Square Enix revealed a big update for Final Fantasy XIV during a recent event, and it seems that the game’s director wants to add even more features to the popular MMORPG – that is, if an entire remastered classic is a feature.
Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters’ recent release on consoles was a big success. It gave an opportunity for fans to play the original six Final Fantasy games on current-generation consoles. While the game is now widely available, Final Fantasy 14’s game director wants to bring the game to another platform.
During a press conference at Final Fantasy Fan Fest 2023, Final Fantasy XIV game director and producer Naoki “Yoshi-P” Yoshida shared his interest in the idea that players could play Pixel Remaster within the MMORPG. He said that the Pixel Remaster could be accessed through the Gold Saucer amusement park game or player housing.
And with like, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series coming out, we thought that wouldn’t it be cool if we can play that in the Gold Saucer?” Yoshida said. While playing games within games isn’t unheard of, it is still relatively rare.
However, adding the feature would be pretty challenging as Pixel Remaster already runs on a “middleware,” a program that allows an operating system to do something that it is not usually designed to do.
“So because it’s running on middleware, if you want to implement that into 14, you’d have to build another system that can play back the middleware inside the game. So it’s like you’re building a system of a game to play a system of a game. It’s just this weird configuration,” Yoshi-P explained.
The game director is very keen on adding Pixel Remaster to Final Fantasy XIV. Yoshi-P jokingly asked if there is a “super programmer” willing to take on the task of implementing the feature within the MMORPG and that Square Enix would welcome applicants.
While the game has been out for quite a while now, Yoshi-P is still in love with Final Fantasy XIV and said that the MMORPG is the “theme park” for the franchise. There are references to other games in the series for players to discover around the map.
The director also entertained the idea of having an animated series or TV show for the game. According to Yoshida, he is open to directing the project if his schedule permits. However, he and the Final Fantasy XIV team want to be heavily involved in the project to ensure its quality.
Final Fantasy XIV is available on PC, PS4, PS5, and macOS. The game is coming to Xbox Series X/S in 2024.
