Final Fantasy 9's Official Return Leaves Gamers With One Complaint

2 weeks ago 24

Steiner, Dagger, and Zidane making determined faces as Dagger grips the wheel of the airship in a cutscene from Final Fantasy 9.

Published Jun 2, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT

Austin King is the Senior Editor of Gaming at ScreenRant and has been with the site since 2020 with a focus on RPGs and tabletop games. He previously managed content for Geek to Geek Media, and has served as a writer for sites like Nintendad, Geek Fitness, and more.

In addition to his work at ScreenRant, he also hosts the Dragon Quest FM podcast and is the author of several books, including co-writing Nimbus (a #1 bestseller in 2013). His latest is the nonfiction The Dragon Quest Book, available now.

He's written about pop culture, video games, and genre studies over the course of his career. You can find him on BlueSky, X, and at Dragonquestaustin.com

Despite plenty of rumors regarding a remake for Final Fantasy 9, many fans are still waiting to see if that NVIDIA leak comes to fruition. In the meantime, FF9 has gotten numerous official releases, mostly tied to the game's 25th anniversary. This includes a new Vivi picture book that's a prequel to the critically-acclaimed RPG, but its release has caused some fans to voice their concerns over one perceived downside of FF9 getting so much love.

"FF9 getting a sequel and prequel, but no love for FF8," reads the post on Reddit. "FF9 is getting a book prequel and animated sequel but nothing for FF8?"

Final Fantasy 9: The Black Mage's Legacy is an upcoming animated series that will be a sequel following the events of the game. It's targeting a 2028 release. Meanwhile, the Vivi picture book, called Final Fantasy IX Picture Book: Vivi and Grandpa's Memories of the Sky, is out now and shows events leading up to Vivi's arrival in Alexandria at the beginning of FF9.

While that's great news, it's still left a void for FF8 content. "I agree," commented one user on Reddit in the thread. "It’s perfectly imperfect."

"Yea, FF8 my absolute favorite Final Fantasy by far," wrote another. It seems like numerous people agree, with one writing, "8 is my favorite too. A remake with all the time shenanigans they gave FF7 would have been much better."

FF8 Remastered GF Location Abilities Bahamut Doomtrain

Admittedly, it does feel like FF8 gets less attention. It's a fine game, but its story is often cited for being confusing, and the Junctions and GFs systems have gotten mixed reactions over the years. It was also the last of the PS1 mainline Final Fantasy games to get a remaster, so it's a bit of a black sheep in the family.

Final Fantasy 8 is actually a solid game, but it has the disadvantage of fitting between FF7, which was a watershed moment for the series and JRPGs in general, as well as FF9, which is the highest-rated Final Fantasy game ever. Hopefully, Square Enix will offer up some FF8 releases in the future, perhaps once the influx of Final Fantasy 9 sequels and prequels drop.