Final Fantasy Pixel Remasteris finally here for the console crowd to enjoy. It’s bizarre that this collection was released first on PC in 2022 since this series began on consoles in 1987 in Japan. There are a lot of games on here that also got some touch-ups on mobile devices and not even portables like the 3DS.
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It has truly been a bizarre ride and fans ofFinal Fantasyhave been dying to get their hands onFinal Fantasy Pixel Remasterto relive some of their favorite RPGs for a while now. As is the case with all remastered collections, some work was done to all six games in here. Let’s break down what Square Enix did to modernize these classics.
8The Music
This series has had some of the best music in the RPG genre since 1987. From the fanfare ofFinal Fantasy 1to the boss battle music inFinal Fantasy 6, there are a lot of bangers in this franchise. Players can go through these six games with the original chiptune music which still sounds great. They can also listen to these soundtracks in an arranged mode which has everything sound more orchestrated. However one plays these games, the music will be a great accompaniment.
7Boosts
The best addition these six games got in the collection are the boosts. There are still no difficulty levels but that’s okay since the boosts act likemerciful assist featuresinstead. Players can increase how many experience points they get in battle along with money. They can also decrease money and experience points earned if they want to make the games harder. Then there are specific game cheats that vary from game to game. For example, there is a boost to AP gained for Esper abilities inFinal Fantasy 6.
6The Mini-Map
These games have always had world maps, but navigating dungeons has been tricky in the past. Thankfully,Final Fantasy Pixel Remasteradds mini-maps to the games and it’s about time toosince modern RPGsare way ahead of the times. If the mini-maps are too distracting then players can make them disappear as well with the touch of a button.
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Having a map around will make finding paths easier. There are doorways marked on the mini-maps as well so that players know where their exits are at all times.
5No Encounters
Another great boost players can get in all of these games is the No Encounter cheat. They can change whether or not they receive random battles in the menu. They can also click on the right stick for both PlayStationand Nintendo controllersto turn encounters on or off. One of the worst things about going back to retro RPGs is the random encounters. All of these games have the encounter rates high, so it’s nice to see this issue addressed in the collection.
4Specific Game Changes
There are a number of game-specific changes that would take too long to go through. The most prominent example isFinal Fantasy 6with two characters. Sabin is an early character in the game who is like a Monk class and Cyan comes a bit later and acts like a Samurai class. Sabin can perform specials called Blitzes which have players go through a number of button prompts. InFinal Fantasy Pixel Remaster, these moves are displayed and easier to input without failure. For Cyan, his Bushido moves used to be activated by a charging meter but now players can use these moves freely with no cost.
3Autobattles
Autobattles have been a great feature to see in modern games likeBravely Default 2along with remastered games and collections likeFinal Fantasy Pixel Remaster. Turning autobattles on will have characters repeat the same act or move that they were just commanded manually on the turn before. Players can turn this into a major benefit such as spamming through hard-to-produce moves like Sabin’s specials inFinal Fantasy 6.
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His aforementioned Blitzes will be bypassed in the autobattle process after the first go. The autobattle system is not perfect as it would have been cool to get blanket AI directions like “focus on healing” but it’s still a good addition to the collection.
2Skipping Cutscenes
Since these areall retro RPGs, these games don’t have a lot of cutscenes. The games that do, such as the opening toFinal Fantasy 6, can be skipped with the press of a button. Thankfully, the game will ask players if they wish to skip first which prevents accidental skips. It would have been nice to get a feature to fast-forward through dialogue as well but maybe the games in this collection can get this feature patched in later with an update. Also, maybe Square Enix can take off the screenshot watermarks.
1Saving
Saving in RPGs can often be a headache if save points are few and far between. Save points still appear in these games, but there are additional ways to prevent the loss of progress. First, these games autosave typically whenever players transition between screens. Players can also make Quick Saves and resume with the help of a load button in the menu. Finally, the amount of save slots has been expanded as well.Final Fantasy 6, for example, has twenty slots for fans to play around with.
Final Fantasy Pixel Remasterwas re-released for consoles on May 30, 2025, and is available on PS4 and Switch.
