Having launched last week it appears that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered has been plagued by severe issues causing store pulls and an apology from the game’s director.
Both developed and published by Square Enix, the long-awaited remake of the classic RPG title is reportedly blighted by various bugs including non-existent multiplayer functionality in some regions.
Given that this is a multiplayer game basically makes it unplayable.
Reportedly, Australia and New Zealand customers have had timeouts and disconnects after playing for around 30 seconds.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered – Official Trailer
The problems were initially reported on Nintendo Switch, however the PlayStation 4, iOS and Android versions have all reported issues.
Because of the issues, Australia and New Zealand regions have had the game pulled from digital storefronts for the time being and refunds are even being issued.
Not only have there been connection issues, but various in-game bugs have also been reported.
Cut-scene skipping and wrong audio playing has also been mentioned by some gamers.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered
The problems have been so severe that they have prompted a rare developer apology concerning some aspects of the game.
Araki Ryoma, the game’s director has released an official statement on Square Enix’s website in direct response to gamers’ outrage over the game’s issues.
Ryoma-san states:
“We have received a lot of feedback from our players since the game was released and are moving to address all the issues raised as quickly as we can.
But I must apologize for the delay in making an announcement about the situation.”
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered – Myrrh Tree
This indicates that the game’s developers are well aware of the issues and are currently working hard to address as much as they can.
The message goes on to say that many of the connection issues are related to server capacity, suggesting that they did not expect to sell as many units of the game as they did.
The message also states that Square would “like to release rapid updates” in order to fix the game.
The company already has a detailed plan for addressing issues and known bugs and is currently working to fix the problems.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered – Multiplayer Combat
However, a game with this many issues really should not be released to the paying consumer base.
Unfortunately, this is becoming standard practice in the modern games industry.
Not so long ago, a game for a console had to be almost 100% bug-free since there was no way to address an issue following a game’s release.
These days, because of each device’s hard drives and internet connectivity, publishers and developers are able to take advantage of these by releasing unfinished games and then addressing the issues with patches and updates.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered – Boss Monster
Just this weekend, Marvel’s Avengers (also from Square Enix) was released and is a great game, however, it is also plagued by a myriad of bugs including texture issues, missing purchased items and full-on game crashes.
Nobody outside a company really knows the ins and outs of a game developer’s internal release structures, however every gamer would rather wait a little longer for a finished product than an early released half-baked one.
For some reason, publishers and developers are releasing some games earlier than they should be and hoping that they can wing it.
I would urge these developers to just finish the game and release it when it is ready, just like CD Projekt Red are doing with Cyberpunk 2077.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered – Multiplayer Combat
Yes, we have been waiting for ages for Cyberpunk, but we all know it is going to be amazing when it is finally released, and probably won’t have many issues.
I understand that games will always have bugs and minor issues are one thing, but a game being completely unplayable is another thing entirely.
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is available now for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Android and iOS.
Michael is the sole writer and owner at chartxgames.com.
Many thought that his youth (and adulthood) playing video games was a waste of time but here he is writing about them for a living.
Michael has a background in IT and enjoys (apart from video games) building and repairing PC’s, digital artwork (Photoshop, 3DS Max) and has interests in too many subjects to mention.
