As far as video game aesthetics go, pixel art of the 1990s has aged remarkably well. The Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis era boasted tons of visually ambitious games with detailed character designs and environments, like Chrono Trigger, Ecco the Dolphin, and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. The style saw a resurgence in the 2010s, thanks to the indie boom and the unabashedly nostalgic-yet-modern look of games like Celeste, Hyper Light Drifter, and Undertale, which led directly to the popular “HD-2D” aesthetic, most recently seen in Octopath Traveler 0.
Square Enix had been one of the leading lights of ‘90s pixel art, so it felt like a return to form when the company launched Octopath Traveler back in 2018, which blended old-school stylings with 3D-rendered environments and spiffy modern lighting flourishes. (The company has since trademarked the term HD-2D, though not the underlying technology.) When Square Enix first revealed Octopath, it drew a lot of comparisons to Final Fantasy 6, owing to its similar high-fantasy-meets-steampunk aesthetic. That sparked a flurry of online chatter about the possibility of HD-2D remakes of both Final Fantasy 6 and Chrono Trigger, two of the most acclaimed RPGs ever made. Nearly eight years later, we’re still waiting.
That’s not to say Square Enix hasn’t done some very cool stuff with HD-2D. The company has released several new games and remasters, and the quality has been impressively high: Octopath Traveler 2, the underrated tactics game Triangle Strategy, the previously Japan-only Live A Live, lovely remakes of Dragon Quest 1-3, and this month’s Octopath Traveler 0. But at a certain point, one has to ask: Where is Final Fantasy? Where is Chrono Trigger? Can I speak to a manager?
There are a few factors that may explain the absence of Square Enix’s flagship series from the HD-2D roster. Maybe the company wanted to avoid cannibalizing sales of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters, a re-release of the first six games in the series for consoles, PC, and mobile. HD-2D remakes could also potentially distract from Final Fantasy 16 and the Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy. Even if none of these games are especially “new” at this stage, they continue to trickle out on various platforms: Final Fantasy 16 came to Xbox this summer, while Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in January 2026, six years after its debut on PlayStation 4.
Square Enix did throw Final Fantasy 6 fans a bone — in the worst possible way — by announcing a crossover event with the mobile gacha game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent back in September. The whole trailer underscores precisely why an HD-2D version of FF6 would whip ass, yet for some reason we’re still not getting one.
Chrono Trigger is a weirder case. Sure, we’ve seen enhanced ports of the game over the years for PS1, Nintendo DS, and most recently Steam. The game’s sort-of sequel, Chrono Cross, got a multiplatform remaster back in 2022, which seemed at the time like a tease for something bigger. 2025 marks the game’s 30th anniversary, which means we’re running out of days for a celebratory announcement.
Maybe we don’t need a remaster or remake version to enjoy Chrono Trigger’s unforgettable environments, characters, and story beats, even if the game is a clear progenitor to the HD-2D style. So why isn’t any version of the game available for modern platforms other than Steam? And since when has “it still looks great” stopped a publisher from releasing yet another port of a popular game?
Maybe all hope isn’t lost. Earlier this week, Eurogamer reported that Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii said he “can’t talk about” any future plans for Chrono Trigger. “Asking is off-limits!” he said when pressed for details during a livestream, “I’ll get in trouble!” It could be nothing, but we’re also firmly in the season of delusional thinking. The Game Awards is just around the corner, and Square Enix’s 2026 release slate is looking awfully light at this point. Lemme dust off that clown makeup, one last time.
