I decided to try out the original game before they officially come out with the remake, and I'm very glad I did. The game's best assets absolutely stand in its wide, charismatic and memorable cast, with a majestic game design mastery to make all the different characters stand out thanks to ATEs and lots of extra scenes scattered around the main plot.
Another excellent aspect about playing this game in 2024 is the now unreachable feel and emotion that only PS1 pre-rendered colorful backgrounds can give, which is sadly something that I fear we will lose for good with the remake, alongside the breathtakingly beautiful and detailed cutscenes.

On the other hand, as much as I loved playing og FF9, I do firmly agree with the decision to bring this classic back to life in the form of a more modern game primarily because of its gameplay. Spending 30 seconds waiting for a random encounter to just trigger, and let alone the painstaking wait for the ATB system, made me really struggle to enjoy the grind in the last 5-ish hours of the game (which is a shame because that Memoria dungeon is cool af). A smoother and swifter gameplay will definetely skyrocket the experience with replaying this game, at least for me.

Overrall a fantastic experience and definetely one of the most endearing worlds in the whole franchise and in JRPGs as a whole.
also miss Beatrix General of the Alexandrian army I need you