A Final Fantasy IX Reminiscence - My love letter and homage to one of the best stories ever told

[Hyderz]

*runs in circles*

"jnfilKJDFKMolkwsFJKpoLJFKpoKFJepOFKJpeo"

WHAAAAA!?

rumour has it ff9 remake is on its way but i remain skeptical

 

[Princess Garnet]

rumour has it ff9 remake is on its way but i remain skeptical

Yes! That's part of why my reaction was the way it was! I would think that if it is going to happen, this year would be the year it's at least announced. Reason being, it's starting to get a bit long from the original leak date, and this is the 25th anniversary.

The initial rumor that got the idea started was the nVidia leak, and that was three and a half years ago now. While that seems like a long time, there's no telling how far along (if at all) the game may have been at the point. One of the rumors was that Square Enix originally outsourced development, wasn't happy with the results, and pulled the project back in house. That may have had an impact. The pandemic years also slowed a lot down in general and are hard to measure.

Around a year ago, Square Enix cancelled some projects as part of their refocus/restructure (including less exclusive deals with Sony, as those were speculated to be part of the reason for the lower sales for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and Final Fantasy XVI, both of which which "didn't live up to expectations" for them in sales). I was, and sort of still am, worrying about that. Apparently the supposed Final Fantasy IX remake wasn't cancelled when that happened.

Then there's been all the subtle things, like the Epic Games database entry leak for supposed DLC, the Final Fantasy VII and XIV crossover content, and so on.

I'm at the point where I believe there's a very good chance for it to have been real and to materialize because there's just been too many supposed signs. But until it's confirmed, I'm not getting my hopes too high (I say that after that reaction I just had in my last post, haha). On the other hand, some of the rumors themselves seem strange (such as supposedly it was finished quite a while ago!? So... why the silence?).

And the whole wild card is the animated series, which has also had a lot of rumored material show up for it in the last few days, more than would be practical for a manufactured rumor. (Skip the spoiler if you don't want to know details about the show in case it materializes.)

Spoiler

Supposedly, it will follow Vivi's six (I think there's six?) "children" a number of years (like ten?) after the end of the game, so it's a sequel mini series and not a retelling of the game (which honestly I wouldn't have wanted it to be a retelling of the game). The different children are, I think, the last Black mages alive by that time, and I'm not sure how they are if it's been ten years but maybe they have a much longer lifespan than the original Black mages? They all have names and designs, and they each have magic powers that were split from Vivi, but I think one of them doesn't have magic? One of them also ends up like... frozen? Or stopped? or captured? I forget. It takes place in Alexandria and maybe a few other (new?) locations in Gaia. I think there was a name of a new place not in the game. But yeah, by the sounds of it's a sequel mini series occurring years after the end of the game and following Vivi's children.

It's possible Square Enix wants the animated series and game remake to roughly coincide with one another, but the studio that was apparently doing that declared bankruptcy last year and needs a buyout to save the project or... something?

And now the latest rumor is that the game may be called "Final Fantasy IX: Timeless Tale"? Which is also the name of the vinyl being sold for the anniversary event. Although having a subtitle might suggest it's a different game from the original and not a remake so it could be seen as slightly confusing if it is a remake with such a name, but I find that to be a cute name and wouldn't mind it at all. It fits the fairy tale-esque type of game it is. I'm far more worried about what the game itself (and if it is real) are like rather than the name.

People think between the upcoming Nintendo Direct (showing off Switch 2 launch titles) and Final Fantasy IX anniversary, if we're going to get confirmation at all then it would be sometime around one of those events, or sometime this year at least. If the year passes and nothing is confirmed, I'll be a bit sad, but my hopes aren't so high that I'm expecting it to begin with. I just think there's enough signs to suggest there's a real chance it will materialize because random rumors usually don't get this far. Time will tell, and the original will remain either way.

 

[mechtech]

9 is my favorite of all time. Beating these games back without internet guides had a high chance chance that you would have to start over after getting stuck in a fight underpowered. I got all the way to the Castle near the end of the game. Ran out of poisons for ghosts and midway and a second save that was still too far in to turn back. Ended up getting my friends gameshark to get me past that area. I wasn't going to restart and do another 60 hours. These newer FF games are like easy mode. quite hard to get stuck.

Never had the chance to play it, was a nes household so FF1, FF2(4), FF3(6). Tried FF11 in uni, but didn't like the whole wait to join a party thing, then life got even busier and that was it. The 3 I did play I thought were excellent though.

 

[Princess Garnet]

Never had the chance to play it, was a nes household so FF1, FF2(4), FF3(6). Tried FF11 in uni, but didn't like the whole wait to join a party thing, then life got even busier and that was it. The 3 I did play I thought were excellent though.

Ah, so the classic NA releases. Based on that, I'd recommend trying V, VII, IX, and/or X. Here's a few reasons why I'd suggest these particular ones to someone in your position.

Final Fantasy V - It released between IV and VI (which you knew as II and III and were the popular NA releases) so it shares a lot of similarities with what the series was during that time. The story is some strange mix of "doesn't take itself seriously" and "sad moments" (IV wasn't too different in that regard, but V has far more of a "comedic" touch). The key feature is the job/class system which offers a lot of replayability through experimentation. This can be a time sink. So whether you like V a lot or not will come down to how much you enjoy it's job system, and I recommend not looking it up too much because once it is "solved", its primary attraction may lose some appeal. Even if you don't fawn over the job system though, the story is fair enough to be worth the one time experience, so I feel like it's a safe recommendation if you liked IV and VI.

Final Fantasy VII - Not my favorite, but it was an incredibly important title for the series and a lot changed here. This will give you an idea of how the (psuedo) 3D era PlayStation titles were, and since you played VI, this is one of the two I'd recommend to represent that era. It takes the sci-fi that VI introduced and dials it up to ten.

Final Fantasy IX - Alternative representation for the PlayStation era in case you want something more in the classic "high fantasy" style of the series instead of sci-fi. After VI, VII, and VIII went more mainstream and sci-fi, this entry was basically a love letter to the classics and was full of references to earlier entries. Since the characters and story are subjective, I won't mention them even if I prefer them in IX, but there's quite a bit of objective improvements in IX over VII (and VIII). The graphics are better and there's a higher feel of polish, so this might arguably be the better representation of what Square learned/achieved by the end of this era. In fact, maybe too much. Square sort of overdid it and pushed the hardware and the game pace and battle speed suffers as a result, so it might fell too slow and that can break it for many people. This isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's one of IX's biggest flaws.

Final Fantasy X - One of the series best. Much like VII, it was a new entry on a new console and it pushed the limits. There's almost nothing that is terrible here. It sits in a place where it feels like a hybrid of the classic and modern series, and it's the last time a lot of things were seem. It was perhaps the beginning of this (world map was dropped). Some consider it the last truly great one.

If you disliked XI, you'll probably dislike XII as it was often called an "offline MMO" at the time due to its battle system. It remember it had a lot of positive feedback for its world in particular at the time, but I don't think it felt as good or developed as IX's world was (might be subjective), and the characters/story didn't hit with me either. I wouldn't call it terrible, but X would be a far better example of a PlayStation 2 entry in my mind.

 

[Ruru]

Still haven't played XII more than just tried it, I have it on PS2 (as a collector) and on PC (bought when it was released on PC). I guess I should give it a try after I've finished Rebirth (and I should get XVI as well and play it).

 

[Hyderz]

Still haven't played XII more than just tried it, I have it on PS2 (as a collector) and on PC (bought when it was released on PC). I guess I should give it a try after I've finished Rebirth (and I should get XVI as well and play it).

There are two versions of ff12, the original is rather easy the zodiac has a revamped skill tree and a bit more challenging

 

[Ruru]

There are two versions of ff12, the original is rather easy the zodiac has a revamped skill tree and a bit more challenging

So the PS2 version is the original and PC version is a HD remaster of the Japanese Zodiac version it seems.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Final Fantasy IX - Alternative representation for the PlayStation era in case you want something more in the classic "high fantasy" style of the series instead of sci-fi. After VI, VII, and VIII went more mainstream and sci-fi, this entry was basically a love letter to the classics and was full of references to earlier entries. Since the characters and story are subjective, I won't mention them even if I prefer them in IX, but there's quite a bit of objective improvements in IX over VII (and VIII). The graphics are better and there's a higher feel of polish, so this might arguably be the better representation of what Square learned/achieved by the end of this era. In fact, maybe too much. Square sort of overdid it and pushed the hardware and the game pace and battle speed suffers as a result, so it might fell too slow and that can break it for many people. This isn't a deal breaker for me, but it's one of IX's biggest flaws.

This mod is pretty fantastic for the steam version.

HOME

What's Moguri Mod ? Moguri Mod is a faithful revamp of Final Fantasy 9 (on Steam), aided by AI (ESRGAN and Stable Diffusion). It makes backgrounds more detailed, highres, cleaner and less noisy, while respecting the original art. It is aimed to first time players and veterans alike. It restores a

sites.google.com

You can make the battles much less slow and iy ooks quite a bit better the og never played very nice with HD Monitors/televisions.

Maybe it was already mentioned in this thread.

 

[lexluthermiester]

I've had not seen this thread yet. Very nice tribute!

FF9 was my favorite of the PSX releases. FF6(3 for the rest of the world) is still my personal favorite of the entire series.

 

[Princess Garnet]

This mod is pretty fantastic for the steam version.

HOME

What's Moguri Mod ? Moguri Mod is a faithful revamp of Final Fantasy 9 (on Steam), aided by AI (ESRGAN and Stable Diffusion). It makes backgrounds more detailed, highres, cleaner and less noisy, while respecting the original art. It is aimed to first time players and veterans alike. It restores a

sites.google.com

You can make the battles much less slow and iy ooks quite a bit better the og never played very nice with HD Monitors/televisions.

Maybe it was already mentioned in this thread.

It was, yeah.

The original game definitely doesn't look great at higher resolutions because, well... it was using 320 x 224 assets, after all. The Moguri mod makes it many times better, but I see it as something that makes it serviceable rather than in a truly great state. I know I'm in the minority here, but in some ways, I still prefer emulating the original PlayStation version with CRT shaders (if not on a CRT) since there's something that looks off about those AI upscaled backgrounds and the improved frame rates (soap opera affect), and while the battles are faster to get into (at the cost of a worse looking battle swirl), they are still mostly just as slow within them. But for anyone else I'd recommend the PC version with that mod as the best way to play it these days. And sadly, that mod is only on PC.

The modern version is the SquareEnix special; the "port of a port". The game was ported to mobile and the existing console/PC versions are a glorified version of that.

Ultimately, I really think the game needs a remake. The PlayStation era titles in particular show their cracks these days, and not even because they looked bad originally. It's because we went from 4:3 low resolution to HD widescreen so fast. Older titles (SNES era and earlier) get away with a pixelated look a bit more, and newer titles (PlayStation 2 and on) have HD remasters or still look good in their original form. That leaves those middle titles the worst off. Many of the older titles got remakes and remaster, and newer ones got HD remasters. Final Fantasy VII got a remake. Final Fantasy VIII and IX are the two that are the worst off in my opinion, and the latter in particular because Final Fantasy VIII at least had a PC version back in the day (as did VII) and, more recently, a remaster (even if neither were great, both were things IX never got, so it's objectively the most untouched entry by SquareEnix).

I've had not seen this thread yet. Very nice tribute!

FF9 was my favorite of the PSX releases. FF6(3 for the rest of the world) is still my personal favorite of the entire series.

I've noticed that there seems to be a bit of crossover between people who like VI and IX a lot. Well... sort of.

I mostly see it where people who like IX the most will sometimes like VI the second most (this describes me).

The inverse seems a bit less common, but not rare.

The real unicorns are probably those who like VII and IX as their top two. I say that because it seems common that fans that have either one as their favorite, particular VII, will either not care for or even dislike the other. Most fans of IX I've met simply don't care for (or like) VII, but fans of VII seem to either not care for at best, or actively dislike, IX. Which doesn't bother me, they're different and people can't help what they like, but it admittedly irks me a bit when fans of VII of all people say that fans of IX are "too noisy". Like... what!? Anyway, I think I've come across a person who listed those two as their favorite two once (and more surprisingly I think they had VII as their favorite of the two). Actually, no, a real unicorn would probably have something like II and VIII, the two Black sheep of the series, as their favorite two (and I do like both, but not as my favorites).

 

[lexluthermiester]

I've noticed that there seems to be a bit of crossover between people who like VI and IX a lot. Well... sort of.

I am certainly one of those, but not for the reasons you'd think. I just couldn't get into FF7. The mish-mash of GFX styles irritated the full-funny out of me, and the story telling was lack-luster compared to FF6. FF8 was just...well...FF8. FFX was good though.

I mostly see it where people who like IX the most will sometimes like VI the second most (this describes me).

The inverse seems a bit less common, but not rare.

That might be a generational thing. Was one of those people who got Dragon Warrior on the NES included with my Nintendo Power mag subscription. When FF1 came stateside I got it and enjoyed it. It was clunky and tedious but was still a worthy adventure. When FF4 came stateside as FF2, I was hooked on the JRPG line. I was also one of those who enjoyed FF-MysticQuest which many hated. When FF6 came here as FF3, I was blown away and mesmerized! That happened again with ChronoTrigger!

So when FF9 came out a few years later and showed that Square was back in good form, I jumped in.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

The real unicorns are probably those who like VII and IX as their top two. I say that because it seems common that fans that have either one as their favorite, particular VII, will either not care for or even dislike the other. Most fans of IX I've met simply don't care for (or like) VII, but fans of VII seem to either not care for at best, or actively dislike, IX. Which doesn't bother me, they're different and people can't help what they like, but it admittedly irks me a bit when fans of VII of all people say that fans of IX are "too noisy". Like... what!? Anyway, I think I've come across a person who listed those two as their favorite two once (and more surprisingly I think they had VII as their favorite of the two). Actually, no, a real unicorn would probably have something like II and VIII, the two Black sheep of the series, as their favorite two (and I do like both, but not as my favorites).

I've liked just about every final fantasy minus the spin off I even enjoyed 12/13.

I kinda look at each era separately though

Nintendo, PSX, 3D/HD Era to me they are all too different to directly compare.

If I had to make a top 5 though it would be 7, 6, 10, 9, 15

6/3 in the states was the first one I ever played and couldn't get into the older ones after that I do think there are too many characters in it but it's fantastic story wise. I still remember booting it up on SNES and the mech/snow opening and being blown away I think I was 11 or 12.

I was more into Phantasy Star at this point.

7 and 9 I'm torn over honestly I've always liked the art style of 9 better but tetra master was annoying to me in 00 and I like the characters and story of 7 better Tifa is still probably my favorite FF character. The general slowness of 9 never bothered me I honestly didn't notice it back in 2000 but honestly I enjoyed both a lot and only slightly lean towards 7.

10 is the best 3D/HD Era title in my opinion and the story is pretty fantastic it probably left the longest lasting impression on me of any of the FF games maybe due to the voice acting.

15 has a ton of flaws but I actually liked the overall story and world it just feels incomplete due to them canceling the DLC.


I think 9 just came at an odd time gamers were already excited for the PS2. I bought FFIX at launch but my eyes were firmly on what Square could do on the next generation console by then.

8 is probably the one I like the least I don't know how many times I've tried to complete it I just can't get into it I hate the junction system and the characters aren't that interesting to me. I remember playing the demo and being blown away by the Leviathan summon and the quality of the cgi for the time but couldn't get into the game.

 

[Princess Garnet]

I think 9 just came at an odd time gamers were already excited for the PS2. I bought FFIX at launch but my eyes were firmly on what Square could do on the next generation console by then.

That's pretty much what happened, and I said this earlier in the thread I know but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't read it.

What happened was Final Fantasy IX was announced simultaneously with X and XI. Three new Final Fantasy games announced at once!? That was, like... good, but also bad. Being that XI was the first MMO, that would prevent it from overshadowing X, but X definitely overshadowed IX.

Final Fantasy IX also had the same problem of being overshadowed in the opposite direction. Outside of Japan, VII was the first global launch (the only other region that had any releases before VII was NA, and even that was just I, IV, and VI). So for a lot of people, VII was probably their first Final Fantasy. It was arguably the first triple A game period, and I think (?) it had a lot more money spent on marketing it than it did on making it (and if that's true, that might suggest its success was a bit diminished relative to its sales total?). Since VII and IX were obviously very different in a lot of ways, some fans who would have gotten into the series with VII probably didn't like IX.

On top of all that, the late 1990s/early 2000s were quite the, uh... "edgy" times, and Final Fantasy IX wasn't "cool" enough. Seriously, in the 2000s it was like everything, including gaming, went through an "edgy" phase of trying to grow up and be cool. Castles? Knights? Princesses? A cutesy art style? A medieval inspired world? None of that was cool enough for us anymore!

Despite all this, it still sold 5 and a half million copies on the PlayStation, which was around half of what VII sold (VII was the second most selling title on the console). Somehow people called it a failure simply because VII and VIII sold more, yet it was still the 16th best selling title... on a console with over 4,000 games. It had everything working against it, and yet it's still held to a standard where if it didn't top the most hyped one of all time, it was a failure? Really? Nothing was going to top VII. Nothing. It was lightning in a bottle and that can't be repeated. Similar to IX, VIII lived in the shadows of VII, and I honestly wonder if people being disappointed with VIII might have further hurt IX (likewise, the momentum of VII gave VIII the middle success it had). Final Fantasy IX was the exact opposite situation of VII; everything was working against it, not for it. All things considered, I'd say it was quite the success, and not just because it's my favorite, but because of how well it did.

8 is probably the one I like the least I don't know how many times I've tried to complete it I just can't get into it I hate the junction system and the characters aren't that interesting to me. I remember playing the demo and being blown away by the Leviathan summon and the quality of the cgi for the time but couldn't get into the game.

It's not my least favorite, but I've been finding it harder to go back to. I used to enjoy playing it a lot. When I try to play it these days though, it's a bit harder to get into. The story is harder to tolerate, and I'm not a fan of the draw, junction, and "leveling" systems. The characters are the one thing I love about it though (yes, even though I constantly say I love Zidane for not being as brooding as Cloud or Squall are, there was something about Squall's "whatever" attitude that I liked... at least when I was a more impressionable teenager, haha). I definitely don't dislike VIII, but maybe it's just one that I'm not willing to replay as much anymore? I don't know.

 

[Hyderz]

FF7, 9 and 12 are my 3 fav final fantasy of all time… Ff8 is fine, the story, characters and ost is all good but the draw system is just tedious… and that certain dog launching character but given the time it was released was a fantastic game nonetheless but it’s one of PlayStation era ff I won’t go back to even with the remastered version I’m staying away… FF10 is good in all story, gameplay and ost cept… tidus… I don’t know what it is, either his character animation, the way he runs or his English voice … something about tidus is just annoying…

I think the summons or eidolons, espers in 7 9 and 12 are just cool in design… atomos, madeen and ff12 has a list of awesome summons and

 

[Princess Garnet]

FF7, 9 and 12 are my 3 fav final fantasy of all time…

What the heck, actual unicorn right here, haha.

and that certain dog launching character

I know you're not talking bad about Rinoa and Angelo!?

(I'm teasing.)

FF10 is good in all story, gameplay and ost cept… tidus… I don’t know what it is, either his character animation, the way he runs or his English voice … something about tidus is just annoying…

I never had any issues with the character of Tidus.

*shrugs*

It was a bit surprising to me going online in the early 2000s and seeing others couldn't stand him, although I certainly see why once it was explained. But to me, that was just part of his character. He was flawed and mildly selfish, yes... like real people. It grounded him and gave him flaws and depth. And for who he was (star of a sports team with "father issues"), it wasn't forced and absolutely fit anyway. I don't think it was too overdone though so it never bothered me.

It's important to look at things from his perspective too. The game does a good job of explaining things to the player by using Tidus' unawareness of the world he is in as an excuse for him to ask questions. He's so in the dark about everything. He goes the first half or so of the game not knowing "the big truth" about Yuna's pilgrimage so a lot of his breakdowns, such as the one at the Al Bhed Home where he finds that out, feel more real. Awkward? Messy? Absolutely! But more real as a result because breakdowns would be those things. I see why some people don't care for it and just see it as awkward, because we sometimes expect perfectly executed breakdowns in games or media. Tidus's selfishness and breakdowns weren't presented masterfully... but they absolutely felt real.

The cherry on top is when he founds out "the other truth" (about himself)... and handles it a bit more maturely. Now the role is reversed, the first half of the game, the player and Tidus were in the dark.. and now Tidus knows something depressing and only him and the player know it. Instead of having of one of his breakdowns about himself, he neglects to tell Yuna... and just keeps trying to focus on saving her instead.

His character was awkward but it worked.

Also, I think his English voice actor for Tidus did a fantastic job, but at the same time I have no alternatives to compare to since English the only language I've ever played the game in. Listen to the emotion some of the scenes have with him.

(Minor spoiler for Final Fantasy X.)

Spoiler

"Irritating, I know. Or are you afraid?"

That full meaning of that line doesn't even become revealed until near the end of the game. Auron's talking about himself because he was in Tidus' position during Braska's pilgrimage. Such a great scene and not just because of Tidus' acting.