At a Gamasutra-attended Sony conference in Tokyo today, Square Enix announced a HD remake of PlayStation 2 RPG Final Fantasy X, set to be released for PlayStation 3 and PS Vita.
First released in Japan in 2001 and receiving critical acclaim from the press, the game's PS3 and Vita versions will feature updated visuals.
No details regarding whether the new versions will receive any other added extras were revealed, nor was a release date for either system given.
Two other Final Fantasy titles were dated for Japan. Final Fantasy Type-0 for PSP is set for an October 27 release, while console title Final Fantasy XIII-2 will see a release in December.
Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix revealed earlier this year that recent poor sales for the company were partially due to a delay in online billing for its Final Fantasy XIV Online title.
A FF7 remake would be considerably more work. With "updated visuals" they most likely mean higher resolution textures, higher framerate and anti-aliasing, while using most of the assets from the original version, like every other recent HD remake. That's doable with FF10, which still looks pretty decent, but FF7 has aged to point that it would have to be rebuilt from the ground up.
And also, it would be much harder to satisfy people's expectations for a FF7 remake. If it was weak in any way, people would rage, because it's such a loved game. FFX, while a good game, doesn't come with the same amount of responsibility.
People (read: "obsessive nerds") will rage over anything that isn't done to their level of expectations & perfection which means people will rage over anything & everything.
I wonder if this will be the International Edition, since I'd like to try out the extra content.
More importantly, though, I wonder if I'll have to buy two of the "same" game to play on PS3 and Vita (and if that is the case, if I will be able to share save data and trophies between them).
I don't understand why they don't just put the work in and remake vii. Even vi (or iii in some places is more deserving of a remake. But then again that is just me.
And also, it would be much harder to satisfy people's expectations for a FF7 remake. If it was weak in any way, people would rage, because it's such a loved game. FFX, while a good game, doesn't come with the same amount of responsibility.
More importantly, though, I wonder if I'll have to buy two of the "same" game to play on PS3 and Vita (and if that is the case, if I will be able to share save data and trophies between them).