Final Fantasy IX - An Existentialist Masterpiece

#finalfantasy

[akiinmoonlight]

FF9 is simply one of the best games ever created

[renanamaral]

This game is pure magic. And when Melodies of Life plays in the end it kind of sums all the experience in a single moment. Great video Max!!

[maximalsilverlioness]

"Even if we say goodbye, you'll always be in our hearts. So, that I know we're not alone anymore."

That's my favorite line in the game. It has such beautiful meaning to it, I still hold onto that in my heart.

[victoriousf.i.g.]

I was 15 years old when I got this game. When Vivi asks "Will I stop moving, too", it was the first time I really thought about death in a meaningful way.
Three days ago, I had to put my dog down. She had cancer and we didn't know until she very suddenly dropped weight and eventually stopped eating. Terribly sad. But, it got me thinking about ol' 66 (Vivi).
The ones we love become a part of us. When they die, those memories get carried forward with us until we die. In turn, because what we are relies on them to some degree, both they and we get carried forward in the lives of those we influence; this goes on and on ad infinitum.
In essence, no one truly "stops moving". What they were is carried on from generation to generation, through family and friends. Even if humanity dies, "the memory" of our species lives on in the planet. If the planet dies, it leaves an imprint on the universe.
It's always sad to lose someone, but they are never truly lost. We got our pup from a friend when her first human died themselves and experience 3 amazing years with an amazing little dog. If I was told I could go back and do it all again and it would happen the exact same way, I'd do it. Those memories we made together are worth experiencing the grief that came (and still comes) after. I beg you, friends, take a little time to be grateful for the folks in our lives. There were times when I was sleeping that our little pup would walk on me, lay on my feet and wake me up. Mildly annoyed, I'd tell her "No" and put her back in the middle of the bed.
What I wouldn't give to be mildly annoyed by her now.

[kevinmay]

This is such an interesting take. I always thought that Zidane has protagonist energy because he felt so much free will, and that his boss challenging him to a duel to prove it was to show how determined he was to live his life, and go after Dagger. He's able to give advice on breaking free of determinism and the commitments of war, because he never struggled with identity since it never came up, so when all of his friends came to support him it solidified my love for the entire cast as I saw all of their worth, from ViVi to Quina. That in exastensialism, you don't always get a life changing revelation and instead just need to carry on. My favorite lines were:
"You don't always need an awnser, you just need to try."
"Can we ever make up for lost time? We can't, but can protect them from those who try to take it away!"

[GodlessSpectrumite]

Final Fantasy IX is a great game. I'll say it's the second greatest RPG I've ever played, right after Chrono Trigger. It speaks to me on a lot of levels. I love the story about finding your identity. As an adoptee, I understand Zidane's plight. Garnett, Zidane, Vivi, and Steiner all struggle with forming an identity in that game, and have to ask themselves whether they can form an identity for themselves. Zidane and Vivi discover they were made for specific purposes. Did they have to fulfill those purposes? No. Vivi had little in common with the psychopathic black mages that were like him, who only knew one word. He could consciously choose to be something else. Zidane was made purposely to kill Kuja. At the end of the game, Zidane could have easily chosen to fulfill his destiny and kill him. He did not. At the beginning of the game, Steiner's identity was so locked up in serving the queen that he almost didn't have an identity of his own. When the queen's megalomaniacal behavior went so far that not even Steiner could tolerate it, he had to form his own identity and ask himself who he was for the first time in his life.
I'm an adoptee, and I found my biological family thanks to an Ancestry DNA kit. I asked myself those same questions about my identity when I found my biological family. Interesting story pertaining to what you said about genetic memory: When I found my biological family, I discovered that my biological grandparents were living in the same neighborhood, in fact, just around the corner from where I was living. I was drawn to that area because of genetic memory. I've talked with other adoptees who found their biological families, and many of them said that they had biological family living close by, or that their ancestors had lived in the same area they'd moved to. Like a swallow to Capistrano, I was drawn to the neighborhood I now live years ago. I've dubbed this phenomenon the Jenovah Effect because it was like there were cells in my body that were leading me to a certain place for some kind of reunion or something.

[anthonysizemore]

FF9 actually had a profound impact on me as a child. It is one of the greatest pieces of art ever created. Anyone that says video games can't be art hasn't experienced this masterpiece.

[Hanashibi]

You got a very, very different message than I got out of the game.

One of the biggest things I got was the villains believed in determinism, blamed the crystal for all fault, all everything.

But then you have characters running around, every moment, defying their predestination. Ordained weapons defying their classification. The royalty finding humility. Fiends finding humanity. While those who fall into Determinism, ordain the universe a mad dream full of choicelessness, the good ones say "I am, there for I am." and don't care to let such a vague, nebulous thing decide fate for them.

Rather or not it is free will, their lives are each and every one ordained to be one thing, and they, through pain and choice, became something else. You view the stuff Kuja says as absolute, you view the Crystal as 'absolute'. But even the Authors of Final Fantasy have said that absolute disposition is untrue. Did the crystal create life? Or did the crystal shepherd it? Is the crystal a God? Or is it merely a representation of a greater whole.

Those who gave into determinism, those, who said, 'fate is written' became blights upon the universe.

In various games the crystal is depicted as bidding people to feel, think, choose, act. That choice is part of the design. And that if the entire universe, you or I are a dream, that so to is our choices a part of the dream. And that our choices are real, rather they come from experience or random chance they are no less important. And to assume fate is absolute is to give yourself to banality the moment you get bad news. Despite the fact that many other 'pre-determined beings' have chosen other things.

Choice Matters. Rather it is created from stimulation and experience, or randomly.
Destiny is not written. Because of all life is a book being written choice by choice.
The de-investment of the choices we have lead to banality. The submission to fate leads to obsoletion.

Zidane was destined to be a destroyer. He became a savior.
Kuja was destined to be a destroyer who was surpassed by a greater destroyer. He gave in. But because of Zidane and his own submission to his fate. His own destiny changed and he was surpassed and redeemed by a brother.

Submission to fate, to write 'ah well, all is written'. To marginalize choice, no matter how vague or obsolete said choice may seem is to strip yourself of your potential and sense of wonder. If free will is an illusion, you are an illusion. If you are part of the same illusion, then in the context of your reality, all is real and the grand posturings of fate are ultimately little more than motivation and de-motivation in the life you are given and choices you make.

[MrOrcshaman]

My take on the existential horror people face when it comes to their existence, things like how life is finite, the earth and universe will die eventually, nothing lasts forever, and the thoughts of how meaningless it all is when acknowledging those facts, is this.

You can either be someone who tries to not think about them and distract yourself with things like faith/belief in a higher power like god, maybe distracting from those thoughts with escapism like into games or books or movies or shows, or even getting tripped out on drugs.

Or, you can be someone who just accepts yeah, these are matter of facts, things everyone has to come to terms with, but so fucking what? Everyone dies eventually, but everyone gets a chance to live too, to do things, to experience things, to create, to make a legacy, to teach.
We all die, but we get to choose our fate before we do. And that's way more meaningful than just accepting entropy as your only purpose.

[angeloromualdez]

When I first heard Dark Messenger playing during the final Kuja boss battle, my jaw dropped.

This game's OST is a masterpiece in itself.

[Magnymbus]

Always a good day when FF9 gets some love. One of the best FF games.

[matthewmcree]

The ending to this video made me tear up. Final Fantasy IX is my favorite game of all time specifically because of the themes of discovering one’s identity through collective experiences found in friendship and love. Honestly FF IX was a major part of how I became the person I am now. It really has one of the deepest and most beautiful stories in all of media, with some of the most memorable characters and settings in any video game, and one of the most beautiful soundtracks in video game history. And I’m glad so many other people feel as strongly about Final Fantasy IX as I do. Despite being 25 years old, it is still one of the most talked about video games, and people are still discovering for the first time the beautiful and unique world that the developers created in the form of a 32-bit video game.

[Locaneo]

My favorite game of all time, the last gift my father gave me when he passed away, what helped to keep me alive during that dark time of my life among my grieving family and FFX, and something I carry deeply and warmly in my heart to this day inspiring much of my work.

[Walamonga]

It feels like everybody is getting into FF IX recently. I've seen so many videos about it lately. But, this video is probably the one that truly encompasses what made the game so fantastic (at least for me). The main themes of purpose, life and death were explored so well in this game, it honestly surprised me when I first played it. Even after multiple replays I can still find interesting concepts and ideas, from the way a character's development arc unfolds to the very existence of those characters. It's all so well crafted. Just like this video. I hope more people give this masterpiece a chance due to this resurgence.

[TheBeird]

This game is the embodiment of what Final Fantasy was at that time. As though every iteration before it was a dress rehearsal for this one, near perfect expression

[danielramsey]

You know what’s funny about the Final Battle of the game! After the Crystal is destroyed, the Characters decide to try and Fight Necron!
And Kuja in turn decides to sacrifice the last of his power to save Them!

So, in a sense, even without the Crystal, we are still capable of Choice! If they can choose, then so can We! We can decide, even though the idea of free choice may be an illusion to some, it is still an action determined by one’s sense of self, regardless of what anyone says!

[adriencoudray]

Thank you Max, for making this video about this wonderful and unique game I have been cherishing ever since I first played it, 20 years ago. This game shaped the adult I came to be, and has been a vessel for my feelings and philosophy for years. The fact that it managed to bring an answer to these existential questions and crisis II had is what help me going forward. And you perfectly captured that aspect of the game.

With more emotion that I thought I'd have watching your video, I give you my honest thanks for giving this masterpiece of a game, the light it deserves.

[jasondeutschbein]

FF9 is my favorite game of all time. I've come to this conclusion several times.
I think the ending was tied together really well; and also the narration at the ending always gets me ballin' my eyes out.

[loganhayse]

I thought of Earthbound when I closed my eyes. Just the happy thoughts of when I played it made me happy momentarily

[marlonvikteam]

my childhood game, it kinda create the person i am today, seeking for beauty and answers to life meanings. In that continuous search, i find your channel and now you're talking about one of my favorite game. that's an example of determinism.