It has now been confirmed that there will be 8 main characters who will join the party. These characters will be full of variety, as there are non-humans as well. As has been already seen in the battle scenes, there will be four characters in a party.

One major part of the game that is clear now is that there will be a lot of customization involved, where the player can play around with different aspects of the game, although how you will customize has not been announced as of yet. All that is certain at present is that there will be a lot of variety in the playing of the game. Each player's game will differ from another player's as you can make it suit your own tastes. For those of you who have played Final Fantasy 5, you may know about the event where you can choose a "chickenknife" or a "braveblade." It is this sort of variety that Final Fantasy 9 will have.

Although the game's main character is Zitan, a boy with a tail, it has been revealed that Vivi, the blackmage, will become an important key from the middle of the game.

Many gamers' wishes was for Square to bring back the old-fashioned Airship. And their prayers have been answered. At present, two airships have been announced. One is a giant airship called "The Theater Ship" and the other is an as yet nameless normal airship.

On a further note, although the story is completely different from Final Fantasy: The Movie, the theme of the game will somehow be connected to it.

Also, things have come back to Final Fantasy that will be of excitement for many. It has been said that castles and dragons, and even a princess will make appearances in the game!

And finally, playtime is around 40 hours. As more information starts being announced as the release of Final Fantasy 9 nears in Japan, RPGamer will bring all the latest news on this most highly anticipated of games.