Given the gaming age we live in right now, it’s honestly pretty common to see gaming developers and publishers reach into their “classic titles” and pull out ones that are revered by fans in one form or another so that they can make a remaster or a remake to try and make more profit on it. Less than a week ago, Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles was revealed by Square Enix to be the latest title in their franchise to get such a thing. The game will be a remake in many respects, but that doesn’t mean that they’re “making it fully modern” like a certain “remake saga” that they have been making for years.
In an interview on the official Square Enix website, Director Kazutoyo Maehiro detailed what fans will see when they get the game. For example, you might recall a certain “expanded version” that came out after the original release, which featured not only new content but characters from other games in the series coming in to help out. The director made it clear that these characters and features wouldn’t be in the game, and for a basic reason:
“I and other members of this development team were not directly involved in the War of the Lions, but I do believe that the content in that game did fully meet expectations for players at that time. However, as we looked back on everything nearly 30 years later, during the creation of this game, we asked ourselves what our team – those who created the original FINAL FANTASY TACTICS – could do to bring this game to a new generation of players.
It was through considering this question that we came to the conclusion that the most appropriate path for us was to pay respect to the original game’s experience and recreate that in the best form possible.”
While that may be a sad thing to hear for some gamers, the team is pushing hard to make the original version of the game as beautiful and fun as possible in its modern form. We know that the graphics are overhauled while also maintaining their original 2D style. Just as important is that there’s full voice acting in the game, which will add another layer of depth to the RPG experience.
Just as important is that if you wish to play the game in its original form, you absolutely have that option. Final Fantasy Tactics The Ivalice Chronicles arrives on September 30th.
