Every Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster (Ranked)

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that the Final Fantasy series is easily one of the most decorated RPG series of all time. The games have told memorable stories for generations of gamers, and everything began with the first six. While the initial six games haven’t exactly aged the best, the Pixel Remaster versions help the newer generation experience the same magic as before.

However, it’s also true that not every pixelated remaster is the best. This article aims to rank all of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remastered games to help you determine which one to start with if you don’t have the time for all of them.

6. Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster

Number six on this list is the series’ most controversial game. Progression is tied to a stat system that rewards players for striking their own party members or deliberately taking damage, rather than for sound tactical play. Guy’s tendency to converse with monsters rather than fight them and keyword-based dialogue that often leads nowhere add to the issue. 

The Pixel Remaster improves the presentation considerably, but it still doesn’t fix a broken leveling system that forces you to rely on cheap tricks over actual strategy. Because of these issues, the result is a game that is interesting to look back on, but you probably won’t want to replay it.

5. Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster

The first entry in the series is more of a historical milestone than a must-play classic. Four customizable but largely undefined heroes travel through a linear world, fighting the same handful of enemies over and over just to get their stats high enough to progress.

The remaster corrects several long-standing issues from the original release, including the intelligence stat that now functions properly. The newly arranged soundtrack is also a notable improvement. Even so, this is a 1987 game wearing a fresh coat of paint, so anyone looking for a modern RPG’s pacing should look further down this list.

4. Final Fantasy III Pixel Remaster

This entry marks the point at which the job system becomes a meaningful part of the experience, which is a huge step up from the first two games. The ability to reassign roles among more than twenty classes throughout the campaign lends battles a strategic edge absent from earlier titles. 

The narrative’s closing chapters, in which the Warriors of Light confront the possibility that they are instruments of a larger design, remain compelling. Pacing is the real problem here, as dungeons drag on forever, and random encounters are frequent. The foundation of the RPG is strong, but the experience of playing it can be taxing.

3. Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster

If job systems are what you’re looking for, this is the one people point to. Mixing and matching classes opens up more builds than most players will ever exhaust. For example, players can create a katana-swinging White Mage or a Berserker who somehow also heals. This system is exactly why the Four Job Fiesta challenge run refuses to die. 

Just don’t come to Final Fantasy V for its story. The characters aren’t the most developed in the series, and the narrative is a bit flat emotionally. From a mechanical standpoint, though, this remains one of the more replayable RPG games Square Enix has produced.

2. Final Fantasy IV Pixel Remaster

Cecil’s fall and subsequent redemption remain effective decades after the game’s original release. This is largely because the narrative rarely allows its emotional moments to linger without consequence. Characters join, depart, and return under different circumstances throughout. The introduction of the Active Time Battle system lends combat a sense of urgency that was absent in the series’s first three entries.

The Pixel Remaster’s updated soundtrack sounds fantastic, especially tracks such as “Theme of Love.” It might not have the deepest gameplay on this list, but it remains the most emotionally impactful.

1. Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster

People call this the best Final Fantasy for reasons that go well beyond the 16-bit art. Most of the fourteen playable characters actually get a real arc, with Celes’s moment on the cliffside, Cyan’s letters, and Shadow’s recurring dream sequence. Letting Kefka actually win halfway through, then spending the rest of the game picking through the wreckage, is still one of the boldest calls the series has made. 

The Pixel Remaster’s audio touch-ups and cleaned-up sprites just round out a game that was already close to complete. If you’re just starting the series, this is the game to pick up among the six Pixel Remasters. It’s just filled with turn-based goodness that you can’t miss out on.