Strived and Verified

The game industry seems from an outsider’s perspective to be in an extremely volatile state. Almost every week, you hear stories about game designers, programmers, artist consultants, and so many people involved in the making of games being let go for one reason or another.

Unfortunately, with everything competing for your time, video games overall are down when it comes to profit. When this kind of thing happens, developers and other industry people start  becoming more frugal with their investments. This, combined with investors calling for higher profits  every year, seems to have really put a strain on the ability for studios to create new Intellectual Properties (IP).

In order to mitigate that risk factor, remaking a game that has already received critical acclaim or captured the hearts of fans worldwide seems to be the logical choice. In most cases, development costs will be low and return will be high. If a developer were to release a new version of a classic JRPG with no real improvements other than faster loading speed and slightly upgraded graphics, it is still likely to sell well.Some people have called this approach lazy.

They say that they didn’t buy these new consoles and video cards in order to play old games, and to them I say, respectfully, this is not for you. These remasters are not “cash grabs” or “lazy”, as long as they are reasonably priced. I believe these games offer an excellent opportunity for a new generation to play the games that many veteran gamers loved in their childhood. It really bridges a gap between generations that is very much needed.I can tell my son how amazing Chrono Trigger was for the  Super Nintendo, and he can play it and try it for himself because I have the game, and I’m willing to set it up for him.

If he loves it and goes to school telling all his friends how amazing it is, and they believe him, how can they try it for themselves? If they try to buy the old hardware, it will be hard to find, and at the time of writing this, a copy of Chrono Trigger for the SNES is upwards of $200. The game is also available on PC, but that version has had many problems and is not considered to be a great version of the game. That is one game that seriously needs a remaster, and when it finally happens, I’m sure it will make millions of people happy and millions of dollars in sales. The situation seems like a winning one for everyone involved, again, if it is priced reasonably.

What Was Once Old Is Re-released Again

In the world of Film and TV, there is nothing new or even remotely shocking about the re-release, imagining, or even adapting of a classic movie. The only time trepidation creeps into the scene is when the original was so good that it’s hard to imagine any improvement being done on the source material. The sentiment is that the only way to go is down from there. The bar for a movie re-release or re-imagining is high, but for video games, it is much higher.

For a game to be re-released, it has to almost be perfect in terms of previous sales and popularity. After all, why dole out the money and manpower to update the graphics and rework the mechanics of a game if no one bought it the first time around? Even with that high bar, it seems like now game companies around the world have finally decided this is the time to bring these timeless classics, and some that may have been ahead of their time, back to the future.

I picked up the Nintendo Switch 2 and eagerly set it up and put everything in place. When it came time to select a game, I was most interested in Mario Kart World, but I had some unfinished business in the Lunar: The Silver Star Remastered Collection that required my attention. This isn’t unique to the Switch 2; I often question why I go through so much trouble to attain/build new consoles and PCs when I know my heart wants to play the classic JRPGs from my wish list and backlog.

Well, I must not be the only one, because there are a slew of old-school JRPGs slated for release to join the recently released games, and I feel like the Era of the JRPG might be about to shine brighter than ever.  Most of the games that I am playing right now are re-releases. It started with Suikoden in the beginning of spring, then Lunar: Silver Star Story Remastered Collection came shortly after, and now, Final Fantasy Tactics has been announced for September.

September already had a major re-release with Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky that already is a lineup of masterpieces. Games that could easily be put into a “best of a generation” discussion. It seems like all of us 90s JRPG players are getting their wish, but what may the future hold for this sudden boon of 90s gold?

A Welcome Trend or A Flash in the Pan?

This is not the first time that something like this has happened. I’m not talking about a slew of re-releases, but I’m speaking directly to the idea of companies saving money and increasing profits by releasing games that do not require a lot of investment and have high potential returns.If you were gaming around the launch of the Playstation 4, you may remember that there was a big push to develop and release games from independent studios.

These independent game studio games (Indie Games)  usually had a small team with a big vision and not a lot of reach. Playstation would then bring those games to the Playstation platform and give these developers access to their audience, thereby increasing their reach and taking some money off the sales.  When all things are fair, this ends up being a win for everyone involved. Playstation gets a great game added to their platform for minimal cost, the indie studio gets to show its work to tons of new potential fans, and Playstation users get games that might have flown under their radar or they may not have had access to otherwise.

This time, however, the companies are focusing on a genre whose fans have been calling for attention for years and are willing to pay for their cries to be answered. The demand is almost at a fever pitch for these games, so with a quality entry into the lineup, there is a chance for them to have great success.

Question To Concern

For me, this is not much different than a movie studio taking a book that was amazing and turning it into a movie. The medium is changing to increase the reach and earnings.  But when you look at it a little more deeply, this is usually a symptom of a problem. The problem is that the industry is losing money somewhere, and their solution is to tighten their wallets and take fewer risks.My only concern in this current sprint toward classic JRPG greatness is that we will be abandoned as soon as these companies make enough money to put out some triple-A game that they can now safely afford because of their profits.

If that happens, then classic JRPG remakes will be seen as a “break in case of emergency” option rather than a genre that deserves investment and an influx of new ideas. We have seen, through the success of games like Metaphor: Refantazio and Clair Obsucr, that the once-thought-forgotten ghost of turn-based RPGs can be revived and brought to new heights.

If more companies focus on bringing classic JRPGs back to the current generations of gamers who may have missed out on them, it will do wonders for all areas of gaming. It will give the developers a  chance to focus on how to improve said classic RPGs and hopefully give them guidelines for creating new and exciting IPs.

It will inspire the next great composer or designer to jump into the world of making games and infuse it with new ideas on how to make the genre even better. Most importantly, it will give us all a chance to have new critical lenses aimed at previously exhausted topics in story and game development that will be the source of hours and hours of thought and discussion.That last part is where we all get to express our passion, and as a community, we all can be involved in the improvement of the genre. I am excited for this wave of  retro releases and the wave of games that have not even been announced yet. This may be one of the best years to be a 90’s JRPG fan.

What do you think? Are you excited for the wave of releases, or do you already own the best versions already? The originals.