With Square Enix’s Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy effectively wrapping up with the upcoming release of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation in Spring 2027, it’s only natural that we’re all looking ahead to what the studio could do next as far as Final Fantasy remakes are concerned. Right now, there are three obvious candidates: Final Fantasy 6, FF8, and FF9. While a remake of any one of those would be fantastic news for fans who want to see some of the series’ best classics revitalized on modern hardware, Final Fantasy 6 might actually be the one we all want most, as it stands next to FF7 as one of the most beloved entries in the franchise. However, some recent comments from Final Fantasy 14 lead Noaki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida have ignited some debate about whether Square Enix should continue remaking games in the style of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, and, to be honest, the negative sentiment surrounding it all feels like it’s missing the point.
“Look at Final Fantasy 6,” Yoshi-P said during a panel at the recent Final Fantasy 14 Fan Fest in Berlin (via Eurogamer). “It’s such an incredibly huge game. The scale is just immense. And the same applies for other titles, like Final Fantasy 8, Final Fantasy 9…if we did remake those other titles, we’d probably end up having to release them in four or maybe even five installments.” Naturally, as these things do, this comment has triggered an outcry from fans who haven’t appreciated Square Enix’s approach to remaking Final Fantasy 7 and believe future Final Fantasy remakes can and should only be one game—and that includes a potential Final Fantasy 6 remake. But, regardless of what the logic is behind that viewpoint, there’s just one massive problem with it: we wouldn’t like a Final Fantasy 6 remake if it were just one game, no matter how much we think we would.
First, Plenty of People Actually Like the Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy
One of the worst things about social media is that it seems to make the most critical, most hateful, and most negative takes seem like the loudest and most important, and that’s largely because they generally inspire more engagement than a soft, positive take. Negative, hyper-critical remarks not only attract more criticism from other negative folks, but they also inspire debate from those who disagree. Plus, people just seem to despise positivity these days, to the point that there is somehow such a thing as “toxic positivity”—but I digress. The main point to consider here is that, no matter how many people are out there saying “no” to a potential multi-entry remake of Final Fantasy 6 or any other classic Final Fantasy game, there are still plenty of people who love what Square Enix has done with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
What some would call “bloated,” others see as opportunity. Firstly, stretching the remake of Final Fantasy 7 across three installments has ultimately allowed fans of the game to spend more time with it, and it has helped discourage burnout across the board. Were it confined to one game, sure, Square Enix could theoretically make it one, massive experience, but not only would it need to be heavily condensed in comparison to what it is now, there’s also the likelihood that it would take players so long to finish it that they’d move on to a different game before they’ve even completed it.
No matter how many people are out there saying “no” to a potential multi-entry remake of Final Fantasy 6 or any other classic Final Fantasy game, there are still plenty of people who love what Square Enix has done with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy.
Secondly, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy has allowed Square Enix to spend more time fleshing out characters—including those who weren’t treated to the spotlight all that much in the original game—and the world itself. With Final Fantasy 7‘s characters, the added dialogue, side quests, relationship scenes, and interactions let the party feel like a group of people gradually becoming close rather than characters who simply travel together because the plot requires it. As far as the world itself goes, the added content lets players remain in a world they already loved for longer, while also creating a stronger sense of geographical scale than the original overworld could provide.
If those points aren’t enough, there’s each entry’s review scores to consider, which are telling enough in their own right. Since the launch of Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PS4, the trilogy’s reception has only become increasingly positive, which is not only a good sign for the upcoming release of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation but is also indicative that there is, in fact, an audience out there who actually enjoys the trilogy.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Trilogy Metascores and User Scores So Far
Of course, plenty of people are going to read these scores and claim they aren’t great scores, which is just ludicrous, considering even the original Final Fantasy 7 has a Metascore of 92 and a user score of 8.9, putting it very close to each game of the remade trilogy so far. Plus, I know the idea these days is that if a game scores lower than a 9/10, it’s a flop, but that’s ignorance at its best and ultimately reduces the x/10 scale to x/3. All I’m saying is that, as long as these games are being received well by the majority (and they are), there’s nothing inherently wrong with the way Square Enix is going about it.
There’s Also the Simple Fact That You Can’t Make Everyone Happy
Then there’s the fact that it’s impossible to make everyone happy that should be considered here, but the reality is that Square Enix doesn’t need to make everyone happy. It only needs to please the majority, and with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, it apparently has. It’s not going to cater to self-imposed journalists—the armchair experts of the world who use social media as a microphone for their infallible takes. Square Enix is going to look at sales and scores first and foremost, and if those reflect an audience that is willing to engage with its unique approach to remaking a classic game, then it’s going to do it that way.
Second, Confining a Final Fantasy 6 Remake to One Game Would Require Compromises
Now, confining a Final Fantasy 6 remake to one game would absolutely be possible, but we need to be honest about what that would probably look like. The easiest option would be an HD-2D remake that keeps the original game’s best features intact while giving its visuals, music, and quality-of-life features a much-needed upgrade. Personally, I would be more than happy with that, because Final Fantasy 6 would look fantastic in HD-2D, but there’s no way everyone else would be satisfied with it. Final Fantasy 7 was given three full AAA games, so if Final Fantasy 6 was handed a much smaller remake by comparison, plenty of fans would immediately claim Square Enix had treated it like the lesser game, regardless of how good the finished product actually was.
Square Enix is going to look at sales and scores first and foremost, and if those reflect an audience that is willing to engage with its unique approach to remaking a classic game, then it’s going to do it that way.
The alternative would be to remake Final Fantasy 6 as one massive AAA game, but then Square Enix would need to start deciding what it could afford to leave behind. This is a game with a massive playable cast, two versions of its world, optional characters and storylines, a mountain of towns and dungeons, and major moments like the opera, the Phantom Train, the Floating Continent, and Kefka literally destroying the world. Now imagine all of that with modern graphics, full voice acting, cinematic cutscenes, expanded environments, and unique combat mechanics for every member of the party. Something would have to be cut, rushed, condensed, or simplified, and the moment Square Enix announced what that something was, we would all suddenly forget how badly we wanted the remake to be one game.
Even keeping every major character, location, and story beat wouldn’t necessarily solve the problem, either, because Square Enix would still need to decide how much of the original game it wanted to expand. It could preserve Final Fantasy 6‘s much faster pace, but after the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy spent so much time developing its characters and turning once-small locations into places that actually feel lived in, a more direct Final Fantasy 6 remake might end up feeling rushed or underdeveloped by comparison. Square Enix could give Final Fantasy 6 that same depth, of course, but then we’re right back to the reason Yoshi-P suggested it might need four or five games in the first place. Fans may think confining it to one game would fix everything they dislike about the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, but it would really just give them an entirely different list of things to complain about.
Basically, what I’m saying is that Yoshi-P’s comments may sound ridiculous at first, but the logic behind them really isn’t. A Final Fantasy 6 remake could absolutely be one game, but Square Enix would have to make it smaller, more faithful, less cinematic, or far more condensed than the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy, and every one of those choices would give fans something new to complain about. Make it HD-2D, and people will say Final Fantasy 6 deserved better. Make it one AAA game, and people will complain about everything that was cut or rushed. Split it into several entries, and suddenly Square Enix is greedy and dragging things out again. No version is going to please everyone, but pretending the entire game could receive the same depth, scale, and production value as Final Fantasy 7 while still fitting neatly into one release is ignoring the problem Yoshi-P was trying to explain in the first place.
- Released
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October 11, 1994
- ESRB
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T For Teen Due To Fantasy Violence, Partial Nudity
- Developer(s)
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Square Enix, Square
- Publisher(s)
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Square Enix, Square
