The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series Is The Best Way To Play These Classic RPGs

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Series has finally made its way to consoles, allowing the first six games in the series to find a new audience with new pixel art, music, and a number of quality-of-life features to make these games more than playable.

This article will be less of a review of each individual game and more of a look at what’s new with the Pixel Remaster and how these new features make these versions probably the most accessible way to play each of these games, especially with how some of them have aged.

Distant Worlds Remastered

The most notable feature of the Pixel Remaster games is how they have been remastered. The character and background sprites have been completely redrawn. I was a little skeptical at first, especially after how terrible the original mobile and PC ports were but these new touch-ups really make the games feel more vibrant and expressive. The fact that the games now have a wider screen ratio means that can show far more of the world, allowing the player to become more immersed.

I especially love the new attack animations and particle effects with make use of the same pseudo-realistic animations that Octopath Traveler uses. This can best be seen with any of the water effects in the games which smoothly move across shores and lakes much like real-world water. It may not look like much from the picture above but in motion, trust me, it’s really eye-catching.

The new ports also address a common flaw with the original release: the font. Many fans didn’t like the overly clean and generic font of the original PC Pixel Remasters. Thankfully, this can be changed to a new font that makes the text look more like the 16-bit originals. While I wasn’t too put off by the original font, this new “classic” text is far better suited to the games and makes the experience feel more authentic to the original titles released back in the 80s and 90s.

Quality of Life Features

The console version of the games also includes new quality-of-life (QoL) configuration features. These include being able to change the amount of EXP and money you obtain throughout the game as well as the ability to turn off random encounters.

These make the game far easier (or harder) in accordance with the player’s preference. Games like FFII and III can be very grind-heavy, so being able to get extra EXP or turn off encounters to just get through a certain dungeon is a good option for new players with less of a tolerance for the more irksome parts of retro RPGs.

I do however wish that they also included a proper fast-forward button. Clicking on auto-battle does make the game faster but it would be nice if you could use it outside of this like you can in the FFVII, VIII, and IX HD Remasters. Some of these games rely on grinding so the ability to make the game faster overall would be a great addition. This is just a minor complaint, however. For the most part, I couldn’t be happier with the QoL additions.

Which Games Are Worth Playing

Which six games to choose from, it can be challenging to figure out where to start, especially with each of them being rather pricey for games that are over 20 years old.

To start Final Fantasy I, II, and III haven’t exactly aged the best. Don’t get us wrong historically they’re incredibly important, but in terms of modern-day play, they have rather simple storylines and are fairly basic turn-based affairs in terms of combat. That’s not to say they aren’t fun, I actually really enjoyed going back through FFI partly because it was so simple and easy to get into. The QoL features certainly help with how grindy they can get. At the end of the day though, these are games you play more for the history behind them. To see where Final Fantasy got its start and how it evolved over time or if you’re a completionist and just want to say, you’ve played every FF game. Unless you’re going for either of these, I’d say these are less of a priority.

That brings us to FFIV and V which were originally released for the Super Nintendo and even now, still hold up pretty well today. These two games are far more straightforward and you can start to see the beginnings of modern Final Fantasy through them. The plots are a little cliched and melodramatic by the characters are fun enough to keep your attention.

FFIV is probably the most accessible game in the collection for newcomers, with a very straightforward plot and character progression. FFV today is considered one of the best games to implement a job system, allowing for a high amount of customization with a variety of different play options from knight to dragoon to a skill-stealing blue mage.

Final Fantasy VI

This brings us to what is probably the highlight of the Pixel Remaster Series: Final Fantasy VI, one of the best games in the franchise made all the more accessible by the remaster. With a beautiful story, great gameplay, and one of the best soundtracks in all of gaming, if you play one game from the Pixel Remaster series, this should be it.

The Remaster not only adds new sprites and excellent covers of its iconic tracks but actually adds some well-needed updates to the combat. For example, you can now see the inputs for Sabin’s Blitz moves (which are like Street Fighter command inputs) and charge Cyan’s sword techniques in the background so you can attack using other characters.  The best part of the game however is the redone Opera scene which is completely remade in 2D-HD sprites and actual vocals. It’s a well-done remastering that really makes you wish Square Enix would remake the whole game in this style. Still what we have to hear is damn good.

Pixel Perfect

There are some minor downsides to the Pixel Remaster, you can argue that there’s too much empty space in combat or that the games don’t include the extra content from previous rereleases but I think they succeed where it matters.

They recreate the original games in a way that is faithful yet updated for modern audiences. This is especially the case with the older NES titles which maintain the writing, and gameplay styles but with QoL features and updated sprites to make them feel new. You can enjoy hearing Garland saying he’ll knock you down or Tellah chasing after that Spoony Bard without the intense grinding and awkward difficulty spikes.

Of the different games, Final Fantasy VI is the one we’d recommend the most shortly followed by IV and V. While these games all have their flaws, they hold up well today and the new elements on the remaster help to iron out their kinks.

Regardless of which you choose to play though, The Pixel Remaster series is pretty much the best way to experience these earlier titles and see how they formed the Final Fantasy of today that we still know and love.

Final Fantasy I-VI: Pixel Remaster games are available for Switch, PS4, PC, and Mobile Devices.

If you want a better look at Final Fantasy I-VI individually and what they brought to the table, I previously wrote a Guide to Classic Final Fantasy which can give you more insight into each game and the various innovations they got to the RPG genre.

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