Square Enix announced the pixel remasters during its summer showcase for E3 2021. Games started arriving on Android, iOS and Windows (via Steam) in July and continued through February 2022. The pixel remasters deliver graphical improvements over the originals as well as remastered musical scores, bug and glitch fixes, general gameplay enhancements and modern user interfaces. Composer Nobuo Uematsu returned to oversee the rearranged soundtracks.
All six of the first numbered titles in the series – that is, Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy II, Final Fantasy III, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI – are now listed in the ESRB’s database for the aforementioned systems. The ESRB is the regulatory authority that assigns age and content ratings to video games in the US and Canada. It was established in the mid-90s in response to a string of controversial video games including Night Trap, Mortal Kombat and Doom that featured overly violent or sexual content. PC gamers interested in the collection can pick up all six games from Steam for $74.82, which represents a 22 percent discount over buying each title individually. Speaking of, Final Fantasy I-VI can be purchased separately if you only need a couple or want to buy them as you go. The first two entries are priced at $11.99 and all others will set you back $17.99 each. The first game in the iconic Final Fantasy series dates back to the late 80s and was initially released in Japan. In fact, it would not be until later in the series that titles would start shipping outside of Japan on a consistent basis. The last game in the main series dropped in November 2016 and the next entry, the PlayStation 5 exclusive Final Fantasy XVI, has been pushed back to the spring of 2023.
