Preserving certain classic games not only means that we as users can access them, but also that their developers can access them as well. In the case of Final Fantasy games, we have encountered instances where games were lost, or insufficient efforts were made to save a copy. The upcoming release of the Final Fantasy Tactics remake brings with it part of this problem.
“This was simply the norm at the time”
According to a recent interview with Kazutoyo Maehiro, director of Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, on the PlayStation Blog, the game’s original source code is no longer available, due to the then-common practice of overwriting development material. “This was simply the norm at the time,” explains Maehiro. “We didn’t have the kinds of effective resource management tools available today, and we developed games by essentially overwriting the previous code each time we fixed a bug or added a new language.”
Maehiro, who served as an events planner on the original game, explained that this posed a dilemma when working on this remake, as the goal was to “recreate the original game.” “Since the classic version was intended to recreate the original game, we did have the option to implement using an emulator,” he continues. “However, this method wouldn’t have allowed us to make granular refinements even if the objective was to recreate the original game. After our analysis, we felt the best way to ensure the game met modern playability standards while staying true to the original was to rebuild it.”
Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles was revealed mid-year during a State of Play as a modern remaster for PC and consoles. The game will arrive on September 30 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
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