‘Final Fantasy’ Ports On Nintendo Switch: Square Enix Pledges Support On New Platform

With Square Enix pledging full support on the Nintendo Switch, Final Fantasy ports on the new platform are only moments away.

The Nintendo Switch has, undoubtedly, become Nintendo’s strongest comeback. With more and more hardcore and casual gamers getting their hands on a Switch, more and more developers are also eager to put their hopes on the new Nintendo device.

Blizzard has already been vocal about wanting to bring their biggest games, Overwatch and Hearthstone, to the Switch. This time, it’s Square Enix’s turn to make public their rekindled flame with Nintendo, after ignoring the Nintendo Wii U for so long.

As iDigitalTimes noted, Square Enix have not released their biggest titles on the Wii U. At best you have the 2011 Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Dragon Quest X (although this one even saw a mobile release).

But it looks like the tide is changing and Square Enix is getting acquainted with Nintendo once again. At this early in the Switch’s life, Square Enix already has five titles for the console-handheld hybrid for 2017 alone: I Am Setsuna (available now), Dragon Quest Heroes I and II (in Japan), Minna de Wai Wai! Spelunker (coming to Japan in late April), Seiken Densetsu Collection (June 1 in Japan), and Project Octopath Traveler.

In fact, this renewed faith of Square Enix on Nintendo comes straight from Square Enix CEO Yosuke Matsuda, who talked to japanese publication Nikkei about the Switch. Matsuda’s full statement regarding Square Enix games on the Nintendo Switch, as translated by Nintendo Everything, reads as follows.

“Our developers with a strong interest in the Switch are eager to challenge themselves to find new ways for people to play games. Having more gaming platforms available is a good thing for us. I really want the Switch to succeed. We’ll be developing new titles, and we’d like to port existing titles that the Switch can support often as we can.

“Nintendo creates a variety of new gameplay possibilities. I think other companies will comes up with some surprising gimmicks using the Switch’s unique capabilities. We have our own way of doing things, so we’ll be marrying the Switch’s unique features to the kinds of games we’re known for.”

And what else is Matsuda talking about the “kinds of games” Square Enix is known for other than the Final Fantasy franchise?

Nintendo Switch has been very particular about its power, compared to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. But it has its own strengths in its own way, such as portability, which makes it very favorable for grind-heavy RPGs such as Final Fantasy.

At this rate, fans are not expecting Final Fantasy XV right off the bat, or even the Final Fantasy VII Remake. These newer Final Fantasy titles require very powerful machines — not to mention, FFXV took forever to create on two platforms alone. If, lets say, the Nintendo Switch could handle Final Fantasy XV, history dictates that it will surely take Square Enix goodness-knows-how-long to port that monster of a game into the Switch, that they’ll likely finish by the time we have all moved on to the next console.

But we’ve seen older Final Fantasy titles get ported to newer generation hardware. And Square Enix surely feels like one of the developers who are big on portables, especially with a number of Final Fantasy titles already on the PlayStation Portable, Nintendo 3DS, and even iOS and Android. This could only mean good things for the Nintendo Switch, especially on the RPG front, and nothing is more RPG than a good old Final Fantasy game.

Which Final Fantasy would you like to see ported first to the Nintendo Switch?

[Featured image by Square Enix]