Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is out now on PS4 and Nintendo Switch worldwide as a digital release after a delay earlier this year. This brings the Nintendo GameCube classic to modern platforms for the first time with a slew of additional content and features. There are also some features that have been omitted from the original release in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition. This is the first time Square Enix has released a Final Fantasy game on consoles and mobile simultaneously. We’ve been playing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition on both PS4 and Nintendo Switch through the Lite demo to compare how it plays on Nintendo’s hybrid system and Sony’s PS4 Pro.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition features
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition includes a new English voice option, new and re-recorded music, upgraded graphics, online multiplayer, cross platform multiplayer and progression, new equipment and upgrades, new character variations, new character visual appearance options, post-game dungeons with an increased difficulty, and more. Those are good additions but this release does not include local multiplayer in any form. This means you cannot play in local wireless mode on Nintendo Switch and you cannot play on PS4 locally through couch co-op.
PS4 and PS4 Pro: This release marks the first time Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles is available on non-Nintendo hardware. On the PS Store, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is priced at Rs. 2,497 in India and $29.99 in USA. It is a digital-only release outside Japan where the physical release only includes Japanese. Technically, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is a mixed bag with some textures and character models looking good but others looking very dated. This gives the whole aesthetic an inconsistent feel. It has good post-processing and shadow quality though but the frame rate target being 30fps is disappointing.
Nintendo Switch: While the GameCube release required a Game Boy Advance setup for multiplayer, the Nintendo Switch lets you play docked or portable and connect with players online for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition. Local wireless would’ve been great in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition on Nintendo Switch but it doesn’t include any form of local multiplayer on any platform. The Nintendo Switch version also does not have any touchscreen support.
Which platform is best for you depends on multiple factors and what you value the most out of the following highlights.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition Nintendo Switch vs PS4 Pro
Price: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is priced at $29.99 on both platforms with equivalent pricing in Europe and India being Rs. 2,497. There is no physical release with English included right now either so the digital version with price parity on both consoles is the only option to buy right now.
Image quality: While not a drastic difference like many other ports, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition in its current state looks best on PS4 Pro. It has sharper visuals overall and much better shadows when compared to Nintendo Switch handheld. Even when docked, the Nintendo Switch version doesn’t look as sharp as the PS4 Pro version overall. For image quality, PS4 Pro is the way to go.
Portability: While Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is available on mobile, that version has a different interface for touch controls. For traditional controls on the go, only the Nintendo Switch version of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition offers a portable option.
Frame rate: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition targets 30fps on both PS4 Pro and Nintendo Switch across docked and handheld modes. I noticed no major frame rate drops in my time with the game in the initial dungeons but the load times were bad across the board on both consoles. Both consoles appear to have input lag though which is annoying during combat and in menus.
Features: All versions of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition have the same features and content included. This also includes the paid DLC being sold on both platforms.
Overall, if you want to play Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition, the PS4 and Nintendo Switch version don’t really offer much apart barring the portability aspect of the Nintendo Switch. The PS4 Pro doesn’t have a worthwhile boost to image quality given the aesthetic to justify ditching portability for us.
