I had an idea for how GOG.com can get Square-Enix games on GOG.com. Granted this is a long shot, but I was thinking that it might be worth if GOG offered to redraw the prerendered backgrounds from Final Fantasy VII, VIII & IX, so the world could see a truly remastered version of these games on GOG.com. I also realize that this would involve a lot of work, but it might have the potential to create a lot of buzz, which would result in a lot of sales, as well as a new partnership with Square-Enix. I'm sure the team over at CD Projekt Red are more than capable of completing such a task. At this point, what have you got to lose?

Money, time, other unspecified resources.

I don't want to be cynical about it but when Square Enix can barely go half-ass on some of their re-releases it's hard to believe they'd pay someone else to put the other half in, especially here on GOG which likely doesn't net them a big promise of return on investment compared to their own store and the deals they have in place with everyone else.

Technically CD Projekt Red and GOG are different companies under the umbrella of CD Projekt. The former's priority is Cyberpunk 2077. This would be a whole different work from what GOG has done for other older games, and how Square Enix handles its games. Not that I don't appreciate your enthusiasm, and it might sell a lot, but we're talking about reaching an agreement between a handful of companies with different interests and strategies.

I completely agree about Square-Enix doing a half-ass job on their re-releases, which is why I think it would be a huge benefit for them if GOG did some of the work on those games. From what I hear GOG actually does a lot of the work for companies wanting to sell their games in the GOG.com store (when it comes to the installers and compatibility issues). I've also seen a lot of minor editions to games featured on GOG, like a few GOG related levels and features in Worms and Vertical Drop Heroes (to name a few). I'm not sure if it was GOG that made those changes, but it gives you hope that something like this could happen.

I also realize that GOG and CD Projekt Red are different companies (technically speaking), but I'm sure they would be more than willing to work together on a project. I think it would be a wise investment for them to do some work on the Final Fantasy series, because a lot of gamers would appreciate a solid remaster of those games. Even if they made a loss on those games, it would get their foot in the door with Square-Enix, which could result in more games and more sales. It doesn't hurt to try.

That's not GOG or CDPR's doing, that's the developers of those titles doing those. Dusk is a more recent example - the development team included a GOG specific multiplayer map into the game when they finally got the game released here. It's a nice way of acknowledging GOG and its customers, certainly, but it's a luxury more than it should be considered normal, sadly.Remember not that long ago the magical Tomb Raider remasters that seemed to materialize and evaporate almost in the same breath? I know that's not exactly the same scenario, but you're looking in the direction of the same sense of disappointment.

GOG doing compatibility fixes is well removed from the work required of remastering pieces of games even the original publisher couldn't be bothered to do.

I think it's fair to say that a full remaster would probably be out of the question, but I think there are quite a lot of people who would be interested in new ports of FF VII-IX. Unfortunately Square-Enix were too lazy to produce better quality ports of these games, so there are no quality ports that currently exist. They did the same thing with FF III-VI for the handheld market. They were also lazy, low quality remasters/remakes that were clearly slapped together as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that I'm not talking about redrawing every aspect of the game, just some of the pre-rendered backgrounds (the background's that Square lost).

I'm sure this isn't a realistic goal, and I'm probably just wasting my time, but I'd love to see it happen. Those games deserve better.

Have you seen the prices for the games on the mobile stores? Do you really think anyone here is willing to pony 20+ for Final Fantasy 9? It's a great game, mind. But that's still 20+.

Given that it's very unlikely, I'll add this

Make GOG wear belts! And add tons of accessories and gravity-resistant hairstyles! Ideally spiky ones! Unless they're going for Yoshitaka Amano style, in that case just make everyone look pretty and (in Western sensibilities) effeminate, with long, flowing robes and clothes and hair.. :)

Have you seen the FFIX and VII AI redone graphic mods? It might not be the same quality as redrawing the whole game by hand, but these mods would satisfy most interested in upgrade:

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/1JEMNNNU

https://captrobau.blogspot.com/2019/01/ff7-remako-hd-graphics-mod-beta-released.html?m=1

To get FF, or any more games in general on GOG, you'd need to travel to a parallel dimension where Squeenix isn't run by sleazy, exploitative, DRM fellating slimeballs.

For a DRM-free version? Yes, $20 is imo a bargain for a classic RPG that some fans even think is the best of the series. According to another topic, Final Fantasy IX was said to be able to be made DRM-free on Scheme, but who knows if that's still true since Final Fantasy X/X-2 are no longer on that "DRM-free" list. I like to take the guesswork out of it, and support GOG's store. Btw, the new game that released yesterday, Niffelheim, is currently on sale but priced at $20 normally. It is getting a fair amount of criticism in its release topic for being "incomplete" at that price even! You mean to tell me Final Fantasy IX couldn't be on this store for that price too?

Language! You called them parallel!