It’s wonderful to see the ingenuity of passionate fans as they take on ambitious projects without any thoughts of compensation. And this new mod for the Steam version ofFinal Fantasy IX, which uses an AI to upscale textures from old games, absolutely falls into that category.Moguri Mod, according to the official website, “is a total revamping of the PC port ofFinal Fantasy IXthrough Deep Learning techniques.” This mod’s most drastic changes are in the background arts that are now more detailed, cleaner, and have a higher resolution. Moguri Mod also includes a custom implementation of Memoria Mod, which offers more customization and options than the original PC port.Check out this twitter post showing the difference between the original PlayStation version, the recent PC port, and the PC mod version. And of course some lovely screenshots of the PC mod version below that:
you may also check out this handy tabbed imagehere, which lets you more directly compare the three versions and see just how phenomenal the updated graphics are. And if you’re interested in the full process of how the people behind Moguri Mod created and implemented this massive upscaling ofFFIX, there’s a reallycool flipbookthat shows off that and more screenshots.
There’s also a stream replay of an early alpha version of the mod, explaining how it was done (it’s in French, but non-speakers can still enjoy the visuals):
Of course the remastering doesn’t stop at the graphics – there’s 15 orchestrated tracks made by composer Pontus Hultgren, which you can check out below. You can also supporthis Patreonif you like his work:
If you’re interested in downloading the full Moguri Mod, you’re able to find ithere. You need to have purchased theSteam versionofFFIXfirst, which is the only version the mod works for.
Final Fantasy IXcame outfor PCtwo years ago. If you want a general review of the game and well it holds up, check out our take on the titleÂhere. Recently some lovely Bring Artsfigurinesof Zidane and Garnet were revealed as well (available for preorder now), proving how still beloved this game is to this day.
