• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Final Fantasy IX (PS4) |OT| The Place I'll Return To Someday

Are there any noticeable problems/negatives compared to the PS1 version?
I have the PAL PSN version, and I only played up to the
Ice Cave
, and that was when it launched on there back in 2010 was it?

The load times before battles was unbearable. Like, in the time is taken me to write this post, a battle would still be loading up on that version.
 

FinalAres

Member
Are there any noticeable problems/negatives compared to the PS1 version?
I have the PAL PSN version, and I only played up to the
Ice Cave
, and that was when it launched on there back in 2010 was it?

The load times before battles was unbearable. Like, in the time is taken me to write this post, a battle would still be loading up on that version.

You may know this (in fact maybe that's why you brought this up) but you can switch off opening animations in this version :)
 

legacyzero

Banned
My least favorite of the 3 PSX FFs. And strangely I don't even dislike the game. Like... at all. The other two set such a high bar, and IX clearly meets that. Just not as high as the other two. IX certainly has a better character management system han VIII did. Junction was a goddamn mess.

I might just buy this.
 

Meowster

Member
Just bought and downloaded the game.. I wish I could say I could go in and do the platinum but three trophies scare me too damn much. I may still try anyways but we will see.
 

Magnus

Member
I feel like an idiot for buying this on both mobile and Steam/PC at a high price and barely playing them. Now I want to play it on PS4 for ease of control and (hopefully) a better UI.

Can anyone comment on how this version stacks up?
 

sotojuan

Member
I feel like an idiot for buying this on both mobile and Steam/PC at a high price and barely playing them. Now I want to play it on PS4 for ease of control and (hopefully) a better UI.

Can anyone comment on how this version stacks up?

Read the rest of the thread. It's the exact same as the Steam version. If you have that, you're buying the same thing twice and with no mod support.
 
I feel like an idiot for buying this on both mobile and Steam/PC at a high price and barely playing them. Now I want to play it on PS4 for ease of control and (hopefully) a better UI.

Can anyone comment on how this version stacks up?

Have not played it but the videos on Youtube seem to show it is a straight port of the mobile/Steam version? That means the UI looks the same as that.
 

Magnus

Member
Read the rest of the thread. It's the exact same as the Steam version. If you have that, you're buying the same thing twice and with no mod support.

I usually do. Sorry was in a rush today.

Have not played it but the videos on Youtube seem to show it is a straight port of the mobile/Steam version? That means the UI looks the same as that.

Ugh, awful. Oh well. I guess I'll stick to PC then since the mod support was supposed to be awesome for speeding up gameplay at an appropriate level. Thanks all!
 

Necron

Member
The greatest Final Fantasy game of all time.

How true... I wish that SE would try something similar one day.

The music, charm and design was just perfection back then. Haven't played anything similar where I felt so involved and fascinated by, except for maybe Bloodborne. Such titles truly are memorable whereas so much of what I play is easily forgotten. The game has a lot to do with the subject matter of
death and memories
under its charming surface, something I was surprised by initially.

I'll try out this version. Don't like the font choice at all, though.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
How true... I wish that SE would try something similar one day.

The music, charm and design was just perfection back then. Haven't played anything similar where I felt so involved and fascinated by, except for maybe Bloodborne. Such titles truly are memorable whereas so much of what I play is easily forgotten. The game has a lot to do with the subject matter of
death and memories
under its charming surface, something I was surprised by initially.

I'll try out this version. Don't like the font choice at all, though.

This is an odd request, I know... but as someone whom adores FFIX, and has said the EXACT SAME THING about Bloodborne... what are some of your other favorite games?
 

Jcgamer60

Member
Being this my favourite Final Fantasy I am disappointed to hear that this is plagued by issues such as: Music looping bug, inability to change the grey bars, as well as analogue control complaints I’ve read.

Seems like purchasing this on PC is the better investment.
 
You may know this (in fact maybe that's why you brought this up) but you can switch off opening animations in this version :)

No, I wasn't aware. That's pretty cool.
I actually don't mind the battle start animations on FF games, especially when they use the traditional dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun music as it fades in, but the PAL version was atrocious.
 

Shanaynay

Member
Yay an OT!

Bought the game yesterday, i've yet to start it but i look forward to begin in the near future. Also, looks like some people got the 1000 jumps without a miss trophy, i mean at least you can get rid of it super early...you just need the patience for it.
 
Being this my favourite Final Fantasy I am disappointed to hear that this is plagued by issues such as: Music looping bug, inability to change the grey bars, as well as analogue control complaints I’ve read.

Seems like purchasing this on PC is the better investment.

PC version seems to have most of these same issues, unfortunately. Grey bars are removable via mods, but the music looping and analog controls have yet to be fixed as far as I know.
 

Egida

Neo Member
My favourite Final Fantasy, one of the games that made me fall in love with this hobby.

It's a pity that this port is such a lazy cash-grab. Maybe I will pick it up when is very, very cheap.
 
Bought but I will play tomorrow (a bit sick - flu). It will be the first time I will replay the game after I have finished it on ps1. I always said that FFIX is my favorite in the series and it will be interesting to see how I will feel after finishing it again.
 

Neith

Banned
Read the rest of the thread. It's the exact same as the Steam version. If you have that, you're buying the same thing twice and with no mod support.

Well that's a no for me. The background are trash tier still, and there doesn't seem anything to be done about it. Even the mods are not really all that great here. I'll pass until it's on a huge sale on Steam. Likely never.

I really can't be bothered to be honest. The three PS1 main FF's just do not hold up in any meaningful way to me anymore.
 
These backgrounds are completely unacceptable!

NMWDPzX.jpg


How can ya'll go to bat for this game? It looks so poor...
 

finalflame

Banned
These backgrounds are completely unacceptable!

NMWDPzX.jpg


How can ya'll go to bat for this game? It looks so poor...

The backgrounds have not and cannot be remastered, and people's attempts to do so have all mostly made them look worse than originally. It's a PS1 game made to be played on an interlaced CRT, what'd you expect?
 

sotojuan

Member
There's only one option left:

remake the game!

Yeah, SE will make it Open World™ Action RPG™... iOS/Android only :)

No need for a full remake. Just redraw the backgrounds in HD, keep the PSOne menu UI and font but in HD, make ATB a bit faster and boom - perfect.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
He pisses off a ledge with Zidane at one point so he must have an organ of some description

Maybe he's just scared stiff and watching Zidanne piss in the wind.

The backgrounds have not and cannot be remastered, and people's attempts to do so have all mostly made them look worse than originally. It's a PS1 game made to be played on an interlaced CRT, what'd you expect?

The "waifu" filter efforts on the PC version are somewhat decent. About the best that can be done with these ancient 240p background image files.
 

Brandon F

Well congratulations! You got yourself caught!
These backgrounds are completely unacceptable!

NMWDPzX.jpg


How can ya'll go to bat for this game? It looks so poor...

I thought I had read that the original masters for the backdrops no longer exist, so there is no easy way to remaster them from a higher resolution source.
 

AgeEighty

Member
The complaints I'm reading about the game's ending are mind boggling.

It had by far the most satisfying, complete ending of any of the PSX/PS2 era titles; it wrapped up the story nicely, wasn't vague like some of the others, contained bittersweet elements but still allowed many of the characters to be happy at the end. That final FMV still makes me tear up.

These backgrounds are completely unacceptable!

How can ya'll go to bat for this game? It looks so poor...

We go over this in every single thread about this game. The original assets no longer exist. They did apply filters to the backgrounds, but they are static images that were downsampled to sub-SD resolution for the original game. There's only so much they can do, and the "solutions" people have come up with via other filters like waifu2x are arguably worse.
 

firelogic

Member
The complaints I'm reading about the game's ending are mind boggling.

It had by far the most satisfying, complete ending of any of the PSX/PS2 era titles; it wrapped up the story nicely, wasn't vague like some of the others, contained bittersweet elements but still allowed many of the characters to be happy at the end. That final FMV still makes me tear up.



We go over this in every single thread about this game. The original assets no longer exist. They did apply filters to the backgrounds, but they are static images that were downsampled to sub-SD resolution for the original game. There's only so much they can do, and the "solutions" people have come up with via other filters like waifu2x are arguably worse.

Knowing the reason why it looks the way it does doesn't preclude people from (rightly) complaining that it looks terrible.
 

Arkeband

Banned
Knowing the reason why it looks the way it does doesn't preclude people from (rightly) complaining that it looks terrible.

And Square Enix could simply redraw them as close as they could to the originals. If they're already redoing character models, then they've broken the sanctity of leaving assets intact, so they might as well refresh the backgrounds.

Also, not all of them were lost:
http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=551612
 

Necron

Member
This is an odd request, I know... but as someone whom adores FFIX, and has said the EXACT SAME THING about Bloodborne... what are some of your other favorite games?

Took awhile to think about and breaking it down how I feel about listing favourites. There are very few I would consider the same way I do those mentioned. I guess some would put FF VII and Demon's Souls in their place (both I love as well for different reasons and which were also undeniably more innovative and influential at the time).
I mean, I love Shadow of the Colossus, Majora's Mask, Resident Evil 4, Mass Effect 2, The Curse of Monkey Island, BioShock, Metal Gear Solid 3, Portal, Metroid Prime, Red Dead Redemption, Life is Strange, Witcher 3, Deus Ex and The Last of Us yet I still wouldn't put any of them in my all-time favourite three or five. I know that they're great and each one does something specific which I really like (or liked at the time).

However, I think my "real favourites" are reserved for titles which I feel some deep connection with, similar to a piece of music which you'll always look back on only with fond memory (even when you're not hearing it). To me, these are what Final Fantasy IX, Bloodborne and Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus represent. I believe these are what truly made (and still make) me interested in the medium itself.


This shall be my fourth full-playthrough of FF IX (if I indeed find the time to complete it); once on a PS1, once on a PS2, one time with my girlfriend back then on a PS3 (still with the original discs) and now finally on a PS4 in this new version.


Such a great thread and my favourite from Mama Robotnik. His Legacy of Kain thread is obviously great as well.
 

brainslug

Member
Is the jump rope minigame somehow harder than before? On the PS version, I had no problem at all getting 100-200 jumps (I think my highest was somewhere around 300). Now, I struggle getting 50+. I just can't keep the rhythm after 50, the best I've gotten is 74. RIP Platinum, no way I'll ever get 1000 if I struggle this much even getting 100. D:

Maybe I'm just getting old...

EDIT: Ah, of course - input lag. That would explain why it feels so much harder on this version.
 

Matski

Neo Member
I thought I had read that the original masters for the backdrops no longer exist, so there is no easy way to remaster them from a higher resolution source.
IIRC, it was typical practice by Squaresoft in the 90's/early 00s to junk most of the individual assets to a game once it was completed. Most of the pre-rendered background material for all three PSX FF games were amongst the assets destroyed. Such typcially shortsightedness by the company if true, such a shame...
 

deanote666

Member
I never noticed the sound glitch in FFVII so it shouldn't be that big of a deal...

So it's too big of a project to redo the backgrounds for an 18 year old game now adays since they lost the originals?

I remember putting the PS1 classic version on my TV via my PS3 and you could barely tell what was on the screen! lol.
 

Yarbskoo

Member
So it's too big of a project to redo the backgrounds for an 18 year old game now adays since they lost the originals?

Gaf tells me the only way to remake PS1 RPGs is to rebuild everything from the ground up and make it an action game and release it as a miniseries where every episode is a full priced game.
 
Top Bottom