadow" elements are equally super-effective against each other. I have just one complaint about this sytem, and that is I never will understand why flying monsters should be vulnerable to their own wind-based attacks. True, in real life, a gust of turbulence can throw a plane off-course, but this isn't real life.
No team character has natural, intrinsic type weaknesses & strengths ŕ la Pokémon, but instead are neutral, receiving equal damage from all elements. Or so you think; there are a large number of armors with elemental properties (such as "Desert Boots" and "Cotton Robe"), so you'll find your characters reacting just as differently to the elements as Pokémon would. I like this; it furthermore helps to make the characters unique from each other.
Replay Value: 4 of 5
I've only played through the entire Disc 1--but considering the 15 hours I've deposited on it so far, I expect FF9 to be about 40-50 hours long. This is a general standard for a good modern RPG, so FF9 is by no means a short adventure. Too bad the combat loading delays add up to perhaps a good hour or two by themselves, and the CGI movies cannot be skipped.
Fun Factor: 5 of 10
Learning Curve: 4 of 5
In previous reviews, I would rate fun factor on a scale of 1 to 5. However, lately I've decided to up that, to a 10-point scale; fun-factor is the most important aspect of any game.
FF9's fun factor is helped by a number of mini-games. Near the beginning of the story, in Alexandria, Vivi can practice jump-roping to pass the time. Or, during the play, you can play another game where Zidane & Blank act out a swordfight. The better the fight, the more money the crowd tosses at you. Once you get a Chocobo, you can play "Hot & Cold" to unearth items from the ground and improve the Chocobo's travelling abilities (such as swimming and perhaps flying).
There is also a scavenger hunt for the Stellazio pieces, the 12 (or was that 13?) of which are scattered across FF9's world and four discs.
And then there's FF9's card game. Tetra Master is FF9's largest mini-game. It's similar to the Pokémon trading cards that many youngsters play in real-life. It's simple, yet pretty deep. Collect at least five cards, and you can challenge a townsperson to a game. The winner gets to take one of their opponent's cards; and if you're a good card player, you can collect up to 100 cards. There are also 100 different types of cards, so a large collection mandates a trade-off between quantity and variety.
Each card has two important parts to it. Arrows on its edges indicate the directions in which it can both attack and defend, while a series of four numbers indicate its abilities. Both of these become important during play. When you place your card on the board next to an enemy's card, one of two things happen:
- If your card has an arrow pointing to an enemy card, but not vice versa, you capture that card and it becomes yours. Logically, the more arrows on a card, the more opponents it can capture, so you will want cards with multiple arrows on them.
- If your card has an arrow pointing to an enemy card, but the enemy card points back, a "battle" begins. The ability numbers on the two battling cards, and random luck, determine who wins and who loses the battle. There is also the "combo" effect. If, through battling, you capture an enemy card, his card will "combo" and take with it any nearby card that it points towards, capturing them without any fights and making all of them your color. You will also want cards with few arrows on them, because those cards can't pull off powerful combos if they lose a fight.
For example, a card with 1 arrow can only capture one enemy card. But simultaneously, if it loses a fight to an enemy card, it can't "combo" because its sole arrow was pointing to the card which defeated it. Likewise, a card with all 8 arrows can capture up to 8 enemy cards...but if that card loses a fight, it can "combo" and take up to seven fellow cards down with it!! A card with many arrows is very useful, but also very volatile, risky, and dangerous. Thus, a good average is to have cards with 2 or 3 attack arrows on them; useful for capturing, but not having a strong "combo" ability.
When two cards fight, the odds are affected by their ability numbers. I guessed at this system, and came closer to the truth than I knew. (If you don't want me to spoil the secret about card ability numbers, skip the next two paragraphs--otherwise, don't say you weren't warned!)
The first number on a card is its attack power; the second symbol (P, M, X, or sometimes A) indicates its attack type. The third number is its defense against "P"-type cards, and the fourth is its defense against "M"-type cards. According to FF9's strategy guide, "X"-type cards attack the lowest defense number on their opponent, and "A"-type cards attack the lowest number on their opponent (attack or defense). Numbers are measured in hexadecimal; meaning that they are in the range of 0123456789ABCDEF, with A thru F representing 10 thru 15.
As examples, if a "9P50" Bahamut card strikes against a "9P05" Ifrit card, the Bahamut will usually win because Ifrit has no defense against Bahamut's "9P" attack and Bahamut has defense against Ifrit's own "9P" attack. However, a "9X" type attack would be equally powerful against both the Bahamut and Ifrit cards because their lowest defense number is zero. Yet, against a "0PFF" Shuckle (there is no such card, for "Shuckle" is a Pokémon) card, the the same "9X" attack won't be very effective because both defense numbers are the highest (F = 15). Although a "9A" attack would be the best option against the Shuckle card because its lowest number (its attack power) is zero.
* * * * *
But enough about FF9's card game; I've probably already told you more than you wish to hear. On to the next subject regarding fun factor, which has become a powerful one to me of late:
The Never-Defeated Syndrome
This has been a staple of virtually all console and PC games alike. In RPG-style games where you have no "extra lives" should you lose. Story flow in an RPG game is kinda like having a time machine; if you lose, simply go "back in time" and try again, until you win. Doesn't this sound like Al Gore's behaviour during Election 2000? Re-count, re-play, re-try.... I no longer appreciate this; not only does it sound "Al-Gore-ical", but it also shows a lack of innovation for the storywriters. Lack of innovation? Simple; the story flows in a straight line; and the route from start to finish is paved with a landslide of victories against opponents. I wish that Square would create a branching storyline that continues in different directions, and the course taken depends on the outcome of certain important battles and events. A loss should not always result in a "Game Over"; if your team loses, you should NOT be given a reason to go back and try again; the story must go on.
The previously-tried cure to this "never-defeated syndrome" has been to rig a battle, making it impossible to win. The most obvious case of a fixed battle was Dart vs. Lloyd in Legend of Dragoon, where Dart couldn't even touch Lloyd with any attack. That was blatantly obvious.
I do understand that there must be a challenge element to a boss battle; but I wish that the challenge in a boss battle would be the direction in which the story subsequently flows. Beatrix is one of FF9's fixed battles. Try as you might, there's no killing Beatrix at the end of Disc 1. But even though she beats you, the story goes on. This battle was rigged; but it is indeed nice to see a scenario where you are defeated but NOT dealt a "Game Over". Still, it would have been a better, more innovative approach in this end-of-disc battle if you could either win or lose and the story would proceed in differing directions, depending.
Another demerit to FF9's fun factor is a classic demerit from the beginnings of the Final Fantasy series alone. FF9's inventory, like all FF's before it, is unlimited; there is no "carrying capacity" like the 9-item, 4-each limit from Secret of Mana; no 20-item "pack" like you have in Pokémon; no 32-item limit like in Legend of Dragoon.
Many players prefer to buy everything in mass quantities so that they may have them for any & every rainy day. But by doing so, they violate an important tactic in combat: Battles are not won by inventory alone; victory is not determined by who has more items and curatives. Rather, battles are supposed to be an exercise of good combat tactics; and having a limited-supply inventory polarizes this element, making good defensive tactics much more important. Furthermore, a limited-supply inventory ŕ la Legend of Dragoon makes you think harder about what to pack for your journey. You can't take an entire shop with you, so don't bother trying; instead, challenge yourself to complete a game with the smallest stock of inventory you can. Doing so immediately ups the difficulty factor due to limited on-hand curatives, forcing you to become a better player--and in the end, you'll get more satisfaction from having conquered a greater challenge.
So then, as I've heard so eloquently phrased in a GameFan review of FF8, it seems as if Squaresoft is more interested in refining the mold of Final Fantasy than they are in trying to break it. Where can I find something new and innovative?? Final Fantasy risks becoming a franchise whose sole purpose is to generate money; it shouldn't have to be like this. With nine bonified "Final Fantasy" games under Square's belt, it's becoming continuously more easier for me to simply look at a Final Fantasy title and mutter to myself, "been there, done that" without giving it as much as a second glance.
So, in the end, I guess Squaresoft is right about one thing; this is the Final Final Fantasy . . . for me. While my ultimate dream of creating a fresh, new RPG is still years out of my abilities, writing fantastical stories isn't, and I've already found greener pastures in the process of writing my own novels.
Fare thee well, Final Fantasy; I shall never return to this series, ever again.
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