Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII Retrospective is Retro-tastic

[StewShearerOld]

Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII Retrospective is Retro-tastic

[youtube=CumQFAzxN2w>

[B]Square Enix has re-imagined Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 with 16-bit visuals in a recently released video.[/B]

I'll be honest and say that it's sadly been some time since I've enjoyed a Square Enix game. I'll always have a love for the classics, of course, and when the company puts out a decent retro remake I'm among those lining up to throw out my wadded dollars. That said, I've accepted that the company generally doesn't make many new things that I'm interested in anymore.

That said, SE recently put together a retrospective video for Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 that may just be the best thing it's done in years. The goal of the video, of course, is to catch gamers up for the approaching release of Lightning Returns, the third and final piece in the XIII trilogy. What makes this retrospective notable is that the company opted to go whole hog 16-bit retro with it and, by the glories, is it fantastic.

In fact, while I hate to say I could be influenced by something so shallow as a retro makeover, I probably would have stuck with Final Fantasy XIII a lot longer than I did had it looked like this. You can probably blame it on my not getting a Super Nintendo until 1996. All those years of long and waiting pretty much turned all things 16-bit into objects of wonder for me and I've never quite grown out of that. All of that said, you really do just have to appreciate the clear effort that went into the making of this video. Then, of course, you have to wonder why Square Enix couldn't have invested the same sort of care in its <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/131381-Final-Fantasy-VI-Mobile-Releases-Adds-Typos>Final Fantasy VI remake.

Source: <a href=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CumQFAzxN2w>YouTube




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[Chungus]

Huh... This actually got me marginally interested. Can't say I'm going to be buying it, however, since that I already played both 13 and 13-2. But if I hadn't played them, then I'd be onboard with this.

That said, I do hope this will be successful, in the hope Squeenix will wise up and start making more games with retro styles like this. Probably ain't happening, but hey. One can but dream.

 

[Jack Nief]

Huh... This actually got me marginally interested. Can't say I'm going to be buying it, however, since that I already played both 13 and 13-2. But if I hadn't played them, then I'd be onboard with this.

That said, I do hope this will be successful, in the hope Squeenix will wise up and start making more games with retro styles like this. Probably ain't happening, but hey. One can but dream.

I'd be totally down with a FF13 Demake in the style of FF1, 2, and 4's revamps. I love that old-but-new retro stuff.

 

[vagabondwillsmile]

It's like they know - that's the whole point of the tease right. They know what we geek out over, because evidently they do it too. If there was, even a dlc package with Lightening Returns that let you replay the whole deal like that I would absolutely buy it. I raise my hands at my own lack of understanding? I both love and hate SE (I currently love them for Bravely Default though).

And the unlockable costume felt like really cheap pandering on nostalgia. That might seem contradictory to my first statements. But - in my opinion - there is a fine line between reveling in nostalgia on one side, and exploiting it (even exploiting their own previous work) and pandering to it on the other side. The contrast is striking. Maybe I shouldn't read that much into it (the costume) though and just consider it an extra little thing some people will enjoy.

 

[eltonborges]

Not bad, that's for sure, but not for me. I see it not as a demake of FF XIII, but more like a generic SNES FF skin. Anyway, they sure hit some buttons in many players out there.

 

[Shinsei-J]

Hmm, I might have actually played it like this.
The whole problem I had with the games was the gameplay, lack of (Illusional) freedom (What the FF series has always done well) and the drawn out feeling that comes with a combination of the two so I think demake would most likely fix a lot of the games problems for me. Yep I'd play the hell out of this.

Oh and fun fact, the only reason I got to around 30 hours in the first game was the promise of good stuff later and Sazh.
Regret everything but that guy.

 

[james.sponge]

That story seems so deep.... oh SquareSoft you will never be forgotten.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Yeah, I'll jump on board and say that if this was the game I got out of the box when XIII first came out I wouldn't have been as disappointed with it... I might have actually played it all the way through. I still can't believe I thought it was going to get better and kept playing it as it was...

 

[Alpha Maeko]

That triple Bahamut thing died in three attacks XD

So much for that boss.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Even though I have no interest in Final Fantasy games, I really like the idea of demakes for games. I wouldn't mind seeing some of my favorite 3D games become 16 bit with the gameplay being altered to fit the older style.

 

[Simple Bluff]

Huh... This actually got me marginally interested. Can't say I'm going to be buying it, however, since that I already played both 13 and 13-2. But if I hadn't played them, then I'd be onboard with this.

That said, I do hope this will be successful, in the hope Squeenix will wise up and start making more games with retro styles like this. Probably ain't happening, but hey. One can but dream.

It's not a game they're selling, just a video they made. Maybe if it gets enough attention they might consider actually making something like this. I hope they do, it's a really good idea - kinda gives me the urge to play FFVI.

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

I never fully got the gang-hate thing for FFXIII, I got more enjoyment out of it than I did XII. Once you finally got something approximating a world map I would even say I had some fun riding chocobos about and chasing cactuars.

 

[Rattja]

Ahhh so that's what the story was about, why could not all the hours in the actual game tell me this?

Watching this make me wanna play chrono trigger or play ff7 again, speaking of wich.. Did I just see lightning in clauds uniform AND his sword!? That's just wrong...

 

[Artemicion]

Outstanding. I'm in the camp of people who didn't hate XIII and would love to see this as an actual thing.

 

[debtcollector]

Oh man, if only the real FFXIII had everyone line up on the right and kill bosses with one summon. That 15-year-old battle system is the best thing ever, and should never be changed in any way.

...is what I'm getting from this thread. Look, we all loved FFVI, but if every game was FFVI then the world would suck. Sprites are charming, but they don't make everything better.

 

[weirdee]

Oh, hey Ultros. How ya been?

 

[oldtaku]

I seriously doubt more people would play the entire game(s) like this. This is condensed down to 8 minutes, which makes it actually seem interesting. But in the full game(s) that turns into 30+ hours (each) of horrible dialogue and criminally stupid and lazy plotting.

You'd still have the combat system, which I did enjoy a lot. But demaking the graphics is not going to save the rest of it.