And So, Their Journey Begins…
Since their reveal at the Square Enix Presents event at this year’s E3, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series has been fairly mysterious. All we’d seen was a trailer of about 30 seconds, mostly consisting of brief snippets of gameplay from the original versions of the Final Fantasy games being remastered – I to VI. Now, however, we’ve got a much more comprehensive look at what a “pixel remaster” actually is – along with a release date for the first 3 remastered Final Fantasy titles.
We had a look at the updates to the versions of Final Fantasy V and VI that are currently available on Steam yesterday, and it looks like we weren’t far off with our speculation there. Final Fantasy V and VI’s PC ports being retitled to Final Fantasy V (Old ver.) and Final Fantasy VI (Old ver.) and their upcoming removal from Steam did herald an announcement about the Pixel Remasters. As of today, Steam pages are available for the Pixel Remasters of Final Fantasy I – VI, with screenshots of and release dates for the first 3 games. It seems there’ll be a tiered release, with FF IV, V and VI being released a bit later than the first three games.
Although the fonts used in the remaster are… a little generic-looking, the pixel remasters are looking great so far – a much more faithful representation of the original games than the versions previously available on PC and mobile. There’s a lot of content throughout the Steam entries, so for now we’ll take a look at the iconic original, Final Fantasy I. You can check out all the Steam pages for yourself through the source link at the end of the article!
Final Fantasy I features revamped sprites and backgrounds, as well as a gorgeous-looking new overworld. Interestingly, and perhaps indicative of the approach Square Enix are taking with these games, the sprites are decidedly based on the NES title’s character designs rather than later releases, with the Warrior donning red armour and the Thief sporting a bright blue hairdo. Similarly, the legendary original composer Nobuo Oematsu has overseen a rearrangement of the original soundtrack. There’s plenty here to sate fans of the original, while a reworked UI and new gameplay features like auto-battle are sure to draw gamers new to the franchise in.
The Pixel Remasters of Final Fantasy I, II and III will launch on July 28th, 2021, with a release date for FF IV-VI yet to be announced. You can add them to your Steam wishlist or pre-purchase them now!