What’s in that absurdly expensive Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster box set?

£250 is a lot of money to pay for a limited edition of any video game, even if it’s actually six video games, so I was hesitant to splash the cash on the collector’s edition of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters. Particularly given how badly Square Enix had handled the announcement and preordering of the physical releases in general.

Ultimately, though, this was Final Fantasy, a series that has been important to me for a very long time at this point, and I knew that I wanted these games on my shelf, if only for the inherent satisfaction factor of having the complete run Final Fantasy I-XII (except the online-only XI, as always) on one system.

Moreover, despite the exorbitant asking price, I was quite keen for the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collector’s edition as a commemorative piece celebrating the series, and my love for it. So, with some reluctance — and a bit of money left over from Christmas presents — I handed over my card details and waited.

Today, the box set finally arrived, so I thought I’d share its contents with you all, in case you were curious.

Well, here it is in all its glory. What I wasn’t prepared for was how big this box is. I shouldn’t have been particularly surprised about it, since said box contains two vinyl records — but I think I’d kind of been assuming that the records would be packaged separately to the other stuff. But nope, it’s all in the one box — except, as with most other multi-format Japanese limited editions these days, the game itself.

To give you an idea of size, here’s the Switch version (and its lenticular slip case that comes with this set) — as you can see, it’s a pretty beefy boy that I’m not entirely sure where I’m going to put on my current shelving setup!

Here’s the back-of-box blurb for those who like that sort of thing. Interestingly, the blurb is in French first, English second. Not a complaint, it’s just unusual to see it that way around on multilingual cases. The eagle-eyed will also note that, in true Nintendo fashion, “basic reading ability in one of the software languages is needed to fully enjoy this software”. Good to know.

Here’s a look at that lenticular slipcase. The “stripes” on it are arranged horizontally, so this means that the image changes when you tilt it forwards and backwards rather than left and right.

Like this! Enjoy your very own Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster victory celebrations at your leisure through the magic of lenticular…ness.

The back of the slipcase is lenticular also, so you can go from White Mage giving you the finger…

…to being ready for battle.

Open up the big box and we’re immediately confronted with the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster two-record vinyl set. This features two discs in one case that folds out in “gatefold” style, with the discs themselves being used as the artwork within:

The discs themselves feature lenticular artwork, also, which is a nice touch. At the time of writing, I haven’t yet put them on a record player, but I can see this looking nice while they’re spinning around.

Here’s the full track listing of the two discs. Not a complete soundtrack by any means — unsurprising, since even the NES/Famicom-era Final Fantasy games have pretty expansive musical scores — but a nice selection of “greatest hits”. There’s also a voucher in the box to download digital versions of the music if you want to keep your discs pristine.

Underneath the records we have the other two main attractions in the box set: the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster art book, and the official Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster 3D pixel figures.

The book places a strong emphasis on the “pixel” aspect, consisting entirely of pixel art from the three games. It would have perhaps been nice to see some concept art as well, but the comprehensiveness of the sprite sheets available in this book will make it a great piece of reference material for anyone who wants to do something artistic with the Final Fantasy pixel art.

It’s very comprehensive, including images of the Final Fantasy V characters in the various available jobs, as well as NPC sprites from the various games, too.

Here’s the pixel figures safely in their box. They’re securely placed in their plastic moulds in the box, so they can be displayed in the case if you so desire.

Alternatively, you can get them out and put them wherever you see fit. It’s perhaps worth noting that the pixel art is only on one side; the back of them is solid, flat black, so they can only stand facing to the left. Not a huge issue, as these characters (which are based on the battle sprites) are most commonly seen facing left in the games themselves, but it does preclude one from making little dioramas of them chatting to one another.

And that’s everything. Was it worth £250? Honestly, that’s a bit of a toughie, because while I certainly don’t regret buying this box set and am very happy to have it in my collection, it does feel like Square Enix could have maybe included a little bit more to justify the hefty price tag.

Consider, for example, that your average limited edition from someone like NIS America or Idea Factory these days costs around the £75-80 mark and tends to come with something pretty similar to what we have here — though soundtrack albums are typically on CD rather than vinyl.

There are a few things to bear in mind there, though: firstly, that this is a collection of six games, not one — and a collection which sells for £65 by itself digitally, meaning that you’re almost up to the price of a NISA or Iffy limited edition just with the software itself.

Secondly, vinyl records are expensive these days — at least new ones are. It’s not unusual for single-disc vinyl releases these days to be £40 or more by themselves, and not only do we have two discs here, but also two fancy discs with artwork and lenticular designs printed on them.

With all that in mind, it’s perhaps not surprising that the price of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collector’s edition ballooned to £250 — though there’s definitely more than a hint of “big name, big price” going on here; Square Enix knows that Final Fantasy sells, so they jack the price up accordingly. And, as frustrating as the terribly handled preorders for this were, the fact that they did sell out probably speaks volumes as to the enduring appeal of the series and how much fans are willing to pay for it.

So I don’t feel short-changed or disappointed in the set or anything — I just think it could have perhaps come with just a couple more things to make it sting a little less. Perhaps another book of some sort, maybe focusing on Yoshitaka Amano’s iconic concept art for the series? Maybe a poster or wallscroll? Even just some little widgets like keyrings or acrylic stands would have been nice.

But oh well. It doesn’t do to dwell on what might have been — what we have in this set is what we get, and it’s definitely something I’m happy and proud to have in my collection. If any of you find yourself trying to hunt one down on the second-hand market at a later date, though, I’d urge you to make sure you don’t pay over the odds for it.

^{Disclosure: Some links in this article may be affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on them. This is at no additional cost to you and helps support Rice Digital!}