Final Fantasy 9 Remake teased by FF14 director, and he’s loving it

The upcoming Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail expansion is filled to the brim with references to Final Fantasy 9, one of the best games in the series. With fans’ interest thoroughly piqued, will the team explain the reason behind these references? No. No, they won’t.

Speaking at a PAX East panel, where he revealed the upcoming expansion is delayed so he can play Elden Ring’s DLC, game director Yoshi-P teased FF9 fans begging for news following the new references.

"You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here… And the reason is a secret," Naoki "Yoshi-P" Yoshida teased fans.

Alongside quest references to the final PlayStation One FF game, Dawntrail’s pre-orders include direct content inspired by the game. Pre-ordering the expansion gives players a Wind-Up Zidane minion and Collector’s Edition owners get a Wind-Up Garnet Minion.

Of course, fans have immediately taken these references as proof that the long-leaked Final Fantasy 9 Remake project is finally happening. While not a full AAA blockbuster revival like the ongoing Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy — read our Rebirth review here — the remake is expected to be a prettier turn-based affair for modern consoles.

First leaked two years ago, the Final Fantasy 9 Remake was included in a list of titles that have since been released. This leak included the just-released Dragon’s Dogma 2, Payday 3, Chrono Cross Remastered and PC ports of multiple PlayStation exclusives. While not all leaked games have been officially released or announced, such as Gears of War 6 and BioShock RTX, the colossal leak is remarkably accurate.

A Final Fantasy 9 Remake that doesn’t scrap the pristine turn-based combat of the original would be an amazing addition to the series. If it can match the original game’s almost toybox aesthetic — maybe something similar to Nintendo’s Link’s Awakening remake — then it would be an awesome remake indeed.

With Square Enix claiming a remake of Final Fantasy 6 would take 20 years to make, and staff turning down the opportunity to remake Final Fantasy 8, the upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Remake finale in 2028 may be the last full reimagining we see in this style. With the seventh game in the series being the general favourite of the gaming landscape, that’s not too surprising.