There are many games from the earlier eras of Nintendo consoles which deserve either a HD port or a complete remaster. For me, one of the games I have desired this for the most has been Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, arguably one of the more charming side-games in the Final Fantasy franchise. It has made several lists on The Otaku’s Study on games that should receive new life on current generation consoles, and an announcement made via the official Final Fantasy social media channels confirms we only have to wait until next year for this to become a reality.
An announcement made via the official Final Fantasy Facebook, Twitter and Youtube channels confirms that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is currently in development for the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, with a planned release year of 2019. While an official announcement has yet to be distributed by Square Enix as of writing, this trailer provides us with a glimpse of what is going into this remaster.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles sees you lead a caravan of young adventurers, as each year they leave the comfort of their hometown and travel the world in search of “myrrh”, a mythical substance that can only be found in dangerous dungeons that litter the land. Myrrh is the only thing able to power crystals which keep them and their own safe from the miasma which plagues their world.
FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES Remastered Edition is more beautiful than ever and coming to #NintendoSwitch and #PlayStation 4 in 2019! pic.twitter.com/hwfldVLYRO
— Final Fantasy (@FinalFantasy) September 10, 2018
The original charming visual style does not appear to have received a significant update compared to the Gamecube version, with no complaints from me to this regard. However, one significant addition is that voice acting will be present in the game for the first time, with the original version only having voiced lines as introductions to each dungeon.
Four player multiplayer also makes its return, and it will be interesting to see how Square Enix opts to handle it this time. The original version allowed single-player play via a GameCube controller, but anymore than that required each player to connect their Gameboy Advance unit to the unit via a (sold separately and rather pricey) cable. While expensive and fiddly, the benefit of this was that each player could access their own menus in an intuitive way without pausing and with minimal downtime. The trailer does imply this could be done via split-screen coop or potentially online play, but I imagine more information on that is forthcoming,
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition will be released sometime in 2019 on both the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch platforms. The game will feature both English and Japanese voice acting, in addition to English, French, German, Italian and Spanish subtitles.
