Squeenix Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster - New Remasters of Final Fantasy I-VI

[Tehdagah]

https://www.gematsu.com/2021/06/final-fantasy-pixel-remaster-series-launches-beginning-july

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series launches beginning July
New trailer released.

The recently announced Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series will launch in order starting in July, Square Enix announced in a now-removed presentation video.

The series—which will be available for PC, iOS, and Android—consists of individual re-releases of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, and Final Fantasy VI. All six titles’ pixel art characters have been fully remastered from their original versions by pixel artist Kazuko Shibuya of Square Enix, who has worked on the Final Fantasy series since the first game.

The removed presentation video was a 30-minute discussion featuring Final Fantasy series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi (Mistwalker), composer Nobuo Uematsu (Dog Ear Records), and Yoshinori Kitase (Square Enix), with hosts Kenichi Maeyamada and Chiaki Matsuzawa. The group shared behind the scenes stories of the Final Fantasy series’ development, and offered a glimpse into the expectations that went into the games.

The video ended with a new trailer for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series, which confirms the release window. Watch the new trailer below (MP4 download available here).

This looks perfect for mobile, gonna buy it for sure

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Confused. It just looks like the PSP versions of FF1/FF2 (and I think FF4 had a similar release). Which look alright, but remaking the remaining games in that style is hardly something to get excited over. And yeah, agreed - the original graphics tend to look better anyway, especially for the SNES installments.

I'd be more interested in remakes that introduce some quality-of-life features, since the games are all such a massive slog. The worlds and characters are fun enough but the grinding is fucking miserable, especially with the jobs system in FF3/FF5 and the stab-yourself-in-the-face-to-gain-health system of FF2. Not really sure what they could do, though.

True saiyan characters.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Could've at least tried making them in the style of the new Dragon Quest 3 remake. I don't get why Square is so apathetic with the old Final Fantasies

Hmmm.... I could get into some old FF in that style and best QOL improvements introduced amongst the series re-re-re-re-releases. Uh, why no Dragon Quest 1 & 2 remakes? This shit irks me when they do this so many games in.

I really don't even care if the comb the game hacks for ideas on additional content. Why the fuck not instead of rinse and repeat with new paint coat? I guess they didn't want to go FF7-current in this style.

I recall a pet project to turn ultima 9 into a ultima 5 or 6 looking game.

 

[JDR13]

I enjoyed the Dragon Quest games as a kid, but I think I'd rather walk on broken glass than play those now.

I'm interested in the remakes of FF IV-VI though if they're done right.

 

[Thac0]

I enjoyed the Dragon Quest games as a kid, but I think I'd rather walk on broken glass than play those now.

I'm interested in the remakes of FF IV-VI though if they're done right.

Absolute pleb, Dragon Quest III aged like fine wine. Short, sweet and to the point.
Honestly the only DQ that aged badly is DQ IV, because the narrative arc structure where you abandon all of you old dudes to play a chapter with a new cast is pretty outdated.

I'd much prefer the same style for FF aswell tho, it looks really pretty.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

I guess they say Dragon Quest 2 is the hardest. And it was a slog. After I finally finished it... I stopped with the series. I was surprised all these years later that there was such a huge following and so many more.

 

[LESS T_T]

1 and 2 are $12, 3,4,5, and 6 are $18. $74.82 for a bundle of all six games.







Oh my that font.

 

[LESS T_T]

 

[Bahamut]

That price tag for graphics straight from gba with even worse sprite work

 

[Thac0]

1 and 2 are $12, 3,4,5, and 6 are $18. $74.82 for a bundle of all six games.

That is too much. Half of that would have been a reasonable price.

 

[JDR13]

I agree. It should be $40-$50 at most for the bundle. I'll still get them but not until they're on sale for 50% off or close to that.

 

[JDR13]

What are the chances they'll include The After Years with FF IV? I've been wanting to play that for a long time, but I refuse to play the 3D abomination. I realize I can just emulate the PSP version, but it would be nice to have it on Steam.

 

[mogwaimon]

From the FF1 Steam page:

'*This remaster is based on the original "FINAL FANTASY" game released in 1987. Features and/or content may differ from previously rereleased versions of the game.'

aaaaaaand dropped, i'll stick to the Anniversary Editions or the original NES game then thanks, especially for near 80 bucks for the pack. Come on, SE, you had one job.

I swear, the reason the Final Fantasy remasters almost always suck is some sort of inner 'Square guys vs Enix guys' thing we don't know about or somethin, because the DQ remasters tend to have a lot more effort put into them than the FF ones.

 

[Thorakitai]

Even the DS remakes of FFIII and FFIV had more effort and care than this overpriced package.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

I'd rather still continue with the original FFIII (6) SNES release, or the GBA version, thank you very much.

That game created the term Magitek for fuck's sake. Unless they're doing a real remake, with game changes, 3D models, etc. or seriously expanding on the gameplay in some way, I'm not interested in the fucking least.

 

[Roguey]

Amateur hour is using an ultra crisp high resolution font in a game with blocky pixelated graphics. What an ugly clash.

 

[Great Deceiver]

These people have no idea what they're doing, they're just fleecing idiots for cash.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

Heart and soul went out of Square a LOOOOONG time ago.

 

[LESS T_T]

Japanese version has fonts with more proper width. (Still unnecessary waste of space and boring fonts though.)

Maybe because they had to fit the long German words and decided to use the same fonts for all Latin alphabet languages. And on top of that they had to fit in mobile screens too.

 

[index.php]

 

[Palomides]

Not only is the font hideous and utterly lacking in character, it's entirely mismatched with the font of the numbers they haven't bothered to change, that large, mono-spaced font that Japanese uses. So lazy, but this problem existed in the PSP release, too. The last version with any effort to maintain consistency was the GBA one.

 

[Tehdagah]

I play games for the font

 

[Ysaye]

I find this whole pixel remastering thing somewhat hypocritical - anyone that has read the book FFDOT (The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy) and the interview with original sprite artist Kazuko Shibuya (FF1-FF6) would know that the pixel artform means playing within certain dimensional constraints (normally 16x16 in the early games but up to 16x24 in FF6 which she argues is the perfect size) and limited colour palettes of the SNES. Whilst I respect that this most recent go seems to at least hold to the dimensions that they were restricted to, the palette is too broad and varied for those kinds of dimension restrictions.

 

[Siveon]

I find this whole pixel remastering thing somewhat hypocritical - anyone that has read the book FFDOT (The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy) and the interview with original sprite artist Kazuko Shibuya (FF1-FF6) would know that the pixel artform means playing within certain dimensional constraints (normally 16x16 in the early games but up to 16x24 in FF6 which she argues is the perfect size) and limited colour palettes of the SNES. Whilst I respect that this most recent go seems to at least hold to the dimensions that they were restricted to, the palette is too broad and varied for those kinds of dimension restrictions.

The point of a remaster is to create a work outside of restriction. The problem here being that they made a half-hearted attempt to stick true to the original when we already have decent sprite designs of these characters made in mobile titles. Had they used modern platforms to the fullest extent a la DQ 3, we wouldn't have this conversation.

You're also neglecting that pixel art before common LCD display were focused on looking good on CRTs. Emulation more often than not displays a picture not intended originally to be seen, and a remaster, if anything, should have attempted to recreate this effect without tricks. But they don't.

It's a commendable attempt but this product feels amateur. "Why even bother," is my conclusion.

 

[Major_Blackhart]

They waste time with this, yet do nothing with Vagrant Story.