There may be renewed pleasure concerning the much-discussed Final Fantasy 9 remake after Sq. Enix launched an official Final Fantasy 9 25th Anniversary web site.
The website, which is in Japanese, notes the discharge date of Final Fantasy 9 (July 7, 2000) and factors out the sport celebrates its 25th anniversary this yr.
“We’re getting ready numerous tasks, together with merchandise and collaborations to commemorate the 25th anniversary, so please sit up for it!” the web site continues.
That slightly innocuous assertion, in addition to the existence of the anniversary web site itself, was sufficient to spark hypothesis that Sq. Enix could lastly reveal the Final Fantasy 9 remake followers so desperately need.
And the timing of the web site’s launch is just not misplaced on followers who level out Nintendo is about to carry a Switch 2-focused Direct this week, on April 2. Might Sq. Enix lastly announce Final Fantasy 9 remake for Switch 2 on the Direct? Some followers are hoping so.
After all, this will likely all be nothing. The web site itself talked about merchandise and collaborations, however “numerous tasks” has actually set tongues wagging.
Final yr, Final Fantasy 14 producer Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida talked a bit about what a Final Fantasy 9 remake may appear to be, warning it could not all slot in one sport.
“After all, I do know there are requests for Final Fantasy 9 to be made, however when you concentrate on Final Fantasy 9, it’s a sport with enormous quantity,” Yoshi-P mentioned. “When you concentrate on all of that quantity, I ponder if it’s doable to remake that as a single title. It’s a troublesome one. It’s a powerful query.”
Yoshi-P appeared to recommend a possible Final Fantasy 9 remake might go the path of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, which is in the course of a deliberate trilogy.
Earlier in 2024, Yoshi-P introduced Final Fantasy 9-themed extras for the Collector’s Version and Digital Collector’s Version of Final Fantasy 14 enlargement Dawntrail, together with Final Fantasy 9’s Ark summon as a Final Fantasy 14 mount and a wind-up Princess Garnet minion (Garnet, aka Dagger, is without doubt one of the important characters of Final Fantasy 9). Should you pre-ordered Dawntrail, you bought a wind-up Zidane minion. Zidane is the protagonist of Final Fantasy 9.
(*2*) alongside the announcement of those extras, Yoshi-P teased: “You’ll have seen plenty of Final Fantasy 9 references right here, however the reason being a secret.” He then zipped his mouth shut.
Final Fantasy 9 remake rumors have swirled round Sq. Enix ever for the reason that unannounced sport emerged as a part of a 2021 Nvidia leak of upcoming titles. The checklist, confirmed legit by Nvidia however probably outdated, contains a lot of Sq. Enix video games the corporate has both introduced or launched since, such because the Chrono Cross remaster, Kingdom Hearts 4, and naturally the Final Fantasy 7 remake for PC. Nevertheless, Final Fantasy 9 remake and Final Fantasy Techniques, each of that are on the leaked checklist of video games, have but to materialize. Only a few months earlier than the Nvidia leak, in June 2021, a Final Fantasy 9 animated collection was reported to be in growth, though we haven’t heard something about it within the years since.
Wesley is the UK Information Editor for IGN. Discover him on Twitter at @wyp100. You’ll be able to attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.