~B
Final Fantasy IX
Boss FAQ
Version 2.0
By LightRanma@aol.com
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Disclaimer: You may not use this FAQ on your website or distribute it ANYWHERE
without my written permission first. I usually say yes, but you have to ask me
first! If I find anyone has done otherwise, I'll bring the law into it. And
yes, this FAQ is copyrighted. Thanks for cooperating!
*THE NEWEST VERSIONS OF ALL MY FAQS CAN ALWAYS BE FOUND AT WWW.GAMEFAQS.COM!*
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I. Introduction
II. Version History
III. Legend
IV. Boss Walkthrough
V. Conclusion
VI. Thanks
Yo, everyone - Ranma here, with his latest (and hopefully greatest) FAQ on
Square's newest masterpiece, Final Fantasy IX! Some of you may know me by my
past works, especially my highly-acclaimed Boss FAQs for Chrono Cross, Final
Fantasy VIII, and Xenogears. To my past readers, welcome back! For those of
you who are new to my FAQs, you've come to the right place if you want all the
truthful, best strategies on the toughest Bosses. As usual, this Boss FAQ will
be presented in the same layout as all my others; however, there's one thing
I'm doing differently this time. This FAQ is a work in progress; so, unlike
my other Boss FAQs, which were uploaded with one version only and had all the
game's Bosses, this Boss FAQ will be uploaded numerous times as I get the time
to add more strategies. In any case, enjoy, and E-mail me at
LightRanma@aol.com if you have any RPG questions. Keep in mind, though, that
the response won't be immediate, and if you type "lazy style" ("u" instead of
"you," etc.), can't spell, and/or otherwise muck up your letter to where it's
not understandable, your mail will simply be ignored and deleted. Sorry, but I
get way too many idiotic letters, and I only want to respond to people who have
at least half a brain. And one more thing - ***THERE ARE SPOILERS IN THIS
FAQ***, so read at your own risk. Anyway, on to the FAQ! ^_^
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II. Version History
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Version 1.0: 11.23.00, 12:43 PM PST:
The initial version of my Final Fantasy IX Boss FAQ. Added Boss strategies up
to Black Waltz Number 2, around halfway through Disc 1.
Version 2.0: 5.15.01, 12:21 AM PST:
Finally, I'm able to get back to work on this FAQ. It's been a long time in
coming; unfortunately, I actually finished Final Fantasy IX a quite a few
months ago (December, actually!), so I've had to make some changes to the FAQ.
There is no longer any "My Party" or "Attacks" data; I simply can't even make a
guess as to what Levels my characters were at at every Boss in the game, or as
to what attacks were used on my party in every battle. (There will be,
however, exceptions made in the final boss strategies.) Also, I'm writing all
of the strategies up from memory, not immediate, day-after firsthand experience
as usual, so this FAQ may not turn out to be QUITE as wonderfully accurate as
my other ones. Nonetheless, I'm going to try my best, so bear with me, and if
you have any corrections or additions, please E-mail me at LightRanma@aol.com.
Thanks!
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IV. Boss Walkthrough
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- DISC 1 -
Boss Fight #1
Name: Steiner
HP: 169
Location: Prima Vista (Disc 1)
Elemental Weakness: None
Spoils: None
Stealable Items: Leather Hat, Silk Shirt
AP: None
Difficulty: 1
This battle with Steiner, and the two that follow, are extremely easy, but
things only get tougher after that, so enjoy the easiness while you can. Have
Zidane and Blank attack, but make sure you have Cinna steal; Cinna seems to be
the best thief out of the whole gang, even Zidane. Besides, you don't want to
miss the chance to pick up some nice stuff this early in the game! If you
really need to, use a Potion to heal, but you really shouldn't since Steiner's
physical attacks are dismal.
Now that you have a true party of four members, things will be even easier. If
you didn't get both of Steiner's items with Cinna in the last battle, try to
steal what you missed using Zidane. Otherwise, have Zidane and Marcus attack,
have Vivi cast Fire, and have Garnet act as the party's healer if it ever
becomes necessary. It probably won't be, though, and so you can have her
attack too, although her physical attacks are too weak to be of much help.
Brace yourself - noble knight Steiner isn't done yet!
You really should have jacked all of Steiner's stuff by now, but if you
haven't, try once again to do so with Zidane. You can't do anything about the
Bomb that absentminded Steiner is completely oblivious to, so just whack that
stupid head of his over and over until the battle ends. Have Garnet heal if
you need it, but otherwise, Steiner will fall quickly to the combined power of
Zidane's and Marcus' physical attacks and Vivi's Fire spell.
This Boss' difficulty lies not within its actual strength, but the fact that
Garnet is being held prisoner by this thing, and if the Prison Cage is able to
drain all of her HP, it's Game Over. This is very reminiscent of Final Fantasy
VIII's Adel battle - you have to be sure to keep Garnet's (in FF VIII's case,
Rinoa's) HP up at all times, and make sure that you do NOT hit her for any
reason. All-hitting attacks are a big no-no, but you don't have any of those
anyway except for Zidane's Trance ability Tidal Flame, and an all-hitting Fire
spell. Hit the Prison Cage fast and hard, but always keep one party member on
standby (hit Triangle to switch turns) to use a Potion on Garnet if her HP
reaches critical range (and it probably will). I recommend using Steiner as
Garnet's healer, because he'll be doing the least damage in this battle (he'll
be Level 1 compared to Zidane's Level... well, something higher, and Vivi will
be doing high damage with Fire). Whatever you do, just make sure you don't
accidentally target Garnet and kill her - especially when Zidane goes into
Trance. Hold off on stealing for now - you'll get your chance in the next
battle.
Immediately after releasing Garnet and disappearing, the ever-persistent Prison
Cage captures Vivi by surprise, and another battle ensues - this time, for
Vivi's life! I'm not quite sure if it's Game Over if Vivi dies or not, but I'm
willing to bet that it is, so keep Vivi's HP up with Potions if the Prison Cage
decides to use Absorb. In any case, this battle is a litte less urgent than
the last, because Vivi will automatically cast Fire on the Prison Cage every
turn (even while inside it?!) and do 90+ damage each turn. This means it won't
take longer than six turns for the Prison Cage to die no matter what happens as
long as Vivi doesn't die, so use this battle to have Zidane plunder the Prison
Cage's items, especially making sure to get the Leather Wrist (an awesome
accessory for this point in the game). Once again, the Prison Cage's physical
attacks are dismal, and the real danger comes in Vivi's imprisonment. Have a
party member at the ready to heal Vivi if he needs it, and make absolutely sure
not to target Vivi!
Boss Fight #6
Name: Baku
HP: 150
Location: Prima Vista/Evil Forest (Disc 1)
Elemental Weakness: None
Spoils: None
Stealable Items: Hi Potion, Iron Sword
AP: None
Difficulty: 3
Zidane fights this battle against his leader alone, and if you're not prepared,
Baku will make short work of Zidane. Even at Level 5, Baku's attacks are
pretty damaging (when he doesn't miss, anyway), and it'll be extremely tough to
manage a Steal in this battle. However, if you're confident you can survive
and you've got some Potions, try to get Baku's Iron Sword, because it will come
in handy when you get Steiner in your party. Otherwise, all you can do is
trade physical blows with Baku. Zidane will most likely be the one doing more
damage, but Baku's 20-30 damage hits will add up quickly, so make sure you have
some Potions at the ready. Oh, and if you're tired of these "mini" boss
battles, you'll get your chance to test your mettle against a real Boss next!
Boss Fight #7
Name: Plant Brain
HP: 916
Location: Evil Forest (Disc 1)
Elemental Weakness: Fire
Spoils: Phoenix Down
Stealable Items: Iron Helmet, Eye Drop
AP: 20
Difficulty: 3
Here it is - your first real Boss fight, with the authentic Boss theme and
everything! And this fight is no cakewalk, either; you've got to be alert in
this battle, or the Plant Brain will make short work of your party. It shares
many similarities with its smaller counterpart, the Prison Cage; it has dismal
physical attacks, and it was a weakness to Fire, which Vivi can exploit.
However, its physical attacks are nontheless a bit stronger than the Prison
Cage's, it's faster, and it has the devastating Pollen attack, which not only
does around 100 damage to your entire party, but also Blinds them, making it
tougher for anyone to hit much of anything. However, the Darkness ailment
isn't as much of a problem as you'd think in this battle; the only character it
really affects is Zidane, but you'll want to have him Steal for the first few
turns anyway, to make sure you get the Iron Helmet that the Plant Brain has.
Otherwise, you'll want to use Steiner's Fire Sword ability (which consumes
Steiner's MP, not Vivi's), which not only is not hindered by Darkness, but will
also cause big damage to the Plant Brain. Of course, have Vivi cast Fire
relentlessly for more big damage, and always, ALWAYS keep Garnet on standby as
the party's medic, and they'll need a medic in this battle. Never attack
physically with Garnet no matter how good a condition your party's in, because
her physical attacks are literally useless, and the Plant Brain may use Pollen
right after you've wasted her turn. If Garnet is killed, use a Phoenix Down
immediately on her and use Potions to take care of the healing until she's
back. But otherwise, Steiner's Fire Sword and Vivi's Fire will take care of
the Plant Brain pretty quickly - just have Garnet ready to cast Cure on the
whole party after it uses Pollen!
Boss Fight #8
Name: Black Waltz Number 1 and Sealion
HP: 229, 472
Location: Ice Cavern (Disc 1)
Elemental Weakness: Fire, Fire
Spoils: Hi Potion, Phoenix Down, Fang Card
Stealable Items: Silk Shirt, Remedy; Mythril Dagger, Ether
AP: 5
Difficulty: 3
This battle is tough, because you have to fight it with Zidane alone. With
your other party members, this would be a cinch... but unfotunately, you don't
have that leisure, so let's try to make do with what you have, shall we? First
off, keep an eye on Zidane's HP at all times, and use Potions consantly to
heal. If you feel Zidane's Level is high enough to survive, try to steal the
Silk Shirt from Black Waltz Number 1 (the wizard) and the Mythril Dagger (from
Sealion). Both are great items, especially the latter. Other than that,
though, focus your physical attacks on Black Waltz Number 1 first, becausetthe
Sealion just can't be killed without killing BW first (he casts Blizzard on the
Sealion to heal it, as it's Ice Elemental). BW Number 1 will fall quickly to
Zidane's powerful physical attacks, as it has only 229 HP; the Sealion,
however, is a bit of a different story. It has more HP, and it'll take awhile
to whittle down its 472 HP with only Zidane. Hopefully, Zidane will go into
Trance at some point in the battle, at which point you can use Tidal Flame to
decimate the Sealion. As far as their attacks go, BW Number 1's Fire and
Blizzard spells are kind of damaging, but Sealion's physical attacks and
Blizzard spells are more dismal. However, be careful! When Sealion is near
death, it will use its awesome Tidal Wave attack on Zidane, causing around 100
damage, so keep your HP above the amount with Potions. But other than that,
this battle isn't too bad.
Boss Fight #9
Name: Black Waltz Number 2
HP: 1030
Location: Dali (Disc 1)
Elemental Weakness: Fire
Spoils: Ether, Zaghnol Card
Stealable Items: Steepled Hat, Leather Plate
AP: 5
Difficulty: 4
This guy is nasty, and will give you your first real challenge in Final Fantasy
IX. The first thing you should know about this guy is that this
menacing-looking demon witch has orders to return Dagger to Alexandria ALIVE,
so that means that he won't try to hurt Dagger. At least, he didn't in my
game. It's now more important than ever to keep Dagger on standby at all times
to be ready with a full-party Cure, because this guy has powerful attacks. All
three of its basic spells - Fire, Blizzard, and Thunder, can do big damage, and
he tends to use them on the whole party at times, too. He used Fira on my
party once as well, and it nailed me badly at 100+ damage to the whole party.
He even went as far as to kill Vivi, so make sure you've got Phoenix Downs to
spare for this battle! If everyone is in good condition during any particular
round, have Dagger cast Protect on one of the other party members, Vivi first.
Otherwise, your battle strategies should be as follows: have Zidane steal the
Steepled Hat and Leather Plate from the Boss if possible; have Vivi cast
Blizzard on the Boss; and have Steiner use Blizzard Sword on the Boss. Yes, BW
Number 2's weakness is Fire, but using any other spell besides Blizzard will
provoke it to counterattack with a spell of its own, and you want to keep BW's
powerful spellcasting to a minimum if you can. As long as your Levels are high
enough, you're alert and you revive and heal any fallen characters IMMEDIATELY
with Phoenix Downs, you should be able to outlast BW Number 2. Just hit fast
and hard, and make sure to keep those all-party Cure spells coming!
Boss Fight #10
Name: Black Waltz Number 3
HP: 1128
Location: Cargo Airship (Disc 1)
Elemental Weakness: Lightning
Spoils: None
Stealable Items: Steepled Hat, Linen Cuirass, Silver Gloves
AP: ?
Difficulty: 2
ANOTHER one of these freakin' guys?! Well, no worries - this guy's a pushover
compared to his predecessor. He has no spells that can really level your
party, although you'll need to have someone use items consistently to remain
healthy. This someone should be Zidane, who is actually your least effective
fighter in this battle. You need to have Vivi cast Thunder on the Boss, and
Steiner can cause a very yummy (read: high) amount of damage with Thunder
Sword. Basically, unless everyone is somehow healthy in a given round (in
which case Zidane should attempt a Steal), always have Zidane heal your wounded
members with items. You should make it through with no problem.
The battle with the master of the grotto can be either easy or hard; it really
depends on how well you've been raising your Levels. This is your classic RPG
boss battle; there are no real tide-turning attacks here, and whether you win
or not depends on what you do and when you do it. Well, let's see here...
first off, if you feel it necessary, you can use Zidane's Soul Blade ability
with The Ogre equipped to Blind the guy. Otherwise, I recommend you Steal;
Gizamaluke's got some nice stuff for the, uh, jacking. Vivi should cast
Thunder relentlessly, while Freya should Jump. Quina should serve as the
party's healer (either with items or with any healing Blue Magic it's learned),
as its attacks are too random to be really effective on Gizamaluke. As usual,
as long as you heal consistently, you should be fine.
Beatrix is one nasty fighter, and so goes the battle. This chick is seriously
strong. She employs quick, powerful physical attacks and has plenty of special
techniques that will eventually make your party lose no matter what you do
(yes, this is FF IX's first, classic unwinnable battle). But until you
"deplete" her HP, you'll have to stay alive the old-fashioned way. If you can
manage it (but you probably won't be able to), have Zidane do some Stealing;
otherwise, have him attack or use healing items as necessary. Vivi should
throw some Fira, Thundara, and/or Blizzara spells Beatrix's way, and Freya
should, as usual, Jump. Her Reis's Wind ability can be helpful, too. Quina
should once again serve as the party's main healer, but if it's learned Mighty
Guard, be sure to use it - it's one awesome spell. Sooner or later, however,
Beatrix will level Zidane and company with one of her instant-critical
techniques, like Climhazzard, Stock Break, or Shock, and that'll be that. Yup,
sucks, I know. But you gotta admit, Disc 1's closing was hella cool... oh, and
Kuja IS a man. Not a woman. Yes, I promise.
- DISC 2 -
Boss Fight #13
Name: Black Waltz Number 3
HP: 1292
Location: Summit Station (Disc 2)
Elemental Weakness: None
Spoils: None
Stealable Items: Lightning Staff, Steepled Hat
AP: 5
Difficulty: 1
Yup. Again. ;) He's a cinch this time around, though, since you've got not
only Dagger and Steiner, but Tantalus' strongest member (behind Zidane),
Marcus, in your ranks. Anyway, simply have Steiner attack and Dagger heal when
needed. Casting Protect can also help, although it's not necessary. Have
Marcus do some classic Stealing, and once you get all of the Boss' stuff, have
him attack. This guy'll go down very quickly, even if Steiner's the only one
attacking.
Ralvu-whatta? Don't ask me what the name means, but it really doesn't matter
anyway since this thing'll be dead by the time you figure it out. This guy's
not that tough - he's only got one threatening attack in his arsenal, and it's
one that can shrink a character down to Mini size. This isn't really a problem
except when it happens to Dagger - since she's your party's primary medic,
having her Mini'd is bad because it makes her Magic abilities drop to almost
nothing. So, if this happens, make sure you get rid of the condition with an
item immediately, or else you could be in some serious trouble. Otherwise, the
effect will wear off of Steiner and Marcus soon enough, and as always, you
should have them focus on attacking the snake-like beast while Dagger keeps
everyone kickin'.
This blast from the past (for you new-age-only RPGamers out there, he's from
Final Fantasy IV) is, to put it bluntly, nasty as always. He starts the battle
with an attack called Sand Storm that puts all your characters' HP into the
lovely yellow area (specifically, around 3 HP each), so the first order of
business is to heal everyone with items. This is something you'll be doing
frequently in this battle, so make sure you have a lot of them. The Antlion's
other attacks, though, are standard fare, and you should retaliate with
physical attacks (or Stealing, if you wanna play it dangerously) from Zidane,
Blizzaras galore from Vivi, and Jumps from Freya (Reis's Wind is also nice).
Just as long as you heal up quickly after each Sand Storm, you can make it.
It's time for a rematch with Beatrix again, and this one's just as hard as the
last one; fortunately, the same tactics that worked before will also work again
here. Try to take Beatrix's attacks long enough for Zidane to do some
Stealing, though; Beatrix has some sweet equipment. Anyway, like I said,
everything I said before applies for this battle as well. Having Vivi cast
Slow on Beatrix helps a little, but not enough to be pivotal. Remember, you do
have to actually stay alive until you "deplete" her HP once again and she
resorts to using her automatic-ass-kicking attacks...
Zorn and Thorn, as you might expect, aren't much of a threat. Not much of a
threat are they! ... okay, that was incredibly lame. ANYWAY! Speed counts in
this battle, because you've got only 30 minutes before Dagger is sacrificed and
stripped of her Eidolons by good ol' mom. The first order of business is to
take care of Thorn, since (a) he has less HP than Zorn and (b) just offing one
of the twins will nullify their powerful combination attacks. (Think of them
as an evil FF IV Palom/Porom combination.) To actually do this, you'll want to
have Vivi cast Blizzara, while Steiner uses Blizzara Sword and Freya Jumps. If
things get dire, have Zidane use some healing items... but otherwise, he should
be attacking the twin you're trying to off. You shouldn't have him Steal
because of the obvious time limit... and even though it's pretty lenient, you
don't want to take any chances.
Don't worry, this is the last time you'll fight the lady general. Promise.
Fortunately, the strategies here are pretty obvious - Zidane should try to
Steal some of Beatrix's nice equipment, Vivi should cast Blizzara and Slow,
Steiner should use Blizzara Sword, and Freya should both Jump and use her nice
Dragoon Skills like Reis's Wind and Lancer, if she's been able to learn it at
this point (I can't remember if she can yet). When the need for healing arises
(and trust me, it will), have Zidane or Freya do the honors - they'll probably
be doing the least damage in this battle. Otherwise, Beatrix is the same as
before with more HP, and you STILL can't truly defeat her...
Boss Fight #19
Name: Ralvuimago
HP: 3352
Location: Gargan Roo (Disc 2)
Elemental Weakness: Ice
Spoils: Ether
Stealable Items: Oak Staff, Adaman Vest, Phoenix Down
AP: 7
Difficulty: 3
Not this guy again! Yup, and he seems to have evolved or something. Oh well,
no matter - this battle's actually a bit easier than the last because you have
a more solid party to fight with. In any case, as you might have guessed, Vivi
should cast Blizzara, and Zidane should attack - except when (a) the Boss is
coiled up or (b) Dagger is Mini'd. In case A, you want him to stick to
Stealing, and in case B, you want to (obviously) return Dagger to normal so she
can resume her healing duties without a problem. Other than that, there's not
really anything special about this guy, so just whack 'im until he's dead.
**Note: Fossil Roo, where you're going next, is a great place to level Steiner,
and possibly Quina up, who are no doubt very low-leveled compared to your other
party members (especially Steiner).**
This is the easiest Boss fight in quite awhile; four beefy heroes against one
less-than-beefy villain? Please! Really the only thing you need to watch out
for here is Dagger's HP; Lani can knock Dagger out somewhat easily, so you'll
want to have her cast Protect and Shell on herself at the onset of the battle.
After that, you can have her summon Ramuh for extra damage, or you can have her
stick to healing duties - I personally recommend a little bit of both. Zidane
should definitely Steal Lani's equipment - she's got some very nice weapons.
Vivi should, as usual, cast level two Elemental spells (Fira, Blizzara,
Thundara), and Quina can attack or cast an appropriate Blue Magic for the
situation; Mighty Guard always helps. Otherwise, this fight shouldn't last too
long.
Aw, this guy's even easier than Lani! None of his attacks are particulary
damaging, even his nasty-looking Earthquake attack. Just make sure you've at
least let new recruit Eiko learn Cure and Cura so she can do the healing honors
in this battle. Why? Because you'll want Dagger to summon Ramuh (which'll do
big damage to Hilgigars, his weakness being Lightning). Zidane doesn't need to
worry about Stealing unless you really, really think Eiko is the best thing
since sliced bread (this Boss has a new Flute for her use)... but honestly, I
never used her more than the game forced me to. She's like a watered-down
Dagger; less HP, weaker attacks, weaker healing capabilities, and much weaker
and less-effective Eidolons (not to mention that she has only four Eidolons max
compared to Dagger's 12). She does learn Holy while Dagger doesn't, but that
hardly makes up for all her shortcomings, so I recommend sticking with Dagger.
Okay, ramble over. Like I said, unless you're gonna use Eiko, just have Zidane
attack, and have Vivi cast Bio and then Thundara after Thundara. You can have
Eiko summon Fenrir for a little extra damage if you want, but it's hardly
necessary; just have her stick to healing. This won't last long, although this
pitiful excuse for a strategy did. ;P
Is it just me, or does this thing look an awful lot like FF VII's Jenova?
Well, whatever it is, it's nasty and it's out for blood. First and foremost:
DO NOT cast Fire spells (Fire, Fira) on the Soulcage. And, of course, you
don't want Eiko to summon Phoenix either, but that's just common sense. It'll
start burning, and that means frequent, hard-hitting, all-party counterattacks
for you, and three or four of these can easily lay your party flat. If you can
avoid this attack, the fight becomes easier, but it's still not a walk in the
park. The Soulcage is still tough, and you may need both Dagger and Eiko to
take on the healing duties here. Zidane should attack and Steal if it can be
managed (an extra Brigandine never hurt anyone); Vivi should cast Bio; and,
providing everyone's healthy, Dagger should summon Ramuh and Eiko should summon
Fenrir. Otherwise, as long as the Soulcage doesn't start burning, the fight's
pretty winnable.
Ooh... a yummy, dramatic, one-on-one duel between Zidane and newcomer Amarant!
You don't want Zidane to lose in front of Dagger, so let's make sure to win
this one, eh? Well, actually, it's not all that hard. Zidane's strong
physical attacks'll decimate Amarant pretty quickly, and more than likely,
he'll Trance at some point during the battle, pretty much granting him a
one-hit win through his strongest Dyne ability. Defense-wise, Amarant's
physical attacks are actually weaker than you'd expect, and none of his Flair
abilities are particularly dangerous. You will need to use healing items to
keep Zidane's HP at a safe level, but as long as you play smart you'll do just
fine in this battle. Oh yeah, and this is the last Boss fight in Disc 2, so
enjoy the awesome, AWESOME conclusion from here on out.
I hope this FAQ has been of use to you while playing Final Fantasy IX! As I
mentioned before, feel free to E-mail me at LightRanma@aol.com if you have
further questions on any RPG. Constructive criticism, corrections,
suggestions, and compliments are always welcome, but insults, flames, and
otherwise useless mails will be ignored and deleted. And, of course, always be
sure to E-mail me before you use my FAQ on your website. If I find that you've
done otherwise, there will be legal problems for you, especially if you've
altered my FAQ in any way. Thanks for reading this FAQ, and I'll see you next
time!
I'd like to thank the following people/things/entities for their help in making
this FAQ possible:
- Square Soft, for making such a magnificent game. Your accomplishments on the
PlayStation have been many and varied, but most of them are truly spectacular.
Keep up the awesome, awesome work on the PlayStation 2, you guys - you're
easily the best game company out there. Let's see a Chrono 3 soon!
- Nobuo Uematsu, for creating yet another awesome Final Fantasy soundtrack. FF
IX's battle theme is your best yet. Keep up the great work!
- BradyGAMES, for their Official Final Fantasy IX Players Guide. It was
invaluable in collecting HP amounts, spoils, and stealable items for all the
Bosses.
