Final Fantasy 9's 25th anniversary may not have come with the remake news that fans of the JRPG were hoping for, but we have been getting a steady stream of random lore that I'm happy to eat up, for now. The latest? Some apes from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey seemingly inspired the somewhat mysterious Trance system.
The story explanation for Final Fantasy 9's limit break mechanic is a surge of emotion that temporarily boosts a character's powers. How it works from a gameplay perspective is that taking damage will fill the Trance gauge up randomly until complete – at that point, you'll get some nifty stat boosts and access to some special moves. It's a tad random, as you can't activate Trance whenever you'd like after filling the gauge; it just happens when it happens.
