Square-Enix’s Japanese development teams are not known for their speedy work. Final Fantasy XIII was first shown to the public in 2006 but the divisive role-playing game wasn’t ultimately released until 2010. At the very same time in 2006, Square showed off a trailer for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, which still hasn’t been shown as a playable game seven years later. Even when it’s just re-releasing an already finished game it drags its feet. An HD remaster of Final Fantasy X was announced for PS Vita and PlayStation 3 back in September of 2011, but Square only got around to showing footage of it in February 2013. What’s the hold up? One explanation is that Square is remastering not just Final Fantasy X but also its direct sequel Final Fantasy X-2.
What started as a rumor in the Japanese forum 2chan and at the Final Fantasy fan website FF-Reunion was later confirmed by magazine Jump, Gematsu, and Square-Enix itself: Both Final Fantasy X and Final Fantasy X-2 are getting the HD treatment this year.
Producer Yoshinori Kitase, whose history in the Final Fantasy stretches back to its halcyon days on the Super Nintendo and PlayStation, is working directly on Final Fantasy X HD to ensure its quality. Both games will be delivered on a single Blu-ray disc for PlayStation 3.
PS Vita owners, however, won’t be so lucky. The games will be sold separately on Sony’s handheld in what’s becoming a common trend amongst third-party publishers on the platform. While Sony is encouraging its PS3 owners to buy a PS Vita by offering games for both devices at a single price—the Cross Buy feature on games like Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, for instance—publishers like Square and Konami are splitting up their releases. The Metal Gear Solid HD Collection on consoles includes Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on a single disc, but the PS Vita edition only includes the first two titles on its cartridge.
