In an interview with the European Playstation Community Forums' Moderator IOtaSan during the Japan Expo 2013, Yoshinori Kitase and Motomu Toriyama , the producer and director of Final Fantasy X / X- 2 HD Remaster respectively (and both producer, director and writer of the game's original releases), have shed some light on what got the HD Remastered project going, what's included, and more.

In the interview, the two say that a Remastered edition for X and X-2 were considered over earlier installments in the Final Fantasy series because all of the prior games are available on the PlayStation Network, and X and X-2 are only available to play via the PS2 or earlier PS3 models. They wanted to make the game more accessible to a wider audience, especially for the anniversary year of X-2's release.

You may remember that a while back there was a question of whether the HD collection would have the International Edition 's extra content, to which Kitase and Toriyama answered that it will be identical to the original Japanese language International Edition releases. The X-2 edition, in particular, will have the Japanese version's creature creation feature, which allows players to capture and train monsters or recruit NPCs like Jecht and Seymour to join their party, complete with their own mini-stories and endings. In addition, they confirmed that there is an extra 30 minutes worth of original content included.

A few other things were mentioned:

  • On the PS Vita's touch features, they were considered, but for the moment ignored.
  • On the interface, design and music: they may be updated or spruced up, but for now they're staying tight-lipped. As far the game's mechanics go, there was nothing wrong with what came before, and they haven't changed it.

Final Fantasy X / X- 2 HD Remaster will be available sometime later this year for the PS3 and PS Vita.

For my thoughts on the demo I played at E3 2013, check out my preview. For a look at the difference between the originals and the HD versions, check out Square Enix's comparison video. For a closer look at the game, you can also check out the E3 2013 trailer, screenshots, and artwork.

Source: Siliconera