Compare Alexandria in FF14 to FF9 - FFXIV Lore

I didn't even notice that Living Memory is kind of shaped like Gaia's map in FF9. That is so cool! Alexandria is even placed at the same location!

Sphene is an alternate name of Titanite which in itself is also a type of gemstone, like Garnet so while Sphene is probably not a 1:1 reference to Garnet/Dagger, she clearly references her name in this matter.

Me in Stormblood and Omega raids: alright time to play FF5 Me in Shadowbringers: Okay time to play FF3 Me in Endwalker: Okay time to play FF4 Me in Dawntrail: Okay time to play FF9 alright time to play every Final Fantasy games

I'd like to mention that the concept of powering oneself up using souls is very akin the the FF9 concept of Trance. Even though in FF9 it is described as ones own soul surging with power due to heavy emotions. Zoraal Ja however did basically the very same thing as Kuja did, overloading himself with multiple souls of others to transform into a stronger version of himself.

The 3 kids with rope jumping game (one of the girls also said let's jump 1000 times), the boys who were on a marathon race, and the drink shop (which referred to the ticket booth at the start of IX with Vivi. The sword duel between Wuk Lmao and WoL also referred to the minigame between Zidane and Blank before the show.

Another similarity between Sphene and Garnet is that they are both fake versions of the originals made to hide their deaths, at least Sphene didn't have her Summoner's horn cut off...

as soon as i met sphene & realized it was alexandria i was so overjoyed. 9 is honestly my favorite ff game. i kinda figured there would be references to it because of the pre-order & collectors edition minions but i was not expecting That Much haha

Other subtle hints to note. The name Solution 9 comes from Zidane's Trance Dyne moves, the penultimate one I think. The portal to Living memory from the lv99 trial is spatially positioned under Everkeep. Just as the portal to Memoria was placed under the Iifa Tree. The robotic Sentries have the Black Mage eyes while sharing the body shape of Alexandrian soldiers. Otis is seeing Steiner but without the bumbling moments. Instead we see in Otis that same dedication to kingdom and respect to children, just as Steiner was dedicated to Garnet and respectful of Vivi. In Yesterland, that car on the rails is actually a Lindblum Air Taxi, the body shape and propellers being the very same. And finally in the Alexandria dungeon, the shape of the new Everkeep does bring to mind FF9 Alexander defending the Castle

I think the Everkeep looks quite a bit like a more technological looking Iifa Tree and in a broad sense even serves a similar function, being partially in each world to funnel souls stolen from one to the other. Plus the whole thing about using stolen souls to power machines of war, which in FF9 was the mist-powered airship fleet of Lindblum and of course the black mages, and in FF14 is the regulators, among other things.

Thank you for pointing out all the references. For someone like me who hasn't played 9 since completing it on the original release, who maybe is getting a bit older and can't remember everything about it (weep for my fleeting youth) it's almost like experiencing it all over again. Oh, the 'member-berries! LOL. Great video.

Just a couple extras. The cutscene at the start of zoraljas fight is thematically reference to the "you are not alone" scene in FF9. The way sphene stands is very similar to yuna from ffx in the way she is drawn in concept/promotional art. The first boss in the first dungeon is a monster in FF9 called abaddon As well as all of the musical references Thanks for the video! This just solidifies that this is my favorite expansion.

Looking forward to your theories! There were quite a few things I didn't remember that you caught, great video!

Oof, spoiled in the thumbnail. I never had a chance 😅 Well something to look forward to, my friend said I'd really like it, and now I really want to get there soon

A few things I didn't even saw! Insane video, thanks. A few ref. missing but I guess one could make an hour video and still not have spoken about every detail :) I love FF9 and I'm eager to see your next video about it !!

Really excellent video! There was simultaneously a lot of stuff not mentioned and some stuff that I didn’t even catch. IX was my first FF game and one of my favorite games of all time, and I was extremely pleasantly surprised with how the XIV team adapted IX’s themes, settings, and characters. Even though I’ve never made a video before, I want to do a very thorough breakdown about all of the references and parallels because this stuff has been on my mind for weeks

Living Memory was a lot like Twilight Town from Kingdom Hearts too. Also Endless...Heartless.

Honestly, with all those references to IX, I am surprised we did not see any Oglops. Not even a Grafitti in Solution 9, or did I overlook them?

🎉 Thank you for the contrast and comparison!! I was in speculation when I arrived to solution nine. But when I finished the game I had no idea how on point certain references were in FF14! I was going to mention Queen Sphene’s dress has also some similarities! Thank you once again! Great job!

8:00 I'm pretty sure the tree does exists in FFXIV as well but in the source, even if it goes by a different name, it is outright stated that the Lalas from Alexandria come from another world and Krile's soul being as dense as the people in the source's pretty much confirms that's where they come from, it is also stated that before moving to Alexandria they lived in some islands, ran away during the ice calamity and left a statue of their leader or prophet or whichever word they used I don't remember back in their place of origin before leaving, all of that means the Lalas from Alexandria lived in Alo alo island Not only the islands are known to have been inhabited by Lalas, but they also just disappeared one day, one of the routes is literally climbing a giant ass tree and the secret boss at the end of normal is a giant statue of a Lalafell So yeah, I'd be willing to say the lifa tree is actually the tree in Alo alo or at least our reflection's version of it

Incidentally, Final Fantasy IX was tied into Shadowbringers a bit as well. Queen Brahne seems to have been a bit of a basis for Vauthry, especially since he has two jesters themed around Zorn and Thorn working for him. Ran'jit is a vaguely more sinister interpretation of Beatrix. And the final boss is a battle against Hades that takes place in a memory constructed location underwater, much like the fight against Hades in IX. Hades was also originally meant to be IX's final boss.