The original Final Fantasy first launched over 30 years ago, and it along with many of the other classic titles have since been ported, remastered, and re-released dozens of times. So, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is the latest in a long line of Square Enix re-releasing the classic series for modern systems, even if this newest one is specifically built for PC and Mobile devices.

This most recent remaster is a bit of a mixed bag, with the pixelated sprites and tiles looking fantastic, but each game losing a bit of individuality for the sake of making a cohesive collection. While Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is still an excellent way to add the classic titles to modern, digital libraries, it falls short in capturing the allure of previous releases of each title.

At the time of this writing, only the first three titles in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster have been released, with the last three expected to release later in 2021. Looking at these three earliest titles on their own, each one is a competent remaster that brings three games that originated on the NES to a widescreen setting, with a sleek new UI. It would be easier to compare these to retro-throwback titles made by indie developers than their original form, as they have been brought so effectively into the modern era of gaming.

To compare this newest release to a previous attempt to reintroduce an older Square Enix IP, it might be best to see how it matches up to the Chrono Trigger PC port. Fans and critics alike scrutinized the game for its ugly UI and poorly transferred map tiles - specifically on the overworld map - that looked worse on high-end PCs than the original did in standard definition on the SNES. In contrast to this, the menus and fonts in Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster look great, and every section of each game's world has been masterfully recreated in a widescreen format that better fits modern monitors.

On top of the brilliant visuals, there is also the matter of the new sound design that brings Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster's music to life like never before, even in other re-releases of these classic titles. Newly arranged and remade musical tracks elevate the classic 8-bit music. Square Enix is apparently so proud of these new tunes that players can listen to each track individually, or play a whole title's album in a playlist, from the extras menu on the title screen of each game.

Each of the games also come with full controller support that allows player to have a similar feel to the previous releases of each title on older consoles or setting up for when Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster comes to Steam Deck. The keyboard controls are also responsive and well designed for those that prefer to either use the keyboard on its own or with a mouse, and keys can easily rebound if players have a favorite setting. Unfortunately, no matter whether the player uses the mouse or not, there is no setting in the game to remove the visual from the screen without hiding it off into the corner.

From here, the praise is going to begin to pull back, as some of the new UI elements begin to take quality-of-life a step too far, essentially allowing the game to play itself and leaving little for players to do on their own. It starts out small, with new maps in each location pointing out far too many secrets, and stifling the sense of discovery from exploring dungeons and villages by putting everything out on display from the moment the player enters a new screen. They can be a huge help when stuck in some of the maze-like dungeons these classic titles are known for, but it does change the experience from exploring to checking off items on a list once all of the treasures have been revealed. This can be mitigated in every game in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster by the player simply turning the map off, but the major issues with the overly helpful UI becomes more apparent when it comes to combat.

One thing that fans can always expect is that any Final Fantasy will have a fair share of grinding, and the early entries of the series are some of the most notorious for this exact mechanic. However, to mitigate this effect and make fighting through the random encounters that can become repetitive and frustrating during the 20-30 hours that each game takes to beat, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster has added an auto-battle feature. This will essentially remember the last input players chose during combat, or sometimes optimize the choices based on the specific scenario, and continue to make the same decision until the fight is over, while also speeding up the pace of combat.

The result is very mobile friendly and can eliminate a ton of the tedium of repeatedly having to input the same commands over and over again. An unfortunate side effect is that the game essentially allows players to skip over the majority of combat and allow the auto-battler to engage in the game's mechanics for them. Tougher encounters can't generally be beaten this way, but the lead-up to them lacks some of the luster that they once held when players aren't forced to power through wave after wave of enemy in order to reach the most memorable bosses in Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster. It does act as a huge help for keeping the constant random battles from getting frustrating, but if Square Enix was looking to improve the grind, letting the game play itself isn't the best way to go about it. This is especially telling when previous ports of other titles like the PC and PS4 Final Fantasy 7 give options to change the game speed and remove random battles altogether.

Not all of the quality-of-life changes that make the game easier divert the interest, however, as the new save functions added to each game are massive improvements on these classic titles. The simple addition of giving players an autosave that activates when entering a new area as well as a quicksave that can be activated at any time makes greatly enhances the feeling of exploring dungeons and villages. By giving players more ways to save than just by going to the overworld, the punishment for failing a battle is brought down in a way that encourages exploration of Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster's dungeons.

The design of menus and text bubbles found in each of the remastered titles could be the most divisive among fans, as it has previously been a point of contention for some of Square Enix's other remakes and remasters. While the font is easily readable and friendly for both PC and Mobile devices, both platforms that Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster will initially release on, it lacks some of the character that the bolder text held in previous versions of each game.

On the note of the visual expression of the UI, text bubbles have forgone the character portraits that previous versions held for major characters in favor of a simple name for cutscenes and lower quality sprites when in the main menu. It's one of many changes that helps consolidate the games but keeps any one title from standing out on its own. Instead, all three games available for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster so far look and feel too similar, and almost elicit the same play feel as a standard RPG maker game.

Overall, the changes found in Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster improve the graphics of several 30-year-old games, bringing them up to the modern standard set by pixelated throwbacks. The new music also helps bring each game to life in ways that these classics haven't been able to achieve in many of the older versions up until now. However, several UI and quality-of-life changes rob each game of some of their individuality and the draw to explore their worlds and the depths of their combat.

Still, for fans of the classic series, or newcomers looking for a quality introduction into the older games, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is a great way to experience the series. Then, of course, there are the hours and hours of content across all games in the collection to consider. It isn't perfect, but players can easily get lost in the same stories and endless combat that Square Enix first introduced with the original launch on NES.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster's first three titles are available now for Mobile and PC via Steam, with the three remaining games set to release later in 2021. Game Rant was provided with a Steam code for this review.