To celebrate Final Fantasy 9's 25th anniversary, Nier producer remembers how he thought "they should have made the loading faster"

As Final Fantasy 9 turned 25 last month, Nier series producer Yosuke Saito has recalled what his reaction to the game was at the time.

The best Final Fantasy game turned 25 back in July, and while everyone is anxiously awaiting a remake of Final Fantasy 9 to materialize after years of rumors and speculation, Square Enix has celebrated the anniversary by interviewing some of its current producers about the game. Interviewees included the likes of Final Fantasy 14 director Naoki Yoshida, Final Fantasy 7 Remake series director Naoki Hamaguchi and Final Fantasy 14 and 16 composer Masayoshi Soken.

One name interviewed was Nier series producer Yosuke Saito who wasn't at Squaresoft at the time of Final Fantasy 9's release. In fact, Saito was competing with Final Fantasy 9, as he worked at Enix and was putting the finishing touches on Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Past, which would release just under two months later (and celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this week).

Saito recalls, "I remember that 9 has different character design to the previous FF7 and FF8 and the setting had a really great, classic feel to it. But what I really remember is thinking 'They should have made the loading faster' I guess I had problems taking my work hat off there!"

Square also asked how their interviewees feel 25 years down the line, to which Saito responded, "After 25 years I thought I would be a bit more grown-up now, but I’m surprised at how little I’ve changed. I reckon that all the middle aged gits like me around the world probably feel the same. Of course, I don’t look the same anymore though…"

Final Fantasy 9 translator admits some references to older games "slipped by us completely," and he'd love to see "a new team" tackle the JRPG: "I wish we'd been sharper about the nostalgia."