With some help from street rat Puck (who's literally a rat), he sneaks into the show. Meanwhile, the young black mage Vivi wants to see a popular romance play (I Want To Be Your Canary), but his ticket turns out to be a fake. The puckish Zidane, a member of a rogue group and theater troupe called Tantalus, reviews the group's plan to capture Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII from an upcoming festival. The story begins on the Mist Continent in the Kingdom of Alexandria. So why tinker with a winning formula? The game itself no doubt holds the answer. Final Fantasy VII boosted the role-playing game market on two new continents, and Final Fantasy VIII sold the most copies of any game in the series. That's not to say that the return to the older art style is unimportant or without meaning. Elements such as airships, pointy-hatted mages, and crystals have always just been surface symbols, while an emotional tale of humanity in the face of adversity lies at the core of each installment of the series.
The roots of the Final Fantasy series have always been appealing characters, an epic story, engaging battles, and an impressive presentation. Final Fantasy IX has been billed as a return to the series' roots, but this is an oversimplification.
