Since its initial release twenty years ago,Final Fantasy 9has remained one of the series' most highly regarded titles. As the game’s PC port continues to receive highly positive reviews on Steam, developerSquare Enix has teased a return toFinal Fantasy 9’s story in future games. However, until the developer is ready to move forward with these plans, fans are turning to mods to enhance their experiences.
One of themost popularFinal Fantasy 9modsis the Moguri mod, which improves the game’s graphic resolution without compromising its original aesthetic. After releasing a major update in May that updated the game’s UI, the popular mod’s developers have released another major patch.
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According to the 8.2 update’s trailer and patch notes, this patch introduces a new launcher for the Moguri mod, and makes itcompatible withFinal Fantasy 9again after its latest Steam update.Outside of improving the sound quality, the modders also debugged audio issues with the game’s orchestral music loops and patched bugs in the endgame’s score.
After improving the synchronization between audio and video, they also patched glitches where the game will cut too soon or crash during the airship segment. The Moguri developers have not only managed to makeFinal Fantasy 9’s backgroundsalmost fully widescreen, but also removed a number of visual inconsistencies and unfinished upscales. Most notably, the documentation finished off by noting a set of bug fixes and linking to a full list of 145 visual changes.
As for the Moguri mod trailer, it compares the original 2016Final Fantasy 9port’s graphics to the enhanced remaster’s. As character sprites sharpen and backgrounds expand, the trailer reveals several statistics and facts about the mod, explaining that an AI upscaled the game, and that the creators manually redrew 11,000 layers. In the time since this mod’s debut, 210 area texts have been recreated, and the game runs at 30 frames per second. Fan reception to the trailer also reflects the positive sentiment surrounding the Moguri mod. In the comments, many responses praised the UI improvements and the developer’s quick response to Square Enix’s latest Steam update, which rendered the mod unusable.
AlthoughFinal Fantasy 9’s Moguri mod does not offerthe photorealistic upgrades that other remasters offer,it still successfully upgrades the experience. Unfortunately, because the game has already seen several re-releases and ports, an official remaster is unlikely until further notice. However, old and new fans looking to celebrate the game’s twentieth anniversary should be able to enjoy the new HD textures, world and battlemaps.
Final Fantasy 9is available now on Mobile, PC, PS1, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
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