Square Enix has confirmed that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters won't include all of the content that fans might be familiar with. This is because they're based on the original versions of each game, rather than the remakes/remasters that most have played.
The Final Fantasy series didn't receive much attention outside of Japan until the PlayStation era. The original Final Fantasy, as well as FF4 and FF6 were the only ones released in North America, while Europe didn't get any of them at all. It wasn't until FF7 that the series became an international phenomenon. This prompted Square Enix to rerelease the older games in the series on modern platforms, in order to make the most of the new audience for the games.
Square Enix has released numerous ports of the first six Final Fantasy games, some of which were complete remakes that overhauled the visuals. The next set of ports will be the Pixel Remaster collection, which will revamp the visuals of the first six Final Fantasy games. Not everything will be returning in the Pixel Remaster collection, however, as some content won't be revamped.
The Missing Content
The Steam pages for the Pixel Remaster versions of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 2, and Final Fantasy 3 are live. Each page has a line in its description, claiming that the games are based on their original versions and that their content might differ from later iterations. Fans also noticed that the jobs from the Game Boy Advance version of FF5 were missing in the leaked Pixel Remaster promotional trailer. This confirms that the extra content from the later versions of the games is missing from the remasters.
This may lead some fans not to bother with the remasters, especially as the 3D remakes of FF3 and FF4 are still available. Square Enix added a ton of post-game content to the old Final Fantasy games over the years, giving fans who loved them a reason to stick around after the end credits. The Game Boy Advance versions of the older Final Fantasy games might not be as pretty, but the additional content makes them worth seeking out. Square Enix added huge dungeons in the remakes/remasters, and the decision to exclude them is just as bizarre as the decision to put the Pixel Remasters on PC/mobile devices, but not consoles.
The Pixel Remasters of Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy 2, and Final Fantasy 3 will be released for PC and mobile devices on July 29.