Final Fantasy XV Pocket Is Such an Exact Remake It’s Surreal

Noctis and friends’ chibi makeover still includes nearly every moment.

By Andrew Goldfarb

From the second it starts, playing Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition is surreal. Aside from its chibi art style, the beginning of the game is identical to the console edition of Final Fantasy XV, from the early flash-forward to saying goodbye to King Regis, and even pushing the Regalia after it breaks down.

As you’d expect for mobile, battles have been drastically simplified, now based on tapping instead of the turn-based mechanics you’d find in XV on console. Warp Strikes are performed by swiping, and you can target an enemy from afar by holding down a finger on them. Parrying and dodging comes in the form of touch-based quick time events, and movement is simply dragging your finger to where you want Noctis and friends to run.

CHECK OUT THE FIRST 20 MINUTES OF THE GAME ABOVE

The demo we played was spot-on for the beginning of the game, including a visit to Hammerhead, and The Pauper Prince and Hunter Becomes the Hunted story quests. It also still features camping (we ate some flame-roasted toast) and even voice acting.

Final Fantasy XV is an absolutely gorgeous game on consoles and PC, so this mobile version is obviously not comparable to that photorealistic experience. I actually appreciate that Square Enix went with a mobile-friendly art style rather than trying to scale down the console version’s graphics, which I can’t imagine would have worked out well. Pocket Edition will be split across 10 episodes, which I think is a smart way to divide up the story, especially for people playing a little bit at a time on the go.

I have to admit that I was very skeptical when Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition was announced, but after playing for 20 minutes or so, this seems like it might actually be a great way for someone to experience the story if they don’t have a few dozen hours to spend in front of a console.

I’m now fascinated enough that I’ll definitely check out at least the first episode, and with hints that this version could even come to Nintendo Switch, I’m glad to see Square Enix experimenting with new platforms, especially as they think about the future of the franchise.

Andrew is IGN's executive editor of news and wishes every game could get a cute chibi remake. You can find him rambling about Persona and cute animals on Twitter.

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