Final Fantasy IX Official Strategy Guide by Dan Birlew (2000, Paperback)

Being an owner of every Final Fantasy game and strategy guide I can assure you this was the worst created guide ever for any Final Fantasy game, and maybe even any video game for that matter. The actual game is another story, I'd rate it as excellent, 5/5, but the guide would get a 0/5 if it were at all possible. Unfortunately, this is the only tangible guide that can be purchased for Final Fantasy IX, so you're out of options if you wish to receive help through the game.

Why is this guide so bad you may wonder? Well, when I go to a local store and drop $14.99 on a STRATEGY GUIDE, I expect the guide to tell me all of the secrets and details one may not discover themself. Here's the deal, on literally every page of this guide there are 1-3 captions displaying "please visit www.playonline.com for a more in depth analysis on defeating this boss...discovering this secret....saving this character....etc".

Why should one buy a strategy guide, then have it flat out tell you that it is not nearly giving you all of the information the author has discovered. I am not sure if the playonline site is even displaying all the tips for Final Fantasy 9 anymore.

So here's the deal, when I am sitting in front of my TV with a controller in hand, strategy guide in lap, I do not want to get up and go to a PC three times per page to get additional tips that the strategy guide fails to provide.

Yes, the guide does provide enough information to take you through the game completely, but being a gamer who likes to complete each additional side quest and obtain every possible item, you certainly will need the assistance of www.playonline.com.

I believe the MSRP price on this guide should've been $4.99 and not $14.99 because of the information it purposely lacks. None of the other FF guides in the history of the series were produced this way.

Recommended? Absolutely not, buy the game but get tips elsewhere.