The One About Final Fantasy IX
Christmas Eve in the year 2000, my family went out to see a movie (which one, I can’t remember) and afterwards, we spent some time poking around in the surrounding shopping complex. 10-year-old me loved wandering around bookstores, so that’s where I beelined, and I stumbled into something I’d never imagined— an artbook for a video game, Final Fantasy IX, which just so happened to be the game I most wanted to find underneath the Christmas tree.
My parents generously bought me the artbook, and I spent hours that night soaking up all the illustrations, the fascinating characters and environments, hoping desperately that the game was gift-wrapped under the tree. And it was.
Christmas morning, after building anticipation all night, I embarked on the mission to kidnap the princess of Alexandria, the beginning of a long adventure that remains an all-time favorite. —elwittlif
