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Final Fantasy IX Official Strategy Guide
BradyGames Final Fantasy IX Official Strategy Guide features a detailed walkthrough, support and action abilities, equipment lists and statistics, comprehensive weapons list, bestiary data and side quests. Using this printed guide along with Squaresoft's online guide at PlayOnline.com will enable players to access additional resources for this epic adventure.
208 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 31, 2017
Reason for the low rating on this gaming guide wasn't because of the character summaries or base details of the game (which is why it gets two stars), but the fact that they made you go to a separate online site to get summaries for how to get through certain levels. I remember being excited to get the game and then getting this guide alongside it only to have to sign onto AOL (Duuuude, that was a long time ago...) to log in and navigate to the PlayOnline site where you could read the information in full versus the partial inclusions in the book.
Too much work for something that should've been in a complete guide. I remember being upset about it back then. But honestly years later when I've already beaten the game at least 3 times, it doesn't bother me quite as much. But I'm surprised I held onto this book after all these years.
Too much work for something that should've been in a complete guide. I remember being upset about it back then. But honestly years later when I've already beaten the game at least 3 times, it doesn't bother me quite as much. But I'm surprised I held onto this book after all these years.
May 26, 2008
Instead of acting as a strategy guide, this book just directs you to a website with the strategies... and though it's been a long time since I've used that, I remember the website being fairly useless. You're better off using a free walkthrough written by a fan or a review site. This book is pretty useless.
April 15, 2021
Want to find out my full review? Enter this code in on PlayOnline to find out more!
March 5, 2024
Clearly this is a nostalgia post.
There are a lot of one star reviews, which is absolutely hilarious. At this stage in the game I’m pretty sure most peeps with access to a PC were using online guides anyway. I never really noticed all those blurbs saying there was more online XD I guess I tuned it out. For the most part the guide is still perfectly useful I suppose you just have to learn to navigate which isn’t exactly user friendly, haha!
Anyways, this is what I’d bring to the toilet with me. Sometimes I’d just browse it to browse, other times it was prep (both uses of the bathroom), and I enjoy the art and sequence of the story. As a guide it never really saw much use, except maybe to see where certain items/cards were...An who to steal from. Come to think of it the only guide that I used hardcore was VIII.
There’s not much to say about this one. It does lack in art, and as a guide now that I’m looking back at it it does leave lots to be desired. Still, this might be one of the oldest books in my possession. I honestly don’t know how long it is because the back cover is ripped and so are some of the pages XD
IX is still one of the greats. Toonami rates this a 4/5.
There are a lot of one star reviews, which is absolutely hilarious. At this stage in the game I’m pretty sure most peeps with access to a PC were using online guides anyway. I never really noticed all those blurbs saying there was more online XD I guess I tuned it out. For the most part the guide is still perfectly useful I suppose you just have to learn to navigate which isn’t exactly user friendly, haha!
Anyways, this is what I’d bring to the toilet with me. Sometimes I’d just browse it to browse, other times it was prep (both uses of the bathroom), and I enjoy the art and sequence of the story. As a guide it never really saw much use, except maybe to see where certain items/cards were...An who to steal from. Come to think of it the only guide that I used hardcore was VIII.
There’s not much to say about this one. It does lack in art, and as a guide now that I’m looking back at it it does leave lots to be desired. Still, this might be one of the oldest books in my possession. I honestly don’t know how long it is because the back cover is ripped and so are some of the pages XD
IX is still one of the greats. Toonami rates this a 4/5.
November 22, 2014
Why anyone ever bothered to put the word "guide" on this book is beyond me. It should have been called "Final Fantasy IX Official Vague Reference Book". It was "enhanced" by Square's PlayOnline site. This means that within the actual pages of the book was only general information about a dungeon, or where to go next (something that anyone who's ever played a Final Fantasy knows is not hard to figure out) and admittedly very nice promotional artwork. But for any actual specifics about the game, you had to take a code to the website, where they would give you the info you were looking for.
Now, in these early days of Google, it was hard to find in depth, trustworthy sites that weren't going to swarm your computer with malware. But as has been so often said about this guide... if I wanted to use a website, I would have. I bought this book so I could use a book.
Today, it seems like a given that you could access both a web browser and the TV you play video games on at the same time, easily, from the same chair. In 2000, it was somewhat rare for many families to even have access to the 'net, let alone in the same room as the family TV.
Now let us assume that you were in that especially gifted position. Then you're still likely having to get up and cross the room to look up the HP values and weaknesses of a goddamn Malboro, because there's no way you're lucky enough to have a laptop with a wireless connection and the stupid cord on the controller won't reach the desk.
Of course, you know very well you're wasting your time, because Malboro HP is always scandalously through the roof, and if they've even got a weakness, it's probably against fire, so you might as well just use Fira and be done with it.
But you get up to check anyway, but you don't think to set down your controller, so you pull the PS1 right off the entertainment center, thanks to that lovely 4' long cord. Fantastic. It had been, like, 45 minutes since you last saved, and you had grinded out at least 2 levels on Vivi in that time.
This guide sucks.
Now, in these early days of Google, it was hard to find in depth, trustworthy sites that weren't going to swarm your computer with malware. But as has been so often said about this guide... if I wanted to use a website, I would have. I bought this book so I could use a book.
Today, it seems like a given that you could access both a web browser and the TV you play video games on at the same time, easily, from the same chair. In 2000, it was somewhat rare for many families to even have access to the 'net, let alone in the same room as the family TV.
Now let us assume that you were in that especially gifted position. Then you're still likely having to get up and cross the room to look up the HP values and weaknesses of a goddamn Malboro, because there's no way you're lucky enough to have a laptop with a wireless connection and the stupid cord on the controller won't reach the desk.
Of course, you know very well you're wasting your time, because Malboro HP is always scandalously through the roof, and if they've even got a weakness, it's probably against fire, so you might as well just use Fira and be done with it.
But you get up to check anyway, but you don't think to set down your controller, so you pull the PS1 right off the entertainment center, thanks to that lovely 4' long cord. Fantastic. It had been, like, 45 minutes since you last saved, and you had grinded out at least 2 levels on Vivi in that time.
This guide sucks.
January 31, 2008
*sigh* When I buy a strategy guide for a game, I want to be able to look up the information I need. I do not want to look in the book for a internet code so I can look up the info on the internet.
If I was going to use the internet, I would have looked it up on the internet... without paying for the strategy guide.
If I was going to use the internet, I would have looked it up on the internet... without paying for the strategy guide.
January 30, 2011
A very useful guide...but it would be MORE useful if half of it wasn't hidden online on a, now dead, website. I'm extremely glad that the online content section of their Final Fantasy guides both started and died with this one, it really defeated the object of buying the guide in the first place.
October 2, 2008
This isnt a strategy guide. It's a book that tells you "Hey when you get to this part, go online and find out how to do it."
June 13, 2011
FFIX has to be one of the best FF but this guide is sh*t. WTF you are better off finding a guide online and using it because that's what this book will make you do.
November 27, 2011
This guide could have been much better. I was let down by the lack of detail. Though the walk through images are done very nicely.
April 14, 2014
Yay! Only took 2 years :-p
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews