IX's my second favourite of the main titles, with my overall favourite being XII. Though I've seen enough over the years from this game to realise that many of the references are unfortunately very surface level or never quite manage to capture the original charm of whatever is being referenced in the first place.

As an aside, I think it's very telling that the entirety of the universe outside of Etheirys was basically nuked by Meteion and largely due to Venat's refusal to tell her people of the true cause behind the Final Days so they could potentially look into a solution that would save not only Etheirys but worlds beyond it...and now the game's protagonists are set to explore the broken remnants of dead worlds so they can build settlements of their own and reap the benefits in the process.