Delayed back in December of 2019 and missing its original release window of January 23rd of 2020, Square Enix has nevertheless confirmed that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition has a solid release date: August 27th of this year for both Android and iOS, as well as the Nintendo Switch and the PlayStation 4.
This news was made available on the PlayStation Blog, in which the web content creator for the studio, Duncan Heaney, covered some of the new features that will be available on the remastered version of this classic Final Fantasy title. Some of those additions include cross-play with online support, new dungeons and character voiceovers, and improved audio and visuals, naturally. There’s more to the remaster than that alone, but Square Enix isn’t being too forthcoming on any of the other special features, likely out of a desire to keep some features a surprise. That said, they did put out a release trailer, so you can take a look at that to see just how impressive the game looks.
This remake of a classic Final Fantasy game was revealed way back in September of 2018, and Square Enix set a release date of January 23rd of 2020 originally. However, in December of 2019, the studio delayed the game to a less specific Summer 2020 release date. According to Square Enix, the game simply needed more time in order for the team working on it to ensure that the experience would be as outstanding as possible.
As for the original Crystal Chronicles, it was released back in 2004 on the now defunct GameCube. Back then, playing cooperatively was a lot more of a challenge: without hooking up GameBoys to the system using a Link Cable, you just couldn’t do it. Thankfully we live in the modern era now, and the remaster will make cooperative play much less of a hassle. Whether you buy the game for mobile devices, the Switch, or the PS4, players across all platforms will be able to play together. Cross-platform play isn’t a new concept in the world of video games, but it isn’t implemented nearly often enough, making this addition quite welcome indeed.
The good news is, seeing as how the original delay was only due to the game needing more development time, and had nothing to do with some sort of outside factor. Because that is so, we can safely assume that the game won’t be delayed again: considering that the release date isn’t too far off now, Square Enix likely has a handle on when the game will be ready.
Of course, this isn’t a guarantee that the game won’t be delayed again, but rather than consider that dreary possibility, it’s much better to be optimistic and assume the game will come out at the newly designated time. If all goes well, we’ll soon all be able to play Crystal Chronicles with each other regardless of the platform we buy the game on.
