Over the past year, there have been several rumours from normally quite credible sources (example 1, 2 and 3) that Square Enix is currently working on a remake of Final Fantasy IX. However, these are just rumours for now, and if we are to believe Final Fantasy XIV and XVI producer Naoki Yoshida, there are several problems with such a project.
The biggest one is that, according to him, it is almost impossible to make such a remake and have it be just a single game. The PlayStation original is simply too vast with so much environmental variation that it would be unreasonably expensive and complicated to build everything by today’s standards. To Video Games, Yoshida says:
“Of course, I do know there are requests for Final Fantasy 9 to be made, but when you think about Final Fantasy 9, it’s a game with huge volume. When you think about all of that volume, I wonder if it’s possible to remake that as a single title. It’s a difficult one. It is a tough question.”
What do you think, should Square Enix do a remake of Final Fantasy IX even if it would mean splitting it into several parts, or would it be better if they lowered their ambitions and did a more limited remake instead?