Cast your minds back to June 2023, you might remember that internal staff at Square Enix were quite keen on the idea of a remake for Final Fantasy VI.
According to a recent interview with French Youtuber Julien Chièze, however, it seems that such a project would hypothetically require almost double the development time of Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth (thanks, Shinra Archaeology Department and VGC).
During the interview, Final Fantasy VII Remake's producer Yoshinori Kitase stated that a potential remake for Final Fantasy VI would be "bigger" than VII due to the sheer number of characters in the original game. He goes on to say that he's aware of the internal interest at Square Enix, but is unable to affirmatively respond, which apparently "bums him out".
Final Fantasy VI was recently included in the Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster collection on Switch, which augments the original experience with enhanced visuals, a revamped soundtrack, and various quality-of-life updates. Comparatively, however, Final Fantasy IV received a full remake on the Nintendo DS back in 2007/8.
Square Enix's President and Representative Director, Takashi Kiryu, recently stated that the company will be looking to slim down its lineup going forward to achieve greater quality in its products. On the flip side, however, Square Enix is also looking to be "aggressive in applying" AI in the future.
How should Square Enix approach a potential Final Fantasy VI remake? (1,640 votes)
- Fully modernised over multiple releases, like FF7
- Give us those sweet HD-2D visuals
- Something closer to FF4 on DS
- Don't care, just do it
- Meh, give us FF9 remake first
What do you make of this statement on a potential Final Fantasy VI remake? Would you like to see one? Let us know with a comment down below.
[source youtube.com, via twitter.com, videogameschronicle.com]
Comments 99
Just give us that 2D-HD remake and it will be enough for me 😃
I know it would take time but “Double” seems excessive. I guess the fact that there is essentially two world maps to create might take up a lot of time but I can’t see how it would take longer than the FF Remake project…..but that’s probably why I’m not a developer so what do I know 🤣
@wiiware It’s seems like the best way to go. And stick some voice acting in there as well. That would be more than enough for me
I'd love to see a full 2D-HD remake, the Pixel Remaster version already has aspects of that for the famous opera house scene.
That said, where's the Dragon Quest III 2D-HD remake? It's been ages since we saw any developments on that. Granted, that's the Enix side of the company more than the Square side.
It's probably the kind of thing that isn't feasible now but might be a thing a decade down the road
Square are misunderstanding this request, fans have been screaming for a HD-2D remake for YEARS and not something on the scale of the FFVII remake. It isn’t necessary.
Just the Octopath Traveller visual and voice acting quality upgrade will be more than sufficient.
So… Chrono Trigger Remake next?
HD -2D would be the way to go, as much as I like the VII remake/rebirth/repurchase experiment it feels to distant to the “original” game, its more a new story in the same universe, and IMO it lost a lot of the expertly crafted experience of the base game.
@AlienigenX It was genius of Square Enix to call it Final Fantasy VII Remake because if you look at Remake like Re-Make, it puts the game into a different perspective.
A remake is probably something i'd admire but doubt I'd enjoy (but I'm open to it). Idk nothings going to recapture the magic of playing it on release back in the day
Fully modernised or HD-2D, either would be great as long as they give it the love and commitment it deserves.
Gonna just chuck this out here...
How about, instead of spending time and resources remaking a classic, which is bound to split the market, why not just put the resource into an entirely new game that realistically aspires to be as good as, if not better than, said classic?
Square Enix are really muddying the already very loose definitions when it comes to the word "remake".
I would definitely never have referred to FF7R as a "remake" if it wasn't in the dang title of the game lol.
It's definitely a completely brand new game, just set within the same universe and loosely the same story. FF7R is in no way a remake of FF7 in my eyes.
@gcunit
because they cant do it and they know it 😐 one man's opinion.
thank god they arent making a "remake" of 6. just make sure the classic game is always available on new platforms, as you mostly have done. 👍
@LiquidNinja
so youre the one who likes voice acting in games 😂✌️
im fine with it as long as i can turn it to OFF, or at the very least japanese. 👍
@gcunit
This isn't the Square from 90's and early 2000's unfortunately, so I doubt we will see new, creative titles from them in the nearest future.
Ohhhhh they mean a 3d game. Yeah that's a dumb idea.
Write -in: port Final Fantasy Tactics War Of The Lions to Switch soon instead.
I can't fathom why they haven't already. Some tweaks to the mobile port to add controller would be fine, good to go, sell it at bargain price, make more money for w/e
@gcunit Because nostalgia/built-in fanbase
Try to remember, too, that FF6 was not a terribly popular game when it came out. It got great reviews, but it did not sell all that well.
Dropping money into FF7 Remake is a sure thing; they know so many millions of people will buy it. Doing the same with FF6 is a risk, and I get that. It might be better to leave well enough alone.
@Bobb When XV was still in development (as FF Versus XIII), they also said a FF7 remake was impossible.
Still though, I don't know if I'd want a FF6 remake out of the current Square-Enix.
FF7 remake is such a trainwreck anyway, I'd rather a remake of a non-action RPG stay as such.
@FunGuy IT WASN'T POPULAR? IT DIDN'T SELL THAT WELL? I heard it sold quite well for a SNES RPG released in North America. Supposedly half a million. Which was a ton for its genre at that point.
I do remember not quite succeeding at getting my parents to buy me the game at Target as a child, a year and a half after the game was released. Mind you, I don't recall seeing many RPGs on the shelf there as a child. Probably weren't generally popular enough to warrant the limited shelf space for games. Let alone stay around for a year and a half. (though I do remember also not getting Lufia II from them, and that one probably genuinely didn't sell as well)
(and by "shelf" I mean the two glass display cases they allocated to SNES games)
I remember it seemed like Game Boy Color games beyond Pokemon and kid licenses didn't stay around with them for more than a month at most.
FF VI doesn’t need a remake. It is already perfect.
Don't think they realize that nobody is asking for a FF6 remake in the style of 7 Remake/Rebirth.
No one was asking for big budget remakes of FFVI and Chrono Trigger Square, just remake both using the Octopath engine like you did Live A Live and the Dragon Quest III remake or remake them via the 2D 3D hybrid that you did with the Star Ocean: Second Story remake. We play FF1-6, 9-12 (bit not 11) for their epicness and turn based strategy gameplay, we don't want them to be action style Kingdom Hearts clone like that garbage FFVII re-trilogy Remake/Rebirth/Retribution.
More like don't expect a remake of FF6 any time soon because we intend to expand, bloat, and milk FF7 to death for the next decade
@KingMike From the wikipedia article for Dragon Quest V:
"By 1993, the original Super Famicom version of Dragon Quest V had sold 2.8 million cartridges in Japan,[74] and nearly 3 million copies worldwide,[75] grossing several hundred million dollars[76] (about $630 million adjusted for inflation)."
Now from the article for FF6:
" In mid-1994, Square's publicity department reported that the game had sold 2.55 million copies in Japan,[38] where it became the best-selling video game of 1994.[102] In the United States, where it went on sale in the last quarter of 1994, it was the top-selling Super NES game in October[103] and became the year's eighth best-selling Super NES cartridge.[104] Despite this, it was not a commercial success in that region, according to Sakaguchi."
And now, Street Fighter II: Turbo - Hyper Fighting (SNES)
"Console
In Japan, the Super Famicom version topped the Famitsu sales charts in July 1993.[30][31]
Worldwide, the SNES version sold 4.1 million copies in total."
It sold ok, but it was unable to top Dragon Quest V, and either of them were getting obliterated by SF2 at any given moment.
Now, here's FF7:
"According to Weekly Famitsu, Final Fantasy VII sold 3.27 million units in Japan by the end of 1997.[151] By the end of 2005, the PlayStation version had sold 9.8 million copies including 4 million sales in Japan,[152] making it the highest-selling game in the Final Fantasy series.[153]"
And there we have it.
FF7 makes money, and SE has always known it. I promise you, I am not making this up, and you are talking to a person who dropped 1.5 years of his life into rewriting Final Fantasy VI's script for funsies, btw. I am a huge fan, but realistic enough to know that it's never going to have the Top Dog Status that VII does.
Good, leave it alone. It’s a masterpiece already. No need to fix what isn’t broken.
@gcunit I agree about not needing to remake every great game, but to be fair, in my eyes Squenix already made two modern-day classics this gen in Dragon Quest XI and Octopath 2.
Granted, I wouldn't say they're better RPGs than FFVI, but what is?
I had hoped they would make it to the FFV and FFVI remakes during the DS-era. :x
The ones we got for III and IV were amazing.
Even leaving the question of the genre of such a potential remake aside, I'm not a fan at all of splitting a game over multiple releases so definitely not that, I'd say remaking it as a single HD-2D release is a much better choice and I'd even take something closer to FF4 on DS over the first option.
HD-2D, and fix the busted battle system.
Pure nonsense. The only reason FF7R is as expensive and time-consuming to develop as it is... is because it is very emphatically not a remake. Or, rather, not a faithful remake — or even close. Well, that and the typical SE mismanagement, which at this point we pretty much just have to accept as the house style.
If they wanted to, they absolutely could remake FF6 — or FF7, for that matter — at a fraction of the cost of the 7R trilogy, in a fraction of the time, provided they were faithful to the original game. It's not like FF6 represents a bigger challenge than Star Ocean 2 did last year — or Live A Live or Dragon Quest 7 or Trials of Mana or any of the many other big, expansive RPGs of that type that they've remade before.
This is why, really, the Final Fantasy series has lost so much of the prestige and respect it used to enjoy. SE cannot even imagine a Final Fantasy Game as anything other than overproduced pablum. Not even a little.
Kind of annoyed to read many of the comments here, but - I'll try to understand where people are coming from. I get the respect that people have for this game (I share it). I personally don't feel that Metroid 3 needs to be remade, for example, so I... sort of understand.
That being said - the Metroid narrative/world didn't stop with that title; have the themes and characters of FF VI ever been revisited? I for one am delighted that people inside Square Enix feel this way, and I don't think they should be discouraged from thinking about this. I think that world could very much stand a re-examination, especially given the times we're living in; and people here, with their reactionary hot takes, aren't considering one thing:
Kitase takes the idea of a FF VI remake very seriously if he is comparing it to the huge efforts made for FF VII.
I admit - one never knows which Square Enix will show up for a given project - the AI/NFT/money-grubbing one, or the quality-oriented one. Even so, I don't want to foreclose the possibilities here.
Give it the SMRPG remake treatment and it’ll be fine
@syrupdash Chrono Trigger that looks like Visions of Mana/DQ XI? yes please.
FF VI doesn’t need a remake. It is already perfect.
@Gitface Serious question for you, black mage - how recently have you replayed it? The word nostalgia gets thrown around a lot in this hobby - too much - but I'm wondering if that's actually applicable here.
FF VI was far too easy, even compared to FF IV, to say nothing of earlier installments. The magicite grinding could be vastly improved upon, especially when you consider the open/largely optional structure of the World of Ruin. The dungeons are definitely not the match of earlier entries.
I could go on, but RPGs have advanced a fair bit since 1994. I hope people here will remember that the existence of a remake that you personally dislike does not mean that the original somehow disappears.
On one hand if a FFVI remake is ever announced I will be so so excited. On the other hand, FFVI is so beloved to me that it would need to be exactly how I personally envision it, that it might be better off never being made. It can't live up to my expectations. And the Pixel Remaster is great; everybody play that.
The pixel remaster could have done so much more to remedy the issues of the way the plot is presented in VI, but didn't.
VI could benefit from a remake to clean up the sloppy narrative for sure. The gameplay could be improved upon considerably, too.
But I'm glad Square would rather not spend the time and resources on a remake, because it's better to move forward, rather than constantly look back at their past successes. Especially after getting the pixel remasters, allowing current generations to experience those games in their best, most faithful iterations to date.
I'd honestly just love a version that is visually identical to the original, but with fixes for all the bugs that existed, and an updated translation that reads better than the original. Maybe give it widescreen (but don't stretch anything, get an artist to expand the backgrounds!) and soundtrack option with higher quality samples.
@sevex
Have you heard about the Pixel Remasters?
Not being funny, but that's about as close to what you're asking as you'll get, and has virtually everything you asked for.
I find the idea that a FF9 full remake and an OOT full remake could be just around the corner, really exciting.
I'd rather have a sequel, though I'd still want Terra as the lead.
They said the same about FF7R
I would actually love them to remake it in the look similar to FF7/8/9
if they need to do all of that to it, I don't want it.
the game is already made.
you don't have to remake it.
FFVIIR is trash.
During the PS3 and DS generation, SquareEnix put out FFXIII 1,2,3. They put out FFIII, FFIV, DQIV, DQV, DQVI, DQIX, DQ Joker, DQ Slime Something, FFX Revenant Wings, The World Ends with You, and probably more than I can remember.
I know that during this Switch, PS4/PS5 gen they have put out just as much I suppose. But compared to three FFXIII’s it kind of appears to me that their output has slowed.
I don’t mind simpler graphics, PS3/3DS/DS type are fine, if that’s what brings more quality games like a FFVI remake.
@CANOEberry The last time I played it was probably 8 or so years ago tbh, but I honestly felt like it held up pretty well then.
Don't get me wrong either, I would most likely purchase a remake if it ever came to fruition, but I just don't see it as being completely necessary.
@Gitface i too find the OG release a total delight to play, and i didnt even play it seriously (and beat it) until circa 2006. 👍 and i played it again recently, still great.
i mean, like what you like and all, but i think some people dont like videogames, broadly speaking, as much as they purport.
@OstianOwl Wait....we aren't? That's what I've been asking for.
@NCChris
no, you're not.
@-wc- This feels condescending...
@gcunit That would be Final Fantasy 16, wouldn't it?
VI doesn't need the FF7 Remake treatment. Just a nice HD-2D coat of paint and the Pixel Remaster QoL updates will suffice.
...Though I think Dragon Quest III is more deserving of the treatment. 16-bit sprites have aged much better than 8-bit IMO.
I don’t care if it takes 20 years… do it!
@FunGuy
Original version for SNES wasn't even released in Europe so that kind cuts sales as well.
But I think it sold rather well for the time and genre. Times were rather different in gaming market and homes buying games back then
Thank god these soulless hacks won't touch the best Final Fantasy game. What they did to 7 is utterly criminal. HD-2D would be fine but I find the artstyle rather garish and I hate how it took over RPG remake conversations.
They couldn't even do a modern port without mucking it up. After the butchering FFVII has gotten I'd just as soon they don't even try with VI. It's a beautifully borked game, and heavily built for the medium. The beautifully silent moment like Cyan sitting after seeing the ghosts of his family, and nothing happening until the player exits to the map would probably turn into a ten minute overacted cutscene with cloying music.
why not remade Final Fantasy 6 as a HD-2D game?
FF7 was a franchise on its own by the time the remake came along and had much more lore to work on for a fully expanded remake like it got. FF6 does not have that and does not need it. It is one of the closest things to a perfect game that I know. HD 2D would be great but it doesn’t need it. A remake like FF7 would not work.
I'm not too fussed about it, as I still have the original SNES version to play on my Analogue Super NT. It's still the same fantastic game it was in the 90's.
I would definitely take an hd-2d remaster, but I wouldn't want a full remake like final fantasy vii. I still enjoy my turn based battles.
I’m a simple gal. It’s one part frustrating that they have such high expectations for this type of game. I would fall in love with FF IV DS style remake. Make that SNES game look like a PS1 game!!!
A perfect game doesn’t need a remake.
I don't really get the demand for an HD-2D remake. The original is still great, and I'm content to just replay that.
Now, if they wanted to do a fully 3D remake, that would catch my attention, whether it's with FF7R or FF4DS graphics. But why doesn't the poll have an option for a modern remake that doesn't involve the whole heavy-handed 7 Remake treatment?
I definitely love Final Fantasy VI. The characters and story are excellent. The game is fun. I do wonder though if maybe an anime or series would be an option. Just a different way to tell the story. I bet it would be pretty amazing if done well.
I would take a remake for sure. Something along Tales of Vesperia style would be pretty cool. Not as intense as FFVII Rebirth looks, but would still give the chance to have a world map.
There are lots of options. The Pixel Remaster is pretty great (they all are), I just wish they wouldn’t have left out the bonus content from the GBA and (now unavailable) iPhone/Steam versions. I’m one of the few who liked the debatable art style, and the extras were a nice bonus.
They shouldn't try to go the rebirth route for this classic. 2D-HD is all we need since they already did a lot of work on the QoL stuff.
Come on, give is 2D-HD Kefka visage!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpI8xMfaOIk
Personally, zero interest in remakes. People who love or are interested in the original can play the original (or at best a remaster if that's the only way to get it on your modern console). People who have no attachment to the original can enjoy new games without needing to get some kind of nostalgia transplant.
Kind of makes sense. Look how long it is taking just to get to Part 2 of FFVII remake.
If it was me, I would go the Live A Live route and call it a day.
@Pod
Every time FFIV got a remake or modern release i kept thinking to myself "FFV is next" which i was hoping for since V was by far my favourite of the 2d era games.
then when FFV did get a modern re-release it was the (now delisted) mobile (and later pc) release
im happy that nowadays the pixel remasters are available on multiple systems (as opposed to mobile/PC only like 2d FF had been for the past decade or so) despite some rough edges like the scrolling and whatnot.
on the subject of remasters and the like i feel one game which would benefit is the mobile only "final fantasy dimensions" which i hear was a solid 2d FF with a job system similar to FFV, tbh i would be happy if that one got its own "pixel remaster" style release since it does have some very "mobile" looking visuals (iirc it was the same engine later used on those FFV and VI mobile releases)
@N64-ROX
for me one of the reasons i enjoyed the virtual console (and psone classics line on psn) was due to how i could play a lot of games i never got to play when i was younger due to the combination of not having a snes growing up and a lot of classic rpgs missing europe.
in fact many of my favorite games from that era i played first time through those methods years after their release.
its also why i find the direction switch ended up going with how it handled legacy content really frustrating since i hate the idea of retro games being locked exclusively behind a service which requires an online check rather than letting players buy/keep the games on their system.
in general i really am in favour of classic games being preserved especially officially like what the previously mentioned virtual console/psn did (with virtual console being officially dead now but allowing people to still download/play the games they bought and the psone classic releases still being available to buy even if some are back on ps3/psp/vita)
@NCChris
i'll let you know when it becomes condescending.
(lol sorry, I'm playin 🙂)
edit - in truth, you are the first person ive seen saying "yes please ff6 remake" but I'm sure you arent the only one 👍
Don’t do it! You just did a remaster. Fix the frame sync issue and we cool.
I would enjoy a dose of HD-2D FFVI with a little QoL.
If there is an HD-2D version of 6 I'd like its combat system overhauled and for its bosses to have a more Octopath level of difficulty.
And the great English voicework we've seen in games like the Octopath series and FF16.
I will never play the ffvii remake just because it will tarnish the nostalgic memories and how it was a near perfect experience that did not need what they are doing to it. It will be how many years before we can see that story to the end, and then they thinking about doing same thing again to another game.
@gcunit well said!! Instead of remaking a classic… just make a new classic?
If you make it with the scale of FFVIIR, of course it would - except that isn't even necessary, despite VI world ironically lending itself to multiple chapter releases better (for the reasons obvious to anyone who's beaten the game). I can understand Squeenix having worried about VII which spoiled the audiences with the visuals of Advent Children and that one time it was used to briefly flaunt nextgen graphics, but as many have pointed out, an HD2D reimagining with blackjack and voiceovers, especially at the Star Ocean Second Story R level, would be more than enough for rebooting the predecessor has never left the sprite domain before. And even if the remake were to go big and polygonal, there's always a shot at negotiating a deal with Nintendo and commissioning Monolith Soft whose expertise in top tier JRPG experiences needs no commentary by now. Just imagine Terra & Co's adventures across both maps reimagined with the room, grandeur and exploration appeal of Mira or Aionios... And I reckon that wouldn't even absolutely rule out other platforms either - while a SNES exclusive way back when, the IP has been released on every toaster by now anyway, and hybrid hardware would still be the most convenient environment for a game like this.
No Option for the N64 Remake XP?
Final Fantasy VI does not need a remake, simple as that.
Serious question, does anyone have any idea why they have not put a remake of Chrono Trigger out yet? I swear that would sell like crazy.
We don't care about some triple release all split up with Mega budget cutscenes and graphical excess.
Just give the game to Team Asano. THEY'LL know what to do with it, and it won't take em no 20 freaking years either. 36 months tops, and we'd have the most gorgeous FF remake ever.
@-wc- voice acting ruined FFXVI for me, as long as its story its amazing… but those boring side missions all with voice acting were pathetic
Just do it like Live-A-Live.
And do the same for Chrono Trigger while you’re at it.
Testament to how epic this game is!
I don't understand why, after making FFIII and FFIV in full polygons on the DS, they just stopped. They should have carried on with FFV and VI on the 3DS.
SE are always overkill. You can tell Kitase is imaging some sort of expansive gigantic remake where like FF7 the scale of the setting is expanded far past the point is even needed to tell its story that most of the additions are dull filler. Narshe and South Figaro doesn't need to be a sprawling cities with 100s of NPCs.
But really I'd like to see a FF4DS style remake. 3D with some scenes enhancements. Like it'd be interesting to see civilians cowering or running into houses during the initial attack on Narshe. To make the opening section have more impact.
More scenes that give the player a better idea of the fates of the Returners like Banon in the 2nd half or end of the 1st half.
I don't want the maps to be 5-10x bigger to facilitate making the games scope only superficially bigger, only to filled with irrelevant characters and sidequests that don't actually add anything to improve the main story.
@-wc- To be honest; If they took the approach of it still being presented the same way but instead of sprites we get actual high-poly character models, I'd be 100% down for that.
I love FF6 and it's visuals but I'd love to see characters like Celes, Edgar, and Setzer in the visual format of say Dissidia NT. I remember first seeing Locke from that game and was blown away at how good he looked compared to how he looks in sprite form.
And yes, I am aware there are the CGI scenes from the Playstation version but honestly they look meh to me not to mention I can't tell who some of them are.
@NCChris
i would love a painterly remaster in which the world and characters looked more like the yoshitaka amano artwork on which the OG game was based. this is a dream ive held for a very long time, before we really had the technology even. but now we do 👍
i agree, the characters could be more expressive and look more distinctive without going full re...make like the ffvii mess. 👍
We don't want a FF7 type remake anyway. Just give us HD-2D visuals (or even the FF4 type remake for the Switch). It's my fav FF of all time.
@Mgalens I completely agree! I don't need original hardware to enjoy classic games, but I'd still prefer that they look and play the same way they did originally. And for sure I wish we could just buy them once-off.
@Browny Oh yeah I have seen them. I'm just not a fan of the visual changes, especially the UI and fonts. I don't feel they gave them the care they really deserve.
@sevex
The font was later updated to include a classic option that's more retro in the style of the original games. I was worried about that at first, but at least on Switch it's good.
The soundtracks were also all remastered, and they sound the best they've ever been.
@FunGuy I was never comparing FF7 to FF6. I was only saying that, for a SNES RPG released in North America in the '90s, it was about as popular and a big seller as one could have hoped for in its time. It would be crazy to think they were ever going to outsell other more popular genres, especially sports and fighting games.
It sure outsold the one RPG Nintendo themselves published, EarthBound (though that game had multiple marketing flaws that the fans are well aware of).
@CANOEberry Part of the difficulty level issue of FFVI was simply balancing and a few of the more busted equipment.
And the bugs.
One that I know the GBA fixed was how overpowered Osmose was. It made MP basically infinite (though Economizer wasn't much better).
Though Intangir. Defeating even one of them for Beastiary entry on the GBA was a slog, simply because of idiotic high HP. WTF were they thinking when they decided to give a random WoB enemy triple the HP of any boss fight during that half of the game?
(where on GBA, they fixed the bug where status magic on Vanished enemies ignores immunities, so you have to fight it the long way)
@KingMike You're right, it would be crazy
Tell it to Squaresoft's CEO at the time, though... 😏 Turns out unrealistic sales projections is not a new thing
@KingMike In any case, its initial sales performance was just the catalyst; FF7 has an installed userbase that is not going away any time soon
FF6 is never going to have that kind of brand recognition associated with it, and there's nothing that can be done about that, and therefore, a FF6 remake would cost more to make than it would probably take in, goes the line of reasoning.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...