The Gift of the War of the Magi

Though Squaresoft’s (now Square-Enix’s) fabled Final Fantasy franchise began in the 8-bit era of video games, I had no exposure to it until the release of Final Fantasy III on the Super NES, which I happily enjoyed and replayed endlessly to the point of exhausting all its secrets. I would discover it was the sixth entry of the series due to Squaresoft’s American branch renumbering the games because of the absence of many earlier entries in English. The company would eventually rectify the numbering, and especially after merging with Enix, milk most of the earlier games financially. The Pixel Remaster collection would be among the latest iterations of the first six entries, with the sixth, Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster, taking the most time to release due to some fine-tuning, but was it worth it?

The game occurs a millennium after the War of the Magi when rival entities known as the Warring Triad enslaved humans and transformed them into magical beings called espers before realizing their errors and emancipating them, the Triad petrifying themselves as well. Afterward, the espers exiled themselves to another realm, magic becoming a myth and humans advancing their society through science and technology, creating a steampunk world featuring opera and the fine arts. In the decades preceding the main action, the Gestahlian Empire, headed by its namesake Emperor Gestahl, has dominated the world with a few exceptions.

The ”present” begins with three imperial officers piloting Magitek Armor: Biggs, Wedge, and the enigmatic ?????? (which I pronounce like a Tim Allen grunt), eventually identified as Terra Branford, a magically gifted maiden with a mysterious past, traveling to the city of Narshe to investigate a frozen esper. Several events follow that result in her alliance with the Returners, an insurgent organization opposed to the empire. Imperial Court Mage Kefka Palazzo plots with the emperor to hunt for espers, unseal their realm, and bring magic into the world to tighten their clutch on humanity.

From the beginning, the narrative’s Star Wars inspirations are apparent, given the adversarial empire and rebellion against it. A few plot holes and video game illogic also abound, which include three characters sharing one diving helmet to traverse an underwater trench and cranes from the imperial palace rising to grab the player’s airship when it could have just flown higher. Other tropes like amnesia exist, and the developers excised a scene that had surprisingly remained in the Super NES version’s English localization where imperial soldiers repeatedly punch turncoat general Celes Chere, as it had been from the Game Boy Advance and original mobile versions.

However, the plot has endless harmonious beats, such as the intricate backstory for most playable characters, with each receiving a notable blurb when introduced into the narrative. In the original game’s time, the greater emphasis on the steampunk genre was also a welcome break from the largely fantastical atmospheres of previous series entries. Most luminaries and their interactions are nothing short of endearing, such as the womanizing King Edgar and his martial artist brother Sabin, the mysterious Shadow with connections to Strago and his granddaughter Relm, and the clownish but maniacal Kefka as an antagonist. Despite its derivative aspects, the sixth Final Fantasy’s plot was and remains a pinnacle of Japanese RPG storytelling.

The latest localization, with the original Super NES version’s script a hallmark of translator Ted Woolsey, breathes life into the narrative. The naming conventions are sound, starting with the initial homage to Biggs and Wedge from the Star Wars series (with Woolsey originally mistranslating the former as “Vicks”) and continuing with other reasonable choices such as changing Tina to Terra (since the former sounds exotic only in Japan), Lock to Locke (like philosopher John Locke), magic-based armor to Magitek armor, phantom beast to esper, and so on. Corrections of Woolsey’s other errors like "Merton" to "Meltdown" and Setzer’s opinion of the empire regarding his finances (due to misinterpreting a Japanese idiom) remain from the Game Boy Advance and prior mobile versions.

However, the latest translation isn’t entirely untouchable. For instance, many nonplayer characters have the same dialogue; some lines also come across as awkward, like those during Kefka’s initial scenes when approaching Figaro Castle, along with others by the villain such as “Son of a sandworm!” (where “Son of a…” would sound better) and where he enjoys the sound of voices “screaming in unison” (when “in agony” wouldn't have been as ridiculous). Lines also abound that Ted Woolsey wrote better like Edgar saying that Shadow would “slit his momma’s throat for a nickel,” retranslated as “He’d kill his own best friend for the right price.” Another is Locke chastising as rude a merchant who calls him a thief instead of a treasure hunter, which was faithful to the Japanese script, but Woolsey rewriting it as threatening to rip said salesman’s lungs out sounded cooler.

Even so, the script lacks spelling, grammar, and name consistency errors, and many iconic quotes flourish. Among them is the running gag of Locke terming himself a treasure hunter instead of a thief, and some of Kefka’s lines like inviting Edgar to “enjoy the barbecue” when incinerating his castle, noting to his troops why oppose rhymes with dispose, and saying the playable cast “sound like pages from a self-help book.” Many characters also sport dialects like Cyan’s Renaissance-era usage of “thou” and “thy” (which leads to Gau, who speaks in pidgin, calling Sabin “Mr. Thou” when the former word comes up) and Setzer’s utilization of gambling terminology. Ultimately, despite its issues, the localization is well-executed and doesn’t impede the plot.

Mechanically, the sixth Pixel Remaster is like its predecessors, but many differences exist. Initially, players control Terra and her two guardians from a galaxy far, far away as they pilot Magitek armor through Narshe, encountering several enemies that hopelessly try to off them. The active time system, with players still able to select between Active and Wait modes, the former letting the action continue as they navigate menus and the latter pausing it as they do so, returns and follows the same rules as previous games. Users of Magitek armor can use several laser and missile-based abilities to slaughter the enemy, with Terra initially able to cast MP-consuming magic.

There are about two other times throughout the game where the playable characters pilot Magitek armor, but the player’s active party of up to four characters will mostly fight on foot in random encounters that the Pixel Remaster mercifully allows them to toggle on and off at a whim outside combat. Battle commands in this mode include attacking with equipped weapons, with damage depending upon what row a character is in (although flails and boomerangs deal equivalent damage regardless of position); using an ability inherent to specific characters, like Locke stealing items from enemies or Edgar utilizing various Tools; casting different types of MP-consuming magic, with espers eventually allowing everyone to learn and use it; or consuming an item.

Characters can also defend to reduce damage, retaining their stances until they execute a different ability once their active time gauges refill, change their row, or attempt to escape simultaneously, which usually works except against bosses; however, evacuation time may be higher versus more powerful adversaries. Victory rewards all characters still alive or not zombified experience for occasional leveling, money to purchase goods, and later, Ability Points to acquire magic from espers. Death necessitates reloading a prior save file; luckily, autosaving occurs frequently, alongside standard save points where players can use Sleeping Bags and Tents to restore their party, reducing wasted playtime.

Another combat mode aside from pedestrian encounters and those in Magitek armor is strategy battles, which occur twice early in the game, where the player controls up to three parties with a maximum of four characters each, first with Locke and numerous Moogles, among them being Mog whom the player later recruits officially, and second with all mainline allies acquired up to that point, albeit lesser in number. In these skirmishes, the player can switch between parties and move them around the battlefield, able to contact advancing enemy sprites to trigger combat, which works as it does in standard random encounters. An adversarial sprite reaching the target the player must defend results in needing to reload the last save while defeating one representing a boss yields victory.

A plot point comes where the player’s characters split, and they must choose one of the parties to advance the storyline until they reunite. Other moments come, including the final dungeon, where the player must divide their party into teams and make it to the end, with party swapping working as it does in the strategy battles. Other dungeons sport quirks like the Cultists’ Tower, where players can only use magic and items. The final boss battle sequence features a structure where players must choose a base party and backup characters from the rest of the accumulated cast that replace them should one be dead when a tier ends.

Returning to unique character skills, improvements from the original mobile ports remain with further refinement. Unlike the Super NES and Game Boy Advance versions, the player no longer needs to sit and do nothing as Cyan’s Bushido skills charge and can control other characters until he ultimately executes them. In the Pixel Remaster, selecting one of Sabin’s Blitzes opens a box with the button combination necessary to use it; if they err in input, they can restart until they get it right and let him unleash his fury. Turbo auto-battling from the previous collection remakes returns, with some quirks like not needing to repeat said Blitz inputs for Sabin to reuse them.

Characters can eventually equip espers that grant stat bonuses whenever they level while allowing them to learn various magic through acquiring Ability Points after combat, with each spell having a multiplier that dictates the learning rate. Depending on how one plays their cards, this system can grant them an advantage later in the game. Boosts from the previous PlayStation 4 and Switch ports of the Pixel Remasters return that can modify rewards from combat and reduce the old-school grind and brutality that the original Final Fantasy VI could often feature, making the latest iteration more accessible than ever to modern audiences.

The mechanics work pleasantly, given the agile pace of combat, diverse ways to slaughter the enemy, fun tricks like using Phoenix Down and Holy Water to off undead enemies instantly, and the mentioned Boosts to accommodate players of different abilities; however, there are a few issues. For instance, some innate character abilities can backfire, like Celes’ Runic ability that absorbs the next cast magic (even healing cast by other characters); Gau's use of specific Rage abilities is also random and uncancellable until he dies. Other nitpicks include the inability to view enemy status benefits and detriments and some unskippable cutscenes before critical boss fights, including the last.

The final Pixel Remaster inherits most quality-of-life improvements from its predecessors, which include autosaving during transitions between areas, a suspend save, and helpful in-game maps for the overworld (which shows unvisited locations as gray dots and how many treasures remain in each location) and the myriad dungeons. Positive usability features from the previous versions, including a sortable inventory, unlimited space for different item types, optimizing equipment for each character, and an in-game clock viewable any time outside battle, also return. However, issues abound in the lack of fast travel before acquiring an airship, the difficulty for newcomers in finding many secrets without a guide, and (with rare exceptions) the unskippable cutscenes.

Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack for Final Fantasy VI was one of the highlights of his musical career, gloriously reorchestrated in the Pixel Remaster, with some surprises. Beginning with a title screen theme inspired by “Thus Spake Zarathustra” and sporting tracks indigenous to the series, like the prelude and overture, the soundtrack features endless variety, with every playable character having a musical motif and sundry remixes, like Terra’s theme, one of which doubles as the first overworld music. Other notable tunes include the “Spinach Rag,” of which Scott Joplin would be proud, most noticeable at the Opera House, which has a surprise as actual English vocals for the game’s iconic opera scene, consequentially sounding better than before. The sound effects are never out of place, with Kefka’s iconic digitized laugh returning. Aside from frequent silence and the slight derivation of a few pieces, the sixth entry’s sound is near-note perfect.

That the original version featured taller character sprites without battles as within could explain its lengthier remastery compared to the previous collection entries. Plenty of pluses are present, like the superb art direction, with character sprites reflecting their respective designs, the characters showing vast emotional spectra, the environments having harmonious color schemes and occasional weather effects, and so forth. The Super NES iteration utilized Mode-7 visual effects, which its respective remaster still does mostly on the overworld, but even more so in scenes like the opera performance. However, the heavy pixilation from the previous remasters returns, and the buildings on the said overworld appear flat, reversing the 3-D effects of the the last mobile version. Laziness further abounds in the battle visuals, with most issues from prior entries returning; despite flashy ability effects, the telekinetic attacking by the player’s characters persists, along with inanimate foes (many being reskins) that merely flash when executing their commands. Ultimately, the graphics don’t detriment the experience yet fall significantly short of perfection.

The sixth is the longest of the Pixel Remasters, taking beyond twenty-four hours to complete, with nods to lasting appeal as PlayStation Trophies, sidequests, mastering every obtainable spell from espers, and constantly attempting to beat the step record the game tracks. However, most unversed in prior versions may need to reference the internet to find everything, and a New Game+ is absent.

In summation, Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster is inarguably amazing, given its harmonious gameplay mechanics, the quality-of-life improvements over prior incarnations, the rich narrative with endearing characters, the above-average translation, the beautifully remastered soundtrack, and the solid visual direction. However, it has issues that make labels like “one of the greatest games of all time” and “masterpiece” aberrations, given the handful of scrappy game mechanics, some unfriendliness to those who have never touched previous versions, some unoriginal narrative elements, a few oddities in the localization, and many lazy visual choices bequeathed from past iterations. Regardless, it is the best way to experience the classic and ends the Pixel Remaster collection on a high note.

This review is based on a playthrough of a digital copy downloaded to the reviewer's PlayStation 4, played to the standard ending.

Chrono Trigger

Fantasian

Grandia

Scenes of the Class Struggle in Final Fantasy

During the 8-bit and 16-bit video game console generations, North America was in a dark age when it came to Japanese roleplaying games, with many overseen for localization, as had been the case with the Final Fantasy franchise, which led to confusing renumbering of their titles that the seventh installment for the Sony PlayStation would rectify. Final Fantasy V on the Super Famicom would be one of the titles overlooked for translation until the release of the Final Fantasy Anthology for Sony’s first game console. The fifth entry would see numerous rereleases, the latest being the Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster, which would find its way to the PlayStation 4 along with the other entries of the remake collection.

Final Fantasy V opens with a vagrant named Bartz, who, along with his trusty Chocobo named Boko, investigates a fallen meteor accompanied by an amnesiac elder named Galuf. The other deuteragonists include the princess of Tycoon, Lenna, who is searching for her father, and the pirate captain Faris, both joining Bartz to stop seals breaking to release the wicked sorcerer Exdeath. The characters are well-developed, with some decent twists, although the narrative rehashes elements from prior Final Fantasies, which include the weakening of elemental forces. The translation doesn’t detract from the lighthearted disposition, with cultural references such as the Power Rangers. However, the choices for names such as Hiryu for King Tycoon’s Wind Drake and Exdeath for the main antagonist could have been better.

The fifth installment was the second to feature the franchise’s once-signature active-time battle system, fights still randomly encountered. However, as in the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch versions of the other Pixel Remasters, the player can turn random fights on or off. Boosts also return that can as much as quadruple experience, money, and job ability points, and make the game more accommodating to players of different skill levels than ever before, a godsend given that Final Fantasy V, without them, is one of the more difficult entries of the series. The structure of active-time combat remains unchanged, with the playable cast of up to four characters having speed gauges that let them perform a command when filled.

Alongside the standard system of levels from experience is the job system, returning from Final Fantasy III, albeit evolved. Upon reaching the first elemental crystal, players receive access to different vocations that affect what kind of abilities the characters can perform in combat. Among the initial classes are the Knight, which can equip swords and heavy armor and take damage instead of allies low on health; the Monk, which can deal significant damage without weapons yet can only equip lighter armor; the Thief, which can steal items from enemies; the Black Mage, which can cast offensive magic; and the White Mage, which can cast healing and defensive spells.

Jobs have levels that rise with Ability Points obtained from battle alongside standard experience and money, letting a character equip one additional command, a passive ability, or a stat increase with their current occupation’s base command. For instance, one can have a Knight that can cast White Mage spells up to a specific tier, provided the player has advanced levels in the staple Final Fantasy healing class. One major issue is that if the player continually wants to master new class skills, they can only have one extra active or passive ability while learning a particular vocation. This setup can feel constraining, but players can set their characters as Freelancers, where they can equip two job abilities.

Late in the game, the player can unlock a secret class, the Mime, that allows for far greater freedom in vocational customization and was my go-to job for all my characters during the endgame. The general restrictiveness of the job system before then is perhaps the main shortcoming of the game mechanics, and there are a few bosses that drove me to reference the internet and can be unbeatable depending upon the player’s party setup. The turbo mode players can toggle can relieve some of the grind necessary to progress without the Boosts, and some class and ability combinations can make the experience a breeze at times. Ultimately, with the adjustable challenge, the fifth entry’s Pixel Remaster is an accommodating experience.

Those who have played prior installments of the Pixel Remaster collection will be familiar with the control, with a menu system that is easy to handle and an overworld map connecting all towns and dungeons. A suspend save is also available, along with autosaving when transitioning between areas, which can be beneficial given the frequent poor placement of hard save points. The in-game maps for towns and dungeons are also helpful, although the latter can be annoying, and the direction of where to go next is frequently poor. Regardless, things could have been worse in the category of interaction.

Composer Nobuo Uematsu’s soundtrack for the fifth entry is one of his strongest, beginning with a central piece that sounds like a cross between the Indiana Jones and Back to the Future themes, along with numerous remixes of various emotions throughout the game. The Prelude and series overture are also present, and tracks such as “Clash on the Big Bridge” are equally solid, with superb instrumentation. Some silence sporadically abounds during many story scenes, but the aural experience is well above par.

Visually, the game is on par with its preceding Pixel Remasters. The original introduced effects such as various emotions for the character sprites, which retain their miniature proportions and only enlarge in combat. Some graphical laziness from the Super Famicom release returns, like the main character sprites beyond battles not showing their current jobs. Enemies in combat are also inanimate and consist of occasional reskins. However, the environments and effects within and without engagements are solid, so there is some reason to celebrate regarding the fifth remaster’s graphics.

Finally, given the possible need for grinding to make it through the main quest, total playtime ends up higher than in previous Pixel Remasters, somewhere between sixteen to twenty-four hours, with lasting appeal present as maxing every class and receiving every PlayStation Trophy. However, there are no narrative variations and above-average difficulty on default settings that may deter additional playtime.

In summation, the Pixel Remaster of Final Fantasy V is mostly on par with its predecessors, given the accommodating difficulty settings that will appeal to players of all skill levels, the quality-of-life improvements such as in-game maps, the enjoyable story and above-average translation, the superb soundtrack, and the pretty remastered visuals. However, the fifth entry leaves room for improvement even in its positive aspects, among them the restrictiveness of class development, the weak direction on advancing the central storyline, the derivative nature of some story elements, and lazy visual decisions retained from its prior ports. Regardless, while it isn’t the strongest entry of the Final Fantasy franchise, it does warrant a look from gamers exploring the storied series’ history.

This review is based on a single playthrough with all Boosts at their maximums to the standard ending and 54% of PlayStaton Trophies acquired.

Elementary, Dear Light Bearers

The very first installment of Squaresoft’s (now Square-Enix’s) Final Fantasy series, thus named because it intended to be the company’s very last game, saved them from bankruptcy and led them to turn it into a franchise that would enjoy widespread popularity in Japan, but not so much beyond, particularly in North America, thanks to renumbering of mainline entries that did see English releases and occasional retitling of Square games without the series such as the original Game Boy SaGa titles. North Americans would eventually receive ports of the Japan-exclusive WonderSwan Color remake of the first game and its first sequel, the real Final Fantasy II, as part of the PlayStation collection Final Fantasy Origins, published in Squaresoft’s twilight years prior to its merger with Enix.

The first two Final Fantasies, along with their sequels up to VI, would see countless ports and rereleases, and while contemporary mainstream players would appreciate their widespread availability, there would emerge a niche group of gamers that considered the old-school aesthetics of the initial six entries untouchable, which would lead Square-Enix to develop new remakes of them as Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, attempting to compromise the eight and sixteen-bit pixel spritework of the original versions with modern touches. The games would start to release on Steam, iOS, and Android in 2021 before seeing Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 ports two years later. Does the first of them, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, warrant a play from modern audiences?

One element retained from the previous remakes and rereleases of Final Fantasy is the backstory of the primary four elemental forces of the world, earth, fire, water, and wind, declining, four Light Bearers destined to restore balance. The narrative’s present begins with said warriors rescuing Sarah, a princess of Cornelia, from the clutches of the fallen royal knight Garland in the Chaos Shrine, after which comes the repair of the bridge connecting the kingdom to the mainland and the beginning of their main journey. Throughout most of the game, the narrative takes a backseat, with the player’s customizable party not having much development, although there are some occasional background tidbits and greater revelations about Garland towards the end.

The translation contains plentiful polish, with believable dialogue, a lack of spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors, and good naming conventions, except perhaps for the name Garland as the initial villain, given its association with flowers and the late actress Judy Garland. Furthermore, while many players have complained about the default “ugly font” for the main dialogue, I honestly couldn’t see what the problem was with it. The latest versions of the Pixel Remasters allow players to select a “classic” font that contains old-school pixilation, although I personally found it to be “uglier” than the “modernized” font. Still, the latest remake’s localization is far more than competent.

He certainly won't do so through song and dance.

When starting a new game, the player can choose and name a party of four playable characters from six different classes: warrior, thief, monk, red mage, black mage, and white mage, each with its own pros and cons. For instance, warriors can equip powerful weapons and armor but aren’t very good magically, monks can ultimately deal far more damage without weapons than with yet are weak in terms of defense, and black and white mages can respectfully cast attack and healing magic yet aren’t adept with physical attack or defense. The thirty possible party combinations (unless my math is incorrect) adds plentiful lasting appeal alongside the PlayStation Trophies and other factors.

The base game mechanics remain largely unchanged from the post-Nintendo Entertainment System versions. Encounters are random (although there are occasional monster sprites the player’s active character can “talk to” to trigger a battle and disappear afterwards), with whatever party the player had selected when beginning a new game squaring off against a multitude of enemies that could number as high as nine. Combat is turn-based, with each character having several options such as attacking with their equipped weapons, casting magic (in which case the Pixel Remaster divides magic points into eight separate tiers akin to the NES and PlayStation versions), using a consumable item, defending to reduce damage, or attempting to escape.

Once the player has inputted their party’s orders, they exchange commands with the enemy, with exact turn order, akin to most other classic Japanese RPG contemporaries such as the Dragon Quest games, tending to be random, and resulting in undesired situations such as enemies killing characters low on health before they get a chance to heal. Once a round has passed, the player can input new commands or trigger the turbo mode to have them repeat the last turn’s orders as they can do anytime while both sides are exchanging blows. Battles end either when all enemies or the player’s characters are dead, the former instance netting all who are still alive experience for occasional level-ups, money, and maybe the occasional item, and the latter case resulting in a trip back to the title screen.

While the Pixel Remaster doesn’t allow players to record their progress anywhere like the Game Boy Advance versions, the game does autosave whenever they transition between floors in a dungeon, providing a minor safeguard against squandered playtime. A new feature native to the PlayStation 4 and Switch ports is the Boost system, where the player can toggle on/off random encounters and as much as quadruple experience and money acquired from combat, really taking the edge off some of the old-school grind and brutality for those seeking a more casual experience, likely newcomers to the franchise. Consequentially, even standard boss fights can breeze by, although the final boss can still take time, even at high levels.

A pirate's death for them.

As with most classic RPGs, Final Fantasy features an explorable overworld serving to connect all towns and dungeons. One handy feature is that players can set the active character to autodash, although for some odd reason, movement on the world map is still at walking speed; however, one can move the current character sprite diagonally, restricted to four directions in prior incarnations. Menu navigation, maintaining characters, and shopping are easy tasks as well, and a suspend save is available alongside autosaving and hard saves. The overworld and dungeon maps (the latter new to the Pixel Remaster) are also incredibly helpful, and aside from the issue with world map movement and the lack of direction on how to advance the central storyline at times (although speaking to every possible NPC can give some clues), the game largely interacts well with players.

The latest version of the original Final Fantasy really went all-out when it came to the soundtrack, now fully orchestrated. Signature series songs such as the prelude and main theme that would recur in future installments sound glorious, with those native to the first entry sounding nice as well. From the bombastic overworld theme to notable dungeon tracks such as one loosely mimicking Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Flight of the Bumblebee”, that for Mount Gulg (which sounds much better in the Pixel Remaster), and the haunting techno track for the Flying Fortress, alongside the energetic battle themes, virtually nothing goes amiss with the music, save perhaps for the occasional tendency for the primary combat music to loop in longer fights. The minor jingles such as those for victory in combat and important item acquisition, are endearing as well, and nothing is wrong with the sound effects either. Generally, the remaster’s aurals are near-note perfect.

As mentioned, the Pixel Remaster’s visuals combine elements from the original WonderSwan remake and its countless ports, with the scenery largely looking the same, both nice and colorful, certainly not a bad thing, although the biggest difference lies in the sprites representing the human characters, largely paralleling those in the NES version in terms of appearance and animation. The monster designs mostly remain unchanged from the prior remakes and ports, their biggest issue being the myriad of palette swaps. The other graphical issues from previous iterations, including the telekinetic physical attacks and inanimation of the enemies themselves, still exist, and while the graphics along with the plot are probably the weakest area of the remaster, they still have their charms.

Where the entire franchise begins.

Finally, the latest remake is short compared to contemporary RPGs, around six to twelve hours for a straightforward playthrough, with the mentioned class combinations and Trophies, along with completing the bestiary, adding significant replayability.

Overall, those who have experienced prior versions of Final Fantasy might find themselves “burned out” when it comes to replaying the game, although newcomers will assuredly find the Pixel Remaster to be an excellent diving board into the franchise, given its potential forgiveness in terms of the old-school mechanics, the solid control, above-average audiovisual presentation, and plenty reasons to come back for more. Its biggest issues like within the underdeveloped narrative and, ironically, the remastered graphics, but those who don’t consider those issues to be critical when purchasing and playing video games will undoubtedly be in for a classic treat.

This review is based on a single playthrough of a digital copy purchased by the reviewer alongside the other Pixel Remasters and downloaded to his PlayStation 4 with a Warrior, Monk, White Mage, and Black Mage.