Love having all my party members twiddling their thumbs defending and healing while one guy fails his steal rolls 10 times in a row
I extra love it if the steal move deals damage so you have to also worry about the target dying from too many failed attempts
I double extra love it when it’s a boss battle when on top of everything else the story momentum just grinds to a halt while you fuck with a stupid RNG for 5 minutes
I beat ff9 as a stupid kid without ever stealing anything, it’s only necessary if you’re trying to 100%.
In the same way that you can beat FFX without playing Blitzball (aside from half of a mandatory game) but my point isn’t that you must do it, rather that it’s central to the story and yet it’s straight up tedious and completely lacking in any imagination.
I guess having more than one item available to steal was the major innovation in this respect?
Blitzball is a major aspect of FFXs story, but in FFIX stealing is just an option on a menu. I guess I agree that it’s not a good mechanic but I disagree with the weight you put on it.
I mean, the protagonist is locked into a pseudo-class of thief, he is part of a troupe of thieves, and thieving is a motif throughout the game with you visiting the thieves’ hideout, going to a city of thieves, the kidnapping of royalty and fighting against others to protect your loot etc. etc.
From my perspective you’re underselling how thieving is central to the FF9 story by saying that it’s simply one command in a battle menu.
It’s like arguing that maxing out Freya’s dragon slayer move is a necessary mechanic. Sure, it’ll make the optional super boss less annoying, but it’s really not necessary.
It’s a bit of a problem when most of the game’s mechanics feel unnecessary