Final Fantasy XIV, an MMORPG (massively multiplayer online role-playing game) for the franchise, has had a troubled history. The first version was such a disappointment that Square Enix eventually dropped it, reproducing the game and changing up the development team that eventually released the far-improved A Realm Reborn, currently on PS3 and PC; it's also on the way to PS4.
The franchise made much of its early impact on Nintendo hardware, or course, with Final Fantasy being a hit on NES before some of the most treasured entries in the series graced the Super NES. Sadly those times are long gone, and we can only hope that in future the series will make a comeback on Nintendo hardware beyond the rather superb rhythm-based Theatrhythm spinoffs on 3DS, the second expanded version of which is currently Japan-only.
Square Enix hasn't forgotten that pixel-based heritage, however, and has produced a rather entertaining video that takes a Titan boss fight from the latest game and recreates it in a 16-Bit style. Below that is a commentary of the real-game boss fight — thanks Kotaku — for a bit of comparison.
We may be old-fashioned, but we may just prefer the retro-themed reproduction. Check it out below.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 14
It feels more and more that large companies are jumping on the nostalgia train. It is a shame, because they should be pushing the genre forward, not taking it back.
It may be nostalgia but it looks amazing. Also pixel games are now a style so it shouldn't always be photorealistic 3D graphics all day.
@SageWaterDragon
Sometimes you have to go backwards to move forwards.
The SNES Final Fantasy games. were the best of there series. I would play the SNES remake of Final Fantasy XIV, but I have not interest in Final Fantasy XIV in its current form.
Anything from this gen remade in 16-Bit would be awesome especially Final Fantasy XIV. This show how awesome the 16-Bit era really is.
The story just needs to be really good and it never seems to be any more.
The 16 bit ones have more in common with a good book. Whereas the more modern ones have more in common with a rubbish film.
Just remake FFVI and IV or preferably FFI-VI collection on 3DS. I'd say wiiU and kind of imagined how the FF retro games would look with the later art style models (resembling those from the DS remake of FFIII and IV cutscenes intros) but the wiiu isn't doing well enough for that to interest Square... Yet.
i assume it would be an ios exclusive
I really like the retro style and find it a lot easier to see what's going on on the battle field.
@ToastyYogurt
agreed, the industry for the most part has taken a serious wrong turn, and as such, progress is not continuing forward on the wrong path, it is when you turn around and head back towards the right one.
Looking at those screenshots, I don't think S-E's current staff would know a real 16-bit game if they got hit with it.
While I love old school stuff, that should be the realm of the Virtual Console, not current releases. I would go so far as to say that nostalgia is overused in the current Nintendo lineup - the vast majority of the current Wii U lineup consists of games from the bread and butter franchises from Nintendo.
While I love Mario and Zelda games as much as the next person, variety is the spice of life and I think that's one reason (among many) that the Wii U is under-performing at the moment. Mario Platformer #1273178 is great, but what would really help is more original stuff.
Wonderful 101 and Bayonetta2 are both steps in this direction, but there's so much untapped potential at the moment. For example, why, WHY do we not a guitar-hero style game that uses the controller screen as a virtual guitar face?
But that's a bit of a tangent. What I'm trying to say is that while the 16-bit era had some amazing games, our current hardware has far more potential if utilized properly. And given their last several offerings, I don't really trust SE to deliver anything amazing, regardless of how many bits they're using.
How come the music in this video does NOT sound 16-bit? Final Fantasy VI is the only game in the series I ever had any interest in it, and a big part of the reason I liked that game so much was because the music was ridiculously good.
I wonder what a 16-bit hallway game would look like.
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