Many Final Fantasy fans have fond memories of Final Fantasy 9. In fact, many consider it the best game in the franchise, and technically, it is. The game currently holds a 94% score on Metacritic, two points above Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. But, unlike Final Fantasy 7, the ninth entry in the series didn’t blow up as big so it hasn’t gotten as much attention as Cloud Strife and co until in recent years.
After the re-release of FF9 in 2016 on several modern platforms, calls for Square Enix to give the game a more lavish remake treatment have slowly gotten louder and fans found their wishes validated when the Nvidia Geforce Now leak confirmed that the Japanese giant was actually listening.
Now it appears Square Enix is preparing something as FF9 celebrates its 24th birthday in July.
Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida held a special live-streamed presentation from PAX East over the weekend where he revealed Dawntrail’s Collector’s Edition. However, what stood out was the digital bonuses referencing FF9. In particular, the presentation shows that FF9‘s Ark summon will make its way to Final Fantasy 14 as a mount while wind-up minions of Princess Garnet (also known as Dagger) and Zidane as well as a chocobo brush for the incoming Pictomancer class are going to be available as well.
Most would think nothing of this outside of the usual crossover until Yoshi-P hinted at a bigger collaboration. “You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here,” said the fan-favorite Creative Business Unit 3 head with a smirk, “but the reason is a secret.”
The worst-case scenario is these are the only crossovers Square has planned between FF9 and FF14 but who knows? FF9 features its fair share of bonkers enemies, including a trio of interesting hidden bosses that can only be unlocked after jumping through many hoops: an HP sponge that looks like a party member, an alien planet-like monstrocity, or a secret shop owner that doubles as an impossibly difficult encounter. Plus, with the quintessential Black Mage design, a winged castle, and a clown makeup-wearing queen, FF9 is rife for crossover opportunities.
In an ideal world, Square Enix will announce the FF9 Remake in July before releasing it a year later in time for the game’s 25th anniversary. At the very least, this would tide fans over until Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 comes out in 2027.
For now, the only confirmed crossover is with Final Fantasy 16 on April 2.
