You may not be aware, but I play a lot of video games and have a lot of video game opinions. But despite how confident I am in my own opinions, I also have a pathological need to understand what other people see in games. When a game is widely beloved but I bounced off, or when people name a game I really disliked as their favorite of all time, I don't necessarily second-guess my own experience, but I definitely start to feel the urge to play that game again and attempt to see what other people see in it. Final Fantasy IX is the latest example of this urge, and I got that final push when this game won the Final Fantasy poll on my Patreon page.
The first time I played Final Fantasy IX, I didn't like much about it, to be honest. I thought the story was mostly boring, the combat felt old, and I didn't connect with many of the characters save Vivi...I mean, I'm not a monster. A few years later, as I started to get into podcasting and surrounded myself with the people who I ended up talking about games with on a near-daily basis, Final Fantasy IX kept getting mentioned as some people's favorite games of all time, and that need to Understand started kicking in. So I decided to throw it in that Final Fantasy poll, and many of those same friends pushed it to the top. And so, the quest to Understand began...and I'm happy to say that not only do I now "get it", but I actually really enjoyed the story and characters the second time around. There are still some things I don't like much, but I'm happy to say that I get it now.
Joining me for this breakdown and discussion on Final Fantasy IX are two wonderful guests, Rick Firestone from Pixel Project Radio and Alejandro Ortiz from A Random Gamer's Corner. I just played Final Fantasy IX for the second time, Rick is a longtime Final Fantasy IX fan, and Alejandro is a first-time player, so I think we got a great mix of perspectives on this episode. Rick is a many-time returning guest on the show, and Alejandro is joining for the first time, and both run gaming podcasts that you should check out. You can find Pixel Project Radio HERE and A Random Gamer's Corner HERE.
You can listen to episode 59 of Tales from the Backlog (Final Fantasy IX) of Tales from the Backlog in the player below, or you can follow the links to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Podcast Addict, Stitcher, Google Podcasts or search "Tales from the Backlog" in your favorite podcast app!