- Pandemonium, Garland's castle, was named after the final area in FF2.
- In FF2, the leader of the Resistance at Phin is named Hilda, same as
Regent Cid's wife.
- The story Ramuh asks you to tell him at Pinnacle Rocks is actually a very
big FF2 reference. Lines in quotes are of Ramuh's story, taken directly from
FF9. Everything else is background info of FF2.
"Once upon a time, 33 small countries fought together against an empire. One
day, a rebel troop visited a man named Joseph, who lived with his daughter.
Owing a debt to the troop, he gladly accepted their pleas for help. They
headed for a cavern in the snow field."
The rebel troop the story is referring to is the main party of FF2: Frionel,
Maria and Guy. Josef/Joseph accompanies them after rescuing his
daughter Nellie/Nelly from imperial imprisonment. As for the 33
countries... there are no more than 20 towns in the whole game. It was merely
dramatic effect for the game.
"With Joseph's help, the troop defeated the Adamantoise in the snow field
cavern and acquired the Goddess Bell they needed to enter the empire's
castle."
This is accurate, except for the last part. They needed the Goddess Bell to
enter Kashuon Castle, not the Imperial Paramekia Castle.
"On their way home, they fell into a trap set by a traitor. Joseph gave his
life to save the troop. The troop left without telling Joseph's daughter,
Nelly, about the tragedy."
The "traitor" isn't a traitor at all. His name is Borgan, an Imperial
official. It is established when he is introduced that he is evil.
The trap Borgan set in case of his defeat was an Indiana Jones
style boulder trap. Josef gets in front of the boulder and holds it back
and tells the rest of the party to flee despite their protests. No sooner
than the party reaches safe ground, Josef loses his grip and is crushed to
death. Actually, you have the option to visit Josef's hometown of Salamando
since it's on the way back to the rebel base and by talking to Nellie, she
will deduce that 'Daddy isn't coming back..'
"Historian's explanation: Although Joseph's death was not reported to his
daughter, the manner of his death speaks for itself. This is the story of a
true hero."
Here, here! But I find the last part wrong because by the end of the game,
Nellie does eventually find out what happened even if you didn't visit her!
"Historian's explanation: The fact that they didn't report Joseph's death to
his daughter was indicative of their guilt for failing to protect him. In
the end, heroes are also human."
This was added for gaming effect, nothing more.
Final Fantasy 3
- Garland and Kuja's vehicle of destruction, "Invincible", was named after
FF3's ultimate airship. Of course, it didn't have the power to control
Eidolons or completely level entire cities.
- "Une's Mirror", and "Doga's Artifact", both bought in the Treno auction
house, are references to Une/Unne and Doga/Dorga, two rather important
characters in FF3. I'm quite surprised the Water Maiden
in Cleyra wasn't named "Elia".
Final Fantasy 4
- One of Freya's best weapons is called "Kain's Lance". If you don't know
where this item's name originates from, you shouldn't bother playing FF9.
- Zorn and Thorn seem to have inherited Palom and Porom's "Twin" ability.
During the battle against them on Disc 2, they give each other the power
to use Flare and Meteorite (or in FF4 terms: Comet).
- The Namingway card. With it, you can rename
your characters. This was Namingway's purpose in FF4.
- This's probably an FF8 reference, but the "Darkside" skill was first
introduced in the Japanese version of FF4...under a different name: Dark
Wave. Dark Knight Cecil's special command. The big difference is Dark Wave
hit all enemies, where as Darkside only hits one.
- The dwarves in Conde Petie. Their greeting, "Rally-ho!" is probably the
correctly translated version of "Lali-ho!", the dwarves' greeting in FF4.
Or maybe it's a mistranslation.
- The Rat Tail, also bought in the Treno auction house, was a special item
in FF4 that you could trade for Adamant. In FF9, it's just some background
item that you can only sell for money.
- Cid's "family name" on FF9 is "Fabool". In FF4, there's a castle called
"Fabul".
- The Antlion in Cleyra... In FF4, the Antlion was supposedly tame, yet
became violent and attacked you regardless. The exact same thing happens
in FF9. An interesting side-note is they both attack a prince. The FF4
Antlion attacks Edward, while the FF9 Antlion attacks Puck. (Furthermore,
the antlion in FF5 attacks while Kururu/Cara/Krile is on your team. Galuf
is king of Val/Bal Castle, and she's Galuf's granddaughter, making her a
princess. Do Antlions not like royalty?)
- Don't you think Hilda Garde 1 looks strangely whale shaped? Could it be
that Regent Cid stole the plans for the "Legendary Airship from the Moon"
and remodeled it?
Final Fantasy 5
- The Boco Card. In case you didn't know, Boko/Boco was
Butz/Bartz's pet Chocobo in FF5.
- Similarly, does the icon on the Airship Card seem a bit SNES'ish to you?
That's because it's actually the airship from FF5!
- The ever-popular Moogle theme, which first appeared in FF5, returns as the
background music at Mognet Central. Well, it's enhanced and remixed, but
people who've played FF5 and FF6 will remember it.
- In a trend that seems to be continuing, Atomos, the boss from the barrier
tower, became a Summon Monster.
- Freya's "Lancer" tech also originated in FF5. It was much more useful back
then. However, rather than being an attack that also reduced MP, it
drained HP and MP, and didn't cost anything.
- In FF5, you can use Softs to instantly kill enemies made of stone. You can
do the same thing in FF9.
- Gilgamesh, everyone's favorite inept multi-limbed ninja, makes yet another
return appearance in FF9. He's really obscure, though, and most people
probably won't find him without cheating.
- Take a look at Tantarian, the book
monster in Alexandria. The cover of the book has a picture of a 'Page 256',
and the monster itself looks like a 'Page 64'. Both of these were "book
monsters" in FF5's Ancient Library.
- In FF5, one of X-Death/Exdeath's ultimate attacks is Grand Cross. Necron
also uses this spell, but it's a bit different.
- An obvious reference, if you've played FF5, is that there are two worlds which
the story/game takes place. Gaia and Terra in FF9 and Galuf's world and Butz's
world in FF5.
Final Fantasy 6
- The Moogle theme, remixed and enhanced. I covered this in the FF5 section.
- I may be wrong, but it's my guess that references to Madeen and Madain may
actually be mistranslations of Maduin. Or maybe it's the other way around.
I'm not sure, since Ted Woolsey changed pretty much everything when he
translated FF6.
- With moogles intertwined into the storyline, it's no real surprise that
one of them, Eiko's "little sister", is named "Mog". If you haven't played
FF6, Mog was the name of the dancing moogle who joined the team. Also, if you
haven't played FF6, you're a disgrace in the eyes of Bahamut, your lord
and savior.
- Some old man in Lindblum is named "Locke". He appears only in the Business District
before the town is destroyed.
- The floating eyeball thing known as "Ahriman" in more recent FF games, was changed
back to "Veteran", its FF6 name.
- One of Steiner/Beatrix's moves is called "Shock", which was the same as General Leo's
command in FF6. The effect is different. Leo's Shock hit all enemies and cost nothing.
Final Fantasy 7
- In an early Active Time Event in Evil Forest called "Orchestra in the
Forest", the band from Tantalus begins playing Rufus's Welcoming March.
Yes, the exact song, with almost no changes. If you return to the Prima
Vista crash site anytime after this scene, they'll still be playing it.
- Listen carefully to the music played just before the fight scene in the
play early on in the game. Just before the "battle" music starts, there're
a few notes played that sound exactly like part of FF7's Highwind theme.
- In the weapon shop at Lindblum, check the swords on the wall. Zidane makes
a comment about how a "spiky haired guy" who wielded one of these. The
spiky haired guy, obviously being Cloud.
- Ironically, Zidane and Cloud share the best sword: Ultima Weapon.
- Steiner and Beatrix both have an ability called "Climhazzard". Sound
familiar? It is one of Cloud's second level Limits.
- Hades, one of the summon monsters from FF7, was turned into an optional
super boss.
- Chocobo footprints on the world map are used to call Chocobos. It's done
in a different way than FF7, obviously, but the idea is still there.
- Ever played the "Mog House" mini-game on FF7? "Kupo Nuts" are
Mog's favorite food on that mini-game. Kupo Nuts make another appearance in
FF9, where they're an actual item. And yes, they're still moogles'
favorite food.
- Notice how the moogle's "Kupo" sound in the "Mog House"
game seems similar to the moogle sound used in FF9?
- Square was beating around the bush here. After Alexandria gets
destroyed, one of the Pluto Knights is talking to a flower girl near the
ruined steeple. If you talk to the flower girl, she'll mention that the
soldier is "nice, but isn't much for personality". Remind you of another
flower girl and "personality-less soldier"?
- Cloud is referred to yet again in the ending. During the
retelling of the intro play, Marcus delivers the line "let no cloud nor
squall drive us apart". Gee, how fitting that he'd choose those two words.
Final Fantasy 8
- Steiner's "Darkside" was originally a normal command in FF8. It even has
the same effect.
- Amarant's "No Mercy" was Seifer's single Limit ability. The effect is
different (it hits only one enemy instead of all enemies), but the name is
the same, and the animation is similar.
- Similar to above, though the effect is completely different, Quina's "Eat"
command is similar in nature to the "Devour" command in FF8.
- "Ultima Weapon" was also in FF8. It wasn't a weapon, it was an
optional super boss.
- The same spell "name" system used in FF8 was also used in FF9. Fire, Fira,
Firaga, etc. Actually, this was used in all the FF games in Japan.
Let's just be thankful that we have Cure, Cura, and Curaga, instead of
"Keal", "Kealra", and "Kealga".
- Squall got a mention in FF9's ending. See the FF7 section.
Final Fantasy Tactics
- Tons of items were taken almost directly from FFT. These include Germinas
Boots, Battle Boots, Robe of Lords, Whale Whisker, Venetia Shield,
Octagon Rod, Mace of Zeus, Feather Boots, Cachusha, N-Kai Armlet, Jade
Armlet, Blood Sword, Save the Queen, Maximillian, Twist Headband, Zorlin
Shape, Flash Hat, Carabini Mail, and a whole bunch of other, more generic
items.
- The only other game you could equip perfume as accessories.
- Freya's "Reis's Wind" technique makes an obvious reference to Reis from
FFT, who was, not too surprisingly, a dragoner.
- Freya's "Cherry Blossom" skill is Cloud's 8th Limit in FFT.
- The Stellazzio Coins are all named after the Zodiac Signs. While FFT
didn't 'invent' these, it was the first RPG, that included them. In fact,
there's even a 13th Stellazzio.
- Many of Steiner's Sword Techs are taken from FFT. They don't break
equipment, but have the similar effect of lowering stats.
- Similar to FF5, Altima also uses Grand Cross, which has an effect almost
identical to FF9's version.
Parasite Eve
- In the Lindblum Synth Shop, the owner is named Torres, and the man at the
counter is named Wayne. These were the two people in the NYPD weapons room
on PE. In addition, when you first enter the said shop, the two of them
have a skirmish which is practically the same as the "Safety vs. Power"
lecture you overhear when you first enter the NYPD weapons room.
SaGa Frontier
- A shirt-type item in SaGa Frontier was called "Power Belt". This's also in
FF9, though it's now an accessory with a different effect.
- Steiner's "Rune Sword" was also an item in SaGa Frontier.
SaGa Frontier 2
- Looks like FF9 borrowed some of it's colder equipment from this game. Both
games have an Ice Staff and an Ice Lance.
- Did Gustave have something to do with the construction of Lindblum
and Alexandria? Like his homecity in SaGa Frontier 2, Hahn Nova, Lindblum
has three sectors: Industrial, Business, and Theatre...think "Blacksmith",
"Shopping", and "Entertainment". Similarly, take a look at Alexandria from
the world map. The castle sits in the center of the lake, with three
segments of the town divided by rivers. Hahn Nova has a very similar
setup: The castle in the center of town and roads seperating three sectors
of town.