Final Fantasy X Remake announced... for PS3/Vita

[Kitsune Sniper]

http://www.joystiq.com/2011/09/14/square-enix-announces-final-fantasy-10-remake-for-ps-vita-and/

My reaction:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmSpWuM9AzI

[substantial_snake]

I laughed, but I also find it damn funny that everyone quotes that one scene as an example of how terrible the games voice acting is. It a pretty normal scene taken completely out of context. That being said this squares firmly in a maybe pile for me. I never actually beat the final boss in Final Fantasy 10 so maybe if I see this in a bargain bin somewhere for 20 or less I'll pick it up. The game was fun, Tidus just really rubs me the wrong way.

If porting to and from the Vita/PS3 platform really is as easy as its been implied I really want to see some kind of additional clause to PS Plus subscribers or other program where you could buy a PS3 copy and get a Vita download at reduced price. I know its unlikely to happen but it would actually get me interested in using PS Plus and for things like the MGS HD Collection I could really see myself going back and forth between the two platforms.

[kupomogli]

Final Fantasy 10 was like the beta of Final Fantasy 13. What I mean by that is that Final Fantasy 10 was only the beginning of point A to point B and it wasn't just one long hallway with different graphics all the time. There were times you could actually branch out.

The gameplay wasn't terrible, but it was pretty repetitive. Change characters and attack repeatedly over and over is just really what bugged me about it. There's also the fact that Auron, actually useful early on, becomes useless(mostly) later on when everyone can just have piercing thrown on any weapon.

FF10 also had Blitzball which was nice. I personally think it's one of the best mini games in a Final Fantasy title. First time I beat FF10, Blitzball was about 15 hours of the gameplay. One of the games saving graces. If they somehow implement some Blitzball multiplayer, even if it has to be ad hoc only, I'd pick the game up someday.

Not a terrible game, but not an amazing game. Atleast it's the first time the game is getting ported. I'd personally rather see FF12, not only because I like the storyline and the world better, but because I'm really trying to get into the game. An HD port would give me another reason to start it up again. FF10-2 though? Even though the storyline was poor, the game was great thanks to the amazing battle system.

[wingzrow]

My computer can already do this at 1080P and X16 anti aliasing. Unless there's some HUGE texture improvement and extras i's not going to be worth it.

[SpaceHarrier]

FF10-2 though? Even though the storyline was poor, the game was great thanks to the amazing battle system.

Truth. I completed that game and thought, "I should be mad that I spent $49.99 on this, but for some reason I'm not."

Best version of the Active Time Battle.

I for one, love Final Fantasy X. It's very nearly my favorite in the series, but not quite. Definitely in my top 5 rpgs I've ever played, however. I even like Tidus. In terms of voice acting, I really thought Yuna's was the weak point, at least until about the halfway mark.

I can't imagine they are going to do much with this other than upscale.. milking that cow until its udders bleed.

[GameNinja]

Maybe this is testing the waters for a 7 remake?

[wingzrow]

Maybe this is testing the waters for a 7 remake?

Lol, no. This is just an easy upscale and possible retexture to capitalize on the 10'th anniversary.

Remaking 7,8,or 9 would you know, take actual work. Square-enix has said on record that they cannot make large scale 3D worlds anymore because of the cost involved in doing so these days. This is very evident in say, final fantasy XIII, where most if not all the maps are straight lines with pretty backgrounds.

Furthermore, VII remake would be their ace in the whole should they ever get into some financial trouble. Don't expect it any time soon.

[portnoyd]

Is X really that beloved that a remake as involved as one about a PS2 title is worth the effort and resources?

[wingzrow]

It sold millions of copies and had a direct sequel. That has to count for something.

[Zing]

I really enjoyed the game until near the end. At least I think I was near the end, as the story seemed to be coming to a climax. I didn't finish it because it became extremely tedious. The battles throughout the game were basically auto-pilot due to lack of challenge. The overworld felt like walking from cutscene to cutscene. The grid sphere thing forced very little decision-making.

But I enjoyed it. I think because it was my first "modern" RPG and I was blown away by the graphics, sound, and story. Up until that point, my RPG experience ended with the SNES.

It does seem odd to remake a game that you could still find on retail shelves.

[NayusDante]

FFX did not have ATB, it was turn-based but you could influence turn order with abilities. There were a lot of really neat battle mechanics, but they ruined it by making you fight the same pre-set battles with the characters telling you what moves to use.

I forced myself to play through this one about a year ago, just after I finished FF8. The characters are silly, the story is mediocre, and the game never made me care about where it was going. I liked how it ended, with Tidus not being real, but they had to ruin it by implying that he might be able to return somehow.

It might be nice in widescreen, but keep in mind that character animation standards have improved drastically over the years. The Metal Gear Solid remakes get a pass because they're so well animated and look modern in comparison. Watching the characters in FFX move around is just awkward.

[heybtbm]

I can't imagine who still wants to play an RPG with random battles in 2011. Maybe for nostalgia's sake...but for a 100+ hour game? The world has moved on IMO.

[Snapple]

Is X really that beloved that a remake as involved as one about a PS2 title is worth the effort and resources?

A few years ago, Japanese fans voted it the #1 video game of all time. Yes, more than Dragon Quest anything. There was a topic about it somewhere on this site.

I'm looking forward to this, and if you're not then the remake isn't for you.

[Beefy Hits]

Still haven't played FFX. I thought it was a good time to get off the bus around IX.

I wish they'd remake VII.

[portnoyd]

A few years ago, Japanese fans voted it the #1 video game of all time. Yes, more than Dragon Quest anything. There was a topic about it somewhere on this site.

Uh. Whoa.

Sounds like there's a whole lot of folks in Japan that, at the very least, need to play FFIV.

But I'll buy it. Why? Because I did a count. I already own 11 FF releases and remakes, and that's only from the main numbered series.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Uh. Whoa.

Sounds like there's a whole lot of folks in Japan that, at the very least, need to play FFIV.

They probably already did, but since it lacks JPop and girly dudes with more zippers than anyone would ever need, they didn't pay attention.

[Zing]

I can't imagine who still wants to play an RPG with random battles in 2011. Maybe for nostalgia's sake...but for a 100+ hour game? The world has moved on IMO.

How on earth could anyone milk 100+ hours out of this game? That is a lot of Blitzball. I think my final save had 35, and that was with some idle time.

[heybtbm]

How on earth could anyone milk 100+ hours out of this game? That is a lot of Blitzball. I think my final save had 35, and that was with some idle time.

Only 35 hours? Wow...I stand corrected. I never finished FFX. I thought it was similar in scope to FFXII (which I had 130 hours on).

[kupomogli]

I can't imagine who still wants to play an RPG with random battles in 2011. Maybe for nostalgia's sake...but for a 100+ hour game? The world has moved on IMO.

RPGs with random battles are better in my opinion. I like the way random battles were done in Wild ARMs though.

In a standard RPG, if it's balanced well enough it's possible for the game to be difficult, but you could still possibly make your way through it without grinding. I can make my way through the original Final Fantasy with almost no grinding at all so it's very close to being perfectly balanced(about the only time I'd need to grind is to get to level 7 after reaching Elfland and then that's it.)

With encounters you can see on the field, we'll use Star Ocean 3 for example, as you might just avoid every enemy possible and then screw yourself into needing to grind on enemies that are too hard for you. I've never beaten SO3, but for games I have beaten, there are also games such as Crimson Gem Saga that you have to grind a bit even if you fight every enemy you see on screen.

Grinding with enemies on screen pretty much means that you'll either have to leave the area and come back, or wait until the enemy randomly appears on screen(FF12.) So in the event that it's a game you'll be required to grind, it's more of a problem with enemies on screen rather than random battles.

In the case of games such as Wild ARMs 2. You have a exclamation point that appears being that you're going to get in battle. Green means the enemies are too easy, white means they're on your level, and red is either they're above your level and you couldn't avoid them or an enemy first strike. You could dodge as many battles as you want and when the enemies got to a point too high of a level, it'd automatically enter you into a battle.

Wild ARMs 3 is the same way except you have a specific amount of points, where green battles took up none as they were too easy, normal battles would take up a certain amount compared to the enemy difficulty. You had only a certain amount of points and at 0 points you couldn't dodge battles with any enemies but green.

More developers should do the Wild ARMs random battle style.

[Zing]

In a standard RPG, if it's balanced well enough it's possible for the game to be difficult, but you could still possibly make your way through it without grinding.

Final Fantasy II (snes) is just about the perfect example I can recall where there is zero grinding needed. The game seemed to have exactly the number of battles needed to get through the game.

[NayusDante]

Final Fantasy (I) has been remade many times, and I would still be interested in further remakes if they were interestingly different enough. FF1 remakes work because Final Fantasy is a GAME. You are presented with a quest, but it's up to you how you go about fulfilling it. Do you stock up on magic users, or do you want strong fighters? After you finish the game one way, you can play it again with a different party and find a different experience.

Final Fantasy II remakes work as well, because the character classes are freeform. Like in The Elder Scrolls games, roleplaying a character archetype will result in characters becoming stronger around that archetype. Again, this is still a GAME.

Final Fantasy III and V have the job system, so you still develop the characters however you see fit. Both of these are also GAMES.

Final Fantasy IV is where things start going downhill. The characters are specific archetypes, and you have little influence on their development. FF4 is still a GAME, but it's not as much so as the others.

Final Fantasy VI is a step back from IV, in that you can actually make decisions. The entire World of Ruin is about deciding who you want to bring back to your team, and whether to help them with their respective stories and sideplots. You can influence stats with esper growth, but it's less freeform than the job system.

Final Fantasy VII and onward are not really games, at least not in the classical sense. Just because they're interactive and have battles, they're considered games, but I would argue that it's a stretch. You don't really influence character development or make choices. The most significant choice you make in FF7 is who to date, so I'd argue that it's TECHNICALLY closer to a ren'ai (visual novel) game than an RPG. It goes downhill from there, and Final Fantasy X is where the series became what I would call "real-time CG anime with boss battles between episodes."

If Squenix is going to put any effort toward any kind of Final Fantasy X project, they should be making a film or an anime series. Given the low percentage of people that actually finish games, it would be more humane than selling everyone a $60 movie that they'll only see 47% of before losing interest. I would argue the same for 7-9 as well.

That's my rant... I'm sure many will disagree with me, but after the Blu-Ray-with-battles that was FFXIII, I can't see these titles as anything else.

[portnoyd]

I do believe a lol wut is appropriate.

[sfchakan]

I do believe a lol wut is appropriate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz86-fbyu3I

[heybtbm]

RPGs with random battles are better in my opinion.

Up to 2006 I would've agreed with you, but after playing FFXII I have to disagree. The battle system of FFXII is simply the best out of any RPG I've played. Hands down my favorite. You would see an enemy in the distance and...if you wanted to...you could run up and engage it in battle. Even better you could let your gambits do the fighting for you. Just superb design and so much damn fun.

I'm playing through DQ6 right now and these random battles every 3-4 seconds are grating. They have their place (I suppose), but after the battle system perfection of FFXII, it's hard going back to the old school style.

[Snapple]

In general, I think RPGs without random battles are better than those with. So you could consider that a strike against FFX. I could name quite a few strikes against FFX actually, but there's also a fair amount going for it that I did enjoy.

Not afraid to admit I loved blitzball either. I doubt it will happen, but I would love it if they made blitzball even bigger and badder in the HD remake.

[Zing]

FFX didn't have traditional random battles. Yes, you might run into some monsters now and then when running down a tree lined tunnel from point A to point B, but it felt like most of the battles were scripted, and all of the battles were insanely easy to the point that even the random battles felt scripted.

[SpaceHarrier]

How on earth could anyone milk 100+ hours out of this game? That is a lot of Blitzball. I think my final save had 35, and that was with some idle time.

My final save had around 90 hours, IIRC, and I think I only played one optional game of blitzball -- didn't care for it. I spent hours hunting for all the game's enemies with capture weapons, pokemon style. If you did, you could unlock strong monsters to fight in some arena.

There was a super Tonberry you could fight (in the monster arena) and by setting your characters up right, you could exploit a stacked set of variables that would allow you to basically complete the entire sphere grid with all the characters in an expedited fashion.

If you gained the ultimate weapon for a character, you could break the 9999 damage barrier or 9999 HP limit. Was this necessary? Probably not, but I spent hours doing this.


tl;dr: BONUS SHIT!

[kupomogli]

There was a super Tonberry you could fight (in the monster arena) and by setting your characters up right, you could exploit a stacked set of variables that would allow you to basically complete the entire sphere grid with all the characters in an expedited fashion.

Set your overdrive to increase whenever an ally gets attacked. Place Overdrive > AP on everyones weapon. The battle King Cactaur who uses 10,000 needles. Load up on phoenix downs and in five minutes when he runs away you'll be on level 30-99 with three characters. You'll be spending more time acquiring the items that allow you to level up than you will leveling up.

I only had 40 hours after finishing the game and I did that with most, if not all sidequests completed.

[LaughingMAN.S9]

i heard they're including ffx-2 in the ps3 remake, i might just pick this up after all since i never beat the original ffx, im at the last battle, cant defeat _____ in his 2nd form (didnt want to spoil it for anyone) so i just gave up, i still have the save file somewhere but i cant see me playing it after all this time

[kupomogli]

I've heard that it's actually a remake using Crystal Tools engine instead of just an HD upgrade. This was posted as news on VGChartz though, so you can more than likely place it as "wishful thinking" or "rumor" though not necessarily rule it out as they very well may do a complete remake. However I doubt it seeing that it's supposedly going to be released sometime next year.

[Nebagram]

This'll be an absolute day 1 purchase for me, X was my favourite Final Fantasy. And yes, I topped the 80 hour mark on my master save, but to be fair I was unemployed and really bored at the time.