When SquareSoft (before they were Square Enix) had just finished Final Fantasy VIII it was the long running RPG franchise. A large marketing campaign was launched as IX, X and XI were all revealed to the public at the same time with a core promise to give fans three vastly different experiences: one as an intentional throwback to the roots of the series, one as a natural evolution of the JRPG, and one as the first massively multiplayer onlineFinal Fantasy experience.
1999, and it was now time to plan the next three games in
Final Fantasy IX, directed by Ito – who previously had directed Final Fantasy VI – was released on the PlayStation in July 7, 2000, just over 15 years ago. And for those 15 years, the game never saw any re-release, outside of its re-release as a PS One Classics title to the PlayStation Store in 2010. And now, in 2016, it will also come to Android, iOS and Steam. This is huge news.
Final Fantasy IX has largely been missed by many fans in the series. That’s a sad thing for the game which has the greatest critical reception in the series, the highest rating of 94/100 on Metacritic. As the last single digit installment, Final Fantasy IXwas released as a throwback to the games of old and feeling that fans would get tired of futuristic settings after three in a row (Final Fantasy VII, VIII and The Spirits Within), Final Fantasy IX gave us an epic medieval setting as Square really showed off their world building and put us in control of iconic characters such as Zidane Tribal, Vivi Ornitier and Garnet Til Alexandros XVII.
This port is a huge deal and the game is an absolute must for everyone. Here are just a few of the reasons to be excited for this port:
If you haven’t played it already, now is the perfect time
As a throwback game, Final Fantasy IX combines everything that everyone loves about the series and takes it to what many consider to be perfection. This is a game with incredible lore and world building better than anything that had been seen in the franchise before, gave us an amazing cast of characters that gel so well together and are so likeable, coupled with what is one of composer Uematsu’s finest soundtracks in the series. A series filled to the brim with fine soundtracks, so good that it won a place in the Classic FM Hall of Fame. The gameplay is also solid, with a character growth system that lies somewhere in between Final Fantasy IV and VI, and the classic Active Time Battle pseudo-turn based system as good as it’s always been.
Finally, as for the “game boosts” they refer to, these will likely be ones that max stats, similar to those seen in the port on PS4 that make the game a breeze for anyone who doesn’t want to bother spending hours maxing all their 9999 damage abilities to defeat Ozma – the game’s superboss that is much harder than the final boss – and just wants to experience the epic story, soundtrack and setting this game has to offer.
The port graphics are gorgeous
For a PSOne game, IX’s graphics were always gorgeous. Released at the very end of the PlayStation’s life, with a beautiful art style and amazing FMV cut scenes, IXalways looked great, but with this port, it’s been announced to have HD resolution, and as we can see from the trailer it looks much better. Gone are the jagged edges of old, since we’re no longer restricted by the PlayStation hardware. Our smartphones, tablets and desktop computers can render all of the models just like how they were made with a much higher resolution than they could be rendered in before. Not only is the gameplay footage improved, the pre-rendered FMVs are given much better visuals with a higher resolution. A game that looked amazing for its time may now look amazing today.
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