Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster

Armenius

Armenius

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Square-Enix revealed a new collection of remasters of the original six mainline games in the Final Fantasy series, promising a "pixel-level" remaster for all of them to be released on Steam. We already have some ports of these games on Steam, but they are of questionable quality and suffer from user interfaces designed for phones. This release is also being made for phones, but we'll see if S-E have listened at all to the criticism of the old mobile ports.

The trailer doesn't show much at this time, but we do get a glimpse on small animations playing in the background. To me, the UI looks pretty good and the updated art appears to be more faithful to the original games. We also see some quality of life additions, like a world mini-map in the upper-right corner

One thing of particular note is that this will be the first time the original Famicom version of Final Fantasy III will be released outside of Japan. Steam currently hosts the 3D remake of the title that was made for Nintendo DS.

https://square-enix-games.com/en_GB/news/final-fantasy-pixel-remaster

 
Armenius said:
Square-Enix revealed a new collection of remasters of the original six mainline games in the Final Fantasy series, promising a "pixel-level" remaster for all of them to be released on Steam. We already have some ports of these games on Steam, but they are of questionable quality and suffer from user interfaces designed for phones. This release is also being made for phones, but we'll see if S-E have listened at all to the criticism of the old mobile ports.

The trailer doesn't show much at this time, but we do get a glimpse on small animations playing in the background. To me, the UI looks pretty good and the updated art appears to be more faithful to the original games. We also see some quality of life additions, like a world mini-map in the upper-right corner

One thing of particular note is that this will be the first time the original Famicom version of Final Fantasy III will be released outside of Japan. Steam currently hosts the 3D remake of the title that was made for Nintendo DS.

https://square-enix-games.com/en_GB/news/final-fantasy-pixel-remaster

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Is there any better footage than that? I was expecting the video to show me some of the new stuff in clear full screen......but then it didn't really show anything.
 
chameleoneel said:
I know its against the purists but, I always wanted Square to remake FF6 to look exactly like the CG cinematics which they added to the Final Fantasy Anthology version of FF6, on PS1:
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I'd be okay with that, but would be concerned with Square trying to update the gameplay into something action focused and unrecognizable.

Total kick to the ass if Square releases these as new titles and charges existing owners of the Steam ports again for these titles. If anything, these should be released as an update to the existing ports.

Note: My apologies if the trailer confirmed these are updates for the existing ports, currently at work and haven't read/seen the details.
 
ok so this is some dumb shit
 

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Yeah the remakes smoothed everything out and the game didn't look the same on the Playstation remakes.
 
Choopyplz said:
Oof, the remastered sprites look worse than at least one iteration of previous sprites in all cases. They just look...flat. :S
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Yeah and another thing about that.....the original sprites are designed to be viewed on a CRT. There's an interesting quality to CRT display where they tend to blend pixels together. Game artists took advantage of this, to create some great looking results. The original sprites will appear to have more depth and detail than any of the newer sprites, when viewed on a CRT. FF6 still looks pretty great, because of that.
 
chameleoneel said:
Yeah and another thing about that.....the original sprites are designed to be viewed on a CRT. There's an interesting quality to CRT display where they tend to blend pixels together. Game artists took advantage of this, to create some great looking results. The original sprites will appear to have more depth and detail than any of the newer sprites, when viewed on a CRT. FF6 still looks pretty great, because of that.
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Makes sense! Though I just dig the aesthetic of the classic sprites, it could be a nostalgia thing. I do think they have more contrast though and that's a nice look. The FF Origins Fighter probably has the best overall look IMO.
 
chameleoneel said:
ok so this is some dumb shit
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Source?
Choopyplz said:
Makes sense! Though I just dig the aesthetic of the classic sprites, it could be a nostalgia thing. I do think they have more contrast though and that's a nice look. The FF Origins Fighter probably has the best overall look IMO.
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FF Origins really should be the template for how a remaster is done. Funnily enough, it was a port of the WonderSwan versions of the first two games with some additional upgrades to take advantage of the PlayStation hardware. I really never got to appreciate these versions originally, though, because the odd resolution didn't output correctly on my TV at the time. It's amazing playing it today with Mednafen.
 
They had better not cheap out on these. There have been multiple updates of the 2D Final Fantasy titles over the years and the best of these - such as the PSP version of Final Fantasy IV - were more than just aesthetic changes, but also updated scripts, mechanics, and other elements. I'm also a fan of the total remakes such as the Final Fantasy III and especially Final Fantasy IV + The After Years that started out on Nintendo DS , came to mobile, and eventually PC. While these aren't perfect - at least without some modding (ie Japanese vocal mod for FFIV on PC was at least possible, but it shouldn't have required modding in the first place; a simple dual audio choice would have been preferable) the games are the "best 3D version" of the game.

So if they're really going to do this again, it has to be more than the current PC / mobile ports of say FFV or FFVI - they need to do it right and comprehensively. It need not necessarily be an entire overhaul / remake (though many have been looking for a true remake of Final Fantasy VI for years but fear that SquareEnix is unwilling to commit to do it right, to make a 3D remake even in the model of the FFIII or FFIV, much less something like Final Fantasy VIII Remake which is admittedly contentious for its changes), but lets hope its more than just slapping some up-res pixel artwork on the damn thing and calling it a day. Oh and they'd better not cheap out because of the "mobile" release either - I can't tell you how frustrated I was to find that the Android version of Final Fantasy IV (before the PC version existed) included the Japanese audio but the cheap porters they used made it so that the voice language was slaved to the Android Locale feature, so if you wanted to play the game with English text / UI then there was no way to enable Japanese audio! That kind of asinine design is the reason I'm extremely skeptical of these remasters, among other elements.
 
RanceJustice said:
They had better not cheap out on these. There have been multiple updates of the 2D Final Fantasy titles over the years and the best of these - such as the PSP version of Final Fantasy IV - were more than just aesthetic changes, but also updated scripts, mechanics, and other elements. I'm also a fan of the total remakes such as the Final Fantasy III and especially Final Fantasy IV + The After Years that started out on Nintendo DS , came to mobile, and eventually PC. While these aren't perfect - at least without some modding (ie Japanese vocal mod for FFIV on PC was at least possible, but it shouldn't have required modding in the first place; a simple dual audio choice would have been preferable) the games are the "best 3D version" of the game.

So if they're really going to do this again, it has to be more than the current PC / mobile ports of say FFV or FFVI - they need to do it right and comprehensively. It need not necessarily be an entire overhaul / remake (though many have been looking for a true remake of Final Fantasy VI for years but fear that SquareEnix is unwilling to commit to do it right, to make a 3D remake even in the model of the FFIII or FFIV, much less something like Final Fantasy VIII Remake which is admittedly contentious for its changes), but lets hope its more than just slapping some up-res pixel artwork on the damn thing and calling it a day. Oh and they'd better not cheap out because of the "mobile" release either - I can't tell you how frustrated I was to find that the Android version of Final Fantasy IV (before the PC version existed) included the Japanese audio but the cheap porters they used made it so that the voice language was slaved to the Android Locale feature, so if you wanted to play the game with English text / UI then there was no way to enable Japanese audio! That kind of asinine design is the reason I'm extremely skeptical of these remasters, among other elements.
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The Square Enix you are looking for died a while ago. This is just the husk that remains... Much like Blizzard.
 
I really liked the PSP remakes of the games. Make them more like those but it won't happen. SE is the Japan's EA. I always thought the 3D remakes were abominations.
 
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I'm just glad it's back to correct perspective, instead of that iOS nightmare versions being non-angular and thus not matching the background angles
 
vegeta535 said:
I really liked the PSP remakes of the games. Make them more like those but it won't happen. SE is the Japan's EA. I always thought the 3D remakes were abominations.
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The PSP remake of 1 is my favorite version of that game. Even beyond the excellent Origins release on the PS1. The Star Ocean remakes for the PSP were amazing as well. Pity we don't see that kind of remake very often these days. It's a great way to bring back older games.
 
Real fan service would be a 3D remake of VI, but NOT with that engine they used for the DS version of IV.

The best versions of a lot of these games were the GBA versions IMO.
 
JSHamlet234 said:
Real fan service would be a 3D remake of VI, but NOT with that engine they used for the DS version of IV.

The best versions of a lot of these games were the GBA versions IMO.
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Have you played the PSP versions?
 
Looks like the release date was released by the announcement that the current mobile ports of Final Fantasy V and VI on Steam will be removed on July 27. III and IV have been renamed "3D Remake" and will remain on the store. The store page(s) for Pixel Remastered have still not been revealed on Steam.







 
JSHamlet234 said:
Real fan service would be a 3D remake of VI, but NOT with that engine they used for the DS version of IV.

The best versions of a lot of these games were the GBA versions IMO.
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I agree. I would love a full proper remake of 6. Not the garbage 3DS one nor like the 7 remake.
 
With the pretty wild successes of remakes and remasters. And now that Squenix has enjoyed several cheaply done remakes and remasters, as well as the very expensive FF7 remake: I wouldn't be surprised if they do a full scale remake/reimagining of FF6.

But if they do, it will be some years away. As they currently have a lot of projects going on.
 
The store pages are up on Steam. People are criticizing the font for some reason. I like it, as character space was always an issue in these games to the point where a lot of names and item descriptions were hilariously cutoff. The release date for at least the first 3 games is July 28. IV, V and VI do not have a release date yet. I would criticize the price over the font. $12 USD for I and II, $18 for the rest making the full price package with all the games $96.

https://store.steampowered.com/bundle/21478/FINAL_FANTASY_IVI_Bundle/
 
Or, you can just run the original games using HQ2x filter + high-res option, and call it a day :cool:

This is so much shit, it amazes me that people still buy their overdone rehashes.
 
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defaultluser said:
Or, you can just run the original games using HQ2x filter + high-res option, and call it a day :cool:

This is so much shit, it amazes me that people still buy their overdone rehashes.
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I haven't bought the mobile ports, but these seem like decent enough remasters that they'll be worth supporting. Though the price is a tad high, but not unexpected from SE.
 
I, II and III were released today. There is a 20% launch discount that runs through August 11. Reminder that this is the first time that the original Final Fantasy III is seeing a release outside of Japan. The 3D remake made for the Nintendo DS is still available to purchase. This is the first time, as far as I'm aware, that I and II have had a Windows PC release. The MSX2 versions don't count :D.

 
Armenius said:
I, II and III were released today. There is a 20% launch discount that runs through August 11. Reminder that this is the first time that the original Final Fantasy III is seeing a release outside of Japan. The 3D remake made for the Nintendo DS is still available to purchase. This is the first time, as far as I'm aware, that I and II have had a Windows PC release. The MSX2 versions don't count :D.

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hahaha

We don't want you to exactly, directly see these old style graphics. Even though we went to the trouble of changing them, We have no faith that you will like them. FINAL FANTASY. BUY IT.
 
Armenius said:
I, II and III were released today. There is a 20% launch discount that runs through August 11. Reminder that this is the first time that the original Final Fantasy III is seeing a release outside of Japan. The 3D remake made for the Nintendo DS is still available to purchase. This is the first time, as far as I'm aware, that I and II have had a Windows PC release. The MSX2 versions don't count :D.

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It honestly sucks that the games are all the original versions without any of the fixes and updates brought with better versions of the years. FF2 vanilla's leveling system is straight up garbage. As soon as I found out that these releases were going to be the untouched originals I lost all interest. Why is it so fucking hard for SE to actually do good releases of these older FF games!?
 
Derangel said:
It honestly sucks that the games are all the original versions without any of the fixes and updates brought with better versions of the years. FF2 vanilla's leveling system is straight up garbage. As soon as I found out that these releases were going to be the untouched originals I lost all interest. Why is it so fucking hard for SE to actually do good releases of these older FF games!?
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Yeah, the leveling system in FF2 penalizes you for doing any combat with your mages (you lose magic power, and gain attack), an I also seem to recall there being no option to parry...WTF, MATE?

There's also even more backtracking in the game than you already did in the first one.

FF3 NES is the only game worth having in this package. The first game has annoying MIDGAME pure cheese combat, with several creatures featuring single-shot death or incurable paralysis effects. (Even worse, they don't have a Phoenix Down items in this game, or Wing of the Wyveryn [thank you Dragon Quest for your genius contribution to hard RPGs!]),

in summary: the first two games are a ton of forced-feeding of the worst canned cheese, with very little substance inside
 
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defaultluser said:
Yeah, the leveling system in FF2 penalizes you for doing any combat with your mages (you lose magic power, and gain attack), an I also seem to recall there being no option to parry...WTF, MATE?

There's also even more backtracking in the game than you already did in the first one.

FF3 NES is the only game worth having in this package. The first game has annoying MIDGAME pure cheese combat, with several creatures featuring single-shot death (Even worse, they don't have a Phoenix Down items in this game, or Wing of the Wyveryn [thank you Dragon Quest for your genius contribution to hard RPGs!]),

in summary: the first two games are a ton of forced-feeding of the worst canned cheese, with very little substance inside
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I don't really have an issue with the leveling in the original FF2 except needing to stop all progression every once in a while to beat on each other just to increase your HP since the next dungeon is 5x harder than the overworld region surrounding it. The later versions at least added some natural HP progression so you didn't have to do that all the time. Otherwise it makes sense at the most basic level with what they were going for, but the rest of the game was really not designed around it very well. The fact that there are only 4 or 5 enemy difficulty ratings throughout the whole game that dictates how fast you get skill and stat increases really kills the pace and contributes to the frustration of the required grind in between dungeons. To be fair, though, this game was developed in only half a year before going out the door and onto store shelves.
 
defaultluser said:
Yeah, the leveling system in FF2 penalizes you for doing any combat with your mages (you lose magic power, and gain attack), an I also seem to recall there being no option to parry...WTF, MATE?

There's also even more backtracking in the game than you already did in the first one.

FF3 NES is the only game worth having in this package. The first game has annoying MIDGAME pure cheese combat, with several creatures featuring single-shot death (Even worse, they don't have a Phoenix Down items in this game, or Wing of the Wyveryn [thank you Dragon Quest for your genius contribution to hard RPGs!]),

in summary: the first two games are a ton of forced-feeding of the worst canned cheese, with very little substance inside
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I agree with the assessment of FF2. It is the only FF I never could get into and beat. The grind just irked me hard. That is coming from the guy that had over 3000 days in FFXI.
 
vegeta535 said:
I agree with the assessment of FF2. It is the only FF I never could get into and beat. The grind just irked me hard. That is coming from the guy that had over 3000 days in FFXI.
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XI was at least full of interesting content and I quite enjoyed the party dynamic. FF2 is full of vast emptiness in between plot points.
 
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