It's the 20th anniversary of Final Fantasy IX, which came out in 2000. It's one of my favorite games of all time, and my favorite Final Fantasy (though that doesn't detract from the greatness of some of the others). I can still clearly remember sitting in my apartment in San Francisco playing this game and being completely in love with the characters and the story.
After the sci fi fests of Final Fantasy 7 and 8, Square went back to a somewhat lighthearted (but also heartbreaking) fantasy setting that's more steampunk and fairytale (with plenty of moogles and other cute creatures). Of course, like most Final Fantasies, the story gets pretty cosmic by the end, but it always remains grounded in the hearts of the story's characters, which are some of the best the series has to offer.
This might be a good occasion to play the game again. 
I like how the airship guys set out ot kidnap the princess and it turns out she wants to be kidnapped.
Yeah, it's very well written with a lot of twists and turns. You should definitely play through it, it's worth it.
I want to, but Mark got me into Farm Together. Now I'm a slave to it. I will return to it. I really want to play through all of it.
I know I've said this before, but FF9 is what FF7 and 8 should've been, at least I think so. But I also say that when Square released FF9, they said, "Ok FF fans, we're going to be taking the franchise in bold, new directions in the future, so here's one last classic styled game for all you old farts who fear change." Hard to believe that was 20 years ago! I still remember playing it early at a friend's house who imported it! Even though I like FF6 more, FF9 is definitely one of my top favorite FF games, and RPGs in general.
that's cool you got to play it early. I was surprised by the anniversary. I thought it came out prior to 2000 for some reason.
I would love for another Final Fantasy in a fairytale world, but that's probably not going to happen soon.
Nice finale for the PS1. I have my original copy, and in 2013 I got it autographed by Nobup Uematsu af Distant Worlds in Omaha.
I have my original copy too. But it's not autographed. 