The portable scene has been getting and will continue to get a lot of love from Squeenix in the form of several Final Fantasy games, both ports of earlier games and new ones.
But I have to ask, was it REALLY necessary to port Final Fantasy IV to the DS when it was released to the PSX several times, and then ported to the GameBoy Advance a mere 3 years ago? Granted this is supposed to be an upgrade, but really, do we need ANOTHER port of this game? I have a small apartment and don’t really have the space for another copy of FFIV, even if it IS on a tiny DS chip and personally, I’d rather see Square work on more new games instead of resting on the laurels of their past catalogue.
Granted, we have gotten some new FF games, at least one a year for the past 2 or 3 years, but recently, we’ve seen a rash of them on the DS. Ring of Fates dropped back in March of this year, then Tactics A-2 in June, and now this port of IV. We’re also set to see a DS port of Chrono Trigger in the Fall of ’08 as well. If there’s such a thing as flooding the market, Square is doing it.
Consider this: You can get a used copy of Final Fantasy IV Advance on Amazon for a mere $7.50, a copy of FF Chronicles (Chrono Trigger & FFIV) on the PSX for $10.80. Or even download a ROM of FFII on the SNES. It’s the same game you know. Or you could pick up Final Fantasy IV DS for $39.99 new or $35.49 used.
Part of what irks me about these endless ports is the feeling that Square thinks we constantly need to be reminded of what they’ve done in the past. Or maybe it’s a way to satiate gamers who didn’t eat up Crisis Core and Dirge Of Cerberus as they expected. I can understand bringing FF 1 & 2 to a next gen system because they’re old games that haven’t been given the royal treatment outside of GBA’s Dawn Of Souls compilation & Anniversary Editions on the PSP (though I think the Anniversary remakes on the PSP should have been sold as one UMD, but that’s a whole other article.) If they want to mine the past, why not put out another Actraiser or Soul Blazer game? Is the Final Fantasy series finally jumping the shark and are these ports tacit admissions of an inability to craft new games that are as compelling as the older ones?
The notion that portable systems are basically homes for endless ports of old games and shovelware is what keeps them from being more viable in the eyes of many developers. Let’s see Square step up and deliver some more great original games to the DS instead of just serving up its past glories in a new package.
