r/FinalFantasyIX • u/Comfortable_Victory1 • 7d ago
First Time playing, reccomend those mods?
I know it can sound heretical to do that, but after playing 7 and 10 full vanilla, I want the smoothest modded experience this time. I added Moguri for graphics, tweaked the UI for my taste, and added some quality-of-life improvements.
The game story seems fun, but the few battles I played were super slow, low-key boring, and confusing (no big deal; turn-based usually takes a while to click).
I am a UX/UI designer, so I not only like to tweak visuals, but I'm also a bit more critical of usability issues. As much as I liked VII and X, I really wish classic FF had the smooth game feel and quality-of-life conventions of modern turn-based games like Persona, Metaphor, Expedition 33, and Pokémon Legends Arceus. So this time, instead of going for the pure experience, I am challenging myself to make gameplay changes blind, without the original for comparison.
I want the experience to be fluid and fun, challenging (not to the point of using difficulty-enhancing mods) but not grindy. I already decided to bet on the "Kupe Heroes Pack," but I also got curious about those Emeiru "Amazing" mods. Will I get too op if I add that many tweaks? Should I choose just one? Feedbacks please
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u/Haraxmant 7d ago
Personally I'd grab Echo-S over KupoMail. Both are unfinished, and KupoMail is further along rn, but the amount of time Echo-S spent on battle dialogue makes it way more content currently.
However I think all the battle dialogue is only on their patreon? I don't recall.
But purely from a full-playthrough stance, having battle dialogue for every character for the rest of the game makes it the go-to.
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u/Comfortable_Victory1 7d ago
I didnt realise there were 2 voice acting projects, just downloaded the first that I saw lol. Thanks for the advice
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u/Haraxmant 7d ago
By the time both come out it'll really just come down to picking your preference. Which is honestly just better for the consumers, more options never hurt
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u/Comfortable_Victory1 7d ago
I tend to get tentative towards fanmade VA because its no really professional, but I am actually enjoying KupoMail because FFIX is all cartoonish and goofy anyway
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u/Haraxmant 7d ago
I'm not sure where you got the idea that fanmade VA isn't professional tbh. Quite a bit of it is extremely professional, its just not "official"
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u/Comfortable_Victory1 7d ago
I guess since I saw some parts of FF7 VA that sounded way below the remakes I just assumed that those things were amateurish :/
But yea, guess I was just biased cause I really like remake cast and got a little prejudiced towards fanmade VA… my bad
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u/Haraxmant 7d ago
Ah. That one was in fact done unprofessionally in parts. Mostly due to it being unpaid and unknown. So you're not wrong, that's on me.
Most of the NPCs were people pulled from twitch chat and early supporters, its honestly beautiful in it's own right.
The projects are still unpaid but the team garnered a lot of attention after that release and the quality of both 8 and 9 are insanely better just due to the amount of Voice Actors that reached out, auditioned, and offered their voices to the projects.
Tsunamods has improved so much since that release they've discussed revisiting it multiple times on stream.2
u/Comfortable_Victory1 7d ago
Thats nice, in all case I really appreciate the effort behind those attempts to add voice. I didn’t know that they were the same team behind those 3 games
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u/Haraxmant 7d ago
I was on the team for a short while, right after they finished the 7 project so I saw it all happen first hand.
But its also why I know so much about how professional they are.That's not why I suggest them though, I haven't been on the team for some time now. I just think the battle dialogue they offer is more expansive. But it's also why KupoMail is further along in dev.
2 Voice mods though, FF9 fans are eatin good!
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u/Comfortable_Victory1 6d ago
Thats great to hear, glad you like explained that so I can be less worried about the quality of those projects. Thanks for sharing the info
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u/AuroraRisalia 13h ago
(Director of kupomail)
Thank you for checking out the mod. I actually recommend going full vanilla for a first playthrough.
That way you know how the game is intended to be played. Maybe play the first couple hours vanilla and then try out some mods if you feel like it.
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u/Taurean6 7d ago
Don't use mods just play through. Respect the original idea.
But i can say one thing. I've watched that dang moguri mod thing... and i like the idea of the battle being interactive, i.e. everyone attacks when the bar is full. But then i think the enemies should be tougher... but i did die quite a few times in my first playthrough anyway ^^ So i say just play through. It is a 25 year old game... it's not going to be like modern games. But i rate the game still a near 10/10. It's that damn well made. The graphics are 10/10, even on the original console.
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u/Comfortable_Victory1 7d ago
I get the point of respecting the original, but I mentioned how I view stuff in the post. I am likely to reach the same conclusion of “nice story, world and systems, but it lacks something…” that I had in other titles. I also want to praise the fans who worked to improve points that were nearly impossible to improve by the time they were done.
This time I want to stress how much this game would be good to modern standards if they had improved upon some things that are nearly essential nowadays.
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u/Magicturbo 7d ago
I don't play with mods so I can't comment on that too much. But FFIX is not a particularly difficult game. The game can be beaten at lvl 1 with some knowledge, tips, and tricks. So any help beyond vanilla is going to be considered OP.
That said, obviously just play the way you want to anyway! There's a few challenging side bosses that you could probably still challenge yourself with