Memoria by Enrico Deiana-da:embed id="vTDg_kgWhz8" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"

The Remake starts off with a glance at Memoria, way near the very ending of the original game's storyline. Zidane Tribal and his group of friends-Vivi Ornitier, Adelbert Steiner, Freya Crescent, Quina Quen, Eiko Carol and Amarant Coral stare directly upwards towards the castle, forming from memories. Amongst the group of friends as well is Garnet Til Alexandros XVII or otherwise known later on as simply Dagger. She sees Zidane's posture from behind him...and is concerned. Holding her hands together, she places them upon the Crystal necklace that she carries. As for Zidane himself...he is shown gripping a fist and having an expression upon his face that is a mixture of both solemnness...and anger. He thinks back to how this entire journey first began...back when things were just starting off "simple".

FINAL FANTASY IX REMAKE: Episode I.

The Place I'll Return to Someday by Enrico Deiana-da:embed id="dTsysrbD2iM" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"

After selecting New Game Start, the Intro Cutscene shows Garnet recalling a flashback. The flashback ends when Garnet abruptly awakens from her dream like state of memory. "...W-What? what was I...remembering? a dream? or...something...more?" says Garnet, until she decides to look out her bedroom window. Observing her dearly beloved kingdom of Alexandria from it's castle, she then notices something within the distance. It appeared to be...an airship of unique design. What looked like a mermaid or a siren served as the helm of the ship. Inside...a youth with a tail could be spotted.

It was the 1st light of dawn that awoke him, arising from his cabin bed. He uses his monkey like tail to swiftly manoeuvre about from the top of the bunks down towards the ground floor. Afterwards, he stretches his body in order to fully wake himself up. "Yawn...gosh, sure am sleepy. Well, no time like the present. Guess I better find the others and boss. I wonder where they are? …" the youth had decided to make action by getting some jobs done. Somewhat restless, he was looking for his comrades that also doubled as friends and family.

Gameplay begins at this point that involves controlling the unknown youth and figuring out what to do. He journeys around the hull of the ship that was pitch black everywhere. Walking into the hub of the hull, he manages to find a candle in the centre and then proceeds to light it with a match. "Phew! that did it. Hopefully it won't get darker anytime soon." says the youth, happy that light was finally lighting his way, as it were so to speak. He hears a voice call out from a neighbouring door, demanding that he answers. "...That you Cinna? it's me! Zidane! you know? Zidane Tribal? dashing rogue of the Tantalus crew?" says the youth, no longer identified as "?" but now officially as Zidane Tribal towards the players.

Exiting the neighbouring room are three companions of Zidane's. Their names are already revealed through subtitles that appear right next to them onscreen:

1st Mate of Tantalus is Blank, also the 1st to speak up and reply towards Zidane. "Hey there bozo, finally awake are ya?" says Blank. 2nd Mate of Tantalus is Marcus, the next to speak. "Relax bro, monkey boy here needed to catch his beauty sleep in preparation for the big day." says Marcus in reply to Blank about Zidane. The last to speak is Cinna, the Chef of Tantalus. "Oh yeah! bet you were thinking yourself up a princess, weren't ya?" says Cinna, making banter with Zidane. Zidane says the following words "Can you blame me? I'm so excited I can't wait for boss to begin the operation. Speaking of...where IS Baku?" says Zidane, wondering where the Captain of the Tantalus crew was.

"Got me. He was most likely complaining about his hay fever again." says Marcus, shrugging his arms about. "AAACHOOO!" a loud noise could be heard from a door on the opposite side. Entering from it...was a humanoid dragon like man! "W-W-WHAT THE!?" Cinna exclaimed in fear, wondering just what the heck that the monster that had appeared was. Readying a sword, it immediately slices with the sharp blade, cutting the centre candle exactly in half. Making no time for questions, the four of Zidane, Blank, Marcus and Cinna ready their weapons...and prepare to fight.

"Hey monkey man, you remember how to fight? don't tell me you've already forgotten." says Blank. Zidane says in reply "Course I remember! ... sort of." says Zidane. Blank makes a reply himself by saying "Ugh, you're hopeless. Alright, step back and watch the maestro in action!" Blank takes the lead and allows Zidane to watch his movements in order to carefully restudy how to fight for tutorial formalities.

Battle 1 by Fredik Miller-da:embed id="JEhbpUi7Bxo" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"

"Watch and learn Zidane! THIS is how you fight!" says Blank, making a swing at the dragon and able to make successful points damage towards it. "Hey bro, don't just teach combat basics. Talk about the benefits too, here I'll show you." says Marcus, using the Steal Command to swipe something away from the dragon during the battle. "See how I did it? now you try Zidane." says Marcus, encouraging Zidane to mimic the former's previous action. Zidane succeeds but only manages to steal a Potion from the dragon. "Ugh, no luck. I landed the wrong dice..." says Zidane when comparing himself to Marcus managing to steal something more rare.

"Not necessarily! even if you luck out, whatever you steal can be a heavenly boon too, Zidane!" says Cinna before getting distracted by encouraging Zidane and with the dragon landing a blow against the hammer wielding compatriot. "Cinna! you okay!?" says Zidane, concerned for his ally and pal. "Y-Yeah, I'm good." says Cinna. "Hey Zidane. The Potion you just stole? try using it on Cinna. It'll help recover his stamina and keep his health in peak condition." says Blank, encouraging Zidane to use the Potion he stole from the dragon.

"You mean like this? ..." says Zidane, wondering if the Potion would work. Indeed, it did. "WOO-HOO! that stuff hits the right spot!" says Cinna, feeling full of fitness and vitality. "See what Blank meant Zidane? always be aware of the surroundings of your mind's eye. To help ensure that doesn't happen again, try blocking that fiend's next attack. You ready? here it comes!" says Marcus, the dragon making another attempt to attack. "Okay, here goes!" says Zidane, as he prepares to defend. Successfully managing to do just that, the dragon falls back upon itself.

"Alright! you got it now. Okay you guys? ready to hammer down this fiend? then. Let's get to it already!" says Blank, wanting to end this fight already. Nodding their heads in agreement, Zidane, Marcus and Cinna follow Blank's lead. "Wait. Did you just make a pun about my hammer!? you did, didn't you Blank!?" says Cinna, having an attachment to his hammer. Knowing this and having made the pun intentionally, Blank tries to mislead Cinna. "Nope, you must have heard things differently." says Blank. Cinna says in comical outrage "You lie!" says Cinna. "Hey, guys? save the banter till AFTER we defeat the nasty looking dragon, kay?" says Zidane, trying to get his fellows to remain focused.

After tallying enough damage against the dragon, the four are able to swiftly defeat it in the end. Zidane knocks back the dragon like humanoid, causing him to crash into a nearby wall and for a vase to fall atop his head. In truth, the face of the dragon was actually a mask, being worn by none other then the Captain of the Tantalus crew-Baku. "YEOUCH! hey, go easy you guys! I was just messing with you! it was a harmless joke! HARM-LESS!" says Baku, seeing stars from being beaten by his very own men.

Victory Fanfare by YesiamNovas-da:embed id="OCufWGYEcn8" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"

"I thought as much. You know boss? that was a mean stunt to pull, throwing us off like that." says Marcus, as both Zidane and Cinna are shown trying to catch their breaths. "Yeah, what Marc said." says Blank, agreeing with his "bro". "Ah shuddup! y'all still alive, aren't ya? anyways. That little duel helped you four keep on your toes! like I always say, it never hurts to get more practice in. BWAH HA HA HA! hmm? ! AAACHOOO! "sniffles"." sneezes Baku, clearing up his nose in an unhygienic manner. "Urgh! at least use a hanky when surrounded by your subordinates! think how I feel as the chef!? d'oh..." says Cinna, complaining.

"AT-ANY-RATE! listen up, you dogs! it's about time we commenced our operation meeting." says Baku, helping himself up off the ground and dusting away the dirt on his clothes. "FINALLY! some excitement!" says Zidane, ready and eager to begin whatever the operation holds in store. So much so that he performs a backflip. "Hold your horses Zidane. We ain't started discussing things. Let's go in the next room where there's more space. Follow me men!" says Baku, as he leads the way into the room that Blank and the others were previously in. "...Seriously? talk about being chipper after a fight ends. In your own loss no less...sigh." says Blank, shrugging his arms about before following Baku.

"It's okay bro, the Captain's just that good. Especially when it comes to being humble after taking a severe beating from his followers." says Marcus. "I heard that. Expect your Gil payment to be deducted." says Baku, overhearing Marcus from the other room next door. "! Aw shucks." says Marcus, regretting saying what he just said. "Bus-ted..." says Blank, comically mocking Marcus' lament. The next to follow after both Blank and Marcus is Cinna of whom says the words "Oh boy! this operation is gonna be a doozy for us!" says Cinna, excited the same as Zidane.

Zidane is the last to follow but before he could close the door behind him, he suddenly hears a voice approaching. "Now hold on there partner! you're gonna leave me out!?" the voice belonged to a bright blue coloured haired woman with an accent. "Ruby, you're part of the meeting too?" says Zidane, casually greeting the woman that he identifies as Ruby. "Of course! I'm gonna play the leading role after all. Don't you boys dare think of leaving me out from this!" says Ruby, as she then barges past by Zidane into the next room. With everyone now present and accounted for, Zidane proceeds to close the door and attend the meeting that was about to commence.

Battle Strategy Conference-da:embed id="qGfO0BwCN2A" height="315" width="560" profile="youtube"

"Well, with the unexpected addition of Ruby...let's commence the meeting." says Baku, slightly coughing at the presence of Ruby's attendance in the meeting. "Alright listen up, you band of brigands! let's go over all this again, just so we're "clear of conscience". Ahem: we're the Tantalus crew of professional actors. We've been hired by the royal hierarchy of the kingdom of Alexandria to perform at the castle there. Now this is a once in a lifetime chance. Our job? simple-kidnap the princess Garnet." says Baku, as he begins the meeting. "Oh my!" says Ruby in surprise. "The kingdom is celebrating her birthday of turning 16 right? figure that Zidane, she'll be the same age as you." says Blank, nudging Zidane.

"Cut it out Blank!" says Zidane, as Blank then leans back against the wall. "We've got ourselves a job here so let's make sure not to screw it up. As I was saying, we've got to kidnap the princess without drawing awareness. AAACHOOO! "sniffles". To help with that, we've trained as actors that are guaranteed to live up towards those royal bunch of snobs' expectations. We're to enact I Want to Be Your Canary in front of the princess and her mother, the queen Brahne." says Baku. "Oh, that's the fat lady, correct?" says Marcus, waving about a hand. "Yep. No doubt the guards will be heavily fortified in protecting the queen and her daughter. AAACHOOO! Especially having that luscious beauty-general Beatrix guarding them." says Baku about the general that commands the foremost military might of all Alexandria.

"AHEM!" Ruby intervenes at this point by making a cough herself, causing Baku to regain focus on the subject at hand. "A-Anyways! we've gots to make this gig work, otherwise it's all or nothing. Feel free to steal whatever you want inside the castle but make sure you don't lose sight of the target, understand boys?" says Baku to his men. "Aye, aye..." says Zidane, Blank, Marcus and Cinna in unison. "Heh, break a leg Marcus. You get to play the lead role for this!" says Cinna, as he points his hammer towards Marcus. "Oh swell." says Marcus, not amused with the task he's been given. "Why the sourpuss Marc!? we'll be performing a lovers' act together! though don't get me wrong. My heart still belongs with you, Blank dearie." says Ruby, sending Blank a kiss across the room.

"Ack! knock it off Ruby!" says Blank, blushing in embarrassment, causing both Zidane and Cinna to snigger at the sight. Marcus leans his chin upon his fist, sighing. He is now definitely not amused by the role he must play. "Double swell..." says Marcus in exasperation. "HEY! WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!?" shouts out Ruby in great anger, Zidane and Cinna are forced to hold her back from "murdering" Marcus. "You'll get to perform with a gorgeous gal here Marc! so suck it up and be a man!" says Ruby, being held back. "Easy Ruby easy!" says Zidane, desperately trying to quell Ruby's sheer volume of anger. "Alright already! that's enough of the comical performances, you bunch of buffoons!" says Baku, asserting his position of leadership, causing everybody to regain control of themselves...

"We don't have the time to mess around, we've only got a few hours at best before this show goes underway at the castle. I expect the best performances from you all, even if we are just faking it in the end." says Baku, wanting to at least enjoy the acting part of this operation. Everyone nods their heads in agreement. "Now Zidane, you'll be given the most important task of all-securing the princess. Don't muck this up or you'll get the boot from Tantalus!" says Baku, saying that he'll fire Zidane from the group if things go terribly south. "Hey relax boss. It's all under control. I'll use sleeping weed for when the princess drinks tea and then I'll snatch myself a sleeping beauty, heh." says Zidane...his mind constantly on women.

"Ugh, I swear Zidane. You and your delusions of grandeur about women. Get your head in the game for once!" says Blank with Ruby following up "Yeah! you sexist pig." says Ruby, causing Zidane to react in a great comical manner. "W-WHA!? RUBY I-" shouts Zidane before Baku slams the meeting table with a fist. "Can we PLEASE focus! AAACHOOO!" sneezes Baku once more. "Ugh, me and my damn hay fever. "Sniffles", Blank. You know what to do right?" says Baku. "Yeah...I've got this job. I'll use an Oglop to scare the princess. She'll faint and THEN Zidane will carry her away like the sleeping beauty he built her up to be in his imagination." says Blank, stating his role.

"Hmph. I knew Zidane was one but I didn't peg YOU to be a pig too Blank." says Ruby, as she pouts. "What!? oh come on Ruby that's not fair! don't lump me in here with lover boy!" says Blank. "!? Oh yeah!? says the guy whose got Ruby for a girlfriend!" says Zidane, getting riled. Ruby then comically pulls his ear. "Care to rephrase that, monkey boy!?" says Ruby, starting to stretch Zidane's ear. "OW! OW! OWWW!" says Zidane in pain...whilst Baku merely just facepalms himself, unable to get a word in edgewise without the different egos of his crew popping up.

"Come on you guys, that's enough. Let's get back to the meeting-" says Cinna, trying to stop the heated argument. "SHUT UP CINNA!" shout out Zidane, Blank and Ruby in unison, causing Cinna to fall back in comical fear. "Right...so that's the plan eh boss?" says Marcus, asking Baku if all the details have been accounted for. "Y-Yeah Marc. That's the gist of things...remember Zidane? you know what you and Blank have got to do?" says Baku, wanting to reaffirm if Zidane knows the part that he must play for the operation. He pulls on Blank's facial cheek whilst desperately trying to be pulled away by Ruby. He hears Baku before replying "Yeah, I got it. Kidnap the fat queen, correct?" says Zidane.

"Yeah, you got it. You're going to use an Oglop and sleeping weed to-WHAT!? NO YOU DAMN MONKEY OF A FOOL! the PRINCESS! princess GARNET! GOT IT!?" shouts out Baku, being held back by Marcus from "murdering" Zidane. The fighting stops between Zidane, Blank and Ruby. "Heh, heh. Relax boss, I'm just messing with ya. Course I know whom I've got to kidnap...the one hell of a kind beauty-princess Garnet..." says Zidane, showing a big smile upon his face that causes everyone within the room surprised...followed up by smiles of their own. Cinna decides to end the meeting by burning out the sole candle in the room to signify that the last strategy meeting for the operation was now completed. The scene closes with a blackout...and one final "AAACHOOO!" on Baku's part before the heavy stuff starts to go down later the night of that same day...

TO BE CONTINUED.

Cast:

Zidane Tribal.

Japanese: Romi Park.

English: Bryce Papenbrook.

Blank.

Japanese:

English: Scott Menville.

Marcus.

Japanese:

English: Brandon Potter.

Cinna.

Japanese:

English: Yuri Lowenthal.

Ruby.

Japanese: Akemi Okamura.

English: Selena Gomez.

Baku.

Japanese: Katsuhisa Hoki.

English: Beau Billingslea.