It may not be as immediately dazzling as its PS1 brothers, but stick with it and you'll be richly rewarded.
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Pros:
+ Characters: Along with FFVIII, this probably has the best characterisation you'll ever find in a game. They're all brought to life so effortlessly; it really is an impressive piece of writing.
+ Humour: While FFVII's humour was more dark and demented, FFIX has a very light-hearted air about it. It works though, and you're rarely given a half-hour of gameplay without something to laugh about.
+ Setting: Setting is usually a strong point in Final Fantasy games, but this is possibly the richest of the lot, in part thanks to some fantastic art design. Every aspect of the world's culture and history is brought to life, whether you're just sitting back and marvelling at the sight of it, or scouring every last corner and item for the hidden details.
+ Secrets & Sidequests: Again, just a massive amount to see and do - the PS1 games really did set the benchmark for this.
+ Nostalgia: It didn't mean much to me when I first played it, but having gone through all the old Final Fantasy games afterwards, the number of throwbacks to the past makes it serve as a great conclusion to the old traditions.
+ Music: Another classic soundtrack for a classic era of Final Fantasy games.
+ Themes: Perculiarly, considering this is one of the most light-hearted and funny Final Fantasies, it also has some of the most interesting and well-developed philosophical themes of any game I've played, and particularly towards the end, it all comes together beautifully.
Cons:
- Slow Start: It takes a very long time for the story to pick up pace: by the end of the first disc I still hadn't found out that much about where it was going, and things only really get going about mid-way through the second disc.
- Slow Battles: It's undoubtedly meant to counteract the increased amount of team members present in one fight, but the battles still seem to run like treacle until your levels go up a bit.
- Repetitive Fights: It felt to me like there were a smaller amount of monsters in each area than in previous games, which meant I ended up going through the same fights more than I'd like.
- Specialised Characters: While it's good that the party members are all unique, it also means that some of them are less useful than others, and will inevitably be neglected as a result (not to the degree of FFVI though, thankfully).
- Tetra Master: While FFVIII had a brilliant card game included, this one is just a mess. The rules are absurdly complicated, which is even worse when you consider that no-one ever actually explains them to you! Add to this that there's basically no reward for playing it, and you might as well not bother.
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At first I wasn't so keen on FFIX, in terms of the new (old) setting and how long it took to get going. However, this is one that really does get better the more you play it, and having finished it multiple times now, I can see what a fantastic game it is. The story becomes very compelling when it finally does take off, and the whole thing is just so well written and designed, you can't help but love it - eventually...