In 2000, after a pair of PlayStation games that were more science fiction than swords and sorcery, I wanted a Final Fantasy that skewed heavily towards classic fantasy fare. Final Fantasy IX, released on July 7, 2000, in Japan, was exactly the game I was looking for.
“The thing about strategy guide publishing is that it’s a parasitic industry,” says Doug Walsh, who spent 18 years writing video game guides for the two biggest publishers, BradyGames and Prima. Perhaps that’s why the infamous Final Fantasy IX guide turned out the way it did.
Speedrunners want to complete games or meet special conditions as fast as possible but some games are so massive that it can take days to get through them, even if you’re playing as quickly as possible.