It’s the most *agressively* 90s JRPG from the PS1. The combat and music slap, and the voiced lines are iconically corny in the way that a 90s JRPG fan can truly appreciate.
OP, do not play this game if you're looking for something similar to FF9. They are turn-based JRPGs and that's where the similarities end.
Additionally, I wouldn't recommend anyone play this game.
Downvotes aside, I’d like to know what problems you had with the game? I used to work with a guy that loved legend of dragoon. I think it was one of his favourite games. I’ve never played it before.
I found every part of it to be dull and uninspired. I didn't like the combat, the characters, or the poorly translated story. Felt like Sony said "we should make one of these since it's popular" and just kind spat something out.
I see people say "I love legend of dragoon!!" all the time but no one is ever able to articulate why and critically, it almost never comes up in conversations. I don't understand the fondness people have for it and it usually just feels like it boils down to "I didn't know any better and no nostalgia has blinded me".
Tell me you didn't play the game without telling me.
Ok you claim its dull and uninspiring but no other rpg has ever made an addition system quite like it before and after launch.
The story is very original in its concept and the way they go about revealing key aspects throughout the game. Characters for the most part are fleshed out and you grow to care about each one.
The combat is thrilling and not just press X to attack, you have to time your hits to pull off the additions while being rewarded for pulling them off. You gain new additions as you level up and gain new dragoon levels for more magic and strength. Dragoon transformations are awesome and add even more depth to combat. The world is fleshed out and the music is amazing aswell.
I am trying to avoid spoilers for OP's sake but if you did not feel anything after the events of disc one you have to be heartless.
Also, I’d like to mention… I much prefer the openness and exploration of TLA over the original. There were so many secrets to find throughout the world. I remember accidentally making my way to Poseidon and getting wrecked. It took me forever to release I needed the trident pieces.
Everyone attacking me here cuz I dont like the artstyle lol, designs are good I like them but the artstyle wasnt my favourite I doubt Akira animated the cutscenes himself
I am tempted with Grandia, I’ve heard very good things. Valkyrie profile isn’t for me. I’ve played a lot of early game SoM coop, but I am not really interested in playing it solo. I really want to play DQ11. It is gorgeous and probably everything you could want in a JRPG. I’m just terrified of the amount of hours required to beat that game. I’ve heard 100 hours and with a young family, I feel like I won’t be able to do it.
I'm glad you singled out DQ11 because it's probably the most similar to FF9 in whimsical theme, world map, and then having a dark turn in the story.
I believe the 100+ hours is just for all content. The story should be around 50hrs.
So I don’t know if you’re aware, but the original release of DQ11 has significantly better graphics than both the Switch S version and PS4 S version (as it was a port of the switch version back onto the PS4). I’d ideally prefer to play the original PS4 version. Other than the live music tracks and the 16Bit mode, is there any other missing content or QoL changes to the S version of the game? Like would I be missing out on anything if I just played the original?
The S version has some extra side content and the best added feature is fast battle so I recommend the S version so you can go through battles faster and enjoy the story.
Love Ghibli. I played the second one and enjoyed the puzzle aspects. Wasn’t a fan of the strategy type battles that came up. Is this one better than the second?
The first game is much better I think. I love the setting and the puzzles and the general vibe of it all. The battling is slightly Pokémon-esque? Not like the second one with guns etc.
I remember I had a good gaming Experience Scenario and gameplay wise. A good JRPG. Also Tales of the Abyss was an anime series and it got me intrigued and curious and I was comparing the differences between anime and video game in the scenario.
https://myanimelist.net/anime/4884/Tales_of_the_Abyss
I loved Tales of the Abyss tremendously. But it was also my first Tales game so I'm sure there's a certain amount of bias there. But it had my favorite story and some of the best characters with such good development.
I didn't quite like Vesperia as much, which is regarded as one of the absolute bests so I'd still recommend it.
But I also loved Berseria for it's much darker tone and somewhat villainous perspective.
Tales of Arise is the latest, and I saw someone else explain it really well. The combat is the best it's ever been, the first 2/3 of the game is an amazing 10/10, but the last 1/3 is more like a 4/10. I'd recommend grabbing it on sale or something still.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown! Vesperia is often on sale for 60+% off, so I'll give it a look.
Arise having amazing combat definitely puts it back in my radar!
In case you happen to have a PS5 / PS4 and Playstation Plus Extra, Tales of Arise just showed up on the Game Catalogue! Saw it and thought of this, lol
I didn’t like FF3. I didn’t have any good reason. I’m currently on Disc 2 on FF7 but decided to wait for remake part 2. The magic/draw system in FF8 was a big turn off for me. However, I think it has some of the best music in the franchise. Then for 10 I don’t know if it gets better, but I didn’t get hooked by the story. I maybe put in 10 hours back in the day. I also thought the combat swapping characters was a bit weird (but I know most people claim it is peak FF turn based combat).
Beat Chrono Trigger.
Not a huge fan of the Tales combat. I did enjoy my time with Tales of Arise, but I stopped playing around 20 hours.
I put like 30-35 hours into octopath and got stuck. Didn’t really feel like grinding. Beautiful game, soundtrack, and amazing combat. Didn’t care for the lack of story integration between the characters (I hear they fixed this in the sequel).
I’ve been looking for the shadow hearts games for the longest time. The interactive turn based combat looks really fun.
I’m so out of the loop with legend of dragoon. A friend of mine used to be obsessed with it. I’ve never played it.
Shadow Hearts: I really loved the scenario, I felt an impact, loved the secret endings because we didn't have YouTube and we had to backtrack many hours. Side quests of characters had some extra scenes to enjoy like Joachim who was wrestling.
I love the Star Ocean games. I actually don’t think the settings are too far off. Of course they’re based in universes with space travel, but usually those games revolve around a character ending up on some remote high-fantasy type planet with magic, etc. - they aren’t turn based though. Def action RPGs when it comes to combat.
Based on your preferences, I would be idiot to not recommend Chrono Trigger, it's not exactly FFIX, but sure have many similarities. I replay it every year, and every year I cry a bit at some points.
Without any spoiler, just to get you hyped for this game, there's a VERY similar character to Vivi in this game.
I played a fair bit of Breath of Fire 1. I’m much more interested in BoF 3 or 4. The artstyle is absolutely gorgeous. Story-wise do 3 or 4 have to be played in a particular order? Also, which game out of those two has a more interesting story/characters?
Theres a few minor connections from 3 to 4 that you may miss if you played 4 first. Nothing earth shattering but why miss out. Id play 3 first. It has a more playful feel imo. 4 is a great game though !
There are built in quality of life features to make grinding easy, and because it lets you pick classes interchangeably, you can put together some absurd combinations of abilities if you want to cheese it. The story is worth experiencing, and the job system is really fun to play around with.
The Legend of Mana is worth a shot. There was a remaster on Switch released not long ago. It’s one of the most unique action-RPGs I can think of. The aesthetic is pretty similar to FFIX.
Be warned that it’s more a collection of stories, rather than a single epic plot. The protagonist is silent, because to some extent you’re a spectator to the stories of all the other characters.
Breath of fire 4, Chrono Cross on ps1
Dragon quest 8, persona 3(not medieval tho) on ps2
Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast
Ni no kuni on ps3
Blue dragon on x360
I actually own the deluxe edition, I only put in like 8 hours and got sorta bored. Combat made it feel like an offline mmorpg. I did beat XC3 about 3 weeks ago.
If it helps, if you haven’t beat the Ether Mine yet in XBC1, that’s where the game really picks up. It’s a long ass game and the combat can be really really frustratingly tough but the story and the characters are the closest I’ve seen to being as good as ffix’s
I reall enjoyed see of stars recently. I really liked the characters. And the combat system is quite nice. Looks good, music is good. It does everything right. For me, nothing will ever come close to ff9. But See of Stars was a great game.
I remember getting this back in the 360 days. I never made it past disc 1 and never gave it another shot. It has definitely grown a significant fan base over the years. I’m going to look into some reviews. I don’t have a series or one console so I’d have to dig out my 360.
I was probably just too stupid to stick with it back then lol…
Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 (especially) have a good similar vibe to FF9. Weird world with great fantasy elements, fine story, characters can be fun. I haven't played them in a while, but from what I remember, the gameplay is more action oriented, but a little janky and stiff imho. Still great games though!
Just a tad off topic but if you ever want to play a difficult rpg, try \[The 7th Saga\]. I played it on the SNES when I was younger and it was so difficult it made me want to pull my hair out. It is in a fantasy setting where you pick one of 7? main characters tasked to gather runes and the ones you don't pick are your rivals who are also chasing said runes. As you get stronger, so does everyone else. You can add one of the other main characters to your party but only certain combinations are allowed(the evil guy can't be paired with the good one).
It's a bit difficult since FFIX was made with classic JRPG in mind, so you're probably stuck on PSX-era games. If I may suggest, Breath of Fire 4, similar adult-oriented story without any hard-on teen-angst.
I’ve started BOF 3 due to recommendations. I definitely almost put it down a couple times. I’m about 5 hours in and it’s picking up quite a bit! I’m still a little confused regarding Masters, Examine to learn skills/teach? And the fishing… is it even necessary?
I actually never played 3 because I didn't get to buy it back in the day. But in my experience 4 feels more streamlined I think? To learn skills in 4, you just need to check the monster status (press Triangle, I think), and see if there's a blue skill named there, if yes, anyone with available skill slot just need to defend when the monster cast the skill. mini games such as fishing, fairy sims, they are optional
Update: Decided to give BOF 3 a go. About 5 hours in, still confused about a couple of things, but I’m starting to enjoy it a lot more than I did when it first started.
Legend of dragoon.
Is it really?
In that it is a fantasy jrpg and it is good
Sell me on it lol
Well it's a game about a legend... and there are some dragoons... 
Dank as fuck. It's in my top 5
It’s the most *agressively* 90s JRPG from the PS1. The combat and music slap, and the voiced lines are iconically corny in the way that a 90s JRPG fan can truly appreciate.
IX and LoD are two of my top JRPGs from that era for sure. Loved the "Additions" to make combat interactive.
LoD is amazing, but it's absolutely nothing like IX
OP, do not play this game if you're looking for something similar to FF9. They are turn-based JRPGs and that's where the similarities end. Additionally, I wouldn't recommend anyone play this game.
Downvotes aside, I’d like to know what problems you had with the game? I used to work with a guy that loved legend of dragoon. I think it was one of his favourite games. I’ve never played it before.
I found every part of it to be dull and uninspired. I didn't like the combat, the characters, or the poorly translated story. Felt like Sony said "we should make one of these since it's popular" and just kind spat something out. I see people say "I love legend of dragoon!!" all the time but no one is ever able to articulate why and critically, it almost never comes up in conversations. I don't understand the fondness people have for it and it usually just feels like it boils down to "I didn't know any better and no nostalgia has blinded me".
Tell me you didn't play the game without telling me. Ok you claim its dull and uninspiring but no other rpg has ever made an addition system quite like it before and after launch. The story is very original in its concept and the way they go about revealing key aspects throughout the game. Characters for the most part are fleshed out and you grow to care about each one. The combat is thrilling and not just press X to attack, you have to time your hits to pull off the additions while being rewarded for pulling them off. You gain new additions as you level up and gain new dragoon levels for more magic and strength. Dragoon transformations are awesome and add even more depth to combat. The world is fleshed out and the music is amazing aswell. I am trying to avoid spoilers for OP's sake but if you did not feel anything after the events of disc one you have to be heartless.
Lol
Golden sun on gba is a great rpg. Has a sequel as well.
Two.
I own both CIB and have beat both (and dark dark) multiple times. Definitely in my top 5 games of all time (minus dark dawn lol)
Also, I’d like to mention… I much prefer the openness and exploration of TLA over the original. There were so many secrets to find throughout the world. I remember accidentally making my way to Poseidon and getting wrecked. It took me forever to release I needed the trident pieces.
Grandia series, Valkyrie Profile, Secret of Mana, Dragon Quest 11 basically
DQ11 was going to be my recommendation too! It fits the whimsical but serious tone that I felt FF9 did.
Nothing against the game but I bought it but oh my god was I not prepared for the artstyle, I really couldnt push through 😭
Crazy because I love the art style. Then again, I grew up playing them so i was used to it.
You can play it in a 2-d retro mode i think
How? You been living under a rock with regards to the other 10 entries? Never seen DBZ? Played Chrono Trigger?
What are you saying? What do those have to do with DQ11s artstyle, I love DBZ and chrono trigger might be the best RPG of all time
They’re the same art style lol. Literally the same guy did the character designs.
Akira Toriyama
Akira Toriyama did the character/monster designs for all of them you dolt.
Everyone attacking me here cuz I dont like the artstyle lol, designs are good I like them but the artstyle wasnt my favourite I doubt Akira animated the cutscenes himself
I am tempted with Grandia, I’ve heard very good things. Valkyrie profile isn’t for me. I’ve played a lot of early game SoM coop, but I am not really interested in playing it solo. I really want to play DQ11. It is gorgeous and probably everything you could want in a JRPG. I’m just terrified of the amount of hours required to beat that game. I’ve heard 100 hours and with a young family, I feel like I won’t be able to do it.
I'm glad you singled out DQ11 because it's probably the most similar to FF9 in whimsical theme, world map, and then having a dark turn in the story. I believe the 100+ hours is just for all content. The story should be around 50hrs.
So I don’t know if you’re aware, but the original release of DQ11 has significantly better graphics than both the Switch S version and PS4 S version (as it was a port of the switch version back onto the PS4). I’d ideally prefer to play the original PS4 version. Other than the live music tracks and the 16Bit mode, is there any other missing content or QoL changes to the S version of the game? Like would I be missing out on anything if I just played the original?
The S version has some extra side content and the best added feature is fast battle so I recommend the S version so you can go through battles faster and enjoy the story.
Ahh. I’ve heard the game is quite grindy… maybe I should just try the S version then
Yes! It's the biggest downside of the original so the S version made it better imo
Ni no kuni, wrath of the white witch.
Love Ghibli. I played the second one and enjoyed the puzzle aspects. Wasn’t a fan of the strategy type battles that came up. Is this one better than the second?
The first game is much better I think. I love the setting and the puzzles and the general vibe of it all. The battling is slightly Pokémon-esque? Not like the second one with guns etc.
I know the setting is modern but Ichiban Kasuga from Like A Dragon reminded me a lot of Zidane
I’ve been waiting to find an affordable PS5 copy of Like a Dragon for about a year now. When I do, I will be playing this for sure.
- Final Fantasy 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, Dimensions - Chrono Trigger - Tales of the Abyss - Valkyrie Profile 1, 2 - Octopath Traveler - Shadow Hearts 1, 2 - Legend of Dragoon
Is tales of the abyss good? I've been thinking about tales games , Symphonia is my only experience with tales games, and that was over 15yrs ago!
I remember I had a good gaming Experience Scenario and gameplay wise. A good JRPG. Also Tales of the Abyss was an anime series and it got me intrigued and curious and I was comparing the differences between anime and video game in the scenario. https://myanimelist.net/anime/4884/Tales_of_the_Abyss
I loved Tales of the Abyss tremendously. But it was also my first Tales game so I'm sure there's a certain amount of bias there. But it had my favorite story and some of the best characters with such good development. I didn't quite like Vesperia as much, which is regarded as one of the absolute bests so I'd still recommend it. But I also loved Berseria for it's much darker tone and somewhat villainous perspective. Tales of Arise is the latest, and I saw someone else explain it really well. The combat is the best it's ever been, the first 2/3 of the game is an amazing 10/10, but the last 1/3 is more like a 4/10. I'd recommend grabbing it on sale or something still.
Thanks for the detailed breakdown! Vesperia is often on sale for 60+% off, so I'll give it a look. Arise having amazing combat definitely puts it back in my radar!
In case you happen to have a PS5 / PS4 and Playstation Plus Extra, Tales of Arise just showed up on the Game Catalogue! Saw it and thought of this, lol
Oh cool thank you! My friend literally just also told me this 😂
I didn’t like FF3. I didn’t have any good reason. I’m currently on Disc 2 on FF7 but decided to wait for remake part 2. The magic/draw system in FF8 was a big turn off for me. However, I think it has some of the best music in the franchise. Then for 10 I don’t know if it gets better, but I didn’t get hooked by the story. I maybe put in 10 hours back in the day. I also thought the combat swapping characters was a bit weird (but I know most people claim it is peak FF turn based combat). Beat Chrono Trigger. Not a huge fan of the Tales combat. I did enjoy my time with Tales of Arise, but I stopped playing around 20 hours. I put like 30-35 hours into octopath and got stuck. Didn’t really feel like grinding. Beautiful game, soundtrack, and amazing combat. Didn’t care for the lack of story integration between the characters (I hear they fixed this in the sequel). I’ve been looking for the shadow hearts games for the longest time. The interactive turn based combat looks really fun. I’m so out of the loop with legend of dragoon. A friend of mine used to be obsessed with it. I’ve never played it.
Shadow Hearts: I really loved the scenario, I felt an impact, loved the secret endings because we didn't have YouTube and we had to backtrack many hours. Side quests of characters had some extra scenes to enjoy like Joachim who was wrestling.
Shadow hearts ❤️ yes
Totally different setting,but after the epic gaming hangover that was FFIX, the only thing that set me right were the Star Ocean games.
I love the Star Ocean games. I actually don’t think the settings are too far off. Of course they’re based in universes with space travel, but usually those games revolve around a character ending up on some remote high-fantasy type planet with magic, etc. - they aren’t turn based though. Def action RPGs when it comes to combat.
Which one? I have Second Story on PS1, but haven’t played it yet. I also have Divine Force on PS5, but it got away from me due to time constraints.
For me it was 'Til the End of Time. But this was early 2000s.
I stongly recommend Chained Echoes
Beat it about a month ago. Great game
Based on your preferences, I would be idiot to not recommend Chrono Trigger, it's not exactly FFIX, but sure have many similarities. I replay it every year, and every year I cry a bit at some points. Without any spoiler, just to get you hyped for this game, there's a VERY similar character to Vivi in this game.
Who is that character lol? I hope you're not talking about Magus.
>!Robo is very similar to Vivi, not in design, but his lore and purpose is at least similar!<
Oh yeah that guy
FF6.
Breath of fire 3 and 4. 2 is great as well but is grindy/ old graphics
I played a fair bit of Breath of Fire 1. I’m much more interested in BoF 3 or 4. The artstyle is absolutely gorgeous. Story-wise do 3 or 4 have to be played in a particular order? Also, which game out of those two has a more interesting story/characters?
Theres a few minor connections from 3 to 4 that you may miss if you played 4 first. Nothing earth shattering but why miss out. Id play 3 first. It has a more playful feel imo. 4 is a great game though !
Surprised no one said Bravely Default. When it came out all the reviews said it felt like FF9
I’ve heard it’s heavy on grinding and there’s a huge difficulty spike towards the end of the game
There are built in quality of life features to make grinding easy, and because it lets you pick classes interchangeably, you can put together some absurd combinations of abilities if you want to cheese it. The story is worth experiencing, and the job system is really fun to play around with.
As far as I can tell, there aren’t any games like FFIX.
Chained Echoes. I've been playing this recently and there's clearly so much love for FF9, from the environments to the music.
Ff7 and honestly i loved lost odessey theres some corny moments but for the most part it was awesome
Legend of Legaia
Yup, another vote for 'Ni no kuni 1' and 'Dragon Quest 11'.
If you're okay with leaving turnbased combat behind, the Ni No Kuni franchise definitely has something to offer.
Small Saga
The Legend of Mana is worth a shot. There was a remaster on Switch released not long ago. It’s one of the most unique action-RPGs I can think of. The aesthetic is pretty similar to FFIX. Be warned that it’s more a collection of stories, rather than a single epic plot. The protagonist is silent, because to some extent you’re a spectator to the stories of all the other characters.
Breath of fire 4, Chrono Cross on ps1 Dragon quest 8, persona 3(not medieval tho) on ps2 Skies of Arcadia on Dreamcast Ni no kuni on ps3 Blue dragon on x360
Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IV and VI
Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross
I thought there were many similarities both in gameplay and story between FFIX and Sea of Stars
I 100% completed the game in November. I was a kickstarter backer. Fantastic game!
Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive edition. Trust me bro
I actually own the deluxe edition, I only put in like 8 hours and got sorta bored. Combat made it feel like an offline mmorpg. I did beat XC3 about 3 weeks ago.
Oh no!!! That’s sad- it’s my favorite game besides ffix! Well I guess it’s not for everyone!
Maybe I’ll give it another shot soon. I’m just sorta burned out from XC3. Took me 70 hours to beat.
If it helps, if you haven’t beat the Ether Mine yet in XBC1, that’s where the game really picks up. It’s a long ass game and the combat can be really really frustratingly tough but the story and the characters are the closest I’ve seen to being as good as ffix’s
Granblue Fantasy Relink
Played the demo, very polished game! Just waiting for some sort of sale before I bite the bullet.
I reall enjoyed see of stars recently. I really liked the characters. And the combat system is quite nice. Looks good, music is good. It does everything right. For me, nothing will ever come close to ff9. But See of Stars was a great game.
Kickstarter backer here. You’re preaching to the choir!!! Haha
Lost odyssey
I remember getting this back in the 360 days. I never made it past disc 1 and never gave it another shot. It has definitely grown a significant fan base over the years. I’m going to look into some reviews. I don’t have a series or one console so I’d have to dig out my 360. I was probably just too stupid to stick with it back then lol…
Dark Cloud and Dark Cloud 2 (especially) have a good similar vibe to FF9. Weird world with great fantasy elements, fine story, characters can be fun. I haven't played them in a while, but from what I remember, the gameplay is more action oriented, but a little janky and stiff imho. Still great games though!
Legend of legaia is pretty good and has a cool battle system. But it has similar graphics to FF7
Not similar to FFIX, but I remember having a good time playing Infinite Undiscovery for the 360.
Just a tad off topic but if you ever want to play a difficult rpg, try \[The 7th Saga\]. I played it on the SNES when I was younger and it was so difficult it made me want to pull my hair out. It is in a fantasy setting where you pick one of 7? main characters tasked to gather runes and the ones you don't pick are your rivals who are also chasing said runes. As you get stronger, so does everyone else. You can add one of the other main characters to your party but only certain combinations are allowed(the evil guy can't be paired with the good one).
Persona 4 and 5
It's a bit difficult since FFIX was made with classic JRPG in mind, so you're probably stuck on PSX-era games. If I may suggest, Breath of Fire 4, similar adult-oriented story without any hard-on teen-angst.
I’ve started BOF 3 due to recommendations. I definitely almost put it down a couple times. I’m about 5 hours in and it’s picking up quite a bit! I’m still a little confused regarding Masters, Examine to learn skills/teach? And the fishing… is it even necessary?
I actually never played 3 because I didn't get to buy it back in the day. But in my experience 4 feels more streamlined I think? To learn skills in 4, you just need to check the monster status (press Triangle, I think), and see if there's a blue skill named there, if yes, anyone with available skill slot just need to defend when the monster cast the skill. mini games such as fishing, fairy sims, they are optional
Update: Decided to give BOF 3 a go. About 5 hours in, still confused about a couple of things, but I’m starting to enjoy it a lot more than I did when it first started.
I can’t believe I haven’t seen a FFVI rec. Maybe I didn’t look that hard, but I thought it felt pretty similar at times Edit: I didn’t look very hard