It has been almost three decades since Final Fantasy IX launched for PlayStation, but, despite this, it is still regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. Marking the ninth installment in Square Enix’s Final Fantasy franchise, Final Fantasy IX follows the story of Zidane Tribal, a thief who is tasked with kidnapping Princess Garnet Til Alexandros XVII by a neighboring nation now that the lands are at war with each other. However, it is not long before the unlikely duo team up to overthrow Garnet’s mother, Queen Brahne of Alexandria, after discovering that it was her that started the bloody war.
A Revolutionary Experience
Introducing brand-new features such as “Active Time Event” cutscenes, “Mognet”, and skill systems, Final Fantasy IX was considered revolutionary for the RPG genre at the time, and has served as a major inspiration for not just future FF installments, but also the gaming industry as a whole.
Due to its success, a remastered version featuring minor gameplay and graphical enhancements was released back in 2016 and in even more exciting news, Final Fantasy IX is set to receive an animated series adaptation courtesy of a collaboration between Square Enix and Cyber Group Studios. Although a release date has not yet been announced.
However, that is not all, as Final Fantasy IX is still home to a dedicated modding community who have turned the 2000 title into something of a modern-day release. One such example is Memoria, a PC mod created by Albeoris and fellow contributors and was uploaded to Nexus Mods for the first time back in 2017, following the launch of the remastered version of the game.
Receiving updates as recently as 2024, however, it is safe to say that this mod will become the ultimate download for Final Fantasy IX fans.
Bringing the Classic Up To Modern Standards
Square EnixAs the official mod description reads: “Memoria Engine is a community rewrite of Final Fantasy IX‘s game engine that aims to add features, fix bugs and expand mod-making capabilities (adding content, localizing…). Memoria includes a built-in Mod manager, bugfixes and optional improvements (camera, frame rate, audio, controller, UI, options, cheats…) while supporting third-party mods.”
Put simply, it improves every aspect of Final Fantasy IX‘s performance without changing the core values of the game that we all know and love. As such, it features changes to UI, optional cheats, changes to ability mechanics, and much more. However, its main features are as follows:
- New launcher with easy options (for not included options: Memoria.ini)
- Mod Manager/downloader
- Widescreen (for all resolutions)
- Higher framerate (60fps+)
- Camera stabilizer (configurable)
- Font change (includes original PSX font)
- Smooth camera movement & texture scrolling
- Anti-aliasing & Improved layer rendering
- Many, many bugfixes
Better yet, Memoria for Final Fantasy IX is completely free to download for those who own the game on PC. So, if it has been quite some time since you experienced the 2000 classic, look no further than this incredible mod that already boasts over 37,000 downloads.
- Released
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July 7, 2000
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Violence, Mild Language
- Developer(s)
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Square Enix
- Publisher(s)
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Square Enix
- Engine
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Unity
- Multiplayer
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Local Multiplayer
