Rating: 
Summary: Save your money...
Review: I'll be honest, I've always been dissapointed in game guides...and here's why: Most people DON'T buy these guides to use as walkthroughs or with any dire need to consult it every 5 seconds in order to complete their game. Most people DO buy these guides to find all the secrets and hidden plot items they might miss going through the game their first time playing. Time after time, when I buy these guides, the author or comapany (somebody) decides not to include some of the BIG secrets (usually a hard to find weapon or secret ending, etc)...and you usually end up hearing about these through some Internet FAQ. However, to be fair, most guides are pretty good at covering most material in a game....Enter the exception: "Final Fantasy IX Official Strategy Guide". Why? Anything remotely useful to the average gamer must be obtained through Square's PlayOnline site (which is free) and WILL NOT be found in the pages of this guide. How bad is it? Let me give you an example...In the "Secret's Section" of the Guide Book (something usually included in most Squaresoft Guides), you will find every tip or reference saying something to the effect of "There's a really powerful item here...and you have to do something special to get it. To find out what the item is and what you have to do to get it, visit PlayOnline for more details." I'm not kidding, either. In this particular section there are about 3 secrets per page and 6 pages in the "Secrets Section", which is 18 trips to your computer to wonder why you just paid [for it]. You can expect the same from the walkthrough. "There's a secret here. Go to PlayOnline to find out what."..."This boss is hard. To find out how to beat it....you guessed it....Go back to PlayOnline".... Some might argue that Square and Bradey are just trying something revolutionary, but personally I'd rather play my game then PlayOnline.
Rating:
Summary: Great game...
Review: Useless Guide. As a matter of fact, I beat the game without it. The overall walkthrough itself was just a plug for their website, which won't even let me past registration. I think David Cassidey should have written this one. He would have made it more in depth.
Rating:
Summary: Mother of God, why?
Review: I have to say that this is one of the most asinine ideas for a book ever. Not all of the information is in the book. Instead, every few pages you will need to know something, and the page will ask you to go online for more information. I don't see how this could serve any practical purpose other than to save the publisher money. All of the other Final Fantasy games were roughly as long as Final Fantasy IX, and the guides for these managed to cover nearly every facet of those games. If you've already wasted your money on this guide, take a couple of hours and download all the necessary info on the internet at once. It will save you a lot of heartache later.
Rating:
Summary: Waste of Money-Disappointment
Review: I've bought the FF7, FF8, and this. This guide is a rip off. The other guides gave you everything for the same price. This guide refers to the internet. What if you don't have an internet connection? Then, this book is nothing more than pretty pictures and a manual. I'm very disappointed. I can't believe I paid money for this. Try reading a book that asks you to go online for the rest of the story-rip off! I used to buy the official strategy guides before reading them, now I have to review them before I buy. If there is such a thing as a 0 star rating, I would use it.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than most people think it is........
Review: I think this guide was well made. It got me through the game, and helped me get all of those cool cards :D anywayz........ A lot of ppl don't like this guide, because it tells you to go on the internet to get extra hints and tips. The guide gives you the basic walkthrough. If they had put EVERYTHING in it, it would have been at least 250 more pages, and the price would have raised(and none of us want that). When ever you get to a really tough part, then you can look into it on playonline.com . Maybe this isn't the greatest guide for a begginning player, but I'm not sure if this game is really FOR a begginner.
Rating:
Summary: [...] - Should Be Free
Review: This book only makes reference to better things you can find online. Don't buy the book, just go to their website. It's horrible that they could actually legally sell this.
Rating:
Summary: Simply The Worst Guide Ever
Review: I've purposefully not read any of the other reviews, but from the average rating the guide has received I can tell that we all feel the same way, but I also wanted to do my part in warning people away from this atrocity. Simply put, BradyGames Strategy Guide for Final Fantasy IX is the worst gaming guide that I've come across in my 10 years of gaming experience. When you buy a gaming guide, it's not because you couldn't make it through the game without it, though it does help on the rare occasion that you might get stuck(who could get stuck playing Final Fantasy as easy as they make them these days? I don't know). The guide is there for helping you find items, weapons, spells, characters, etc. that you might miss if you were making your way through on your own. It's also there for your convenience, so that you don't have to go call a friend or get online to find one of the many walk-throughs available there. Doing those things takes time. You want to actually play the game, right? Well, think again because it's not going to happen with this guide. They give you the bare necessities inside the acutal book, then tell you to refer to their website, PlayOnline.com, for the specifics. Who would want to go back and forth between their game and the website? I don't know either. Do yourself a favor. SAVE YOUR MONEY! If you really have to spend it, do so on something else more useful like a really bad haircut, or even send it to me. I'm done ranting.
Rating: 
Summary: Extremely annoying...
Review: When my sister first received the game from my mom, the guide book was only five dollars...and then we were in the most annoying part of playing through the game... Often when my sister needed some extra "help" with PlayOnline, she got me to type in the password on the computer...she's always been lucky that I was online, otherwise she would have to boot it up herself, and type in the password. This had to be the most frustrating, because at times, it wouldn't even help out much. The idea of using PlayOnline with a video game is absolutely the worst idea you could ever have. What if some of the PSX players didn't own a computer? True, most folks to nowadays, but...the enhancement?! The idea of a guidebook was to help you out through the game and find some other puzzles along the way... I honestly think that if you need help with Final Fantasy IX, save your money. Just look up an online walkthrough instead...
Rating:
Summary: Good Strategy Guide
Review: I dont know why everyone hates this strategy guide. It gets you through the game, and thats what matters. It has a lenghty walkthrough neatly divided out by discs, good battle tactics, a full list of monsters, weapons, bosses, and armor, plus every page is color. Frankly, i dont really see anything wrong with this strategy guide. Its the best playstation rpg ever with a strategy guide to help you get through it. Although i did get annoyed with all the PlayOnline crap, i found the strategy guide told me all i needed to know. Sure the author wasnt the best, but he got the job done. And thats what strategy guides are for, right?
Rating:
Summary: It only got 1 star because there is no 0 star option
Review: I'm the type of gamer who wishes to go through a game and pick up every hidden item I can, complete all the side quests, get all the optional characters, etc. This guide did not help me at all and for those of you considering buying this guide, I will now give you all of the information contained in the book in a few short lines: "There's a secret item in this area, want to know how and where to get it, go to Playonline", "There's a special boss you can fight here, want to know how to beat him instantly, go to Playonline", or better yet, "Want a walkthrough of this entire game, go to Playonline." There really is no actual information on the game contained in the guide, it is just an advertisement for Playonline disguised as a guide, which is very effective actually, we pay them for their advertisements, but that's another essay. So the only thing one that has already gotten the guide can think to justify this purchase is, "Well there's proberbly a code inside the book, and entering that code will be the only way to access the information on Playonline". Nope. The info on Playonline is free, all you have to do is register, which is also free. So in closing, don't buy this guide, just go to Playonline.
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