FINAL FANTASY Pixel Remaster Review (Xbox Series X)

STAFF REVIEW of FINAL FANTASY Pixel Remaster (Xbox Series X)

Thursday, October 10, 2024.
by Adam Dileva

Pixel Remaster:

It’s well overdue, and honestly quite a surprise out of nowhere, but Square Enix has finally released Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster on Xbox. Released last year for Switch and PS4, the Xbox snub was a glaring omission for decades-long fans like myself. Better late than never, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is a collection of the first handful of classic games, Final Fantasy I – VI (1-6), but with some great improvements. Sold as a bundle with all six games, or individually if you only want certain entries, you do get a sizable discount for the collection purchase (a little over $22 CAD savings with the current sale.

Remasters are tricky, as you don’t want to change it too drastically to alter what made them so great for existing fans, yet also want to improve what you can to make it great for newer fans and audiences as well, as sometimes older games don’t always age too well. Now fans old and new can play some of the greatest JRPG’s of all time with a handful of new features that I’d argue made it a much better overall experience, yet also keeps the spirit of the original games intact.

Having grown up in the era that these first six Final Fantasy titles released, they have a soft spot in my heart. As they were some of the first JRPG’s I ever played, I become a lifelong fan. Having played most of them, there were still a few I hadn’t yet, and it’s also been decades, so I can’t even remember if I beat many of them being that young at the time. While there’s been a number of ports over the years for different devices and consoles, now was the time I wanted to re-experience them with all the additional features and improvements.

Many Upgrades:

All six included Final Fantasy titles have had very similar improvements, which I’ll list below here, and it’s a uniform upgrade across all the titles. If one of the individual games have a specific improvement I’ll list it under its own section, otherwise, all the added features below are included in each of the titles. These remasters were based on the original titles, so any changes that other remakes or ports received are not included unless listed.

HD-2D:

The 2D pixel graphics have been updated, but more importantly, the original artist and current collaborator, Kazuko Shibuya, was onboard to upgrade each sprite. Characters are all still instantly recognizable with their iconic designs, it all just looks sharper with HD visuals and widescreen support. No more stretched screens or outdated screen resolutions, everything looks beautiful as it once did.

While you probably wouldn’t even think about it initially, even the font has been updated. You’re able to swap between the default font, or a pixel-based font that aims to recreate the feel of the original games. Again, with the support of HD and widescreen, I found the updated font just fine as I played dozens of hours across the series.

Legendary Soundtracks:

Visuals aren’t the only to get improvements either, as the music in Final Fantasy is arguably even more iconic and legendary. If you want the original experience, you can choose to have the original soundtrack, but the audio has been improved as well with a new rearranged soundtrack. The best part, the new orchestral arrangements have been overseen by the original composer, Nobuo Uematsu. In each game’s main menu you can even listen to all of the music with the sound player without having to complete the games, so feel free to get that playlist going in the background, rearranged or classic versions.

Quality of Life Improvements:

Visual and audio improvements are great, but there’s plenty modernized to the gameplay as well. For starters, you can toggle the default walk or run. Sounds like a small feature, but given how long each of the games are, there wasn’t a time I wanted to slowly walk, so defaulting to run without having to hold a button was a welcome addition. Another small but welcome feature, being able to exit to the Title Screen from the pause menu, even during battles. Maybe you’re trying to steal a rare item from an enemy but don’t get it. Now you don’t have to completely quit out of the whole game, able to easily go back to the Main screen and reload your save to try again.

Like the music player, being able to check out the Beastiary and Illustration Gallery was a real treat for fans like myself who adore the legendary concept art of Yoshitaka Amano. No need to complete the game either, explore all the art whenever you wish. These might seem like small additions for most, but I found them great features to explore when I needed a small break. You can even see on the world map where each beast was fought.

The best addition though is the option to boost your earned Experience, Gil, Auto-Battle, or even toggle random encounters. Each game allows you speed up the whole process if you want, multiplying experience and Gil (money) gained from 0 to 4 times (though some have a slightly different mechanic, Final Fantasy 2 for example). Having played previously and simply doing so once again, I appreciated the extra XP and Gil to make things go quicker, 4x quicker to be exact. If you want the original experience, leave it as is or maybe you want to challenge yourself and turn off earning either.

Sometimes I ran out of healing potions or items and didn’t want to have to redo a whole dungeon, so I was glad I could at any time turn off random encounters and safely return to town. Boss battles and monsters hiding in chests are exempt, but sometimes I just want to explore areas without constant battling. Of course without fighting you won’t level up, but it certainly gives you much more options to play how you want.

Lastly, you can simply press one button and have the game auto-battle for you, repeating the last actions each character took. When I was mindlessly grinding, this was perfect, as I simply had all character’s attack with their weapons, then simply repeating it automatically until battles were won. Another great quality of life option for those that want it.

Final Fantasy I:

Final Fantasy, the one that started it all back in 1987. Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi actually thought this was going to be his final game as a developer, hence the title. You control the Warriors of Light, a team of four heroes destined to restore power to the four crystals to save the world from a looming darkness. With Garland and Chaos as the main antagonists, I was excited to replay this classic after having finished Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin from 2022, as it was a pseudo prequel to the original game. As much as I loved reliving my childhood, many of the mechanics are quite dated.

Final Fantasy II:

Released in 1988, the first sequel may have the same visual style and amazing soundtrack, but the gameplay was changed slightly, especially in the way you level up. There’s a war happening between the Empire of Palamecia and the Wild Rose rebels, which is where four young orphans come in to try and save the world from ruin. This was the introduction to Chocobo’s, so of course it has a special place in many fans hearts.

One of Final Fantasy 2’s most unique mechanics is its proficiency system. The more you use weapons and spells, the better you become with them. You don’t gain levels the traditional way, as there are actually no numbered levels, you instead try to rank up your stats by using equipment, blocking attacks and more. While it was an innovative change at the time, I found this to be much more grinding in the end. One of the boosters you can enable specifically for this title is the multiplier of experience gained for your weapons and spells. I really wasn’t a fan of this new way of leveling up due to partly being increased by randomness but it did grow on me by the time the credits rolled.

Also unique to the sequel was learning key terms and words, then using them in conversations to try and find out new information to further the narrative. Also new to the Pixel Remaster is being able to see a previously hidden stat called “Magic Interference”. Essentially this made your magic less effective if you were wearing heavy gear since there was no real ‘classes’. This wasn’t shown or explained originally, so seeing the stat is a welcome change.

Final Fantasy III:

1990 saw the release of Final Fantasy III which was a big revolution for the series, that is, if you lived in Japan at the time or imported it. Not making its way to this side of the ocean until 2006, North American fans had quite a long wait to experience the title that introduced the iconic Job system and Summons. When it did arrive we got 3D remakes, so this Pixel Remaster marks the first time the original 2D version is playable for us.

Introducing iconic classes like the Dragoon, Summoner and more, a small addition was labelling the classes in the job selection screen with its title. Previously you just had to know which class was what by its appearance, which is no problem for long term fans like myself, but new players would probably get confused. Darkness consumes the land, and it rests solely in the hands of four orphans who has been gifted powers by the crystals to save the world.

Final Fantasy IV:

1991 saw Final Fantasy IV release, introducing with it another series staple, the Active Time Battle (ATB) system we would see for many Final Fantasy games afterwards. This new combat system blended in turn based and real time mechanics for the first time, making for faster paced battles. This is where the series really started to stand out as a great narrative. The dark knight Cecil, captain of the Red Wings, has been stripped of his rank and position, deciding to fight back against his king. Starting out as a simple delivery mission, Cecil and others will have anything but a modest quest. The story that unfolds touches on many different emotions and where the series really started to tell amazing and dramatic stories.

Long time fans will notice some subtle differences in the Pixel Remaster, such as some minor changes to Edge’s dialogue before a certain battle, and Kain’s Jump ability will stand out compared to other Dragoons using a special animation instead.

Final Fantasy V:

Final Fantasy V released the year after in 1992 and brought with it a vastly expanded job system, giving players more freedom to customizing their character by being able to combine skills. It also refined the ATB system, now showing which character would be next in turn.

While it may not be the most talked about in the series, it was certain an important title, as it too had a great story that revolved around four heroes; Bartz, Faris, Lenna, and Galuf. As Bartz and his Chocobo investigates a fallen meteor, he’ll learn of the four crystals and how they are in danger. These crystals control the world’s elements and he’ll need to do everything he can to stop them from being exploited and losing their power. The story has some darker and more mature themes which we see carried on into the sequels.

One of the Pixel Remaster bonus toggles is the regular XP adjustments like the games above, but also being able to adjust the ABP (Ability Battle Points) gain from 0 to 4 as well, making grinding much less arduous if you’re simply wanting to relive Final Fantasy V for its narrative once more.

Final Fantasy VI:

1994, the last game of the SNES era before leaving Nintendo and going to Playstation. While there’s no right answer as to what the best Final Fantasy is (it’s clearly VII), VI is usually on the top of many fans’ lists, and for good reason. The first Final Fantasy to be directed by someone other than its creator, it quickly become iconic and one of the most beloved in the series, and even on many greatest games of all time lists even to this day. I know I’ve played it before, but I admit I’ve never completed it, so finally getting through it with Pixel Remaster was high on my priority list.

With a massive cast of 14 playable characters, Final Fantasy VI tells the tale of The War of the Magi, causing all the magic to disappear from the world. A millennium later and the world relies on machinery, much like a steampunk backdrop. A young woman is found who somehow has mysterious magical powers, causing a cascade of epic events. Each of the characters has their own stories and destinies, yet intricately woven together. While Sephiroth may be one of the most well-known antagonists of the series, Final Fantasy VI’s Kefka is on par and just as memorable.

One of Final Fantasy VI’s innovations was its Magicite system, allowing you to customize your spells and summons. One of the unique boosts you can toggle aside from the earned XP is also changing the multiplier for AP (Ability Points) up to 4X, again, which will make the grinding much less arduous. One of the more unique changes with Pixel Remaster has to be the iconic opera scene, as it now has newly recorded vocal performances. I now understand why VI is still so widely beloved to this day.

A Collection of Classic Greatness:

There’s no denying that the pixel artwork of Kazuko Shibuya and the iconic melodies of Nobuo Uematsu have not only stood the test of time, but are just as great all these decades later. With updated graphics, rearranged music, and a handful of options to make the game more accessible, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is a wonderful trip down nostalgia lane for decades-long fans like myself, but also the best way to jump into the series if you’ve not played the classics that started the long running and much beloved franchise. Pixel perfect nostalgia.

**Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster was provided by the publisher and reviewed on an Xbox Series X**

Overall: 9.8 / 10
Gameplay: 9.5 / 10
Visuals: 10.0 / 10
Sound: 10.0 / 10

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STAFF REVIEW of FINAL FANTASY Pixel Remaster (Xbox Series X)

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