well IX was more of a tribute to the S/NES & PSX(PSone) generations of FF anyway, so naturaly it drew from all the past titles prior to it... basicaly one final game for the whiny old-school elitist that complained endlessly about how futuristic styles like VII & VIII were destroying the franchise, though honestly VII was more of a different spin on steam-punk than being futuristic... though it did turn out to be a decent game (despite it's many flaws) that turned a lot of people onto the series, and hopefully by knowing it's a tribute they will seek out the inspirations from the previous titles it drew from... anyway designing landmasses can't be that hard considering Maxis has made a game engine that allows people at home to create any landmass they want in a little game called SimCity4...