8. Final Fantasy IX (2000)

Final Fantasy IX takes the medieval high-fantasy globetrotting of the earlier games and refracts it through the prism of modernist emotional angst developed in the PS1 games that directly preceded it. A rogue, a princess, a knight, and a mage navigate airships and geo-political turmoil only to stumble into an extraterrestrial conflict that is as bonkers as any third-act reveal in the series’ history. Despite eventually going off the rails, it’s confidently playful and utterly charming with a carefully paced first half that excels at slowly pulling back the curtain on an ever-growing world of dramatic possibilities and comedic relief.

The sprawling adventure and unexpected turns make for an exciting but uneven game with highs that outweigh the lows but don’t completely outweigh the nagging feeling that maybe just a bit too much is going on. A motley cast of characters reverts to the archetypal roles of earlier games but with more nuance, even if the combat system built up around learning abilities from equipped gear feels more like a gimmick than a clever re-thinking of earlier class systems. The art is incredible though, and Final Fantasy IX remains the best-looking chapter on the original PlayStation hardware. — Ethan Gach

Read More: Final Fantasy IX Retrospective: The Final Fantasy’s Final Fantasy