If this game had've been on the PS2

[Jinx]

I've heard it brought up a lot lately that this game would've been better and done more had it been released on the PS2. This point has been dropped quite a bit in the Criticize thread, and I wanted to know:

How would this game have been better/different had it been on the PS2?

[Mirage]

The game's resolution would have been high enough to properly display all the details put into the textures and models, the loading times would have been lower, and the CG videos wouldn't have had such a huge amount of compression. That's about it, I guess.

[Skyblade]

The graphics of FFIX (and, honestly, FFVIII) pushed the PSX beyond its limits. They tried to include too many polygons and too much detail. The system couldn't handle it, and as a result they look pixellated as hell (and, for something so stylized, that's a very bad thing).

Putting on the PS2 would have fixed this trouble. Everything from the locations to the characters would have looked so much better.

Then too, it would have resulted in smoother gameplay and no disc swapping.

[Clo]

I honestly would rather have it on on PSX than the PS2. I liked it's clunkiness. I DUNNO WHY.

[Jinx]

I always wondered if the art style would've had to change. I don't think it'd be the same game if it had been in the style of FFX.

[Aulayna]

Personally I always thought disc swapping was an integral part of the PSX experience - a limitation that they played to their advantage in terms of the story. You had those milestone end of disc moments to aim for - dramatic cliffhanger moments have never been the same since.

Also in all honesty I thought VIII looked a lot worse graphically than IX did - IX was at least stylised in such a way that the graphical constraints of the system weren't as evident. Then again I was playing on a tiny TV back then too so the imperfections of playing on a larger screen were lost on me.

[Quindiana Jones]

It's unlikely that it would've changed. I read that releasing FFIX on the PSX was a conscious decision made for the sake of placing a milestone.

As has been said, the graphics would have been better and it would look a hell of a lot better on modern TVs, plus the lower loading times.

[Mirage]

I always wondered if the art style would've had to change. I don't think it'd be the same game if it had been in the style of FFX.

Art style wouldn't have had to changed. There are plenty of cartoony looking games on PS2 after all. Some of them are RPGs too.

[Wolf Kanno]

It would have probably performed better commercially cause the game was overshadowed by the launch of the PS2 at the time and once a new system gets released it's surprising how quickly companies and their fans abandon it. IX wasn't just the end of FF's stint on the PS1, it was most likely the last major milestone for the system as I can't even fathom anything of interest that came out afterwards.

[Elly]

i would hope that it would have not changed art direction mid production, and stayed with the original character designs as opposed to the messed up art style we got in the final product on the PSX, being that the PS2 was able to handle more graphicly im sure they would have been able to go the original art direction instead of having to dumb down the games art style as bad as they did...

[Rantz]

If it had been on PS2 I would not have acquired it until much, much, later, if at all. Maybe I would have been introduced to the FF series through another entry and not liked it as much. I likely would never have joined these forums. And that would be the greatest tragedy of all.

[Skyblade]

If it had been on PS2 I would not have acquired it until much, much, later, if at all. Maybe I would have been introduced to the FF series through another entry and not liked it as much. I likely would never have joined these forums. And that would be the greatest tragedy of all.

Such a shame that they didn't put it on the PS2. ;)

[BeyondMyPower]

Personally I always thought disc swapping was an integral part of the PSX experience - a limitation that they played to their advantage in terms of the story. You had those milestone end of disc moments to aim for - dramatic cliffhanger moments have never been the same since.


Agreed totally.

I'm just glad that they made this game to PSX.

[blackmage_nuke]

We wouldve been able to visit all the towns and dungeons at the end of the game which mightve added a few more side missions.

[Mirage]

That is likely.

Other than that, I don't really care about disc swaps at all. If you want milestones, I think using chapters in the game's story are just as good at this.

[G13]

I honestly would rather have it on on PSX than the PS2. I liked it's clunkiness. I DUNNO WHY.

This. I don't want what could have been, I'm extremely happy with how it is now.

It's funny that I come across this thread now though. I tried introducing my girlfriend to FF IX just the other day and noticed the graininess of the picture on my tv. It's a new tv to me but it's quite old so I just figured it was an issue with the tv. I've never really noticed how grainy it was before. I must be getting used to my streamlined Xbox graphics.

[Mirage]

Nah man, FF8 looks a lot cleaner on my fancy TV. It's the game. It has too much detail in the textures and trout and the low resolution of the game just can't display it correctly. The only way to do this game justice is to play it on an emulator. Then you'll see all the fantastic details put into the 3D models.

Furthermore, the PS3 play backs PS1 games worse than the PS2 did. PS2 added texture filtering to PS1 games, making textures smoother when close up, and avoided pixel-flickering at distances. The PS3 does no such thing, at most it'll interpolate the low resolution, a function that almost all TVs can do natively anyway.

It is really terrible how they can actually take a step back with a new console that (at the time) cost 600 dollars.

[black orb]

If this game had've been on the PS2
>>> We would be waiting for FF IX HD instead of X right now..:luca:

[Mirage]

Yes, as long as they didn't use pre-rendered backgrounds for it on PS2.

[silentenigma]

I don't know how IX would be itself, but I do know that if it was the first FF on the PS2, then RPGs would probably be quite different today...

[Rostum]

I honestly would rather have it on on PSX than the PS2. I liked it's clunkiness. I DUNNO WHY.

This. I don't want what could have been, I'm extremely happy with how it is now.

This!

[Loony BoB]

You could easily argue "it would have been better on the next generation console" about any game ever.

[Mirage]

Of course you could. The point is that some games would benefit more from it than others. FF9 is such a game.