Final Fantasy 9 references in Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail are "secret", says director

Yes, there are a lot of references to Final Fantasy 9 in Final Fantasy 14 Dawntrail’s collector’s edition… and no, that’s not a coincidence.

“You may have noticed a lot of Final Fantasy 9 references here… And the reason is a secret,” producer/director Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida said via translator during his PAX East panel. He then mimed zipping his mouth closed, and steadfastly refused to reveal anything more. The tease.

It’s not totally a secret, of course. Some of you may remember that rumours of a remake began when Final Fantasy 9 was one of several unannounced games leaked by the GeForce Now database leak a couple of years back, which also included the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Kingdom Hearts 4, and the Chrono Cross remaster.