When does FINAL FANTASY IX get good?

Give it 3 hours. In the first 2 hours 1 in 4 reviews are negative (24%); after 20h it's 1 in 35 (3%). Fully opens up by hour 10.

How many players finish FINAL FANTASY IX?

25% of players who start reach the ending.

All games

RPG

FINAL FANTASY IX

Apr 14, 2016 Steam: Overwhelmingly Positive

Give it 3 hours

Gets good by 3h almost every game dips in hours 2–3

Fully opens up by 10h rated like by long-time players

Reach the ending 25% of players who started

Started playing 70% of owners

Steam reviews 95% positive of 14,470

What the data shows

In the first 2 hours 1 in 4 reviews are negative (24%); after 20h it's 1 in 35 (3%).
Fully opens up by hour 10.
25% of players who start reach the ending.
The biggest drop-off is between “A Round of Applause” (Have the nobles demand an encore) and “Take to the Skies” (Obtain an airship): from 95% to 40% of starters.
Only 70% of owners have even the first achievement — the rest barely played.

When it gets good

Share of positive reviews by how many hours the reviewer had played when writing the review.

before it gets good opening up fully opened up

Based on all 14,495 Steam reviews in every language. Median playtime in a sample of 297 reviews: 44.5h for positive, 12.7h for negative. Almost every game is rated lower in the first 2–3 hours: that window includes refunds and quick first impressions. What matters is how deep the dip is and how fast the game recovers.

Where players quit

Share of players who started the game and reached each story milestone. 100% is the most common achievement (69.9% of owners), so people who bought the game and never launched it don't count.

Started playing 100%
A Round of Applause Have the nobles demand an encore. 95% −5
Take to the Skies Obtain an airship. Most players quit here 40% −55
Out of Harm's Way Guide all the residents of Cleyra to safety. 37% −3
Putting Out the Fire Defeat Maliris, the Guardian of Fire. 31% −6
Gone with the Winds Defeat Tiamat, the Guardian of Wind. 30%
All Washed Up Defeat Kraken, the Guardian of Water. 30%
Hitting Rock Bottom Defeat Lich, the Guardian of Earth. 30%
All's Well That Ends Well Complete FINAL FANTASY IX. 25% −4

story milestone ending biggest drop-off

Story milestones were labeled by AI from achievement names and descriptions; mistakes are possible.

All achievements (85)

story milestone ending side

Getting Emotional Enter Trance for the first time. 100%
A Round of Applause Have the nobles demand an encore. 95%
It's All in the Cards I Win a Tetra Master match. 84%
Let the Bodies Hit the Floor I Defeat 100 enemies. 72%
Sticky Fingers Use the Steal command 50 times. 60%
Coming Together I Synthesize 10 items. 53%
Going for the Gold Successfully catch a golden frog. 51%
Bring on the Thunder Summon the eidolon Ramuh. 51%
That Old Black Magic Use Black Magic spells 100 times. 48%
Wolf Insanity Summon the eidolon Fenrir. 47%
Peek-A-Boo Free Kuppo from a wall in Fossil Roo. 45%
Take to the Skies Obtain an airship. 40%
The Best Offense Use the Defend command 50 times. 39%
Out of Harm's Way Guide all the residents of Cleyra to safety. 37%
You're Cold as Ice Summon the eidolon Shiva. 35%
Heat of the Moment Summon the eidolon Ifrit. 34%
King of Dragons Summon the eidolon Bahamut. 33%
Bringing Down the House Summon the eidolon Atomos. 33%
Surf's Up Summon the eidolon Leviathan. 32%
Here to Help Summon the eidolon Carbuncle. 31%
Putting Out the Fire Defeat Maliris, the Guardian of Fire. 31%
Gone with the Winds Defeat Tiamat, the Guardian of Wind. 30%
Overly Emotional Enter trance 50 times. 30%
All Washed Up Defeat Kraken, the Guardian of Water. 30%
Rise from the Ashes Summon the eidolon Phoenix. 30%
Hitting Rock Bottom Defeat Lich, the Guardian of Earth. 30%
It's All in the Cards II Win 10 Tetra Master matches.(Certain NPCs can be re-challenged to increase your win count after progressing through the game.) 28%
The Dim Mak Summon the eidolon Odin. 27%
Coming Together II Synthesize 30 items. 26%
All's Well That Ends Well Complete FINAL FANTASY IX. 25%
A Healing Touch Use White Magic spells 200 times. 24%
Auctioneer Win 10 items at the Treno Auction House. 24%
The Ultimate Flute Obtain the Angel Flute. 24%
Path of the Samurai Obtain the complete set of Genji armor. 23%
The Ultimate Claws Obtain the Rune Claws. 23%
The Ultimate Rod Obtain the Whale Whisker. 23%
Wolf in Mog's Clothing Summon the eidolon Madeen. 22%
The Ultimate Mace Obtain the Mace of Zeus. 22%
Skip to My Lou Jump rope 100 times without tripping. 21%
End of the Road Attain level 99 with at least one character. 20%
The Ultimate Racket Obtain the Tiger Racket. 20%
Diggin' It Locate all hidden treasures on the world map. 20%
Close But No Cigar Obtain the Tower. 20%
The B-Team Form a party with four male characters. 19%
You Called? Summon Eidolons 50 times. 19%
The Ultimate Dual Blade Obtain the Ultima Weapon. 19%
Earning the Queen's Favor Receive 10 rewards from Queen Stella. 19%
Kain's Legacy Obtain Kain's Lance. 18%
What's Your Sign? Obtain the Hammer. 17%
Sword of Kings Obtain the sacred blade Excalibur. 16%
My Little Airship Obtain a miniature copy of the Prima Vista. 16%
Your Lucky Day Receive a Very Good Omen from a color fortune. 16%
One Nag Too Many Cause Moguo to have a tantrum. 14%
Track Star Obtain Athlete Queen. 13%
Frog Wrangler Successfully catch 99 frogs. 13%
Hail to the King Jump rope 1000 times without tripping and obtain King of Jump Rope. 13%
Firin' Mah Lazer Summon the eidolon Ark. 12%
Well Lubricated Obtain a bottle of Superslick. 12%
The Ultimate Fork Obtain the Gastro Fork. 12%
The One Ring Obtain Madain's Ring via mining. 12%
Mister Nice Guy Gain the favor of all friendly enemies. 12%
Back Online Repair the machine at Mognet Central. 11%
Let the Bodies Hit the Floor II Defeat 1000 enemies. 11%
A-Hunting We Will Go Win with Vivi during the Festival of the Hunt. 11%
Taking the Black Play the blackjack minigame. 11%
Another Man's Treasure Receive certification as a Rank S Treasure Hunter. 10%
Backstabber Receive 30 back attacks. 10%
I'm So Blue Use Blue Magic spells 100 times. 9.6%
Driving the Hard Bargain Purchase all items available from Stiltzkin. 9.6%
Follow Your Nose Raise your chocobo's beak level to 99. 9.2%
To Ozma and Back Defeat Ozma. 9.2%
Cracking the Code Uncover the secret of the Eidolon Wall. 8.9%
Dragon Lady Defeat Behemoth in the Treno weapon shop using Dagger. 8.6%
Still I Rise Activate the Rebirth Flame ability when all party members are incapacitated. 8.4%
Femme Fatales? Form a party with Quina Quen and three female characters. 7.7%
Over the Moon Obtain 4 moonstones. 7.4%
A Pillar of Support Acquire all available support abilities. 7.3%
The Ultimate Sword Obtain Excalibur II. 6.6%
Beach Bum Visit every beach in Gaia. 6.3%
Beating the Ragtime Blues Correctly answer all the questions in Ragtime Mouse's pop quiz. 5.6%
Found in the Shuffle Beat the Nero Brothers' shuffling game nine times in a row. 4.6%
A Clean Bill of Health Have a single character affected by all status ailments. (both beneficial and detrimental). 4.6%
It's All in the Cards III Win 100 Tetra Master matches. (Certain NPCs can be re-challenged to increase your win count after progressing through the game.) 3.4%
Movie Critic View 79 Active Time Events. 3.3%
Let the Bodies Hit the Floor III Defeat 10000 enemies. 2.1%

Steam page Updated: 2026-10-18.