Square Enix executive producer Naoki Yoshida known to millions of fans as Yoshi-P, has kicked off a discussion by explaining that full-scale remakes for Final Fantasy VI, Final Fantasy VIII, and Final Fantasy IX just aren’t realistic right now. Ever since Square Enix started breaking up the fan-favourite Final Fantasy VII remake project into multiple games, players have asked for the same treatment for other classics.
But Yoshida cautioned a reality check, warning that trying to force that same massive production style onto other older titles would create a messy, never-ending release timeline. He honestly believes that trying to recreate games of that scale with today’s photorealistic graphics would force the studio into difficult choices, forcing them to chop up each individual story into four or five separate games just to get them out the door.
Why Yoshida Says a Full Final Fantasy VI Remake Isn’t Feasible
At the center of the issue is just how huge these original games actually were, making them extremely difficult to rebuild by today’s studio standards. Yoshida pointed directly to Final Fantasy VI as a prime example of a game that is just too big to easily upgrade. Back in the 16-bit days, it was a sprawling masterpiece with 14 main characters, two entirely separate world maps, and a mid-game twist that tears the world apart. Trying to translate those simple, charming pixel-art graphics into a photorealistic, modern world would take an enormous amount of time and money.
Yoshi-P says if they were to Remake FF6, FF8 or FF9 they’d probably have to release them in 4 or 5 instalments because they are so big!
— Genki✨ (@Genki_JPN) July 27, 2026
“Of course I understand the feelings of the players, but you gotta think about it. Look at Final Fantasy VI, it’s such an incredibly huge game.… pic.twitter.com/fHrZVx4Vra
On top of the visuals, adding modern gameplay mechanics introduces a whole new level of stress that developers in the 90s never had to worry about. If a team tried to remake it the same way they did Final Fantasy VII, every single character would need their own unique real-time fighting style, smooth animations, and complex ways of interacting with the environment.
Throwing in high-tech features like real-time raytracing, realistic physics, and open worlds that load seamlessly just multiplies the workload to an impossible degree. In fact, Yoshida once mentioned that doing a full Final Fantasy VI remake at this scale could take up to 20 years to finish, which completely rules it out as a realistic project for the company.
How Fans Reacted to Yoshida’s Comments
A large part of the community totally gets where he is coming from, admitting they are already burned out by the whole episodic release model. And a lot of players absolutely loved diving deeper into the worlds of Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth, however some fans have pointed out that those games felt weighed down by a lot of artificial side quests and felt like they disrupted the natural flow of the original story. For these fans, the idea of waiting over ten years just to see the ending of a Final Fantasy VIII or IX remake spread across five different games sounds exhausting and unappealing.
On the flip side, another side of fans argues that Square Enix is making things way harder than they need to be by assuming every single remake has to be a massive, cinematic, multi-part blockbuster. These players feel like the developers should just focus on giving them a high-quality, all-in-one package that stays true to the main story without drowning it in unnecessary open-world chores.
Even industry experts have pointed out that there is a perfect middle ground if they just scale things down a bit. By keeping the classic turn-based combat, using a beautiful stylized look somewhat like the HD-2D style seen in Team Asano’s games and keeping the overworld map simple, Square Enix could easily fit a remake like Final Fantasy VI into a single, complete game that only takes a reasonable four to six years to make.
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