10 Obvious Video Game Remasters The Industry Is Ignoring

5. Vagrant Story

Vagrant Story
Square Enix

During the era of the original PlayStation, Squaresoft were firing on all cylinders. Whilst they’re responsible for some of the most recognisable titles on the system, this means that some releases are overlooked despite being as solid as the most famous Final Fantasy games.

Vagrant Story was a huge success both nationally and worldwide, with Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu awarding the title a perfect score, making it the only PlayStation game to ever do so.

This overlooked gem is a thrilling tactical RPG dungeon-crawler with remarkable 3D visuals for the time and an immersive, socio-political story. The game’s deep weapon system is a particular strength, with each piece of equipment gaining advantages and disadvantages depending on how the player uses them over time.

Even today Square-Enix haven’t totally forgotten about Vagrant Story, with references included in FF14’s 2017 expansion Stormblood but mostly this asks the question: why is such a beloved title resigned to mere winks and nods these two decades later?

Vagrant Story deserves a lot more than cheap ports across the PlayStation Store, and an HD version of Velendia would be a wonderful return to a time where Square could do no wrong.

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Coming from a content creation background that now spans over two decades, Psy cut her teeth on personal video production and community radio. Originally joining the team as a writer and presenter, she added video editing duties to her responsibilities over time and became the longest-standing editor of the irreverent gaming show Tues Your Own Adventure. Psy has worked on many previews and reviews, long-form editorials (either her own, or supporting as an editor), as a frequent quizmaster and more. Praised for the two-pronged attack of her hard work ethic and light-hearted editing style, Psy is otherwise known as a font of retro video game knowledge which has caused her to rack up many quiz wins. Outside of WhatCulture, Psy runs First Aid Spray Podcast - a long-running channel that focuses on Resident Evil in all of it's forms. You can follow her on BlueSky at http://psywhite.bsky.social and Instagram at http://instagram.com/therealpsywhite