What if Final Fantasy XVI were a retro title?

[Wolf Kanno]

Let's just pretend for the sake of argument, that Square-Enix decided to make the sixteenth installment of the franchise into a honest to goodness retro title? I'm not talking about something like FFIX where the game has call backs to older titles but still presented as a modern FF, nor am I talking about I am Setsuna which is pretty similar. I'm saying that the trailer is an actual 8-bit graphics style title a la Mega Man 9 and 10 infamy. It would still have a plot and characters, as well as a more involved customization system (think FFV) but the presentation would be pure Famicom/NES with dungeons, music, and the like being closer to the earliest entries.

How would you feel about this?

[Ayen]

How would you feel about this?

http://i.imgur.com/4mvFDrp.jpg

But seriously, I would be both excited and concerned. Excited because I love this stuff and would be interested to see how it works with modern systems. Concerned because such a drastic reversal has the potential to put off a lot of young gamers who aren't used to such a graphical downgrade and can look down upon FFVII graphics, let alone 8-bit like the NES had. It would be interesting to see how Square would market such an endeavor if it was to happen.

I would also be concern because as much as I love 8-bit games, I'm kind of bad at them :lol:

[Lyndis Highwind]

I would really enjoy that. I really enjoy playing the old FF games because of their simplicity and the graphics have a certain charm about them too.

[Skyblade]

Personally, when I think retro RPGs, my mind goes to 16 Bit, not 8 Bit. Chrono Trigger, FFVI, Super Mario RPG...

[Galuf]

i think id prefer 16 bit but it sounds great regardless

[Fox]

I would struggle. It's not a style I'm particularly keen on, and I came into gaming very much in the Playstation era.

Not saying I wouldn't enjoy it - I play a bunch of games created in a retro style. But I wouldn't vote for it given the choice!

[Depression Moon]

I'm cool with it, but a big company like this probably won't due it. You have to move forward, not backward, but if it was me I would do it just to be different from the rest of the pack.

[Wolf Kanno]

Personally, when I think retro RPGs, my mind goes to 16 Bit, not 8 Bit. Chrono Trigger, FFVI, Super Mario RPG...

"Retro" I feel comes down to what you played the most of in your formative years, but I chose 8-bit cause there are enough old farts who grew up in the 16-bit era who wouldn't have a problem with it, so I felt 8-bit would make them think harder about it. :shifty:

[Fynn]

If go for 16-bit as well :p

Anyway, this may be slightly off-topic, but DQ XI seems to be going this route with the 3DS version where you can choose between a 3D look and classic 8-but. It'd be cool to see FF do domething similar

[Del Murder]

I would happily give them my money for such a game. Hell, I would even preorder it. And maybe even buy some ...DLC.

[Sephiroth]

I think, no matter if people would like it there would be so many people complaining about it looking like that that it would never come out like that.

[Ayen]

Perhaps it would work better if they were to port it on handheld devices like the 3DS and PSVita because of the smaller screens. Typically, when an old game is re-released from the 8 bit era that's the platform they go to, so it could work the same for a game bringing 8-bits back. At that point they may not be opposed to putting it on mobile, either, since it's a pretty big thing in Japan and a lot of people over there may immensely enjoy being able to play a main entry FF game on the go (I know some on this forum wouldn't be opposed to it, either), assuming they're not as bothered by the graphics as some in the west would be.

Of course, considering how far handheld gaming have come over the years, you'd still have your naysayers, and console purists would look down on it, but it'd probably look better on a smaller screen than it would on your TV or computer monitor. Though if Square ever did go this route people would suspect it's because an earlier game didn't perform that well, I'd imagine.

[Yar]

I wouldn't be excited. I've seen quite a few "throwback" games so far and they never really capture whatever it was that 8- and 16-bit games offered. You could call it nostalgia I guess? I don't think that's what it is though. Something else.

Anyway, just my experience with such games already I would prefer they didn't do that. Just let Ito make something kthx

[CimminyCricket]

I would be pretty excited. Those are some of my favorite versions of the FF series.

[Elly]

oh gawd no, not the sound at least, that midi flute on the first FF on NES was an ear bleeder... 16-bit graphics i have no problems with, 8 gets into the iffy area, though i played many hours on Adventure on the Atari2600 i'm not sure i could do something like that again...

[Randy]

That would be terrible! 8 bit looks awful nowadays. Even Shovel Knight had to cheat and add a few extra colours because it looked like ass otherwise.

16 bit would be acceptable. PS1 era would be fine too. Although that'd be kinda pointless given that you could just take the models used for the pre-rendered backgrounds and use them in realtime with modern hardware.

[DMKA]

I'd be disappointed.

On the other hand, if they did it with FFI-IX style gameplay mechanics in modern graphics I'd be delighted as hell.

[Laddy]

I think having a cinematic experience with VII/X style gameplay is the smartest thing they could do at this point...

[Midgar Mist]

Depends on the difficulty level.

If it held the same level of difficulty as those 8 bit games, then no.

Graphics are not as much of an issue for me, just so long as its playable and I can save the damn game.

What might be interesting is if you took an 8 or 16 Bit environment and used up to date HD characters, in the same way Persona 4 does it with the Void Quest dungeon. Juxtaposition is a good way to keep things fresh.

[Mirage]

I think it wouldn't sell well at all, and I would probably not pay for it myself either.

[NeoCracker]

8-bit was not the best time for RPG's I feel, they were still trying to get their leg in the door. About the only NES era RPG I think that has aged all that well was Mother 3.

That said, it wasn't really a tech issue, it was more of a lack of experience issue. So yeah, I'd be pretty excited and buy it.