Why Final Fantasy 6 needs a different style of remake

The Final Fantasy series is no stranger to remakes, but a potential Final Fantasy 6 remake should bring back a lost style for the franchise.

As Final Fantasy 6 celebrates its thirtieth anniversary some fans can’t help but lament it becoming a lost chapter within the series. Out of all of the main entries, FF6 seems to get the least amount of love from the developers, and this can be quite frustrating. Of course, the game received an excellent Pixel Remaster along with the earlier five entries, and it did get a PS1 and Game Boy Advance port back in the day, but other than that, all has been quiet in the World of Ruin.

However, there’s an argument to be made that FF6 needs a remake to stop it from falling into obscurity. It is, after all, the game that inspired the oft-used sci-fi setting in Final Fantasy, laid the foundation for FF7 and FF10, and it gave us one of the scariest villains the series has ever known. It was a crucial turning point for the series that deserves another look.

A World of Ruin

For those who are unfamiliar with FF6, the game was the last of the 2D-style games before the series went fully 3D in Final Fantasy 7. It was also the first to feature a female protagonist in Terra Brandord. It also abandoned the tried and tested formula of a bunch of Heroes of Light being thrown together before being sent on a quest for a crystal. Of course, many of these elements were factored in through other means, but FF6 explored some much darker themes, and its dystopian steampunk setting was a far cry from the bright medieval fantasy setting we had become accustomed to.

Square Enix is likely sick of hearing fans and pundits beg for Final Fantasy remakes. They were hearing the cries for an FF7 remake for literal decades before they delivered one and its sublime second chapter, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. There’s also a strong case to remake the underappreciated FF8, and an FF9 update is starting to feel inevitable. Once the devs are finished with the FF7 remake trilogy, they’ll have a choice to make about what to do next.

The proposal here isn’t for Square Enix to make a Final Fantasy 6 remake in the style of the FF7 Remake or Rebirth; that honor should go to FF8, then FF9. However, Square Enix should consider resurrecting the style they employed for the Final Fantasy 3 and 4 remakes. If you don’t know, these games were remade in a cute 3D Chibi style on the Nintendo DS and were excellent and faithful retellings of those earlier Final Fantasy entries. The FF4 remake on the DS was especially solid, and the new style of both reminded many of Final Fantasy 9 on the PS1.

Many fans thought the series would continue on 3DS, although Square Enix created the Bravely Default games instead, which served as spiritual successors to the Final Fantasy DS remakes. They would go on to create some rather glorious HD remasters for FF5 and FF6 on iOS and Android in 2013/15, which have since been replaced by the 2022 Pixel Remasters, but no 3D remakes would be forthcoming. This is a shame, as exploring the world of FF6 in 3D would be incredible, though it’s also not too late.

The time is right for a Final Fantasy 6 remake

The Final Fantasy series is bigger than ever, with the FF7 remakes, FF16, and the MMO FF14 all doing well in the past few years. So it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that Square Enix looks to capitalize on this by bringing back other assets, with games like FF5 and FF6 being prime candidates. The company has a history of doing this and is no stranger to frequent Final Fantasy remakes and spin-offs. Even 2022’s rather experimental Stranger of Paradise could be considered a remake of the original Final Fantasy. That too, switched out fantasy for sci-fi and a much darker tone.

In truth, Final Fantasy 6 likely wouldn’t work as a cute Chibi experience, mostly because it’s a more serious game that delves into some pretty grown-up concepts. However, the old DS style could be adapted and modernized in some form. Nobody’s suggesting it needs to be an expansive AAA project like the FF7 remakes, but surely a balance could be achieved to make it work? After all, Stranger of Paradise wasn’t exactly AAA when compared to FF16 and FF7 Remake.

The above is simply a proposal and a wish, and Square Enix is likely hard at work on Bravely Default 3 on the Nintendo Switch which itself may still be a year or so away from release. Although, once you’re finished with the Bravely Default series, Square Enix, at least for now, perhaps consider giving Terra a chance? Franchises like IT and Terrifier have made clowns more frightening than ever, making it the perfect time to bring back gaming’s most sinister killer clown, Final Fantasy 6’s diabolical villain, Kefka. 

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