Arguments For And Against A Remake of Final Fantasy IX

For:  The Artwork Can Only Get Better

One of my friends posted something very interesting to my Facebook the other day:  a link to some “lost” Final Fantasy IX artwork.  I’ve owned The Art of Final Fantasy IX for years, so when I saw the link, my first thought was “yeah, okay, but I’ve definitely seen this before”.

Boy, was I wrong.

(Before I go any further, I’ll give y’all the link:  http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=551612).

My jaw dropped.  There were about 100 pictures here that I had never seen before, all in a resolution about three times what the original PlayStation disc could handle.  As Mama Robotnik, the author of the above forum post, said, “The ‘lost art’ referenced in the thread title isn’t meant to describe this content as having been lost and found – it refers to the art details that were lost when the graphics were downconverted to a limited 32-bit console”.

Ruby's Mini Theater Never Looked So Good.
Ruby’s Mini Theater Never Looked So Good.

Needless to say, I was amazed.  After purely enjoying the artwork for a while, a thought popped into my head:  if they’ve got these really high-resolution backgrounds already, that must make it easier to craft a remake, should they choose to do so.  They’ve already got a bunch of great work already set up for them, for cryin’ out loud!  So why won’t they do it?

At first, I was against a remake of FFIX;  I thought that the original was perfect, and that they needn’t do anything else.  However, when I watched Yu Yu Hakusho, my favorite anime, in 1080p Blu Ray, I realized that making things look prettier given newer technology could, if not increase my enjoyment, give me another, more detailed look at exactly what the artists were going for when they created the work.

Against:  Final Fantasy VII Fans are Mad Enough

Seriously, though.  They thought they were getting a PS3 makeover for the franchise’s most popular game years ago.  Square Enix has said that they won’t remake it until they make a new title that surpasses the original, both in sales and in quality (see this GameSpot article, if you haven’t heard this already).

Look, Square Enix:  it’s just not going to happen.

It’s a vicious cycle:  basically, they’re trying to make a game that is so good that it will make people forget about VII as being considered “the best”.  However, people can’t get the idea of a VII remake out of their heads.  They won’t give Square Enix a chance until it’s done.  Look, Square Enix, it’s not all your fault that you won’t make a game that’s better;  it’s equally the fault of the gaming community for being really bad at looking at new games in the same nostalgic light of the old classics that they hold so dear.  That’s just a part of human nature, though, I think – there’s a reason they’re called “the good old days”.  Part of business is learning when to stretch for something new, and when to shut up and give your diehard fans the content they have waited so patiently for.  I don’t think Square Enix has learned that yet.

So yeah, they won’t remake VII…  But they’re remaking FFX in HD, which was already made with quite-sexy PS2 graphics.  Way sexier than “the-first-PS1-FF” graphics, for sure.  They’ve remade I and II for the GBA, and III and IV for the DS.  I just get the feeling that if they remake any more Final Fantasy titles before FFVII, there will be pitchforks sharpened and torches lit.  Even I, who thinks that FFIX is one of the greatest pieces of media ever created, far more philosophically and artistically intriguing than VII, am waiting impatiently for Square Enix to remove their craniums from their posteriors.

I think I can sum up most everyone’s opinion on this with three simple words:

God dammit, Squeenix.  (Cute nickname, right?)

For:  It Will Remind Square Enix About What Squaresoft was Doing Right

This may be a bit of a radical opinion, but I honestly think that if the next FF were released without the use of voice actors, the overall opinion on the quality of the game would rise.  I’m not going to spend much time on defending myself here;  just check out Ian’s blog post, “Hearing Voices”, and you’ll basically have an idea of what my argument is behind this.

I think that, recently, Final Fantasy has gone the way of most game companies, focusing more and more on realismreal-looking people, dynamically-rendered, interactive worlds, and the like.

Realism.  When the title of the game is Final Fantasy.

I feel like they’ll get the idea when they’re in the middle of an HD makeover for, say, Hippaul.

Final Fantasy IX, like most of the great Final Fantasy titles before it, has an expansive, colorful world.  There were many different, non-human races that looked distinctly fantastical (again, Hippaul).  Even the main characters aren’t supposed to look real;  they’re chibi to the max, and I love it.  There was always something new to discover, to explore.  By the third disc, you’re basically let loose, able to take care of most side quests, etc. in the game.  No more rails.  The game designers had enough faith in your intelligence to let you go do your own thing, make your own mistakes and get out of them.  This is getting ever rarer in the big-name game companies, and it’s something that they could take a lesson in if they look at their old games.

Against:  Square Enix Has to Let People Know that They Can Craft Good Games

Personally, I enjoyed FFX:2 (I will understand if you stop reading now).  FFXII was a solid game, to the point of MetaCritic giving it a 92 out of 100, which is equal to FFVII’s score.  However, it was nowhere near as popular as VII was (to the chagrin of many a XII fan).  There was one thing that VII had more of than most other FF titles:  a giant North American marketing campaign.  I don’t ever remember seeing any pre-release brouhaha for XII.  While it proves that Squeenix can make a solid game, they need to promote it more.  A remake of FFIX now could create the image that all they’re good for is remaking the games of their predecessors, basically admitting defeat and saying they can’t surpass the classics.

Poor Squeenix.

My Opinion:  If You’re Gonna Use It, Keep It; If Not, Give It to Someone Who Will

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure that characters from FFIX have been used only a handful of times since its release (Zidane/Kuja in Dissidia;  Zidane in Theatrhythm;  Vivi in KH2 are the ones I can think of immediately).  Because VII is still making money off of its spin-offs and movies and such, keep those rights;  however, if you’re not gonna use the characters, art, etc. from other franchises… why not give these to the public?  FFIX may not be popular enough to make much money off of anymore, but from my experience, it has a cult-like following of rabidly dedicated players who would love to sink their teeth into community-made remakes/sequels/etc.  While unrealistic, I think that would be a great thing for Squeenix to do.  Even if it’s just the engine.  Look what happened when Valve released Source SDK:  it spawned some of the best games of the past decade.

Like the people waiting for a VII remake, however, I won’t hold my breath.

Questions?  Comments?  Opinions?  Put ’em in the comments!

29 thoughts on “Arguments For And Against A Remake of Final Fantasy IX

  1. Although I thoroughly enjoyed FF VII, I do think the uproar around it is unfair. FF IX was groundbreaking in many ways and not given even close to the recognition that FF IV got. The game play and free roam format for FF XII was also amazing but somehow FF VI gets all the following.

    • Yeah, I mean, I did really enjoy VII and XII, for sure. I think they’re both great games. However, VII easily got the most marketing out of the three, and XII came after X-2, which had cooled the opinions of a lot of people on the franchise, I think.

      Also, VII was the first FF with polygonal models, and I’m sure the first time people saw that, they, to put it mildly, “shat themselves”. Can’t fault them for that.

  2. Although I thoroughly enjoyed FF VII, I do think the uproar around it is unfair. FF IX was groundbreaking in many ways and not given even close to the recognition that FF IV got. The game play and free roam format for FF XII was also amazing but somehow FF VI gets all the following.

    • Yeah, I mean, I did really enjoy VII and XII, for sure. I think they’re both great games. However, VII easily got the most marketing out of the three, and XII came after X-2, which had cooled the opinions of a lot of people on the franchise, I think.

      Also, VII was the first FF with polygonal models, and I’m sure the first time people saw that, they, to put it mildly, “shat themselves”. Can’t fault them for that.

  3. Haha if they aren’t going to do what the fans want them to do, WHAT ARE THEY DOING? Without their fans, they don’t even exist. Alienating and/or frustrating us isn’t the way to go. Tons of people say that they’d rather buy a remake of VII than any other game Enix can come up with – isn’t that a bit of a clue? I mean, all they want is to make money, and people are practically waving bills in the air, crowding at the door for a remake.

    No brain surgeons in Square Enix, that’s for sure 🙂

    Those pics of IX are beautiful, and even though the game was amazing to begin with, I’d so love to play a new version of it if they gave it everything they’ve got. At the very least it’d be fun to see how they would adapt it to the upgraded systems with the minigames and stuff, and it would be so cool to see some of the monsters with today’s graphics.

    Also, I’m very tired of voices on Final Fantasy. *shrugs* The constant gasping in surprise/sudden intakes of breath are just ridiculously overdone. I’ve told people to “Listen to Princess Ashe for five minutes and you won’t argue” and afterward, they almost always agree XD

    Love your post, dude, thanks for writing it 😀

    • Hi Sephirothcloud,

      First off, thanks for your reply!

      Second, exaaaaaaactly. FFVII is barely in my top 3 Final Fantasies, let alone top 10 games (I think it does just eke its way into both categories), but it’s still an awesome game, and I still want a damn remake. I feel like if they remake it, people will be satisfied, at least for the next few video game generations, and their other works will be taken with less of a grain of salt.

      And yeah, I would love to see updated FFIX graphics too (AFTER they remake FFVII). One thing about remaking FFIX, though, is that you have to make sure that certain things don’t change – for example, the delicious, hand-painted, pre-rendered backgrounds. Those are beautiful, and I think messing with them/”upgrading” them could definitely compromise the beauty of the game (besides, of course, increasing their resolution).

      Basically, what I want for IX is different from what I want for VII. I think VII would be much better off from a full-fledged makeover than IX, which I just think needs a bit of a face lift (smoothing out edges, higher resolution images/textures, etc).

      Thanks for responding, man! Great to hear other peoples’ input on the matter 🙂

      • Hahaha, FF Tactics and FFVII are my two favorite games ever, but FFIX isn’t far behind. To each his own 🙂

        I agree, if they changed the backgrounds and the scenery in a remake of IX, the mood of the game would be all wrong. The mood of the game is half its charm. I think it would be beautiful no matter what they did – Final Fantasies are always beautiful, if nothing else – but it wouldn’t be right. They should recognize what was perfect and leave it alone.

        That’s not an easy order, but hey, they could at least try. Chances are they’d get some of it right.

        I wouldn’t care what they did in a remake of VII, as long as they did it. At this point, I like to think they’d at least try their best if they tried at all, because otherwise the fans would never forgive them. A monster as big as Square Enix has no excuse for doing otherwise.

        XD no, it’s just great to know that since Enix is blind in one eye, not all the fans are. Thanks for writing the post so I had something to respond to 🙂

        • Can’t hate on those games. Both are siiiiick. However, Tactics really pissed me off, only because I worked extremely hard to get max-level Samurai and Ninja for all of my characters, and no matter what configuration I do, I can’t beat this one guy who transforms into a crazy demon and owns me. Forgive me, I can’t remember his name… But yeah, that battle is impossible even though I spent 45+ grinding to be the best samurai/ninjas ever. And I think that’s stupid. xD

          EDIT: WIEGRAF! Yeah, him. He’s a dick.

          But yeah… Just do it, Squeenix. You really do need to. Then people will stop being as upset with you, and maybe give you another chance. I mean, they made FFXII, which was hugely acclaimed (although I wasn’t the hugest fan), so it’s not like they can’t make a good game…

          • 🙂 The easiest way to beat Wiegraf is to change to Squire class, equip Auto Potion, and run away for about ten turns, he’ll never catch you. If you Accumulate for about ten turns, then attack him, he’ll die in just a few hits. It’s too easy, takes about three minutes. And you don’t lose anything for switching classes on Tactics. He was an awesome character, though.

            I agree 🙂 But realistically, lots of us will buy whatever they put out and just keep whining anyway XD

          • Word, I’ll definitely try that! Thanks 😀

            Also, yeah… basically, that’s what’s going to happen, and they know that. There’s gonna have to be a standoff from the fans at some point. Either that, or everyone says that the next game is better than VII, regardless of how terrible it is, just so they’ll be like “YEAH! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! LET’S DO THAT REMAKE!” :p

  4. Haha if they aren’t going to do what the fans want them to do, WHAT ARE THEY DOING? Without their fans, they don’t even exist. Alienating and/or frustrating us isn’t the way to go. Tons of people say that they’d rather buy a remake of VII than any other game Enix can come up with – isn’t that a bit of a clue? I mean, all they want is to make money, and people are practically waving bills in the air, crowding at the door for a remake.

    No brain surgeons in Square Enix, that’s for sure 🙂

    Those pics of IX are beautiful, and even though the game was amazing to begin with, I’d so love to play a new version of it if they gave it everything they’ve got. At the very least it’d be fun to see how they would adapt it to the upgraded systems with the minigames and stuff, and it would be so cool to see some of the monsters with today’s graphics.

    Also, I’m very tired of voices on Final Fantasy. *shrugs* The constant gasping in surprise/sudden intakes of breath are just ridiculously overdone. I’ve told people to “Listen to Princess Ashe for five minutes and you won’t argue” and afterward, they almost always agree XD

    Love your post, dude, thanks for writing it 😀

    • Hi Sephirothcloud,

      First off, thanks for your reply!

      Second, exaaaaaaactly. FFVII is barely in my top 3 Final Fantasies, let alone top 10 games (I think it does just eke its way into both categories), but it’s still an awesome game, and I still want a damn remake. I feel like if they remake it, people will be satisfied, at least for the next few video game generations, and their other works will be taken with less of a grain of salt.

      And yeah, I would love to see updated FFIX graphics too (AFTER they remake FFVII). One thing about remaking FFIX, though, is that you have to make sure that certain things don’t change – for example, the delicious, hand-painted, pre-rendered backgrounds. Those are beautiful, and I think messing with them/”upgrading” them could definitely compromise the beauty of the game (besides, of course, increasing their resolution).

      Basically, what I want for IX is different from what I want for VII. I think VII would be much better off from a full-fledged makeover than IX, which I just think needs a bit of a face lift (smoothing out edges, higher resolution images/textures, etc).

      Thanks for responding, man! Great to hear other peoples’ input on the matter 🙂

      • Hahaha, FF Tactics and FFVII are my two favorite games ever, but FFIX isn’t far behind. To each his own 🙂

        I agree, if they changed the backgrounds and the scenery in a remake of IX, the mood of the game would be all wrong. The mood of the game is half its charm. I think it would be beautiful no matter what they did – Final Fantasies are always beautiful, if nothing else – but it wouldn’t be right. They should recognize what was perfect and leave it alone.

        That’s not an easy order, but hey, they could at least try. Chances are they’d get some of it right.

        I wouldn’t care what they did in a remake of VII, as long as they did it. At this point, I like to think they’d at least try their best if they tried at all, because otherwise the fans would never forgive them. A monster as big as Square Enix has no excuse for doing otherwise.

        XD no, it’s just great to know that since Enix is blind in one eye, not all the fans are. Thanks for writing the post so I had something to respond to 🙂

        • Can’t hate on those games. Both are siiiiick. However, Tactics really pissed me off, only because I worked extremely hard to get max-level Samurai and Ninja for all of my characters, and no matter what configuration I do, I can’t beat this one guy who transforms into a crazy demon and owns me. Forgive me, I can’t remember his name… But yeah, that battle is impossible even though I spent 45+ grinding to be the best samurai/ninjas ever. And I think that’s stupid. xD

          EDIT: WIEGRAF! Yeah, him. He’s a dick.

          But yeah… Just do it, Squeenix. You really do need to. Then people will stop being as upset with you, and maybe give you another chance. I mean, they made FFXII, which was hugely acclaimed (although I wasn’t the hugest fan), so it’s not like they can’t make a good game…

          • 🙂 The easiest way to beat Wiegraf is to change to Squire class, equip Auto Potion, and run away for about ten turns, he’ll never catch you. If you Accumulate for about ten turns, then attack him, he’ll die in just a few hits. It’s too easy, takes about three minutes. And you don’t lose anything for switching classes on Tactics. He was an awesome character, though.

            I agree 🙂 But realistically, lots of us will buy whatever they put out and just keep whining anyway XD

          • Word, I’ll definitely try that! Thanks 😀

            Also, yeah… basically, that’s what’s going to happen, and they know that. There’s gonna have to be a standoff from the fans at some point. Either that, or everyone says that the next game is better than VII, regardless of how terrible it is, just so they’ll be like “YEAH! MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! LET’S DO THAT REMAKE!” :p

  5. wow this is soo awesome, I would be the happiest humanbeing in the world if the remade the ff ix either in ps3 or ps4. I mean seriously when i see the pictures you have posted above it gives me chills, just to think about playing the game in high resolution. 🙂 by the way thanks for posting and giving the refernce for the pictures .

    • Thanks, man! Yeah, I agree with you – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the ps1 version, it’s beautiful and perfect, buuuuuut if they made an HD remake, changing nothing but the graphics, I’d definitely play it 😀

      Aren’t the pictures beautiful?! Amazing!

  6. wow this is soo awesome, I would be the happiest humanbeing in the world if the remade the ff ix either in ps3 or ps4. I mean seriously when i see the pictures you have posted above it gives me chills, just to think about playing the game in high resolution. 🙂 by the way thanks for posting and giving the refernce for the pictures .

    • Thanks, man! Yeah, I agree with you – there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the ps1 version, it’s beautiful and perfect, buuuuuut if they made an HD remake, changing nothing but the graphics, I’d definitely play it 😀

      Aren’t the pictures beautiful?! Amazing!

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