Square Enix has re-imagined Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 with 16-bit visuals in a recently released video.
I’ll be honest and say that it’s sadly been some time since I’ve enjoyed a Square Enix game. I’ll always have a love for the classics, of course, and when the company puts out a decent retro remake I’m among those lining up to throw out my wadded dollars. That said, I’ve accepted that the company generally doesn’t make many new things that I’m interested in anymore.
That said, SE recently put together a retrospective video for Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 that may just be the best thing it’s done in years. The goal of the video, of course, is to catch gamers up for the approaching release of Lightning Returns, the third and final piece in the XIII trilogy. What makes this retrospective notable is that the company opted to go whole hog 16-bit retro with it and, by the glories, is it fantastic.
In fact, while I hate to say I could be influenced by something so shallow as a retro makeover, I probably would have stuck with Final Fantasy XIII a lot longer than I did had it looked like this. You can probably blame it on my not getting a Super Nintendo until 1996. All those years of long and waiting pretty much turned all things 16-bit into objects of wonder for me and I’ve never quite grown out of that. All of that said, you really do just have to appreciate the clear effort that went into the making of this video. Then, of course, you have to wonder why Square Enix couldn’t have invested the same sort of care in its Final Fantasy VI remake.
Source: YouTube