Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster: Why X and not VII

Howdy y'all. I, Pun Intended, will be your guest writer today (and hopefully on other days as well!). So, as most of you probably know by now, Square Enix is releasing a remastered version of Final Fantasy X and X-2. But wait! There's more!

Pun Intended in the Hiz-House!

While, I won't drone on with all the details of the Final Fantasy X | X-2 remastering (there's plenty of sites for that anyway), I do want to mention that the latest edition will include the International versions that North America never received for either of the games. That means, more bosses and more missions!

Okay, serious face now.

Now that I've gotten all my excitement out of the way, let's get down to business (I promise those aren't links at all to the epic Mulan scene. Nooo. Of course not. Of course not! (Okay you got me, they totally are.)).

As exciting as this whole kaboodle is, I do regret to inform you that there has been some mention that even though Final Fantasy X will have all the international content included, X-2 may not.  I won't regurgitate everything that's in the article I linked you to, but I think it'd be in rather poor judgement if Enix decided to cut out the Last Missions all together. It's a huge deal for fans that we get all the content that North America didn't get.

To exclude something completely, even if it doesn't deal much with the plot, isn't only unfortunate but a bad decision. If they decide to not add it into the game by whenever it releases, I really hope they at least go with it as a DLC. I could understand them cutting it out for the actual release to save on time to make sure it comes out for 2013. If they're short on time, a DLC would make the most sense (though I'll still hold out for it coming with everything!).

However, I didn't come here today to only talk about the release of this game. As with any remake Enix puts out (or even any original game they put out for Final Fantasy), there will always, and I do mean always, be some people who bitch and whine about how "Square needs to remake FFVII!" Wah. Wah. Wah. Shut up, you wankers. I'm really tired of hearing about it.

There are other games besides FFVII!

Even though it'd be completely super duper awesome and splendiferous for Square to do that, I have to mention a famous quote by Neil Gaiman that was originally applied to George R. R. Martin: Square Enix is not your bitch. Yeah. You heard me. Martin is not anyone's bitch, nor is Square! I cannot stress this enough.

Yet, does this mean people can't yearn for a FFVII remake? No! Of course not! If one ever was released, I'd instabuy that shit. I'm a big fan of FFX and FFVII (though X does happen to be my favourite). What I mean is that, people can want a remake of [insert game here], but they should not feel entitled to one. Entitlement is the entire issue. Take out the self-absorbed attitude and we're a-okay!

I'm sure there are many who would disagree, but there actually was some thought behind the developers deciding on FFX. It was a really well-loved game and when Enix had met with many of the voice actors who had worked on Final Fantasy X (who are currently working on Type-0), they decided they should do something with X again (Yay Nomura for taking the initiative!). It makes me really excited that they decided to do this since it means everyone gets all the content they missed out on the first time around! How can anyone argue with that (trick question: you can't!)?

The original plan was to release it for FFX's Ten Year Anniversary. Even though its release date has far passed the anniversary for X,  this year is actually X-2's Ten Year! Everything works out pretty nicely on the anniversary front.

Another big reason that could have contributed to Final Fantasy X over VII was the fact that the current CEO (the only who actually recently stepped down) had said that he did not want to have a Final Fantasy VII remake until they had created a game in terms of quality that surpassed VII. With that in mind, of course they went for X over VII. The chances for them to redo it, was virtually impossible with Yoichi Wada as CEO!

Some other things to consider are just how much freaking work it would take to redo VII compared to X. Final Fantasy X was already rather decent on the graphics front. FFVII....well as groundbreaking as it was for its time for console gaming, it leaves much to be desired (especially in comparison to Crisis Core or Advent Children). Stuff would have to be completely reworked from the ground up, and that doesn't even include the need for voice acting. I can't imagine them doing a remake without adding the voice acting in which would add a very interesting element to the game, considering it didn't have it before.

Then, there's even the worry of trying to improve upon (subjective) perfection. People LOVE. LOVE. LOVE. Final Fantasy VII. Full out love the shit out of it. For many, it was their first Final Fantasy. Seeing it in completely new graphics with voice acting could actually be quite a shock. If the radical fans are so devoted for a remake, who is to say that once they have it, they won't complain it wasn't done right and nitpick it to death? For a company, that can be a really scary thought. I know I'd be freaked out by alienating one of my biggest fanbases.

On the other hand, those could argue that they're already alienating them by not giving them the remake in the first place. I highly disagree: FFVII already has Crisis Core, Advent Children, and Dirge of Cerberus. Yet they're still screaming for more, more, more? Again, I say they're entitled assholes.

FFX only got X-2 (which while the battle system was uh-may-zing, the story does leave some to be desired.. and I say this as a fan of the game). FFVII may get its day some day for updated everything ever, which may be ever more likely with the rise of a new CEO, but right now, let's let Final Fantasy X have its place in the spotlight.

I'll be keeping my eye on you FFVII Fanzerkers

P.S: The bottom this page may say this post is written by Scott Rosenberg, it's not. It's really is Pun Intended. Bloody blogger migration tool. I bite my thumb at thee!