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[enigmatic_alex44]

Wow this is looking like a hot mess.

Hopefully S-E treats the best game in the series, FF8, better than this when it comes time to upscale that one.

Those tiled backgrounds remind me of how ugly FF6 turned out in the mobile version. I doubt FF9 is anybody's favorite (it's the least popular of the PS1 RPGs), but it deserved better treatment than this at least.

Between the poorly upscaled visuals and the awful Zidane being the worst protagonist in the series, I think I'll give this release a hard pass.

 

[OmegaDL50]

Weren't the source assets for the pre-rendered backgrounds lost, simply due to negligence because Square at the time simply did not back them up.

I can understand working with the 3D Character models and improving them is one thing, In fact there are model viewers for PSX games that allow you to extract the model data from the PSX game disc, by this they could improve the quality by a bit of reverse engineering in a sense.

As for the pre-rendered backgrounds. If the source material is gone and the only reference they can use are the original native resolution backgrounds that are 320x224.

Simply blowing up the 320x224 assets into widescreen would stretch them and they wouldn't display properly at all, so some careful editing had to be done.

Considering the very small resolution of the assets they had to work with, outside of recreating them entirely from scratch at a higher resolution (which would be very expensive and akin to developing entirely new art assets) which is an unfeasible option for what is effectively a low-budget remake.

Again we go back to the point of time and money.

Unless you can properly scale 320x224 res backgrounds into a proper high res 16:9 aspect ratio without a major degradation in quality without possibly having the original source material, there is very little that can be done since you are effectively adding new pixels to a image that was meant to originally display in a 4:3 aspect ratio.

 

[JeffZero]

I doubt FF9 is anybody's favorite

There were a few things in this post that kind of read to me like you're baiting folks for reactions, but this one is over-the-top. Of course FFIX is someone's favorite. In fact, it's a lot of people's favorite, and plenty of them have posted in this very thread. >_>;

 

[enigmatic_alex44]

There were a few things in this post that kind of read to me like you're baiting folks for reactions, but this one is over-the-top. Of course FFIX is someone's favorite. In fact, it's a lot of people's favorite, and plenty of them have posted in this very thread. >_>;

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

 

[JeffZero]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

But yeah, it's a pretty popular game, at least... on the internet, anyway. I realize its sales aren't the best, but it definitely has its fans. And they're a very loud gang, and there are tons of 'em on GAF, even!

So idk.

 

[squarealex]

Screenshot comparison (ePSXe vs PC)

This is a edited pictures with the background "Lost Art"
(ePSXe vs Lost Art vs PS1 240p)

 

[Burbeting]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

Well for example 9 is my favorite, and way above the other games in the series.

 

[CopperPuppy]

I see some folks have posted links to a few of the wonderful remixes and tributes to FFIX's already breathtaking soundtrack.

I'm personally a big fan of the Lindblum tune. Are there any well-made takes on this piece?

 

[Badmotorfinger]

Day 1 for me.

My favorite Final Fantasy with additional features.

 

[AgeEighty]

It's not as if this is a "shit fit". Just an acknowledgement to the question "is this port ideal?"

The answer is "no it isn't ideal".

There's a big, weird artifact of its asset condition staring us right in the face, and it doesn't need to be there.

You should be on board that it should be fixed. It would benefit you. But I'm sure that this is just some internet argument that you've been dragged into, and hey.. I get it.
Just take a step back, let us complain about these factual flaws, and you just might benefit if they are fixed....

There is no benefit to me, because I don't care about this flaw. It's practically invisible. And since correcting tiny graphical flaws like this would likely divert time and effort away from more important ways that S-E could polish this release, in fact your complaints could very likely benefit me less than if you didn't.

And again—as I've reiterated before—we don't even know yet why we're seeing this or if this phenomenon will actually appear in the game. It could be an error in the way the screenshots were created. It could be a flaw related to the way the shots were captured (as we've seen, these screenshots weren't actually captured in-game, since there are situations that don't match what you'd see in game: the makeup of the party in certain areas, Garnet's hair, etc.)

I get it. You think you're a clever guy who sees through the reasons why a stranger on the internet is arguing a point of view. But in this case you are very mistaken, and you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

I appreciate BONKERS actually pointing out visual flaws with the game's port more than AgeEighty doing Square's PR for them by assigning importance to the game's flaws. The former starts an intelligent discussion about why these flaws exist and how modders could potentially fix them, while the latter serves no purpose.

Yeah, as we've seen in the FFXIV threads, you have your finger ready on the rage button at the smallest sign of a mistake, and you think anyone who isn't as angry as you are about the most minor problems is some kind of PR shill.

If you actually read BONKERS comments, there's very little that's "intelligent discussion" about them: his initial argument was "Why didn't they just redraw the whole game?! >:O It would have been SO EASY." Yeah, really level-headed discussion there.

 

[Falk]

way longer than they'd ever need to touch up backgrounds (since they actually upgraded character models).

I wish people would stop saying this. While semantics are everything, this doesn't really appear to be on the same budget as RE HD, etc.

Updated character models, cool, fine (I'm assuming they've sorted out Dagger's long/short hair since those preview screenshots)

Fixing the rendering/upscaling so that the tile seams disappear, I can totally get behind.

Redoing every single background in the game is an extremely tall order. Whatever hi res art is up on staff portfolios is nice and good, but are very obviously in comparison nowhere close to the final product, and recreating all those changes, or manually retouching up in higher resolution over the PSX resolution backgrounds where they don't exist, is a massive undertaking.

I mean, even the comparison shots show significant difference in geometry, composition, coloration, lighting and things like added shadows/grit/smoke, all of which would have to be done by hand.

If you priced this at $40 and advertised it as a remaster, sure.

But it's not. It's a simple port to currently popular platforms.

 

[Sadist]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

Just for you, Final Fantasy IX is my favourite Final Fantasy ever. It was FF VI for a while, but I appreciate IX a bit more.

Honestly, I think I saw you posting a bit earlier in a FF IX thread (the one asking for a re-release, feeling the game is forgotten by S-E) and you were pretty down on the game as well. We can't like the same things man. I know it's easy to make up facts to push your own favourites, but there are a lot of people who enjoy FF IX. Zidane is even my favourite FF lead of all time. I wish we could have gotten more happy go lucky guys like him.

 

[ZiggyPalffyLA]

Regardless of all the arguments over the port-quality, am I the only one NOT excited to re-do the swordfighting (impressing all 100 nobles...ugh), jump rope, and Hippaul racing minigames? I made a save back in 2006 or so right after perfecting the swordfighting and have started all my new games right after that save so as not to deal with that frustration again.

Also, FFIX is my favorite FF. BY FAR.

 

[Falk]

I wasn't aware that FFIX had minigames outside of Chocobo Hot and Cold.

I heard there was a card game but those are filthy rumors.

 

[Unai]

I appreciate BONKERS actually pointing out visual flaws with the game's port more than AgeEighty doing Square's PR for them by assigning importance to the game's flaws. The former starts an intelligent discussion about why these flaws exist and how modders could potentially fix them, while the latter serves no purpose.

It might be minor, but it's still disappointing, considering that this announcement came out of nowhere, so it could have been in the chamber for an incredibly long time, way longer than they'd ever need to touch up backgrounds (since they actually upgraded character models).

I completely agree. There's no reason to put flaws, even if minors, under the rug.

 

[plutoknight]

I wasn't aware that FFIX had minigames outside of Chocobo Hot and Cold.

I heard there was a card game but those are filthy rumors.

The caRd game is just Chocobo Hot and Cold: The TCG.

 

[JailDesigner]

Storage: 20 GB available space

High-res assets confirmed!

 

[Arkanius]

This is a edited pictures with the background "Lost Art"
(ePSXe vs Lost Art vs PS1 240p)

Yeah, you just ruined me on the experience.

Squeenix pls

 

[Sadist]

Regardless of all the arguments over the port-quality, am I the only one NOT excited to re-do the swordfighting (impressing all 100 nobles...ugh), jump rope, and Hippaul racing minigames? I made a save back in 2006 or so right after perfecting the swordfighting and have started all my new games right after that save so as not to deal with that frustration again.

Also, FFIX is my favorite FF. BY FAR.

The sword fighting mini-game wasn't that hard to complete... right? It takes a few times (you always make one mistake) but I achieve 100 nobles impressed pretty quickly.

 

[Unai]

The sword fighting mini-game wasn't that hard to complete... right? It takes a few times (you always make one mistake) but I achieve 100 nobles impressed pretty quickly.

It was very difficult for me. I don't think I did it on the original hardware back there, but I'm completely certain that I couldn't do it on vita/ps3/epsx.

 

[Timeaisis]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

9 is my favorite FF and my second favorite game of all time.

 

[TheSlySoul]

Honestly the updated character models look good. I cannot be that sad they left BG the same. Would have taken more time and money for it. Not nearly as bad as the FF5/FF6 mobile versions.

 

[Timeaisis]

FWIW, I can see the seams, but only if I zoom in pretty close to the image. It's anyone's guess if this will be noticeable when playing on PC or if it will bother me. We shall see.

I'm not going to call this port lazy, but I know SE, and I know they don't take the utmost care in some of their ports, and that looks to be the case here. So sue them. I'm just happy I get to play it again and it's not locked away in my PS3. At least they are doing something with it.

 

[Widge]

Hi, is this the thread where you can massively blow things out of proportion? I hope so, I want to be a part of it.

 

[Arkeband]

I wish people would stop saying this. While semantics are everything, this doesn't really appear to be on the same budget as RE HD, etc.

Updated character models, cool, fine (I'm assuming they've sorted out Dagger's long/short hair since those preview screenshots)

Fixing the rendering/upscaling so that the tile seams disappear, I can totally get behind.

Redoing every single background in the game is an extremely tall order. Whatever hi res art is up on staff portfolios is nice and good, but are very obviously in comparison nowhere close to the final product, and recreating all those changes, or manually retouching up in higher resolution over the PSX resolution backgrounds where they don't exist, is a massive undertaking.

I mean, even the comparison shots show significant difference in geometry, composition, coloration, lighting and things like added shadows/grit/smoke, all of which would have to be done by hand.

If you priced this at $40 and advertised it as a remaster, sure.

But it's not. It's a simple port to currently popular platforms.

I never said it was a remaster on par with RE HD, nor redrawing backgrounds from scratch. Just commenting on the tearing.

Yeah, as we've seen in the FFXIV threads, you have your finger ready on the rage button at the smallest sign of a mistake, and you think anyone who isn't as angry as you are about the most minor problems is some kind of PR shill.

I think it's rather telling when a games faults are brought up and you seem to take personal offense to them. Sweep them under the rug! If people have a well rounded understanding of the game, they might not dip for the subscription which would negatively affect my playing experience!

We already see the same tired excuses, oh that corner was cut because of console limitations, oh this was left out because they worked so hard they took a vacation, oh that promise was broken because they're understaffed and underfunded. There's a clear motive to obfuscate the game's faults to pad the number of active players, and it's a selfish one. And I see a similarity here too, where you should have no personal investment in minimizing the faults of this port, but somehow, either emotionally or financially, you do.

 

[Falk]

I never said it was a remaster on par with RE HD, nor redrawing backgrounds from scratch.

More the "people" part than the quote part, I guess.

What's -your- definition of touching up then?

 

[Arkeband]

More the "people" part than the quote part, I guess.

What's -your- definition of touching up then?

Pretty much whatever you were implying with:

Fixing the rendering/upscaling so that the tile seams disappear, I can totally get behind.

How difficult would this be, really? Considering FF9's mysterious absence from the port space, this could have been gestating for any amount of time after its PS1 release, considering they ported FF7 and 8 to PC shortly after their launch on consoles. That indeterminate amount of time, in my opinion, could have reasonably included adapting the background art to 16:9 without visible seams.

If FF7 was JUST released on PS4 in standard definition, due to the excuse that stretching would cause these exact issues, why was it done here? This is perplexing to me.

edit: I'm an idiot, disregard aspect ratio rantings.

 

[Falk]

Still not convinced those aren't untouched PSX-resolution assets being upscaled at runtime.

 

[Cert.in.Death]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

IX is not only my personal favorite FF game, but favorite game period.

Also, Zidane is not nearly the weakest main lead in an FF game. VIII, X, XII, and all XIII games have far weaker leads.

 

[AgeEighty]

I think it's rather telling when a games faults are brought up and you seem to take personal offense to them. Sweep them under the rug! If people have a well rounded understanding of the game, they might not dip for the subscription which would negatively affect my playing experience!

You certainly are quick to ascribe views that don't agree with yours as taking "personal offense". But as I've already explained, this isn't about sweeping anything under the rug. It's about identifying what's a big deal and what isn't, and responding accordingly.

If other problems with this port crop up that actually affect my enjoyment of it, I'll be plenty disappointed. And believe me, I don't exactly have complete faith in Square-Enix. Ever since this port was announced, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop and for some major fuck-up to be revealed.

This is not that shoe. It's a barely noticeable cosmetic flaw that may or may not actually be in the game. It's time to chill out.

Then again, I don't think you're capable of chill.

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

It's no. 1 with me, so now you've seen it. Congratulations.

 

[notaskwid]

IX is not only my personal favorite FF game, but favorite game period.

Also, Zidane is not nearly the weakest main lead in an FF game. VIII, X, XII, and all XIII games have far weaker leads.

That poster has some bone to pick with FFIX, I've noticed him in other threads, better be left ignored.

Here's one more that not only considers FFIX his favorite Final Fantasy, but also his favorite game, and no other Final Fantasy would probably make top 10.

 

[Arkeband]

You certainly are quick to ascribe views that don't agree with yours as taking "personal offense". But as I've already explained, this isn't about sweeping anything under the rug. It's about identifying what's a big deal and what isn't, and responding accordingly.

If other problems with this port crop up that actually affect my enjoyment of it, I'll be plenty disappointed. And believe me, I don't exactly have complete faith in Square-Enix. Ever since this port was announced, I've been waiting for the other shoe to drop and for some major fuck-up to be revealed.

This is not that shoe. It's a barely noticeable cosmetic flaw that may or may not actually be in the game. It's time to chill out.

Then again, I don't think you're capable of chill.

I'm chill. But do you have an answer for what I just pointed out above? They could have done this to FF7 as well if it really wasn't that big of a deal, but they chose to avoid changing the aspect ratio for what we can only assume is this situation?

It's possible that it won't make it to the full version, but I mean, if it's in the screenshots (the best place for any company, even our darling From Software, to bullshot), I don't see why it wouldn't be in the final build.

And just to add to the pile-on of that dude that claimed FF9 sucks, FF9 is also my personal favorite of the series, which is probably why I identify with people being extra precious about its port job.

 

[Falk]

They could have done this to FF7 as well if it really wasn't that big of a deal, but they chose to avoid changing the aspect ratio for what we can only assume is this situation?

Wait wait wait I think we may have drifted to talking about different things. Aspect ratio change?

ALL the in-game shots actual of IX have a game area of 4:3 with pillarboxing. Only the trailer was edited (or cropped) for 16:9.

 

[Arkeband]

Wait wait wait I think we may have drifted to talking about different things. Aspect ratio change?

ALL the in-game shots actual of IX have a game area of 4:3 with pillarboxing. Only the trailer was edited (or cropped) for 16:9.

Oh, whoops, my bad. Then not aspect ratio, just whatever upscaling they did, which still didn't produce tile seams in FF7.

 

[JudgmentJay]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

Since others are chiming in, I'll say that 9 is my favorite Final Fantasy and my 4th favorite game of all time. Oh, and 8 is the worst game in the series.

 

[MulderYuffie]

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

IX is my fav FF game and is in my top 5 games of all time.

 

[vainglorious]

FF9 is my favorite game in the series. Underneath the character designs of Itahana and Minaba is some of the darkest subject matter explored in this series. The game is literally a giant metaphor for death.

Spoiler tags for those who haven't played the game.

Spoiler

Just a couple of quick examples.

Vivi was created as a weapon of mass destruction but was later adopted by his "grandfather" and groomed from birth for the sole purpose of being EATEN. And as a black mage he has next to no longevity and it's strongly suggested that he passed away by the conclusion of the game.

Kuja is also another instrument of war who struggles with his own mortality. And his inevitable death, combined with his vanity and jealousy drives him mad and causes him to seek the Crystal so that he can snuff out all life.

And all that shit with Terra! The events of the game are literally set in motion by a dead civilization attempting to achieve some semblance of life by assimilating Gaia.

And then at the end of the game Kuja fucking kills everybody and in the space between life and death Zidane and everyone literally confront death incarnate (Zecron) to demonstrate that there is a desire for life to continue and move on.

And it's all done really well. Maybe except for the

Spoiler

Zecron

bit, but only because it's pretty ambiguous and open to some interpretation. But the entire game is literally just death, death, and more death.

And I fucking love it.

 

[afternoon delight]

Wait DX11 required? REQUIRED?

Is that a fucking joke?

 

[AgeEighty]

It's possible that it won't make it to the full version, but I mean, if it's in the screenshots (the best place for any company, even our darling From Software, to bullshot), I don't see why it wouldn't be in the final build.

There's plenty in those screenshots that likely won't be in the final build, like Garnet having long hair in Memoria and the core four characters being in the party in places where they shouldn't. Those shots weren't taken straight out of the running game; they had to have been created using developer tools. Who knows what effect that may have had?

I'm not saying the artifacts won't be there, I just think people are jumping the gun a bit.

 

[Garlador]

Those tiled backgrounds remind me of how ugly FF6 turned out in the mobile version. I doubt FF9 is anybody's favorite (it's the least popular of the PS1 RPGs), but it deserved better treatment than this at least.

Between the poorly upscaled visuals and the awful Zidane being the worst protagonist in the series, I think I'll give this release a hard pass.

Not to dogpile on...

... But, yep, FF9 is my favorite too.

 

[Sesha]

Surprised they are updating the models. It wasn't really necessary but I'm glad they did. Looks great. Shame about the backgrounds.

?

I see people posting 9 in their "top five" frequently enough but I never see it at #1. That spot almost always goes to 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, Tactics or even 12.

Maybe S-E knows this entry isn't as popular and that's why they are putting in the least effort possible.

Post #4 of this very thread. There are also plenty of "best FF" or similar posts both in this thread and in the announcement thread.

 

[Choppasmith]

Screenshot comparison (ePSXe vs PC)

This is a edited pictures with the background "Lost Art"
(ePSXe vs Lost Art vs PS1 240p)

IIRC, I played FFIX on a PS2 on a medium sized TV over composite and one of my biggest problems was making out what characters were supposed to look like (I kept thinking of Amarant as a "Rooster Man", and for the longest time my eyes couldn't make out Freya's face) which really took me out from enjoying the game, it looks like the PC version is a really nice improvement. Too bad that can't be my first experience of the game.

 

[Gaspard]

Wow this is looking like a hot mess.

Hopefully S-E treats the best game in the series, FF8, better than this when it comes time to upscale that one.

Those tiled backgrounds remind me of how ugly FF6 turned out in the mobile version. I doubt FF9 is anybody's favorite (it's the least popular of the PS1 RPGs), but it deserved better treatment than this at least.

Between the poorly upscaled visuals and the awful Zidane being the worst protagonist in the series, I think I'll give this release a hard pass.

Girl bye. You keep giving your tired opinion about FF9's quality based on popularity while shilling for 8, the only mess here is you.

 

[Koozek]

Don't worry, there is a shady shadow cult floating above the mountains of GAF trying their best to bring XV down with all means necessary; they don't want Tabata to win, they don't want to see a Japanese RPG - forged with the finesse of an old katana smith - stomp on RPGs produced in the west and take back the throne to where it originally belongs; ironically, this is also the story of XV

 

[ubique]

I'm with BONKERS on this one. FF9 is my favorite game and I don't think it's "nitpicking" to expect something that looks decent. In some of these shots it's very noticeable, and ugly.

 

[AgeEighty]

This is a edited pictures with the background "Lost Art"
(ePSXe vs Lost Art vs PS1 240p)

One thing that strikes me about the "lost art" images when placed side by side with in-game images is how dramatically the lighting varies between them in some scenes. In many cases it's light map overlays having that impact on the look of the environments, but in other cases the final version is actually darker or lit in a totally different way.

Also, they aren't 1:1 matches for each other. In the overhead shot of the second floor ramp in Alexandria Castle with the checkered floor, the door at the north end of the room changes shape slightly. It doesn't seem to be just aspect ratio warping, because the rest of the scene doesn't stretch the same way.

Interesting stuff that's not as easy to pick out in the lost art thread where the images are shown without context.

It sure would be great if all of that art was rediscovered, and not just a dozen or so select images from one artist.

 

[Deleted member 59090]

Hopefully S-E treats the best game in the series, FF8, better than this when it comes time to upscale that one.

FF8 is already on Steam so its time was 2 years ago.

 

[Slaythe]

Does FF8 have boosters ? I forgot.

Also, that lost art GIF comparison kinda ruined my hype. Why did you do this =( ?

Also the problem with those low res backgrounds, is that in full HD without blur or filtering, it just looks like bad overblown Jpeg. :/

It doesn't look "old school" (it never looked like shitty jpegs on PS1 on your TV), it looks just flat out horrible.

Hopefully we can mod in some filter or something. I'd take scanlines or "painty" effect over shitty Jpeg compression :/ .

 

[Unai]

Does FF8 have boosters ? I forgot.

Also, that lost art GIF comparison kinda ruined my hype. Why did you do this =( ?

Also the problem with those low res backgrounds, is that in full HD without blur or filtering, it just looks like bad overblown Jpeg. :/

It doesn't look "old school" (it never looked like shitty jpegs on PS1 on your TV), it looks just flat out horrible.

Hopefully we can mod in some filter or something. I'd take scanlines or "painty" effect over shitty Jpeg compression :/ .

I remember it at least have a boost that gives you tons of magic right out of the gate.

 

[AgeEighty]

Also the problem with those low res backgrounds, is that in full HD without blur or filtering, it just looks like bad overblown Jpeg. :/

Are you looking at the screenshots from the Steam port or something else? The backgrounds are filtered. They could certainly have done a bit better of a job, but it seems like they at least did a little better than they did with VII and VIII, as the amount of detail loss is a little less severe.