Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. The title includes pixel remasters of the first six Final Fantasy games, and will release Spring 2023.
Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster will be available as separate digital downloads, or together in a Square Enix store exclusive physical, and anniversary editions. While prices were not revealed for each digital title, the standard physical edition will cost $74.99 for all six titles and packaging. Those looking for a bit more can purchase the anniversary edition for $259.99, which includes all six games, a special box, lenticular sleeve, 2-disc vinyl record set featuring newly arranged game music with exclusive cover artwork by Kazuko Shibuya, art book, and eight pixel art character figures. Square Enix notes both editions are limited, with the standard edition being “extremely limited.”
The release also confirmed Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is the same as the previously released Steam, and mobile versions. For those curious about changes, you can find the official overview below:
Classic “FINAL FANTASY” titles have been reborn through vivid 2D pixel graphics and the beautifully rearranged soundtrack. Gameplay is improved with modernized UI, and extras such as a bestiary, illustration gallery and music player allow further immersion into the world of the game.
＊These games are newly developed remaster editions based on the original titles. Some of the changes and additional elements found in other remakes of these games are not included
➣ Universally updated 2D pixel graphics, including the iconic FINAL FANTASY character designs created by Kazuko Shibuya, the original artist and current collaborator.
Square Enix Store
➣ Beautifully rearranged soundtrack in a faithful FINAL FANTASY style, overseen by original composer Nobuo Uematsu.
➣ Improved gameplay, including modernized UI, auto-battle options, and more!
➣ Dive into the world of the game with supplemental extras like the bestiary, illustration gallery, and music player.
For those unfamiliar with the franchises humble beginnings, you can find a brief overview of each title below:
FINAL FANTASY
This is the ironically named game that started it all. You take control of the Warriors of Light, off on a journey to defeat four fiends and restore peace to the world.
So many of the elements of the series that we’ve come to know and love make their debut right here in this very first entry: a massive world full of mystery, some iconic monster designs and that incredible music.
FINAL FANTASY II
The second game in the series introduces a new world, new characters and something that would become a trademark of the series: innovation.
The story focuses on the conflict between the hostile Empire of Palamecia and the rebel resistance. A small group of heroes is all that stands between the world and ruin.
FINAL FANTASY II demonstrates the developers’ willingness to push their boundaries and try new things. For example, rather than sticking to the predictable, the game features a proficiency system in which characters skill with weapons and abilities increase the more they used them.
Fun fact: this is the FINAL FANTASY game that introduced the world to chocobos! Now that’s a legacy.
FINAL FANTASY III
When darkness falls and the land is robbed of light, four young heroes are chosen by the crystals to head off an exciting journey across a vast and hostile land.
This critically-acclaimed entry in the series innovated with a flexible job system, which lets characters change their roles in combat at any time. Many of the most famous elements of FINAL FANTASY started here too – for example, it was the first to introduce summons, including series mainstays Bahamut and Shiva!
FINAL FANTASY IV
FINAL FANTASY IV delivers one of the richest and most powerful stories in the series. It’s filled with characters and scenarios that fans continue to love to this day.
It focuses on the dark knight Cecil, who finds himself stripped of his position and rank when he questions his king’s increasingly troubling orders. When he’s sent on a simple delivery mission with his friend Kain, the shocking events that follow send him and a group of allies on an incredible journey of betrayal, love and redemption.
This is the first game to feature the Active Time Battle (ATB) system, which combines turn-based and real-time elements to create fast-paced and strategic combat.
FINAL FANTASY V
The world of FINAL FANTASY V is on the verge of destruction because the elemental crystals that bring life and prosperity to the lands have lost their power.
The only hope lies in four heroes: Bartz, Princess Lenna of Castle Tycoon, pirate Faris and the mysterious Galuf. Driven together by fate, they set off on a quest that to save the planet itself.
As well as refining the ATB system, FINAL FANTASY V expands your strategic options massively through a greatly expanded job system, which let you customize your characters with 22 different jobs.
FINAL FANTASY VI
FINAL FANTASY VI is a game that’s beloved by fans and critics alike.
That’s partly thanks to its incredible setting and story. It’s set in a land where magic has disappeared, and humanity has instead turned to iron, gunpowder, steam and other technology.
Actually, it would be more accurate to say that magic is mostly gone – a young woman enslaved by the evil Empire still has the power. When she encounters a powerful ancient being called an Esper, she sets off a chain of events that will have epic and terrible consequences.
Square Enix
Unfortunately, no comment was given on an Xbox version.
