The Art of Final Fantasy IX

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...Read more

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...Read more

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.