Crappy remaster

[Amiko Novich]

They released a pretty crappy "remaster" compared to the ancient PSP version. Beautiful character portraits were removed, the opening CGI video was cut out, character models and monsters were redrawn worse, and a lot of animations were lost. I'm playing the game on PS Vita now and it looks so much better. Just why? Is it so hard to port the already existing PSP version?

[Devsman]

My guess is because PSP has one resolution and it's freaking tiny.

[Amiko Novich]

Originally posted by Devsman:

My guess is because PSP has one resolution and it's freaking tiny.

It may be the true in case of CGI (still, they could've included low-resolution video in the bonus section or something), but it shouldn't be the case with portraits, character models, and animation.

[Desonic310]

This remaster is based on the Famicom version of the game.

[Amiko Novich]

Originally posted by Desonic310:

This remaster is based on the Famicom version of the game.

It's closer to the GBA version in terms of graphics than to the Famicom version. In case of gameplay tweaks and quality-of-life improvements, it's closer to later ports (the Famicom version was simplistic looking, rough, buggy and unbalanced).

It doesn't explain why they didn't use better models, character and magic animations and portraits.

Portraits were based on original artworks of Yoshitaka Amano, so, it isn't something uncanon that can ruin game vision. Moreover, portraits were completely optional and can be turned off in the menu.

The same goes with models of characters and monsters — they could add an option to switch between two styles (something similar was made in the Ys I & II remaster if I remember correctly).

Usually, by buying the latest version of the game on modern platforms you expect to get the best version of the game. In the case of FFII, you will receive the worse version with questionable redesign, without beautiful portraits and CGI videos, with a lot of missing character animations, without some effects like cloud shadows in towns, without bonus content from GBA and PSP releases and with more annoying random encounters. Outside of a few nice tweaks like dungeon maps or showing exact weapon stats, this Pixel Remaster is just terrible, It's a shame that the best version of this classic game is stuck on PSP.

[TheRobster80]

Was expecting this to be like the Switch port, with the boost option to EXP, HP, and Gil gain... boy, was I mistaken.

[Skoops]

This remake is visually based more on the Famicom version of the game, so all the monster sprites are directly remade based on the original Famicom sprites. The party and character sprites, on the other hand, were remade specifically to be more in line with FFV's style, like all the other Pixel Remasters. I suppose they wanted all of the games to have a unified style in that regard, with FFVI being kind of the outlier. The opening FMV from the Origins and 20th anniversary versions of the game was a nice addition, though the CG itself is fairly dated by today's standards. (It's also largely unnecessary as the game's intro presents the same information in less time and with more clarification of what on earth is actually going on)

Removing Soul of Rebirth is something I'm a bit split on, as it's one of the few times that Square added something to a Final Fantasy remake that was actually good, at least on a narrative axis, but it was relatively inconsequential and ultimately doesn't feel like we've lost anything particularly substantial.

I've not tried the Arcane Labyrinth, but after experiencing the atrocity that was the Labyrinth of Time in the 20th anniversary edition of FFI on PSP, if it's anything like that, I'm glad they removed it. And even if it wasn't awful in terms of gameplay, its lore significance actively takes away from FFII's original canon by introducing more "ultimate" spells beyond Ultima. It was clearly written by different people who did not think about the how what they were adding was going to change what was already there for the worse.

I don't really see how the character portraits matter. They only existed in Dawn of Souls and the 20th anniversary versions, and they didn't really add anything meaningful, as the dialogue is written competently enough that you shouldn't need the game to tell you what emotions the characters are feeling. (Also Dawn of Souls' usage of the character portraits made the twist with the Dark Knight laughable, not that it was a particularly well-kept secret otherwise) I will absolutely agree that they're harmless if you can toggle them on and off, but I ultimately don't see why them being absent is a big deal.

Ultimately, I find this to be the best version of the game, as it's far more respectful of my time with how streamlined it is. It has a number of small changes and tweaks, like the ability to leave the Cyclone after entering, that make it a substantially more accessible game than any of the previous versions.

If you like the 20th anniversary version better, then more power to you, obviously. That version of the game isn't going anywhere, but it's clearly not what Square wants FFII to be. I think the PSP version is a perfectly fine version to play, even if I don't like it as much as this one.

That said, this version's definitely nowhere near perfect, and I do hope they update it again sometime. There are still some really irritating bugs, like the Life on undead bug, that should be ironed out. It'd also be nice if the bestiary could be accessed from the game itself instead of the title screen, though that's more nitpicky and not something game-breaking.

[Amiko Novich]

Originally posted by Skoops:

If you like the 20th anniversary version better, then more power to you, obviously. That version of the game isn't going anywhere, but it's clearly not what Square wants FFII to be. I think the PSP version is a perfectly fine version to play, even if I don't like it as much as this one.

I can see your point, but I still don't like this remaster at all, preferring the PSP version.

I watched my brother's playthrough of FFVIII when I was a child and tried to play it as a teen, but I've never managed to beat it. And I really loved Final Fantasy: Advent Children back in the day. Maybe that is the case, but cool CGI cutscenes were always synonymous with FF for me. And I really love the art of Yoshitaka Amano, so the missing portraits are a big deal for me.

Missing character animation and effects like sky shadows and sun rays aren't nice either. Maybe it was made to be more in line with FFIII-FFV graphics, but I see it as laziness. They could add additional character animations and visual effects to those games, but instead, they've cut them out from FFI-II.

The one thing I can definitely agree, that Arcane Labyrinths was completely redundant. It's a colossal waste of time and didn't add anything significant to the story. But Soul of Rebirth seems interesting, at least on paper (I didn't beat the game yet)

[SNUBBIRTH13]

Originally posted by Amiko Novich #STOPTHEWAR:

They released a pretty crappy "remaster" compared to the ancient PSP version. Beautiful character portraits were removed, the opening CGI video was cut out, character models and monsters were redrawn worse, and a lot of animations were lost. I'm playing the game on PS Vita now and it looks so much better. Just why? Is it so hard to port the already existing PSP version?

Honestly I didnt buy any of these "remasters" because it didnt include all the remakes updates, they focused more on soundtracks and a few QoL things, which most of the remakes had.

I kick myself for not buying all of them before they got removed and always hope they reconsider putting them back. emulation of the psp is practically the only way to get them now without a small fortune to repair my vita

[Melodia]

Originally posted by SNUBBIRTH13:

Honestly I didnt buy any of these "remasters" because it didnt include all the remakes updates, they focused more on soundtracks and a few QoL things, which most of the remakes had.

Ironic that you call this a 'remaster' and the other versions 'remakes' when reality is closer to the opposite.

[Judeo-communism]

I've beaten the GBA version, PSP and Pixel Remaster of FF2. Pixel Remaster is the best now IMO simply because of auto-battle, better Quick Save and faster load times. I feel like it's also slightly easier, so all of these mean you can beat FF2 and get all the achievements while playing it less, so that makes it the best version.

[Deathraven13]

Bro it's a 12$ remaster not a 70$ remaster.

[Raiden - In Flames 🎵]

Originally posted by Devsman:

My guess is because PSP has one resolution and it's freaking tiny.

square enix can definitely put the effort in.

[Unseen]

Originally posted by Amiko Novich #STOPTHEWAR:

Originally posted by Desonic310:

This remaster is based on the Famicom version of the game.

It's closer to the GBA version in terms of graphics than to the Famicom version. In case of gameplay tweaks and quality-of-life improvements, it's closer to later ports (the Famicom version was simplistic looking, rough, buggy and unbalanced).

It doesn't explain why they didn't use better models, character and magic animations and portraits.

Portraits were based on original artworks of Yoshitaka Amano, so, it isn't something uncanon that can ruin game vision. Moreover, portraits were completely optional and can be turned off in the menu.

The same goes with models of characters and monsters — they could add an option to switch between two styles (something similar was made in the Ys I & II remaster if I remember correctly).

Usually, by buying the latest version of the game on modern platforms you expect to get the best version of the game. In the case of FFII, you will receive the worse version with questionable redesign, without beautiful portraits and CGI videos, with a lot of missing character animations, without some effects like cloud shadows in towns, without bonus content from GBA and PSP releases and with more annoying random encounters. Outside of a few nice tweaks like dungeon maps or showing exact weapon stats, this Pixel Remaster is just terrible, It's a shame that the best version of this classic game is stuck on PSP.

Very well said my thoughts exactly, I will not be buying another one of these.

[Judeo-communism]

Originally posted by Unseen:

Very well said my thoughts exactly, I will not be buying another one of these.

You missed the point where he said:

Originally posted by Skoops:

Ultimately, I find this to be the best version of the game, as it's far more respectful of my time with how streamlined it is. It has a number of small changes and tweaks, like the ability to leave the Cyclone after entering, that make it a substantially more accessible game than any of the previous versions.

Which is the hard truth you refuse to acknowledge. I've beaten both the PSP and the PR versions, the PR is far, far, far, far, far superior.

[Deathraven13]

Originally posted by Dimlhugion:

On the one hand, I can understand the criticism from a general standpoint. For example, instead of this entire Pixel Remaster concept, what they COULD have done was do "FF Collections: I" and have it just be LITERALLY every single version of FF1 EVER MADE, in one package. PC only, cuz honestly eff the consoles and their petty version exclusive bullcrap. It's all over the place in emulator/rom form already ANYWAY, so why not sell it themselves to make a profit?

Or if they REALLY wanted to make a profit, they could SNES-Classic it. You literally just need a glorified raspberry pi with an SSD and then you slap some ROMs into it. Bonus points if you take the time to code in a sandbox environment to allow for mods and/or trainers and/or QoL toggles that could persist across versions. But that's all they'd have to do. Every single version of FF1 that's ever existed. In one neat little box.

Then you do the same exact thing for games 2 - 6.

THEN you can even bundle them together years later if you still wanna milk it after Collections 6 hits.

But instead, we get "what if we made pixels kinda neat to look at again" + "we'll kind of look the other way when people mod the crap out of these." Which is cool, but at the same time, compared to what COULD have been... kinda seems lacking. A little bit. Ya know?

On the OTHER hand, though. This is LITERALLY how they market FF2PR and is the same language they use across ALL of the PR store fronts:

"The original FINAL FANTASY II comes to life with completely new graphics and audio! A remodeled 2D take on the second game in the world-renowned FINAL FANTASY series! Enjoy the timeless story told through charming retro graphics.

*This remaster is based on the original "FINAL FANTASY II" game released in 1988. Features and/or content may differ from previously rereleased versions of the game."

I think it's pretty clear that you should NOT have expected ANY of the stuff you wanted, to be in this version. Caveat Emptor, and all that.

"On the one hand, I can understand the criticism from a general standpoint. For example, instead of this entire Pixel Remaster concept, what they COULD have done was do "FF Collections: I" and have it just be LITERALLY every single version of FF1 EVER MADE, in one package."

This has been done before too, like metal gear solid VOL1, you have all versions of MGS1.