Back in April 2023, Square Enix released a two-part conversation with Final Fantasy series creators Hironobu Sakaguchi, Kazuko Shibuya, and Yoshinori Kitase. Today, an English language version is available to watch, and we've transcribed the interview below. In this second part (read/watch the first part here) part, we get a behind the scenes look at development on the 16-bit era of Final Fantasy games as well as a peek at the different locations the Square office inhabited in the early days of the series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B-iw8qhZbQ Everything started in 1987, when the first FINAL FANTASY was released. Over 35 years, FINAL FANTASY has grown into a world-renowned RPG series. The Creators talk about the history of FINAL FANTASY from the beginning up to FFVI, the pinnacle of the 2D era. They are: Hironobu Sakaguchithe father of FINAL FANTASY One of Japan's pixel game creators. Founded Mistwalker in 2004 and brought numerous RPGs to the world. In recent years he is also a well known as a player of FFXIV. Currently resides in Hawaii. Yoshinori KitaseFINAL FANTASY Brand Manager First worked on the FINAL FANTASY series as a planner on FINAL FANTASY Adventure (known as "Mystic Quest" in Europe) and went on to direct various titles starting with

Back in April 2023, Square Enix released a two-part conversation with Final Fantasy series creators Hironobu Sakaguchi, Kazuko Shibuya, and Yoshinori Kitase. Today, an English language version is available to watch, and we've transcribed the interview below. In this first part, (read/watch the second part here) we get a behind the scenes look at development on the first three Final Fantasy games as well as a peek at the different locations the Square office inhabited in the early days of the series. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgngEQOFcWs Everything started in 1987, when the first FINAL FANTASY was released. Over 35 years, FINAL FANTASY has grown into a world-renowned RPG series. The Creators talk about the history of FINAL FANTASY from the beginning up to FFVI, the pinnacle of the 2D era. They are: Hironobu Sakaguchithe father of FINAL FANTASY One of Japan's pixel game creators. Founded Mistwalker in 2004 and brought numerous RPGs to the world. In recent years he is also a well known as a player of FFXIV. Currently resides in Hawaii. Yoshinori KitaseFINAL FANTASY Brand Manager First worked on the FINAL FANTASY series as a planner on FINAL FANTASY Adventure (known as "Mystic Quest" in Europe) and went on to direct various titles starting with FFV. Kitase graduated

I’ve already taken the plunge and purchased the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters on Steam when they released last year, and they've been quite good for a dedicated PC session and as portable companions on Steam Deck. When Square Enix announced that an updated version will be hitting consoles next week, I was a little green with envy. Why? Well, the console version sports some additional features that currently aren’t present in the Steam version. In the announcement trailer, we see that a new pixel-based font has been implemented that has a much wider kerning than previous releases, a decision that was met with widespread derision - and rightly so, as the default font is extremely hard to read at a distance and, well, is just kind of ugly. I can certainly understand how a unified font choice would more easily allow for more localization options into more languages (which is great by all accounts) but I just wish the trade-off hadn't been as severe. Personally, I replaced it with the font that originally appeared in Final Fantasy VI, a remarkably easy endeavor. It’s got a square-ness and a pixel styling in the Goldilocks zone, though perhaps I’m a tad biased given it

The Final Fantasy pixel remaster series will be coming to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch on April 19. This remaster series includes the first six numbered titles in the franchise, 2D games originating from the NES and SNES consoles. New features include a pixel font with a notably wider kerning that the previously released PC and smartphone version (some languages will not support this, though which ones are yet unclear), an option to change between original and remastered soundtracks, an option to set encounter rates, experience gain, gil gain, and other features to higher levels, and the option to return to title even when in battle scenes. Each pixel remaster can be purchased separately or as part of a bundle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyuSXmlzdOE Steam Version Gameplay Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsKhkD_RVro Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMviv937og Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22Biq2c8HA Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Nf7HskQSI Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJAOxHy_1rM Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thkNkgDDKsA

Just in time to celebrate the series' 35th anniversary today, Square Enix has announced that all of the Pixel Remaster games corresponding to the first six Final Fantasy games will be launching in Spring 2023 for PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch. Just like the Steam versions that are out now, they'll be releasing one after the other, and you can opt to buy them individually, or together as a bundle. To that end, Square Enix has prepared a limited physical edition of the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions, which includes lenticular sleeve for the game package, a 2-disc vnyl record set featuring newly arranged game music with exclusive cover art by Kazuko Shibuya, a specially compiled artbook showcasing the pixel art, and eight stylized pixel art characters in window packaging. It'll be an exlclusive to the Square Enix store and in limited quantities. You can check it out below: You can also check out select gameplay from the Steam versions: Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsKhkD_RVro Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMviv937og Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22Biq2c8HA Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Nf7HskQSI Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJAOxHy_1rM Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thkNkgDDKsA

Square Enix's Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series is a new take on the first six numbered titles in the franchise, with an updated 2D format, new music, and more. Based on the original versions of the game (no content from later iterations from the GameBoy Advance, etc), the pixel remasters have been exclusive Steam. Eagle-eyed Reddit users noticed an update to the ESRB's website that now lists PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as platforms for each of the six titles where it only listed Windows PC previously. No additional information is available at this time, but it seems like an announcement can't be too far away. Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsKhkD_RVro Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMviv937og Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-22Biq2c8HA Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Nf7HskQSI Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJAOxHy_1rM Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thkNkgDDKsA

Today, Square Enix updated the Steam release of the Pixel Remaster series titles Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, and Final Fantasy III with various fixes. This includes nixing a pernicious issue where the configuration settings did not save when rebooting the game, and the game would screen tear at various resolutions. While only the Windowed Mode has been fixed, it looks like additional fixes may be in the works for other modes. Unfortunately there's no fix for the extremely narrow fonts mentioned, but luckily, they're quite simple to mod, even without using replacement files outside the game. You can peruse Square Enix's patch notes, which we've transposed below: Final Fantasy I Pixel Remaster • If the game was played after selecting “Fullscreen” or “Borderless Windowed” in the display settings and the game is closed, it will start with the same settings.• The window size on initial start-up will now match resolutions for various monitors.• Made improvements to alleviate screen tearing that can occur with some PC environments. This update focused on windowed mode, and will continue to be worked on.• Fixed the following issues. - Under certain circumstances, the graphics may become corrupted when restarting the game after returning to the title

Classic Final Fantasy games from the 8-bit and 16-bit era have been ported and remastered several times before. From the first PlayStation, to the GameBoy Advance, to the PSP, and then smartphones, each iteration takes a certain approach whether it be adding new features and content or an updated graphical style. With many of these platforms now receding into relative obscurity, the call for Square Enix to update and port these games to more current platforms has rang ever louder. Final Fantasy III, for example, has never released in 2D outside of Japan. Announced earlier this year, the first six Final Fantasy titles will be given the "Pixel Remaster" treatment, with the first three launching on July 28th, and the next three to launch later this year. Currently, these remasters are only announced for Steam and smartphones. What's interesting is that there are remasters that currently exist on these platforms, but are being phased out in favor of the Pixel Remasters - as if Square Enix is positioning them as definitive versions. But are they really? From what I've played between each of the first three Pixel Remasters, it seems like a grab bag of features from every version, which is bound

Earlier this week, Square Enix released an update for the (rather inelegant to say) port of the remake of Final Fantasy III for Steam, Android, and iOS. The original remake (also inelegant) released in 2006 for the Nintendo DS and has since found it's way to many platforms including... Ouya. On Steam, it's been out for six years -- which makes an update now rather notable. Checking out the Steam version, I found the update to be quite nice! It adds a much-needed auto-battle feature that also speeds the game up. This eliminates manual menuing during menial battles - a boon to anyone prone to a spot of grinding. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD3dqMYyvDo The UI and controller support are cleaner. Plugging in a DualShock 4 and switching between keyboard and mouse-only smartphone-like control is effortless, no need to restart with your preferred modus operandi. The game supports a 21:9 aspect ratio on Steam, which makes the low-poly style of the game look quite nice. A gallery of the game's artwork has been added to the title menu. Support for traditional and simplified Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Thai languages have also been added. However, there's one problem... Much of the text in the game overflows its container, causing

Square Enix has announced that the Steam and mobile version of Final Fantasy III has received a new patch update for February. This patch includes a number of changes, such as the addition of a Gallery mode, an auto battle function, several new language options and more. Below is the full list of updates now available in the game: Gallery ModeAuto Battle Function2x speed when in combatUI changes to the Steam versionThe ability to play in 21:9 on SteamNew language support:Traditional Chinese (Steam)Simplified Chinese (Steam)Japanese (Steam)Korean (Steam and mobile)Thai (Steam and mobile) Additionally, a short trailer was released alongside this announcement, and shows off some in-game cutscenes while the rather nostalgic "Memory of the Wind ~Legend of the Eternal Wind~" theme song plays. Check it out! Final Fantasy III is available now on Steam, iOS and Android devices.