Developer: Squaresoft/Silicon Studio Thailand
Price (on Steam): $20.99/20.99/£15.99
Release: Out now (finally)
Platforms: Steam, iOS, Android
Achievements
No longer doomed to be lost in oblivion, Final Fantasy IX at last gets a PC release after a wait of only 16 years. One of the best-loved games in the series, FFIX eschews the futuristic aesthetic seen in the previous PSX entries in favour of a medieval world of airships and castles. The light-hearted tone only adds to the charm of the world and its inhabitants, without stopping the story from getting serious at times. It has a memorable and varied cast of characters, each with their own abilities and strengths in battle. In-depth minigames such as Chocobo Hot & Cold and Tetra Master mean there's plenty to do when you're tired of battling monsters.
Zidane is a member of the Tantalus Theater Troupe, who are travelling to Alexandria to perform the popular play, 'I Want to be Your Canary'. But the performance is actually a ruse to achieve their real objective of kidnapping Queen Brahne... err, Princess Garnet. Meanwhile, a young boy named Vivi is sneaking into the castle to see the play. Needless to say, the abduction does not quite go to plan, and pretty soon they all end up on the run and lost in the forest, thus beginning an epic journey of adventure, heartbreak and discovering what it means to live.
Updated character models!
Old
New
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New
High resolution cutscenes!
Speed boosting features!Old
New
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New
Skippable cutscenes
Auto-battle (J/RT during battle)
Disable pre-battle fly-bys (found in Config menu)
High speed mode (5x all movement speeds, both in and out of battle) (F1/RB on pause menu)
Always full ATB/Trance/HP/MP (F2/LB on pause menu)
9999 damage (F3/LT on pause menu)
No random encounters (F4/RT on pause menu)
Master abilities (equipping an item automatically unlocks its abilities permanently) (F5/in Config menu)
Level and magic stone max (F6/in Config menu)
Gil max (F7/in Config menu)
Original music!
Thankfully, the music hasn't been replaced with knockoff midi versions this time. Here are a few samples of the soundtrack's greatness:
Swords of Fury
Over the Hill
Zidane's Theme
Something to Protect
Why does Zidane keep running to the right without pressing anything?
You'll need to unplug the controller and plug it in after starting the game.
How does the autosave work?
It seems to save on every screen transition. This is separate from the standard save system, which means that if you use a save point, using the Continue option will actually return you to where you entered the screen before you use it. You'd have to use the Load Game option to actually load the save you made.
How can I adjust the speed of the battles?
Byvar has made some mods that allow you to either slow down the high-speed mode, or speed up the default mode. You can download them here.