A surprisingly detailed rumor has surfaced about the yet-to-be-announced Final Fantasy IX Remake, which has been rumored for years in a GeForce Now leak.

According to the person posting on Reddit, his friend works as an associate editor for a major US publication. A colleague of his told him the details, which came from an insider, and he doesn’t know how much of it is true, so it’s possible that either his colleague or the leaker lied about it…

Allegedly, Final Fantasy IX Remake is coming to the PlayStation 5 and the Nintendo Switch 2. It was originally slated for a 2025 release for the 25th anniversary, but may have been pushed to 2026. No word on Xbox for now, but it’s likely due to Square’s improved relationship with Microsoft. A PlayStation 4 version was considered, but it is unknown if it was canceled or not. It’s being developed by a third party, with Square overseeing it very closely, with a few developers helping out. It’s not entirely clear who, but it seems likely that it’s Tose (World of Final Fantasy, Crisis Core Reunion). It won’t be split into parts. There will be no major changes to the story, just expanded for additional character development, etc. The art style will be very colorful and almost Pixar-like to stay true to the deformed look of the characters from the original game. However, it won’t be so cartoony that it distracts from the serious undertones of the story.

The world map will be open, but each individual town or dungeon will be a self-contained area, just like the original and classic Final Fantasy titles. Turn-based gameplay will return. It will be much more flashy, similar to recent Persona/SMT titles, with multiple commands being performed in a turn when certain conditions are met. ATB will be faster, probably like Final Fantasy X-2. Many new mechanics have been added to keep it fresh and interesting. The trance mechanic has been improved. Players have the option to automatically trance like in the original or manually activate it. There is also an option to de-trance. When in trance, the character is more powerful and has access to trance-exclusive abilities, but the ATB is much slower, which is why the de-trance option exists. It’s also something that can be leveled up, which grants new abilities. There are even some normal abilities that can only be obtained by leveling up Trance.

This is all unofficial, but it sounds exciting…

Source: Reddit