The way that the intro to this game is framed by a theatrical performance is absolutely brilliant. Once again, Sakaguchi displays his prowess in the drafting of yet another beautiful and captivating introductory sequence that holds our attention and immerses us into a new and exciting world in Final Fantasy IX. We discuss the beginning of this game all the way up until the ship crashes into the Evil Forest. For next week, play up to the arrival into Lindblum. Developers playing the game and commenting on the music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r05g9m4DBv0 Time Codes: 1. Intro (0:00) 2. Star Screen Movie (0:45) 3. The Logo (4:06) 4. The Opening Song (8:04) 5. Character Introductions (9:34) 6. Intro Cinematic (12:04) 7. Tantalus (15:30) 8. Dialogue Boxes (18:29) 9. First Fight (24:16) 10. The Writing (26:21) 11. The Strategy Guide (31:50) 12. Pre-Rendered Backgrounds (37:49) 13. The Cinematics (42:27) 14. Vivi (44:29) 15. Steiner (47:48) 16. Sakaguchi Is Brilliant At Intros (50:51) 17. Action Timed Mini-games (1:01:50) 18. Illusion Vs. Reality (1:04:01) 19. The Games Design (1:06:46) 20. Shakespeare in Final Fantasy (1:12:33) 21. Crashing Into The Evil Forest (1:13:39) **Listen On Spotify**: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gIzzvT3AfRHjGlfF8kFW3 **Listen On Soundcloud**: https://soundcloud.com/resonantarc **Listen On iTunes**: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/state-of-the-arc-podcast/id1121795837 **Listen On Pocket Cast**: http://pca.st/NJsJ Patreon Page: https://www.patreon.com/resonantarc Subscribe Star: https://www.subscribestar.com/resonant-arc Twitter: https://twitter.com/resonantarc Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/resonantarc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/resonantarc TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@resonantarc