The first of the two Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collections has recently been released, and early buyers of the title are questioning some of Square Enix's UI design choices - particularly its font. The sans-serif typeface looks ugly to many, but luckily there's a rather easy fix for players who are willing to do a little basic modification to the game files.
Fan issues with the remaster popped up immediately after the reveal in June. The trailer that revealed the release dates for the first three Pixel Remasters faced criticism from some viewers. Complaints were not directed largely at the already known contents of the remasters, but instead at several graphical choices, chief among them fonts.
Fans took to social media to voice their opinions on the trailer. Twitter Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters could come to consoles if popular enough, but complaints about the typeface have not been addressed.
Why The Font In The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Looks Weird
There are two main issues with the font. The lack of spacing between letters makes it rather hard to read from a distance. Combine this with the already condensed sans-serif typeface and players are left with a font that is uncomfortable to look at. The basic look of the typeface in and of itself is perhaps the most egregious issue. The use of a common font clashes with the fantasy aesthetic of the series. Fans have come to expect semi-customized fonts from Final Fantasy titles, and these remasters buck that trend.
But there is good news; Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster files. Strangely, Square Enix packaged a less-condensed version of the font into the Japanese language option. The fix is relatively simple; all one needs to do is replace and rename a few files in the "Streaming Assets" folder of their install.
It's possible that Square Enix could fix at least one of the issues players have with the font in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster. The files already exist, so Square could push out a patch that replaces the English font file with the Japanese English character set. While this won't resolve every issue fans have with the weird-looking font, it could at least alleviate some eye strain.
