Final Fantasy 10 – would you prefer a sequel or a remake? (Picture: Square Enix)
Not only has more information about Persona 3 Reload leaked but also the first reports of Star Ocean: The Second Story and Final Fantasy 10.
Video game remakes are becoming increasingly commonplace, with the likes of Dead Space and Resident Evil 4, but it’s Japanese role-players that have become the most ubiquitous, with Final Fantasy 7 Remake inspiring a whole new wave of remakes, from low budget re-dos to highly ambitious AAA releases.
In just the last few days we’ve had the first proper look at Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the long-rumoured Persona 3 Reload, but even before that there were rumours that Final Fantasy 9 would be making a comeback too.
Final Fantasy 9 is not expected to be on anything like the scale of Final Fantasy 7, but surprisingly it’s not the only rumoured remake for the series at the moment, with 2001 PlayStation 2 game Final Fantasy 10 also said to be returning in some form.
While Final Fantasy 9 has been mentioned by a number of reliable sources the situation with Final Fantasy 10 is not quite so concrete, with the rumours stemming from posts on the ResetEra forum.
The suggestion is that the remake will be released in 2026, for the game’s 25th anniversary, and that it’s in such early stages of planning that Square Enix may instead decide to make a new sequel called Final Fantasy X-3.
2003’s Final Fantasy X-2 was the first mainline entry to be a direct sequel to a previous game, something which is still rare now, so making a trilogy out of it does seem a reasonably plausible move.
Three Final Fantasy remakes in production at the same time is starting to seem like a lot but it’s not the only Square Enix Japanese role-player to get a rumoured remake this week.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R – the source on this one is pretty good (Picture: Square Enix)
PS1 game Star Ocean: The Second Story is also supposedly about to return, and the source this time is Square Enix themselves, who accidentally posted the logo on their support website.
That seems a pretty open and shut case in terms of believability, with the logo revealing the name as Star Ocean: The Second Story R. That may be significant because the game got a remaster for the PSP called Star Ocean: Second Evolution – so going to back to the original name implies this will ignore the portable version.
Finally, there’s Persona 3 Reload, which is a fact not a rumour, but about which we officially know very little – other than it won’t include any of the extra content from the FES or Portable versions (which is a really weird decision).
According to the Japanese source who first leaked details of the game, original artist Shigenori Soejima is not involved in the remake. However, they also claim that some elements of Persona 3 FES will still be included.
Persona 3 FES was an extended version of the PlayStation 2 original, released a year later, whose main addition was an epilogue called The Answer. On top of that, though, were a number of more minor additions and changes, including new personae, new quests, and a hard mode.
According to the same source, the Tartarus main dungeon will also be upgraded, to improve rewards for exploration, and there’ll also be a new dash move and new side story content.
Remakes of Japanese role-playing games, even relatively obscure ones, are not a new occurrence but it is strange to see so many announced and rumoured at the same time. Although at least that offers hope if your particular favourite hasn’t been mentioned yet…
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MORE : Persona 3 Reload is a full remake but still missing content
MORE : Persona 3 Reload trailer leaks ahead of Xbox Games Showcase – coming early 2024
MORE : Final Fantasy 9 remake and Persona 3 Reload leaked by new sources
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Not only has more information about Persona 3 Reload leaked but also the first reports of Star Ocean: The Second Story and Final Fantasy 10.