(Some of) What I'd like to See From a Final Fantasy IX Remake

[oxrufiioxo]

No Chadley please.

He's my favorite part of Remake/Rebirth...


They should make him a returning character in all FF going forward....


All joking aside while he doesn't bother me he's kinda pointless and I wish getting summon materia/materia was a bit more organic even if powering them up was similar.

 

[Princess Garnet]

No Chadley please.

I was about to say "I'm not familiar with what this means, and I'm wondering if I should ask", and then I changed to the next page and saw it had to do with a change in the VII remake.

Does anyone have any opinions of changes they'd like to see if a remake were to happen that they are daring enough to share!? Surely it's not just me? I think most fans would want a faithful remake, and rightfully so in my opinion, but that still leaves a lot of room for small additions or changes that, if done, don't make it "not faithful".

I just thought of another one. Freya's portrait depicts her outfit as a Maroon color (dark Red or Brown), but her model depicts it more as Pink. I kind of always interpreted it as a grittier, or wetter/dirtier depiction of the same thing, but I always wondered why the discrepancy existed. So I suppose making the portrait brighter to match her model would be an example of a good and small change that doesn't actually "change what the game is"... unless one is picky about every last thing, good and bad, remaining as-is.

 

[Princess Garnet]

I had some wandering thoughts through the day, so I figured I'd add one more (with multiple examples).

I was thinking about some possibilities to further explore other characters, mostly before the events of the game since some of it might not feel like it would fit alongside the flow of the main game events without interrupting them. So maybe these could be things added as optional mini-story arcs as DLC later if the game were to be successful enough, intended for fans hungry for more lore or gameplay. This would also be a good place for any any developers to express some creativity without having to worry about risks from changing/impacting to the main story, since most of this would be detached from the main story.

Examples of this could be...

Covering some of the Tantalus members "adventures". Maybe they fight monsters or other bandits while stealing treasure or something. This would be a chance to see/play as as Blank, Marcus, Cinna, and depending on if it takes place before or after the main game, Zidane may or may not be there. We could also see more of Baku (and perhaps scenes of his past giving insight on why he is tough and thus abusive on his members could be presented, as as far as I know it's because he grew up during a time of war and loss) and more of Ruby.

Amarant and Lani are bounty hunters (I don't think they know one another though), so there's probably room to explore one or the other, or both, in past moments as well. I don't have any example ideas offhand though.

Maybe we could get a story on Sir Fratley's adventures when he leaves Burmecia (and Freya) to explore and train due to legends of Beatrix, and perhaps we could find out how he lost his memory. Good opportunity for some boss battle?

A story on Zidane's travels away from Tantalus while trying to find his home (this is when he first meets Freya, and per his story to Garnet, is beaten by Baku when he returns).

A story covering Steiner's enlistment, maybe? My memory on the details of his backstory are sketchy at best, but from what I remember, he apparently challenged Beatrix and defeated her and that got him his position. We could also learn more about the Knights of Pluto members.

A story covering Beatrix's merciless past has potential, especially since many players do like playing as her.

Maybe something covering Vivi's time between becoming aware, his time at Quan's dwelling, and then heading to Treno to get the fake ticket and then taking an airship to Alexandria for the play at the beginning of the game. I think it's shown in the game (maybe through optional scenes) where he catches up with an NPC named Mitch who was part of helping him get to Alexandria.

Maybe something covering Madain Sari? The events of its destruction? Or maybe afterwards with Eiko and her grandparent? Or more about Garnet's parents, like her father being wounded and leaving that message? (That story would make me cry!) Or just more about the summoners and surrounding lore in general.

The only difficult part I can imagine here would be that if you wanted to make them more than just scenes, like if you wanted to make them gameplay portions, there would need to be a reason to have battles present. But most of these of these have that criteria met. And there's just soooo much room for additional side story to be told with what the game does provide.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

The only thing I will find interesting is if this is a Remake and not a remaster how they decide to tackle it vs what they did with FF7R and while the two FF7 releases have been pretty well received I think there is a large portion of people who do not like the changes and that it's been split into 3 games effectively. I view it as a completely sperate game/story so the changes don't bother me but I can see them trying to modernize FF9 and people being in an uproar.

Beyond that it will be interesting how they market this game, it doesn't have a marketable protagonist like a Cloud/Sephiroth and I would be surprised if there aren't more people familiar with Lighting than they are with Zidane/Garnet possibly even Noctis is more well known last I checked FFXV sold more copies than 9 even when factoring in rereleases.

I think FFIX characters are pretty popular in Japan though...

As far as what they decide to do with it I don't really have a preference I'm ok with whatever the makers decide unless it's another one of those cash grab mobile ports that ends up worse than the original game that needs multiple patches and mods to not suck.

I'm also starting to wonder if this was some sort of switch 2 thing and that's the reason it's been cooking for so long and after the PS4/5 exclusivity disaster with FF7R/FF16 they went back to the drawing board.

 

[Princess Garnet]

I'm not sure if I see them trying to radically alter it, but... who knows.

Beyond that it will be interesting how they market this game, it doesn't have a marketable protagonist like a Cloud/Sephiroth and I would be surprised if there aren't more people familiar with Lighting than they are with Zidane/Garnet possibly even Noctis is more well known last I checked FFXV sold more copies than 9 even when factoring in rereleases.

*sneezes*Vivi!?*sneezes*

Final Fantasy XIII had three games, it's more recent, and Lightning was marketed heavily for those games. Nothing would stop them from pushing whatever they wanted in a similar fashion with marketing something else.

I'm also not surprised if Final Fantasy XV had more sales since, again, it's newer (market is larger) and with releases being further apart, anyone wanting Final Fantasy anything from the modern times basically only had it to pick from, especially with XIV being an MMO.

But seriously, Vivi would come to mind as an obvious marketing opportunity, presuming it had to be a single character. A lot of people would even consider his character and his story one of the best in the franchise. Though, I also don't think there has to be a single character focus with marketing since part of IX's thing was the whole cast, but... I'm not a marketing person either. If it needs to be a single character, or a multi-character push with one in particular though, Vivi is right there. Pushing him with Zidane and Garnet behind, and the rest filling in the gaps could be enough? Either way, IX is going to have a different audience than something like XVI or the VII remake.

As far as what they decide to do with it I don't really have a preference I'm ok with whatever the makers decide unless it's another one of those cash grab mobile ports that ends up worse than the original game that needs multiple patches and mods to not suck.

Well... let's hope not. That's sort of what the current PC release is.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

I'm not sure if I see them trying to radically alter it, but... who knows.

*sneezes*Vivi!?*sneezes*

Final Fantasy XIII had three games, it's more recent, and Lightning was marketed heavily for those games. Nothing would stop them from pushing whatever they wanted in a similar fashion with marketing something else.

I'm also not surprised if Final Fantasy XV had more sales since, again, it's newer (market is larger) and with releases being further apart, anyone wanting Final Fantasy anything from the modern times basically only had it to pick from, especially with XIV being an MMO.

But seriously, Vivi would come to mind as an obvious marketing opportunity, presuming it had to be a single character. A lot of people would even consider his character and his story one of the best in the franchise. Though, I also don't think there has to be a single character focus with marketing since part of IX's thing was the whole cast, but... I'm not a marketing person either. If it needs to be a single character, or a multi-character push with one in particular though, Vivi is right there. Pushing him with Zidane and Garnet behind, and the rest filling in the gaps could be enough? Either way, IX is going to have a different audience than something like XVI or the VII remake.

Well... let's hope not. That's sort of what the current PC release is.

I think Vivi is probably the most beloved character for sure and that would probably do the trick but if this is a full on remake it was likely expensive meaning they'll need to make it likely more mass market appealing than the OG it's why remakes have been so hit and miss some people want the complete original with a new coat of paint, some people want a reimagining, and others just want them to leave it alone.

I'd probably fall into the reimagining camp as I don't want to replay the same exact game with a fresh coat of paint especially one that can take 40-50+ hours to finish I'd like at least a few surprises even if the story generally follows the same beats. Regardless of what this ends up though I'll be buying it if there is a pc version regardless of if I even intend to replay it as I typically support all FF games on pc regardless.

Although I'd prefer they'd do Parasite eve lol but this is definitely in my top 5 favorite FF games honestly the top 3 I'm just splitting hairs and only 8 I couldn't finish from the mainline non sequel games since FFIII on snes anyways which was 6.

 

[JIWIL]

I haven't actually played FFIX (but plan to sometime) so I only skimmed the post and didn't read any replies. That said, I think its unlikely to be turn-based, as they seem to have abandoned that altogether.

Tactics, VII, VIII, and X are the ones I've played and enjoyed, as I only did console gaming from 1995-2005ish. Everything after FFX failed to interest me due to the departure from Turn-Based. Anything from punishing you for being slow (FFXIII) or becoming straight-up spectacle fighters (all the modern ones).

FWIW I've purchased the entire franchise (excluding XVI and the VII Rebirth), but only finished the stuff from 2000+/- a few years. Maybe pick up the VII bundle in 5 years or so, but I don't really think Square makes games for folks like us (me?) any more.

 

[Princess Garnet]

I think Vivi is probably the most beloved character for sure and that would probably do the trick but if this is a full on remake it was likely expensive meaning they'll need to make it likely more mass market appealing than the OG it's why remakes have been so hit and miss some people want the complete original with a new coat of paint, some people want a reimagining, and others just want them to leave it alone.

Right, opinions are always split because no market is a monolith.

Of the three positions you're describing though, one of them isn't valid in my mind. That is the "leave it alone" position because regardless of what a remaster, re-imagining, or remake does, the original remains, so it is left alone. Now having the opinion that the existing game is good enough is a valid position, so I'm not calling that invalid. But because the original will be left alone regardless, it's invalid to use that as a reason against anything else.

As for the other two positions, those are both valid. In my mind, both types of remakes work and it comes down to some specific factors on which type of remake is a better fit for it.

Something like Spyro the Dragon, Crash Bandicoot, or Tony Hawk's Pro Skater? They're already 3D platformers where the relatively simple gameplay loop is great and doesn't need changed, so those types of games basically beg for the "new coat of paint" type or remake (so, improve them by recreating them in a new engine with better visuals, and up to date quality of life and feature additions).

Something like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or the PlayStation era Final Fantasy games? Games with something between medium to very elaborate stories? Games which carry considerations in regards to controls (tank controls in the case of Resident Evil and Silent Hill), camera, or how they used certain assets (namely, pre-rendered backgrounds) to display the world? Games which lacked some modern quality of life things (voice acting)? That's when you enter into the conditions where re-imaging it has a lot of merit, even if the "new coat coat of paint" also does work. But I think while both are valid, it leans slightly more towards "if you're going to the effort, consider doing more for it" and the Resident Evil and Silent Hill re-imaginings show this wonderfully.

I would have welcomed a "Resident Evil 1 on the Gamecube" style of remake where it's just a remaster with improved pre-rendered backgrounds created from scratch... back in the 2000s or early 2010s. After all this time though, it would feel like a missed opportunity (though it'd obviously still be an improvement).

Also, I'm not sure if I entirely agree on the "remakes are hit or miss" part. From my perspective, it seems like the overwhelming majority of them in recent times have been hits, but... maybe I'm only looking at the successful ones and not aware of the bad ones? In any case, there way too many successful ones (and the majority of them are faithful), so I'd say Square Enix would have to like... either try to fail by changing it too much, or put way too little effort in... in order to fail at achieving a successful remake for this game (success being measured in terms of fan reception, not Square Enix's infamously high sales prospects). There's way too much obvious and accessible potential for a successful remake with this game and its characters/story in particular, and yes I'm biased but I still feel like that's the case with the overwhelming "proof" being all the other vastly successful game remakes/re-imaginings from that era.

...Parasite eve lol...

Parasite Eve!

This era is honestly so full of franchises that didn't continue but would be worth a look, whether that's merely giving them decent remasters, or sequels and franchise revivals. Parasite Eve is one of them. Capcom needs to get on Dino Crisis 1 and 2. Why hasn't Sony done anything with Legend of Dragoon!?

I haven't actually played FFIX (but plan to sometime) so I only skimmed the post and didn't read any replies. That said, I think its unlikely to be turn-based, as they seem to have abandoned that altogether.

Tactics, VII, VIII, and X are the ones I've played and enjoyed, as I only did console gaming from 1995-2005ish. Everything after FFX failed to interest me due to the departure from Turn-Based. Anything from punishing you for being slow (FFXIII) or becoming straight-up spectacle fighters (all the modern ones).

FWIW I've purchased the entire franchise (excluding XVI and the VII Rebirth), but only finished the stuff from 2000+/- a few years. Maybe pick up the VII bundle in 5 years or so, but I don't really think Square makes games for folks like us (me?) any more.

Yes, the modern mainline entries have abandoned turn based battles (I'm putting ATB under this for the sake of discussion), and I think Square Enix infamously said turn-based is dead in the early-mid 2000s.

However, I lean the other way despite that and think a remake of Final Fantasy IX would likely use some form of turn/menu based combat because the real-time "Devil May Cry-esque" combat, and where your party acts via AI alongside you in real-time, wouldn't fit here. If you're not aware, part of Final Fantasy IX's thing was being an intentional throwback to traditions that the series was about to (or already had) move away from. It went back to high fantasy instead of sci-fi, it was the last to use ATB (Final Fantasy X retained turned based though), the last to use a world map (and pre-rendered backgrounds), it was the last that series creator Hironobu Sagauchi worked on, and the last that Nobuo Uematsu solely composed. So a modern remake would almost beg to fill the same "throwback" role, especially since turn-based is so absent yet there's a not-insignificant amount of the market crying for it. If ever there was a game to use turn-based in, a remake of this game would precisely be it. Using turn/ATB based combat would not only to be faithful to the original game it is remaking, but it would be faithful to the very role today that the original had back then. Being a throwback to old traditions. Therefore, I just can't see a remake for this working with the battle system they've used in the other modern Final Fantasy games, and I think (and hope) even Square Enix would realize this. The good thing is, the rumors (obligatory "key word" mention) were that the remake likely would be faithful and that the battle system probably would stick to what Final Fantasy IX was.

If you want a recent turn based recommendation, try Dragon Quest XI. It's by no means synonymous with what Final Fantasy IX is... but it's the only remotely recent thing I've played since then that comes close to resembling those late 1990s and very early 2000s JRPGs. Funny enough, playing that game was the start of what seeded my "we need a re-imagined Final Fantasy IX" desire. Seeing the other old games get remade since then (almost every one being successful), and the Memoria Project later, made me shed the remaining doubt.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

Right, opinions are always split because no market is a monolith.

Of the three positions you're describing though, one of them isn't valid in my mind. That is the "leave it alone" position because regardless of what a remaster, re-imagining, or remake does, the original remains, so it is left alone. Now having the opinion that the existing game is good enough is a valid position, so I'm not calling that invalid. But because the original will be left alone regardless, it's invalid to use that as a reason against anything else.

As for the other two positions, those are both valid. In my mind, both types of remakes work and it comes down to some specific factors on which type of remake is a better fit for it.

By leave it alone I mean people would rather them focus development resources on somthing else eg FF17, KH4, or somthing original.

Basically the camp that thinks it's a waste to prioritize resources to old games instead of developing somthing new.

Sorry for not being clear.

 

[Princess Garnet]

That sounds selfish to me though? Not wanting any development time going towards personally undesired things? This rings especially true in this case because many of the things Final Fantasy IX offers are in rather limited supply in the JRPG space these days, whereas there's no shortage of things representing the alternatives. People who already have their desires over-represented aren't in much of a position to be complaining that they are being robbed of development time if even a shred of a chance comes up that something else might get some development time.

Sorry if that agitation sounds directed at you (it's not meant to be), but that is how I feel of people who think the way you described. Everyone wants what they want, sure, but when that thing is already pretty well represented and you're rallying against what is rather under-represented, that's unreasonable in my mind.

If anything should be done to reclaim development time, maybe it's that the development scale and timeframes of triple A games needs reduced?

 

[Hyderz]

That sounds selfish to me though? Not wanting any development time going towards personally undesired things? This rings especially true in this case because many of the things Final Fantasy IX offers are in rather limited supply in the JRPG space these days, whereas there's no shortage of things representing the alternatives. People who already have their desires over-represented aren't in much of a position to be complaining that they are being robbed of development time if even a shred of a chance comes up that something else might get some development time.

Sorry if that agitation sounds directed at you (it's not meant to be), but that is how I feel of people who think the way you described. Everyone wants what they want, sure, but when that thing is already pretty well represented and you're rallying against what is rather under-represented, that's unreasonable in my mind.

If anything should be done to reclaim development time, maybe it's that the development scale and timeframes of triple A games needs reduced?

Part of me doesn’t want a ff9 remake because it’s already quite a gem but also part wants a remake because of the potential it could be

 

[Space Lynx]

I just hope it gets Steam Deck 2 verified, when/if the day and time comes. I love getting cozy in a hammock or bed and playing Final Fantasy on a handheld of some kind lately. As I get older, I am finding more and more I hate sitting at my desk.

 

[oxrufiioxo]

That sounds selfish to me though? Not wanting any development time going towards personally undesired things? This rings especially true in this case because many of the things Final Fantasy IX offers are in rather limited supply in the JRPG space these days, whereas there's no shortage of things representing the alternatives. People who already have their desires over-represented aren't in much of a position to be complaining that they are being robbed of development time if even a shred of a chance comes up that something else might get some development time.

Sorry if that agitation sounds directed at you (it's not meant to be), but that is how I feel of people who think the way you described. Everyone wants what they want, sure, but when that thing is already pretty well represented and you're rallying against what is rather under-represented, that's unreasonable in my mind.

If anything should be done to reclaim development time, maybe it's that the development scale and timeframes of triple A games needs reduced?

I def don't agree with them I'm just saying some people fall into that camp... Personally I think Square should do whatever it want's to do.... I think developers are at their best when they are passionate about what they are making.

Parasite Eve!

This era is honestly so full of franchises that didn't continue but would be worth a look, whether that's merely giving them decent remasters, or sequels and franchise revivals. Parasite Eve is one of them. Capcom needs to get on Dino Crisis 1 and 2. Why hasn't Sony done anything with Legend of Dragoon!?

Legend of Dragoon was awesome I don't get that one either from memory it wasn't very popular in Japan so maybe that's why most of it's sales came from the west if I am remembering correctly.

I just hope it gets Steam Deck 2 verified, when/if the day and time comes. I love getting cozy in a hammock or bed and playing Final Fantasy on a handheld of some kind lately. As I get older, I am finding more and more I hate sitting at my desk.

I'm sure the steamdeck 2 will get a very nice hardware upgrade whenever valve get's to it maybe they are waiting for 3N/2N CDNA APUs and likely be able to play whatever this is just fine especially at 720/1080p with FSR4+ which seems pretty fantastic and would likely look pretty good on the small screen.

 

[Princess Garnet]

My understanding is that the Switch 2 is a little better than the Steam Deck (?), so a Steam Deck successor would likely be better than it. I can't imagine that a remake for this game would be beyond what the Switch 2 is capable of, because that would be cutting out a not-insignificant part of the market. In other words, I imagine any Steam Deck successor should be fine?

Part of me doesn’t want a ff9 remake because it’s already quite a gem but also part wants a remake because of the potential it could be

That potential is precisely why I've shifted my once hesitant opinion towards "I'd really like to see it". I've said this a few times already so I apologize if it's repetitive, but it took seeing the remakes of other games from the last 5 to 7 years (many of them from the era this game is from) along with the Memoria project to convince me that there's a lot that could be done to give this game the extra potential it deserves.

Final Fantasy IX is in a unique spot insofar as how well it holds up because most of its issues don't stem from any major flaws with the content of the game itself. Most of its issues are more technical; it was a product of the limitations of its time, and while it was great despite those limitations, there's so much extra potential with the advances that have been made in the decades since. Some of these technical limitations resulted in some of its not-co-critical but still noteworthy flaws, such as its slow battle pace. On top of that, it's no secret that certain things were either lacking (certain character or story development) or absent (four shrines battles come to mind as the biggest example). Hindsight gives us a better standpoint at how some things could be improved with additions as well (I gave some examples of these).

For these reasons, this game makes a better candidate for a remake than most others. The core content is already really good and doesn't need much in the way of major change (if at all), but there's still a lot of room for improvement in the visuals, technical, or presentation departments, and those remaining weak spots with the characters or story could be mended. While it wasn't the most popular, it was definitely still very popular, so this means it's both efficient and safe/low risk to remake, while still having room for a lot of improvement, meaning its justified despite how good it already is. If those factors don't describe what is most justified for a remake, I don't know what does.

I def don't agree with them I'm just saying some people fall into that camp... Personally I think Square should do whatever it want's to do.... I think developers are at their best when they are passionate about what they are making.

Yeah, that's fine, which is why I clarified that my apparent agitation wasn't necessarily directed at you. Still, that's how I feel about the reasoning you presented. It honestly irks me when people who have their desires well catered to will whine when something that doesn't is "robbing them of more".

 

[Princess Garnet]

I was thinking of what locations I would like to see more (areas) of. Besides the obvious answer of "more of everything would be nice", I tried to keep it reasonable.

These are the spots I think just a little more of would be enough.

Evil Forest - This one is complicated since it's an opening dungeon and therefore it probably should be shorter, but I think a few new areas wouldn't make it too long. There's one spot in particular that always had me curious. If you follow a stream, it leads to a new screen, but you can't really move much beyond the entrance spot. There's a small waterfall ahead and Zidane says something about "I wonder where this leads". There's nothing more to it. The small stream is likely running off a larger body of water at the base of the larger waterfalls of Alexandria... but it seems a tad unusual and I always wondered if it was the remnant of a something more that was scrapped, or if the waterfall and statement was just to get the player to think of Alexandria since you had just escaped from it?

Ice Caverns - This one just felt slightly short. Probably intentional since it came a bit after Evil Forest with no town between them, but still. At the least, I'd like to see it be able to be revisited. Maybe that's all it needs.

Lindblum and Lindblum Castle - So, these two are already great and it could be reasoned that they don't need a ton more. But it's precisely because they are great that I wouldn't mind seeing just a little more of both. Access to part of the city is lost after it's destroyed, and the castle isn't really shown a whole lot, so I feel like this is a good location where "a little more, doesn't need much" would really go a long way. It's supposed to be the largest location by far, so it would be appropriate for it to feel a little more that way too.

Burmecia - Like Evil Forest, I'm not sure making it much longer is actually the best idea since it's a location with random battles, and making it too large may make it feel like it's overstaying its welcome. I feel like it presented too little of itself for an area that is supposed to be one of the large kingdoms though. Cleyra gets away with it for being a treetop village, but this one, not so much. Maybe a solution could be to add some side areas (as in, literally off the sides of the early spots). This way, they won't prolong the initial trip through on your first visit. They could then become accessible later. Maybe that happens once they town is "rebuilding" (or rather repopulating) itself. This could be an excuse to show more of Burmecia and Freya, even if it's optional. We see Lindblum and Alexandria begin to rebuild, why not this one!?

Madain Sari - Definitely feels like it should have a little more. I know it's in ruins, but some extra areas would make it feel more like a village rather than just the square, the eidolon wall, and Eiko's house that it feels like (and is) now.

These are the spots I'd like to see a lot more of if possible, but I feel like they're begging for a little more at the least.

Alexandria and Alexandria Castle! - This mostly pertains to the castle for the "a lot more" part, but I'd also like to see "a little more" of the town itself.

As for the castle, we already do see a fair amount of it, but yet there's so much more I'd like to see! I want to see Princess Garnet's room (obligatory?) at some point(s). We do see it in FMVs and in some scenes, but we can never access or explore it in actual gameplay, which is a little disappointing. It's most likely reachable via one of the two side rooms that are inaccessible from a larger room that you pass through when going to Queen Brahne's chambers. If another idea I mentioned in the first post (alternative appearances) were available, then that would be a good place to have one of them for Garnet. Likewise, the castle itself introduces an opportunity for an alternative appearance for Steiner to be found. The castle would be a ripe spot to add some ATEs about the past to show the Queen (before being corrupted to become evil) and King, but I feel like some scenes like that are necessary, whether they are triggered from the castle or not.

Terra - It felt weird that Terra is a whole other planet (even it's smaller and inside Gaia), yet we only explore a very small portion of it, and and half of that is a town. The problem with expanding this one is the same as it would be for expanding Evil Forest or Burmecia. Expanding it runs it risk of the location feeling like its overstaying its welcome due to the story that is occurring at the time. So this is one of those "I'd like to see a lot more, but understand why we don't".

Memoria - Like Alexandria castle and Lindblum, it already is fairly pretty well explored... but it's such a great area that I want so much more of it. Not much to say here; it's just be a fantastic area to expand since it's the final dungeon anyway, and this would also be a fantastic spot to introduce more lore explanations since the game is somewhat lacking in that spot.

 

[Hyderz]

They just release this life size vivi’s hat ff9 remake remaster shouldn’t be too far away now

 

[oxrufiioxo]

View attachment 396863They just release this life size vivi’s hat ff9 remake remaster shouldn’t be too far away now

Hopefully they shadow drop it like Oblivion just was lol...

 

[Princess Garnet]

Oh my goodness, giant Vivi hat! That reminds me of how I always wanted a white mage outfit when I was younger, haha.

Please... this has to be happening at this point. Please, let it be. Why go all out on an anniversary event otherwise? "Square Enix, don't break my heart!" I don't like to let myself build excitement on unconfirmed stuff, and even if it does happen, the question becomes "will it be exceptional?".

Hopefully they shadow drop it like Oblivion just was lol...

I'm not sure if I'd want to see it shadow dropped or if I'd rather see it announced some months prior with trailers and everything. If it happened suddenly, I think that wouldn't garner as much attention? (I say as the Oblivion remaster is doing just that.)

For the same reason, it would have a lot of tough competition this year. Expedition 33 would be a tough measuring bar, and then there's the Oblivion remaster, the new Doom, Grand Theft Auto VI (even if that one is likely to be console only), and who knows what else I'm forgetting. The last part of the Final Fantasy VII remake is likely, what, 2027 at the earliest, maybe 2028? I was thinking if this was going to happen, 2026 or maybe late 2025 is when it would happen. There's also Dragon Quest XII too (different team) and I was wondering when that would happen too.

 

[Princess Garnet]

After playing Clair Obscur Expedition 33 a bit, it gave me some extra ideas to add here. These may have kind of come as shower thoughts, but it also made me remember one of the things I wanted to originally mention but forgot, so let's start with that one.

Garnet's Name

In Final Fantasy games before voice acting was added, you could typically name the characters whatever you wanted. This was the case of Final Fantasy IX. If a remake were to occur, and if it were to have voice acting (it likely would), this would remove the ability to rename the characters. This means they would likely get whatever default name they have, and I would be okay with that as that's a worthwhile tradeoff for voice acting.

Garnet's name is handled uniquely in that she gets a "canonical" rename. Unlike the rest of the characters, you don't get the chance to name her before she's identified; she is already Garnet initially. The opportunity to rename her comes slightly later under the reasoning that she needs an alias to hide her identity. The new default she chooses is Dagger, randomly based on a weapon Zidane drops. I'm not going to sugar coat it; it's a mediocre name, at least for one we will know her as through the entire rest of the game. If I had to guess based on statements I've seen from other players over the years, I'm not alone in this opinion. And there must be something to it because the original developers even acknowledged in a statement or interview that while they referred to her Dagger internally while developing the game, they were surprised when they observed players still commonly referred to her as Garnet anyway.

With voice acting forcing a particular name, I wouldn't mind seeing this handled differently.

My preferred idea is this; keep the alias name change in the early portion of the game, but have her drop it and go back to being Garnet later. A time where this might make sense would be once she returns to the castle because the alias no longer needed by then. The likely reason the original game didn't do that (and it still makes it odd in story terms that it didn't, because she keeps an alias after she no longer needs it) is because they probably didn't want to take away a potentially custom name from the player. That won't be a factor anymore. I do think the idea of having her adopt an alias for a short while is fine, but I am very partial to her original name more.

Loosely related, but hearing her thoughts/insight to her true original name if discovered by the player would be welcome. We never get that in the original game. She doesn't need to adopt the name (that would require two of many voice lines, and it might not be something she'd do anyway), but just hearing what she has to say, even if it's just some acknowledgement about her past name, her family, etc.

The other two are thoughts I came up with after playing Clair Obscur Expedition 33.

Alternative appearances

Basically, how Clair Obscur Expedition 33 handled extra appearances was exactly what I was suggesting in the first post before it even released. So there's the blueprint!

Once again, a unique factor with Garnet might raise a question here. She cuts her hair around two-thirds of the way through the game, so if custom appearances are a feature, how does that get handled? That would be an apt place to award her shorter hair, but how does it play out with custom appearances? If custom appearances are only clothing, it works, but if it extends to hair... it needs an answer. Do cut-scenes simply always use default appearances?

Battle encounters

In Final Fantasy IX, encounters are random. As you travel around the world map and around some locations, you'll randomly encounter battles. With the later releases of Final Fantasy IX (and later releases of previous entries in the series), options were introduced that allowed disabling random encounters (among other things). That makes me think Square Enix might handle the method of encounters differently in a remake.

I really hope the random battles remain. There are methods to make this system "less annoying" for those who dislike it.

One idea is to have the rate of encounters scale according to the enemy level compared to the character or party level; if you're a lower level they will be more bold and attack more often and if you're a higher level, they will avoid you. The positive side to that approach is that it removes the battles that are most often annoying; the irrelevant ones. The negative side to that approach is that it may make it harder to find battles when you want to. The alternative is true as well; intentional low level runs or speed runs would encounter a lot of battles. Having caps on either end (and opposed to continued scaling) would partially address those issues.

Another idea is adopting an equipment effect from Final Fantasy X where battles are avoided while it is worn by a character in the party.

Yet another idea is simply allowing the player to set the rate of encounters should answers the complaints of such a system.

How Clair Obscur Expedition 33 (and many other RPGs since Final Fantasy IX) have instead handled battles is by having observable "set pieces" on the field that wander a predefined area. They may give chase if you draw near, but basically you can choose to engage with them or avoid them. Enemies on the world map in this game are very, very sparse due to how far apart they are spread, and they are the same arrangements of enemies every time in the same spot. Sometimes I just want to run around in an area and have whatever variety of enemies thrown at me by the game, and I can't get that with such a system. Sometimes I want the randomness of preemptive strikes and ambushes, and I also can't get that either with such a system. It becomes the same old "run up and press the attack button before its hitbox collides with you for first strike" every time. I know not everyone likes random encounters, but since it's a remake of a game that had them, I hope they remain. Even if it's merely as a fall-back option.

That's it... for now... I think, haha.

 

[Princess Garnet]

With the hindsight of Clair Obscur Expedition 33, I figured I'd make a small follow up here as experiencing some of the things it does gives me some things to say here.

I might have some things to mention later, but I'll only address one for now.

A common criticism with Final Fantasy IX was that its trance system was poorly implemented.

The concept was great. When your character has a surge of emotions, they enter into a state of increased capability for a short while, and this was (very sparingly) used for some story elements. The first time it happens is with Zidane early on, which is basically a tutorial to introduce the player to its existence. At first, I thought this was something only he could do ("he has a tail, he must be special, this must be his thing" was my thinking), but then I saw other characters suddenly had a gauge of their own? I was confused by this, because in response to this "I've heard of it" was stated, meaning this seemed like something abnormal, so why can all of the party members suddenly just do it? Vivi has a story moment with it shortly after, and Steiner has one quite a lot later, and then that's sort of it. While I'm glad it wasn't overused in the story, I feel like it was a bit underutilized.

But the real problem with it isn't the concept, but rather the execution. Each character has their own gauge that fills when they get hit. The gauge fills rather slowly. The gauge does not reset between battles. When the gauge is full, you enter into trance and stay that way for a few turns (typically two or three, maybe four?). Once in trance, you stayed that way untilt he gauge depleted, which would only occur if you took action. You couldn't stop trance from occuring once the gauge was full, and once the battle ended, any entered trance states were lost (this part makes sense though). Also, if you need to use items or cast a defensive/supportive spell, it still cost a turn of trance (depleted part of the gauge) even though you weren't taking advantage of its benefits.

So in effect, it often feels wasted.

In response to this, many people point to the limit break system of Final fantasy VIII or the overdrive system of Final Fantasy X as better answers. The primary difference with those systems is that the benefit isn't "used" unless you opt into it. While I have no disagreement with those being better systems overall, they have drawbacks in the opposite direction. Namely, and particularly in Final Fantasy X, it gets reduced to "charge the gauge on normal battles, always enter boss battles with it ready". That might not be a drawback to everyone, but to me, it is. But I was never able to think of a compromise that addressed both shortcomings.

Well... enter Clair Obscur Expedition 33's gradient attack system.

For those who aren't aware, the gradient attack system in Clair Obscure is a bit like its own implementation of "stronger attacks" like limit break, trance, or overdrive from the Final Fantasy series. Here's how it works.

A gauge fills when you use skills.

It resets between all battles.

It charges faster.

I'm going to stop there. There's other factors to it, such as the gauge being shared between characters instead of each having their own gauge, and it being "free turns that don't take up your turn" (this is probably why its shared), but those aren't important.

The important part is that it resets between battles but charges faster. This addresses the shortcomings of trance without reducing it to feeling like how it did with overdrive in Final Fantasy X. While playing Clair Obscur, I couldn't help but have the realization of "this is it... this is the answer to how trance could be better implemented". For clarity, I'm not talking about a straight 1:1 copy of the system. Each character should have their own trance bar, and the benefits should remain what they are in Final Fantasy IX as opposed to what Clair Obscur grants. The important part is changing it to charge faster, but also clearing between battles.

No longer is it wasted when not needed.

No longer is it reduced to needing to worry about it being wasted and thus hoarding it for boss battles only.

It's precisely changed to a system that is offered only once a battle has become more than routine (meaning it has become longer and likely to be harder)... which is how I believe it should be. You're then not worried about wasted it (Final Fantasy IX), but at the same time not needing to hoard and avoid it for most battles (Final Fantasy X). In effect, its closest to Final Fantasy VIII in that regard, but it isn't random.

TL;DR: I feel like Clair Obscur's gradient attack system where the gauge resets between battles but charges much faster is the ideal answer to the shortcomings of trance. That's all you need to do to it in order to fix trance.