As a cult classic among most of Final Fantasy's spin-off titles, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is finally bringing back the multiplayer RPG to a new generation with its upcoming release next month. As the original game was made with co-op in mind, the Remastered Edition seems to be making it easier to play with friends across different devices and platforms, at the expense of having the option for a local multiplayer experience.In a tweet from the game's official Japanese Twitter account, Square Enix confirmed that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition will not have support for local multiplayer between devices. Instead, the co-op multiplayer components of Crystal Chronicles will be supported through online play, meaning that players will most likely need an online subscription for PlayStation Plus or Nintendo Switch Online if they are playing on PS4 or Nintendo Switch, respectively.

According to a translation from game localizer Robert Sephazon, it seems that the development team for Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition cited certain "development reasons" for the decision behind only supporting online multiplayer. While the specific reasoning is unclear as to why local multiplayer won't be supported for the remastered version of the game, the shift to online multiplayer seems to make sense given that Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition will support cross-play between each version of the game.

When the game first released for the Nintendo GameCube in 2003, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles notably had an unusual setup for its local multiplayer. Unlike most other GameCube games at the time, those looking to play Crystal Chronicles with friends needed four Game Boy Advances and a link cable to connect with the GameCube, allowing players to not only play as their characters, but also to utilize the GBA screen for their inventory and other features. While at the time these features were unique, the specific setup needed to actually play the game with friends made it a challenge to play, and perhaps feeds into how the Remastered Edition is aiming to make the game a bit more accessible to a wider audience.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition will release for PS4, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android on August 27, 2020.