I've been playing Final Fantasy games ever since I got the original for my fifth birthday, and up until now not one has matched the replayability of Final Fantasy IX. It is perhaps the only one that I've played through more than twice, and I expect that number to only increase as time goes on.

There are many factors which contribute to this: the impressive and exciting CG scenes, the absolutely amazing music, the well developed characters and storyline, or the multitude of sidequests which litter Final Fantasy IX. Unfortunately, just about every one of those sidequests are useless and merely give you either a card or a special item for completing them (and completing them may take a VERY long time). As I've already mentioned, the CG scenes are truly amazing and are exciting as well, something which technical superior Final Fantasy X was not able to replicate.

The storyline, while brilliant in some parts of the game, is shallow and boring in others. The third disc in particular moves slowly when compared to the others and the fourth disc is completely wasted. It introduces one dungeon and introduces a last boss out of nowhere that doesn't seem to actually affect the story in any way. I wasn't entirely sure what happened in the end, or why it just appeared, but it certainly didn't explain anything very well.

Have I mentioned the music yet? Oh, I have huh... well, I'll give it another mention. I was absolutely hooked to the music throughout the game. From the overworld theme to the Desert Palace theme to Dark Messenger, I just couldn't stop listening and occasionally just let the game run so I could listen to the tracks. That is something I don't think I've ever done in any other Final Fantasy game. The music is just that good.