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[Deft Beck]

Ever since Atari 50 and the Karateka collection, I feel like Square-Enix hasn't been trying hard enough to properly preserve the history of their older titles.

The FF Pixel Remaster series may present the old games with a "modernized" appearance and mechanical touchups, but I don't really think that's good enough.

I wish Square-Enix would provide the original NES/SNES versions of each game as an option. In addition, they should provide the Wonderswan/GBA/etc. ports when possible. Even throw in the PSP versions! Each version is part of the history of the series; they have aesthetic differences, mechanical differences, and more. They must provide these versions if they want to be comprehensive. If they don't have the source code for any of that, then have more aesthetic options! Let me change the graphics and the soundtrack, at least. If there are licensing issues with the music, sort it out with Uematsu! It shouldn't be this hard.

Go ahead and scan some old ads, include some old commercials, come on! There's so much more they can do. SEGA and Bandai-Namco have done so much better in the past.

And now I'm hearing that mods for the PC version of Pixel Remaster keep breaking with updates. It's clear the fans want these options, why not provide them officially?

I feel like the standard of these collections has dropped over time as the potential audience shrinks. Just having the old games available isn't good enough. They have the opportunity to do so much more, but they don't do enough.

 

[TheUsual]

Well, the Steam versions just got updated today to match the console versions allowing you to use the original music among other things.

 

[Deft Beck]

Well, the Steam versions just got updated today to match the console versions allowing you to use the original music among other things.

That's a step in the right direction.

 

[Krathoon]

Eh, the Pixel Remasters are really good. They really tweaked up FF6. I would say it is the definitive version.

 

[Krathoon]

When characters sing, you actually have vocals and lyrics. That is a big improvement.

 

[DonF]

they have to remake all pixel era rpgs in the same engine that octopath traveler uses and we are done.

we don't need ffvii remake treatment for every old game.

 

[Big Baller]

they have to remake all pixel era rpgs in the same engine that octopath traveler uses and we are done.

we don't need ffvii remake treatment for every old game.

Except for Chrono Trigger

 

[kunonabi]

When characters sing, you actually have vocals and lyrics. That is a big improvement.

Not for us Americans.

I really wanted to like the remasters but the lack of untouched sprites, the stuttering, and the censorship just killed them for me.

 

[Big Baller]

Only care about 6

 

[TheUsual]

Adding that it would be cool if Square Enix did provide all this additional stuff OP listed. My concern would be what the Square Enix tax would be like. Not saying it wouldn't be worth it, but we all know they would charge a premium for it.

 

[jshackles]

The biggest crime is that the character movement speed (80px) in-game doesn't sync up with the game's frame rate (60), which is the root cause of all of these games having stuttering while moving your character. Can be fixed with PC mods, but honestly this shouldn't be needed - especially years after release.

 

[Cyberpunkd]

Games are not treated like they need preserving because people making them do not feel like preserving them. How many games have been lost because the source code got lost? You see it from the very people creating games - they don’t give a shit.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I’m still waiting for the ff6 version to go on sale…

 

[Krathoon]

The biggest crime is that the character movement speed (80px) in-game doesn't sync up with the game's frame rate (60), which is the root cause of all of these games having stuttering while moving your character. Can be fixed with PC mods, but honestly this shouldn't be needed - especially years after release.

Yeah. They just need to fix it. That is kind of the problem. Companies being stubborn.

 

[Krathoon]

I just noticed that they patched all the Pixel Remasters just now. I will have to look at the patch notes.

 

[Killer8]

I would say no thank you. I vastly prefer their approach to making a single frankenstein version of each game, which is as close to 'definitive' as you can get, instead of just supplying a collection of roms.

They did a really great job with the Pixel Remaster. Very tasteful sprite work because they got the original artist, Kazuko Shibuya, to re-draw them. Backgrounds look far better than the dated NES version, without going too far into cheap RPG Maker looking territory like the PSP version. Everything is very cohesive:

 

[LordCBH]

One of the big things they could do would make a physical release widely available. The PS4 version has like one order run on their shit website, and then nothing. Tired of Square treating these games like shit.

 

[Punished Miku]

Ever since Atari 50 and the Karateka collection, I feel like Square-Enix hasn't been trying hard enough to properly preserve the history of their older titles.

The FF Pixel Remaster series may present the old games with a "modernized" appearance and mechanical touchups, but I don't really think that's good enough.

I wish Square-Enix would provide the original NES/SNES versions of each game as an option. In addition, they should provide the Wonderswan/GBA/etc. ports when possible. Even throw in the PSP versions! Each version is part of the history of the series; they have aesthetic differences, mechanical differences, and more. They must provide these versions if they want to be comprehensive. If they don't have the source code for any of that, then have more aesthetic options! Let me change the graphics and the soundtrack, at least. If there are licensing issues with the music, sort it out with Uematsu! It shouldn't be this hard.

Go ahead and scan some old ads, include some old commercials, come on! There's so much more they can do. SEGA and Bandai-Namco have done so much better in the past.

And now I'm hearing that mods for the PC version of Pixel Remaster keep breaking with updates. It's clear the fans want these options, why not provide them officially?

I feel like the standard of these collections has dropped over time as the potential audience shrinks. Just having the old games available isn't good enough. They have the opportunity to do so much more, but they don't do enough.

EDIT: haha, busted. I totally didn't see you even mentioned Karateka. That's great.

 

[Sethbacca]

they have to remake all pixel era rpgs in the same engine that octopath traveler uses and we are done.

we don't need ffvii remake treatment for every old game.

I think this is all most of us have been begging for. They don't really need to do a full FF7R treatment for the classics (though for 6 I'd welcome it and throw piles of cash at it)

 

[Brock2621]

Well, the Steam versions just got updated today to match the console versions allowing you to use the original music among other things.

To boot, there are some INCREDIBLE mods for these games. I dunno if you're aware of the Discord group Moogles & Mods, but the breadth and quality of the mods is staggering. Check them out.

 

[Synless]

Eh, the Pixel Remasters are really good. They really tweaked up FF6. I would say it is the definitive version.

Unfortunately FF1, 2, and 4 all got downgraded from their superior PSP remakes. So one step forward and several back.

 

[Celcius]

Eh, I disagree OP. I've played both the original version of FF6 and the pixel remaster, and I prefer the pixel remaster.

What I would like to see is Xenogears to get the Star Ocean 2 Remake treatment.

 

[cireza]

Never going to play these because of how shit the interface and text is anyway. Ridiculous windows and stretched text, WTF is this shit ?

 

[Deft Beck]

Never going to play these because of how shit the interface and text is anyway. Ridiculous windows and stretched text, WTF is this shit ?

They design these remasters like they're all going on mobile phones and tablets.

 

[Pejo]

The pixel remasters should have been the definitive version and contained all past versions that they created as well (PSP remakes etc). This is just S-E leaving their slimy little window open to re-sell the same games to us a 25th time. The font changes should be shamed at every opportunity, it's actually offensive to the eyes when looking at it in the games. Makes it seem so fucking cheap.

 

[jshackles]

The font changes should be shamed at every opportunity, it's actually offensive to the eyes when looking at it in the games. Makes it seem so fucking cheap.

To be fair, they did just update the games today on PC. They now have a toggle between the new and original font.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Eh, I disagree OP. I've played both the original version of FF6 and the pixel remaster, and I prefer the pixel remaster.

What I would like to see is Xenogears to get the Star Ocean 2 Remake treatment.

I've never played Xenogears as it never released in Europe for some messed up reason. It's also not available digitally. If they remake it with the Star Ocean 2nd Story R treatment I'll be there day 1.

 

[Go_Ly_Dow]

Well, the Steam versions just got updated today to match the console versions allowing you to use the original music among other things.

That's a step in the right direction.

I just noticed that they patched all the Pixel Remasters just now. I will have to look at the patch notes.

Made a thread for the patch notes

Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters Steam patch released for FFI-VI (patch notes + 38% bundle discount)

FYI Ver. 1.1.0 Update Content Updates have been made to add new features to the game. ■ Major new features Assistance features have been added to the config. menu. These new features open up a wide variety of gameplay possibilities. They offer options such as applying a x0 to x4 modifier to...

www.neogaf.com

 

[Pejo]

To be fair, they did just update the games today on PC. They now have a toggle between the new and original font.

I'm actually surprised they bothered. I remember back when I did a playthrough of FFIV there were like 3 pages of mods on Nexus that were basically all just to fix the UI, text, and font issues. If that's all S-E can muster "for the longtime fans" I have no hope for any new games by them.

Did they release the toggle for all platforms? If so, credit where it's due, that's big for console players who can't easily mod the game to fix it.

 

[Krathoon]

Still, the classic font is not the original SNES font. The original SNES font is more chunky.

I wonder if the mod still works.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

One of the big things they could do would make a physical release widely available. The PS4 version has like one order run on their shit website, and then nothing. Tired of Square treating these games like shit.

Seriously I just want the damn thing on physical.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

SO2R was a god tier remake. I don't see them spending that type of time/money/investment on a xenogears remake especially if SO2R didn't set the world on fire in terms of sales. I think I read it did around $500k in sales for the first week on Steam, but I didn't look really hard for data on the other platforms.

 

[Mr Hyde]

I played FF6 of the pixel remaster and thought it was really good. It felt close to the original but enhanced with a lot of QoL features. The arranged music of Uematsus fantastic OST was very well done too. I liked this edition. Would love a standalone physical copy.

 

[Scotty W]

If they remaster Chrono Trigger, they MUST NOT include the new bonus areas from the DS version. This content is the biggest insult in gaming history.

 

[OuterLimits]

SO2R was a god tier remake. I don't see them spending that type of time/money/investment on a xenogears remake especially if SO2R didn't set the world on fire in terms of sales. I think I read it did around $500k in sales for the first week on Steam, but I didn't look really hard for data on the other platforms.

I would love a Xenogears remake but I agree with you that they probably don't view it as a profitable enough venture. A remake would likely require them to add additional content to what was originally Disc 2 on Playstation as well.

 

[Deft Beck]

If they remaster Chrono Trigger, they MUST NOT include the new bonus areas from the DS version. This content is the biggest insult in gaming history.

What's so bad about it?

 

[Scotty W]

What's so bad about it?

It wastes your time. One area in particular, which should take about 20 minutes if properly designed takes around 3 hours, even as you know what are doing, as have to run back and forth through this monster filled area many times to complete a very precise trading sequence which makes very little logical sense.

All the new content is done with reused assets, some of which looks horrible. You remember how lovely the waterfalls in the base game were. One of the reused assets here is a screen filling non-animated waterfall which is astonishingly ugly.

It is some of the worst game design I have ever seen. A complete insult to Chrono Trigger. New Lavos is cheap and stupid, but the ending retrofits a connection to Chrono Cross which is huh?

But it is optional content. The port is great overall.

 

[Krathoon]

The PC version of Chrono Trigger is pretty good, but it is missing the Robo cutscene for some reason.

 

[bender]

Part of the new PSN sale for "only" $59.99.

Still tempted.

 

[RoboFu]

The new font option in the pixel remasters make the games 30000x better.

 

[NuclearDiarrhea]

Square Enix providing the original NES/SNES versions is never going to happen. Current gen consoles and RTX 4090 PC's are just to weak to handle them.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I haven’t played 1-3 in forever. Do remasters stack up? I’m going to grab 6 on steam tonight but I’m considering the whole bundle. I’d appreciate some feedback thoughts on the earlier games

 

[cireza]

Just tried this on Switch and scrolling is super choppy, I can't stand it. I don't think I will be able to endure this for tenths of hours. This is so annoying. How can you fuck up 16 bits games is beyond me.

Classic "retro styled" font is fine, even though it isn't even Variable Width. What a joke.

 

[jshackles]

Just tried this on Switch and scrolling is super choppy, I can't stand it. I don't think I will be able to endure this for tenths of hours. This is so annoying. How can you fuck up 16 bits games is beyond me.

Classic "retro styled" font is fine, even though it isn't even Variable Width. What a joke.

It's weird because the game itself runs super smooth - it's just that the characters move at a rate of 80px per second, but the background scrolls at 60fps - the end result is that movement is super choppy as it makes up the difference. This can be fixed easily on the PC releases, but unfortunately is stuck this way on the Switch. Such a shame.

 

[Minsc]

While I appreciate the remasters exist, I feel like it's easy enough to just emulate these games if you want a more authentic experience, and I also feel like I don't actually see preservation really occurring on anything but a PC, at least in my mind. Like the idea of Nintendo bringing back games on a Switch to preserve them to me sounds seems like a stop gap for quick sales than a means of preservation. True hopes of preservation is from getting them on PC, where people are free to create mods and patches to ensure they continue running, or even a step higher, to run them through emulation as that will be a way more timeless method to preserving games over hundreds of different platforms than needing hundreds of different platforms and needing to maintain them.

 

[Loomy]

Pixel Remasters are good. I don’t think Square(or anyone else) has any financial incentive to do what you’re suggesting.

 

[ReyBrujo]

I love how the latest Wizardry game lets you display the original screens while you are playing. A bit obstructive but I happily pay the price from time to time. Unfortunately that got to be planned, especially if you got a physical release. It's a pain to have the goods as DLC because servers will eventually go down.

It's weird because the game itself runs super smooth - it's just that the characters move at a rate of 80px per second, but the background scrolls at 60fps - the end result is that movement is super choppy as it makes up the difference. This can be fixed easily on the PC releases, but unfortunately is stuck this way on the Switch. Such a shame.

I remember how certain animations disappeared, like in battle you could no longer see the characters moving front and back when attacking for example.

 

[cireza]

While I appreciate the remasters exist, I feel like it's easy enough to just emulate these games if you want a more authentic experience, and I also feel like I don't actually see preservation really occurring on anything but a PC, at least in my mind. Like the idea of Nintendo bringing back games on a Switch to preserve them to me sounds seems like a stop gap for quick sales than a means of preservation. True hopes of preservation is from getting them on PC, where people are free to create mods and patches to ensure they continue running, or even a step higher, to run them through emulation as that will be a way more timeless method to preserving games over hundreds of different platforms than needing hundreds of different platforms and needing to maintain them.

You get a much better experience with the NSO. Games are integer scaled and scrolling is perfect. Another case in favor of emulation.

I will be playing FF on my Wii U with retroarch and get rid of this remaster.