As much as I liked the DS remake... why?

[ReloadPsi]

Yes, I liked the remake. I thought it was enjoyable, I liked the new gameplay features they put in without ultimately changing the game too much, but my question is why?

Why did Square-Enix see fit to give Final Fantasy IV such a drastic update? It's not like they were fixing a few minor balancing issues like they did in the FF3 remake, which was otherwise nearly identical...

[Sephex]

Because in Japan the game was HUGE. "Theme of Love" is now used in early Japanese music classes for practice/performance, for example. Also, I remember reading an interview with Tetsuya Nomura in EGM about how even after FFV and FFVI was released, fans of the series were still talking about the characters of FFIV more. One of his goals while working on FFVII was to create more memorable characters.

I wish I could provide links for this information, but those are two major examples I can think of on why FFIV got such high priority to get a real makeover, instead of just another port.

[Wolf Kanno]

^ Yeah, that's partly why. FFIV is actually tied with FFI on having the most ports/remakes in the series, at least in Japan, and it's often ranked third favorite in the series behind FFVII and FFX. The remake of FFIII did drastically change the game since they changed some of the classes (Dark Knights were not in the original version), added more special abilities for classes like Warrior, Monk, Viking, and Knight to make them stand out more besides just stats and equipment pools, and the re-balance greatly changes your customization option in the end game where the original basically kept you locked into two classes if you ever wanted to hope to win. It also dded several new quests that were not in the original based on the Mognet system, so I wouldn't say FFIV was special for getting some gameplay overhauls.

The gameplay overhauls in IV pretty much try to address the problems newer fans to the series have with FFIV which is one of the only games in the series to be almost completely devoid of customization and mini-games. Granted, I feel the Super Boss set-up was a bit strange, considering FFIV technically has more optional bosses than most of the numbered entries but I guess fans expect super bosses like Omega and the WEAPONS nowadays. I kind of wished the DS remake had spiced up the dungeons a little more as well, by either adding a puzzle or two in a few of them or at least taking advantage of the 3D and changing the perspective a bit more. It's ultimately the same dungeons with the same 3/4 overhead camera angle with 3D graphics.

[Hollycat]

I can understand that it is a great game, but I still wish that they would at least consider making an hd version of 5 and 6 for newer systems since the gba versions are so hard to come by and the ps1 versions suck in comparison.

[Sephex]

Too lazy to look this up now, but I believe they are looking into making the same type of remake of FFVI for the 3DS.

[Wolf Kanno]

Yeah, I think it was Hashimoto mentioned that SE was waiting to see how the 3DS did in order to do a remake of FFV and VI a la FFIII/IV DS since the DS couldn't handle a 3D remake of FFV and VI's size. Of course, that was almost 2 years ago now, so go only knows what their stance is now.

Yet, recently, Nomura said the company had changed their strategy for the FF series and said it doesn't involve any more remakes of any of the FF games, though he could have been just speaking for FFVII. I still wouldn't be surprised if V and VI got the shaft, while Ito and Kitase are both there to work as directors for the games, neither of them seem to be doing much in terms of game development anymore except IOS projects and corporate duties on other people's projects. So, I'm not sure how interest either of them would be on working on FFV or VI. I mean Kitase has shown more interest in doing a VII remake and I wouldn't be surprised if Ito is more interested in expanding the Ivalice titles. Nomura worked on both titles but the man has his hands full trying to get Versus XIII to actually see the light of day.

[Sephex]

Personally, I would like to see VI redone the most. I liked VII better, but I have my reasons for why I think it would be a mess. In fact, [inserts shameless plug], I wrote an article on questioning if a FFVII remake would even work. I normally, wouldn't be tooting my own horn here, but it actually generated a good discussion at various places on the internet. Neither me or any of my friends submitted to Reddit, but I was told it made the front page. So while it is on my mind and we are talking about remakes, I might as well post it in this thread.

Justin’s Words of Wisdom: Would A Final Fantasy VII Remake Even Work? | Primary Ignition

[ReloadPsi]

Personally, I would like to see VI redone the most. I liked VII better, but I have my reasons for why I think it would be a mess. In fact, [inserts shameless plug], I wrote an article on questioning if a FFVII remake would even work. I normally, wouldn't be tooting my own horn here, but it actually generated a good discussion at various places on the internet. Neither me or any of my friends submitted to Reddit, but I was told it made the front page. So while it is on my mind and we are talking about remakes, I might as well post it in this thread.

Justin’s Words of Wisdom: Would A Final Fantasy VII Remake Even Work? | Primary Ignition

Here's the same thing I always say: gay bath-house scene in Advent Children graphics. That is all.

[Sephex]

Personally, I would like to see VI redone the most. I liked VII better, but I have my reasons for why I think it would be a mess. In fact, [inserts shameless plug], I wrote an article on questioning if a FFVII remake would even work. I normally, wouldn't be tooting my own horn here, but it actually generated a good discussion at various places on the internet. Neither me or any of my friends submitted to Reddit, but I was told it made the front page. So while it is on my mind and we are talking about remakes, I might as well post it in this thread.

Justin’s Words of Wisdom: Would A Final Fantasy VII Remake Even Work? | Primary Ignition

Here's the same thing I always say: gay bath-house scene in Advent Children graphics. That is all.

Yes, I mentioned that part in the article as well.

[VeloZer0]

Actually FF5 is kind of the last game I would like to see re-made, as it has the most to gain. From FF6 onwards I don't think they are going to be adding a whole lot to the experience, and they always have the risk of messing up and taking something out of it.