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The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series is a series of remakes of the first six numbered titles in the Final Fantasy series. The titles all use one unified engine running on the Unity game engine.

Overview[]

Announced on June 13, 2021 as part of Square Enix Presents Summer Showcase for E3 2021 and published on iOS, Android, Fire OS, and Microsoft Windows via Steam[1] between July 2021 and February 2022, the Pixel Remaster series was promoted as being the "ultimate 2D remasters" of their respective games.[2]

The spritework appears to be partially based on the art featured in FF DOT: The Pixel Art of Final Fantasy, a 2018 art book that featured re-imagined sprites from many titles in the series,[3] and Final Fantasy Dimensions. All six titles' character pixel art have been remastered from their original versions by the games' original pixel artist Kazuko Shibuya, who has worked on the Final Fantasy series since the first game.[4] The remasters do not include some previous Easter eggs, nor do they include any of the bonus dungeons and features introduced in the Game Boy Advance ports and further releases based on those.[5] Each release features a remastered musical score supervised by the original composer, Nobuo Uematsu, as well as some adjustments taken from previous versions. Several prominent bugs and glitches from the original titles have also been resolved.

On December 18, 2022, the 35th anniversary of the Final Fantasy series, Square Enix announced that the six games would be released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in Spring 2023.[6] On April 5, 2023, Square Enix confirmed that these versions will release on April 19 with new options, such as changing the font to a pixel-based font and ability to choose new remastered or original version soundtrack.[7]

The collection was also released on Xbox Series X/S September 26, 2024. This release also serves as a second PC release via the Xbox desktop app, with a single purchase for both platforms.

Relationship to previous versions[]

With the release of the Pixel Remaster series, the previous Windows, iOS, and Android releases of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, as well as the previous iOS and Android releases of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, were delisted from their respective stores as of July 28, and are no longer available for purchase. Players already possessing licenses to previous versions can continue to install and play them until the operating environment changes, at which point full functionality of the older versions cannot be guaranteed. Meanwhile, the 3D remakes of Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy IV, being established releases with more distinctive gameplay, remain available on all app stores, simply retitled and repackaged in early June 2021.

The Pixel Remaster versions are the first official PC release of Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II, as well as the first international release of a 2D version of Final Fantasy III, with all prior international releases of the game being the 3D remake.

Version differences[]

Unlike previous versions of the games (where Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II were typically ported at the same time, while other games were ported as individual projects), the Pixel Remaster versions were made at roughly the same time, on an engine designed to support features from all six games at once. As a result, beyond the normal minor adjustments that happen from version to version, the overall game design and graphical style is much more unified, and mechanics in the games now more resemble the appearances in later entries in the series. This can be most strongly seen in Final Fantasy II, which introduced several recurring mechanics, but which were often implemented in a way that does not resemble how the rest of the series would go on to use them; these mechanics have been adjusted to be more like those later games. Bugs throughout the games have also been fixed, including those that had been intentionally kept in other versions.

With the exception of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster keeping some items introduced in Dawn of Souls while reworking them to account for changes to how MP works, all content that was added in the Finest Fantasy for Advance versions or later has been removed.

In addition to all of the changes made to the games in their initial launch, the PC and mobile phone conversions of the Pixel Remaster versions have received balance and bug fixes since launch, focusing on bugs introduced in these versions.

Additionally, the later PS4 and Switch versions have new features including, but not limited to, a new pixel font, an option to change between the remastered and original soundtracks, a re-worked difficulty to be closer to the original ones, and an option to modify the encounter rate and the amount of EXP, Gil, and ABP gained. Later on, the smartphone and PC versions were updated to include the mentioned quality-of-life features.

Gallery[]

External links[]

Citations[]

  1. se (n.d.) . THE Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster BRINGS FINAL FANTASY I THROUGH VI TO LIFE ONCE MORE ON STEAM AND MOBILE. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021.
  2. Duncan Heaney (n.d.) . Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster coming to Steam and mobile. Square Enix. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021.
  3. Galizio, James (2021, June 13). "What exactly is the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster? Here's what we've managed to find out". From RPG Site. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021.
  4. Romano, Sal (2021, June 29). "Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster launches beginning July". From Gematsu. Archived from the original on 4 July 2021.
  5. Tony Garsow (n.d.) . New Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster footage shows more from Final Fantasy I through VI. Archived from the original on 30 June 2021.
  6. Duncan Heaney (n.d.) . Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is coming to PS4 and Nintendo Switch!. Square Enix. Archived from the original on 18 December 2022.
  7. Duncan Heaney (n.d.) . FINAL FANTASY Pixel Remaster on PS4 and Switch: release date and features. Square Enix. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023.
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