Takashi Tokita, longtime director at producer at video game company Square-Enix, announced today that the company will be releasing a mobile-optimized version of Final Fantasy VI for iOS this Fall, reports Kotaku. The game was originally released in 1994 as Final Fantasy III in North America, and follows the release of various Final Fantasy games on iOS, with Final Fantasy V [Direct Link] being the most recent release by the company this past March.
"The battle systems have been altered for the other [mobile remakes] for Final Fantasy and VI will be the same. For instance grinding was an issue and people had to spend a lot of time leveling up. Now on the mobile devices the battle systems have been adjusted so you don't have to fight as much and can enjoy the game for what it is."
Tokita also teased a potential release of the mega-popular Final Fantasy VII for mobile devices sometime in the future:
The Legacy series won't necessarily end with VI, Tokita said, when we asked him if it could include VII, VIII, IX, X and beyond. "We are aware that we have tons of VII fans," he noted. "We have VII fans in our own company. If this Legacy project works out well, we would like to one day be able to work with VII."
Top Rated Comments
So you flipped a coin to decide between Celes and Chun Li? ;)
VI is my all time Final Fantasy favorite. Everything about it is amazing - from the story to the characters, you really felt for them. (Darn you, Kefka!!!). VII would be my next favorite in the series. I will be getting both of these when they are released, no questions asked.
how they want you to talk...
LOL. You're closer than you think. I tried to get Chun Li first. She is half asian, and my wife's family name is Li. I figured it was a slam dunk.
But no, my wife liked Celes a lot better. I DID get her to cos-play as Chun-Li 3 years ago though. ^_^
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Well balanced battle and advancement system, epic, engaging plot without a lot of the wonky stuff of later ones, the ability to actually pick and chose the party you want rather than being stuck with a loser protagonist in your party that you don't even like, easily the best soundtrack of any video game ever (Dancing Mad, Maria and Draco, Terra's Theme, and the end theme montage of 15 different character themes is a tour de force), and it has two strong, interesting, likable female leads.
For all the love that FF VII gets (I assume it's because of the FMVs, but how anybody could like Cloud as a protagonist is beyond me), I will quote one guy I know to voice the opinion of every serious long-term Final Fantasy fan I know: "They should just do a full-on current-gen remake of FF VI and call it done. That's what we're all really waiting for, and nothing is going to beat that."
Not that I'd turn my nose up at an iOS upgrade, so long as it isn't dumbed down, but taking the same game and upgrading it so the whole thing looked like the Amano-styled FMV segments for the PS1 release would be pretty much the ultimate JRPG. The technology exists, it's just a matter of budget.
That said, if they do a remake and don't use Amano's designs (like the character art in the FF IV remake), I'm getting the torches.