Final Fantasy VI OST / OSV - Was it Ever Upgraded for GBA or DS?

Ramza wrote:

But come on... you think a game with graphics as good as FFXIII (not necessarily the battle animation, just the high quality characters and animation) NECESSITATE FFXIII's gameplay mechanics? That's just ludicrous.

I'm not so sure. I don't think a remake of FFVI would be an FFXIII clone, but here's something to think about: Do you really believe a company with SE's history would just update the appearance of FFVI? Furthermore, is an update really necessary and would it improve the game?

First point, updating FFVI's aesthetics to be on par with current games like FFXIII would be a massive undertaking; lots people, time and money. When was the last time SE did anything like that without messing around with other elements like story, gameplay, etc.? Personally, I'm not aware of any such examples.

When a project of that size gets going there are always changes. Always. Either people from the original team want to "fix" things they didn't like or new people want to add their own revisions or corporate executives want to update the game to appeal to current gamers. For better or worse, in my experience, that's how these things end up. And most times it's for worse. A face lift would be nice, but I think there are plenty of reasonable concerns regarding such an operation.

Second point, FFVI does feel dated, but are new graphics and music really necessary? I'm not so sure. Honestly, I'd rather just see a straight port of the original SNES game for something like the virtual console, PSN, or the Xbox arcade. Then I wouldn't need an ancient SNES (or tiny Nintendo DS) to enjoy the classic game. Not to mention I could use a d-pad, analog stick, or combination of both as I see fit.

Thinking about a flashy, new FFVI is interesting, but I'm not convinced that it's a good idea or that it would even be all that great.

Ramza wrote:

I'm convinced it would be a dream come true for me, to keep the gameplay intact but update the graphics on a massive scale (a costly effort indeed).

Yes, this is what I originally meant.  The thought of using a template like FFXIII's had never crossed my mind.  My point was: if they're remaking the games the way they've been doing with FFIII and FFIV DS, why not use THAT template, but bump it up to console-based hardware?   (And yes, I too am convinced it'll never happen.  Which is why I stated, "I keep secretly hoping.")

Sami, using the d-pad for menus are a given.  An analog stick, though, would be far more convenient for on-map movement than the d-pad or stylus.  You've played FFIII or FFIV on the DS?  You don't agree that the eight-way directional movement is a cumbersome chore?  The original games that sported the standard four-way directions are perfectly suitable with a d-pad.  But when moving around in 3D, most any game, be they RPGs or no, benefits from an analog stick.

Sami wrote:

Those games wouldn't exist as they are if they were on a different platform.

No one's denying that.  Just saying that they could theoretically be a whole lot better with the extra frills.

I did agree that the analog nub is good for movement, but it's a rather inconsequential aspect in the quality of an RPG.

Not to me it isn't.  Movement is almost always a consequential aspect of any RPG; it's how you traverse on the world map, in towns, dungeons, and various other locations and environments.  The likes of doing so in an analog-controlled title such as FFVIII and FFIX makes for a comfortable affair.  Replicating the same control scheme on a d-pad or stylus is not.

Sami wrote:

Ashley Winchester wrote:

I'm as hopelessly lost here as to what you're trying to prove as I was yesterday when a lady customer chewed me out with a long chain of obscenities for doing my job.

You don't think this is the least bit offensive or rude? You're correlating my comments with obscenities. You're saying that my opinions equate to some shouting, cursing random woman? It seems that you might be somewhat stressed, so I'll just leave you with that "Merry Christmas!"

When you put it that way, it's pretty funny. Anyways, I think it's been well documented around here I can be a dick anymore; if it's rude, it's rude - I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I take it you've never done anything rude? Why should I care what someone on a message board thinks of me? Bye.

Edit: Far from stressed my man, but if I can have fun by busting your balls a little, I'm gonna do it

Last edited by Ashley Winchester (Dec 20, 2009)

Sami wrote:

Qui-Gon Joe wrote:

The Gamecube remake of Resident Evil pretty much renders your argument here moot.  It is totally possible to remake a game with modern graphics while retaining the original gameplay.

That game is 7 years old. Things have changed. Besides a whole number of other differing factors, such as genre, publisher, the developers involved and age difference to source material. And more still. You're going to have to do much better if you don't like my argument.

"Your argument" continues to make no sense. Graphical quality on par with FFXIII does not necessitate FFXIII's gameplay. This is a FACTUAL STATEMENT.

What does it matter if RE and its remake are "old." What, exactly, has changed? Qui-Gon's point does fine in rendering your point as baseless. Because it is baseless.

FFIII and IV look blocky and pixelated, awkward and ugly on DS, and I would hate to see FFVI receive that treatment.  Nevermind how unlikely it is that the soundtrack would be done justice, much less improved upon.

FFXIII-style graphics would indeed be a costly endeavor and I don't think even FFVI has enough fan support behind it in Square Enix's eyes to warrant it - it would be far more likely to happen with FFVII.  Aside from that I as well wouldn't WANT to see an FFXIII-style remake.  FFXIII seems as much about guns and high technology as it does swords and magic, and though FFVI certainly has those to a degree, I could certainly see SE going overboard in an attempt to swank-up a PS3 FFVI remake.  I can't even imagine enjoying an FFVI remake with modern FF-style character proportions.  I suppose Dissidia did a decent job of rendering Terra and Cefca in that form but they don't possess the charm of the original designs (I'm sort of excluding Amano's work here) and it's hard to imagine playing through the game with the entire cast of characters being portrayed in that style.  It's possible it all could somehow work but it'd be very unlikely.

Which is why I hope they will hold off on remaking FFVI till the next round of portable hardware - not quite as glitzy and expensive to develop as for PS3 but better-looking and better-sounding than the DS.  Somewhere around Gamecube level perhaps?  They could keep the SD designs (maybe even take them in a Spirit Tracks cell-shaded direction), render the environments in decent 3D detail, and deliver the soundtrack in streaming audio with some potentially quality arrangements.

My only problem with an FFVI remake would be if they did the character models in a super-deformed/SD/chibi fashion; FFVI was thematically very serious, and dare I say, artsy, but without being pretentious or condescending.

I guess it worked for FFIII and FFIV, but those were never very serious games; just your classic fight-against-evil fantasy shtick.

Seeing character models that look like they could just as easily be plushies that you could pick up at the local crane game would be an insult to the original work.

An FFVI in at least FFVIII caliber graphics, I'd be able to take seriously. Still budget friendly, but still realistic-looking.

Last edited by Bernhardt (Dec 29, 2009)

Idolores wrote:

Bernhardt wrote:

n FFVI in at least FFVIII caliber graphics, I'd be able to take seriously. Still budget friendly, but still realistic-looking.

I'm having a hard time imagining FFVI looking like anything than what it is now. I'd certainly want Ted Woosley's original SNES translation back with the only thing retained from the GBA port being the added sidequests.

Actually, I have to agree. Despite all the hype, in the end I didn't care for how Wild Arms was "re-imaged" - more like "soul ripped out" - in Wild Arms Alter code:F outside a few added scenes. Additionally, there was some talk by the series producer about remaking Wild Arms 2, something that never materialized - which tickled my fancy for about five seconds until reality set in. If you're going to put WA2 in a WA3 shell I'm out.

Additionally, what has media.vision been up to lately? I haven't heard anything about new Wild Arms game (not that I'm really interested - WA5 proved that I was done.) Last thing I knew they where working on some DBZ game, which is just great, working on some cash-cow IP instead of their own. I didn’t think XF did that bad unlike RIZ-ZOAWD (or for us Americans: The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road.)

TerraEpon wrote:

Bernhardt wrote:

I guess it worked for FFIII and FFIV, but those were never very serious games; just your classic fight-against-evil fantasy shtick.

And FFVI is all that much more 'serious' than FFIV? Hardly.

I think I know what Bernie is refering to. It's not to say that FFVI is more 'serious' than FFIV, it's just in the way the certain issues are presented in FFVI that make them seem a lot more 'pointed' in their attempt to make the player think of their impact on the characters. For example: Celes' suicide attempt. I really shouldn't have to hide this, should I? If you haven't played the game by now, god help you.

Cedille wrote:

I remember they were involved in Valkyria Chronicles, and it was rumored, MGS4 as well (not confirmed by myself).

Wha!?  I've never heard anything like that, and there's no mention of those whatsoever on their webpage (http://www.media-vision.co.jp/soft/).

Edit: Also, I totally forgot about the existence of Heavy Metal Thunder and had no idea that Media Vision was involved.  Anybody here ever play that?

Last edited by Qui-Gon Joe (Dec 30, 2009)

Bernhardt wrote:

My only problem with an FFVI remake would be if they did the character models in a super-deformed/SD/chibi fashion; FFVI was thematically very serious, and dare I say, artsy, but without being pretentious or condescending.

I guess it worked for FFIII and FFIV, but those were never very serious games; just your classic fight-against-evil fantasy shtick.

Seeing character models that look like they could just as easily be plushies that you could pick up at the local crane game would be an insult to the original work.

Have you played FFIV DS and looked at the cutscenes? They went to the trouble of creating different models for the cutscene animations with shading and more detail, which make for some very impactful scenes.

You also seem to forget that the original FFVI characters are SD/chibi sprites and that doesn't seem to have hurt the tone at all. For a more "realistic" style, would you really want Nomura to redesign FFVI characters? As a reminder, Setzer from Kingdom Hearts: http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/kingd … Setzer.jpg

the SNES graphics allowed you to interpolate your own idea of what the characters actually looked like. Especially when they would attempt to convey the characterse emotions through facial expressions with only 80x80 pixels.

take for instance, when a character would laugh. What made it so comical was the fact that they had to do it with their limited graphics. i cant imagine it being anywhere nearly as funny or entertaining in 1000% rendered near perfect CG. Just seeing the intro and ending movies on the PSX port took away some of the feeling. It's like taking your favorite character in your favorite tv show and switching the actor.

Ashley Winchester wrote:

Sami wrote:

would you really want Nomura to redesign FFVI characters?

Isn't that just a matter of time? I mean, we're talking about RapeThePast... err, I mean Square-Enix here.

This. Feelings for Square-Enix aside, Final Fantasy is their cash cow, and if there's even the slightest sign they can make money off of revisiting an older series with a solid fanbase, they'll do it eventually, even if it's delegated to retro-styled outings similar to FFIV: After Years.

At the very least, it'd be a good business move. There's a lot of love for the older FF titles, if the recent attention FFIV's been given is any indication. Does anyone know how well FFIV DS and After Years sold?

Last edited by Idolores (Dec 30, 2009)