During E3 2021, Square Enix announced Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters would be arriving on Steam and mobile later this year. These are remasters of the first six mainline entries in the series, with an attempt to bring back those games' classic looks and spritework. This could, of course, inspire many newcomers to try out some of these classic titles, but which Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster is worth playing first?
The Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters will release in order, starting in July. Because of this, many people may be tempted to try out the earliest entry first. While the first two Final Fantasy games certainly have their merits, they may be a bit too archaic at times to serve as a good starting place for beginners. The first two games are admittedly grindy and fairly lacking in story and character development, despite introducing iconic series regulars like chocobos (FF2) and crystals (FF1).
Final Fantasy 3 has a solid job system, but it's also fairly lacking in character development and story. It's especially grindy at times, which again could dissuade some newcomers from trying it first. And since the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters won't have some features found in the later versions of those games, some quality-of-life improvements even longtime fans remember could be completely missing. For instance, jobs added to the GBA version of FF5 appear to be missing from the Pixel Remaster's Steam listing.
Which Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Could Be Best For Newcomers
From an objective perspective, Final Fantasy 4, 5, and 6 are all arguably better entry points for the series than the first three games. FF4 is where the franchise's emphasis on storytelling can really be seen, FF5 has an excellent and refined job system, and FF6's characters and storytelling are some of the best in the entire series. Any of these games could make great first entries for people who haven't tried out the classic Final Fantasy titles.
However, the past remastered versions of Final Fantasy 5 and Final Fantasy 6 on mobile and Steam are especially derided by fans, seemingly making Pixel Remasters of these two titles the most anticipated. And since FF6 is often considered one of the best games in the series, it's likely the easiest and most accessible place to start. Of course, since these versions are releasing in order, it may be some time before the FF6 Pixel Remaster releases.
Ultimately, it will come down to how eager some players want to start digging into these new versions of the games. With the first three entries coming along soon, some people may not want to wait for the later three to arrive before trying them out. Once all six are released, however, the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster for FF6 might just be the best place to begin.