This is the Age of Steam

Final Fantasy IX Playthrough
Playtime: 01:51-04:48

One thing that I really like about FF IX is that they brought back the concept of distinct classes. In VII you can use materia to kind of mold each character into whatever you want, but independent of that everyone is pretty much identical in battle. And magic actually matters. After a while in VII, with a couple of rare exceptions, you're usually just as effective just kind of pounding away with physical attacks with maybe the occasional summon thrown in. In IX, your mages actually have to cast spells on pretty much every turn if they're going to be effective. I like the ability system for the most part as well. While you can't really get as creative as with materia, it is kind of nice to not have to micromanage it as much, and since abilities are tied to items, it gives you incentive to horde as much equipment as possible, even if you might not actually get a stat increase from what you pick up. I like the synthesis system as well, another easily understandable but engaging game mechanic.

Five hours into the game, it's occurred to me that I've retained pretty much none of the game's plot points from the first time I played it. Every locale I've been to thus far, though, has had me saying "Oh yeah, I kinda remember this." From the first time I played it, I always though the game's environments--a combination of the painted backgrounds Square relied on in VII and VIII--along with some more advanced honest-to-goodness real-time rendered scenery (allowing the camera to shift)--were one of it's strongest points. Especially after having reached Lindblum, my second playthrough has confirmed that I knew what I was talking about, and I know that some of the cooler areas are still to come. I love the steampunk-esque veneer that's built over the world's medieval fantasy base, and the sprawling city of Lindblum, with it's air trams and city gates that open with big clock tower style gears, is a great display of this.

More to come.