Let’s mosey.
Remember that rumor a few days back about a leaked announcement for a PC rerelease of Final Fantasy 7? Well it turns out it wasn’t a rumor after all. Yes, that infamous JRPG that everyone either loves or loves to hate is making its way to PC.
Though images from the trailer suggest that the game itself will be largely unchanged, blocky Lego man textures and all, Square Enix did make mention of a variety of online features that would be tacked on to this new release. The game will support achievements and cloud saves, as well as something referred to as the “Character Booster”. Details were minimal on this feature, though it is said to max out HP, MP and Gil with the click of a button, meaning the game will essentially play itself. Yay? Whether or not this feature will be some sort of paid DLC is unclear.
For those of you that didn’t know, Final Fantasy 7 did in fact receive a PC port back in the day, as did Final Fantasy 8. It’s a shame that the trend didn’t continue beyond that. One can’t help but wonder why Square suddenly appears to have a bit of renewed interest in the PC after Final Fantasy’s long reputation of console exclusivity. Could we possibly be looking at the chance for a PC release of FF15?
Anyway, expect FF7 PC REMIX XTREME: <INSERT INEXPLICABLE LATIN HERE> “sometime this year”, apparently exclusive to Square Enix’s online store. Yay for terrible decision making and not wanting money. The PC version has had a long history of mod support over the years, and this new port should only help inspire the community to continue making the admittedly ugly as sin RPG classic look a little more appealing. Might be cool?
The PC demo of FF8 was the first jRPG I have ever played. It was so horrid it took me several years before I dared approached another jRPG title.
I find it very difficult to fathom why they would do this, unless the cost of development is EXTREMELY low.
And it probably is…
square enix has a remake of ffvii locked away in a container that says “BREAK GLASS IF BAD SHIT HAPPENS”
Actually, in a statement after confirming this port, they said they will not remake it until after they make a ‘brand new’ FF that ‘surpasses’ FF7. Which is a very, very sketchy comment.
Especially after they basically said that could never happen.
Do they mean “surpasses” critically or commercially I wonder? Neither are likely to ever happen. FF7 has sold over 10 million copies, while 13-2 is unlikely to do much better than 2 million, ever. The Final Fantasy name doesn’t have nearly the same power it used to.
I suspect we’re going to see a main series Final Fantasy developed by a Western studio someday soon, maybe even with FF15, as an attempt to make something that will do better outside Japan. Calling it now.