After months of fan pleas Square Enix Do it on social media, final fantasy pixel remake Finally coming to consoles – available this week for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Interestingly, these are functionally different from the versions that debuted on PC and mobile. In fact, they’ve been subtly improved.
These are small changes, but they add up to a bigger impact. It brings these titles closer to the definitive versions of the classics. In fact, die-hard fans may now have a headache deciding which version of each 2D FF to play.
For the most part, our original reviews of the first three games are valid. Back in 2021, I said that the ports have a lot of room for improvement. The console versions have been improved…but there are still many things they could – and arguably should – do better. Still, they are now more worthy versions of these classic games.
Performance first: we’ve only tested it on the Switch, and it’s adequate, but far from perfect. Stuttering is still all too common for me – I don’t understand why it happens on such an old game. It’s out there; my Switch OLED hangs for half a second while turning on FF1 and FF6. This is also reproducible and happens every time I start over in the exact same scene. Many of these issues have even cropped up on PC, and it’s a little odd to see free-riding in a game that’s ostensibly 35 years old.
Even more pleasing, however, are the brand new features. Square Enix has announced that these new features will also be brought to the PC version of the game.
The first new feature is booster. These can be accessed through a new option that can be taken from the field at any time. As soon as you can open your main menu, which is mostly outside of combat, you can head to the “Configuration” submenu and find a new title called “Boost” there.
Three different buffs can be found in the menus of all 6 games: Encounters, XP, and Jill. Skirmishes can be toggled on or off, and you can adjust the amount of EXP or Gil you get from winning battles to 0.5, 2, or 4x – or set it back to the default setting of 1x.
However, certain games get bonus boosts. In FF2, you can toggle on or off the “Compensating HP” bonus, which automatically boosts your max HP after a certain amount of combat, as well as assists to physical and magical attack stats. FF5 and FF6 also have the option to increase ABP and Magic AP in addition to EXP and Gil – which means you can get Esper Skills and Job Abilities faster in these game systems.
It’s all very useful, and integrating it into the menu feels more elegant and less intrusive than the modern PS1 FF remake, which hides the booster behind a controller shortcut and to the side of the play area Ugly icons to indicate their status. It’s not that quick to turn them on or off, but it’s nice that you can do so without closing the game. If you find you need to grind, or are short on cash, you can now easily increase currency yields–if you want to breeze through dungeons and turn off encounters. Thumbs up – a nice addition.
Earlier I mentioned how incredible these remastered music were, and still are – but if you disagree, there’s a new option for you.Buried in the same configuration menu is the new music switch This lets you switch between the original soundtrack and the arranged score as it appeared on the NES and SNES. Again, this can be toggled at any time with little consequence – so if you’re a novice wondering how that head-scratching boss theme with only 4 channels sounds, you can open up the next boss in time.
I like the variety. This is something Pixel Remasters should be working on. These games have existed in many forms over the years, so why not include everything available and let players customize their experience? This sentiment also speaks to the inadequacy of the Pixel Remasters – but more on that later.
But first, let’s talk fonts. That damn font. After fan complaints and fans coming up with solutions on how to replace the truly horrible font in the original PC and mobile versions, Square Enix took notice and offered a replacement.
This was one of the few complaints that the developers addressed directly, with patches for the PC and mobile versions (also appearing here) tweaking the overly bright color palette of FF6’s cast sprites, and restoring the developer credits for FF6’s opening crawl ( New for the console version, though it’s worth noting that it’s still not the original credits, but a credits made exclusively for the Pixel Remaster staff). But the main sin is undoubtedly the font.
While the game still defaults to the font we all hate, you can switch the font in the menu to a more pixelated text rendering for titles. It looks good – but I’m still a little disappointed.
Part of it was spoiled by fan-made masterpieces, really. I’ve personally played with all six Pixel Remasters, using a fan-made font inspired by modder “Bdjeffyp”‘s SNES version of Final Fantasy VI – and it looks spectacular. Another particularly gorgeous font is “Cornelia Sans,” a re-creation of Square’s own font for Final Fantasy Origins on the PS1.
The new fonts in Pixel Remasters are a definite improvement, and the pixelated stuff is certainly better than the generic default OS-style fonts we got before. But it also makes many of the same mistakes as the obnoxious font—just in pixelated form. For example, the kerning of new fonts is still terrible. In many menus, its vertical alignment feels poor, a bit too tall so it’s not in the middle of the text box.
A picture says a thousand words – so here’s a comparison of the original PC font, Square’s alternative, and one of my favorite fan mods, borrowed from our friends at the RPG site. judge for yourself.
Or in other words, the Pixelated look is a better fit for these releases, and is exactly the kind of font these releases should have been from day one. However, the presentation and styling of this version is still a bit poor. What a pity.
So, it’s an odd little bump to this otherwise delightful package. Another is its feature set, which harkens back to the massive content of other versions of these games mentioned earlier.
Some of them haven’t aged well, like the CG cutscenes added to the PlayStation version. The musical arrangements for these versions are also largely redundant. So I can understand getting rid of those, although it would be nice to have them available to watch or listen to in the menu, just to make this feel like a definitive collection.
However, what I miss the most is most of the bonus content that was added to the GBA. Exactly what’s missing varies from game to game, but generally, it includes late-game or post-game challenge dungeons with unique tweaks to the established rules of each game’s combat system. These are usually rewards for the most die-hard fans–bringing every combat system to the max, and often offering neat bits of fan service, like fighting bosses from other games.
A few were particularly saddened to lose. FF2’s Souls Reborn is a completely self-contained post-game epilogue that wraps up some unresolved issues from the main game, while even featuring a new party member–a painful loss. FF5’s main bonus dungeon allows players to unlock four brand new jobs for characters to try out. FF6 has the best end game content yet, with new super bosses offering new ultimate weapons. There are also some exciting extra unlockable Espers, including Gilgamesh and FF8’s Diabolos.
A lot of this is a real bonus for the real hardcore nerd, and if you just want to play each game’s story, you’ll be well served here. But equally, if you’re a sucker for FF’s combat system and want to fully explore each one, the list of missing content stings.
In fact, I understand the logic of wanting to present an accurate remake similar to the SNES and NES originals. But I also think options are the lifeblood of a remaster like this – so players should have this content and be able to switch. Plus – repainted sprites, rearranged music, 16:9 presentation and a ton of balance changes, keeping the original concept is a long ship anyway.
However, to be fair: this is an irresistible package, especially if you don’t have access to a PC or the Steam Deck, where you can easily tinker with some of the better text options. These are incredible games finally available in a respectable form on more platforms than in decades. We can’t really think of it as anything other than a net win.
For the really brash hardcore, of which I’m undoubtedly one, I still think the best versions of all these games are there for good reason, but FF3 is the GBA trolley to play on some sexy new retro hardware like the Analogue Pocket — but short on that particularly expensive indulgence, it’s now a vastly improved and more rewarding way to experience six icy classics. I just hope — I really hope they’re actually definitive. Maybe one day, hey?
