I Don’t Want a Final Fantasy 9 Remake

The announcement of the Final Fantasy 7 remake felt surreal, as players had been hoping to see the game remade for modern hardware for well over a decade by then. With Final Fantasy 9 being another fan-favorite game in the series, it’s natural that it became the center of hopes for the next remake, if there would be one. Well, it’s looking like those hopes could come true, but I don’t agree that they should. Square Enix keeps teasing a potential FF9 remake, and I’m sure that it would be fun to see it brought to life with improved graphics and gameplay. However, I don’t actually want a FF remake, because I believe that it’s not the best use of Square’s resources right now.

Sure, FF9 is a fun game, and it’s been getting a lot of attention lately with its 25th anniversary coming up. Plus, FF14 featured heavy influence from FF9 in Dawntrail, so it’s not surprising that it’s been a hot topic among Final Fantasy players. At this point, it’ll feel like Dawntrail’s second half was designed to be an advertisement if a remake is announced soon.

Final Fantasy 9 Still Runs Well

Despite its age, Final Fantasy 9 remains an impressive game. It’s easily available with its PC port, and it runs well in terms of graphics and gameplay. Yes, it’s outdated if you compare it to recent Final Fantasy games, but it continues to hold its own as a classic entry. This is part of the reason that I don’t believe it’s time for a remake. There are other games in the Final Fantasy series that don’t run as well and have only received minimal remasters. These games could receive more benefits from the full remake treatment. Additionally, it would allow players to experience these earlier Final Fantasy games that started the series.

It also feels like a shame to jump from remaking FF7 to FF9, skipping over FF8, which is often left out and underrated, despite being a lot of fun. FF8 also doesn’t run as well as FF9, and I remember my frustration when I tried to play its PC port and kept running into issues. With problems like that, FF8 would benefit more from a remake at this point in time. Naturally, I’d also love to see my personal favorite game in the series remade, Final Fantasy 6, but it would take a long time to remake. FF8 at least has the foundation in terms of design and models to make the process easier.

I Don’t Want Final Fantasy to Rely on Remakes

Remakes tend to feel like a safety net that companies use to boost income when their latest games haven’t been doing well, and that starts to hurt the creativity and risks that teams are willing to take when developing the next main game or expansion. I understand the benefits of playing it safe, but as a player, it becomes disappointing, and games start to lose the wonder that drew me into them in the first place.

Unfortunately, relying on remakes feels like it’s the path that Square Enix is headed down, especially when you take a look at how some of the company’s recent work has been received. FF15 suffered from a lot of issues during the development process, and if you look at the Steam reviews for FF14: Dawntrail, you find the overall reviews are mixed, with recent reviews being mostly negative. You could also look at games from recent years outside of the franchise from Square Enix that haven’t done well or been well-received, but just focusing on Final Fantasy can make it seem like going back and remaking older games is a sound strategy to pull the series back on track.

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However, I’d love to see more risks being taken because they can pay off. If you look at FF16, it made a lot of changes to the classic formula you see in the series, and it worked. The game was enjoyable and its world was fun to explore. But if remakes become the new focus, then we won’t have as many of those experiences where every element feels fresh. The feeling of discovering a new world for the first time will become even more rare.

In a nutshell, that’s why I don’t want a Final Fantasy 9 remake. I don’t want remakes to be the main trend. I understand having multiple teams, and then dedicating one to remakes, but it feels like the success of remakes means that more are made, and that encourages new games to play it safe instead of trying to be trailblazers in the industry. Square Enix used to be one of the biggest trailblazers in gaming, and I don’t want to see that inspiration and drive to push the limits of what gaming is and how games can be used as storytelling mediums fade away.