In a blog posted on Square Enix’s website, Lee Williams said the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita high definition remakes of Final Fantasy X/X-2 will be getting, in addition to content already included in the Japanese versions of the game, a brand new 30 minute audio episode created solely for the remakes. This new content was written by Kazushige Nojima, writer for the original games.
This is interesting news, and marks a potential turning point for the gaming industry. More developers are rolling out “HD remakes” of some of their classic games, but not really adding anything new. While it remains to be seen exactly what this audio episode will contain, or how good it will be, it is a welcome change to simply upping the graphics on an old game. If this trend is picked up by developers for future remakes, it could lead to rediscovering old games in ways we never imagined.
In the blog post, Williams shared a bunch of photos from the remake, and the game does truly appear to look better than the original. Fans that played through the games in the early 2000s will likely be transported back to that time. Williams also said the games will have full trophy support on both PS3 and Vita, and the soundtrack will feature over 60 of the original games’ original tracks, “rearranged and optimized for high definition audio.”
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD will be available later this year for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
What do you think about this idea of adding new content to a classic game? Will it reenergize the franchise or simply water down a classic? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
