The game’s HD re-release is alive and well, and might inspire a few Vita purchases.
Final Fantasy games have been a little shaky of late, but the beauty of the long-running series is that almost every game has a solid fan base. Final Fantasy X, the first FF game on the PlayStation 2, has its share of detractors, but still seems to bring out generally good feelings among fans. Square Enix hopes that it will bring out wallets as well: FFX‘s HD remake, originally announced two years ago, will hit the PS3 and Vita in the near future, and hopefully move a few handheld units along the way.
The game’s tech demo is simple enough. Tidus and Yuna, the game’s two main protagonists, stand in a colorful, multi-tiered structure, backed up by the Bahamut and Yojimbo. While the characters don’t do much beyond basic standing animations, the art design holds up quite well after almost twelve years, and the textures – especially the backgrounds – appear much sharper than before. Naturally, the iconic “To Zanarkand” theme plays in the background.
Since the demo took place on a Vita, it may not look identical on a PS3, but given the Vita’s processing power, there should be more similarities than differences in both the visuals and gameplay. A cross-play feature seems like a solid bet as well. FFXHD (there’s a mouthful) has no release date yet, but expect to hear about it again before another two years elapse.
Published: Feb 18, 2013 03:00 pm