Final Fantasy I, II, and II Pixel Remasters Coming Out in July

Square Enix finally revealed the release dates of three of the Final Fantasy games that will be included in the Pixel Remaster. The games now have Steam pages, and they’ll be coming out on July 28, just one day after the old ports of Final Fantasy V and VI will be pulled from Steam. All three games will cost less than $20 individually. There’s no word yet on when the remasters of IV, V, and VI will launch.

The Steam descriptions say the games have had their pixel art completely redone. The first game’s description reads: “All the magic of the original, with improved ease of play… This remaster is based on the original “FINAL FANTASY” game released in 1987. Features and/or content may differ from previously rereleased versions of the game.” All three games are described as being a “remodeled 2D take” on the game they are based on, with, “All the magic of the original, with improved ease of play.”

So far, so good, right? Well, not quite. The games’ art style is currently getting a lot of criticism from fans online — not everything, but a few elements specifically. The writing font is the main point of criticism, as it is very small and hard to read compared with the chunky pixels of the main game. It also doesn’t fit very well with the pixel art, and many are calling for a return of the pixel fonts used in the original titles.

Considering these ports appear to have been made, at least in part, in response to fan criticism of previous ports that changed the pixel art style to something more chibi-ish, it’s odd that Square Enix would keep the beautiful pixel art and change the font. For Steam users, at least, I foresee a mod coming in the near future. Hopefully, mobile users will have something that’s a bit easier to read.

Source: Polygon