With Square Enix finally putting out the first look at the second part of Final Fantasy 7 Remake, fans are now speculating on what other titles in the series should be given the same remake treatment. However, while Final Fantasy 6 or 9 might be top contenders among fans for a remake, Final Fantasy 10 is a case where this classic title should look at expanding the universe rather than remaking the masterpiece.
Looking back at the backstory and lore of a Final Fantasy title isn't even anything new for Square Enix, with Final Fantasy 7 Crisis Core standout out as one of the more impressive expansions onto one of these games. So, with the developer's history of prequels as a model for how to take a new look at Final Fantasy 10, exploring a past adventure that players previously only got a glimpse of could be a good way to reinvigorate the series more than 20 years later.
Final Fantasy 10 HD Remaster Still Holds Up Today
Seeing how far Final Fantasy 7 has come since 1997, with sequels, prequels, and entire animated feature films, it's more than understandable why fans wanted to see the original be remade. Much of the original art style required players to fill in a lot of blanks, due in no small part to the graphical limitations of the original PlayStation only being able to make simple polygonal shapes to represent characters. So, fans wanting to continue to engage with the series on modern consoles needed something as comprehensive as this new Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy in order to get a game that holds up today.
In the case of Final Fantasy 10, these same graphical limitations aren't quite as pronounced with character designs being much better defined by the capabilities of the PS2. It certainly doesn't match up to some of the hyper realistic visuals that are available on modern consoles and PC gaming, but it doesn't require the same level of retouching to hold up today. Additionally, PC players looking to improve the quality further than the Final Fantasy 10 HD Remaster already have mods to update the textures of nearly every character, location, and enemy in the game.
The point is that the gap between Final Fantasy 10 and Final Fantasy 7 Remake is nowhere near as vast as the one between the original Final Fantasy 7 and its remake. That being said, the direction that Square Enix has taken the series that has sprouted from Final Fantasy 7 could be a blueprint for how to engage with fans who still want more Final Fantasy 10 content. So, instead of reinventing the wheel the way the developer has done with Final Fantasy 7 Remake's combat and graphics, Square Enix could look at Crisis Core for how to keep Final Fantasy 10 moving forward into modern titles.
Where Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Succeeded
It's interesting to note how often fans of Final Fantasy 7 take the extended content that has been made around the original game for granted, as if it was a part of that experience in 1997. However, many concepts like the Deepground organization, as well as almost every aspect of Zack Fair's character comes from the spin-off titles, rather than the original game itself. Most notably, the expansion of lore in Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 not only gave fans a new focus on characters that weren't dived into enough in the original, it also established a level of humanity from the everyday employees of the Shinra Corporation.
This prequel gave Square Enix the chance to better dive into Sephiroth's motivations, not only as one of the most terrifying villains in Final Fantasy, but also in his time as a member of SOLDIER. It really can't be understated how much the rivalry between Sephiroth, Angeal, and Genesis has redefined the classic villain into a much more complex character before and after his mind became twisted when confronted with the truth about Jenova. To that same degree, fan-favorite characters like Reno and Rude were given much more time to grow on fans, this time with the Turks helping out Zack at first, as opposed to being heartless murderers when later fighting Cloud and AVALANCHE.
On top of the new ways that Crisis Core expanded the lore and characters of the series, this was the first evolution of the classic combat stepping into a more active style. Looking at the steps from the original Final Fantasy 7, to Crisis Core, and eventually to Remake, it's all a natural progression of taking the classic system and retooling it for modern gaming. With all of this in mind, the blueprint from Crisis Core could explore where Final Fantasy 10 should continue after 10-2.
A Final Fantasy 10 Prequel that Follows Jecht
The final point to be made here is where Square Enix should focus when it comes to exploring the lore that's been hanging around in the background of Final Fantasy 10. In that regard, there's little choice more obvious than putting players in control of Jecht, seeing how he was ripped from Zanarkand and into Spira and following his growth as he learns to trust Braska and Auron on that pilgrimage. Interestingly, the outline of this adventure is already set in Final Fantasy 10 canon, with the Jecht spheres acting as a basic guide for the direction the game can take for its story.
On top of giving players a better look at Auron's past and Jecht's adventure, this could also give Final Fantasy 10 a third chance at nailing its unique combat. Where Final Fantasy 10-2 tried to reintegrate ATB from earlier Final Fantasy's back, a new prequel could have an opportunity to throw out some of the less impressive parts of those older systems. Drawing from both the original Final Fantasy 10 and the impressive combat in newer Final Fantasy titles like Final Fantasy 7 Remake, this prequel could use the limited party as a springboard to continue iterating on Square Enix's systems.
With all of that out on the table and a story that follows Jecht's path all the way until Auron winds up in Zanarkand looking after Tidus, there are a few more options that could also work to give the series a hard turn left. One of those options being to instead roll the clock back a thousand years and follow Yu Yevon on the path that leads towards the creation of Final Fantasy 10's world-ending villain Sin. It's a part of the story that is both shrouded in vague mystery, as well as being the most important event in the lore. So, instead of focusing on Tidus and his family, there something to be said about the possibility of developing Yu Yevon as a character and exploring the initial war that shattered the Spira in the first place.
Final Fanatasy X/X-2 HD Remaster is available now for Mobile, PC, PS3, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.