The fact the majority of the Final Fantasy fanbase doesn't even consider Freya when talking about strong female characters in the series is pretty irritating. Hell Beatrix shows up on those lists more than Freya and she assisted in the genocide of Freya's race. Do people just lack the ability to empathize with the non-human characters?
I think that it might have more to do with the fact that Beatrix got multiple badass scenes and a full story arc that went across the entire game that fleshed out her relationship with both Dagger and Steiner as well while Freya, unfortunately, got very few flashy moments of note after this part and her story arc cut off with no resolution more or less halfway through the game. Not to mention that Beatrix's theme, Rose of May/Loss of Me (however that is supposed to be pronounced) and its rock version, are 2 of the best songs in one of the best soundtracks ever made.
I find that fans tend to only grasp at minor details, not the whole picture of a character, the same way people gravitate towards characters in fighting games based around looks rather than exploring their the full story details (See Morrigan from Darkstalkers). And I find that very disappointing considering what effort developers put into many Characters. And while I can see the Appeal of Characters like Beatrix or Lightning from FF13, their usually liked for all the wrong reasons.
well, being morally right or wrong doesnt make a strong character. when poeple celebrate the joker or kefka its not because they are good, but because they are memorable. so id like to discount that kind of argument before continuing. so why is beatrix more memorable? i think there are quite a few reasons. some have to do with the characters, some with the presentation. lets start with some easy ones. 1) you never really see freyas face during the game. its much harder for humans to be empathic if they cant imagine someones face. there are exceptions. if you have a recognizable voice or speech pattern for example (for example quarians in mass effect). even vivi conveys a stronger anchor for our attention with his glowing eyes and body language. Freya has none of that. ive finished the game several times and instill have a hard time imagining her face or any kind of expression. 2) beatrix has a very strong musical cue that conveys a lot about her character without needing many scenes or words. 3) beatrix is - in a sense - a mirror for one of the early main characters steiner. so even if she is offscreen part of steiners growth affects our feelings about beatrix 4) it really doesnt help that a lot of freyas character - especially early on - is based on an offscreen male character. her whole arc is basically chasing a man and loosing her home (the latter part applies to basically everyone in the ff9 world, as all the major settlements get destroyed. madain sari, alexandria, burmecia, cleyra, terra, lindblum...so this looses a bit of impact. which kinda leaves her character as a sattelite to a male npc. Beatrix on the other hand is just the opposite. she is the strngest warrior of the mist continent, her quest early on is to find a worthy opponent. she is the one being seeked out. 5) faulting beatrix in part for what happens in the early game may not be incorrect, but its not entirely fair either. for all we know queen brahne has been a popular and peaceful leader for many decades before coming under kujas control. if you know people from the military (and this should go even more for a royal guard or knights order) the thought of insubordination - even though it is acceptable in cases where the command is deeply unjust - does not come lightly. going against years of loyalty is not a snapshot decision. if the queen says the burmecians are plotting against alexandria that is not something you discard easily unless you are absolutely sure. the burmecians were a nation of warriors after all (this was after all the reason the cleyrans split off from them). i dont think being non-human is the issue. people seem to be plenty able to feel empathy with antromophized animals when it comes down to other games or movies (hell, disney got filthy rich based on this ability). the problem is just that ff9 gives very little time in the spotlight to its secondary main characters. and the scenes freya had just didnt make a lot of use of that limited spotlight, whereas beatrix did. the moment that theme starts playing you know you are in for a ride. (i could write a whole chapter just about that theme and how its suprisingly romantic and noble tone just perfectly complements beatrix’ cold demeanor early on).
Freya has always been my favorite character in the series as a whole, and the best female character in all of gaming. She goes through more suffering with one setback after another, yet comes out the other side stronger, even able to team up with her most hated foe Beatrix and got Beatrix to realize her true duty, even when she cannot forgive Beatrix.
I wanted her to betray beatrix once she was done using her. Just put her lance through the bitch's stomach from behind leaving her for the hounds to rip apart. lol Then jump up through the center of the spiral staircase and escape. But then stupid Rusty showed up.
@@HyrulianBeast Definitely. She and Vivi were in my party the entire game, or as often as they could be at least. Her ability to restore Mana to multiple characters at once was invaluable, be if Vivi chain casting or others using MP Attack, herself even.
No. There were dead women and children there. Full on genocide. She says at one point she didn't see why the queen insisted on the mages when she and her troops would've done fine. In reality she'd be charged with war crimes. Also you dont actually know she never killed any Burmecians. She was fully willing to kill the one that confronted her and the queen.
"Being forgotten is worse than death" - They did Freya's story dirty and even though she's an asset to the party (fight me) she's easily overshadowed by characters like Steiner and Vivi. I hope if there's going to be a remake of FF9 they need to elaborate Freya's story more she needs a lot more character development if done right.
She's definitely a fixed part of my team. More than acceptable damage, useful and varied spells, good resistance. She's more reliable than Quina, and more adaptable than Steiner. As a warrior, only Amarant is her equal (and he comes too late in the party + is too annoying).
@@Bahamaria she is in my final line up I even have her during my fight with Ozma she is definitely an asset especially her jump can save your ass a lot of times
We're never getting a solid remake of 9. The slight improvement we got in the PC/Switch release/port is the best we can hope for, I fear. Such a shame. I would love a FF9 remake with FFX-HD graphics or even 15 level graphics. But I know better. Being honest, it doesn't have FF7's overhype to force the issue. So it'll never happen.
@@SeikiRikodou She took charge when I killed Ozma with her Dragon's Crest that constantly produced 9999 damage. She may not be enticing as the other FF girls but definitely she's the most badass of them all
I definitely want to see more of Fratley too. I want to learn how he developed amnesia. Did he confront Beatrix and end up defeated? All we know is Puck found him clinging to life and unable to remember his own name, and the rumors of him dying. The only one I can think of that would be able to do that is either Beatrix or Kuja. Maybe he found out about the plan to attack Burmecia and was'dealt with' to silence him? Maybe add in a side quest that gives more clues.
Good analysis. In her card on the title screen, the word chosen to represent her is "Despair", or the lament of the loss of something ultimate, something irreplaceable. By the end of the story, it is both her love and her home. Her dedication to her friends and the betterment of the world, even through her own personal and constant pain, makes her character both tragic and noble.
The Dragon Crest skill made her my most useful character, and therefore most endeared character. Out of ff7 through ff12 I've played, ff9 still has the best storyline and battle system in my view.
Dragon Crest? Pfft...anyone can throw around a big number against an enemy; until they run out of MP that is. White Draw is the primary reason you bring Freya to a fight. No other character can restore MP to the entire party without significant drawback; Zidane can use Sacrifice to restore HP and MP to the Party; but KO's himself in the process. Amarant can use Chakkra to restore HP and MP to ONE character (not entire Party).
She really comes in handy in Gizamlukes Grotto/Burmecia/Cleyras Trunk with Regent at a time when the party has no healer. It continues to be important even when Quina gets White Wind.
That was heartbreaking’ I felt so bad for her too... even as a child I remember thinking that it would be the most awful feeling to finally find someone special to you & you’re not even remembered by then.
Randall Wade yeah I just feel bad to imagine someone who loved you and you loving them back, forgetting you. I be depressed for years. Imagine a remake of that scene of fratley saying he did not remember her.
The irony of Freya is that she was not only forgotten by the one she loves most, but pretty much the game itself passed Disc 2. It honestly upsets me how much the game just straight forces her and other characters to the way side :/
She was relevant in disc 2 . maybe disc 3 they fased her spot light out. I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Whole heartedly agree. Ive been of the opinion that if Amarant was a one off character or was a bigger character with a come to jesus scene like Beatrix, while not being a full fledged party member, the game would have been better as a whole for it. Then characters like Freya would have gotten the time they deserved.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Honestly I think they missed a big opportunity to explore themes of duty and loyalty with Freya as a direct contrast to Steiner, possibly to bring Steiner's way of thinking into doubt much earlier in the story. She survived the attempted genocide of her people at the hands of people who once shared her ideals of duty and loyalty to crown, that's not the kind of thing you walk away from without heavy scars. The loyalty she once revered now disgusts her, and she could plant the seed of steiner's own conflict of agency. "What price is too great for your loyalty? Would you surrender your soul and become a monster because your queen asked that of you?". I think, mostly, the problem with her (and to a greater extent Amarant) is one of time and budget. The quality of the writing in the game is overall great, I just think that the scenes that would have further expanded her role in the story had to be cut.
I'm actually currently writing a script on duty and Steiner/Beatrix but your point about Freya is excellent - really could've given his stubborn blind duty a pinch a lot earlier.
@@HighLevelReviews Thanks for the positive feedback! I don't know why I kept dwelling on the topic after the post, but there's another point of interest that could have added more texture to Freya... Her potential relationship with Eiko through their shared experiences as survivors. For Freya, Eiko could represent the possibility of healing, overcoming the pain of tragedy that hangs over her head, and Eiko's capture by Kuja could have been felt more keenly by Freya as a result.
Just found this and I'm not gonna lie I love freya to death and still use her in my party setup to this day, but it's sad when not alot of people consider her in general because she is a great character just like quina and amarant just sucks they are left at the wayside.
Im there right there with you man, i fell in love with Freya after seeing fan art of her 8 or 9 months ago. As my first Final Fantasy Crush, i felt her pain and related to her so much
@@chris26479 Ikr? Ive always wanted a some sort or figurine or a plush or even a design print on clothing! We need a full remastered game of Final Fantasy IX so that way we can know what she truly sounds like 😍
@@chris26479 agreed, i got the Black Friday weekend sale on RE2 Remake for the Digital Copy. I still need to give FF7 a chance cause, im not used to the whole steam punk like universe. FF9 is the only FF game ive ever finished. Capcom did Amazing reworking characters from the past, even with Amaterasu, Felica, and Morrigan!
@star seeker No no no. I'd love a ps4 remastered but not with voice acting. That mess it all up for me. Like when you read a good book and they make a movie with the characters all out of whack. Like I played Witcher and then watched the show. Geralt's casting is alright but all the others suck.
@dragon spring I like Amarant. Quina could be useful but was the worst character. I liked Freya but other than when you first get her, she seems like a weaker character. Within the time it takes to jump she could attack twice and do the same damage. Plus her trance sucked. Not as much as Quina's though.
@Vayne Carudas Solidor It wasn't humans that destroyed their home. It was black mages. And a consistent theme of the story is that black mages are _unjustly_ generalized as being an entire race of killers... another consistent theme of the story is that they were quite literally created to be just that... and yet they weren't all bad. In point of fact more black mages end up being terrified pacifists than actually fulfill their life's purpose of being heartless killers. Despising the many for the actions of the few is distinctly what the game is about NOT doing. Realistically there would never be rat people or magic, or world powers controlled by the offensive abilities of a single individual. Realistically people are overly emotional and make terrible life choices after a tragedy. Reality is not a good story. Reality doesn't have good endings, and _justice_ is rarely _just._ 'Common sense' is usually _nonsense._ Realistically... innocent people are the target of of the recriminations of people who feel victimized, and more people who are not victims feel victimized than those who are victims of anything. Final Fantasy IX is not simply a story about people's lives, but a story about setting aside differences in the face of crisis. Good people can do terrible things. Bad people can do things that revolutionize the world. Are you a good person with bad ideals, or a bad person who thinks they are moral? Are you neither? I don't know what I am, it's not my place to decide that.
I fell in love with Freya and the Burmecians/Cleyrans as soon as I saw them, loving rain and rats -- it felt natural. I was shocked with how.. aside? She felt as a character? The attack on Burmecia was shocking, but I hoped more would be done with it -- more still after the events at Cleyra,. To have so little follow was heartbreaking, even more so following the Freya and Fratley storyline. This video title caught my attention immediately, and I felt incensed by it ( before watching of course ), but it made me realise: lots of people -do- just seem to drop her from mention, or neglect her and her people's entire branch of the story. It's puzzling and more than a little upsetting.
Nice video, but I couldn't disagree more with your conclusion. The Freya-Fratley story needs to be handled with absolute subtlety, and only alluded to/touched upon a few times, briefly. This is because the goal here isn't to deepen our insight into these characters, but to evoke, through them, feelings of loss and heartbreak which the player may or may not already be familiar with. The grief and confusion you feel when you love someone but cannot understand why they are unable to return your love is not a theme to be dissected, nor can it be represented by a concrete form. It can only be felt like a wave the parts ways when it hits you, washing around you and falling between your fingers.
I certainly wasn't suggesting that it needed to supplant other primary story threads or to upend other forefronted themes or even be a dominant beat - just that, selfishly, I wanted more of the story (and to be frank, I'd argue that you're plainly wrong about not being able to dissect loss/unrequited feelings as the entire game focuses on this and does so quite beautifully and extensively [consider Vivi's lamentations, consider Steiner's frustrations as rank and circumstance hopelessly separated him and his love, consider garnet's crisis - these are all explorations into that grief and the fracturing after these moments. Sure, we're not literally exploring the EXACT reasons why Beatrix couldn't give in to Steiner or having lengthy exchanges between them but that wasn't what I was suggesting and I'd understand why that'd hinder the efficacy of these moments]). And these scenes absolutely shed insight into the character's motivations, constitution, experience, maturity, etc. Yes, it does intend to evoke emotion but there are multiple reasons a writer might explore freya-fratley more deeply (still with subtety, I completely agree there). Appreciate the comment, definitely thought-provoking.
I agree that it didn't need to be a primary story focus, but it does feel like a throwaway plotline when it only comes up the once. Having Freya bump into Fratley at least a couple more times at the right dramatic moment as the plot went on would have at least kept the player aware of that story and magnified the feelings of loss and tragedy that it invokes. That and it'd have been nice to at least find out why Fratley lost his memory in the first place.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
They should have made him a party member character. shear off Amarant's shallow, vapid storyline and have fratley and Freya as a couple, wandering the world together with the rest of the party, trying to find clues to his condition and things to re-spark his memory.
You put Amarant's name twice, where the second should say Fratley. It's easy to reach the intended message, but I thought I'd let you know so you can edit the comment.
Something that I've always found strange is how Freya is forgotten by the GAME ITSELF. She leaves your party after Cleyra and does not return until Disc 3, at which point, no matter how much work you put into her on Disc 2, she's always going to be about 15 levels behind your other party members. In order to even use her in your final party, you have to devote a lot of time to rehabilitating her, having her learn all the abilities she's missed, and getting her up to the same level as the other characters. Party selection is honestly one of the few gripes I have with FF9. There's just no way to effectively use most members. Zidane has to be on the party, and you need a white mage, so the second slot is going to be filled by either Garnet or Eiko. Vivi is optional, but he's almost certainly going to be used by every player, meaning there's really only one slot where you can choose whoever you want, and because of his incredibly high stats, access to black magic sword skills, and access to Beatrix's Seiken abilities, Steiner is the obvious choice. I honestly WANT to use Freya, Amarant, and Quina, but the game seems deliberately designed to exclude them from the players party. I wish that more effort had been taken to make Freya as formidable a fighter as Steiner, since most of her moves are not very useful and Jump is a somewhat outdated ability that isn't as useful as just attacking. Maybe if she had been given a genuine healing ability other than Reis' wind and could stand on her own as a healer, she might have had more utility. Sorry for ranting
Yes, Freya does need to do some catching up. But in my experience, she can actually solo the final battle when she meets her full potential. Dragon knights are terrifying.
I never use dagger or vivi im my party lol boost spirit as much as you can as you level and regen heals better than dagger or cameltoe. Vivi for magic but a dedicated Quina does that just fine and freya has support skills amd deodorant has monk skills
What sets Freya apart is that she has access to some utility unlike Steiner who really can't do much besides maybe having Chemist? Steiner isn't good until he receives his better weapons or with Vivi in the party. Grinding with grand dragons can also easily make her reach 9999 damage with Dragon's Crest. She is still a good member of the party during the early game by having Reis' Wind in Disc 1 and 2 since you can't get White Wind with Quina until Cleyra.
This video is such a beautiful reflection. Every since I feel in love with the game, gifted to me by my niece, four disks and all, I immediately fell in love with Freyas design, story, and gameplay. I even spent many years after, naming my jrpg characters Freya, just due to the influence she had as a character in my childhood. To me, Freya represents the idea that love is not an emotion, but an action, even if it means never getting it back in return, even if it means you look like a fool, can you DECIDE to love in situations that seem hopeless? Powerful character imo
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Thank you for your review about freya. Freya is my favourite character, i love her because she looks elegant yet so strong as a dragoon warior. Even her lover has forgotten her, she still loyal to him and waiting until he regains his memories with her.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I assumed that side quests that would have fleshed out Freya's and Amarant's stories were cut due to the same deadline/budget issues that presumably caused Disc 4 to feel so rushed. If they ever remake FFIX, I really hope they take the time to flesh out both of their story arcs Also, revamp the whole Trance mechanic so it isn't so frustrating. Maybe make it so that you can activate it at any time, but it's drastically weaker unless you max the Trance bar (like, 99% of the bar gives you a Trance that is only 50% as powerful, and it gets proportionately weaker the less of a bar you have left). Or perhaps make it so that you can use Trance skills by spending the bar, but it would be based on your base stats and when you have full bar you can go into Trance mode, which gives a significant stat boost and a bunch of useful passive abilities.
sadly its very unlikely that a remake would ever happen. Frankly i was amazed to even see the remastered version of this game. ff7 is just such a huge thing no matter what ur or my personal opinion is about it that it definetly was not a suprise when they annoynced it. FF9 however simply never made even close as much money to them as ff7 so yeah.. thats all that really matters to big companyes.
@@mikaeljalamo4834 Just have someone sneak into Sega HQ and leave a copy of the game in Atlus' breakroom. We should get Final Fantasy IX: Trance Edition by 2022, but the trade off will be that there's around a 70% chance that it will be exclusive to the Wii U, or something.
They definitely missed a few opportunities with Freya and amarant. The game needed to be longer just to flesh out their stories a bit more. That said, one of my favorite scenes in the game is when Beatrix has her change of heart. It made me feel like Freya was almost meant to be the foil to Steiner. Steiner was the main character that they seemed to want to develop, and Freya is the model for what he needed to become. In that moment of desperation (when they’re escaping) he also has a change of heart, and realizes that he’s been selfish in this thoughts and actions up to that point. He finally trusts zidane with garnet, and realizes that Freya is so strong-willed to be able to work with Beatrix despite what she’s done. It’s such a powerful moment. It seems like they did the same thing with amarant...making him the foil to zidane. he’s there to show the player that zidane really does thrive with the support of his friends. I think that people tend to gravitate towards characters that have some kind of growth, because it just makes more of an impact...which may be why Freya was a bit overlooked/forgotten. She’s already quite mature when you meet her, and she mostly takes a backseat after those scenes
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I can't emphasize this enough: the problem with characters like Freya, Puck, and Amaranth is the fact that the game was rushed to completion. Several characters had side stories that were meant to go somewhere but were removed when the PS2 was released as FFIX was a PS1 title. You can see this even in some of the game's artwork: Amaranth was supposed to have a solo arc, Beatrix wax supposed to have another fight scene, and Freya was supposed to have an arc with Fratley and Puck. You can also see several places on disk four that had to be blocked off because they were never finished.
maybe this is why disc 4 gets extremely linear and boring with little to no story content unlike the other discs which just ends with me leveling up on grand dragons until i can kill kuja and necron at the end. but honestly by the time i got there i just wanted to end the game and not look at it anymore. which is why starting a new game feels a lot more refreshing and fun because that is the truth. i think i have started more new games than actually finishing the game because of how dull disc 4 was. camping at grand dragons will eventually get tiresome :/ maybe i'm just too old to actually put up with repetitive stuff
What places were blocked off because they weren't finished? If you mean blocked off by the lifa tree roots, those places were already accessible before so you can see whether they were completed by that point. Where are you getting your information?
@@RalphRoberts1 Those places were specifically blocked off because they weren't updated -- the characters didn't have new things to say in reaction to the Lifa tree, and were supposed to contain the final arcs for Freya, Vivi and Amaranth. Most of my information is over a decade old, however -- it was commonly discussed back when the game was new (and Sakaguchi was still at Square).
@Alexander Scott when it was new? Then we're talking over 2 decades. lol Why would they need updated? Those places were irrelevant. The world became covered in mist. For that the roots had to spread. It made plenty enough sense.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
how did i find this video so late? what you said about freya sums up everything about why i love her so much. this is why she is always in my party at all times because she is best girl. i actually cried when i watched that scene of her and fratley parting ways and how the words " you never came back " actually stung me up til now. even tho u cant see their facial expressions or such i felt like the dialog slowly typing out actually made me somehow imagine her expression...her voice and her pain...
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Freya was a great character, she had a solid design, a good story, and she's a girl to boot... back then strong game character models were rarely girls so that was very welcomed imho. She was also tragic, i forgot most of FF9s plot - except that it was the saddest game that i can recall of playing. Freya is among my fav FF characters, when i think of Nine, of course i think about Zidane but my fondest memories of that game are of her, and her own quest.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Freya is one of my favorite fictional characters of all time, and easily makes my top five favorite female characters. She's the sole reason I go back and replay FF9 from time to time. To randomly stumble upon this video was quite delightful, and I think you did a very good job explaining her character, and the ironic tragedy that she herself is oft forgotten by the fandom, and sometimes even Square Enix themselves.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Freya is always a favorite of mine. When I formed a party, I tend to have Freya and Vivi beside Zidane. I loved that in ff9, the characters was and is precious.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
8 or 9 months ago, i saw fan art of Freya. I bought the game and around August, i stayed up still 1AM when i found Freya, making me fall in love with her and my first ever Final Fantasy crush. Her Story, Her personality, and everything else about her, i knew i can relate to her like Zidane and Vivi. I exactly knew what she felt during the times of tragedy, and knowing what it felt like to be forgotten...
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I agree. I was immersed in Freya's story when it was present and it was about the time she was getting some really cool dragoon abilities showing off her style. I would have liked to have seen some sort of conclusion. The cities and songs of Burmecia and Cleyra were also beautiful and mesmerizing and I would have liked to see more of them. I'd argue that Freya is a memorable character despite the lack of this. I love the other characters too though.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I love Freya. She's one of my favorite characters in all of Final Fantasy. And it's impressive considering how quickly she got back seated. Zidanes arc has probably the greatest payoff, but to take up to the end of the third disc to really show the fruits of it( the trust and affection the optimistic thief garnered in even Steiner) is something you have to really stick with. I hope the rumored remake is true. And it allows for more focus on the main cast that don't quite get enough time to really learn about. Amarant is the foremost example. Make it optional questlines or something at key points to flesh out more of what we already have? Please Square?? 🥺
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I was always a little annoyed that the memory loss had no real pay off. I thought it would have been interesting if the creepy clown twins had something to do with that but even though his memory was gone he himself was too strong and had managed to escape. There even could have been a throwaway line like "this should be easier than the last rat person" or something
I don't think we need more with Freya and Fratley. I think we needed more time with Freya and the rest of the cast. We spend a lot of time with the Steiner/Beatrix/Eiko comedy of errors and it serves engender us to them well. I would have liked my something like her introduction at the bar with Zidane. Just her being Bros with Zidane (or Amarant? I hate him but maybe their friendship could flesh them both out?)
IX is my favorite FF game of all time. All the characters are so amazing. It's the only FF game that doesn't have a single useless character, and the story is so deep and meaningful.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I think that she might be left aside by many because of her fighting style. Dragoons aren't easy to manage for some people, in my opinion, especially in a game where class is predetermined and you get the character in your roster out of the blue after you already became familiar with the other classes, and since FF9 was not as played as 7 or 8 by fans of the franchise, on top of her set of skills and hybrid stats (they seem like a mix between a ninja and a paladin, like an inbetween of Steiner and Zidane or Amarant), many players might tend to forget about her. She literally has a skill that gets her out of the screen, which helps in-game, but not outside of it. Also, they should have gone deeper with her sub-plot with Amarant. Apparently they know each other well, perhaps they met after Freija (fun fact: that's how it's written in the Italian version) left Burmecia.
Once you are free to form your own party, Zidane and Steiner will hit way harder than her initially. Throw in a healer, two people stronger than her, and she's basically competing for a last slot for a big chunk of players. I think that leaves her unused by a lot of players
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Ponder this. Freya, Amaranth and Quina didn't get pushed away from the story, they pushed themselves away. Amaranth doesn't want to be there. Quina doesn't care to be there. And Freya closes herself becoming forgotten by the plot as it moves further. The crux of most of the character's crisis is of their own making.
the only reason why freya was underrated as a character was because every other character in the party had really great backstories Freya is a really good character
Finally some burmecian appreciation here. Freya is my second favorite character in FFIX after Steiner, and it saddens me how poorly handled she is. She is definitely a character that deserved more character development and satisfying arc. In a way, she is pretty much like Red XIII in FFVII: a badass non-human character with _lots_ of potential that is ultimately underused.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Genuinely, I think Freya is one of my favorite FF characters, and her theme is a huge part of it. I think she is really cool, and honestly would love to see her get called back in FF14 and future FF games.
Freya has and always will be my favorite FFIX character (or just FF character, period) with Beatrix falling close behind. I even have plans for an FFIX themed tattoo starring those two.
Freya.. In my opinion, is one of the most balanced character in the series. She can do damage and support her teammates. Although, there's one skill that I hate using from her and that is it.
I never finished ff9, I was young when I played and just didn’t read or try to understand the game mechanics. I’m sad to hear that they never actually answered why sir Fratley never remembered her.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Great review, I just played FF9 for the first time and this game replaced 7 as my favorite game in the series, and Freya quickly becoming my favorite character in the series. Contrary to others, I feel Freya got a pretty decent arc in comparison to most of the cast. Her arc was pretty much done after her and Beatrix team up, but she had a huge chunk of disc one and two dedicated to her and her people, she was a huge part of the arc involving the corruption of Brahne and Kuja and I don't personally feel like she was pushed to the sidelines afterwards, just they had to try and give others room to develop. I'm with you 110% on the last part, I think they should've stopped adding characters and built more on who they had, as Amarant and Eiko both have zero substance, and attempting to build their characters was seemingly a waste of time because of how late they joined. While I wish Freya got more time (like an entire game worth of time) I feel like they did her justice and gave us enough to love her character and her growth in a natural flowing way, instead of trying to jam it down our throats like with Eiko.
Freya certainly isnt underexploited, but I don't think attributing a part of the game to a character (example for FF7 : Cosmo Canyon for Red 13, Correl and the jail of the Golden Saucer for Barret, Wutai for Yuffie, Rocket Town for Cid...) is such a good thing. Outside "their" part of the game, the character becomes way too forgettable. Freya does take the spotlight from the moment she joins to the moment she leaves, though ! Eiko has SOME substance, but it's mostly about how she's lived alone with moogles. She's amazingly precocious for a 6 year old. Her crush on Zidane is weird because the thought shouldn't even have crossed her mind at her age , but remember she also cooks (with or without oglops, up to you), quotes classic litterature, bosses a group of moogles, has pretty good knowledge of the local "mythology", etc. She certainly is irritating at times and the plot really shoves her in your face compared to Amarant who is introduced at roughly the same time, but I wouldn't say she 's a bad character. Her biggest flaw is that her skillset overlaps with Garnet's. And both Eiko and Amarant are not really necessary to the story. Eiko only serves to be kidnapped by Kuja which leads to finding Cid's wife and airship in Mt Gulug, iirc. As another pointed out, Amarant was supposed to be a "foil" to Zidane, but I think he's the most underdevelopped character by far (unless you think Quina needs any development). Not really the kind of character I'm curious about, anyway.
You just made me remember how forced half the cast in FF7 felt. I loved the characters and game don't get me wrong, but it really felt like most of them had no reason to be there. I definitely agree with having a development take place over a whole game slowly, rather than most of it in a few hours, but I also feel like FF9 uses smaller nuanced ways to build a character such as the forced separations, like when Freya and Steiner are absent on the outer continent because they stayed back to help Zidane escape Alexandria. While it wasn't direct development I saw it as something that built on their characters in a more subtle way, like Steiner trusting Zidane to care for Garnet while also turning against his own nation, breaking his servitude, and Freya continuing her service as a knight even though everything was taken from her, she still persisted and carried on fighting a battle that didn't concern Burmecia or it's people, even though it very well could've been the end of the line, highlighting her perseverance. I remember while I was on the outer continent, I found myself trying to rush through and get back to Alexandria to make sure the two of them were okay because the story genuinely had me concerned for them, their absence in the roster a reminder that they might not come back. I could spew about a hundred little things like that, that I feel like built characters in a way no other FF I've played has, but I don't know if I'm actually making sense. One thing I love about Quina's existence is how even Zidane at one points tells him/her that he forgot they existed. I wasn't fond of the character but that made me actually laugh in real life so I guess Square accomplished the comedic relief thing.
@@Interloper783 Yes, Quina is the "Lethal Joke Character", nothing else, but she (was unambiguously a she in the translation I played. not that it was a good translation) does the job pretty well. Ah, and there's the wedding with Vivi in Conde Petie. I also thought Cait Sith was a pretty interesting character, at least potentially. Not particularly useful though. You have a point about being concerned about Steiner and Freya while they are away, and it was certainly a turning point for Steiner, but in my case I kind of forgot about them once I reached the outer continent, being more interrested discovering the new area, in the Black Waltz village and the events around the Iifa Tree and Madain Sari. And for some reason I really love the atmosphere in the Conde Petie pass. And I had Eiko and Amarant learn some abilities. I just took my time. Maybe it was not how the devs expected me to react ? Hard to say. Don't worry, you are making sense, and I'm actually quite curious what other "little things like that" you noticed.
@@InsanityForce Glad to see I'm not just rambling! One of the other things off the top of my head has to do with Amarant's change, which is actually one of my favorites, because even though I think he would've been better as a temporary character like Beatrix, he still has a relatable mindset to a some people, and while I seem to be the minority in this, I understand why he feels the way he does towards people and I appreciate the attempt at his character arc. Amarant had come off as a very cold and distant guy, even to his partner, the other bounty hunter, he seemed to care very little for her, perhaps not at all. This distance maintains pretty much the entire time you have him, up until Treno, to which Freya prods at him a bit and he opens up a little to her, reluctantly bringing up a small chunk of his past. Then later once you obtain the airship, you see all the party members hanging out with at least one other person, mostly eachother. Except for Amarant, he has shoved himself in a distant part of the ship alone. As you progress, the party has to split up to deliver the mirrors to their respective shrines, and Zidane pairs up Amarant with Freya, to which he seemingly puts up a social barrier commenting on why he has to go with her, and when Zidane suggests the alternative teammate, he heads off with Freya. As they go to place the mirror, they're confronted by the guardian of the shrine who speaks with them before the fight, and Amarant once again, opens up, but this time all on his own, Freya recognizes this and lets him know that, then the scene ends. Later on when you get the second airship, the party is spread out on the ship again, but this time, Amarant is seen in the company of Freya, suggesting that he's stopped trying to distance himself and his mind is open to having friends or comrades. While the shrine dialogue isn't extremely subtle, the Treno ATE is missable, and I liked how his placement in the airships seems to represent his mindset for the time, and he's not just with anyone, he's with the person who was the one way back who first showed an interest in why he was tagging along and who he was.
Freya is my favorite ff9 character so seeing her pushed aside like this was definitely super sad. If she had more of those things where you do the optional cutscenes in Burmecia that showed her relationship with fratley in many aspects, i feel like she would have a lot more love
Honestly, I feel like if they showed a bit of pre-destruction Burmecian life, players would have been hit harder by its destruction, thus making Freya more memorable in some way. Just like they did with Cleyra. Yes, you live through the same thing basically, but Cleyrans and Burmecians are quite different in mindset since many years before the events of FF9. If they just added more people in a Burmecia flashback, just lasting a few seconds with some dialogue or monologue involving Freya remembering her past vividly it would probably have given her a bigger impact and a cleaner distinction with Fratley, just like Steiner and Beatrix. You could draw many parallels between the two couples if you think about it. For one, one starts with love and unity, the other ends with it.
I love the song of freya was one of my team mates most of the game. She feel the most mature of the group, also vivi was in my team most of the game. Exelent character grow in this game
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
After hearing about the FF9 Cartoon series coming, I revisited this and wish the best for Freya's story retelling in it. Freya is my most favorite character in FF9 and this helps rekindle my love for her. To hear from some of the fanbase say "Freya is only relevant up til the mid game, she has no reason to be there anymore." She still has to stop Kuja, he manipulated the kingdom of Alexandria to almost wipe out her kind. Of course she still has a part to play, to be there for the friends she still has left.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
@@thend4427 Even if its childish, if its a good enough show that the story and gags, if they do, are tolerable then I'll watch. I watched Star Wars Rebels despite how childish it was. Do I want a grittier cartoon? Yeah, but sometimes you take what comes by if you want to.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
So im still playong FFIX, ive been playing it with my girlfriend on the steam version and we have been adoring the story so far, even if im not done with it, i can still agree that Freya is a pretty underused character, me finding her character was what drove me into buying and playing the game, so i really appreciate that people still like the character
Freya is one of my favorite Final Fantasy Characters ever. FF9 was the first game i every played and Freya is a Great Addition to the game. idk how i could forget this Character after her amazing Story, man i really hope they do an ff9 remake to expand upon nines characters and story.
One of the most tragic characters in gaming history, with an arc that ended just as fast as it began. Worse yet, that's where she loses all plot relevance. I get that this was Zidane and Dagger's story, but they could've at least thrown Freya a bone at the end. It's also worth noting that, despite everything that happened to her in that brief amount of time (one after another, no less!), Freya never automatically triggered Trance like Vivi did against the Black Waltz, which surprises me the most. I'd imagine that if she were up against anyone BUT Beatrix, she would've ripped them several new assholes.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
FF9 is unique but what irks me is how Freya's story is sidelined so fast and when she's sidelined in Alexandria for the whole of disk 2 and we have NO background as to where she went or how she was kept safe. Also Zidane could've hugged her at least once (they travelled together for a year). She went through so much and it's hardly acknowledged. Her ending as well is not the happy ending we wanted as it''s bittersweet. It makes it feel her 5 years was for nothing . I'll never forget her and how can I when she's so compelling.
Freya was a part of my overall mainparty. Zidane(Duhh), Eiko, Freya and Quina. Some here are trasing Quina. They are wrong. The right blue magic at the right time is a must. Well I beat the crap out of this game with the crew I mentioned in the start. Beat Ozma...with ease before Ipsen Castle and so on. Amarant, Steiner, Dagger sucks.
Quina is broken if you actually put the time in. Steiner is definitely better than Freya though. He has access to way better weapons earlier and can hit the damage cap easier and without farming dragons. Same for Amarant.
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I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
I watched this video because I thought it was going to be about why I don't remember this character at all from when I first played FF9 back at launch.
Freya was my favorite character in that game... Sad that it seems that FF9 is kind of almost been all but forgotten by many people. Guess it really just didn't stand out that much compared to some the rest. 7 being first Fully CG one. 8, I supposed cause they jumped the graphics pretty good? 10 got great recognition having first voiced actors.
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
Thank you for this great analysis of a wonderful character. I'm not sure the comparison with Steiner is fair, though. The characters were written to explore different issues; Steiner's entire point is the study of duty itself. What does it mean to be loyal if you have never thought about who you're being loyal to in the first place? Is it an actual choice of yours, or just a question of habit and professional position? Who are you , if you define yourself by what you serve? Steiner's sense of duty is not so much his characterisation than the question he raises. In the case of Freya, her sense of duty is non problematic. There's not much to say about it; it is indeed part of her character and what makes her admirable, but it's simple. She knows what she stands for and why. Historically, this is connected to her role as a dragon knight, the embodiment of the protector in Final Fantasy games. In my view, she is very central in the sense that she's the most obviously connected to the issue of memory, something that becomes hugely important in the story later on. All main characters (Zidane, Vivi and Garnet) have forgotten or don't know where they come from. Freya finds herself in the opposite position; she is the one who remembers. It's only because she is in the game that the true worth of memory is shown to the reader - memory loss would feel only like an interesting question, an occasion to travel and explore, without Freya to show the pain and loss that it stands for. It is also her presence that makes Garnet a fully interesting character. Both women spend the entire game facing the loss of what they want to protect. Garnet is the most relatable; she's young and mostly powerless, despite her good intentions. No matter how badly she wants to protect and save her mother, her uncle, her city, she keeps failing. How she deals with it is very touching (and unusua in a video game). I believe it would have been less deep without another, more unattainable example. Faced with losses even more devastating than what any other character faces, Freya carries on, as you pointed on. She moves on to the next person she can help, the next thing she can protect (let's not forget that towards the end of the game, she interacts often with Amarant, quietly nudging him to move past his fixation on brute strength). We know that she does not forget - this is her entire story arc - meaning that every loss stays with her until the end. Burmecia, Cleyra, her king, her entire people and her love are never forgotten even when they're destroyed beyond any hope. In other words, I too would have loved to have more backstory, but I think she was written as the best, most moral and admirable character of the whole cast precisely to allow the player to see other characters in a more complex light. She's there for us to realize, when a character is stuck in obsessions, failure or fear, that there are other ways to deal with obstacles, that the characters are not "just like that", but on their way to a better understanding of themselves.
I'm literally writing a script on Steiner/Beatrix and Duty in FF9 as we speak. I agree with much of what you've said but my desire wasn't to undercut the impact of her loss but to enhance the underpinnings by exploration of the past (and this potentially opens up her arc to hit even deeper on the themes of memory, duty, loss). It's largely a selfish and preference thing - I concede that it's poignancy is sufficient and cuts right at what needs to happen and perfectly communicates her despair. I'd still contend that while Freya's story isn't a critical look at duty and the folly of losing one's values to enact the will of the state (as steiner and beatrix both perfectly capture this study) it still keenly observes the toll it takes on a subject (though I'd concede a smarter read would be to simply look [as I tried to do] at her response to loss as the purist representation of "good" and admirable). Great comment!
Cool I seen this character before well fan art and was intrested then I sort her again in the thumbnail who there we is she a lot more interesting though she was a side character she was with the level I end game well at least we got her and she mended her relationship with her love
I just got done playing FF9 for the first time. I never really gave it a chance at first because the more cartoonist character designs were a turnoff for me back then. I think Freya, in a way, is the perfect example of why I ended up not liking the game. At first, I was really impressed with it, where despite the cartoonish design, the story seemed pretty mature and intersting. Freya's part is deep and meaningful, at least on the first continent. But as the scale of the events in the story began to grow, the depth of the individual characters began to shrink. "Shut up, don't you hurt my friends!" is such a childish way of speaking when dealing with such a world threatening force. I know it's Final Fantasy so of course the entire world is in grave danger, but still, this game could have been so much more.
There's still strong development of Zidane, Steiner, Vivi, Eiko, and Dagger. It definitely leaves Freya and Amarant to fend for themselves development-wise. Overall, I would still say the characters are more fleshed out than most final fantasy games and most games in general. I think you're way overreacting.
My favourite FFIX character. Even if a bit underdeveloped. I wanted to see more of her. Steiner got too much spotlight imo, he iritated me most of the time. Freya is my soulmate, kinda XD
I love freya so much that i arranged her theme with a visual Check it out and tell me what you think 6-6 ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-v10Yii7tMpM.html
The biggest aspect of Final Fantasy IX I have to take away will always be Beatrix's theme, Rose of May. One piece of music Nobuo Uematsu has created that perfectly encapsulates a character perfectly. You could nothing about Final Fantasy IX, let alone Beatrix, but listening to that song can tell you everything about her and her duty to protect. I know this doesn't really tie in to Freya, who is my favorite party member, but it's just something I wanted to say.
Yeah. The thematic development of her theme throughout the story's cool too. We're first introduced to it in a more dire, fragmented form in "Sword of Doubt," then we get "Rose of May" for when she's more melancholic and torn, and then we get "Protecting my Devotion" when she's found her resolve.
