When we first saw screens of Final Fantasy VI on mobile, I was a little worried. The sprites looked faded, as if they’d been accidentally thrown in a washing machine, and like the FFV port before it, the game had an amateur, RPG Makerish feel.
But who knew it would get this bad? Today Square released the Android version of the FFVI remake/port, and one Redditor has been posting screenshots and impressions throughout the day. While some of the new features seem pretty neat — like Sabin’s Blitz feature on touch screen — the aesthetics are killing me. One of my favourite games now hurts to look at. This is an atrocity against my childhood.
I mean, look at that city in the screenshot above. They shrank a realistic-looking model of Figaro and slapped in on the world map, even though it looks nothing like the cartoony, washed-out Locke sprite standing next to it.
Compare to the original SNES version:
The dimensions might be askew, but at least everything fits. Locke seems like he belongs. Figaro Castle’s world map landmark is an abstraction, but it feels like part of the world. It doesn’t look like someone’s half-assed sticker.
You know, some people might be ok with Locke’s sprite there. Some RPG fans might not mind the visual update. But if you’ve played the SNES version of Final Fantasy VI — one of the best games of all time, I have to add — this shot might give you fits:
Sigh. These characters, once so interesting and animated, now look like they were drawn in MS Paint. And sure, we can ignore this mobile remake. We can pretend it doesn’t exist. But it does, and it’s painful to see that in 2014, this is how Square Enix treats one of its most beloved games.
Well at least maybe they got the script right…
…
…
At least we’ll always have the SNES version, my friends. They can never take that one away from us.
Comments
38 responses to “Oh No, Square Enix, What Have You Done To Final Fantasy VI?”
god damn it square
And this is why Square won’t be able to win if they remake FFVII. We want HD graphics but we want it to look exactly like it used to
I’ve known that since Crisis Core. It’s blatantly obvious in that game that they have no idea why people loved FF7 (even though it was a fun game to play).
Same thing with Advent Children.
Advent Children is great. Picked up the Extended (by 26 minutes) Blu-Ray, can’t recommend it enough.
The fight scenes are good to view once, but the story and characters are stupid.
That’s why i liked the Extended Version, most of the extra shit is at the start and elaborates on it a whole heap more. I thought crisis core was fucking terrible, but to each their own. F.F in general has been kicking in death throes for some time though, I agree on that much.
I still think the story was stupid. So lame that they had to bring in 3 Sepiroth OCs and then move on to bringing back Sepiroth for no reason. Apparently they also missed on all character development.
I said the story and characters in Crisis Core were shit. The gameplay was decent and Zack was endearing enough to make up for all the others (even if changing the back story to the Buster Sword knocked him down a peg).
no wonder you think the story is shit, as you clearly had no idea what was going on! As if spending 60 plus hours on these characters wasn’t enough time for development (and if you are referring to the OC’s then it is explained in the longer version). If you want to keep throwing ‘my point of view is all that is valid please let me reiterate my point ad nauseam’ then this will keep going for the rest of the day, or at least the remainder of your working hours. Or until i could be fucked replying again which I admit is pointless. They say opinions are like arseholes, but only if you can stand the smell of shit!
Why are you getting so butthurt? I said the story was lame but was decent enough for a single viewing. Just because they made an extended version to better explain the story doesn’t mean that the original version somehow becomes better.
MGS3 and 4 helped explain some of the story elements in MGS2. That doesn’t mean that MGS2 suddenly loses all its faults.
Where’s the butt-hurt!? Haha. I was defending the film not my own personal opinion. Wow! Just have a beer and enjoy your life. Praise the Sun!
The last FF I really loved was IX so yeah, there hasn’t been a great deal for it to shout about in the last decade or so. I haven’t watched the extended version of AC though. I did watch the original cut and as @neo_kaiser said, the fights are good popcorn viewing but wasn’t much else in it. I’ll give the extended version a go though 🙂
Crisis Core I thought wasn’t great. Was ok for what story it did provide but I found myself grinding through the game more to get to the end of the story more than the fact that it was actually a fun game to play
I honestly doubt many people would be upset if it looked like the concept art.
Oh No, Square Enix, What Have You Done To Final Fantasy VI?
Wait, hold on a moment. Let me fix that for you.
Oh No, Square Enix, What Have You Done To Final Fantasy!?
It’s not as bad as all that…
Anyway, one note for people looking to buy the Android version: reviews have mentioned it isn’t compatible with the xposed framework. Dunno about custom roms but I’d be wary if I were using one of those too.
WTF is an espier???? Wasnt it Esper?
Or am I just oblivious like with Aeris and Aerith all those years ago
Somebody tweeted this earlier-
Which version of Final Fantasy VI is best? A simple infographic:
http://i.imgur.com/vPfazQJ.jpg
I lol’d
Seconded
That’s perfect
Noice
This is clearly what square enix are doing. They made great games and now they are just ruining our childhood memories of those great games. shame on them :/
I’ll admit that I like the text box images.
If you want to play FFVI on your Android phone just get an emulator (e.g. SuperGNES) and play the SNES version on that. Problem solved 🙂
So basically they took “one of best games of all time” and added some “pretty neat” features, and you’re condemning it because you don’t like the graphics?
Athetics are always part of the package. You might be happy to get the ‘best vintage car ever’ with new features (central locking, air conitioning) but would you still like it if it’s been repainted by a year 4 class?
The sprites don’t look a 10 year old drew them, they’re just generic.
Pretty much everything else is greatly improved (backgrounds, character portraits, etc).
Emulate the gba version on android, that’s the way to go.
Forget the graphics. The real travesty here is the Moogle hint box in the first image.
I can’t wait for the “Make sure you wait for Shadow before leaping” one…
God dammit Squaresoft… Why do you keep “Graphically updating” Your SNES games when no one says this looks good….at all…. anywhere…???
Seriously people if you want FFVI on the go follow these easy instructions
a) get an emulator for your phone and just play the SNES rom…
b) get a cheapo trade in psp and play the PSone version which is identical to the SNES version but has some neato cutscences to boot.
c) ???
d) Success!
that is all.
If you check the reddit thread linked in this article (where the screenshots actually came from), most comments are generally praising the art (except for the sprites).
Another one bites the dust huh?
It won’t be long until we have a hit single on our hands!
This came out like a month ago, not today, on android.
The PS1 version was good. And you could play it on PS2 as well! 🙂
and ps3 🙂
….It looks pretty fine to me. I don’t see the issue in the slightest. It’s different, and that’s not so bad.
Just people wearing their super rose tinted nostalgia goggles. Nothing new.
Or people who preferred the original asthetic, or would have preferred to see some hi-res sprite work like FF/FFII on PSP got? This new art style isn’t a bad art style in it’s own right, but feels too bright and colourful in comparison to the darker, more bleak tone that the original game had.
I think Jason’s reaction of Doomsday coming due to this is over the top, but I can completely understand not liking this change. It’s not the style/asthetic that was originally intended. I’m surprised there isn’t a “appear in original graphics mode” included.
yesh gross
It would have been cool if they had upgraded the sprites to look more realistically proportioned. But I would have been happier if they had just left the graphics alone than this Precious Moments looking bullshit. What were they thinking?
I don’t see the problem with the updated graphics. I have been playing this game since I was young (I am 30 now) and will admit hands down – Best game ever made, but I think you’re knit picking in this article and condemning a release because it doesn’t give you the personal nostalgic feel that you get when you play the original. Your claim that the new sprites look like something they put together in MS Paint I think that’s a little ridiculous. As much as I love this game, honestly, the original sprites are more pixelated and look more MS Paint like to me. I’m not dissing them or saying they’re better or worse, but the fact is, the older sprites are more pixelated and the new ones have been smoothed out and rendered a long with a smooth background. They kept all the art in the game the same – by that I mean they redesigned everything while keeping it all the same. For instance, the picture of the airship you put up – All of the designs on the railings, the deck, the mechanical parts, the craftsmanship of the airship deck is almost exactly the same. They could have taken out so much detail, but I am actually quite impressed that they managed the change the look of a game so much, yet copy all of the original details. I do understand your attachment to the original. I recently broke out my super nintendo and FFIII, but I have been running into some technical problems that I am trying to diagnose. But kids these days can’t go down to the store to buy an SNES and finding one of the FFIII cartridges is pretty much restricted to eBay and even those are quite pricey. Now the younger generation can enjoy an old classic game on their phone for like $15 bucks. Just let them enjoy it. It’s still got the same awesome soundtrack, same great artistic design, same epic story line, same gameplay. I guess I’m not as much of a purist, but I do think everyone young and old should have a shot at playing this game – updated or not.