➤ Final Fantasy IX, review 🎮

The release of Final Fantasy VII on iOS and Android was part of a context that also included the revival on Steam, much publicized and for the impact that the game had at the time of the original release, and as a viaticum for the upcoming remake on PlayStation 4; Final Fantasy IX instead arrived almost silently, without fanfare, and although a PC version is scheduled for these months, it is very likely that mobile development was the priority this time, for a whole series of improvements compared to Final Fantasy VII that we are going to analyze. We still notice the presence of some big problems, but perhaps, slowly, Square Enix is becoming familiar with the mobile scene. But let's go in order.

Our opinion on the mobile version of Final Fantasy IX, a milestone of JRPG!

The original is never forgotten ...

What place the ninth episode has in a ranking of the most beautiful Final Fantasy, is still today, 16 years after its release, the subject of debate. Final Fantasy IX was born as a spin off of the saga after the Sakaguchi / Minaba / Uematsu trio, the first two in particular, had been somewhat overshadowed by the resounding success of Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VIII, which yes, they had cleared the JRPG all over the world but they had also, stylistically above all, given way to that deviation of which today we see the full and controversial fruits.

Then it re-entered the regular numbering, and this can be seen, in hindsight, as a celebration, a closing of a glorious phase before finally venturing into unknown territories. In any case, the story of Gidan, Garnet and Vivi, told in fairytale, magical and adventurous tones (which at the time someone mistakenly mistaken for childishness) cannot leave indifferent even today, especially if you can see the reflection under the surface. profound on the search for one's own identity and one's place in the world which is its true juice. From the point of view of the gameplay, however, in reality the two previous episodes had not broken with the past at all, and Final Fantasy IX is in the same vein, perhaps representing the sum of everything that was there before: from the Active Time Battle to the "classes" (sometimes explicit, others not but always somehow present) of the characters, from the system of skills related to equipment to Trance Mode, up to the digressions with the Chocobos who do the treasure hunt and the Tetra Master, everything in Final Fantasy IX is painstakingly studied and achieves a remarkable balance making the gameplay a boost to involvement like the story. And of the presentation: a Minaba and a Uematsu in dazzling form celebrate the saga that owes so much to them in a perhaps unrepeatable, imaginative and poetic way, childish and adult just when it has to be, without artificially pushing on one side or the other only for "box" reasons.

... but every conversion is different

How has all this well of Square been ported to iOS and Android? With ups and downs. From the graphic point of view, the polygonal models stand out, as well as the characters and the backdrops of the battles. All of them have been retouched bringing up the polygonal detail but above all the cleanliness and definition of the textures, especially as regards the protagonists: Zidane and his companions are vibrant, their wonderful expressions and animations are perfectly visible and put on a show even on the smallest screens.

"Stand out", however, is just the right word, because in contrast to the bitmap backgrounds, which at the time caused a sensation, a bit of filtering was just donated and you want for the compression used to keep the download at human levels, you above all want to for the contrast with the splendid models, the effect is really hard to swallow and is also reflected on the gameplay, resulting in some important elements too small and not very visible, especially on smaller devices. After mentioning that even wonderful music suffers a little, but you have to have a really good ear to notice compression, let's move on to the other crucial point of every conversion for mobile: the control system. Fortunately abandoned the horrible contraption of Final Fantasy VII, here we resorted to the classic virtual stick more context-sensitive button: it is certainly a wise decision, which considerably lightens the field of view and makes everything much more practical, although it still has to manage the own intrinsic limits but we can't blame the developers for that. It is also possible to indicate to the character the place to go as a graphic adventure, but this solution collides with the lack of clarity of the backdrops, as well as using a controller: at the moment there are some compatibility problems, certainly solvable with an update. For the rest, the interface has been completely redesigned for touch control: not the best of visions, but practical and immediate, and in general you have the feeling of being in front of a title finally designed for mobile, with all the pros and cons that this entails. Last hints to some problems in the transition between the various screens, especially at the beginning of the various FMVs, and to the translation into Spanish which has remained the same as the original: at the time he did discuss for the use of dialects, but in any case it was curated by people who knew about it, just think of the very tasty Zon & Son curtains.

Comment

Tested version Android Digital Delivery App Store, Google Play Price 20,99 € Resources4Gaming.com

7.8

Readers (17)

8.3

Your vote

You will have understood between the lines that who writes Final Fantasy IX really likes it and it is impossible not to recommend it to anyone as a game in itself. The conversion for mobile then clearly suggests that Square Enix has noticed the collapse it has made with Final Fantasy VII and has run for cover by dedicating time and attention to it: not everything is perfect and we still have to do some work, but some compromises will remain. always for this type of conversions. There remains the problem of price. 17 Euros (which will become 21 once the promotion is over), much more than the average, are they acceptable for such an experience considering the age and criticalities of the game on mobile? Maybe still yes, but Final Fantasy IX is available on PlayStation Store, and therefore playable on PlayStation Vita and PSP, at a much lower price, in its original version therefore without graphic improvements but also with a certainly more natural control system. At a lower price it would certainly be worth it, so do your evaluations carefully instead.