The potential remake of 2000’s Final Fantasy 9 has been making the rounds for a while, and it recently got a new head of steam following the most recent episode ofGame Mess Mornings, where notable industry insider and commentator Jeff Grubb stated that he’d heard, “Final Fantasy 9 Remake is real, [it’s] real and happening.”
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This is further corroboration of the game’s existence, as the rumor originally comes from a pretty reliable source, the Nvidia leak. That’s what people call a leak that occurred about two years ago where files from Nvidia’s streaming platform, GeForce Now, became available to the public. Among the files were numerous game titles, heavily suggesting that these games would eventually on release PC, as that’s where GeForce Now is available.
Many titles appearing in the leak have since been confirmed (some have even released), such asKingdom Hearts 4,Resident Evil 4 Remake,Street Fighter 6,Returnal, and more. Final Fantasy 9 Remake was one of these games, so there’s definitely valid reason to believe it’s coming, though it’s worth pointing out that projects can sometimes get canceled early before even being announced.
However, if Final Fantasy 9 Remake is coming, as Grubb states, it will seemingly be less ambitious than the Final Fantasy 7 remake series. Grubb wasn’t as sure of this as he was of the game’s existence, but he did state that the title “almost certainly isn’t as ambitious” as FF7.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake, released in 2020, was a complete reimagining of the 1997 classic, featuring modern high-end graphics, revamped third-person action combat, full voice acting, and even changes to the story. It further split the story into multiple entries, with the sequel,Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, coming sometime in Winter 2023/2024.
We’ll simply have to wait and see what degree of ‘remaking’ Final Fantasy 9 will receive, if any. It’s possible that the remake only modernizes the visuals and certain gameplay features, while keeping the core of the experience intact. If so, that would mean keeping the game’s active turn-based combat, which would please old-school fans, but would undoubtedly limit the appeal for newer players.
