Square Enix recently unveiled Final Fantasy Resonance – essentially a remake of the mobile game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius featuring the company’s popular HD-2D art style. During a Q&A with its shareholders, Square Enix was asked about whether it would work on projects of similar scale to bring back some of its older titles for newer audiences.
Responding to whether Square Enix will focus more on remakes being big-budget affairs with open worlds and action gameplay in the vein of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy or if there are more plans to make games like Final Fantasy Resonance, the company spoke about learning things with its trial-and-error approach.
“As part of our market-in approach, we engage in trial and error to establish what is best for contemporary customers based on current market needs and trends,” explained Square Enix. “In doing so, it is extremely important to us that we strike the right balance between our approach and the expectations of players who loved the original works.”
It also comes down to whether a game in question would benefit from its core gameplay mechanics being brought over into the modern era, or if it could be remade in its entirety. “While specific titles may call for specific mechanics, we will continue our development efforts by assessing what truly resonates within the current market environment for both original titles and new remakes.”
While the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy is likely the most popular of Square Enix’s remakes, the company isn’t a stranger to the concept of bringing back some of its older games while still preserving their visual styles. A major example of this is last year’s Final Fantasy Tactics – The Ivalice Chronicles, which held on to the original’s isometric camera angles and general visual art style while still bringing in a few enhancements.
Aside from that, however, Square Enix has largely focused on making use of making remakes using its HD-2D art style. First introduced with Octopath Traveler in 2018, the style would then be used in a number of Square Enix RPGs, including the remake of 1994 SNES RPG Live A Live, and even the remakes of the original Dragon Quest and Dragon Quest 2 in the form of last year’s Dragon Quest 1 & 2 HD-2D Remake.
Square Enix has also used HD-2D for original games. Along with Octopath Traveler and its sequel, it was most recently used in The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales.
Interestingly, Square Enix has engaged in a radical reinterpretation of visual styles with remakes in the past. A key example of this would be the 2007 remake of 1991’s Final Fantasy 4, which made use of an entirely new 3D art style, complete with entirely new cutscenes created especially for the game.
In the meantime, Square Enix is getting ready to wrap up its Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy with the Spring 2027 release of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation, which is coming to PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch 2. Recent reports have indicated that the RPG might also get quite a bit of post-launch support with DLC releases.
