Customer Reviews

The Art of Final Fantasy IX

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I strolled into EB one day, and upon purchasing Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (great game, by the way), they had this book at the counter. I was really happy and a bit sad as well: my last few bucks just went into Persona 2: EP. But a couple days later, my dad had heard of the book through my constant ramblings and picked it up for me as a gift. Happy like a Moogle with a Kupo Nut, I was. Final Fantasy IX is my favorite game, I loved every second of it. Not since Secret of Mana for the SNES have I loved a game this much. There are drawings of the main characters; non-playable characters; monsters; villages, castles, and dungeons; items and equipment; CG scenes; sketches; air ships and worlds--all of which are rich in both beauty in detail. Final Fantasy IX fans will notice the transformation the characters went through the most when they get a glimpse at their earlier sketches. They early drawings were much more life-like and had a more traditional Japanese look to them (especially Steiner); just try to picture them without their super-deformed look and you'd, for the most part, get the picture (Quina, Vivi and Eiko being the major exceptions). Personally, I think they should have left Amarant with the beanie. Much better than the red weave they gave him in the end. Another bonus is the few drawings you get of parts in the game that were cut. None of what was cut was a serious loss (a house here, a house there), but it would have been nice to have had them in the game. Still, at least we got to see them. Not all the charcters made it into the game (where's Cactrot?!), but they managed to put a good number of them in here. And, well it might be really picky of me, I kinda think the selection for the cinemas could have been better (that scene were Kuja was bleeding would have been nice... heh, not to mention more pictures of Garnet), but what they did put in was good enough. There were a lot of drawings that caught my attention (Garnet on the cover came to mind on that thought), but my favorite was on page 66, there's a picture of a black mage standing at the graveyard in the Black Mage Village. Pretty sad, actually. Anyway, at 159 pages (that might seem like a so-so amount, but when you see how big the book is, you won't think so) of beautiful pictures, you'll definitely love this. Saying this is a must for Final Fantasy IX fans is a bit cliche (not to mention obvious), but it's true, and not only that, but this is a must for fans of just art in general. I love that I can open this book up and relive my favorite Final Fantasy IX moments any time--definitely don't pass this up.

I love this artbook... I mean LOVE. I'll admit that when I first saw it in my local EB store, I just passed it up for a certain RPG because I thought that it would be chockfull of ONLY Amano's art (no, I'm not a fan of his artwork), but a few weeks later, it started to grate on my mind. I REALLY wanted the book. The cover art was beautiful, that's obvious to see. Garnet looks incredibly GORGEOUS on the front cover. And the beauty of the book does NOT stop there... it continues to get better. Concept art, character art, worldmap art, etc etc. I regret not getting this sooner >^^< Ah well, I have it NOW, and that's all that matters. It does include some Amano art, but I personally think that his character designs for FFIX is the best out of all the other Final Fantasies. And yes, that is saying a lot considering I'm not a fan of his works to begin with. Anyway, digression aside, I'd recommend this artbook to a fan of beauty and of course, of Final Fantasy IX/Final Fantasy in general ^^;

The book definitely lives up to its title, and is a relatively inexpensive way to experience the wonder of Final Fantasy art design. Squaresoft, the video game company, has always delivered high quality games that are visually stunning, and anyone who is a fan of the Final Fantasy series will love this book. It offers a fun, behind-the-scenes peek at everything from character designs to vehicle concepts, and leaves the reader with some insight into the imaginative minds at Squaresoft. If there is any shortcoming, it would be the absence of some insightful narrative to accompany the images. Then again, this is the ART of Final Fantasy. A fine addition to anyone's "Art of..." library collection, and a useful reference for animators, illustrators, and designers.

The Art of Final Fantasy IX is a great artbook worth getting--even for a person who doesn't even have the game could enjoy this and get to know the all of the character's personalities before even getting the game. Besides being an art book, it has lots of informaition about the game. In a few sections, it shows how they created the charactor. The art is beautiful and any Final Fantasy fan will truly admire this creative and well-put-together book. ---plus, its in English and has some Japanese writing.

Never have I had the pleasure of "reading" a video game book such as this before. Not only is this an exciting new look at SquareSoft's best game ever, Final Fantasy IX, but for any complex role-playing game this would be a great idea. With behind the scenes looks at how the main characters, non-playable characters, airships, world, weapons, items, monsters, and plenty of extras are drawn, in vivid detail, this is perhaps my favorite video game book ever! In short, this is an amazing book. I have found myself studying the detailed drawing of every single insignificant character in FFIX for long periods of time. If you have ever wondered anything about how a game is made, or have ever even played an RPG, you really need to get this book!

Final Fantasy IX is one of my favorite Playstation games, and I loved the art direction. Going back to the more fantasy style of things over sci-fi, and having a very diverse cast of characters in every aspect of their design(s). People on the street came in all shapes and sizes. Some would have long arms with huge hands, while others had stubby legs and heads that were engulfed by their fancy hats. Rather than making things more serious, the artists had a field day with character design. Locations got a good variety too. When I bought The Art of Final Fantasy IX years ago, I loved it, and probably would've gave it 5 stars back then. But looking at the book now, I realize that it could've been so much more.

The book is divided into a couple of sections. The main characters, secondary characters, monsters, locations, weapons and then a few pages with screen shots from the FMVs. Where the book shines is in the secondary characters and locations sections. You'll get to see some clear drawings of Tantalus, Sir Fratley, black mages, nearly everyone you encounter in the game. Characters with one line of dialogue appear here, and you can see that most of them have their own unique look while still fitting in with where they live. Some characters are shown in multiple angles, to show a specific detail on their clothing or something with their hair, and I appreciate that. The locations portion of the book shows you just how intricate the buildings and airships in Final Fantasy IX are. I notice something new every time I look at a shot of a house or shop. I've never liked drawing or designing towns myself, because I never have the patience to do it, but looking over these pages, you have to respect the people who give characters a place to live. Especially when they're not just generic huts or anything, but huge kingdoms.

All of the artwork is beautiful, and I hate giving this anything less than 5 stars, but tell me, shouldn't the main characters have more than 2 pages of designs for each one? Yep, even the main heroes: Zidane and Garnet have just 2 pages each. You get Yoshitaka Amano's usual fancy drawings (which oddly enough, look exactly like some of his FFVI drawings: Locke and Celes in particular) for each of the main characters, then the final artwork that you see on the game's case, and maybe a few sketches here and there. This is a huge letdown, as I like to see how a character's design evolves over time. There's a -beautiful- sketch of Freya on her page and I would've loved to have seen more like that. Amarant has some really cool sketches of him wearing a beanie, maybe suggesting that his red hair is really a wig? But that's all- a few sketches of his head at different angles, and nothing more. Why don't these main characters, the characters you spend most of the time in the game with, only get 2 pages each? Well, you see a few of them a couple more times in the FMV images at the end of the book, but come on. Show me some more sketches, no matter how rough! Look at the cover of the book- it has a nice drawing of Garnet, looking pretty. You don't get anything like that of her aside from what's on the cover. Why not?

Still, The Art of Final Fantasy IX is a must for any fan of the game, and any fan knows that there's barely anything to buy as far as FFIX merchandise goes. It's usually pretty cheap too, so hurry and get a copy before it suddenly jacks up in price like many art books tend to do.

if you're into concept artwork and digital art, this book is for you. my only problem with it is that they didn't really get into how the characters were developed. it went from start to finish, without showing the middle.

This book is so,perfect!It's just amazing!The pictures are wonderful!I really like the section 'Monsters'!It shows every monster that you face!The section that is the best is 'Wepons',it shows every single wepon! Do your self a favor and buy this book,even if you haven't played the game.It's a treat to yourself! :)

When I bought this book, I expected mostly black and white photos and small screenshots from the game, but when I opened it up I was happily suprised with a book full of large, colorful artwork. Being a fan of the game series itself, this book especially appealed to me, as it probably would to many other FF players. But even those who do not play the game will find them selves impressed with the tons of fantastic artwork that fills its pages. I definitely recommened this book if you are a fan of the game or just love great art!

This is my faorite art book ever. I have a huge collection of book on art but I have never seen art as beautiful as this. Why do I like this book? lets find out. First The art is highly beautiful with excellent detail and beauty. Also because of how unique the people and places in the books are. If you love creative and beautiful srtwork. This book is for you.