There was this pawn shop down the road from my house that sold PS1 games. I must have been 10 at the time, and every once in awhile my dad would bring me to this pawn shop to buy a video game. Inside this glass case they kept a stack of PS1 games. I'm reading the titles in the stack, and FF IX caught my eye. My friend had owned FF VII, and I remember being mesmerized watching him play the title. I had also beaten the Legend of Dragoon a few months earlier and was looking for a new experience, I imagined that FF IX would be that. Naturally, I begged my dad to buy it for me, and he did.

I was instantly hooked. From playing Tetra Master, to Chocobo Hot & Cold. This game was everything a 10 year old could have asked for back in the early 2,000s.

During my play through I made it to to disk two, and I couldn't proceed because the disk couldn't be read (probably why it was pawned in the first place). At the time convincing my dad to buy me the game again was a long shot since he was a single parent on a fixed income. I would come back to this game in my teen years, start again and complete it.

Now revisiting it again as a 30-year-old, the themes from the game resonate with me a lot more. The plot's a little incoherent and all over the place, just how I like my Final Fantasy games.

This game is truly special to me, it brings me back to a time of innocence. All those memories playing it when I was 10 and during my teen years are so fuzzy, I just remember the essence of the game and the visuals from when I was younger. You can tell the game holds up since despite that, I can still enjoy the heck out of the game today. Being able to re-experience it as a 30-year-old will resonate even more with me for when I turn 60 and try to revisit the game then (god willing).

I could not recommend this title more.
 
PS: The 'Hail to the King' achievement and 'The Ultimate Sword' achievement are just cruel. Also, the 'Let the Bodies Hit the Floor III' achievement is just the worst. All I need now is a Legend of Dragoon Steam port (fingers crossed).

[h1]This game is special to me.[/h1] There was this pawn shop down the road from my house that sold PS1 games. I must have been 10 at the time, and every once in awhile my dad would bring me to this pawn shop to buy a video game. Inside this glass case they kept a stack of PS1 games. I'm reading the titles in the stack, and FF IX caught my eye. My friend had owned FF VII, and I remember being mesmerized watching him play the title. I had also beaten the Legend of Dragoon a few months earlier and was looking for a new experience, I imagined that FF IX would be that. Naturally, I begged my dad to buy it for me, and he did. I was instantly hooked. From playing Tetra Master, to Chocobo Hot & Cold. This game was everything a 10 year old could have asked for back in the early 2,000s. During my play through I made it to to disk two, and I couldn't proceed because the disk couldn't be read (probably why it was pawned in the first place). At the time convincing my dad to buy me the game again was a long shot since he was a single parent on a fixed income. I would come back to this game in my teen years, start again and complete it. Now revisiting it again as a 30-year-old, the themes from the game resonate with me a lot more. The plot's a little incoherent and all over the place, just how I like my Final Fantasy games. This game is truly special to me, it brings me back to a time of innocence. All those memories playing it when I was 10 and during my teen years are so fuzzy, I just remember the essence of the game and the visuals from when I was younger. You can tell the game holds up since despite that, I can still enjoy the heck out of the game today. Being able to re-experience it as a 30-year-old will resonate even more with me for when I turn 60 and try to revisit the game then (god willing). I could not recommend this title more.   PS: The 'Hail to the King' achievement and 'The Ultimate Sword' achievement are just cruel. Also, the 'Let the Bodies Hit the Floor III' achievement is just the worst. All I need now is a Legend of Dragoon Steam port (fingers crossed).