If only these sprites had been created for an actual Final Fantasy game (rather than an album)

Shocking admission of the day (yeah, right): I prefer the sprite-based Final Fantasy games to those that are polygon-based.

As such, I was pretty stoked when I came across a post on siliconera.com that stated the powers that be at Square Enix recently hired pixel artist Kasuko Shibuya to create sprites for a Final Fantasy tribute album that's in the works.

Here's the result of Shibuya's hard work:



I know this is a pipe dream, but wouldn't it be awesome if Square Enix teamed up with Shibuya to create a Final Fantasy tribute game? My only requirement would be that it feature an HUD that's less hideous than the ones that appear in Final Fantasy Dimensions and Final Fantasy IV: The After Years (WiiWare version).

(Via siliconera.com)

I'm a bad, bad Final Fantasy fan

I say that because the main reason I'm not all that interested in the impending release of Final Fantasy Dimensions is its rather hideous HUD. (See screenshot below.)

I'm also not too fond of the fact that this iOS title will be offered to gamers much like Final Fantasy IV: The After Years was offered to Wii owners--although in the case of Final Fantasy Dimensions, gamers will be able to download the prologue for free and then pay some currently unknown amount for each additional chapter.



Still, I'm a sucker for sprite-based Final Fantasy games that feature robust job systems (side note: Final Fantasy V is my favorite mainline Final Fantasy title), so I'll probably pick this up day one if it's ever thrown onto the 3DS--or even Wii U--eShop.

That said, I'd much prefer to see the folks at Square Enix work up a 3DS version of its other mobile-centic Final Fantasy spin-off, Final Fantasy Brigade, which features an art style similar to the one found in my game of the year thus far, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy.