Final Fantasy IX

Best: Vivi

It’s wild that nine games into a series, a character could be visually based on a long-established class and completely usurp the association with the design. Vivi, Final Fantasy IX’s black mage, is one of the series’ most beloved characters not just because his design is cute, but because he is the beating heart of Final Fantasy IX. His story is one of near-constant tragedy, but as he persists through his own strife, he grows into one of the series’ most memorable characters.

Worst: That slow pace

Despite using ATB, Final Fantasy IX has a notorious problem with pacing its battles in a way that doesn’t feel like it’s wasting your time. Re-releases helped alleviate this with fast-foward options, but the sluggish way battles load and animation plays weighs the game down. This wasn’t helped by a notably high random encounter rate, which made those slow fights all too frequent.