The best version available
Without exaggeration this is the finest traditional rpg in existence. Gripping story, unforgettable characters—Vivi may be the greatest, if not most adorable, video game protagonist of all time—and is a masterclass in storytelling and game design. Its hilarious, heartbreaking, beautiful, and fun as hell.
The 3D characters, battle environments, and animated cutscenes have all gotten a nice face-lift and feel right at home in 2016.
The hand drawn backgrounds, however? They were really something to behold on our old low-resolution tvs but suffer tremendously when blown up 4x their original size to fill a Retina display. Square lazily applied some antialiasing leaving the backgrounds feeling muddy and blurry, and its jarring to see them behind such beautifully sharp 3D character models. At times it feels almost as if theyre walking on top of the world rather than being in it.
Still. Dont let that dissuade you from playing—this game is a masterpiece, even by todays standards. And fortunately/unfortunately this is the best version of the game available to play (its essentially the Steam version). Aside from emulating the original psx game and constantly adjusting the settings for each different background, this is best FF9 experience that can be bad.
Im looking forward to a remaster some day—or a de-mastered 16-bit version, if a guy can dream—because Ive seen the original painted backgrounds and they are stunningly detailed and deserve to be seen. But until then, its easy to throw down $20 to have this 40+hr adventure of perfection in your pocket.
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FINAL FANTASY Ⅸ, v1.3.5