Final Fantasy is one of the most legendary names in gaming history. Final Fantasy VII has of course received a good cleaning in the form of of remake† The first six games have also been up recently. Although not with full-fledged remakes, but with the so-called Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters† The latest remaster, part WE, was also recently released. So it’s high time to discuss the entire collection.
Square Enix is unfortunately known for two things with their old games: lazy remasters and sloppy ports to the PC. That’s why we’ll get straight to the point and reassure you: the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are like a breath of fresh air. They are made with love and have tremendous value over the original games.
First of all, the pixel art of all six games has been cleaned up considerably. You will always have people who will prefer the original, but there is no doubt that the Pixel Remasters be infinitely more colorful. In addition, at least all characters and some of the enemies have also been completely redrawn. They look much more modern and objectively just better. What’s nice is that the original games have been honored. People have not suddenly completely changed: as an old fan you recognize them immediately and as a newcomer they look fresher than if you had started with the original games. The biggest change is in the backgrounds you see during battles: this makes it much more fun to watch.
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Bee Final Fantasy VI has occasionally gone a step further, some scenes seem to have been shot from scratch and the famous opera scene was even shot in a kind of HD-2D as we know from Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler and the recently released Triangle Strategy. It’s cool, because it occasionally creates a kind of surprise element: you’re used to everything looking a little nicer by now, but when a scene has really been completely overhauled, it’s just that little bit extra special because you can’t handle it. saw coming.
If you have never played the series yourself it may sound bizarre, but music is for Final Fantasy almost as important as the gameplay and graphics. Fans can recognize key characters from various games just from the music and when starting a Final Fantasy that you haven’t played in a while, hearing the battle music again is always a moving thing. The music has also been re-recorded and is not only of a higher quality, but sometimes also adapted with completely new arrangements. In particular the new arrangements of Final Fantasy VI can safely be called masterpieces. We’ve had the remastered soundtracks in the background continuously during the work over the past few weeks.
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Then there are the extras, such as the Bestiary, which is a kind of encyclopedia with information about all the monsters and beasts you encounter during your adventures. FYI: these were also in later reissues, but generally not in the first versions. There is also a gallery to view artwork from the game. Especially for fans of Concept Artist Yoshitaka Amano, this is a real pleasure. Finally, there is also a Music Player, in which you can listen to both the original and remaster versions of the soundtrack. We’re not quite sure why you’d want to launch the game to listen to music instead of just doing it via YouTube, for example, but it’s cool that you can.
All in all, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters a real delight for fans of the series. It all looks a bit more modern and especially more colorful, the soundtracks have been taken care of and especially the Final Fantasy VIvariant is extra well done. It is clear that the Pixel Remasters were made with a lot of love and with this, Square Enix at least partly gets rid of its reputation for making lazy remasters and ports. If you’re an old fan that’s itching to get back to work, or if you’re a newcomer who’s always been curious, now’s the perfect time!
The Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters have all been played on PC for this review. The remasters are also available on Android and iOS. There is no word yet on a console release.
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