Tuesday saw the release of the rerezzed Final Fantasy IV, the new Final Fantasy IV: Interlude, and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years for the PSP under the name Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. As someone raised on the Final Fantasy franchise, I really have nothing but joy for the fact that they're keeping these games in circulation. Sure, I thought Final Fantasy VII was badass, though it wasn't my favorite, and I'm just as much in favor of seeing that installment in the franchise getting a cosmetic makeover as I am any of the older entries.
While classics shouldn't be tampered with in terms of story, characters, and the basic elements that made them great, the visuals used back then weren't done so because the creators felt they were the best possible presentation - but because it's all that was possible. Anyone who's played through the series knows that Final Fantasy games are about outstanding visuals coupled with elaborate storylines in an expansive world. If modern technology lets us put in some stellar cutscenes and ramp up the basic graphics of older games to bring them to a new level - then I say do it. If Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection is an indication of what that looks like, then Square Enix needs to do this to all its classic titles.
To plug the release, Square Enix released a pack of gameplay images and a new, very sales-y trailer. Here's the very "buy this game" trailer, replete with images of PSP's floating about. We feel kind of dirty posting this, so we'll clean ourselves a little by putting the original trailer below it. We post this one only because it shows off a little more CG footage.
And for a little bit of penance.
Looking back at these images all make me itch to dig out a SNES (or SNES emulator) and play the classic Final Fantasy games, as well as Seiken Densetsu 3. Perhaps the greatest RPG ever. If you don't believe me, you never played it.
Here are the images from
