One of 2020’s biggest games wasFinal Fantasy 7 Remake. It was a promise fulfilled that Square Enix unintentionally teased with a PS3 tech demo. It was only supposed to be just that, a tech demo showcasing the hardware’s capabilities, but ever since that stunt was pulled fans had been clamoring for an actual remake for the game.
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After almost two decades the pact was finalized and with it brought new hope for future projects.Final Fantasy 7 Remakewas far from the first remakeSquare Enixput out, and it certainly was not the last. Including this game, what others are among its top picks?
10Lufia: Curse Of The Sinistrals
Lufia: Curse of the Sinistralsis a remake, or more like a reimagining ofLufia 2: Rise of the Sinistrals. The first edition was a classic turn-based RPG which released for theSNESin 1996 in North America.
This remake was released for theDSin 2010 and was instead an action RPG. There are story bits that follow along with the original title’s plot butLufia: Curse of the Sinistralsis also almost a completely different game.
9SaGa 2: Hiho Densetsu Goddess Of Destiny
SaGa 2: Hiho Densetsu Goddess of Destinyis a remake ofFinal Fantasy Legend 2. The original was a 1991 release for the Game Boy, while the remake came out in 2009 for the DS. Despite its name, the original game has nothing to do withFinal Fantasyas it is part oftheSaGaseries.
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The naming convention was done to help sell copies at the time. Both games virtually play the same but the Japan-only remake does look better and there are some quality-of-life improvements to make the game less brutal.
8Dragon Quest 3
Dragon Quest 3released on theNESin 1988 in Japan, although North America had to wait until 1992 This SNES remake was released in 1996 but in Japan only. Enix also released a combo pack of the first two games remade for the SNES as well, but only for Japan.
There are fan patches for both packages, although the digital versions on Switch are basically the SNES games, so those are the official releases available in English. There is also a bigger remake planned for 2022.
7Star Ocean: First Departure
Star Oceanreleased in 1996 in Japan only on the SNES. The West would not get the game until it was remade for thePSPin 2008. The art was redone, new content was added, and the story was adjusted as well.
In 2019, this PSP version got an HD update calledStar Ocean: First Departure R. While this is just a shinier version of the PSP action RPG,Star Ocean: First Departure Ris the easier game to buy today.
6Final Fantasy 3
Final Fantasy 3released in 1990 on the NES in Japan. This was the same year North America got the original game,Final Fantasy, which threw localization off for the subsequent entries.
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Final Fantasy 3would not come out until 2006 in the West when it was remade for the DS. The original game was still in the archaic age of the series where it was gameplay focused without much attention paid to the story. The remake helped fill in some gaps along with building the game back up from the ground.
5Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain Of Memories
Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memoriesis a 3D remake of the GBA original,Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories. It released originally on that hardware in 2004 before getting thisPS2remake in 2007.
At that time,Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain of Memorieswas included as a bonus disc for a re-release ofKingdom Hearts 2in Japan. This updated version ofKingdom Hearts 2would not be seen in the West until the PS3 HD remaster but this bonus disc remake was sold alone starting in 2008 for North America.
4Trials Of Mana
Trials of Manafirst released in 1995 on the SNES in Japan only. In 2019,Square Enix releaseda collection of Mana games for the Switch includingFinal Fantasy Adventure,Secret of Mana, and for the first time in the West,Trials of Mana.
A year later in 2020,Trials of Manareceived a full 3D remake. For Western fans of the series, it was an embarrassment of riches. In 2021, Square Enix also plans to releaseLegend of Manaas a remaster.
3Final Fantasy 4
Final Fantasy 4first released in 1991 on the SNES. At the time it was calledFinal Fantasy 2in the West, which would eventually get adjusted for aPS1port years later. This DS remake released in 2008 for North America.
TheFinal Fantasy 4remake has a similar style toFinal Fantasy 3, making fans believe more games in the series would get the remake treatment in this style. Besides these two DS games, Square Enix didn’t release anything else.
2Dragon Quest 7: Fragments Of The Forgotten Past
Dragon Quest 7: Fragments of the Forgotten Pastreleased for the PS1 in 2001 in North America. It was not a huge success in the West for many reasons. Firstly, this was at the tail end of the PS1’s life cycle and the PS2 had already launched in 2000. Secondly, compared to other PS1 RPGs, like 1997’sFinal Fantasy 7,Dragon Quest 7seemed dated, almost coming across as a better-looking SNES game.
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This turned some people off.Dragon Quest 7would eventually get a3DSremake in Japan in 2013, but it would not hit North America until 2016. It improvements much of the original’s faults but was perhaps again a case of too little too late.
1Final Fantasy 7 Remake
Final Fantasy 7released in 1997 for the PS1. It was a massive hit in the West, prompting many gamers to pick up an RPG for the first time in their lives. To call it a game-changer would be an understatement.
Fans have been clamoring for a remake ofFinal Fantasy 7ever since the PS3 tech demo was shown off. In 2020, the remake was released and proved to be a huge success, withFinal Fantasy 7 Remake Intergradeeven coming out in 2021. The remake is part one in what could be a two, three, or more partseries of remakes.
NEXT:5 Things We Miss From Early Final Fantasy Games (& 5 We Don’t)
