With the franchise’s 37th birthday on the horizon, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection has landed on Xbox ahead of its physical re-release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, giving the perfect opportunity for a crash course in gaming history.
Since its humble origins on the NES, Final Fantasy has paved the way for RPGs in the video game format, pushing the boundaries of presentation for the entire medium. For many, their first exposure to this classic series was Final Fantasy VII, but each of the half-dozen games that came before it were also remarkable milestones in their own right.
Luckily, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters Collection helps bring these older titles to modern audiences in one convenient, beautiful package. Each game has been lovingly updated with an audio-visual update that’s suited for modern displays while maintaining the original spirit of their early-90s forebears, alongside many quality-of-life updates.
Square Enix has newly released this bundle on Xbox Series X|S with no further changes from the PlayStation or Switch iterations, so everything I said of their console release still holds true for this platform as well. (You can also delve deeper into my thoughts on the original, individual Steam releases of FFI-III, FFIV, FFV, and FFVI.)
However, with this set on Xbox consoles for the very first time and re-releasing physically on the other platforms, here’s a quick rundown on each of the 2D Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters and why they might merit your attention.
If you’ve never played these six games, check out Final Fantasy VI if you only try one of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters. Ask a longtime fan of the series, and they’ll likely tell you that either FFVI or FFVII is its pinnacle. In its own time, it felt like a grand realization of everything Square had been striving to achieve narratively with previous entries, and it’s stood the test of time as one of the finest JRPGs ever made.
This sprawling epic follows a girl named Terra, born with a unique ability to cast magic—a gift that man once fought against supernatural forces to obtain. Her power is coveted by the evil Gestahlian Empire and the resistance, and she’ll throw her lot in with a defecting general, a treasure hunter, two royal twins, and many more playable characters to fight for freedom. Along the way, you’ll get to experience the pinnacle of 16-bit theatre, the opera scene, which received a little extra HD-2D attention in the Pixel Remaster version.
Second priority on the must-play list goes to Final Fantasy IV. Like FFVI, this game was previously released on the SNES under a different number. It introduced the world to the Active-Time Battle (ATB) system which became a hallmark of the series and truly solidified the Job Class system for many fans. The tale of the Dark Knight Cecil is full of twists, turns, and betrayals, and this edition has smoothed out some of its biggest wrinkles.
It’s hard to choose between the next two, but third-place goes to Final Fantasy III by a hair, only for its historical context. The last of the 8-bit games was never released outside of Japan in its own time; it wasn’t until 2006 when Western audiences got to experience a 3D remake of it. The Pixel Remaster edition marks the first time the game was officially available in English in its 2D form.
“Any fan of the series should play each of these games at least once at some point, and this is the beauty of the Pixel Remaster Collection.”
The story is a little thinner than the SNES games, and the Job Class system isn’t the most robust by comparison, but Final Fantasy III feels like a Dungeons & Dragons campaign in all the right ways—memorable guest characters, misadventures, dungeon crawling, and all.
Close behind comes Final Fantasy V, another entry that was formerly Japan-only. At this point, Square was hitting a technical ceiling in terms of how they made the squat overworld sprites emote outside of battle. Nonetheless, FFV was among the most charming games in the series in its original form, and the Pixel Remaster gives the characters greater capacity to act—which is a good thing, considering it also contains the biggest gut-punch death scene of the 2D era.
“Having played the original Final Fantasy to death on the NES in my adolescence, I adore the glow-up it got in this edition—yet I also realize it may be a little stale for some modern gamers.”
Final Fantasy V is also a delight to play. The Job System is at its best here, with a wider pool of classes and a greater capacity to mix and match their abilities. You haven’t truly mastered a JRPG until you’ve utilized the Spellblade-DualWield-RapidFire combination.
The remaining two entries in the Pixel Remaster series might not appeal to everyone. Having played the original Final Fantasy to death on the NES in my adolescence, I adore the glow-up it got in this edition—yet I also realize it may be a little stale for some modern gamers. Likewise, Final Fantasy II has long had a reputation for being impenetrable (which, frankly, is greatly exaggerated and misinformed), but it was a remarkable experiment and a convoluted narrative for its own time.
Any fan of the series should play each of these games at least once at some point, and this is the beauty of the Pixel Remaster Collection. The quality-of-life updates make looking past the warts and wrinkles much easier. If you want to cross these classics off your list and experience them for yourself, you can mitigate the less desirable aspects with the built-in boosts. Turn off encounters, crank up the Gil or EXP, and enjoy the ride.
(By the same token, these versions are great for challenge runs, as you can also turn down these things.)
One slight caveat for Xbox players, however: the Pixel Remasters are not playable on the Xbox One, only on Series X|S devices or Windows. It’s a curious decision, given they’ve previously been available on mobile, PS4, and Nintendo Switch, but regardless, caveat emptor.
There’s been some debate in the community since the Pixel Remasters originally launched, over which version is the best. Three years later, I maintain that these are the ideal versions for curious players approaching 2D Final Fantasy for the first time.
Veterans long for the missing bonus content from the GBA and PSP ports, but Square Enix has done a remarkable job of updating the essential experience of the first six games, and it’s the perfect place to start for modern sensibilities. The vision of Hironobu Sakaguchi and his teams is maintained, yet the rough edges are sanded down for today’s audience. It’s a remarkable compromise that helps keep these chapters of gaming history accessible.
