A Final Fantasy IX Reminiscence - My love letter and homage to one of the best stories ever told

[Ruru]

(Turn) based, but the only of the series until VII-R out i played in my life, When Moguri was final btw (recently) ! Beautifull art.

I already liked the remastered graphics but yeah, Moguri made the game even more polished.

 

[Klemc]

It's hard for me to play a turn based game, i don't, i decided to play FFIX bc of his arts, i reached the chapter after the city that looks to be in the sky, or mountain, then just after it's time to go back to the castle where we have delivered the girl earlier, it's the save point i have, i don't know at all if it's 10% of the game already but it will be later when i continue, 2025 the at least, turn based is so not my type.

Princess Garnet is doing the biggest topic about this game, for me it's the only FF that looks like an FF after 8 it became too different and i don't like those FF games, i'll play 7R ofc. For me FF is synonym of Cloud bc when everybody played 7 everybody sayd Cloud 100x a day !

 

[Ruru]

It's hard for me to play a turn based game, i don't, i decided to play FFIX bc of his arts, i reached the chapter after the city that looks to be in the sky, or mountain, then just after it's time to go back to the castle where we have delivered the girl earlier, it's the save point i have, i don't know at all if it's 10% of the game already but it will be later when i continue, 2025 the at least, turn based is so not my type.

Princess Garnet is doing the biggest topic about this game, for me it's the only FF that looks like an FF after 8 it became too different and i don't like those FF games, i'll play 7R ofc. For me FF is synonym of Cloud bc when everybody played 7 everybody sayd Cloud 100x a day !

FF VII was true Cloud gaming instead of the modern crap

Personally I like the style of almost every FF game. Hell, I even like FF XIII though many doesn't like it. Still haven't got into FF XII though.

 

[Klemc]

FF VII was true Cloud gaming instead of the modern crap

Personally I like the style of almost every FF game. Hell, I even like FF XIII though many doesn't like it. Still haven't got into FF XII though.

All those PS exclusive games are now on Steam, remastered, if all are 100 hours games you have big gaming sessions possible.

Oh i forgot Crisis Core, good but Stranger of Paradise not good.

 

[Ruru]

All those PS exclusive games are now on Steam, remastered, if all are 100 hours games you have big gaming sessions possible.

Oh i forgot Crisis Core, good but Stranger of Paradise not good.

I got Crisis Core for PS4 as it was on sale in PSN. I just hope that XVI and VII Rebirth comes to PC soon. I have something on Steam though

100%'d FF I, II, VII and VIII Remastered so they're not installed

 

[Klemc]

The FF have merged with Disney in KH, 0.2 BBS A fragmented passage looks good.

 

[Ruru]

The FF have merged with Disney in KH, 0.2 BBS A fragmented passage looks good.

I have also KH The Story so Far compilation and KH3 on PS4. Haven't played much others than the first one though, liked that already in 2002 when it was released on PS2.

 

[Hyderz]

I really hoped they remastered the rendered background… the character models are done nicely but it looks out of place with the low res rendered background . It worked back in ps1 because the character model were also low res

 

[Ruru]

I really hoped they remastered the rendered background… the character models are done nicely but it looks out of place with the low res rendered background . It worked back in ps1 because the character model were also low res

And also how that low resolution works with CRT without looking like crap. Sucks that I don't have a CRT anymore for retro gaming.

 

[Klemc]

I really hoped they remastered the rendered background… the character models are done nicely but it looks out of place with the low res rendered background . It worked back in ps1 because the character model were also low res

Remake is in the work, FF9R

I think this preset enhances a lot Moguri, i really only occasionnaly use reshade's preset, but here it's mandatory to have best render :
Gentle and vibrant

Final Fantasy IX (steam edition 2016)

sfx.thelazy.net

EDIT:

I stop the game, i'll eventually play on Deck it's atrocious 30FPS on 1440p 27" 240hz, good on Deck with Lossless Scaling (30x3=90hz ;p).
Waiting REMAKI instead!

 

[Dr. Dro]

FF VII was true Cloud gaming instead of the modern crap

Personally I like the style of almost every FF game. Hell, I even like FF XIII though many doesn't like it. Still haven't got into FF XII though.

I recommend it, Zodiac Age is XII at its finest. I 100%'d it when it re-released on PC and even ordered the Blu-ray Audio disc from Japan. You'll only about miss on the multiple hour long Yiazmat raid since Zodiac Age doesn't have a 9999 damage per attack cap

FF IX is amongst the ones I haven't yet played but this thread has been amazing! I will definitely set the time aside to play it sometime.

 

[Ruru]

I recommend it, Zodiac Age is XII at its finest. I 100%'d it when it re-released on PC and even ordered the Blu-ray Audio disc from Japan. You'll only about miss on the multiple hour long Yiazmat raid since Zodiac Age doesn't have a 9999 damage per attack cap

FF IX is amongst the ones I haven't yet played but this thread has been amazing! I will definitely set the time aside to play it sometime.

I strongly recommend IX, a true classic and one of the best games ever made. Especially one of the best PS1 games there is.

 

[Princess Garnet]

Princess Garnet is doing the biggest topic about this game...

Thanks! it's over two decades late, but it's been my favorite game since it released, so... why not I figured.

It's hard for me to play a turn based game, i don't, i decided to play FFIX bc of his arts, i reached the chapter after the city that looks to be in the sky, or mountain, then just after it's time to go back to the castle where we have delivered the girl earlier, it's the save point i have, i don't know at all if it's 10% of the game already but it will be later when i continue, 2025 the at least, turn based is so not my type.

My advice here would be not to force yourself to do something you don't enjoy.

I fall into the camp where I typically prefer turn-based combat to some degree (or at least something other than the "real time action combat" feel, which is more of a blend of RPG and an action game to me as opposed to a pure RPG, but some people do like that), but if you don't enjoy turn based, don't force it.

It sounds like the part you got to was Lindblum, where the party goes to split up for the first time before leaving, and yes Garnet goes back to Alexandria. If that's the spot, that's about two-thirds of the way through the first disc but there's a lot of side content that accompanies the game in later portions so yeah, I'd say that's about 10% to 15% of the game/story overall.

I really hoped they remastered the rendered background… the character models are done nicely but it looks out of place with the low res rendered background . It worked back in ps1 because the character model were also low res

Final Fantasy IX was never remastered, per se. What is available on Steam and consoles is more or less a port (to my understanding, the game was ported to mobile and consoles from the original source, and then that was ported to later consoles and PC), and the original backgrounds and FMVs, which are 320 x 224 mind you (!), are sort of just upscaled and filtered, and not to great results at that. We weren't seeing the "raw video output" back on lower resolution CRT TVs, but if you were emulating the game even on "only" 640x 480 of a PC CRT back then, you would already see the problem. Now imagine how much worse it is on today's resolutions and aspect ratios.

There's community efforts via the Moguri mod in particular that tries to improve on this shortcoming (and other aspects), but I'd say it merely makes that version of the game tolerable as opposed to making something good into something better. That's not to criticize the work of those who put effort into the Moguri mod, but simply to say this one thing in particular is just an inherent issue to the game. It's not even that the game itself or its "graphics" as they were intended look bad, but simply because you don't get them as intended unless you basically play on a CRT TV. At the same time, while I detest poor ports, this is a case where I don't entirely blame Squaresoft for this level of effort in porting it since it's better than not having it available on newer consoles or PC to begin with, and there was no real fix for this without actually remaking the game (at the least, in the way the Resident Evil 1 remake was done with remade background assets). But it's a strong reason why the game needs some level of remake, so hopefully that indeed ends up coming as rumored.

While it's demonstrating a hardware upscaler, here's a visual representation of everything I'm talking about, in case what I'm saying makes zero sense, haha.

My own play-through that I've been showing here is emulating the original PlayStation version, and I'm using CRT filters, so my presentation here will look different from the current Steam version.

Edit: I made some comparisons of my own, but you'll need to view these full size.

The first two images show how I have it configured for my play-through. Again, this is the original PlayStation copy through emulation (via DuckStation).

For whatever reason, video captures of this end up with very slight "Red" and "Blue" alternating vertical lines. I presume this is because the video isn't capturing the CRT shader post processing perfectly, but it doesn't ruin it so oh well.

Here's the same configuration minus the CRT filter.

And finally, here's the same configuration, but instead of "keeping the 3D, downscaling the 2D" which DuckStation can do, here it is without downscaling whatsoever. in other words, this one is basically "raw graphics output" at a higher resolution than it was ever intended. Yes, it looks bad.

But at 320 x 224 and on a CRT, it looked fine. It looked (sort of) like the first one, albeit it with lower resolution 3D models.

The PC/modern console versions basically that that last one and filter it. The Moguri mod takes that and tries to improve it with AI upscaling, manual touchups, sharper filtering, and adding widescreen support.

 

[Princess Garnet]

Act IX - The Aftermath, The Response, and a Trap

After the destruction in Alexandria, Zidane awakes many days later to find himself all the way in Lindblum. He's in the castle and alone, but runs into Blank.

He heads up towards the top of the castle to look for Garnet and finds her there again. (Gameplay related, but now that the mist is gone, many of the locations have had their art changed to reflect this, and even some NPCs remark on this, and it's a subtle if important world building detail.)

Zidane remarks that they just went through a lot, but that "he's alright", and while this may seem like he's only thinking of himself on the surface, what he's really trying to do is take Garnet's mind off the more serious stuff that just happened. He even teases her about her earlier promised date with him for winning the Festival of the Hunt, but then figures she's mad at him and has a lot on her mind when she doesn't respond. He picks up on the fact that there is no taking her mind off of what just happened, and heads back down to the castle, where he runs into Blank again, who then informs him Regent Cid would like to meet with him.

He meets in the conference room to find the rest of the party there, sans Garnet. Zidane says that she's probably up by the telescope (the "probably" is likely because you have the option to skip that encounter running into her), and Eiko runs off to get her.

Garnet is shown alone and in thought atop the overlook. She's blaming herself for.... everything. She's in disbelief at the loss of her kingdom, the loss of her people, and blaming herself for getting everyone involved in her problems, and blaming herself for being unable to stop them. She's second guessing every last decisions she made. She blames herself for "only bringing misery" to everyone.

As a recap on everything she's going through, the last disc or so has increasingly been focusing on Garnet's struggle. To this point, she spent her entire life (that she remembered from the age of six) as a Princess. Her father passed some years ago, her mother started changing, and she took it upon herself to run away from home (including the training necessary to do so) to seek help. She then gets kidnapped on her birthday by a group of thieves, and one in particular along with this little Black mage accompanies her to Lindblum. Along the way, she finds out more about what her kingdom and mother is up to, and then her mother sets out on a path of destruction after her. She returns home, only to be imprisoned and to have her eidolons stripped from her. Her mother is still on a path of destruction; Burmecia has been attacked and Cleyra has been completely wiped off the map... with Garnet's own powers. She escapes again, and they decide to go after Kuja, thinking he's ultimately responsible for it all. She leaves to a new continent and finds a world of surprise; a mysterious tree is responsible for the mist, and a village in ruins ends up being the truth to who she even is! She then watches her mother continue her path of destruction, only to meet her end to Kuja. She takes over responsibility of her kingdom, thinking she can change things, only to watch everything immediately go worse.

To say her entire life has flipped upside down in the course of, what, a month or so (?), is an understatement.

Back in the conference room, Steiner remarks at the loss of Alexandria. Minister Artania, not to take away from the tragedy of it but to enlighten Steiner that loss is global now, reminds him that Lindblum is still rebuilding from an attack by Alexandria.

With all four major kingdoms having been attacked, they wonder what Kuja's ambitions are. Zidane wants to skip worrying about "why" and jump to what they should do, but Amarant reminds him that Kuja is way beyond their powers to directly approach, so they will need a plan.

Regent Cid informs him that while they were all escaping Alexandria, he witnessed Kuja leaving onboard the Hilda Garde 1. He also informs them that there were Black mages onboard, and ones that were talking. Vivi is upset, knowing these must be the Black mages from Black Mage Village.

Doctor Tot arrives, having been requested to join them. After some relief on his part to see everyone alright, Eiko runs in interrupting. She informs them that something is wrong with Garnet; that she has lost her voice.

Zidane originally intends to go to her alone, but the rest want to come along, so they postpone the meeting. In the castle guest room, they find Garnet and she has indeed lost her voice. Doctor Tot remarks that it must be due to her grief, and that there's no telling how long it might last.

It's here that some players get upset with Garnet. It's because this grief stricken state has gameplay implications. Garnet can no longer enter trance, but that's not a big deal. What's an important deal is that Garnet will just randomly fail her turns because she "can't concentrate". The good thing is, Garnet isn't entirely required as the party is mostly together from this point forward (there are some splits, but you still choose who to bring), and the game isn't hard, and due to something I won't say just yet, this is easy to work around. I personally like that the game reinforces her struggles, but "hey, I'm in a battle and either my friends or I need healed and I just can't concentrate" seems... a bit random. Maybe if she was just unusable in battle entirely, it'd be more consistent and believable? As I remarked earlier before, expect to see me keep her in the party (and with Zidane) despite this. It's... not that hard to deal with.

Moving on, Zidane is more determined to find Kuja and "kick his butt" after witnessing the results of his actions. He meets back with Regent Cid on his own, but his mind isn't the same as an oglop. Doctor Tot floats the idea of a potion that "might" be able to make him human again, and Zidane heads into town to see if he can find the necessary ingredients for it.

While he's out finding the ingredients, Freya catches up with some Burmecians from Burmecia, and they discuss their rebuilding efforts. In town, Zidane also runs into some Burmecians who have started a family (this only occurs if you save a particular Burmecian from death while in Burmecia earlier).

After finding the necessary ingredients, Zidane returns to the castle and they attempt to use the potion. While it changes Regent Cid from an oglop, what it turns him into is not back to human, but to a frog! They decide there's no other way than to find the one who cast the spell on him in the first place, and that's Lady Hilda.

The entire party meets back with Regent Cid now, but without an airship, they have limited ideas on how to search for either Kuja or Hilda. Regent Cid then informs him that they obtained a ship, the Blue Narciss, while in Alexandria. It's not an airship, but a ship is better than nothing. Given that Black mages were spotted with Kuja, they decide to head back to Black Mage Village first...

The events described in Black Mage Village are pretty short and occur between 1:53 and 8:50, and I'd recommend watching this part in particular as we get some more important scenes with Vivi (as well as cute chocobo ones!).

In Black Mage Village, the party finds it is mostly deserted, but Vivi finds at least one Black mage that remained behind, and he finds him in the cemetery. The Black Mage informs them that the others have found out about their limited lifespan. Kuja promised them a way to extend their life if they followed him, and most of them were tricked by this offering. They ask where Kuja went with them, but the Black Mage refuses to tell them, saying he'd be betraying them. He does say that two others have stayed behind to look after the chocobo egg.

So Vivi heads off towards the chocobo shack to speak with the other two that remained behind, and Zidane runs after him. Outside the shack, Vivi is calling out to anyone who may be inside, but instead they greeted to a "kweh" sound!? The door flies open, and a Black Mage remarks "it is born", only to be surprised to see Vivi and Zidane there, so it runs back inside. Vivi and Zidane run in after it, and are greeted with the new baby chocobo! It's so cute!

Vivi asks why they stayed behind, and they say they didn't want to leave the egg unattended. The two Black Mages seem ecstatic by witnessing and experiencing the birth of life. When trying to come up with a name, they even start "feeling funny". Welcome to emotions, little guys! Again, this part focuses not just on Vivi's arc, but on the overarching theme of life, death, and finding your place in life. This moment is focusing on life, or birth specifically. But it's also touching on these created instruments have their own emotions.

Outside the shack, Vivi finds the other Black Mage that was previously at the cemetery, and has a pretty heart to heart discussion with him. Zidane looks on.

Vivi "...You stayed behind because you were worried about the chocobo egg."

Black Mage #288 "...I don't know."

Black Mage 288 "I wanted to follow Kuja because I was scared of dying."

Black Mage 288 "But I couldn't... I felt like I was leaving something important behind."

Vivi "..."

Vivi "I wanna ask you something."

Black Mage #288 "What is it?"

Vivi "A-Am I gonna stop pretty soon, too?"

(Oh my goodness, Vivi!)

Black Mage #288 "I don't know..."

Black Mage #288 "Kuja said the prototype built before us would last longer."

Vivi "But... I am gonna stop eventually."

(Oh my goodness again!)

Vivi "...I was really confused when my grandpa died."

(Remember that Vivi's "grandpa" is the Qu [Quina's species] named Quan that found him near Treno when he fell off a cargo ship.)

Vivi "He told me, 'Vivi, no be sad.' So I told myself, I can't be said."

Vivi "That's why I felt confused again when I heard that everyone was stopping around here."

Vivi "I didn't know what to do or what to feel..."

Vivi "But when I saw Garnet crying when her mom died, I wasn't confused anymore."

Vivi "I was sad..."

Vivi "If I were just a puppet, I never would've felt that way."

Vivi "Mr. 288... we aren't puppets. I know we aren't."

Vivi "... I hate him."

Vivi "I hate Kuja! He's turning everyone into puppets just to kill people!"

Vivi "If it weren't for him, I know everyone would understand someday."

Vivi "It's not fair..."

Zidane "Vivi..."

Black Mage #288 "...Kuja's secret palace is on the Eastern side of this continent."

Black Mage #288 "It's buried under quicksand. You'll need a ship to get there."

Vivi "Thanks..."

Black Mage #288 "I hope we can become strong like you someday."

The Black mage then walks off...

This scene is pretty powerful! First we learn of Vivi's process in discovering his emotions, and how his grandpa's well intended advice led him to try and mask them. He associated "don't be sad for my death" with "being sad for loss or death, or maybe even emotions as a whole, is wrong". We then learn how he continued to experience and develop these emotions during events in the game, such as the scenes on the cargo ship where he watched a Black Waltz attack the other Black mages, as well as Garnet's response to her mother's death. He then learned it's okay to be sad at loss, and that his emotions are real, and that they make him more than just a "puppet", despite his intended purpose when he was created. Keep... that... in mind! The "original purpose" and how one deals with it. There's at least a couple of other parallels to this type of situation who deal with it in very different ways than Vivi is now uncovered later in the game (which I obviously won't say just yet for spoiler reasons).

Outside the shack, there's some more powerful moments though I'll summarize this one. Garnet, who also overheard the conversation, is again shown beating herself up, and is comparing her inability to deal with her problems the same way Vivi is facing his head on. Eiko even remarks that "Vivi sure has grown up", referring to him as a "crybaby", and this is also an example (if subtle) of Eiko's struggle too; a struggle of constantly trying to casually fit in and feel more mature (because she feels alone and is a child).

It focuses mostly on Vivi's struggle but we get glimpses at a few others, which is why I suggested watching this part.

Having a clue of Kuja's whereabouts, the party decides to head to the Eastern part of the continent, and within a desert, they find some quicksand holes. Within one is Kuja's palace, but they find themselves having fallen for one of Kuja's traps...

Zidane awakens in a small circular room with Regent Cid. He hears Kuja, who informs them that he has them all imprisoned, and that each room has them over lava, with a floor that can be opened. With this threat hanging over them, he blackmails Zidane into doing an errand for him.

The following moments of meeting Kuja happen between 15:57 and 18:50.

Kuja "Welcome to my humble abode."

Zidane "Just cut to the chase and tell me what the hell you want!"

Kuja "My, we're upset, aren't we? Well, this is your errand..."

Kuja "I want you to go somewhere and bring something back for me."

Zidane "So, tell me what it is already, you demon!"

Kuja "I'd watch my mouth if I were you."

Kuja "Surely, you haven't forgotten that I hold your friends' lives in my hands."

Zidane "Grr!"

Kuja "I'm going to send you to a place called Oeilvert."

Zidane "Where's that?"

Kuja "Oeilvert is South of the Seaways Canyon on the Forgotten Continent."

Kuja "It really isn't my kind of place."

Zidane "What do you mean by that?"

Kuja "You see, there's an anti-magic barrier around the place."

Kuja "And I want to send you because you're too stupid to use magic."

Kuja "Once there, I want you to retrieve the Gulug Stone for me."

Kuja "What do you say? isn't it a simple task?"

Kuja then offers to transport him there, and even grants him companionship with a few of his friends, because "nobody likes fighting himself". (There's an enemy here that that creates images of your party members, but this will never be shown because it's a stone type enemy that summons them, and they have a reliable instant defeat method with an item, and I utilize this, so I wanted to explain Kuja's remark with that.)

You're given the option to choose three party members to join you, and you want to keep in mind the "anti-magic" barrier Kuja referenced. I bring Garnet despite this for a few reasons. Her distressed state makes her unreliable anyway, so I'd rather leave the stronger, more reliable healer behind (as you'll also be having a separate party left behind). This is also why I leave Vivi behind. Amarant is pretty strong, as is Steiner, so I bring them for the other two. But I usually bring different people every time I play.

Zidane and his chosen friends are then transported via the Hilda Garde 1 to the Forgotten continent. On the way, Zidane tries to ask the Black mages piloting if they can truly trust Kuja, trying to get through to them, but they don't answer. It's then shown that Zorn and Thorn are onboard and working with Kuja now! They mock Zidane and find delight in how easy it was to trick the Black Mages to do their bidding as pawns, serving one purpose only and to be easily discarded after that, and Zidane tells them he doesn't think they are any different.

On the Forgotten Continent, Zidane and his party make their way to Oeilvert. This is a... pretty different location from anywhere else we've been thus far. Earlier in this thread, I gave some backstory on the world and setting of the game, and listed many of the events leading up to the events of the game itself, but as a first time player, you won't know most of these events yet. Namely, I'm referring to all of the stuff with Terra. It's here that this first formally starts getting hinted at, so if you want to see it, the portions of Oeilvert cover from 34:29 to 53:00 (minus the boss battle).

Upon entering the place, any magic commands are inaccessible. Vivi's Black Magic, Garnet's White magic and summoning, etc. Since Garnet is unreliable for this portion anyway, I mostly treat this as a party of three and sometimes use her for item reviving and healing attempts. As I said, she stays with the "main" party and with Zidane for me almost all of the time regardless!

You immediately notice inside that this place is very different than most other places on Gaia. It also has chests that look different; Blue and ornate instead of the usual fantasy wooden style. The only other time we've seen this thus far was at the Iifa Tree. I remarked back then that there was a reason for that, and the reason is this; this place isn't native to Gaia. Before the events of the game, I listed that a planet called Terra attempted to merge with Gaia, and the results were disastrous. Terra ended up inside Gaia, and some places of Terra ended up on the surface of Gaia. This is one such place, as the game will start to show.

As they wander around, they see reflections and recordings.

One shows a planet, and it is accompanied by script that none of them can read, but Zidane starts citing words. He states "Mother" and "Terra" here, the first time (I think) Terra is formally mentioned by the game. The others wonder how he can read it, but he states that he can't actually make it out, and that the words instead speak to him, but he's confused by it.

Another shows recordings of airships through various stages of history, some of them being referred to "Invincible" and "still in use".

Another recording is the most thorough so far. It shows a city that flourished at first, but then began to decline. There were multiple cities over this place called Terra at its peak, but then they all began to decline. The image of the planet is shown losing its cities, and the Red glow from the center grows dull...

They then come upon a pretty strange room made up of stone faces along the walls. Many are detoriared and partially remaining; others are gone entirely.

They begin hearing something, and Amarant (if he's with you) amusingly asks it "what's your problem, punk" assuming a battle stance, which I find funny. What are you going to do to a stone talking face, Amarant, haha.

It then starts communicating with them in a way they understand, and refers to them as "visitors" and instructs them onto a platform. While on it, multiple faces activate at different times, and communicate with them.

Visitors, listen well...

This is the record of our civilizations.

The seeds' decline was not our fault...

All vegetation and... vessels... died out...

The decay of our Terra... triggered it all...

In order to stop the decay, many methods were considered...

Ultimately, the best mind's of Terra's civilization gathered...

Then, a final resuscitation was attempted on the mother continent...

Unfortunately, it ended in failure...

It was later discovered to have been the catalyst... Subjects were selected...

After four tremendous sacrifices, eternal prosperity seemed within reach...

Flora and fauna were revived, but... is still in stasis.

Final results... are still pending...

In order that our glorious history not die with us, we were constructed...

So that's... pretty cryptic and confusing stuff with the knowledge you'll have up until this point in the game. This "four nations at war" stage the game's largely focused on just got blown wide open.

The party, understandably, can't make heads nor tails of it, but decide they need to focus on their task to save their friends.

A later vision shows a planet with a Red moon. Zidane remarks that "it looks like that other planet", referring to the one it's been showing thus far. A second planet is then shown with a Blue moon. They then overlap, and both moons remain. The game is really trying to tell you something more is going on behind the curtains here (and if you read my post describing the events before the game, what this is obviously alluding to is the process of Terra and Gaia merging). And given what the wall of faces explained, this place was constructed on Terra to be a recording of their history, and ended up on Gaia's surface after the failed merging process.

The party eventually travels down into the depths of Oeilvert and finds the Gulug Stone. They are ambushed, of course, by Ark, but defeat it. It drops a Pummice Piece, and I'll explain this since it's not really a story item or a story element that gets covered later, nor is it something that spoils anything at all, so I'll go ahead and mention it. This Ark you just fought is actually an eidolon, and you can obtain it in a transformed state later (for Garnet) by getting a pair of Pumice Pieces and combining them. It's her strongest summon (since Alexander is never obtainable, or else it would be).

With that out of the way, they get the Gulug Stone and head back to Kuja.

Back at the Desert Palace, however, we learn all is not well! Kuja has not kept his promise to not harm Zidane's remaining friends. He informs them an hourglass has been set, and when all of its sand reaches the bottom in ten minutes, all of the floors of their rooms will fully open.

Regent Cid, having been let out when Zidane was let out (and then forgotten, as he's only a frog, I guess?), decides he needs to save them. A "Red light, Green light" type of mini-game occurs here and it's not all that hard, but it can be easy to mess up (I think it's harder these days with the delays LCD displays have too, because this seemed just a tad closer on timing than I remember, but you're given way more than ample timing so patience at the cost of it taking longer can win out here).

Having saved the others, the remaining members that were left behind forms their own and begins making their way through Kuja's Desert Palace.

This video is pretty short and the first half just shows the party making their way through the desert palace itself, fighting a boss at the "end", and then Zidane's return. So feel free to jump past the first half to around 15:44 up until 19:15 for the only major story related part of this one. The before and after are just gameplay stuff you can skip.

Zidane and his party arrive and Kuja instructs Zidane to meet with him... alone. He does so, and Zidane asks to see proof of his friends unharmed before he hands over the Gulug Stone. Kuja tells him to see for himself by looking through a cage he has within his room (this guy's a creep!) where Zidane spots them all unconscious.

Just then, the other three remaining members are shown waiting outside, and another teleporter activates, showing the other four members arriving? Show who's in the cage!?

Everyone else decides to rush in to join Zidane, but the door closes before Eiko makes it in. She turns around to walk away, and Zorn and Thorn are shown approaching her...

Back in Kuja's room, everyone but Eiko and Regent Cid have joined Zidane. It's revealed the four in the cage are fake, as Kuja expected the others to have died. Eiko and Regent Cid are then heard being taken captive, and during commotion, Kuja lifts the Gulug stone from Zidane with his magic, and flees through a teleporter.

They decide to chase after him, figuring he will be fleeing on the Hilda Garde 1. They make their way to the Blue Narciss, and tail him to the Lost Continent. They seem him making his way to a structure there, and decide to follow after him. They figure Kuja may be interested in Eiko for the same reason he and Brahne were for Garnet... her eidolons.

 

[Hyderz]

Speaking of upscaling and i discovered this

I think it makes ff9 more complete... the idiots at square enix could have done this....

 

[Klemc]

Speaking of upscaling and i discovered this

I think it makes ff9 more complete... the idiots at square enix could have done this....

It's not complete without the Reshade preset, just disable CA btw:

A Final Fantasy IX Reminiscence - My love letter and homage to one of the best stories ever told

(Turn) based, but the only of the series until VII-R out i played in my life, When Moguri was final btw (recently) ! Beautifull art. I already liked the remastered graphics but yeah, Moguri made the game even more polished.

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Princess Garnet]

Act X - Discovery of Another World...

Having followed Kuja to the Forgotten Continent, the rest of the party finds their way is Esto Gaza in search of Kuja and Eiko.

A personal note I'll make here is that the music for this location sounds decidedly Final Fantasy VIII-esque to me (and not in a bad way). While it fits in with this game, and is good regardless, I can't help but get a Final Fantasy VIII feel from this location and soundtrack compared to the rest in the game.

Esto Gaza is pretty unusual in that it's not quite a traditional village but is more of a structure with a small tourist draw, and its prime appeal is that it overlooks the Shimmering Island which has spiritual connotations. Speaking to others here, it's clear they see it as some gateway and path between which souls travel.

The party makes their way inside in a hurried fashion, but Vivi trips (poor Vivi!). A bishop inside finds them rude, referring to them as "beggars". It's disclosed that Kuja and an army of Black Mages brazenly just make their way through, and he associates Vivi with them. Zidane expresses that it's important they find out of Kuja came through with Eiko, as her life may be in a danger, and the bishop merely replies that "all life is equal", seemingly contrasting Zidane's emphasis on Eiko's life in this moment. The bishop informs them that they headed towards Mount Gulug, and the purpose of the recently obtained Gulug Stone that Kuja had you fetch may now be answered. (In fact, you can even visit Esto Gaza if you happen to find it during exploration before coming here during this mandatory portion, but Mount Gulug will be sealed off.) Mount Gulug is an extinct volcano, and it used to have a race of mole people inhabiting it.

The party sets off after Kuja and makes their way through the caverns and ruins of of Mount Gulug. Nearing the bottom, they spot Kuja and Black mages, along with Zorn and Thorn seemingly performing the extraction ritual on an unconscious Eiko. Garnet is particular is distraught, and goes to rush in, but Zidane stops her, telling her they have to do it together and with a plan. They begin making their way further down.

The extraction, however, isn't going according to plan. There seems to be some interruption. Zorn and Thorn blame one another for the failure, and Kuja's patience with both of them is thin. Zorn and Thorn inform Kuja that the extraction process poses a risk to her life if they continue the attempt, as she is not sixteen years of age (the apparent reasoning of her grandpa's request not to leave the village until she is that old being explained here), but Kuja tells them that this is of no concern to him and to continue. Kuja claims that he "needs an eidolon more powerful than Alexander" and "one powerful enough to bury Garland". He claims that Garland's powers are so far above his, and Kuja himself seems pretty powerful. Kuja states he must stop Garland "before Terra's plan succeeds" or else "his soul will no longer be his". He seems to be on borrowed time?

So Kuja is indeed after Eiko for her eidolons, and apparently he's not on good terms with Garland and wants to attempt to use the ediolons to close their power disparity, but details beyond that, such as who Garland is and what "Terra's plan" might be, are still shrouded in mystery. But the game has started shifting away from the stage it set with a world of nations in conflict where Kuja was pulling strings from behind the curtain, and it's about to really put the gas down and things are going to start coming fast (and hard...).

As they attempt to start again, what was previously interfering with the process makes itself known; it's Mog, Eiko's moogle! Thinking it is "just her pet moogle", Kuja tells them to simply "kill the runt", before walking off with the Black mages while Eiko begins to regain consciousness. Zorn and Thorn again approach Eiko and Mog, and Eiko instructs Mog to hide behind her. Mog, typically a cowardly moogle, instead defends her and stands before her. Mog then "thanks her for everything" and informs her she will "always be with her".

Zidane and the party are rushing down and hear Eiko yell Mog's name, before a flash of light interrupts them and Mog starts glowing. Zorn and Thorn attack, and it is then revealed that Mog is no moogle, but Mog is her guardian eidolon! Mog, or rather Maideen, easily dispatches both Zorn and Thorn alone.

The rest of the party finally make their way down to join Eiko, and while she is alright, she is in shock as to what she has just learned.

Kuja is then shocked that a "moogle went into Trance!?" and figures an eruption of anger allowed it to achieve this. Kuja then states that "he simply needs a powerful soul, even if it's not his own" and then remarks "it can be found there" before conducting his routine maniacal laughter. He then says he is "done with you" to Zidane, before walking off, but not before reviving "the twins", who he claims "aren't twins at all".

Vivi runs after him due to his concern of the Black mages, but the rest of the party is interrupted by Zorn and Thorn, who have now merged into a single monstrosity, the Meltigemini. Is this there true form? Is this Kuja's magic? Forced into battle, they finally get to take their revenge on these... two (?) or one (?), I don't know, haha.

After defeating them, the party is approached by Vivi with some Black mages.

Kuja had gotten away, and Vivi is distraught. The Black mages knew Kuja was lying and up to no good, but went with him anyway. He mocked them that their lives can't be extended, and that they were fools for putting faith in him.

One of the Black mages apologizes, and they go to sit with the rest. Vivi goes to join them, and when Zidane asks him where he's going, Vivi simply remarks that he's going to sit with them, as it's all he can offer them.

Zidane is furious at Kuja, but just then, a voice of a woman is heard on the other side of a door. Who would be down here? Zidane and the others make their way to investigate, and they find a formally dressed, and formally spoken, woman. She merely asks them 'where that Kuja has gone", and Zidane tells her that he left. She expresses gratitude for "chasing him away". Garnet then approaches, and the lady believes she recognizes her, claiming she "hasn't seen her for ages" and that "she's grown". She asks why garnet would be in such a dreadful place, which has Zidane turn the exact same question on her, and asks who she is.

Regent Cid then enters, and remarks that this is Lady Hilda! Hilda, however, remarks she never remembers marrying a toad, and turns her back on him. While she eventually recognizes him, it's clear she's upset with him. When he requests for her to return with him to the castle though, she agrees, but states that she surrendered the Hilda Garde 1 airship to Kuja (explaining how he got it). Cid states that he doesn't care about that, but cares about her. They wonder what she knows of Kuja, and she agrees to share everything once they are back in Lindblum.

Back in Lindblum, Cid and Hilda are shown together and alone in the throne room.

Cid asks if Kuja harmed her, and she remarks that while he wasn't a kind sort of person, he was nothing but polite to her. She contrasts this with how Cid was a "skirt chaser" and cheated on her. She states that he wasn't shy to "talk a lot" and tell her "everything". Yeah, we're dealing with a narcissist here. Kuja figured it wouldn't matter if she knew.

She shares that Kuja claims he is not of this world (!), and that he wants to use Gaia as a means to achieve a greater power (the latter of which we already just learned from Kuja himself). Cid states that they must share this information, and anything else she knows, with Zidane.

He then requests for her to turn him back to his old human self, stating that he risked his life to go back after her to save her. She wonders if he only did it for the airship, but he apologizes and states his devotion is to her. We then get a nod to the "kiss the frog to turn him human" idea as Cid is turned back into himself. Although he, uh... seems to have some trouble adjusting to speaking normally again.

When I first was playing the game, I found the idea of a Regent who would cheat on his beloved a bit... something that should be beneath him, I guess? But then I came to realize how flawed this game actually makes almost all of its characters, and how that makes it so much more relatable despite being, you know... a high fantasy work of fiction. It doesn't matter who they are or what their position is; everyone has their struggles and flaws.

After being turned back into a human, we got a lovely scene of the two of them embracing.

The next day, Zidane is shown waking up in the castle guest room. Dreaming about Garnet, huh? (This went completely over my innocent mind when I was younger.) A guard is waking him and informs him Cid is requesting a meeting with him.

In the conference room, they are surprised to see Cid in human form. Hilda then explains that she will inform them of everything she knows regarding Kuja. Steiner remarks that Garnet isn't present, and heads out to find her. Cid states that he plans to begin work on the Hilda Garde III, using the Blue Narciss as a foundation for it.

She repeats what she told Cid about how Kuja intends to use Gaia as a means to acquire a greater power, and how he isn't of this world, which shocks everyone. She remarks that their world is Gaia, but that Kuja called his world Terra. Uh oh...

Steiner begins looking in town for Garnet, and comes upon the Tantalus hideout. At first he's unsure of trusting them, but they offer to help him find her, which has him come around and express his gratitude towards them. Steiner's changed a lot...

Back in the meeting, Hilda states that Terra is connected to Gaia via the Shimmering Island. So this religious connotation is formed upon something after all. (And if you remember the history where Terra attempted merging with Gaia and that it resulted with the former inside the latter, this Shimmering Island acts as the gateway between the two.) They figure if they can get to Terra, they might find Kuja, or at least more answers. However, access to Terra via the Shimmering Island isn't readily available, as it's been sealed. Amarant isn't surprised, as of course it wouldn't be that easy, and others would have discovered it by now if there was an active link. The place where the seal is is in an old castle on the Forgotten Continent, and while this isn't its formal name, they decide to name it Ipsen's Castle, after an ancient and legendary adventurer (and the same one Zidane recited a story of to Garnet in Madain Sari).

They decide to make their next destination and wait for Cid to finish construction of the Hilda Garde III. In the meantime, Steiner returns and informs them, and Zidane in particular, that he can't find Garnet anywhere in Lindblum. Notice how he, a knight, is delivering news to Zidane personally now, when he couldn't even trust him before? Zidane figures that if she isn't in Lindblum, there's only one place he can think of where she might be. The first time I was playing, I thought she was in Lindblum but at that spot again, but Zidane thinks she's returned to Alexandria, so he heads back there.

Tantalus is shown looking for her, but they don't find her there either.

Baku approaches, who states he was looking for Zidane. Zidane asks if he found Garnet, and he states he hasn't, but that he did find "that chick" (come on Baku, really, haha). He says he's going to check again, and Zidane follows him. This turns out to be Beatrix, who has survived and is well. After a pretty funny moment of Zidane trying to catch her, she comes across Baku, who remarks that "he was the one who abducted her Princess". In response, she states it was a long time ago and that it's best to forget it. Zidane then catches up with the two of them.

Zidane tells her that Garnet is in shock, and Beatrix says it's best for her to stay away from Alexandria and not see it in its current state if that is the case. Zidane then states that they can't find her, and thought she might be back in Alexandria. Beatrix states that if she is back in Alexandria, she's like in the "resting place". Beatrix asks a favor of Zidane, and that is to tell her not to worry about Alexandria and to take care of herself first, and to give her something, which ends up being a garnet. Zidane heads to the "resting place", which turns out to be Brahne's grave.

The remainder of this starts at 54:39 in the video, and we get introduced to a "new" Queen... again!

Zidane approaches, and Garnet is indeed there. I'll reference this part by direct quote.

Zidane "I've been looking for you, Garnet."

Garnet "Zidane!"

Zidane "You can talk again!?"

Garnet nods.

Garnet "I... I've been thinking since... the disaster."

Garnet "I've been thinking that I have to become a Queen and bring back peace to Alexandria."

Garnet "That's why I came back here, but..."

Garnet "Can I stay with you guys for a while longer?"

Zidane "Can I ask why?"

Garnet "When my mother was still alive..."

Garnet "My primary concern was how to talk and look like a Princess."

Garnet "Those were the only things on my mind."

Garnet "That didn't change when my mother died and I was about to become a Queen..."

Garnet "I only thought about how to look and act like a Queen."

Garnet "I don't think the people will accept me as their Queen the way I am right now."

Zidane "I don't know about that."

Garnet "I have no right to rule over this country..."

Zidane "Hmm..."

Zidane "Oh! I almost forgot!"

Zidane "Beatrix wanted me to give this to you."

Zidane throws the garnet to her.

Garnet "Is this... a garnet?"

Zidane "That's right... isn't it pretty?"

Garnet "It's beautiful..."

Zidane "That gem used to be just another ordinary stone..."

Zidane "The stone made a wish..."

Zidane "'I want to shine!'"

Zidane "The stone traveled from person to person, in keeping with its wish..."

Zidane "And now, its shining in your hand, Garnet."

Zidane "If you're willing to make an effort..."

Zidane "You'll sine, too, someday!"

Zidane "The day will come when Alexandria needs you!"

Zidane "There's no rush. The important thing is to have the desire."

Garnet "Thanks..."

Garnet "I have to apologize for using you guys as an excuse to run away from my responsibilities..."

Zidane "Hey, what's important is that you honestly want to stay with us..."

Garnet nods.

Garnet "Zidane... ?"

Garnet "Can i borrow that knife again... ?"

Zidane "Which one?"

Garnet "The one that helped me make my last big decision..."

(She's referring to using his dagger as her canonical alias earlier in the game.)

Garnet then takes his dagger, flips it into the air (!), and catches it.

Garnet "I'm borrowing this!"

Garnets run off down the stairs.

Garnet "Zidane..."

Garnet "Remember the way I was... for me."

She then runs off towards the same location where she overlooked the castle after her mother's death, and cuts her hair!

Here's my reaction when I watched this the first time.

"No! No, no, no! No no no no no don't do it! Not the hair!"

Obviously it can grow back, but still.

She then does it, turns around, and smiles, and...

"Okay, do it again!"

I've said it before, but this game has a way of leaving an emotional impact with how it presents itself. Just witnessing what she went through for the last disc and a half (or really, the whole game and even before that), only to see her finally smile after all that, changed my reaction in an instant.

In case the moment is lost here, Garnet's referring to how her whole life, she was only preoccupied with living up to her role. And that despite her mother's death, she continued doing this; it may have shifted from acting like a Princess to a Queen, but that the same focus applied. She realizes this mistake, and wants to rid herself of this "formality first, image only" approach, and to "find herself", and the cutting of her hair is symbolic in that she is shedding this old part of her (as well as overcoming her guilt and depression). Her request to stay with them is to help find herself, and because she actually enjoys their companionship, and isn't doing it just as a means to some other goal. She's grown a lot and I'm soooo proud of seeing this after those depressing portions! She's not looking to abandon her position, however, and she's one of the few examples in the series of a royal figure where she actually questions her status. This isn't a series where royal figures are a rarity, either.

The other upside is that Garnet is back to being reliable insofar as gameplay goes, as her turns no longer have a chance to fail, and she can enter Trance again. Yay!

Some time later, the Hilda Garde IIi is completed in Lindblum, and party gets back together to make their next move. With the Hilda Garde III for transport, they can use it to access Ipsen's Castle, and decide to head there to gain access to Terra through the Shimmering Island.

I love this part of the game. You now have even more freedom than you did with the Blue Narciss, and even more options open up. The story has finally reached some semblance of a cheery tone after all that darkness... although things are anything but peaceful and safe as long as the risk of Kuja remains.

I run around and talk to all the characters on the airship, and this gives a good insight as to how they are feeling. Garnet realizes she can't stay depressed forever! But one of the others is who the story will more focus on for this next portion...

Arriving at Ipsen's Castle, they find a very strange structure. It looks like a mirrored, simultaneously right-side up and upside-down, castle! This is one of my favorite places in the game (well... that's most of them, haha), and just like Oeilvert, it's unique and has some gameplay implications. You might notice I change weapons on a number of characters before entering it, and the reason for this I'll describe in a moment, as the castle itself hints at this shortly after you enter. Ipsen's Castle, by the way, is also like Oeilvert in that it is a location that shifted to Gaia's surface from Terra. These are often places with shifted gameplay rules, too. It's fitting how well the game does some of these things.

Before even entering though... we have a problem! It seems Amarant is determined to prove that Zidane's way has a weakness; that he "bothers carrying dead weight all the time", and he thinks he can accomplish more alone. He wants to prove this to Zidane by seeing who can reach the seal first. Zidane decides he can't stop him if that's what he wants, and Amarant heads off on his own.

Heading up a very long staircase to the "middle" of this right-side up, upside-down stricture, the party makes their way inside. The first room has a few clues for you right off the bat, one of which will become a recurring clue in case it's not obvious to you right away (and it most likely won't be; in fact I didn't even pick up on it at all on my first play-through). In a chest is a Dagger... the most basic of Zidane's weapons, and there is also the following note...

Do not be restricted by your knowledge and experience. This place turns logic upside down. What's big is small, what's strong is weak, and heaven is earth.

So it's clearly suggesting that "more is less"... or inversely, that less may be more. This isn't a broad rule, however, and applies to something in particular that you might not pick up right away. Physical attackers will be weaker with stronger weapons. This rule does not apply for magic, however. The game includes continued hints of this by repeatedly offering the very basic weapon for every character throughout the castle.

I, uh... somehow make it to the seal without running into a single random encounter! Not sure how! (There's supposedly ways to exploit the behaviors of the encounter rate and guarantee you never come across any [from what I remember, the RNG that determines if you have an encounter resets after you stop moving or something, so repeatedly stopping and going basically removes the chances of them], but I don't play like that, so going that long without seeing one is... unusual in this game where random encounters are pretty common.) When I get there, however, I find that Amarant has gotten there first! (This is scripted to always happen, by the way.) Amarant boasts that he won, and that he lost no time being slowed down by others. Zidane, you really should have pressed him that although he beat you there, he was unable to figure the seals out! But Amarant says that is no longer his concern, and that he has proven to himself that he doesn't need help, so he decides to leave the party! He tells Zidane they may be enemies the next time they meet...

Amarant wanders off, and Zidane approaches the seals. There's four of them on a map of the world, and Zidane inspects them all.

"My power is protected behind a tornado" reads the Wind Mirror.

"My power is protected underwater, surrounded by the earth" reads the Water Mirror.

"My power is protected high atop a fiery mountain" reads the Fire Mirror.

"My power is protected under the shaking ground" reads the Earth Mirror.

As with in Oeilvert, only Zidane can make this out.

With the four mirrors in possession, the party decides to leave until they are attacked by a creature, who states that the "energy flow to Terra is interrupted" and asks if they dare stand in the way of "Terra's master plan". The creature is Taharka, and is a guardian of the mirrors, and attacks them for intervening. After defeating it, it states that they will never break the seal anyway, and that "one is all, all is one".

The make their way out of the castle, and the group that remained outside informs Zidane that he came out first, and that Amarant never came out. Zidane is surprised, since Amarant beat them to the seal and clearly left well ahead of them. He decides to go back in and look for him... alone.

Not far inside, he finds Amarant wounded. Amarant is confused as to why Zidane came back for him, especially since he stated they might even be enemies the next time they meet. Zidane instead asks Amarant what happened to him, but Amarant ignores the question and asks him to answer his question first, to which Zidane replies it goes against his nature to not help someone in need. Amarant can't understand why Zidane would do this if he has nothing to gain from it. Altruism is an enigma to him. Zidane tells him "who cares" what he has to gain from it, and what matters is that Amarant needs help. Amarant is finally taken back by this, realizing Zidane helped him just to help him, and even put himself at risk to do so. Zidane tells him "he's part of the team" and Amarant might be figuring out what being part of a team really is. Remember, this is someone who spent the majority of his life fighting to survive. His entire world view is "survival of the fittest".

Amarant then joins him, and they make their way back outside to the others, where they go over what they found. Given that the four mirrors were placed on a mural of the world, Zidane concludes these might be indicative of locations to break the seal. He also emphasizes what the creature said before its defeat, speculating there is a connection between the four locations.

Back onboard the Hilda Garde III, they plan to split up and send two members to each of the locations.

Eiko volunteers to go with Garnet, saying "ladies first" and that they have things to talk about. The Water Shrine is closest, so they head there first to drop Garnet and Eiko off. Eiko then claims they have "girl talk" to get to, and Garbet is confused by this.

Freya and Amarant are assigned the Fire Shrine. Amarant is wondering why he "has to go with her", to which Zidane asks if he'd rather have gone with Eiko instead.

The next is the Wind Shrine, and Zidane figures that pairing Steiner and Quina might not be a good idea, so he'll have Vivi "babysit him".

That leaves the Earth Shrine to Zidane and Quina.

This is one of the speculated unfortunate cuts the game may have suffered from due to lack of development time. While on the subject of that, we're nearing the end of the third disc, and the forth disc is not as long as the first three, so we're "sort of" getting towards the end of the game (although there's still a lot left to happen). Instead of getting to play at all four shrines, you only play at one, even that one is just a boss battle, and nothing insofar as progressing through a shrine itself. Instead, you do get some neat scenes of all four shrines, and three of the bosses are at least shown (all four are eventually shown... sort of, but that'd be getting ahead of myself).

If you want to watch the shrines, it's from between 35:15 to 39:35 (the boss battle in the one shrine you play it is after this). If the remake that is speculated is actually a thing (and it's highly speculated it is), hopefully this "lost content" is something that gets added with it.

In the Earth Shrine, Quina asks Zidane why he wanted to go with her, which is... quite aware for Quina. See, Quina isn't really unintelligent. Quina just has a different view on life, and quite amazingly, whereas most other characters in the game are struggling to find their place in life, Quina is much like Zidane; they have already found theirs. It might be simple ("eat all the things" haha), but Quina has a pretty care free approach to life. They're not unintelligent, and they don't fail to form real bonds. They've just... learned to go with the flow regardless of what throws at them, and it's amazing how strong Quina is. I think Quina has little development because they don't need it. And I think it's fine that some characters have less development. Quina is definitely one of the series most strangest characters... but also a misunderstood and underrated one.

Anyway, Zidane answers that he was "given leftovers", which Quina finds to be a good thing, since leftovers can be good. There's that "go with the flow" and "don't let things get you down" and 'see the positive side" view of Quina's at work.

As the two of them make their way inside, Quina remarks that it seems empty and like no one is there. The grounds starts shaking, and the passage they are going through springs traps upon them! Platforms start raising and walls start closing in.

Meanwhile, Eiko and Garnet are also noticing how quiet it is where they are. Traps are shown activating for them too, with blocks of ice coming crashing down at them.

Zidane worries about Garnet. (Aww!)

They then reach the shrine and attempt to place the mirror upon it, only to hear the words "I've been waiting for you".

Elsewhere, Freya is putting is placing the mirror at the Fire Shrine, and Amarant warns her to step back, sensing trouble. Freya jumps back, and a creature shows up in front of the mirror.

The scene shifts back to Zidane and Quina, where another creature has also shown up. They ask if it works for Kuja, but it responds that they are Guardians on behalf of Terra.

Back in the Fire shrine, I'll cover this short exchange by quote.

Fire Guardian "Yes, we are the guardians of Terra. Filled with the power of Terra itself."

(Hm... I'm wondering what these "four sacrifices" on behalf of Terra that were mentioned in Oeilvert could be referring to...)

Freya "What is Terra!?"

Fire Guardian "We did not become guardians to chat with mortals..."

Fire Guardian "We derive pleasure from ending your worthless lives..."

Amarant "Just to prove how powerful you are..."

Fire Guardian "So you understand. But will that knowledge help you?"

Amarant "Foolish."

Fire Guardian "What?"

Amarant "Picking fights with strangers in a place like this..."

Amarant "I used to know someone like that. He was a loser..."

Amarant "He refused to find beneficial ways to use his power. Instead, he'd seek out people to fight..."

Freya "Amarant..."

Fire Guardian "What... are you talking about?"

Freya "We'll show you what he means!"

Fire Guardian "Interesting... but you'll regret this!"

It should be apparent, but Amarant is referring to himself. It's clear that Zidane has gotten him to acknowledge his own flaws.

In the Wind Shrine, Steiner and Vivi are shown battling a guardian, but it seems too fast for Vivi to hit. Vivi says that they can't beat it alone, but Steiner says they can do it if they work together. Steiner tells him he will attempt to hold it down so Vivi can hit it. Vivi worries about if he "misses", but Steiner says he trusts him...

Back in the Earth Shrine, the guardian is shown surprised as they were expecting "eight rats" and there's only two, and Zidane says they are conquering all of them simultaneously, which the guardian finds foolish. They then do battle with it.

Unfortunately, we don't see further into the happenings at the Water Shrine with Garnet and Eiko, or what that Guardian looks like (yet...). In place of that, it showed the traps at the beginning, and there's some follow up discussion. After defeating the Earth Guardian, Quina and Zidane head back to the airship to get the rest of them.

Whereas the scenes at the Fire Shrine and Wind Shrine showed some of Amarant's character growth, and a building of trust between Steiner and Vivi respectively, this is the scene we get at the Water Shrine. Garnet and Eiko are shown emerging and waiting, and Eiko asks Garnet if she... loves Zidane!? Wow, haha. It's shown that Garnet goes into thought and doesn't want to directly answer, but what can also be drawn from this scene even happening, although not as clearly, is that Eiko is probably asking this to begin with because she thinks she knows the answer, and is ready to hear that she has no chance with Zidane. Remember, she's incorrectly attributing "my chances with Zidane" as "an answer to my fear of being alone", so she fears if Zidane is "taken", that she will be stuck alone.

Back onboard the airship, Amarant has a discussion with Zidane, and he further has some development as he comes to find how he "lost" to Zidane. With the seal broken, it's time to head to the Shimmering Island... And as I said before, the game is "starting" to draw near the end, and it's really going to start throwing things out fast, and hard. After all... it's finally time to head to Terra...

Speaking of upscaling and i discovered this

I think it makes ff9 more complete... the idiots at square enix could have done this....

I commented on this above, but the problem Squaresoft (err... Enix) faced stems from the fact that the source material is largely 320 x 224. Or rather, at least the material that had to be fit onto the original PlayStation version discs (which was already a four disc game) ended up around these sizes. The "original source" may have been larger, but it's an infamous tale that Squaresoft, like many companies back then and perhaps still today, didn't retain the source assets for Final Fantasy IX over the years. So the 320 x 224 material is largely all there is to go off of when it came time to release the recent offerings.

The approach of Square Enix was to simply filter/smooth the 2D assets instead of just leaving it be, which would have resulted in pixelation. So they technically did "something" here.

The Moguri mod doesn't actually shift from this; it uses the same exact approach. It just achieves better results with some changes in sharpening/AI upscaling/some manual touch ups from what I can see, plus widescreen scenes where it can make them happen.

This is better than what Square Enix did, but it has problems of its own versus the original. Keep in mind that AI upscaling in particular was not quite as common around the time the re-releases were being worked on, and instead became more common around the time the Moguri mod released. So saying "Sqaure Enix could have done this" is somewhat revisionist, and I say that as someone who dislikes poor port efforts.

Could Square Enix have done better? Sure, and the Moguri mod is basically an objective improvement so there's probably little reason not to use it if you're playing the Steam version, but what the game truly needed was more than what either of them did; it needed at the very least a proper HD Remaster (where the visuals were remade from the ground up to be larger resolution and for modern aspect ratios, as opposed to just upscaled/filtered), or better yet, a full on faithful remake. I'm hoping the latter ends up coming to light (and that it is very good).

 

[Princess Garnet]

So, it's finally time to head to this place called Terra. Big reveals here. This update will just cover one video (about an hour long). That might seem short compared to the rest, especially since the first third of the video is largely gameplay that can be skipped, but... a lot happens here.

Act XI - Travel to Terra, and Zidane's Origins

After breaking the seal at the four shrines, the party heads towards the Shimmering Island, which now serves as a gateway between Gaia and Terra. Speculating they may be able to use it as a teleportation portal like the ones in Kuja's palace, they approach and find themselves transported to... Terra.

As mentioned before, although it's probably not quite as clear to a first time player, but Terra is actually inside Gaia. Its "surface" is inverse from that of a typical planet and thus wraps around within the planet near the very center and core (where the crystals of a planet are). Upon first arriving, there's a very tall "structure" reaching higher than any of the other fauna, and this is the "root" of the Iifa tree extending towards the crystal.

It's immediately apparent that this place is unlike Gaia. There's predominantly a lot of Blue (Gaia's color) everywhere, but Red shows up as a contrasting secondary color as well. It all looks less organic and more artificial; more alien in a way. Everything appears pretty ornate and there's a fair bit of stone too.

The party is momentarily split until they come together, and before that happens, Zidane is immediately met with Garland as he shows up via a portal, although Zidane doesn't yet know who this is.

Garland remarks that he has "finally come" and Zidane asks who he is. The old man returns his question, but interrupts when Zidane goes to answer. Zidane asks why he's interrupting, to which the man replies that Zidane puts too much meaning into a name. He tells Zidane he has been "bewitched by the light of the Blue moon" and when Zidane asks him what he knows, he simply tells Zidane that "you know nothing". He then tells him to "come see what Terra is, and what Zidane himself is" before leaving back through the portal.

Garnet then shows up, and lets Zidane know everyone has made it through safely. They then begin navigating through Terra, but very quickly spot another life form in the distance. This one has a hair style and color similar to Zidane, as well as a tail, although it is dressed very differently. It runs when it spots him, and Zidane gives chase while trying to call out. This continues for a short time until the other life form, a girl, finally answers Zidane when he asks who she is.

She asks Zidane "you don't remember anything, do you?" and, like Garland, tells him to come and see, so that may he may understand not just them, but his heritage as well.

What... is this place? It might be very apparent by now, but the game is setting up for a big reveal regarding Zidane (among other things). Up until this point in the game, you'd have easily thought he was little more than a humanoid with a tail, given all the other sorts of races and creatures in Gaia, but... apparently we're about to be given the truth?

She instructs him towards a bridge, and tell him that "he will see" once he goes on. I don't like this...

Across the bridge, he comes upon the entrance of a place she tells him he will "offer himself", and this place is called Bran Bal.

Before they enter, however, a disturbance interrupts them, which turns out to be the a pretty ornate looking airship. As it flies up, Garnet looks at the bottom of it and notices the eye in the sky, and has flash backs of Madain Sari being destroyed, and falls unconscious. My goodness, how many times is this poor girl going to pass out!?

They head towards Bran Bal to try and find a place for Garnet to rest, and we get a seemingly small and subtle but yet important occurrence to reinforce inter-character developments here. Steiner tells Zidane that he'll watch over the Princess while Zidane scopes the place out and tries to find a place for her to rest, and Zidane tells Steiner to watch over her. For two characters that were always fighting and not wanting to trust one another (especially Steiner towards Zidane), the casual teamwork approach the two exhibit here is a far cry from how they felt about one another not all that long ago.

Zidane heads into town and... there's a lot more of the life forms that look like him. They all talk about very specific things, and the things they say are quite strange. They talk about having no age, and having been created. They are confused at some of the things Zidane asks of them, like the purpose of "rest". They say all of the Blue light actually... is painful? But that they tolerate it as a method of developing pain resistance.

Bran Bal itself is much like Terra, very ornate and fully of Blue but with contrasting Reds, and there's even more stonework. The water here is completely still; it does not flow (this has a further meaning). One place in particular has a Blue shimmering crystal within it with a lot of the life forms around it, and they all make statements that finally start to fill in how things operate in this universe, which the game hasn't told the player until now.

They say that a "crystal's glow is it's breath", or an indication of its life caused by the cycle of souls; that the cycling of souls means a planet has life, and the lack of it means a planet is dead...

They say that Gaia's color is Blue, and Terra's is Red.

One talks about the souls of Gaia and Terra merging, and how "Terra will be integrated into the larger Gaia" when that occurs.

Zidane eventually comes across a place for Garnet to rest, and they bring her there.

Outside the Inn, Eiko is asking the life forms questions, namely if they know where she can get some medicine for Garnet, and Eiko comes across the girl that they first spotted. Eiko tells her that its her fault Garnet is unconscious, but she merely answers that "she will awaken soon". She then asks Eiko where "her man" is, referring to Zidane, and Eiko is amusingly caught off by this, saying "even I don't call him that" and tells her she doesn't have a chance with Zidane since him and Garnet are involved with one another. The girl then simply asks Eiko to pass along a message for Zidane to meet her "in the underground laboratory" which frustrates Eiko. The girl wanders off, and Eiko heads into the inn.

Inside the inn, Zidane is frustrated, and Freya remarks that he is not being himself. He remarks that he doesn't know what's going on, and that he "can't concentrate with all this Blue light".

Garnet then awakens, and they ask her what made her pass out. She remarks that "she remembered", and when they ask her what she means, she tells them that "it wasn't a storm that destroyed Madain Sari, but it was the eye in the sky", which was actually the airship. They realize that same eye was there in Alexandria's destruction, as well as at the Iifa tree when Bahamut was summoned and then attacked Alexandria's fleet. Steiner gets frustrated, remarking that "that must be the airship that slain the Queen", which has Zidane call him out for saying it like that in front of Garnet. Garnet remarks that "it's fine" because she has come to terms with it. She says that airship has "taken everything" from her; her original home land, her original parents, her new parent, and her kingdom.

Eiko then runs in and notices Garnet is awake, and tells her she needs rest as she looks pale. She then notices everyone looks pale and asks why, and Freya tells her the place they are in is reason enough to be exhausted. Eiko then tells Zidane what the girl asked her to pass along, but she remarks that the girl is "a pervert" for asking Zidane to meet her there, and to Eiko's surprise, Zidane simply walks off without saying a word.

Zidane then heads there, and... we start to get the first of many answers.

There's three primary sections the remainder of the update can be broken down into. The first two portions divulge some serious answers and plot twists, so unless you're short on time (or just want to read instead of watch), I'd recommend starting along with the video and watching the "Zidane's birth place" and "Zidane's origins" sections. The former starts at 25:26 in the video above if you want to watch. If not, read on.

This laboratory has a few other lifeforms in it, and they appear to be monitoring other lifeforms within tubes. Zidane spots this, and tells this girl "so this is what's going on and what you wanted to show me, I should have guessed" and she tells him she is glad he understands. Zidane says he doesn't want to understand though, and that they are all blank and lifeless and look like zombies, and that he is not like them at all. She calls them her peers, and she says they are called Genomes. She says that is what Zidane is, too.

Zidane calls it a let down and calls his home a "dump", and realizes the reason he never found his birth place all those years ago is because it wasn't even on Gaia.

The girl asks Zidane why he is not happy to have returned to the place of his birth, and Zidane is surprised they can even understand or process happiness.

Zidane asks her what the point of it all is, and why he grew up on Gaia if he was born in Terra, and why he has a soul if the rest of them don't.

She simply answers that he is "special" and that while the rest of them are "mere vessels", he has been "given a greater purpose" and that "the will of Garland is absolute" before heading upstairs. Zidane follows after her, asking who Garland is.

In the room upstairs, she finally states some things that drop some of the biggest reveals (or well, the first half of them) in the entire game up until this point. With three consecutive statements, she's about to reveal three separate major things to Zidane.

Girl "Garland watches over this planet. His mission is to restore the people of Terra."

Zidane "R-Restore the people of Terra? You mean people besides these guys here?"

Girl "They are merely vessels. So am I, and so are you."

Girl "But the true people of Terra have been asleep for ages, waiting for their time to come."

Girl "When the time is right, the light of this planet will change from Blue to Red, and Gaia will become Terra."

Zidane "Wait a sec! So the people of Terra are out to take over Gaia!?"

Girl "What else can there be? Terra has always absorbed new planets to survive."

Girl "And when the time comes, the sous of the people of Terra will occupy the Genomes. Such is the restoration of the people of Terra."

Zidane "Why do they have to be so tedious!?"

Zidane "Why don't they just wipe us out with magic like they did Alexandria!?"

Girl "Once, Garland tried to use a more forceful method but failed."

Zidane "Then he should just quit and leave Gaia alone!"

Girl "Because of his failure, he was forced to wait a long time."

Girl "...To wait until Gaia's civilizations gained tremendous power; The power to use eidolons."

Zidane "So that's why you attacked the summoner's village and destroyed Alexandria."

(And here comes the big one, two, three information drop, although anyone reading this thus far will already be aware of the first, but as a player you won't be.)

Girl "Planets have a cycle of souls. Souls are born from the planet, and then return to it."

Girl "Garland planned to gain control of that very cycle..."

Girl "...and you were supposed to help him achieve that."

Zidane "What!?"

Girl "Garland is waiting for you. Come..."

The girl walks off.

Zidane "What do you think you're doing!? I don't care about all this Terra and Gaia stuff!"

So... wow. The first part was already known to anyone reading this, but the other two explain who Garland is, and what his motives are. It also explains who Zidane is... and what his motives were supposed to be! But there's still more questions to be asked, and it seems like we might get them, as a meeting with this Garland himself seems imminent.

At this point, Eiko begins to get worried that Zidane hasn't returned yet, and goes to look for him while Garnet rests, with Steiner and Freya watching over her.

Elsewhere in the village are Quina, Vivi, and Amarant, who all witness Zidane on his way to meet with Garland.

Quina is shown being Quina, with not a care in the world and just trying to explore life's culinary offerings as they try and taste the crystal. They then notice Zidane, and wonder why he's just standing there, and remarks that he can't be differentiated from the "other dummy dummies" because he's not being his usual self. Quina remarks that there's a lot of others who look like Zidane there, and he remarks that Quina looks like her master too, upon which Quina replies "of course" because they are of the same clan. Zidane then says it's probably normal for those of another race to look similar to outsiders. Quina then wonders what race is. Like many scenes, this is an example to show how Quina views the world in simple terms, but more and more it's trying to show that this isn't because Quina is unintelligent or unable to form bonds, but more because Quina has simply figured their place out in life. Yes, that's right; the seemingly simplest character has discovered what the majority of the others are struggling to. Quina realizes they can't control their simple nature, and they can't control the hand they were dealt. They just want to enjoy life. The fact that it is through eating is just the way in which they do it. This is all in stark contrast to the majority of the cast who is struggling to find their place in life. Like Amarant, I think Quina is dismissed far too quickly by some players (though these two characters in particular definitely have lighter time and development).

Vivi meets Zidane in town, and we get a glimpse that Vivi relates to the genomes, even though they are more like Zidane and not like Vivi himself. Vivi is looking past the physical difference and looking into the fact that both were created, but Vivi says he thinks they don't have "hollow minds" and that their minds might just be "out to lunch".

Near the entrance to Bran Bal is a gateway and Zidane follows the girl through it, but before that, he comes across Amarant. Like the other two, we get a pretty short but important scene. Amarant is shown calling out to Zidane, reaching out to him, which is unusual for him... but maybe Zidane's been changing him. Zidane asks him "what do you want", which Amarant tells him is "no way to say hello". Amarant wonders what kind of place they are in, and says he thought they find something "mean" things down there, but it seems tame and strange instead. Zidane asks Amarant if he can "ask him a question" and Amarant says "no", but Zidane asks anyway; if he has any parents or family. Amarant says it's a stupid question, and that he doesn't remember any loving parents and that his first memory is the face of a guy he had to fight, alluding to his strong roots in needing to fight to survive. Zidane remarks that he notices Amarant putting that in past tense, teasing that he must be having an influence on Amarant's frame of mind, and Amarant says "what, do you want me to thank you", and Zidane simply teases further to stop flattering him as "he's going to make him sick". Amarant probably picks up that is all uncharacteristic of Zidane, and Amarant returns Zidane's original question to him, and Zidane answers that he has no parents before walking through the gateway.

Through the gateway is another portal, which the girl informs Zidane is where he will find Garland, in Pandemonium. She states this is a floating castle, and it's where the souls of those of Terra "sleep and bide their time until restoration". She asks Zidane if he will not say goodby to his friends before departing, and he only remarks that "he doesn't care what he is" but that "I was born here, right?" He states that "he is an enemy of the people of Gaia" if he was, and she responds that he "learns quickly". He tells her not to mistake him as "on her side" and heads through the portal, stating he wants to take care of this little family matter himself...

Eiko comes across the three of them after Zidane has, and they all join her to follow Zidane.

After she reaches where the girl is outside the portal, she asks what she did with Zidane. The girl states that Zidane went on by his own will, and that he went to find out the purpose of his existence. She states that Zidane said "I am an enemy of the people of Gaia" before heading through the gates of Pandemonium (what a dark way to phrase that, haha), which shocks Eiko. She remarks that she must head back and tell the others (those being Garnet, Steiner, and Freya at the inn).

The next portion is the second half of Zidane's origins, and starts at 35:44. Here we get our meeting between Zidane and Garland. As with the first portion, I really recommend watching this portion, and it further explains some of the broad reveals and motives just given, but it's especially important if you're planning to watch the following/final "you're not alone" section, which I highly recommend as it's one of the game's best moments. If not, I'll also summarize this section as always.

Zidane is transported to Pandemonium, where he begins looking for Garland, until he hears...

So, we meet again.

Garland then shows up, seemingly phasing into view.

This following very long exchange takes place as the two progress further into Pandemonium itself.

Zidane "Who are you!?"

Old Man "Twelve years ago, I lost one of my most prized Genomes."

Old Man "I created him and sent him to Gaia to disrupt the cycle of souls there."

Old Man "You are that Genome... I'm glad you have returned."

Zidane "Shut up! Nobody tells me what to do! And I didn't come here to answer to you!"

Zidane "Lemme guess... You must be Garland!"

Garland "And what if I am?"

Zidane "Then you're goin' down! But first, you're gonna tell me everything!"

Zidane "Like, why did I grow up on Gaia, and why do you want to destroy it!?"

Garland "I have no intentions of destroying Gaia. I only wish to make Gaia into Terra."

Zidane "What did you just say!?"

Garland "Of course, not everything went as planned. You growing up on Gaia, for example."

Garland "There is another one built as you were. He may be the one who threw a wrench into my gears."

Zidane "He!? Who the heck are you talking about!?"

Garland "Someone you know quite well."

Garland "Follow me... The time when the aura of Gaia will turn to the Crimson glow of Terra has not yet come."

Garland then begins walking further into Pandemonium while phasing from place to place, before phasing beyond view...

Garland "I may need your help anyway."

Zidane follows after Garland.

Unlike what we've seen from Terra so far, it appears far more Red as opposed to only Blue here, and a Red light in particular is seen above Pandemonium.

Zidane "Stop! Now, tell me everything!"

Garland "I constructed the Genomes to be vessels for the souls of the people of Terra when they awaken."

Garland "But 24 years ago, I gave life to a Genome that was very much like you."

Garland "His will was too strong to make him into a proper vessel, and I even considered discarding him."

Garland "But then I thought I should put his strength to use."

Garland "I sent that Genome as my servant, to disrupt the cycle of souls on Gaia."

Zidane "Yeah, so tell me who he is already!"

Garland "Do you not yet know? You and he are so much alike."

Zidane "Alike? I've never meet anyone like me..."

Garland "You judge only by appearances. I mean someone with a soul similar to yours."

Garland "The one I sent to Gaia might also be called your brother..."

Garland "And his name is Kuja."

Zidane "Kuja!? He's a Genome!? Impossible! He doesn't even have a tail."

Garland "He is only hiding it. He denies his own identity. He rejects the meaning of his existence and tries to assert his own individuality."

Garland "Don't you see the resemblance?"

Zidane "Shut up! I'm not like him at all!"

Garland "He said the same thing when speaking about the other genomes; 'I'm not like these guys'."

Garland "His ambition was unbecoming of a Genome, but it was perfect for the mission I gave him."

Garland "To bring war and chaos to Gaia... That was what I sent him to do. To induce an unnaturally chaotic flow."

Zidane "So then, why-"

Garland "The disruption of the flow of souls is best brought about by war."

Garland "And what he did for me far exceeded my greatest expectations."

Zidane "What about me!? How did I end up on Gaia?"

Garland "When you received the gift of life in Bran Bal, Kuja could not bear it."

Garland "He could not bear to see a Genome with more power than his own; he felt threatened."

Garland "Kuja discarded you. He dropped you onto Gaia, the world he would destroy."

Zidane "So i was to be your slave, just like Kuja, to start a war on Gaia?"

Garland "That is correct."

Garland "I did not expect Kuja to abandon you, but I believed it was his nature."

Garland "And to him, bringing war to Gaia would prove his victory over you."

Garland "Perhaps it is because of his desire to justify his existence that he let you live as well."

Zidane "So, that is why the blood of thousands had to be spilled?"

Garland "Are you referring to Kuja's ambition? Or to our plan to disrupt the cycle of souls?"

Zidane "Both! And what exactly do you gain by disrupting that cycle of souls, or whatever..."

Garland "We must sort the souls."

Garland "I want to disrupt Gaia's cycle and drain its souls, filling the void with the souls of Terra."

Garland "To speed the cycle of souls is to speed the work as a whole. Thus, war..."

Garland "And in time... Gaia's souls are gone, and Gaia becomes Terra."

Zidane "But... how!?"

Garland "You saw it with your own eyes. You saw the Iifa Tree and the Mist it emits."

Garland "The role of the Iifa Tree is that of Soul Divider. The Mist you see comprises the stagnant souls of Gaia..."

Zidane "Oh yeah? But we stopped the Mist! So much for that!"

Garland "All you saw was the back of the tree..."

Garland "Even now, the Iifa Tree blocks the flow of Gaia's souls, while it lets those of Terra flow freely."

Garland "Come and see for yourself. See the true form of this planet."

Garland then leads Zidane to a place overlooking the very center of the planet. There's "sky" is largely Blue, but with patches of Red in some spots, and there's a glowing light at the center that is predominantly Red. The glow is coming from where both Gaia's and Terra's crystals are.

Zidane "What is this?"

Garland "Think of it as an observatory. A place to measure the radiance of Gaia and Terra."

Zidane "What are you talking about? And what is this weird light?"

Garland "That is the center of the planet. The end and the beginning of the cycle of souls."

Garland "The light remains Gaia's, for now, but when the Blue changes to Crimson, all will belong to Terra, and its restoration will be complete."

Garland "That is why I wrapped up the light in the Iifa Tree, to prevent the cycle of the judgment of souls on Gaia from inside the planet."

Garland "Such is the Iifa Tree's true purpose, it's true form. All you saw was its material form."

Garland "The flow of Gaia's souls cannot be changed simply by stopping the disposal of Mist."

(It's not elaborated on here, but remember that the Mist itself is just the result of Gaia's souls which are rejected from returning to the crystal, and the tree ejects them through the roots and spreads it back around the surface of Gaia, so stopping the Mist from spreading around Gaia doesn't stop the Iifa Tree from innately blocking the souls at the core of the planet to begin with.)

Zidane "So... Kuja is just an angel of death who sends souls to the Tree of Iifa?"

Garland "Yes, my angel of death. But only until you came of age."

Zidane "What do you mean!?"

Garland "His soul is not eternal... I was going to create you next, after all."

Zidane "You mean you won't need Kuja's soul once I grow stronger than him?"

Garland "Precisely... Soon, that time will come."

Zidane then leaps off the spot he is. Garland has been standing up on a platform with his back turned towards Zidane.

Garland "Well... now you should be fully aware of the meaning of your existence..."

Garland turns around and notices Zidane has started approaching him, and starts coming down from the platform.

Zidane "Yeah, I'm aware of all the laughter, all the tears I've shared with the people I grew up with on Gaia."

Garland "Forget all that. You are destined to live among the stars for all eternity."

Garland "You have the power, the position, and the motive to do it."

Zidane "I wouldn't want that kind of power... if only I had a place to call home..."

Zidane "My brothers in Tantalus, Vivi, Freya, Amarant, Quina, Steiner, Eiko, and... Garnet..."

Zidane "My home is with them in Gaia!"

Zidane "If you say I have a motive, then it's to punish all of you who brought pain to my friends!"

Zidane "I'll destroy Terra! That's reason enough for my birth here as a Genome!"

Garland "Regrettable... I thought your soul would be perfect for a new angel of death..."

Zidane "I AM the new angel of death! Yours!"

Garland "Don't you know what it means to meet your marker?"

Zidane "Shut up! I've heard enough of your crap! I'm taking you out, right here, right now!"

Garland "Foolishness..."

Zidane then hears a voice.

The body becomes a vessel, which greets a new soul...

Zidane hears a sharp ringing.

Zidane "What's happening!?"

Zidane then collapses.

Garland "He's too good to make into a regular Genome..."

Garland "But I have no choice."

Wow! So... we finally have a lot of answers. We learn that Zidane is no ordinary person, and we get the reasons behind a lot of the happenings in the game. What the Mist is, what it does, where it comes from, and why. The purpose of the wars throughout the ages, and what Kuja's motives were. Why, ultimately, each and every one of the events transpired. And in face of it all, Zidane, well within character, rejects his purpose like Kuja did. He rejects the power and position he could have, and chose to find his purpose in life with the this random band of others who he's chosen to call his friends; his friends which give him meaning.

Unfortunately, Garland is his maker and thus holds a lot of power over him, and has rendered him helpless.

The scene then shifts to show... Kuja, and he too is in Terra.

He states that he can't believe that he returned there, indicating he doesn't like the place (which is no surprise if he, too, rejects his origins), but that he's there for some... power. He claims he'll show Garland and Zidane, and the people of both Gaia and Terra who rules over all of them. In the incredibly still and reflective water nearby, the reflection of the underside of the Invincible is shown descending towards him.

I really recommend this following part, too, starting at 44:00 until the end. It's basically Zidane's existential crisis, and it's often called the "you're not alone" scene.

The scene then shifts back to show Zidane sitting unconscious somewhere in Pandemonium. It shifts to all Black with the exception of words and some characters at moments. Zidane is internally questioning who he literally is. This is a game about finding your place in life, and contrasted to most of the rest of the cast, Zidane (along with Quina) seemed like he was going through this game knowing who he was. He had rather little character development himself (the relationship with Garnet that's been starting aside), especially for a protagonist. Instead, he merely served as the glue that held the rest of this band of misfits together, and helped each and every one of them individually. And it's what makes this upcoming scene so powerful.

He's shown asking himself who he is. He isn't even sure if his name holds meaning to him, remarking that he was merely called Zidane by many people before.

He's shown having thoughts of each of his friends, and each of them are "telling him" things based on who they are, and who Zidane was/meant to them.

Eiko is shown asking him if he always has to show off? "Yeah, maybe I do" he thinks.

Steiner is shown calling him worthless. "Yep, sounds about right" he thinks.

Freya is shown telling him how becoming it is of him. "Becoming of me?" he thinks.

Vivi is shown telling him that he learned a lot from traveling with him. "Yeah, right, I have nothing to teach" he thinks.

Quina, too, is shown telling him he taught her a lot of important things besides "tasty munchies". "No! I don't know anything!" he again thinks, more strongly.

Amarant is shown telling him if that's what he calls friendship. "What is friendship?" he thinks.

Garnet is shown calling his name, but "Who am I?" he thinks. She tells him he was always there for her, and he only feels tired. She asks him "how come he's always so..." and he only tells himself he's an empty vessel...

He then starts to hear his name being called. He keeps answering "who?". It repeats, until he realizes he's really hearing it, and being told to "wake up".

He awakes to find Vivi and Eiko there with him, who is relieved to discover he's alive. He simply asks them what they're doing there, and Vivi is surprised at this question, saying it was to "save him, of course", but Eiko says it wasn't easy as he uncharacteristically went off alone.

Zidane limps away, and simply instructs them to "leave him alone", telling them that is has nothing to do with them. Both Eiko and Vivi are shocked. Eiko thinks he's trying to be a "tough guy", and repeats what Vivi earlier said, that "it's not just about him".

Zidane keeps limping off and Vivi tells Zidane "not to be like that" and "let's jus..."

Zidane then cuts him off by telling him to "shut up, shut up you stupid brat." Huh!?

If I make this far without crying, and I usually don't, that's usually what does it.

he then walks through a gate, leaving them trapped behind.

On the other side, they plead with him, telling him he needs rest and not to leave them, and he asks "why don't you little twits just shut up". By the way, fairy tale just for kids, remember?

These are both kids! A six year old girl, and Vivi is even less physically but he may as well be about that age mentally/emotionally.

He walks off saying there's some things kids can't understand, and is thrown into battle. He starts fighting alone , but a short time late, Freya joins him. "Looks like you need some help" she tells him. They then start fighting together, and not long after this, Amarant also joins in, saying "can't you even take care of yourself". They then defeat the creature together.

After the battle, Freya remarks it was "foolish" of him to go alone. He's not like this. Amarant calls him out on his seemingly hypocritical stance, telling him he's "always talking about friend when he's nothing but a selfish loner". Coming from the person Zidane had to teach the exact opposite lesson to, it's ironic for Zidane to be behaving this way. Zidane tells them he can "take care of himself" and limps off. Frey tries to stop him, but Amarant is speechless.

In the next room, Steiner and Quina are thrown back. Steiner remarks that he "won't be defeated so easily" and Quina states they are mad and will "cook you good". They then jump back into battle, and fight it for a bit. After some moments, Zidane joins them. Steiner simply tells him "you're late, Zidane". This... this is powerful. This was a knight wanting Zidane imprisoned or even killed for kidnapping the Princess, one of the few Steiner is tasked with protecting, and here is is with an expectation that they work together in battle. He now entrusts that Zidane is his equal in what his task is. And maybe... that this task isn't just for protecting just Garnet, but each other.

After the battle, Steiner calls it an unworthy opponent. He's again alluding to the notion that they have a strong bond, and this mere creature can't break it. Quina tells him "you no can leave us" and "I still want you take me place that have lots good food". Again, Quina is simple, but only on the surface. Quina is very much alluding to the fact that they enjoy this adventure, this journey, this... friendship, and want more of it. Food, of course, simply comes with it. Steiner then let's Zidane know that "he has not yet concluded if Zidane is the right man for her highness". Sheez! When I was younger on my first playthrough or two, I... didn't care for Steiner. Why? I transported myself into the game through Garnet mostly. She's just the one I found it easiest to relate to. And originally, her wanting to leave the castle, and Zidane kidnapping her, although it was for specific purposes, ended up in them "going on this adventure". And I wanted to have this adventure, too. And Steiner, of course, is always trying to stop that. So he was a "fun killer" in that regard. There are a few characters (Vivi, Zidane, and Garnet come to mind) that generally get a lot of player love for their stories, and they warrant that, but I dare say that while Steiner's story might not be my favorite, it might be the one with the most development. He is a completely different person at the start and end. he goes from seeing things with a strict Black or White only lens, and begins to see them with shades of Grey. Anyway...

Zidane again begins to limp off, saying "he doesn't want to trouble them anymore". Both are speechless.

In the next room, Zidane rests against the door. He shouts that "they're all a bunch of babysitting bastards", but then tells himself "I know I'm the worst bastard here".

He then starts battling a large creature on his own, but this battle of attrition isn't going his way. As he's about to be defeated, a curing spell is cast on him, and Garnet joins him, telling him "is this how you want to handle the problem." Okay, that level of maturity mixed with honestly calling his nonsense out gets to me, haha. With her help, they defeat the creature.

Afterwards, Garnet asks him if he "tries to do everything by himself". He tries to tell her to just understand that he "doesn't want to cause trouble", but she doesn't understand. She doesn't understand why he thinks he would trouble his friends. She asks him if they are his friends, but he states that he used to think that, and then tells her that he's not from Gaia; that he was a step away from being the destroyer of Gaia and Alexandria. Because of that, he "can't accept their friendship so easily". Garnet reminds him that he has always protected them, but that they've protected him too. She says that he's always believed in every one of them, and they, too, are believing in him. "Just like you protected us..." she says "...We want to protect you".

Quina then walks in and tells her to "say it", saying their master taught them that if "somebody gives you tasties, you give them tasties, too" as it's good manners. Quina says thy haven't "cooked a succulent frog" yet for Zidane.

Steiner then walks in too.

Steiner "Chivalry requires a knight to look after his comrades-in-arms. I will not abandon you!"

Steiner "And I shall follow you to kingdom come if I must. You remember that!"

Tell me this guy hasn't changed the most!? He just told Zidane he'd die for him, after wanting to see Zidane put to death a couple of months ago!

Zidane finally snaps out of his moment, and realizes what kind of friends he has. "What am I going to do with you guys" he says, to which Steiner says "the feeling is mutual".

They decide to press on... and after apologizing, Zidane suggests they go as a group this time to reclaim the other four that are missing.

When they return to the other four, Eiko asks him why he left them, and he says that they were right; that he needs their help... and their friendship. Vivi asks him never to leave them again, and he promises "never". Amarant calls him a "busy guy" for "coming and going all the time". Zidane reiterates his promise and says that won't be the case anymore; that they're together now, but that they still have Pandemonium and Garland to contend with... together this time...

This update will end here. I thought I might fit in all of Terra in one update, because "it's just two videos" and "the first is only an hour", but... nope. This part was way too much! I've never gotten through this part without crying except for the first time I ever played the game, and that was because I was still too shocked emotionally to what, exactly, was happening. It took me a while to process. You think it'd be easier to get through in successive times, but the opposite seems to be true for me.

It's important to remember that "moodiness" was "in" around the time this game was made (late 1990s and early 2000s especially). The prior two Final Fantasy titles had rather brooding main characters, but Zidane was the entire opposite. For the entire course of the game, and probably a good portion of his life given how established this behavior seems of him, he was willing to just... help people. His character theme is literally "virtue; you don't need a reason to help people", which is quite funny given he's in a band of thieves, but you look at all of these characters, every one of them (except maybe Vivi), and they're all... pretty flawed. They made dumb choices at times. They make mistakes. They do bad things to get by. And others inevitably get hurt or even die around them, sometimes a result (though it's not usually their direct fault, which is the terms Garnet had to come to). So to watch Zidane go through this, especially at the time, might be easy to presume is just an "token moment of moodiness" since it was "in" at the time, but this is a real existential crisis for a character who's personality is typically the exact opposite. He was being harsh and name calling to children, and trying to push his friends away. He didn't deserve them, he thought. But each of them came together, and reminded him he wasn't going to be alone... He gave them all purpose throughout the entire game, and now they band together in his moment of need to give him his.

I'm going to go cry now...

 

[Klemc]

Moguri version 9 now :

The Final Fantasy 9 upscale mod just got a surprise update after 3 years, including a 'full rework' of its backgrounds, 120 fps, ultrawide, and more

Moguri Mod 9.0 is a massive update to a mod I thought was long finished.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Princess Garnet]

Act XII - Pandemonium

Having come together to rescue Zidane, the group now needs to contend with Pandemonium itself. They battle their way through, and after doing so, they come upon a tower with a Crimson orb at the top. Also at the top... is Garland. He begins speaking while turning away from the group as he does so, looking at the orb.

Garland "There's the observatory... You told me you'd become my angel of death..."

Garland "But think for a moment... Isn't life death itself? It must kill other life-forms to survive..."

Garland "Sometimes it even kills those with whom it shares blood..."

Garland "To live is to give life meaning, yet one must take others' lives to survive..."

Garland "A mature civilization becomes aware of this paradox..."

Garland "Terra's souls will sleep until they forget such nonsense. They will begin a new life in a new dimension."

Garland "It's a world in which life and death become one."

Garland turns towards the group.

Garland "That is the dimension in which we are meant to live, as beings that transcend life and death!"

Garland "Zidane... I'll ask you one more time. Who are you!?"

Zidane steps forward.

Zidane "You're a sad man, Garland..."

Zidane "We know more than you... We're not perfect, but we have friends who help us."

Zidane "That is reason enough for us to live!"

(Oh, yes, he's back to his usual self!)

The other three characters in your party then step forward like Zidane did and say something in response to Garland's speech on purpose and the meaning to live. This will be different depending on who you chose to bring, and it usually pertains to whatever that character's arc or motives are. Here, I brought these three, and here is what they say.

Freya "We live not to forget our past, but to learn from it!"

Amarant "Blind pursuit of power is a meaningless vice."

Garnet "We may be weak, but that's what makes us work together and help one another!"

Garland "...Then show me! Lecture me again when you are on the verge of death!"

A Silver dragon, similar to the one Kuja has been riding around, then lands and attacks. (I'm not positive if this is necessarily Kuja's Silver dragon though.)

After defeating it, Zidane steps towards Garland and asks...

Zidane "Garland, tell me... What is it that you want to accomplish?"

Garland, too, steps towards the group. It's clear we're getting our confrontation with Garland himself now.

Garland "The restoration of Terra! Isn't it obvious!?"

Zidane "No! That's what the people of Terra want."

Zidane "Why aren't you asleep with the rest of them."

Garland turns away...

Garland "I was created to oversee Terra..."

(So he is that "overseer" I references in the introduction, but didn't explain who he was or what all of his actions were before the game, and for obvious reason, but it should all be clear now.)

Garland "I exist to wait for a time when this world is without life or death..."

Garland turns back towards the group...

Garland "I am the absolute controller of this planet!"

The party then does battle with Garland. Canonically, he's probably pretty strong in the in-game universe. He references time when you first meet him, and he has the ability to stop it, so that's all pretty powerful stuff... but he's not really a strong battle here, unfortunately. That's helped because I tend to just immune myself to most status effects through the majority of my playthroughs so his "stop" attack is useless, but he's not all too strong outside that unfortunately. Then again, most of the game itself isn't difficult at all, but in particular, I remember thinking he especially was a bit of a letdown.

Eventually, the get the better of Garland, and he drops to one knee...

Garland "You fight well..."

Zidane "Give it up, Garland!"

A red glow is then seen leaving Garland, which surprises him.

Zidane "What the-"

Just then, the Invincible is seen directly overhead. Kuja has, as hinted at last time he was shown, taken control of the airship. And what he just did/is about to do is definitely about to be demonstrated.

Kuja is within the Invincible laughing at how easy it is, claiming that with the Invincible, the power to control all souls is his. He laughs at how Garland and Zidane were opportunistically fighting one another, giving him the chance to assume control of it, and then step in. He claims Garland was "bitten by his own dog" and that it was no accident, but that fate must have chosen him.

He then floats down from the airship to the platform Garland and the others are on, and lands between Garland and the others.

Kuja "I must say... I truly love you all."

Kuja "You not only broke the seal to Terra, but you did me the favor of defeating Garland!"

(It's not really explained in-game, but when Kuja kidnapped Zidane as a baby and left him on Gaia, Garland was not happy with this, so they barred Kuja from Terra after that point, which is likely when the seal was put in place?)

Kuja "Zidane... you are truly an extraordinary Genome, deserving of my love!"

Zidane "What are you doing here, Kuja!?"

Kuja "That's not a very nice way to greet your brother."

Kuja turns away from the party and walks towards Garland, who is still defeated.

Zidane "Shut up! You're no brother of mine!"

Kuja "Oh, such ferocity... Master Garland, he intends to fight Terra."

Garland "Kuja... what are you scheming?"

Kuja "Scheming? Me? Watch me as I defeat these enemies of Terra!"

Kuja partially bows to Garland, as though he's doing him a service.

Kuja "Come on, now! You may sleep alongside the sous of Terra."

Kuja "For all eternity!"

The group then does battle with Kuja. This is probably a somewhat rough moment in the game for most on their first time through, because it's three consecutive battles, and Kuja is the most difficult. We also finally get to fight him for the first time. He, too, isn't that difficult for me either though (I lucked out and he didn't even use his most concerning attack, despite me postponing the battle as I do all boss battles to steal everything). Kuja, like Garland, drops to one knee.

But while he's down... surely he's not out, of course?

No... no, of course he's not!

Kuja "Th-The time is now..."

Kuja then enters a trance! Like Zidane, who gets some patches of fur (which are Pink in Zidane's case), Kuja does as well, as his feathered hair turns... more feathered, haha! His hair becomes Red instead of Silver, and he stops hiding his tail. Kuja stands back up, and then floats up.

Kuja "This... is the power of trance!"

Kuja "I'll show you my true power!"

He then casts a powerful spell, neutralizing the party.

Kuja "Yes! This is the power I've longed for!"

Kuja "The mighty power of souls! They assault any threat that tries to destroy them!"

Zidane "Wh-What do you mean... ?"

Kuja walks towards the defeated party.

Kuja "It's Trance! You know how it works."

Kuja "But a normal Trance won't be enough to defeat you... you're all as resilient as oglops."

It's not explained (I think?), and if it is it's not overly obvious, but Kuja normally can't trance anyway. At all. Supposedly this has to do with the fact that he was created in his current state, as opposed to Zidane who was created as a baby and grew up naturally. Whether growing up in Gaia and having more bonds and emotional ties to the world around him helped in his ability to do achieve Trance better, or at all, I'm not sure, but either way, Kuja couldn't do it, which is why he instead went after the power of eidolons.

Kuja "Even tiny moogles possess the power of trance... When I saw that in Gulug Volcano, I came up with a plan."

(This part does mildly confuse me, since the moogle was more of a disguise of Maideen, Eiko's eidolon, instead of just a trance, although maybe it was also a Trance; either way, Kuja thought it as one and it sparked an idea that ended up working for him.)

Kuja "It was easy. I just needed to borrow the power from wretched souls that can't die..."

Kuja "Where did I acquire it? It was the Invincible, or should I say, that large eyeball in the sky?"

(This was the purpose of him returning to Terra; for the Invincible which had the souls he would use to achieve Trance.)

Kuja "The ship sucked up the souls of Madain Sari, the Iifa Tree, Alexandria, to feed upon them..."

Kuja "When it fought Bahamut at the Iifa Tree, the Invincible drew in a powerful spirit... Can you guess to whom it belonged?"

Garnet "No..."

Kuja "That's right! It was your mother's soul. A wretched soul that clung to life to the bitter end."

Kuja "The souls trapped inside the Invincible welcomed me with open arms."

(So... a bit I want to say here.

While it's a bit up to interpretation how much Kuja would be stating this just to taunt Garnet, as that's well within his character, it's unlikely he's simply lying about Brahne's soul being a substantial source of power for him.

For the entire course of the game, the player is led to dislike Brahne, so his claim is easy to believe anyway. She's literally introduced acting out and then attacks the party, and while that might be within reason given they are kidnapping her daughter... she puts said daughter in extreme risk to do so. We only learn later that the Brahne we know was one that is only recent, and it's unlikely Garnet would simply lie about her mother having been kind and sweet if she never was. But we never see it, and maybe some flashback scenes would have helped reinforce that.

Without that, it's easy to believe Kuja's claim here, and even to feel no particular shock at what he just said. But if you think about it, this scene just highlights something important, and perhaps overlooked, in Final Fantasy IX; yeah it's a fantasy game but the vast, vast majority of the game's characters are not altruistically good. I dare say that even applies to Zidane himself ironically, given he lives as a thief. It shows everyone is a shade is Grey. It shows that despite her mother originally being kind and sweet, and despite her acknowledging her wrongdoings before her death, she was still this wretched soul apparently that Kuja was able to garner for power. Of course, this was likely because Kuja himself corrupted her... but anyway, I don't think I've ever seen anyone talk about this so I thought I would.)

Kuja "They were fed up with being your prisoners, Garland."

Kuja turns away from the defeated party and walks towards the defeated Garland.

Kuja "So, Master Garland. You are no longer needed. And after you've worked so hard..."

Kuja "I shall rule Terra and Gaia with my unconditional love from now on..."

Garland "What will you do with such... power?"

Kuja "Master Garland... you, of all people, should accept defeat gracefully."

Kuja kicks Garland.

Kuja "How sad... any last words?"

Garland "Your power is... meaningless."

Kuja "..."

Kuja then kicks Garland off the edge, and turns and heads back towards the party.

Kuja "Now, it's your turn... Should I kill you quickly to show my appreciation for all you've done?"

Kuja "Or should I kill you slowly and painfully to show my love..."

Kuja "Oh, I've got a great idea! How's this? I'll make you pillars for my castle!"

Kuja "You'll all decorate my castle as a symbol of my eternal kingdom... How do you like that?"

Zidane "No... Never!"

Just then, a voice is heard...

You could never build an eternal kingdom...

Kuja stops laughing...

Kuja "That voice... Garland!"

Kuja "Did you leave something behind?"

Do you think a defect like you could last forever... ?

Kuja "...What? What do you mean!?"

I built you to last only until the worth Genome, Zidnae, grew.

It was too dangerous to let you last any longer than that.

Kuja "What are you saying... ?"

There's a limit on your life... You'll be dead soon...

Even as I die, you'll have died without ever leaving your mark on the world...

(I think Garland is sort of exaggerating a bit with that part though, given, you know... *gestures as what happened to Gaia*)

Kuja "H-Ha ha ha... What an interesting lie. You're telling me that my life will end soon?"

Kuja "Ha ha ha... Nice try, Garland, but I won't fall for your silly tricks... Garland?"

Kuja "Garland!? Answer me!"

You were created to destroy. You are a mortal...

Kuja "A mortal... ?"

Kuja "...I'm finished?"

Kuja "I don't believe you! Who would I believe such a silly story!"

Kuja "You're telling me that I'll die soon, now that I'm more powerful than anyone?"

Kuja "I'm gonna... die!?"

Kuja "Lose my soul... ?"

Kuja then starts hysterically laughing. And here we have existential crisis, Kuja edition.

Kuja "What comedy! Zidane, isn't it hilarious!? I'll die just like the Black mages I so despise!"

Kuja "I single-handedly brought chaos unto Gaia, but in the end, I'm nothing but a worthless doll!"

Zidane "Kuja..."

Kuja stops laughing, and overlooks the edge where he kicked Garland off of.

Zidane "...Kuja?"

Kuja "...I won't let it happen."

Kuja "I wont... I wont let this world exist without me!"

Kuja then starts floating up, and is shown unleashing his answer as he begins destroying Terra with his new power. Here we go... another existential crisis, and Kuja isn't taking his well.

As he does this, the party begins to flee. Zidane is in disbelief, and Eiko tells him that they have to get out of there, and that they can try and use the Invincible to do so. Zidane agrees it's a good idea, but tells the others to go on ahead. Eiko is shocked and asks why, but Zidane says he wants to rescue to Genomes. He sees them merely as victims, and that he can't abandon them. yeah, Zidane is definitely back to his typical, altruistic self, and goodness I love him. Need more people like that in this world...

Garnet offers to come with him, telling him that she doesn't want to see him leave them again and that she'll "keep watch" over him. I doubt there's much doubt about him having a change of heart about that again, so it's more likely she just wants to be with him and not let anything bad happen (and if something bad does happen, I guess she doesn't mind dying with him, she's changed a lot too from a sheltered Princess at the start of the game).

Zidane and Garnet then head back towards Bran Bal to try and gather up the Genomes, while the rest of the group heads to the Invincible. It's... not exactly shown how they get it (nor where it was; it was last shown flying overhead but when Kuja floated up to start attacking Terra, it wasn't there, so... maybe an unimportant detail), but they do end up getting it.

One scene in particular here is cute (and a bit funny) in calling back to Zidane's breakdown a while earlier.

Zidane and Garnet approach a teleporter, and there appear to be eyes around it (there are commonly eyes around pandemonium for some reason), although two on the sides are closed. Zidane and Garnet overlook the teleporter.

Garnet "Looks like a teleporter leading to the upper levels..."

Garnet turns to Zidane, facing away from the teleporter.

Garnet "It might take us back to Bran Bal."

The two eyes open.

Zidane "Ahhh!"

Garnet "What's wrong?"

Zidane "B-Behind you..."

Garnet turns around, then walks further down the path.

Garnet "They're just eyes. It's okay. Let's go."

(Wow, haha.)

Garnet runs up the stairs towards the teleporter ahead of Zidane.

Zidane "Just eyes... ?"

Zidane "How very bold of you..."

Zidane then runs up to join her. The eyes seem to track him as he moves.

Zidane "U-Um... Garnet?"

Garnet "Yes?"

Zidane "Um... About what happened earlier..."

Zidane looks around at the eyes.

Garnet "What is it, Zidane?"

Zidane "Oh, geez... I feel like I'm being watched."

Garnet "Just say it! We need to hurry."

Zidane "Um... you came to my rescue, right?"

Zidane "And... Uh..."

Zidane "What you said to me... It made me really happy..."

Garnet "Zidane..."

Zidane "How can I say this... ? Um..."

The teleporter than activates.

Thanks...

I guess it's ambiguous whether he stated it or just thought it, but it seems to imply the latter.

The rest of the group makes their way to the Invincible, while Zidane and Garnet head to Bran Bal and starts gathering the Genomes. The scene changes to Zidane in the underground laboratory.

Zidane "What are you still doing here!? We need to evacuate."

Girl "What's the point. They're only empty vessels..."

Zidane "Stop talking like that! Do you really believe what you just said!?"

Girl "...Unlike the rest of them, Garland gave me a soul, that I might replace you and Kuja."

(So... she would have been next in line after Zidane!?)

Girl "But Garland is dead. Terra will soon be destroyed. What's the point?"

Zidane turns away from her.

Zidane "I asked myself the same question..."

Girl "Did you find an answer?"

Zidane "No... but maybe the point is to just try."

Zidane "It's gonna be hard... but I've got my friends. It isn't so bad."

Girl "..."

Zidane turns back towards her.

Zidane "Hey, what's your name."

Girl "Huh?"

Zidane "Garland gave you a name, didn't he?"

The girl turns away from him.

Girl "My name is... Mikoto."

Zidane "Mikoto, huh? That's a nice name... A lot of people are gonna call you that from now on."

(This is in reference to something he thought during his own existential crisis, where he remarked that "a lot of people called me Zidane once".)

Zidane "You have to find the answer yourself. It'll be hard, but you can do it."

Mikoto turns around.

Zidane "Let's go to the new world, Mikoto! There, you can find your answer..."

Oh my goodness, he just helps everyone...

While the majority of the Genomes have been getting on board, Zidane and Mikoto make their way back, and they all get on board and flee as Terra is being destroyed. They fly up in the Invincible towards the gateway, and the ship is transported through the portal back to Gaia...

Back in Gaia, it appears over the ocean, but the Shimmering Island is not seen. It's also noticeably cloudy and moody...

Onboard the Invincible, Zidane remarks that they've made it, but Freya is concerned. Her and Amarant were talking, and they were wondering if that could really be the end of Kuja. Freya remarks that it is hard to imagine he would escape such destruction unscathed, but Amarant doesn't think it's the end of him, and what he'll do next. Zidane reasonably presumes he'd come after Gaia next. Freya asks him how, and Zidane says that Garland remarked something about how the Iifa Tree was a gateway of souls between Gaia and Terra, indicating the Iifa Tree might be the next clue.

Steiner then rushes in from the bridge of the airship, telling everyone that they must come and see something. Zidane asks him to just tell him, but Steiner says it'd be easier to just see it, so Zidane and Freya follow after him. Amarant remains.

Back on the bridge, Zidane notices clouds... but he thinks they are just clouds. Garnet tells him they aren't normal clouds. Zidane says to lower their altitude to see, and Steiner tells him they already are at a lower altitude. Zidane asks what it could be, and Vivi inform him that it's Mist; that the Mist has returned, and not only that, but that it covers all of Gaia now, and not just the Mist continent as it previously had, before they stopped it entirely.

Zidane is then left wondering what Kuja could be up to...

And with that, the third disc concludes! It's really close to the end of the game now. There's basically one collective of locations that serve as one final location through which the end of the game takes place. The final disc really is the shortest in story alone (though you'll be wrapping up any final side content here, and if you didn't start on that during the third disc, you'll have a lot to do before the end proper).

 

[Princess Garnet]

Act XIII - A Place of Memories

I skip some of the first story moments of the final disc, since I do a bit of side content and didn't want to record for only a short while (since I wasn't going to be recording the side stuff). To summarize the skipped portions, after arriving back in Gaia, the party heads to Black Mage Village. The reason for this is to leave the Genomes there, which was the idea of Vivi. The other Black mages were okay with this idea. being that they are both sort of outcasts and without a home, it seems they might live here together.

They then decide to head to the Iifa tree, and Garnet tells the rest not to inform Regent Cid that they are heading there, as she doesn't want him (and Lindblum, and the world) panicking if the world is truly about to end. If it ends, it ends. She'd rather have him focusing on rebuilding it.

The first approximately two-thirds of this video can be skipped if you're just after the main story (go to around 24:03), because the prior stuff is some side content.

The first is the aforementioned interactions with the black mages and genomes. I felt like this was worth showing because the Genomes moving here was a story part I didn't want to just gloss over. We learn how the Genomes find Gaia different. Time didn't really flow for them in Terra (this was suggested with the water being still too), and comments that both water and time flow in Gaia. Oh! We also learn the chocobo that was born earlier was given the name of Bobby Corwen. Note the first two letters of each name. I didn't know it back then (since I didn't yet play Final Fantasy V at the time), but this is apparently a reference to the chocobo in Final Fantasy V named Boco. the Genomes also fine life in Gaia, such as chocobos and owls, imperfect or confusing.

The second side content things I do is just the final part of the chocobo stuff, which involves finding Chocobo's Paradise. It's not important to the main story, but a lot of the side content involves progressing with the chocobo so I wanted to show it. The map loops around (since it's a planet) and where the four corners meet, is a hidden island. Chocobo's Paradise is here. Again, the game rewards you for exploring, but it's likely you'll find this island earlier in the game, but you won't be able to access it until your chocobo is ready at this point in the game.

The third and final side thing before moving on the story involves some more lore and backstory at Madain Sari and involves the final bits of Garnet's origins. You have to solve a puzzle to even see this. Lani, the bounty hunter that Brahne hired to retrieve the pendant from Garnet, has found shelter in Madain Sari while Eiko was away (she claims the moogles welcomed her and opened her eyes to the wrong of her prior ways). However, part of solving the puzzle to begin with involves not having a particular two characters in your party, and those characters are Amarant and Garnet. If either are with you, she flees. I never actually figured this part out back then; I just happened to show up without either of them in the party by chance, and she didn't flee then. I guess the reason for this is because Amarant was hired with Lani originally, and Lani was originally hired to retrieve Garnet's pendant (and wanted to kill her), so either of the two have her shy I guess? Anyway, she tells you she found a message inside Eiko's place, which is basically a puzzle about time. Once you do it correctly (walking forward and backward at the eidolon wall nine times like the puzzle hints), you get access to some messages at the murals on the wall. Most of them are about eidolons themselves, and some of them explain how eidolons are created by legends, rather than being something that exists naturally and then has legends formed after. Again, eidolons are literally myths and legends made reality and not the other way around. This will be pretty suggestive of something else later...

There's two final messages. One is a message from Eiko's grandfather to Eiko. It tells her not to leave the village until she is sixteen. The other... is from someone to his wife and daughter. I didn't realize it when I was playing this back after it released, but I somehow figured out how to do the puzzle but didn't realize it was a message from Garnet's father to both her and her mother. I thought it was just a random summoner family to add some depth to the tribe. Through this, we learn that her father was wounded (likely during the attack on Madain Sari, but I'm not sure?) and shortly afterwards died from it, and left a message here to Garnet and her true mother. This message tells us he had a bit of a distant relationship with his wife, and that he says that Garnet's birth made him happy. As he addresses them, we learn Garnet's mother's name as well as Garnet's original birth names (which is why I didn't realize it was referring to Garnet). The names are also a throwback to an earlier title in the series, since Final Fantasy IX has a lot of Easter egg references to earlier titles.

Anyway... after all that, it's time to proceed with the story.

As mentioned before, mist now covers the entire planet. Originally, it only covered the Mist continent, and then after that it was gone (almost) entirely after the first visit to the Iifa tree. When traveling the overworld now, the music is different. It's no longer the usual, cheery music that inspires a yearning for adventure. Instead, the music is a bit more depressing. The game has a way with changing the setting to reflect the mood.

Normally, there's the typical overworld music.

When you're doing Kuja's errands, you're getting Kuja's music in the overworld.

Later, the Hilda Garde III has its own music, and this similarly is a very happy and upbeat theme, and comes after Garnet sheds her depression.

Now, the mist has returned and it's changed again.

And with the return of the mist, it's time to head back to the Iifa tree, where a portal is above the tree.

As you begin to approach however, a massive swarm (hundreds) of Silver dragons like the one Kuja has start coming out of the portal. Why, I don't know.

They begin to look like they're about to overwhelm the ship, but then they are shown being attacked as Lindblum's airship fleet shows up. Remember, they weren't supposed to know you were here, so I don't know why they're here, but they are. Regent Cid himself, baku, Marcus, and Blank are shown.

With the dragons distracted, the Invincible tries to continue on, but some of the dragons chase. They are cut of, literally, by the Red Rose flying up from the mist and stopping them. Beatrix is shown, and despite one of the Knights of Pluto being concerned about the ship being in danger, Beatrix tells him to "act like what he is" because his own captain is "about to enter Valhalla". Another knight remarks behind her back that the "only reason she came was because she is worried about Steiner".

Back in the Invincible, Steiner is surprised to see the Red Rose, and knows it must be Beatrix. She, too, should have no way of knowing they are there.

In case it's not too apparent, a bit of realism is being suspended because the game is trying to make it super obvious that you're nearing the end of the game. You might be caught off by this because this is the start of the final disc, but... it's far shorter than the others. It's making this apparent by presenting a "everyone is coming together to pull for the party" scene.

it also uses this moment to show how some relationships have grown. Zidane remarks that it's "quite a woman Steiner has fallen in love with" which has him reply that "you're one to talk". As Garnet is standing right next to him, she asks him what he meant by that, which sends him pouting to the corner, haha. It shows how over a couple short months, they've been through a lot and have changed a lot. And now, together... they are heading to... who knows where. What will result and remain after all is said and done? Could this be... some of their final adventures, and some of their final time together?

They make their way to the portal, and are, of course, ambushed by yet another dragon. This one is the Nova Dragon, so perhaps it's the leader of the rest. After defeating it, the party finds themselves in a very, very strange place.

They are a long, suspended cobblestone path. there appears to be a large structure, a castle, in the distance. A close eye might notice the "sea" of a village resembles Alexandria. The place is surreal looking, and proportions are all nonsensical.

As they try to figure out where they are, Zidane keeps thinking he hears something. The others hear nothing, but then Zidane hears it again...

...Zidane, can you hear me?

Zidane "Garland!?"

Garland ...I am speaking only to you.

Zidane "Garland, what is this place?"

Garland Memoria... a place of memories.

Zidane "Memories... ?"

Garland Yes, your memories brought forth this place...

Garland Here, you shall witness the entire truth.

Garland You have no choice. Now, go...

Zidane "What are you talking about!?"

Zidane "Damn... !"

So... Garland, for some reason, is now advising Zidane. Zidane explains to the others what garland told him, but is just as confused despite it. they decide to press onward... into Memoria. this is it; this is the final location of the game. This is where a lot of the truth gets laid out (most of it what I already described in the description of the setting and the events that occur before the game even starts, but this is where Zidane and the party discovers it).

This video shows the journey into, and throughout, Memoria. It's one of my favorite places in the game; it's just so neat. Memoria itself, as stated, is a place of memories, and a lot of the things seen will be from memories of someone. So the main structure of Memoria is that you're venture throughout it and these scenes will be shown. The four guardians of the shrines, or the guardians of Terra, are also encountered again here, so while you only do battle with one of them (and only as Zidane and Quina) the original time around, you do end up fighting the other two you saw, as well as the final one (which Garnet and Eiko contended with) that wasn't even shown.

So a lot of the video can really be skipped/summarized as "the party progresses through Memoria and battles the four guardians", but sprinkled between these are scenes which have a lot to cover. This is where it's laid out what led to the overall events that have happened throughout (and before) the game; that is, the whole attempt of Terra to assimilate Gaia. But it goes way beyond that, as they get deeper into Memoria.

The first example of how the memories initially (key word) work is shown when a small statue resembling Alexandria is shown. Then, scenes of Bahamut's attack, Alexander's defense, and the Invincible's attack to destroy it are shown. Zidane, Garnet, and Eiko all see this. Quina, however, remarks that they aren't seeing anything. Zidane speculates that because Quina wasn't there to witness it, they don't have the memory of it. With each scene, text (from Garland) is overlaid. I don't think these are spoken to Zidane (the game in the background freezes to imply he's not actively speaking to anyone, and nobody responds either), so rather these are just Garland's... memories, if you will. It's for the player's sake.

In his bid to defy me, Kuja tried to acquire Alexander...

An incident, 10 years ago, started everything...

What this is referring to is the destruction of Madain Sari ten years before the event of the game (which is why Garnet and her mother were fleeing it, and thus Garnet ending up in Alexandria and replacing the real, recently deceased Princess Garnet).

The next scene shows a storm. Zidane then notices a figure in a hood near a boat, and tries to call out to it, warning of the storm. There's no response. Another hooded figure, this one smaller, comes running to the other one. Garnet then runs up next to Zidane. Zidane explains to her what he's seeing... and then the two figures vanish. Zidane speculates he may have been imagining things, because it wasn't a memory of his.

however, it was a real memory, and Garnet is wondering why he saw it... when it was her memory. That was her and her mother fleeing Madain Sari on a boat during the storm, and she informs Zidane of this. Why is Zidane able to see a memory that isn't his?

He calls out to Garland.

I feared Gaia's eidolons more than anything...

However, I decided to deal with them before they became a major problem.

This is, again, referencing his (Garland's) destruction of Madain Sari and Alexandria using the Invincible airship; the "eye in the sky".

Further in Memoria, they see a staircase leading up into a swirling mass of clouds, with that eye in the sky at the top.

Garland calls out to Zidane...

Garland ...Zidane, can you hear me?

Garland ...Zidane. What you just saw was from your memory, and not Garnet's.

Zidane "What!? I don't ever remember being in a storm at sea."

Garland You still don't understand...

Garland You will find out soon enough...

Zidane "What do you mean? Can other people's memories become a part of my own?"

Zidane "Garland!"

Garland Once you accept everything, the answer will appear before you.

The scene then pauses, so this bit of text is, again, not spoke to Zidane but Garland's "thoughts".

A tremendous force was summoned to Gaia during the age of war...

However, the Gaians were not ready to harness so great a power...

They were terrified and broke the jewel into four pieces... and they prayed never to see it again.

What this is referring to is to the initial summoning attempt of Alexander in Alexandria about 500 years ago. The crystal to summon it was split into four pieces. One part stayed in Alexandria. This is what is on the pendant that Garnet has. The second went to Lindblum and is what they refer to as the Falcon Claw. The third went to Burmecia, which itself went to Cleyra. The final one was taken by the summoners who left Alexandria to form Madain Sari, and Eiko, as the last survivor, ended up with it.

By the way, Madain Sari ended up where it was because the summoners could "feel the force of the planet best there" so they decided to settle there. Remember, eidolons are literally legends made reality, and to tap into them, they need to tap into the force of the planet (as the crystals force is what births the legends).

Further in Memoria, Zidane observes what looks like two planets colliding.

Zidane "What is this... ?"

Zidane "Two moons colliding... ? No. they look more like planets."

Zidane "Why does this look so familiar... ?"

Garland That is a picture of Gaia being assimilated by Terra.

Garland Five thousand years ago, Terra, already an old planet, sought to assimilate Gaia. Terra needed to merge with a younger planet to survive.

Garland However, there was already life on Gaia.

Garland And so, the story began...

Zidane "Oh yeah. I saw this in Oeilvert."

Once again, the next bit isn't spoken to Zidane, but Garlands thoughts.

Life on Terra was coming to an end...

We had no choice but to proceed with the fusion, which tragically destroyed Terra's native civilizations.

Terra was too old to assimilate everything.

Thus, I created the Iifa Tree to regulate the flow of souls back to Terra.

Once again, this describes something rather straightforward if you recall me mentioning these events from before the events of the game itself. Terra used young planets as donors to refresh its crystals life force when it was dying, but due to either Gaia already having had life, or due to Terra simply getting too old, the process failed. Rather than fully assimilating Gaia, much of Terra was destroyed or left in a limbo state inside Gaia. Only a few places, such as Oeilvert and Ipsen's Castle, were transplanted to Gaia's surface.

Garland was created to manually oversee the process attempting to finish, and he did this by creating to Iifa tree to stop Gaia's souls from returning to it. This was an attempt to take control of the cycle and replace the souls of Gaia's crystal with Terra's souls.

There's another scene showing Quina in an "ocean" but there's no deeper lore explanation for this scene. it is, however, the location of one of the game's secret option bosses, which I do fight here. This is Hades, and there's a bit more to say about him insofar as the game (development-wise) goes, but Hades is not integral to the story itself and Hades is optional.

Beyond that, there's another scene. This one shows the planet of Gaia as simply an ocean early in its development, or so Zidane speculates. Eiko wonders how he knows that, but he's not sure how he knows it since it would have been well before his birth, and he was from a different planet entirely, only that it's definitely in his memory. Vivi, and then Freya, however, soon see it as well.

Zidane then thinks that perhaps all existence can be traced back to a single source, and may be connected.

Deeper in Memoria, Gaia is shown even earlier in its development, still on fire.

Zidane "Geez... That's one big fireball."

Steiner "Could it be a moon... ?"

Garland This is the birth of Gaia.

Zidane "That's Gaia... ?"

Garland Over 5,000 years ago...

Zidane "What's above that ladder?"

Garland See for yourself.

Yet again, Garlands thoughts, and not spoken...

Terra reached the peak of its prosperity at this time. The people believed that their future was secure. Ultimately, that very hubris led to Terra's demise. Thus, I was created to deal with our plights...

Zidane then seemingly reaches the end. It opens into an expanse of space... with nowhere to go. Garland instructs him to step off into space. The next sequence happens at 58:27.

Zidane does as instructed, after some understandable hesitation! He soon reaches a light...

Garland You have entered a new realm. There are no more worlds. There is no more space...

Garland Follow your memory, your original memory, and march forth...

Zidane "Garland, what exactly is our memory!?"

...

Zidane "Why can I remember other people's experiences and events that happened before my time?"

...

Zidane "Garland, please! Tell me!"

Garland Do not limit memory to just one individual's experiences from birth. That is only the surface.

Garland Every life born into this world, whether natural or artificial, requires a parent.

Garland And that parent also requires a parent.

Garland Life is connected, one to another...

Garland If you trace the root of all life, there exists one source.

What Garland is vaguely referring to here is how all life comes from a crystal of a planet... and how each each planet's crystal also comes from a universal crystal (whether that's directly or if there's more intermediate crystals isn't explained, but ultimately not important).

Garland The same could be said for memory.

Garland All life constitutes an intelligence that holds memory beyond experience.

Garland Memory is not isolated within individuals.

Garland It is an accumulation of generations of memories that continues to evolve.

What Garland is vaguely suggesting here is that each body has a soul, and that memories of this soul aren't necessarily limited to the memories of the current life/body it is within.

Garland You could say that memory and evolution go hand in hand.

Garland But most life-forms do not understand the true nature of memories...

Garland ...which explains why most memories never cross paths.

Zidane "...So, what am I gonna find by tracing back our roots?"

Garland ...A presences that presides over all life and memories. The crystal...

Zidane "Crystal..."

Garland You are on your own now.

Garland Zidane... take care of Kuja.

Garland ...and protect the crystal.

Garland Farewell...

Zidane "Garland, wait!"

Zidane "Garland!"

We then get Garland's last thoughts...

Even if I were created to serve one purpose alone, I do not regret being born to this world.

Zidane then passes through this other realm... and it's a crystal world. The enemies here are simply crystal versions of the four guardian bosses (and only them) you fought in Memoria. They give no experience at all, but a lot of AP. This is the game giving you a last chance to earn AP to learn abilities in case you need to equip other stuff.

The party then progresses into this crystal world, which isn't very long.

With that, I'll end this one here. It's very close to the end of the game, which I'll leave for its own update, as there will undoubtedly be a lot to cover with that one...

 

[Klemc]

I saved here, may i ask, is it too late for the Beatrix mod, it needs to meet Beatrix at Hilda Garde III before going to Terra !

But i saved two years ago, loaded today to continue.

Big thanks

 

[Princess Garnet]

Act XIV - The End

The finale has arrived! This will be the last update covering the story, and there's only one video for this one. There will eventually be one more post to follow where I go over some of the story and character details in a more broad sense, to talk about some things I couldn't have before the story was told.

It's now time for the beginning of the end of one of the best stories ever told...

(If you want to see the entirety of the "end of the game" scenes only, you can jump to 20:54 until 50:41 to bypass the battles in the beginning and the credits at the end. These will strictly be scenes and FMVs so no gameplay or battles.)

Within the crystal world, the party comes across Kuja... and the crystal; the universal (of sorts) crystal that is the source of all existence, all life, and all memories.

Kuja is threatening to destroy the crystal, because he "won't let this world exist without him". Zidane calls him a coward, and tells him he will stop him, but Kuja isn't threatened. He claims that even if they stop him, the process of Terra assimilating Gaia will occur anyway, so they lose either way. Zidane says even if the planet changes, they can make it a new home.

Kuja unleashes a creature, Deathguise, on the party, but this does little to stop them.

He's in disbelief that they defeated it, and then does battle with them himself. It's time for the final battle with the antagonist.

A word about these battles is that in my particular examples here, they... will be a bit anti-climactic. There's a few reasons for this...

The first is that I may or may not have gotten a bit overpowered (despite not believing I was grinding levels too much), but I'm also 24 years familiar with the game, so... normally this would be a bit more on the edge for a newer player not knowing what to expect, and maybe not being as equipped. I even tried to make it a bit less easy by not using some of the better passive abilities (auto-haste, auto-regen, etc.), but even without those it's easy. The simple matter is, if you get very strong late game, you end up hitting near or at the damage cap of 9,999 on a number of abilities, and since most bosses have HP totals in the 50 to 60 thousand range, a handful of those attacks makes it anti-climactic.

The second is that there's a bit of randomness to some battles. The Meteor skill, for example, does random damage to everyone hit, and I lucked out here with it not doing much. Kuja himself counters some attacks with Death Flare, which is far less random in damage but random in if he uses it. I, again, lucked out. If you queue up two or three attacks and he retaliates to each one, your next character that you use to start reviving someone might be "too late" before Kuja gets another turn, so it's usually safer to player this one turn by turn.

I actually had to redo this recording due to a software interruption that made the game lose focus (which made the recording lose track of it), and it somewhat disappointed me because that first battle with Kuja was a bit more... dramatic, haha. He retaliated with it twice and I was left in a desperate spot, although I recovered. It would have made for a more exciting battle but oh well. Something will make up for it shortly though...

After a long battle, the party is finally getting the upper hand on Kuja. I always make sure to have Garnet use Bahamut on Kuja because that's what he did to Alexandria so I'm returning the favor! As his limited time is nearly over anyway, he unleashes a destructive attack, not only overwhelming the party... but himself, too, and... destroying the crystal in the process...

Zidane awakens. He still exists? But why, and where is he?

It is here that some have criticism with the game (I personally disagree, and I'll explain why in my conclusion post). In many RPGs, the final battle is more than a single, one and done battle. In many of them, there's multiple battles; sometimes with the same boss at different moments, sometimes with the same boss in different forms, and sometimes with different enemies entirely.

For Final Fantasy IX's "point of no return" phase...

First, Kuja has you battle Deathguise. (And you actually can save after this one so this isn't truly the the point of no return, but I'm listing here as it's meant to be an battle immediately before Kuja.)

Then there's Kuja himself, the second time you do battle with him, and this time in Trance form.

And now... there's about to be another. It never discloses its formal name to you (but in battle, it's listed as "Necron" so I'll list it here) and to some people, this battle and entity seems to come out of nowhere because it's not directly teased at any point during the game, and that's why they feel like it was a poor addition. What do I think? While it seemed to come out of nowhere for me the first time I played it, it does and it doesn't actually come out of nowhere, but it requires some attention to things that most people probably won't have grasped their first time through the game (which included me), as well as some theory, so it is up to interpretation. But to me, there's some sound reasoning that makes it work (even if it is known that Final Fantasy IX had some development time constraints). Again, I'll... explain in my conclusion post where I address this particular point because it'd detract too much to launch into it now, so for now I'll move on with the story.

Zidane has awakened, but he's still hurt from the prior battle, and the rest of his friends lay around him near death. He's on a rocky surface. He wonders...

Zidane "What happened to the crystal... ?"

Zidane "...Where is this?"

A voice answers him...

You stand before the final dimension, and I am the darkness of eternity...

Zidane "Wh-Who are you!?"

All life bears death from birth.

Life fears death, but lives only to die.

It starts with anxiety.

Anxiety becomes fear.

Fear leads to anger... anger leads to hate... hate leads to suffering...

The only cure for this fear is total destruction.

Kuja was a victim of his own fear. He concluded he could only save himself by destroying the origin of all things - the crystal.

Zidane "What the heck are you talking about?"

Zidane "Why are you telling me all this?"

...Now, the theory is undeniable.

Kuja's action proves it. All things live to perish.

At last, life has uncovered this truth. Now, it's time to end this world.

Zidane "Wh-What do you mean by that!?"

I exist for one purpose...

To return everything back to the zero world, where there is no life and no crystal to give life.

In a world of nothing, fear does not exist. This is the world that all life desires.

Zidane "Who the hell do you think you are!?"

Zidane "You're not ending anything! Never, not as long as we have the will to live!"

Foolish creature...

Your fears have already deluded you.

One day, you will choose destruction over existence, as Kuja did.

When he sought to destroy the crystal, the purpose of life ended.

Now, come... Enter the zero world that you desire.

Zidane "No!"

Zidane "We'll destroy you and prove you wrong!"

Zidane "And through our memories, future generations will see that we can overcome any fear!"

Zidane collapses to his hands and knees, and can't even hold his head up...

Zidane "...We can't give up now."

Zidane "...We have to fight together."

Zidane "Even if we lose, it doesn't matter... Our memories will live on inside others."

Zidane "So, even if we are born to die, I'm not afraid."

Zidane stands back up...

Zidane "I'm gonna live!"

You're then given a choice here to choose who will fight out of your eight party members. The four you don't choose will donate their will and energy to the four you do choose.

I choose to have Amarant, Garnet, Eiko, and Vivi fight. Eiko is very beneficial for her superior healing and status removal, and I brought Garnet because while most would only choose to bring one healer, she can help give a second option to cover that (which is never bad to have here) and can also do damage, because mine is hitting near the damage cap with Bahamut. I brought Amarant because he can throw stuff for the damage cap (this is the end of the game, there's no reason to save stuff), and I brought Vivi for magic damage variety, because Necron likes to cast Protect or Shell after physical or magical attacks against it, reducing further damage of that type.

Steiner and/or Zidane would have been good for me to bring as they both hit for a lot of damage, but I wanted to not have the same exact party I just used for the prior two battles.

The four that donate their energy all say something as they do, and again, this depends on who you choose so the following examples are applicable for only if you choose them. Who they give it to also probably has some priority system, so again, who they give it to in my following example is variable.

Each time one of them gives up their energy, the one they give it to is revived and healthy.

Quina "Come back after you kill bad guy. I prepare big meal for everyone."

Quina gives their energy to Amarant.

Steiner "Though I am unworthy, accept my powers."

Steiner gives his energy to Vivi (makes total sense as Steiner respects him).

Freya "I leave everything in your hands."

Freya gives her energy to Eiko.

Zidane "We've come too far to lose. If we put our powers together, I know we can win."

Zidane gives his energy to Garnet (also makes total sense).

Eiko, Garnet, Amarant, and Vivi then stand up for the battle before them. It will be a battle for not only their own lives, but their friends lives, and everyone and everything they know; the battle for existence itself.

Once again, depending on who you chose depends on who says the following based on a priority system In this case, it's Eiko as Zidane isn't present.

Eiko "We're not afraid of you!"

Eiko "Come on, guys!"

You're then thrown into battle with... whatever this entity is. It pulls you into the air into the floating circular coliseum in the sky.

Necron is typically a tougher battle. It has a very long list of skills it can use, and many of them hit for high damage and one in particular has a chance to inflict basically every status under the sun. It also can act numerous times in succession.

Like with what I was mentioning about the battle with Kuja, where he can counter with an attack and wear you down between turns if you queue up many commands, you can be left helpless. This is part of why I bring two healers and keep them on standby. I said that "something will make up for" the anti-climactic battle with Kuja, and it is here. That very thing happens here, where I command Garnet to cast a party-wide healing spell. Another member was going to use a Phoenix Down (revives a knocked out character) on Eiko before that, so she would be revived, and then Garnet would heal everyone.

Well... Necron does his signature attack called Grand Cross which inflicts a ton of statuses, and while I'm guarded against almost every possible thing you can guard against on almost every character... many things simply can't be guarded. Death is one of them, and Death happens to succeed on two of the other characters. The result is I'm left with a party of only Garnet alive, who proceeds to cast a party wide healing spell... on herself... while she's already healthy enough. Very funny! This is extra bad because I now need to wait for the next turn to start reviving people, and Necron is likely to get at least two skills in before I can be at the point where I use her next turn to revive someone and have them healthy enough. This very well could have been a game over, but I lucked out and succeeded here. Garnet going into trance helped; when she goes into trance, if she summons an eidolon, it will keep doing periodic damage as long as she stays in trance (and she will stay in trance indefinitely as long as you don't use skills to deplete the trance; otherwise she'll get a few turns of extra eidolon damage along with whatever other skills you need to do). It wasn't as much damage as a full summoning but it ended up helping, and even delivered the final damage I needed.

After the battle, Necron is both impressed and surprised at their will to live...

Necron "Why defy your fate?"

Necron then teleports the party away...

Necron "Is the will to live that powerful... ?"

Necron then starts flashing, and the coliseum and Necron start getting destroyed.

Necron "This is not the end."

Necron "I am eternal..."

Necron "...as long as there is life and death..."

The scene then shifts to Gaia outside the Iifa tree. A flash is shown above it; an explosion from where the portal was that the group used to enter Memoria, and the entire party is shown teleporting to the ground just beyond the Iifa Tree's roots. Some of the roots are seen moving around. As Kuja declared, the Iifa tree is having a violent response.

The Red Rose is shown in the area (it's not known how much time has passed since the group went into the portal with the Invincible, either). Seeing the explosion of the portal, Beatrix fears the worst. Mikoto, who is onboard the Red Rose, remarks that they are alive, and where they are.

Beatrix states that the Hilda Garde III, also still in the area, is closer, so they contact Regent Cid onboard the Hilda Garde III to let him know, and he goes to where the party is, and lands to pick them up.

This part... I can't... But I must...

Zidane "That's the Hilda Garde III..."

Zidane "Looks like Cid came to rescue us."

Cid is shown walking out onto the deck of the Hilda Garde III.

Zidane "Cid!"

Regent Cid "Thank heavens, you're all safe!"

Regent Cid "Come quickly! We don't have much time!"

The party then begins walking towards the Hilda Garde III, with Zidane, Garnet, and Steiner last to begin leaving, and then...

...Farewell, Zidane...

Zidane stops and looks around, as does Garnet because he stopped. Zidane kicks the ground...

Zidane "Ah, dammit..."

Garnet "What's wrong?"

Zidane "...Why don't you go on ahead? I'll catch up with you all later."

Oh no. No. No, no, no! Don't you do this!

Zidane "I have to take care of something..."

Garnet "What... !?"

Zidane "...He's still alive."

Garnet "He can't be..."

The rest of the party begins returning, noticing Zidane and Garnet haven't come yet.

Steiner "Zidane! What are you doing!?"

Zidane "Steiner... Take care of Garnet."

What!? No! There it is! Don't you even dare!

Steiner "What!? Wh-What do you mean by that!?"

Zidane. "...Kuja's still alive. I can't just leave him."

Steiner "This is ludicrous. Just because you two are from the same planet doesn't mean-"

Zidane "No, that's not the reason."

Eiko "Come on, Zidane!"

Eiko "Why are you doing this!?"

Zidane "Because..."

Zidane "Because I might've done the same thing if I were in his shoes."

Zidane "I probably would've fought against you guys and wreaked havoc in Gaia like he did..."

Zidane "I know it sounds crazy..."

Zidane "...but I know, deep down inside, I have to do this."

Quina "You not crazy, Zidane."

Quina "But you go help Kuja is not good idea. Is too dangerous."

Zidane "I can't just leave him. There's no way I could live with myself."

Zidane "I'm going."

Steiner "You're making a big mistake!"

Zidane "Maybe... but we all have to make big decisions in life sometimes."

Zidane "For me, now's that time."

Zidane "I have to face up to it, just like Vivi did when he confronted his fears to find out about himself."

Zidane "That was a big decision for Vivi."

Vivi "I don't know about that... I don't think it was really a big deal."

Zidane "That's what you think, but I might not be doing this if it weren't for you."

Zidane "You've definitely taught me to take life more seriously."

Freya "Well, you're obviously not going to change your mind, so I'm coming with you."

Steiner "The principle of knighthood requires that one assist his comrade in times of need. I shall accompany you as well!"

Zidane "Whoa, wait a minute."

Zidane "Like I said, it's my moment, so don't butt in. You guys'll have your own someday."

Zidane "Besides, you guys have more important things to worry about, like Burmecia and Alexandria."

Freya "For once in your life, why can't you be honest!?"

Zidane "Sorry, but I can't-"

Amarant "'I can't just walk away. It goes against my nature.'"

Amarant "You're a real simpleton."

Cid comes back out onto the deck of the Hilda Garde III...

Amarant "Forget it, guys. There's no stopping this fool."

Regent Cid "What are you still doing out here!? Get on board right now!"

Amarant "Come on. Let's just leave him and get outta here."

Cid walks inside and Amarant runs off to board the airship.

Zidane "...That guy will never change."

Zidane "Alright, you heard the man! Get out of here before it's too late!"

Eiko "Zidane, I love you! You better come back!"

Eiko runs off to board the airship.

Quina "Zidane, I need eat more different food."

Quina "I sill hungry! You need come back, take me more places, show me more food!"

Quina runs off to board the airship.

Freya "I still can't believe you're doing this. You've changed, Zidane."

Freya "'Til we meet again."

Freya runs off to board the airship.

Vivi "Zidane, you've taught me another big lesson in life. Thanks..."

Vivi runs off to board the airship.

No no no! Why are they all sounding like they're saying potential goodbyes!?

Only Zidane, Garnet, and Steiner remain.

Garnet "Zidane..."

Steiner kneels before Garnet

Steiner "Princess... We must go."

Garnet "..."

Steiner stands up.

Zidane "Garnet-I mean, Your Highness."

Zidane kneels before her now... (And music starts playing.)

Zidane "The abduction is over. I can't take you any further."

Noooooo! Don't formally tell me the adventure is over! He formally promised to kidnap her at the beginning of the game, and now he formally announces it's done!

Zidane "...I'm sorry for being so selfish."

But you've been the opposite!

Garnet walks towards him, and Steiner walks away and looks in the opposite direction for a moment.

Garnet "No... You're not being selfish."

Garnet "...You've done so much for us."

Garnet "If it weren't for you, I probably would've led a meaningless life."

Garnet "With you, I was able to see so much of the world and meet so many people."

Garnet "We faced many hardships, too... but... I think I finally know what's important."

Garnet "I'm so fortunate to have met you. I'll never forget our trip together."

WHY AM I CRYING!?

Garnet bows before Zidane.

Garnet "Thank you, Zidane."

She then turns away from him and looks down.

Garnet "..."

Garnet "..."

Garnet "Promise me one thing... Please come back."

Zidane looks down and... the scene fades to Black.

WHAT!? NO! HE COULDN'T PROMISE HER!? WHY!? HE DIDN'T PROMISE HER! NO!

The Hilda Garde III is then shown flying away as Garnet emotionally looks over the side. As it flies into the distance, Zidane turns away from it and walks forward.

AH! NO!

I know he just has to help everyone, and that's what makes him who he is and so good, but... Kuja? And why does he have to do this!?

Zidane then calls out to Kuja. Kuja tells Zidane that he still has time, and to leave him. Zidane, of course, has other plans, and Kuja tells him that he doesn't understand him. We should introduce Kuja to Amarant; they'd get along real great.

An unusually cheesy (and almost bad) cutscene is shown with Zidane rushing along the roots, dodging others, and making his way into the Iifa Tree. Seriously, for a game that has had near perfect FMVs, this one alone stands out as comically bad. Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a little... but it seems worse because the others really are so good. It's probably because it overlays Zidane's in-game character model on top of the FMV (something the PlayStation seemed to rarely do, but has as a capability) and making them both work... didn't work in this particular case.

As he's making his way towards the tree, he eventually leaps into an opening and falls downwards.

Kuja is shown laying inside at a spot, and as Zidane falls, it freezes for a moment, showing the two next to one another, before it continues and Zidane falls.

But Zidane's survived worse than this. So he gets up and makes his way to Kuja. Kuja is no longer in Trance, and looks hurt.

Zidane "Hey! Are you alright."

Kuja "Zidane... ?"

Zidane leaps over to be next to Kuja. Kuja is laying on his side, looking away from Zidane.

Kuja "What are you doing here? I thought I told you to go..."

Zidane "Wouldn't you do the same for me if you knew I was dying?"

Kuja "..."

Zidane sits next to Kuja.

Zidane "...Never mind."

Kuja "Your comrades were able to escape?"

Zidane "Yeah... I knew you had something to do with it."

Kuja "...I'm glad they made it."

Huh!? Why is the game trying to make me like Kuja now!?

Zidane "Yeah, well... it's our turn to get movin'."

Kuja "..."

Kuja "...I don't deserve to live after all that I've done."

Kuja "I'm useless to this world."

Zidane "No one's useless..."

Zidane "You helped us escape, remember?"

Kuja "..."

Kuja "After you guys beat me, I had nothing left... nothing more to lose."

Kuja "Then, I finally realized what it means to live."

Kuja "I guess I was too late."

Kuja falls unconscious... and after a few short moments, Zidane looks down at him and notices.

Zidane "Hey! Don't you go dying on me, alright!?"

Zidane hears a noise...

Just then, vines and roots, similar to ones before, start rushing in. Kuja was somehow stopping it before, but he's no longer able to. They rush in from various directions and completely enclose upon the two of them, before the scene fades to Black...

DAMN IT!

Mikoto (this was the third powerful Genome with a soul created by Garland after Kuja and Zidane) is then shown outside the Iifa tree walking along its roots. It's not clear when, exactly, this is, but it seems like it might be shortly after.

Monologue is shown from her.

Kuja...

What you did was wrong..

But you gave us all one thing...

Hope...

We were all created for the wrong reason, but you alone defied our fate.

Going to interrupt to say I'm not so sure I entirely agree, to put it lightly, with that last line in particular, given, you know... what Zidane also did. Maybe additional context needs applied here since Zidane grew up not knowing of his purpose, but he still defied it once he found out despite struggling hard to do so, and Kuja himself probably has Zidane to thank for changing his ways. Continuing on...

We do not want to forget this.

We want your memory to live on forever...

...to remind us that we were not created for the wrong reason - that our life has meaning.

The scene then ends.

This is where the "formal end scenes" begin. Gameplay is entirely finished from this point forward. You can walk away and the game will just show this. There's no more inputting or playing; just watching. First, there's the end scenes, and then the credits that follow. If you're wanting to watch they end scenes, they start at 34:31. I highly recommend this. The summary I give in place of it won't do it justice.

We're informed that it's "some time later". This time is actually around Garnet's next birthday I believe, as the same play that showed at the beginning of the game is again performed for her in Alexandria on her birthday, and since the game started on her prior birthday, and the events of the game take place over a couple/few months, this would be nearly a year later...

The first scene shows Alexandria. It just has to play "that" song; the one Garnet often sang...

Vivi is walking down the the street in Alexandria, and appears to have a ticket for a play. Deja vu? I hope this one isn't fake, too! "So this is Alexandria" he thinks (?) and then a familiar character, and another moment of deva vu, comes. Puck is running down the street, and somehow doesn't avoid running directly into him. Vivi is knocked over and drops his ticket... er, multiple tickets. Like, a lot. (I tried counting and it looks like there's eight, and that has me wondering if I missed one since the game references nine a lot, but either way... he has multiple tickets instead of one for some reason.) At first, Puck is upset, but then says he can't believe it when he notices it's Vivi. "Vivi?" the boy wonders, and asks Puck how he knows that name. Puck wonders what he's talking about, and how he could forget him. When Puck says his name, he embraces him while asking "the Prince of Burmecia"? What's going... on? Puck wonders the same thing, and says if he's not Vivi, then who is he? Just then, he says he's... Vivi's son!? Just then, from behind Puck, many additional "Vivis" start marching down the street. Puck is shocked and flees.

We then get some monologue spoken by an... unknown character.... (See if you can figure out whose words they are.)

I'll just include them all as pictures.

The next scene is in Burmecia. Freya and Sir Fratley land. Fratley asks Freya if she's leaving soon, and she answers that "she can hardly wait to see everyone again". Fratley remarks "Alexandria... I've been there years ago", indicating that Freya is going to Alexandria. Hm, a lot of Vivi clones with tickets in Alexandria. Seems to be for a reunion at this play.

Fratley and Freya sit together at a fountain.

Freya wonders how long it will take to rebuild Burmecia, but Fratley says he doesn't care, as long as he with her, as he pulls her closer to him and tells her he loves her. Freya is happy, but thinks that he doesn't even remember their past. Remember, her struggle was "to be forgotten is worse than death". She's still struggling with this... but moving forward. She has him, at least.

The next scene is back in Alexandria, this time in Garnet's bedroom. Beatrix walks in, and remarks it's "time to say goodbye to this room". Huh? Oh... Garnet's just not using it since she's taking a new room as Queen, right? Right... ?

She then holds her sword up, saying "Save the Queen, you have served me well", and lays her sword on the table. She remarks that her duty is finished, and says "Farewell, Alexandria" and walks out. Oh... she's leaving!? Why!? Does she feel guilty about her past?

The next scene shows a wooden bridge at South Gate between the gap separating the plateaus Dali and Treno are on. We can notice the mist is again gone by now. Amarant is shown traveling here. He turns and gives a salute to someone not shown, and says "hey". Lani runs up a path off the side and asks him why he's going to Alexandria. He simply answers her question by asking her one of his own; "you're not going?". He seems to be a bit more social now. Not only did he initiate a social interaction, but he defaulted to presuming she would join him for a reunion. He's definitely changed. She answers with "I never said that" and tells him to wait and he walks off.

In the next scene, Quina is shown in the kitchen of Alexandria castle. Quina is seemingly a chef for at least the event, or maybe permanently. Quina is instructing the other cooks, telling them how to make a good meal and that it is important to do so "for friends". As an Easter egg, Quina can also be seen working in the kitchen at the very beginning of the game (if you go there), but they were seemingly only working for that single event at the time.

The next scene shows Regent Cid, Lady Hilda, and Eiko on the lift in Lindblum castle, traveling down. Eiko seems impatient for something, declaring that they must arrive in time for the play. They, too, are seemingly going to Alexandria. Cid tells her not to worry, as his airship is faster than the theater ship. He calls it his "new" ship but it's not clear if he's referring to his Hilda Garde III, the newest known one, or he made an even newer and faster one. Eiko calls him "father" at one point, and he asks her what she just called him. The lift stops and Eiko runs off. Hilda tells him "he called you father, darling", and then Eiko returns to say "Father, Mother, hurry" only to run off again. Cid proudly says "S-Say it again, Eiko". This tells us that Cid and Hilda's relationship seems to going more smoothly, and that they have adopted Eiko, so Eiko is no longer alone...

We then see Beatrix walking out of the front of Alexandria castle, following the earlier scene showing her. Steiner is hidden off to the side as she goes to walk by, and calls out to her by name, asking her where she is going, though he definitely seems to know, and she definitely seems to know he knows by replying too tell him not to try and change her mind, as "my mind is set". He tells her to wait, and to listen to him, and then is seen nervously shaking his head in his hands, with his heart beating. he then declares "I-I never with to lose you again!", and then she turns to him. "Let us protect the queen together!" he pleas. This isn't just a request for a companion in knighthood he's making... and she responds by running towards him as the scene fades.

Baku and some of the other Tantalus members, Ruby, Blank, Marcus, and Cinna, are shown entering conference room on the Prima Vista theater ship, which is seemingly repaired now. Similar to the beginning of the game, they are having a meeting before the play, with Baku declaring that they are almost there, and that it's been a while since they saw Alexandria. This time, the meeting is sans a plan to abduct a Princess... and sans Zidane...

The next scene shows now-Queen Garnet sitting on a thrown overlooking the area will the play will be held. She's back to having her long hair (how does it grow so fast!?). Steiner and Beatrix are shown joining from behind her. Garnet thinks (and/or speaks; it's not clear since the in-game models don't move their mouths) that it's been so long and that she can't wait to see everyone... "but... it will never be the same". She's clearly still missing Zidane, and I will interrupt (?) here about the above monologue that's been shown between all the scenes.

At first, this comes across as though it might be Garnet reflecting on the loss of Zidane, and coming to terms with it. The song that plays here doesn't help, and the first few scenes of monologue certainly could fit... but the last few don't. That monologue isn't from Garnet or about coming to terms with the loss of Zidane. That monologue is Vivi's last words/thoughts. Vivi has "stopped" by this point. It would be easy to overlook, since the first scene shows "a lot of Vivis". He's somehow found a way to manufacture clones as "offspring" of sorts, and maybe he's still around, you might think? After all, the Black mages typically have a life span of approximately a year, but one of the Black mages told Vivi that he, as a prototype, should last longer. This play is taking place a year after the first one, but that's not officially outright stated, so you might not know this, and it's also possible to miss exactly how old Vivi was at the start of the game. But alas... he has stopped by this point (I think it actually happened shortly after the events of the game, but either way). Supposedly he returned to Quan's dwelling, his "grandpa's" home, at his end. How he knew his end was coming, I don't know, or maybe he returned there to live but I would have thought he would go to the Black Mage village. Regardless, these are his final reflections on life and his friends.

Back to the scene with Garnet, she claims she has to let go of the past; that she has to move on "just like he taught her".

The scene then shifts to the start of the play. Like the first time, Tantalus is performing "I want to be Your Canary" (this is roughly based on Romeo and Juliet, by the way, but instead it's Princess Cornelia and Marcus), Garnet's favorite play, and Baku is playing King Leo and introduces the play as he greets the viewers.

During the play, Ruby, playing Princess Cornelia, runs out looking for Marcus, and finds him. He asks her if she's be happy marrying a peasant such as himself, and she tells him not to call her a Princess anymore. She asks him if he truly treasures her for who she is, instead of for her royalty. He tells her to cast away her royalty and he will love her. He tells her to elope with him on the first at dawn tomorrow. Princess Cornelia tells him she will follow him to the end of the world, and Marcus replies with an Easter egg throw back quote of "No cloud, no squall shall hinder us!" before leaving. To those who don't know, Cloud and Squall are also the names of the main protagonists of the prior two Final Fantasy titles.

There's up to two secret and bonus scenes that might be shown here (both of which are shown here) if you have certain items in your inventory at the end of the game. One is Cinna's Hammer, which is a one-time secret item itself, and can't be used directly besides for synthesizing, which may result in you either not having it, or using it for synthesizing if you do since it seems useless otherwise, so you may not have it at the end. The other is the "Save the Queen", which you can synthesize but not use at all (only Beatrix can ever equip this, not Steiner), and it only comes from a secret synthesizer, so again, you may not have it due to not finding it or noticing it's useless. But if you have one or both, you get some secret scenes.

The first bonus scene shows Blank, who approaches Princess Cornelia after Marcus has left her. He's first shown talking to himself that he must stop the wedding to prevent a war. He then approaches her, asking of Marcus. She asks what news he brings, and he approaches her, saying "this" before punching her in the stomach.

The second bonus scene shows King Leo at night, wondering where his daughter (Princess Cornelia) is. Blank then approaches, and King Leo asks if he had seen her. Blank tells him not to worry, as he will see to it that she marries Prince Schneider instead of Marcus. King Leo asks him why he shouldn't worry if he doesn't know she is safe, and asks if he (Blank) has betrayed him. Blank says that no, he betrayed Marcus instead, to ensure Princess Cornelia will marry Prince Schneider, which is something King Leo himself would approve of, instead of seeing her marry Marcus. Yet, King Leo asks him how he could betray his friend, and if he was willing to betray a dear friend so easily... maybe he would betray him, too. King Leo then cuts him down with his sword. As Blank dies, he declares that he only wanted peace between the two kingdoms. King Leo them blames his daughter, asking how she could go against his wishes, and asks two servants to find her.

That's the end of the bonus scenes. The rest will show regardless.

Meanwhile, the two moons are shown in the sky and the horizon is starting to glow, as dawn approaches. Markus is shown waiting for Princess Cornelia at first dawn, as he asked of her. He declares that the time of their supposed departure has passed, and wonders where she is. Cinna approaches, and tells him "Marcus, the ship soon embarks". He tells him if he leaves alone, it could result in peace between the two kingdoms (as she'd then marry Prince Schneider instead, briddging the two kingdoms). Cinna tells him what he will do, saying "Speak, Marcus!".

I'll narrate the following, as the last time I'll narrate something.

Marcus "She told me that she could not live without me."

Marcus turns into the distance, where the sky brightens a little more and morning birds are shown in the sky.

Marcus "So, the sun is our enemy, too. The eastern sky grows bright."

Marcus "Will we not spread our wings, as yonder birds in joyous flight?"

Cinna "Hark, Marcus! They cannot wait any longer!"

Cinna "The ship departs!"

Cinna then runs off, presumably to return to the ship.

Marcus "Could she have betrayed me?"

Marcus "Nay, ne'er would my love speak false."

Marcus "I must have faith!"

Marcus "She shall appear if I only believe!"

Marcus "As the sun lends me no ear, I pray instead to the twin moons!"

Marcus turns towards to moons, away from the viewers. he looks up towards them, and raises his hands wide.

Marcus "I beseech thee, wondrous moonlight, grant me my only wish!"

Marcus then leans forward, lowering his head and his hands...

He then throws his cloak off, turns back around, and declares...

"Bring my beloved Garnet to me!"

...revealing that he is, instead, Zidane!

Garnet then, understandably, panics and rushes towards him in the most emotional reunion. On her way towards him, she drops her necklace pendant in the crowd, but only pauses briefly and instead continues rushing towards Zidane, even throwing her crown away after that. Forget it, I'm already losing stuff so I don't need this either!? They embrace as she cries, and the rest of the crowd, which shows most of the other characters from the game (only sans Vivi, and in his place are the numerous clones), cheers. Steiner and Beatrix raise and hold up the "Save the Queen" sword which glows above them by sunlight reflecting off of it.

The end!

The credits then formally begin, which are an FMV, but before they show, monologue in the beginning of the FMV is shown.

"How did you survive... ?"

"I didn't have a choice."

"I had to live."

"I wanted to come home to you."

"So..."

"I sang your song."

"Our song."

It then zooms out to show Alexandria.

"Melodies of Life", which is the source of the underlying audio theme heard in many other music tracks in the game (and is also "Song of Memories" which is the song Garnet sang and what the above would be referring to), then plays.

The credits then play, which show various scenes from FMVs throughout the course of the game, recapping the wonderful adventure.

At the end, it returns to the scene where Garnet and Zidane have their reunion. This time, the "twin moons" fade in over it and collide in a flash. A crystal is then shown, which rotates and takes its place in the official "Final Fantasy IX" logo. It is finally revealed that the crystal in its logo was always the combined crystal of Gaia and Terra once they completed the merging process. There's symbolism in this "union" of the planets, moons, and crystals shown directly after Garnet and Zidane have their reunion and presumably spend their lives together, as they have also joined and are from Gaia and Terra respectively.

Okay... now it's the end! A "the end" screen is shown and the classic "prelude" music is, ironically, played at the end.

And that will do it for coverage of the story, but there will be one more follow up (which will fittingly by my "prelude" post) where I give my closing thoughts about this game. I'll touch up the story in a much more summarized fashion, and describe the journeys and transformations some of the characters went through, now that I can without spoiling it. There's a few other small Easter eggs or just random tidbits (such as development related) I'll mention too.

I saved here, may i ask, is it too late for the Beatrix mod, it needs to meet Beatrix at Hilda Garde III before going to Terra !

But i saved two years ago, loaded today to continue.

Big thanks

I don't know, since I'm not familiar with whatever exact mod it is you are referring to, or how it works. I don't really play the PC version much.

I presume you're referring to one that makes Beatrix playable though, since I know that's a thing, and if so, it depends on how it's implemented. Maybe the mod doesn't need to have been present from the start, or maybe it would have needed to. I don't know in this case.

As a general rule, you should keep back ups of the saves if you care about them. You can then try it and see if it works or not. If it does work, you can proceed. If it does not work, you can revert back and lost nothing but the time to try.

 

[Space Lynx]

What is your favorite mini-game in FFIX? @Princess Garnet