Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series Launches On Switch Later This Month

Oh nice, they finally added a pixel font. Hopefully that helps the readability of the text as the original font was awful

Okay. I will now buy these. It's so much better.

I'll wait for them to patch out all the glitches and oversights.

Those are a definite wait for a sale thing for me. The pricing is pretty unreasonable and they're from Square so they'll probably be marked down within a couple months.

I'm sorry,but turning off the random encounters?? Weren't these specifically random encounter games? How would that work?

The font option is nice but still not going to bite at those prices. Hopefully the performance is improved too.

Day one.

The classics finally come home.

They fixed the font?! And we got a release date? YESSSSS

I have been waiting for this ever since they were announced for steam and mobile 😂

I like these newly added options but can we get an option to get LESS experience? these pixel remasters have increased the exp gained that makes each game so much easier than their original versions. They are doing a lot of things to make them even easier which is fine, but please also add options to make the game more challenging too!

@MitchaK Turning off random encounters is also a thing in the ports of final fantasy 7, 8, and 9. I normally turned them off whenever I wanted to go exploring and then I turned them back on whenever I wanted to level up. I'd imagine it would be similar to how it works in those games

Found the listings on the eshop an hour before they announced on socials. Was a pleasant surprise for sure.

As someone who's never played a Final Fantasy game, how do these first 6 hold up?

Playing VI first.

Just need the XIII trilogy and I’m done buying FF.

Turning off encounters is an amazing option for these old RPGs.

I played FF4 on the Wii Virtual Console and FF6 on the SNES Mini, and while the encounters were actually more tolerable than I was anticipating, there sure were a whole LOT of them. I think this option perfectly suits the modern player who may have less patience for older RPGs

I might give this a go. I’ve been gaming for a long time and I never tried a single Final Fantasy game. Maybe now is the time.

@Ade117

I played 2, 3 and 5 for the first time last year and I thought 2 and 3 were really good. I can't speak for how well the others hold up because of nostalgia bias, but I think they'd be hold up just as well.

@MitchaK
After a certain point, you just want to get to the town. Encounter after encounter makes the games drag. FFVII and IX I believe had similar features

I pre-ordered the physical standard edition when it first went up on the Square Enix Store. I can't wait for it to finally arrive! I might see if I can get through one or two of them before FFXVI releases a couple months later.

The new font looks way better, and I love some of the QoL features here (not needing to trudge through a million random encounters when you just want to get somewhere quickly is huge).

@EvilSilentFrame IV and VI are probably going to be the most graceful experiences for a brand new player today.

@Wisps EXP Multipliers can be adjusted between 0 and 4, so at the very least can retain its original difficulty.

Probably not buying FF Pixel remaster here soon but thank you Square putting that onto consoles. A good decision that isn't NFT's.

Don't mind the $75 for the whole shebang, though each of em individually, ($11 minimum) eugh.

@AlexanderDaniels You see I have doubt about this. ... is 0 equivalent to the original EXP gain from the original versions or the default EXP from the pixel remaster versions? FF1, 2 and 3 Pixel remaster versions have a default increased 1.5 experience gain compared to the originals.

But now that you mention, I hope this EXP multiplier is based on the og values. That would be the best of both worlds.

Looking forward to getting my cartridge, but with Zelda coming it’s going to be a long while before I play anything else.

It’s weird to me that people want to just dash through these games not running into fights, and getting infinity exp. Why even play them at all?

@Ade117 1 and 3 have their charms but are dated in a lot of respects, 4-6 still hold up very well, 2 is a disaster and this version of it takes out most of the fixes for it subsequent versions added.

And individual I shall buy at these prices...

But...they look exactly the same lmao

Be good boys and girls and toss cash at them though, seal the future of gaming as only sequels and cash grabs called "remasters".

what game should I buy again for the 103th time first

Shut up and take my money!
I'll probably wait for sales on most but pick one of them up asap

I wish I could justify the price but I can't. I don't want to encourage this pricing. Surely it's 6 good games, but they are not remastered to an extent that I would consider paying £15 for each. Maybe I would for a couple of them at most.

@Lizuka
What are the prices?

Are they doing a bundle deal?

And physical is gone now, forever? or are they doing another run?

@theModestMouse oh weird, a rare negative take.

@its_luke_c I agree man but each to their own I guess. I just hope they realize that the older FF games are all about battles and level progression. There is no juicy plot or cutscenes to rush to. Hopefully they do not get dissapointed for this.

Hyped, can't wait to play the classics again. Looking forward to playing FF III in particular.

bought the collection on steam, and I'll be buying it on the Switch.
probably pick it up on PS4 when there is a sale just cuz

Nice, I have a hankering to play 4 again. Oh and I should probably finally confront my largest gaming shame and actually play 6.

I'm glad they fix the fonts, definitely can't wait for my Play-Asia copy soon. At the moment though I would be playing Octopath Traveler II finally.

Time to triple dip with FF. VI is such a delight, and of course III and IV are awesome too.

@Lizuka Not only that, this pixel remaster collection was the first time Final Fantasy III actually got a proper 2D remake rather than a 3D one. A 2D 16-Bit remake of FFIII had been on the pipeline ever since the Wonder Swan Color and that game was always considered but never materialize even when the PS1, GBA, and PSP were on active support. Wonder Swan Color got FF1-4 but cancelling FF3, PS1 got FF1-6 but somehow skipped FF3, GBA got FF1-6 also missed FF3, PSP got FF1-4 and got FF3 but only the 3D remake, not a 2D one. DS got FF3 & FF4 but only as 3D remakes. This pixel remastered collection got the proper 2D remake of FF3 and is the definitive version of that game (that is unless you like the 3D one better).

Ahhhhh, font changes and ability to switch music. I love the new arrangements, but also love the originals. That's awesome, I hope they're updated for PC too. I finally beat FFI for the first time. I'm sure it was a fair bit easier than playing the actual original, but it was just nice to experience.

@theModestMouse could see you trying to make that point for the overworld, although there are differences, but you can't really make that point for the battle screens.

@theModestMouse 100% wrong..

$65 is too much for six 30 year old games. I'd consider $30.

Going to be almost impossible or quite expensive to get this as physical. Guess will go the digital route (and maybe can wait for a sale).

Have $140 eShop credit and plenty of SD card space anyway.

@Maulbert test test, similar to the next Zelda

The only one of these I was ever interested in was 3 and that was only because it was the first time it got a proper 2D remake. However with the experience multiplier I might be worth it to also check out 2 so it won't be as much of a slog. However that pricing hurts a lot. Even for the 2 games you're looking at $30 ($11.99 for 2 and $17.99 for 3) so you might as well drop the $79.99 for the bundle. Honestly that pricing doesn't justify the bundle when outside of the graphics and sound being updated, it's a really bare bones package that lacks so much of the added content in previous ports. $30 - $40 is reasonable for this collection, but Squarenix knows that people will drop $80 for the whole set at launch. I'll probably wait until it goes on sale in a few months, since more than likely it will.

About time they did it
Bye bye Unity font

@its_luke_c it's a nice option for those who want to experience the games, but don't have the time or patience to sit through a million random encounters. I just finished FF8 tonight, and towards the end, I got fed up with the game and turned off encounters, used the battle booster doohickey, and blew through the rest of the game. I wouldn't have finished the game otherwise. FF9 on the other hand, I only used fast forward, because it's a great game.

I'm super excited! Pre ordered the special edition and Asian market version. 😁

@MitchaK should help with backtracking I think? Nothing more annoying than just trying to get back where you came from if you got there by mistake.

I will always perfer Final fantasy IV 3D over the pixel remaster, even the logo is better.

For someone who couldn't stand the PSP's 2D FFIV, I'll probably pass, pixel font or not. If they do a presentation more akin to the DQIII remake that was announced then I might be more interested.

@DrGonzo you can see in a screen in the video that you can change the battle mechanics to be harder.

Now I watch my inbox to see when my physical has shipped.

If we all buy these...we MIGHT get:
Chrono Trigger
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

Man, I imported FF6 back in the day. Read every article about it in Super Play every month. What a magical game. I know Sony fans don't like to hear it, but it's so nice Squaresoft (and Enix to a lesser extent*) have finally come home. We have Secret of Mana, Final Fantasy 6...come on Chrono Trigger. You can make it!

*Hopefully they remember Robotrek and Terranigma...

So was the physical just on SE's site? or is it import only?
I need these but I'd feel so much better if it were physical.

Wow, next week Megaman collection, then FF collection and Advance wars and finally horizon DLC. Guess I’ve to prioritise which I’ll be getting, since no time to play them all now.

@DrGonzo Ultimate just means it's better than the original. It doesn't mean it's the best version for example Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 is the better version of Mortal Kombat 3 but it's not the best Mortal Kombat arcade game of all time, that honor still belongs to Mortal Kombat II. Also the original games cost around $50-$70 each at the time they released, you're lucky this collection only cost you $75 for all of them.

@RPGreg2600 Haha same experience here. Beat 8 a few weeks ago, and man was that a rough time. So many poor choices were made at every angle of the games design, often in attempt to break the mold or whatever. The straw that broke the camels back for me was the soft lock you could do in the final dungeon because you didn’t happen to recover the correct command for the abilities you had at the time. I turned on the cheats and just went to town after that. Such a terrible game.

9 has a few issues but replaying that again was an absolute joy. Easily at the top of Squares PS1 catalogue for me.

They need to restock the physical games and have them available elsewhere than online only.

Doesn't the new font also look very small?

Too late for me. I'll pick this up on sale, maybe around Christmas. They should have had this out late last year when there was a clear gap for it. TotK is weeks away and FF16 is just 2 months. SE are naive to think fans will buy anytime and fools to prioritise releasing on a mobile over Switch.

@Ade117 FF VI is one of the best RPGs ever made. On most “Top FF” it is first or second place, always battling against 7 and 7Remake.

A 30 year old 16-bit game hasn’t been defeated in its own franchise by their modern counterparts.
I’ll leave you with that thought. It’s that good.

Ive given up any hope of getting a physical copy. Unless I check the site every minute of everyday, which I’m not putting myself through.

@MitchaK probably just an officialized cheat toggle to prevent them from triggering when active, so the players can grind levels when they want (with a separate optional EXP booster to make that quicker) and walk around without distractions otherwise. Should be topical for some returning players who might want to relive the world and story beats but not look forward to repeating the more tedious parts, especially during quest backtracks. Heck, in FFI some encounters could wipe the party out before you ever got a turn.

I think the PS1 era games got this feature in modern ports as well, although VIII has it even natively (with the help of a specific GF) - since most enemies in the game level up along with you, earning battle experience is actually lowkey discouraged until you gather a roster of GFs to enjoy levelup stat bonuses from.

Getting very close to being what I would call definitive editions.
But it seems like they have still not added back extra content introduced in other versions.

Usually this extra content was optional endgame dungeons and super bosses as well as optional weapons and armour to obtain.

I was really hoping they would add this back for the console releases.

75$ is asking for a lot of just them porting it all of them with some baby options. I hate prices these days where the price of 3 games can buy you a new console, what happened to companies worried over consumers wallets?
30 year old games should stay cheap, heck the cowabunga collection is just 40$ with 13 ports.

6 Final Fantasy games. This is a big 1 but I have never really played a Final Fantasy game.

For everyone mentioning not being able to get a physical copy, Play-Asia is selling physical copies with English on the cartridge.

@Uska Just a reminder... the N64 console went as low as £99.99 whilst the games were £50 on average - which is 2 games for the console price.

@Ralizah I’ll keep that in mind if it get this. I’ll probably start with the first one though. I’m pretty forgiving with games, especially older ones.

Happy they are finally coming out, sad that it's not this weekend, as I'm taking a long road trip and it would be nice to have something to play.

All these updates sound great, but I always wish these rereleases had an option to play the games exactly as originally released.

@Ade117 the SNES games are more tolerable to modern sensibilities, 5 and 6 aged better than 4. I would recommend any of those 3. 6 is still talked about in the breath of greatest of all time, for good reason.

The NES games are a relic that are good to see where gaming used to be but I would not call them good experiences, with the caveat that I originally played 2 and 3 via sketchy translated ROMs a long time back and a remaster might have smoothed some of the rougher edges. There's still immense grind.

The price is not conducive to my way of thinking. I am interested in playing these, especially 6 but I am going to wait. The “remaster” is a bit lacking for the price.

i will gladly pay the price for this collection..

I may wait until either a price drop or a rerelease of the physical copy. I would’ve liked to seen them include the FF game that we got years ago on the Wii eshop. It was like a direct sequel to IV I think, and your battles were affected by times of the day and phases of the moon. I remember it being released in segments. I always wanted to try it.

Wonder if they will do more physical copies , still unsure why they took such a limited approach to the physical . Glad that playAsia was selling them as managed to grab it when I saw it on there

This might be a bit of a

***spoiler***

But I heard FF6’s opera scene has been remade in Octopath style 2,5D
Can’t wait for that!

Will wait patiently for my playasia physical order, though I'm tempted to get a digital on ps4/5 just for the fun of earning trophies while playing through.

@Ade117 I would say start with 4 or 6 first. definitely do the first couple of games last. if you have a DS or steam they also remade of 4 and 3 if you want to check those out. I think they are still on sale in steam as well.

@GrailUK robotrek is highly underrated I'd say.

These might be "eventually" purchases, though I have perfectly accessible copies of IV (3D version on DS) and VI/III (SNES Classic). TBH the only remaining one I'd be interested in is V, though it probably wouldn't hurt to try the others eventually. Haven't heard the best feedback regarding II and the final dungeon in III though....

@Beefcakeyamato It was one of my fave SNES games

got physical from PlayAsia. Otherwise, I would refuse to spend such an egregious amount of money on these games

available physically???

@GrailUK Yeah mine too! They should definitely do a "Quintet" Trilogy remaster. (soul blazer, Illusion of time, Terranigma) there is a bigger fan base now more than ever I'd say.

I have a soft spot for FF1, but $15.99 CAD (or $99.99 for the bundle) seems pretty steep, especially when the original game and NES are still sitting at my parents' house collecting dust. If it goes on sale closer to Christmas, I might pick it up, a long with one or two of the SNES ones I played at friend's houses but never actually owned myself.

As it is, I have a lot of games that I haven't finished yet and TotK is coming soon, so FF1 can wait.

with the demand for these game square should do a physical reprint and make it available in stores.. that would be the right thing to do...probably wishful thinking on my part..

Finally! So excited for FFVI.

@hel105

Yep. And what I like about that, I find old classic games that are released for psn are usually easy trophies for me, because I can usually plow right through them with past knowledge, and have a good time.

@Beefcakeyamato Well, if you ever apply for CEO of Squareenix, you can ask me for a reference lol.

@DrGonzo Not sure why you say no, you basically just described how better it was compare to the original MK3 which is what I'm trying to get at. Also those aren't new characters, they are old characters brought back as new sprites for the game: Scorpion, Kitana, Reptile, and Jade were all from MKII brought back to be feature in the MK3 roster.

Weird that you own these games (better versions too) but still complain about missing out on these newer inferior ones.

Say no to remaster, embrace the pixels

Where's FF Mystic Quest? Not a well regarded RPG I know, but I have fond memories of playing it back in the day. I remember it was on Wii eshop so some kind of port must exist.

Anyway, I'm buying Final Fantasy I and III up front and I'll wait for sales on the rest. I would have bought the physical but you know...

I've had the FF4 collection (the one that came with Chrono trigger) collecting dust for decades, maybe now that I can play 6 and 3 again along with all the ones I actually haven't played, I may get around to actually experiencing cecil's story.

Nah. I've only ever willingly bought 2 Squeenix games on their own. And of those, I only kept 1. I'm not really into their series, I think they're dull.

@nocdaes and everyone was ditching the n64 for a reason.

The older games, specifically 1 and 2 (not sure about 3) often used mechanics that are now considered outdated to extend gameplay time. Random encounters that are a bit too frequent, and dead end hallways that are too far off the screen for you to see until you've walked most of their length.

These adjustments are almost perfect, but I would have liked to see an option to reduce encounters by half, while doubling EXP, which would have kept the math about right on par with the original experience. Shutting encounters off completely will only end up getting you burned at a mandatory boss.

This is hilarious. They added a pixel font but... it's actually the same small as f* font everyone was complaining since the Mobile/PC release. The colors don't look right.

I guess I'll stick with the SNES originals.

@DrGonzo I will direct you to 1:06 in the video. Understandable if it's not up to your standard - it would be far better to have an option that simply reads 'NES', 'GBA', 'Wonderswan', 'PSP' etc. Still, you can slide the encouter rates, exp, ABP and Gil to more difficult options.

If you turn off all random encounters, your characters will not gain levels. And thus, when you get to a boss, you are in real danger of being fried.

Basically, these ports are now giving you the ability to LLG any of these 6 games without having to run from every random battle. If you’ve never tried a Low Level Challenge, it’s pretty ruthless. The games’ boss encounters are designed around you being at a certain expected level. If you’re under leveled, it can be …interesting, the kind of tactics you have to employ to win.

@Fortang1980 that's probably in the mana collection, or the saga collection! They slapped the name final fantasy on them for marketing, but they belong to other series!

@Ade117 - I've only played the DS remakes of III and IV, but FF III was very good indeed. I'd say I preferred it to any 2D Dragon Quest, and I'm more of a Dragon Quest fan. I couldn't get on with FF IV, but that was only because of the timed battles.

But these do look very good. A bit pricey at first, yes, but you can understand them trying to get maximum price first of all. I'm a real fan of remasters in general because a lot of modern games are forgetting the gameplay structures that worked in the past. Not everyone wants them, but they work for me.

@MitchaK suppose you are in a dungeon and on the verge of death and have no escape utility but need to get to a town - there you have it. Same reason you can equip some items to do the same thing later in some games.

Hmm at some point maybe, so far I have hardly played Live A Live and Octopath Traveller II… Trials of Mana is waiting there unplayed too.

Stoked. Played a bit on the PC pixel remasters, but switch portability is truly what I crave. For what it’s worth, the remastered font really wasn’t nearly as bad as it was made out to be (once I started playing, I think I forgot about it in mere minutes), but I’m happy they have an option that fits the aesthetic a bit better.

Either way, these are truly just great games and to be honest, a price that mirrors the value of their quality, which still hold up. Accessibility options sound great for those of us who have paid dues playing many times before (or folks who simple don’t want the hassle - more power to you!), and, as always, there are tons of ways to give one’s self a fun challenge with self imposed rules.

No matter what, I’m stoked to have nearly every mainline FF game accessible on the switch, and Theatrhythm truly whet my desire to play these games again.

Excited to fully revisit them before Tears hits.

@garfreek Nope, FF Mystic Quest is not part of the Mana or SaGa series. It's confusing because the European title for Seiken Densetsu 1 was "Mystic Quest" too, so it's easy to get it confused.
FF Mystic Quest was titled "Final Fantasy USA" in Japan.

Would be nice to get it in a collection along with the other "not quite mana" game Secret of Evermore. ...but for the moment, both games are solely available on SNES and nothing else.

@Tempestryke How would you know if you’ve only ever brought two?

@theModestMouse I think them looking the same is the point, they just redid the pixel work so it would look better on modern televisions. For myself these games were the most important games of my childhood and mean something very special to me, also this is the only way I can play these easily for a lot of the titles on here. The original pixel artist came back to do the new work as well so with that coupled with the new score and quality of life features I think a lot of love and care went into this and the price is fair. If this consideration for important games of the past is going to be a trend in the future I say yes please. At least its not full of micro transactions and nft nonsense.

I have all of these games in various forms across GBA, DS, and playstations. I would maybe buy digital bundle on a deep sale to have them all in one place but I’m not feeling anything in regards to this collection right now.

@Bass_X0

I said I've bought 2 individually. I never said I've only played 2.

2023 is a big year so I'm gonna have to wait for a sale on these. Even then I'll probably just get V and VI. QoL options and finally fixing the typefaces are very, very appreciated, tho.

FFVI is one of the greatest games of all time. I had this imported from the US to the UK as a 15yo. Loved it!

@SpoonySpoons yep. FF8 would be 100x better if it just stuck with more traditional mechanics.

@JohnnyMind Right. I was more so pointing out how reducing encounters by half and doubling EXP would keep the math just about on par for where your party needs to be. Without having an option to reduce encounters, I'll either be manually switching them on/off throughout the game, or I'll end up shutting them off near the end when I start to grow bored. Either way the pacing will be off, whereas my solution to reduce would still keep things flowing nicely while maintaining the "correct" math.

@EarthboundBenjy wow, never knew that! This is worse than the final fantasy 3/6 thing! 😂

@Ade117 Definitely VI. One of my personal favourite games of all time and often considered to be one of the best games of all time in general. Just an amazing experience all around. I really liked IV as well, it's shorter and more simple, but it's a nice bite sized introduction.

@GrailUK lol will do.

@tanaka2687 Right? ... What a pointless waiting game. I wish they would stop doing this.

Final Fantasy storylines are always boring, and since FF8, they have just been full of fan service and trying to be 'epic'.

The only good thing about the early games was some of the music.