Final Fantasy 9 fan remake looks great, but you’ll never play it

50 developers and artists have come together to imagine what a Final Fantasy 9 remake might look like

The lid has been lifted on Final Fantasy IX: Memoria Project, a fan remake of Final Fantasy 9 that combines the efforts of over 50 developers and artists. The project was shown off with a 25-minute video, and it looks absolutely stunning.

The video shows off a gorgeously reconstructed Alexandria, with the ‘player’ taking control of Vivi Ornitier, the game’s adorable and mysterious black mage. It’s a familiar scene for Final Fantasy 9 fans, and even includes the absolutely infuriating jump rope minigame that sparked so much frustration back in 2000 when the original game first released.

Every detail, from the environment and characters to the music, has been lovingly remade by fans, and it all comes together to create a glorious look at what would be if Square Enix decided to remake the game — something that’s been rumored for quite some time.

A Final Fantasy 9 remake was included in the list of games leaked in a huge Nvidia GeForce Now leak a few years back. A number of games on that list, such as God of War, have come to PC since then, and unannounced games on the list like Resident Evil 4 Remake have since been announced and released.

Rumors have swirled since then, with industry figures like Jeff Grubb saying that the remake is “real and happening” in a recent podcast. While Square Enix have yet to announce anything, there’s certainly a lot of people very sure a remake is on the way.

Unfortunately for those who watched the Memoria Project and liked what they saw, you’ll never get to play that game. It’s not even a game, it’s more of a tech demo, an idea of what a remake could potentially look like.

The video starts off with a warning that the project will never be playable or released, and the project’s website makes that even clearer with the following statement:

Final Fantasy IX: Memoria Project is a non-playable passion project led by a team of professional developers and artists in the video game industry that aims to reimagine what the legendary game would look like if it was remade with modern graphical capabilities.

Final Fantasy IX is near and dear to our hearts, and this non-profit love letter is being created as a tribute to the masterpiece that is the 2000 original. We hope you enjoy our take and re-experience that whimsical charm that made the world of Gaia so captivating.

If Square Enix’s rumored Final Fantasy 9 remake is real, it certainly has big shoes to fill after this. With any luck, we’ll see some exciting stuff from Square Enix tonight, during the Summer Game Fest 2023 presentation. If not, don’t worry — Final Fantasy 16 is just around the corner, and Square seems to be ramping up its marketing for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth.