FF9 is like mom's cooking. You don't appreciate it at all when you're growing up but when you're older, go off on your own (like to college or something) then you realize how "together" mom's cooking is.
I see that with FF9. When it first came out, it wasn't as fresh, sexy, or exciting as the McDonald's we wanted as kids (esp. those with the play areas) but as we've grown and matured, we lately seem to appreciate FF9 more because it was cohesive (it did not have screwy plot holes, straight-up plot cop-outs, or brooding self-hating characters like FF7 and 8 did). And, hey, even when stuff's spiraling out of control, somehow mom pulls it all together come dinner time.