It's demake time once again, and this time I'm back with an absolute beauty. Final Fantasy XVI, or 16 for those of you who don't like Roman Numerals, released in 2023. The SNES, on the other hand, first released in 1990. That's a gap of 33 years, and xvbit has bridged it perfectly with a 16-bit demake that takes us right back to the days of Final Fantasy 1, 2, and 3.
Xvbit has taken the free demo of FF16 and turned it into a JRPG worth of the SNES, adding SNES sprites, original pixel art, and a brand new chiptune soundtrack featuring 18 tracks. It's a free-to-download game, and I've been checking it out on my Mac this morning and getting stuck into the action.
Credit: xvbit/Square Enix
I always look to cutscenes when I'm checking out demakes, because they are some of the hardest parts to recreate in a retro style. I love the opening to Final Fantasy 16; it's unbelievably epic and like something that's come straight from The Lord of the Rings. Seeing it recreated in 8-bit is just wild and takes me back to the days of playing Chrono Trigger and Super Tennis, the first time those two games have been mentioned together in the history of humanity.
This is xvbit's first time developing a game, and you know what, it's great. It only currently lasts around 30 minutes, so there's not a lot to play through, but I hope that it's a project that continues through to the end of the game. Obviously, some parts would have to be missed out because it wouldn't all work on the SNES, but it would be great to see more parts of the story made 8-bit.
The demake is available to play on Windows, Linux, and Mac and can be played with either an Xbox controller or by using your keyboard, which is how I've been playing. It's got some good praise so far, with some users already calling for an Android version. Head to Itch.io to check it out for yourself!
