Speaking in a recent interview with French YouTuber Julien Chièze, when asked about the possibility of a Final Fantasy 6 Remake, Kitase said that a hypothetical remake series split across multiple instalments would take twice as long to develop as the entirety of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, something that he says Square Enix doesn’t have the resources for “at the moment”.

“If we were to remake Final Fantasy 6 in the same vein as FF7 Remake, it might take twice the amount of time it has taken to make the FF7 Remake series,” Kitase said (via @aitaikimochi on Twitter). “The volume we will need to work with is much more than FF7 and has more party characters too. We would probably need to prepare a lot of things, so I can’t imagine that to be a task we have the resources to take on at the moment.”

However, Kitase remarked that even within Square Enix, there are many that have asked about the possibility of developing a Final Fantasy 6 remake, which, if nothing else, he says he’s quite happy about.

“Many people even within the company have often asked whether we would consider an FF6 remake, and although I don’t have the answer, I am very happy to hear that,” he said.

Back in June, Kitase raised similar concerns over an FF6 remake, saying that such a project “would be difficult” to get greenlit.

As per leaks, however, there are plenty of other Final Fantasy remakes in the works. Allegedly, Square Enix is working on remakes of both Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 10, while it’s been claimed that a remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics is also in the works.

Meanwhile, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth launches for PS5 on February 29.

Recently, several key Final Fantasy developers were featured in an official roundtable discussion in celebration of the series’ 35th anniversary, and though the topic of a potential Final Fantasy 6 remake did come up, the answers we got might not necessarily be what fans would have hoped for.

Yoshinori Kitase, Square Enix executive and brand manager of Final Fantasy, acknowledged the demand for a Final Fantasy 6 remake, but said that the project would be a difficult one for Square Enix to take on.

“I think Final Fantasy 6 Remake would be difficult,” he said. “Final Fantasy 7 Remake is not yet finished, so I am not able to think about it. But for Final Fantasy 6, there are many Final Fantasy 6 fans in the company, and they often ask me, ‘when are we making 6?”

Series creator Hironobu Sakaguchi also chimed in, and remarked that owing to Final Fantasy 6’s age and its pixel-based graphics, a full-fledged, fully modernized remake would be quite a significant undertaking, should Square Enix choose to greenlight such a project.

Of course, for now, where Final Fantasy and remakes are concerned, all attention is squarely on Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, the second instalment in the FF7 remake trilogy, which is due out early next year.

Interestingly, however, if leaks are to be believed, there are plenty of other older Final Fantasy titles that will be getting modernizations of some variety in the near future. Not only has it been claimed that a remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics is in the works, leaks have also stated that Square Enix is working on ground-up remakes of Final Fantasy 9 and Final Fantasy 10.

Outside of remakes, series fans still have plenty to look forward to, with Final Fantasy 16 set to launch for PS5 on June 22.

Hironobu Sakaguchi also said that as FF6 is a pixel based game they would have to change the story and making it into CG would be very hard to do, but he then asked Kitase "Won't you release it a little sooner?" lol
Kitase said it is not easy.

Source: https://t.co/gd9slUjGYL

— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) June 20, 2023

However, the official Final Fantasy Twitter highlighted some other improvements made to the game’s famous opera scene. Along with the enhanced graphics, the vocals are now available in seven different languages. So fans can look forward to hearing the song in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Korean, Japanese, and German.

Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster will be available for iOS, Android and PC tomorrow. Pre-purchasing it on Steam provides a 20 percent discount along with bonuses like five music tracks (including four timelapse remixes that see the original songs transitioning into the new arrangements). There’s still no word yet on the collection’s launch on other platforms so stay tuned.

When the curtains rise on Final Fantasy VI pixel remaster you’ll be able to experience the iconic opera scene with vocals in 7 languages including English, French, Italian, German & Spanish.

There’s still time to join the audience; pre-purchase now: https://t.co/MOlhSpOOwb pic.twitter.com/5MIL7Gxz0O

— FINAL FANTASY (@FinalFantasy) February 21, 2022

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster will launch for PC (via Steam) and for iOS and Android on February 23, in two weeks’ time. It will feature universally updated 2D pixel graphics, a rearranged soundtrack overseen by original composer Nobuo Uematsu, gameplay improvements, a modernized UI, auto-battle options, extras like a music player, illustration gallery, and a bestiary, and more.

Meanwhile, those who pre-purchase the game can get it for 20% off, and will also receive additional bonuses, including four wallpapers and five bonus music tracks. The latter will include one instrumental track and four timelapse remixes, which will “transition from the iconic original versions to the new arrangements.”

With this launch, all of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster will be available on PC, iOS, and Android. Square Enix has previously said it would consider bringing the collection to other platforms if there’s enough demand for it, while leaks have claimed that it’s going to launch for the Nintendo Switch this year. Perhaps an announcement will be made at the imminent Nintendo Direct presentation? One can hope.

Well, it’s going to take a couple of months. Over on Steam, Square Enix recently announced that Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster will launch sometime in February 2022, with a specific release date currently unannounced. Square says it’s taking “the necessary time to apply final polish while finishing development on the game” so that players can enjoy “the best experience possible.”

That said, new items are also going to be added to the game for those who have pre-purchased the game either individually or as part of the entire Pixel Remaster package. These will include several new wallpapers, as well as special “Timelapse Remix” versions of a number of tracks in the game. As Square Enix describes it, a Timelapse Remix is “a special soundtrack data that starts off with the original soundtrack version, but lets you also enjoy the reworked alternative soundtrack version as the soundtrack gradually transitions to the reworked alternative soundtrack version.”

Final Fantasy 6 Pixel Remaster, like its five predecessors, will launch only for PC (via Steam), iOS, and Android. There’s no word on whether the collection will be coming to any other platforms, but Square Enix has said it’d consider it if there was enough demand for that- read more on that through here.

Why is this happening? Because of the upcoming Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster which serves as a remastered collection for Final Fantasy 1 to 6 (and is also releasing for iOS and Android). The titles will begin rolling out one by one in July, starting with Final Fantasy 1. Square Enix is thus encouraging customers to wait and pick up the pixelated remasters instead of the older versions.

There’s no release date for Final Fantasy 5 and Final Fantasy 6 in particular though the updated Steam pages say “soon.” In a recently leaked presentation, it was confirmed the pixel art characters for each title have been fully remastered thanks to series veteran and pixel artist Kazuko Shibuya. Who knows? They may just be the versions that PC fans have been waiting for. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

The trio discussed the development of each game and the stories behind them. It was also confirmed that each title’s pixel art characters have been fully remastered courtesy of pixel artist Kazuko Shibuya, a veteran who’s been working on the franchise since Final Fantasy 1. The mention of “pixel art characters” seems to indicate that the backgrounds won’t be in the same style but that’s just conjecture.

A new trailer was revealed at the end of the presentation so expect that to go live sometime soon. Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster includes re-releases of Final Fantasy 1 to 6 with each title being available individually and in a complete bundle. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Though Square Enix didn’t outright confirm the same, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster could take an HD-2D route in terms of their visuals. This was seen in the recently announced Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake and series creator Yuji Horii has said that he’d like to see similar remakes for Dragon Quest 1 and 2. Again, it’s all speculation as to whether Final Fantasy 1 to 6 are indeed being remastered in this way.

Square Enix will also be revisiting Final Fantasy 1’s world but from a different perspective in Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin. Developed by Team Ninja, the action hack and slash title is out in 2022 for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, Xbox One, PS4 and PC with a demo coming soon to PS5. Stay tuned for more details on that in the coming months as well.

One of those classics will be getting a remake very soon (or, well, the first part of a remake, at any rate), when Final Fantasy 7 Remake launches on April 10, and in the lead-up to that, we (and millions of others) have been looking back on the highs and lows of the series over the years. In this feature, we’ll be taking a look at all the mainline numbered Final Fantasy games, and ranking them from worst to best.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

#16. FINAL FANTASY 14 (ORIGINAL RELEASE)

Final Fantasy 14 came at a time when the series as a whole was perhaps in the worst shape of its life. Final Fantasy 13 had been come across as something of a disappointment in 2009, and the fact that FF14 was an MMORPG meant that quite a few automatically lost interest as well. It didn’t help that when the game launched, it was utter crap (to put it mildly). Thanks to being terribly unpolished, being ridden with performance issues, featuring an interface that was a nightmare to navigate, and core interaction, exploration, and combat mechanics that were an absolute chore, the original Final Fantasy 14 was perhaps the biggest misstep this series ever made. Of course, Square Enix did manage to turn things around, to the extent that Final Fantasy 14 as we know it today is probably one of the best games in the series- but we’ll get to that soon enough.

Square Enix’s latest role-playing game Octopath Traveler is out tomorrow, and it’s not your typical major release, especially given its exclusivity to Nintendo Switch. Developed by Acquire and Square Enix’s Business Division 11 (of Bravely Default fame), Octopath Traveler features eight protagonists with their own differing playstyles, venturing out into the world. Its unique aesthetic, combat system and world-building are receiving plenty of praise ahead of its release.

Business Division 11 head has already teased that several other Switch titles were in development. However, co-producer Masashi Takahashi recently revealed to Eurogamer that the division wouldn’t just be working on Switch titles.

“As you may know at first the team was just the Bravely Default team, it was just a development team and not a division. But because the game did well and sold well we became a special division. Yes, we worked on Octopath Traveler and we’re working on Switch titles, but that doesn’t mean we’re only working on Switch titles,” said Takahashi.

Takahashi famously stated that Octopath Traveler wouldn’t have DLC, shipping as a complete experience out of the gate. Speaking in further detail, he said, “We really want the first concept we sell at full price to be 100 per cent of the game so there won’t be any DLC in the future. As for Octopath as a series, it depends on the sales – if the players like the game it could be an opportunity, yes. But it’s still not out yet, so we’ll see!”

What could be next for Takahashi and Business Division 11? Given his comments about Octopath Traveler being an evolution of the mechanics in Final Fantasy 6, would he consider going back to the Final Fantasy franchise at some point?

Not only does Takahashi address this but also talks about requests to remake Final Fantasy 6 for the current generation. “To tell the truth I’ve no intention and no wish to go back to the Final Fantasy franchise,” he said. “After my studio became a division, and Square told us to make new IPs, there’s no need and no intention to go back to Final Fantasy.

“A lot of people ask us to do a remake of Final Fantasy 6 with this kind of graphics. My role, though, is to make new ideas. I hope that people who enjoy RPGs will grow up with their kids, and be able to pass that on.”

Will you be playing Octopath Traveler? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.