Hironobu Sakaguchi, the creator of the series, has said that among all Final Fantasy games this one is his personal favorite.
Amarant is the only main character the player never controls at any point in the game. Zidane is controlled most of the time, while Garnet/Dagger is controlled on the journey back to Alexandria and at Pinnacle Rocks, Vivi at the start of the game, Steiner at the beginning and at the South Gate on Disc 1, Eiko briefly at the start of Disc 3, Freya for a short moment in Cleyra, and Quina in the frog-catching mini-game. In the Desert Palace, one of Eiko, Steiner, Vivi or Freya can also be controlled.
Among the main characters there is a hierarchy that determines who leads the party when Zidane is absent. For example, when Zidane has to go to Oeilvert, this hierarchy determines which character will lead the group left behind in the Desert Palace. Eiko is second in command, followed by Steiner and then Vivi; if none of these four are present, Freya becomes the leader. This also applies to the characters chosen for the final battle and to the character who will speak to Necron.
In early 2001, only a year after the original game's release, Square considered a Final Fantasy IX remake for the PlayStation 2. For an unknown reason, however, the project was either canceled or never entered development.
The cloak Garnet wears while fleeing Alexandria was designed to resemble the White Mage's outfit in the original Final Fantasy.
Eiko was named after Hironobu Sakaguchi's wife.
Steiner is the only permanently playable human character in the game (aside from Beatrix).
Freya is the first playable female character with the Dragon Knight class in a Final Fantasy game (excluding those who can change job classes). She is also the only left-handed playable character in the game.
Early versions of the game contained what is known as the Golden Chocobo Bug. On Disc 3 (right after obtaining the Blue Narciss), if the player acquires a Golden Chocobo, they can fly to Ipsen Castle and skip Oeilvert, the Desert Palace, Esto Gaza and Mount Gulug. It also grants instant access to the Hilda Garde 3 and shortens play time for those aiming to obtain Excalibur II. The drawbacks of the bug include having to buy a Ribbon from the Treno auction (since Mount Gulug is skipped), being unable to rescue the items in the Desert Palace, and Garnet remaining permanently in a 'silent' state.
The many references to previous Final Fantasy games were added deliberately and are regarded as one of the game's most distinctive features. The most obvious of these is the line "Neither Cloud nor Squall shall hinder us," which refers to the heroes of the previous two games.
It is the last Final Fantasy game to use text boxes instead of actual voice acting.
The developers have stated that they changed the game's ending seven times.
If the player impresses all 100 nobles in the fight on the theater stage, they earn 10,000 Gil. This is useful for low-level or speed-run attempts. The button sequence is always the same the first time you do the fight.
It is the last original Final Fantasy game released for the Sony PlayStation.
Steiner's abilities do not change during Trance; his strength triples.
You have to fight Beatrix several times before she joins you, similar to Edea in Final Fantasy VIII.
Eiko's special support ability "Moogle Guard" is described in the game only as "A moogle protects with invisible powers." In fact, it removes all status effects from Eiko at the end of battle.
Early concept drawings show that Hades was originally planned to be the final boss. Late in development, however, he was changed into an optional boss in Memoria.
The game contains many references to previous Final Fantasy games, including location names (Mount Gulug) and certain characters (such as Gilgamesh).
About 2.6 million copies were shipped during the game's opening weekend.
Garnet is the only character with a costume change.
Quina is the only character who does not learn abilities from an item.
Quina's name is a Japanese pun. Quina means "meal," while the surname Quen means "cannot eat."
In the Lindblum weapon shop, if the player examines a sword, Zidane mentions that he once met a spiky-haired man who carried a similar sword. This is a direct reference to Cloud Strife.
In the scene in the Evil Forest after the party crashes the airship, a band called "Prima Vista" plays the march "Rufus's Welcoming Ceremony" from Final Fantasy VII, a piece heard at Junon Harbor in that game.
Before the final battle, Necron says, "Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering." This is a word-for-word quote from "Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace."
Garnet and Eiko are the only characters with the same abilities, though with different emphasis: Garnet has more Eidolons, while Eiko has more White Magic.
On the third disc, the scene in which Zidane and his friends dive toward Terra closely resembles a scene in Final Fantasy V. This is the scene in which your party travels to the "Merged World."
In the city of Cleyra, before the queen's attack, there are two Burmecian soldiers standing side by side named Din and Gidd. When approached, Din says "I have a bad feeling about this," the famous recurring line from the Star Wars series, while Gidd says "If they want a war, it's a war!" — the line spoken by the Mangalore leader in The Fifth Element. Since both are said at the same time, it is an ominous hint at the tragic moments awaiting the main characters, the NPCs and the story.
Princess Garnet/Dagger is technically the first character in the Final Fantasy series to 'speak', since she can be heard singing several times.
There are two separate soundtracks for this game; one contains nearly all the music in the game, while the second is a supplementary release containing the music from the FMV sequences.
On Disc 2, when the player regains access to Lindblum, they can talk to an old woman in the commercial district. She asks the player whether they are having fun, and if the answer is "no", she tells them to go play something else.
All the main characters can be named by the player. In the previous game, only Squall and Rinoa could be named, along with the GFs and Angelo. Eidolons are actually abilities rather than other characters in the game.
It is the last original game Squaresoft released for the PlayStation video game console.
Auto-Haste is an ability obtainable early on Disc 2. When the party visits the castle a second time, there is an optional boss in the library that can be fought: Tantarian. If the party wins the battle, they are rewarded with the Running Shoes, which come with the Auto-Haste ability that can speed up the slow active time bar. If paired with Auto-Regen, HP can be restored much faster.
Only the eight main characters have a trance gauge. The others (Cinna, Blank, Marcus and Beatrix) do not.
It is the last Final Fantasy game to contain no vocal dialogue.