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For all the folks still hoping for a 3D remake of Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI, in the vein of Final Fantasy IV DS, there's another bit of bad news now. Apparently, last week, a Square Enix Japan member asked Squenix' Shinji Hashimoto directly when we could expect to see those games announced, and the answer wasn't good.

To quote Siliconera's translation, Hashimoto responded: "As for FF5 and 6, there are technical problems; presently these are also undecided."

Now, of course, that doesn't mean never. In fact, as Siliconera reports, it probably means something more uplifting: in order for Squenix to know that there are technical problems, the odds are that they must have at least looked into the opportunity, and they might have even gotten so far as to try a few things in the FF4DS engine. Or, of course, it could mean that Hashimoto is blowing smoke and that answer is just a way of brushing off the question and the company has no interest in making the games. You can let your own gaming-related paranoia level be the judge.

Source: Siliconera

At this stage we should probably expect any FF6 or FF7 remakes to be announced alongside Half-Life 3. Or the year EA are still in business and DON'T win the most evil corporation award. I know that the Japanese market seemed to love FF4 more, but I thought that they would realise that this is the one set of remakes people would actually buy.

This post has been edited by Del S on 1st May 2013 14:40

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On one hand, I'm sad about this. "Undecided" might not mean no, but it certainly isn't *good*. On the other hand, though, I don't really want to see FFVI 3DS. I admit I'm perhaps unusual in my belief, but here it is again: I think that to remake such an incredible flagship, main-console entry in the FF series on a handheld is demeaning. I think that a remake, even at the risk of changing ('getting worse than') the original game, is a good thing. But I would want to see FFVI get the full attention it deserves - it regularly shows up on lists as the best RPG ever - not a poor-quality music / graphics of the late-90s / side-project remake.

I am not sure I want to see a remake of the games, either. They do deserve a great deal more attention that Square Enix is probably willing to give and lord knows the writers would probably go in and change well loved aspects of the story and give it a feeling I liken to 'bad fanfiction'. It felt like they had written Dissidia that way and had taken characters that I was very fond of and changed them almost completely (wimpy, wilting flower Terra Branford, anyone?).

There is also the notion that the company would not make the great sum of money that it is seeking off of the games. Yes, we 'old-school' gamers would all but leap into the game store to pick it up, but the sight of the lower number in the title would do nothing to bring in new players. While amazing graphics may not mean much at all to us, younger players will want to see more than the silly 'chibi' animation given to the remakes of 3 and 4. The company's poor choice in voice actors would be another hold back. Most gamers today watch a lot of anime and have higher standards for the sounds of the game thus leading to another set back in income over the games.

Also...I like my 16 bit games the way they are....

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I'd say Square Enix is giving us what they want us to have and not what we want like most game companies. As for VII I only want to see a remake after V and VI gets remade.

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I by far like VI better than any other game in the regular numbered series, but I would push for a VII remake before a V or VI remake, simply because of its lacking in visuals. 16-bit sprites are not ugly to look at for me, however early PSX blocky polygons are, and I'd love to have a game that its on part with playing VII and then jumping over to watch Advent Children without such a stark difference in the visuals. I am not a graphics and visuals whore but there are some instances where I need to see something better and games that fell into the early category of pseudo 3D are among them. Plus, I've been wanting to play VII as an older adult in hopes of capturing more of the story than I did when it was released when I was I believe in high school. Even as a high schooler, I got VI, it was a much less complicated story.

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Chewbekah ^_^

Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIV: ARR, Attack of the Firday Monsters, Animal Crossing: A New Leaf, Lego City Undercover, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix

Recently Finished: Fire Emblem: Awakening

Favorite Game: Suikoden III

Just wondering, can't they make a new FF game for the 3DS itself?

It could be main-branch (which would be a first for a main-branch FF game to be a handheld game, but that could potentially be more awesome if they could use that to integrate social aspects or portability or casual gaming or something).

Or it could just be a side-branch if they are too afraid of pissing off fans.

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Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 1st May 2013 19:06)

Just wondering, can't they make a new FF game for the 3DS itself?

It could be main-branch (which would be a first for a main-branch FF game to be a handheld game

Stopped you there because that's where I have to assume they would have. I think they would consider putting a main-entry FF on a handheld as lessening the series. Doing that would be a hit to the prestige of the series - shows they're putting less into it, and that it isn't up to the 'big time'.

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Quote (Death Penalty @ 2nd May 2013 15:42)

Stopped you there because that's where I have to assume they would have. I think they would consider putting a main-entry FF on a handheld as lessening the series. Doing that would be a hit to the prestige of the series - shows they're putting less into it, and that it isn't up to the 'big time'.

I seem to recall that there were some Enix fans that were not thrilled that a first-run, main-series Dragon Quest (IX, was it?) appeared only on the Nintendo DS. I would imagine that the furor over a mainline Final Fantasy would be the same but of epic proportions.

For my part, I know it would frustrate me a bit. I have a Wii U but don't expect much from it. Eventually I'll probably have another new-gen console, and I would be fairly irritated if I couldn't play a mainline FF simply because I don't do handhelds.

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Quote (Rangers51 @ 2nd May 2013 22:21)

I seem to recall that there were some Enix fans that were not thrilled that a first-run, main-series Dragon Quest (IX, was it?) appeared only on the Nintendo DS. I would imagine that the furor over a mainline Final Fantasy would be the same but of epic proportions.

Dragon Quest IX was the best selling DQ game of all time. In fact, when it was released, it was the best selling game in the world for the July-September period, whilst still being Japan exclusive at the time.

Quote (Minogame @ 2nd May 2013 17:14)

Quote (Rangers51 @ 2nd May 2013 22:21)

I seem to recall that there were some Enix fans that were not thrilled that a first-run, main-series Dragon Quest (IX, was it?) appeared only on the Nintendo DS. I would imagine that the furor over a mainline Final Fantasy would be the same but of epic proportions.

Dragon Quest IX was the best selling DQ game of all time. In fact, when it was released, it was the best selling game in the world for the July-September period, whilst still being Japan exclusive at the time.

That's a really interesting factoid I had no idea about, but it certainly didn't stop some people from complaining, either.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

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I'd have to admit that I'd partly like to see it just so that FF IV-VI would be on the shelves again, so that people that have never heard of Final Fantasy may pick them up and get into the series. Certainly the games don't need remakes, but I would definitely play the heck outta it.

Now, what I'd like to see is the Mario-style treatment they've been doing the past few years, with the split series. They make the 3D platformer and then they do the retro games on handheld or on the Wii. Why not do the same with FF? Have one team do 3D FF's, while putting serious efforts behind a legitimate 2D throwback. People do that in the Indie market, why not in Square too?

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So you mean splitting up the franchise into an old-school style and a new-school style?

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Quote (Rangers51 @ 2nd May 2013 17:58)

Quote (Minogame @ 2nd May 2013 17:14)

Quote (Rangers51 @ 2nd May 2013 22:21)

I seem to recall that there were some Enix fans that were not thrilled that a first-run, main-series Dragon Quest (IX, was it?) appeared only on the Nintendo DS. I would imagine that the furor over a mainline Final Fantasy would be the same but of epic proportions.

Dragon Quest IX was the best selling DQ game of all time. In fact, when it was released, it was the best selling game in the world for the July-September period, whilst still being Japan exclusive at the time.

That's a really interesting factoid I had no idea about, but it certainly didn't stop some people from complaining, either.

I think it depends on who was complaining. Was it Japanese gamers or American gamers. My brother's recent trip to Japan proved that running across a 3DS was way more common in Japan than it is here in the states (street passes to prove it) and I imagine it would have been the same for the DS had it a similar tracking capability. So it being on a handheld shouldn't have been a big deal. Also, Dragon Quest is more popular in Japan and I've heard actually more popular than Final Fantasy is in Japan. Don't have a source for that other than my Japanese cultural knowledgeable brother, and he's not one of those faux Japanese fans. His interest in Japan pre-dated the popularity and rise of Anime, and video games.

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Chewbekah ^_^

Currently Playing: Final Fantasy XIV: ARR, Attack of the Firday Monsters, Animal Crossing: A New Leaf, Lego City Undercover, Kingdom Hearts 1.5 Remix

Recently Finished: Fire Emblem: Awakening

Favorite Game: Suikoden III

Quote (Chewbekah @ 3rd May 2013 06:37)

Also, Dragon Quest is more popular in Japan and I've heard actually more popular than Final Fantasy is in Japan. Don't have a source for that other than my Japanese cultural knowledgeable brother, and he's not one of those faux Japanese fans. His interest in Japan pre-dated the popularity and rise of Anime, and video games.

Yep. It can be seen in their media too. Pretty much any reference to a JRPG in Japanese media is almost guaranteed to be a Dragon Quest reference. Of course, that's not to say Final Fantasy isn't still a huge force there, but it's more popular in the west than it is Japan.

^^ I've heard that handheld systems are far more common in Japan in general. Something about them not having as much space or something.

This post has been edited by Glenn Magus Harvey on 3rd May 2013 13:51

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Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 3rd May 2013 08:51)

^^ I've heard that handheld systems are far more common in Japan in general. Something about them not having as much space or something.

I think there's a lot of reasons for that. I could see space being one, that makes at least theoretical sense. I would also say that the reliance on public transport that is beyond the scale of most Western countries would probably be an even larger reason. Heck, you could probably even throw in the theory that gaming in public is less historically stigmatized in Japan than here.

I think all that kind of goes to what I said earlier, since I wasn't actually considering Japan.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

But isn't Japan a sizeable customer segment (and often the largest one) for which Japanese videogame companies are designing their products for?

That said, if Final Fantasy has a larger customer-base outside Japan than in it, as Minogame pointed out, then what you're considering makes a lot of sense.

(I wonder how they deal with this with Metroid games. Those are more popular in the west than in Japan, too, I recall.)

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Check the "What games are you playing at the moment?" thread for updates on what I've been playing.

You can find me on the Fediverse! I use Mastodon, where I am @[email protected] ( https://sakurajima.moe/@glennmagusharvey )

There are some... weird assumptions in the above posts. I'm going to try and join in on the wacky speculation. Big ol' wall of text, not very coherent.

First, The West is a much more enticing consumer base than Japan. There are more people, they buy more games, and for years now Japanese have been trying to cater to them to some degree, with varying degrees of success. It's why Square-Enix has sunk so much money and effort into their Eidos properties, why Nintendo has had American developers make five Metroid games in the last twelve years, and why Capcom **** the bed hard with Dark Void and the Bionic Commando remake.

Second, Dragon Quest is huge and Japan and less so in the U.S., yes, but Final Fantasy isn't vice-versa. It's just more of a worldwide brand. Dragon Quest sells like gangbusters in Japan but not anywhere else. Final Fantasy just sells like gangbusters everywhere, but its larger sales in regions besides Japan is mostly because there are simply more people in regions besides Japan. Both are huge series, maybe Dragon Quest a little more so. But it's misleading to say that "Japan loves Dragon Quest more, the rest of the world loves Final Fantasy more."

Now, consoles and handhelds. Yes, handhelds are more "accepted" and generally more popular per capita in Japan. I mean, Japan's bestselling game of 2009 was a PSP enhanced remake. Speaking generally, the 3DS, Vita, and Wii U are/were flops for their first year or so, and 3DS sales didn't pick up until Nintendo's apologetic price drop and subsequent promotion and marketing. So there's still hope for the Vita and Wii U. The bestselling games in the United States are always shooting and sports games, and generally console RPGs sell better than handheld RPGs (unlike in Japan).

Dragon Quest is an interesting situation. Every main-series Dragon Quest game has been on the most popular console. It's why it stuck to Nintendo on the NES and SNES and to Sony on the PS1 and PS2. When Dragon Quest IX came out in 2009, the DS was on its way to be the bestselling game machine EVER; Dragon Quest IX's social hooks, tendency to always be on the most popular system, and Yuuji Horii's increased fascination with multiplayer made the DS an ideal match for Dragon Quest IX. It eventually outsold Monster Hunter's 2009 edition, but not until a few years later.

The 3DS's recently strong sales and expanding library is really promising. Still, because Square-Enix really, REALLY wants international success, I'm guessing that "big-number" Final Fantasy game will be on a console to appeal to international audiences, specifically the PS4 and XBox Infinity (if the rumors are to be believed); I think those two over the Wii U due to the difference in power between hardware, as I mentioned earlier. But hey, the Wii U isn't successful yet and the next PlayStation and XBox aren't availalble yet. We're still in the unsteady realm of assumption and speculation.

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Quote (Glenn Magus Harvey @ 2nd May 2013 22:55)

So you mean splitting up the franchise into an old-school style and a new-school style?

Exactly, but the old-school retro games should have a good team behind it, not some B-team effort. New characters, new story, etc.

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