The website FantasyAnime is basically an institution of old-school Japanese RPGs and anime, catering to a very specific niche with very specific offerings. Particularly, for apparently a whopping 22 years, FantasyAnime has been offering a ROM or ROMs and various patches for many RPGs, including Square Enix games like Chrono Trigger, Parasite Eve, and Front Mission — and now Square has suddenly issued a takedown notice for many of them. This is striking for several reasons, one of which is that FantasyAnime has never hidden what it does, which means the timing of the takedown could be significant. The other reason is that Square Enix did not make FantasyAnime remove the ROM for inactive properties unavailable in the United States, like Live A Live, Treasure Hunter G, and Treasure of the Rudras. So, FantasyAnime hypothesizes — perhaps wishfully, and frankly, so do we — that Square Enix has plans for largely dormant titles like Chrono Trigger and Parasite Eve, perhaps even including a remake.
I gathered this cuz SE didn't include Live-A-Live, Treasure Hunter G, & Treasure of the Rudras in the takedown. They're only concerned about the properties that are active with current games (Trials of Mana, SaGa Collection, etc.) and games in production (Chrono Trigger remake?).
— FantasyAnime (@FantasyAnime) December 14, 2021
The Swiss cheese hole-filled case for a Chrono Trigger remake (or Parasite Eve or Front Mission remake)
Granted, there are a ton of what-ifs and maybes at play here. For starters, even though Square Enix has no active marketing campaigns for Chrono Trigger right now, it does still have the game for sale on Steam and mobile (and even PSN, I think?). So, even though the timing would be extremely peculiar, the takedown of the Chrono Trigger ROM at FantasyAnime could still be connected to that. In any case, it’s really grasping at straws to claim a Chrono Trigger remake (or a Parasite Eve or Front Mission remake or remaster) is in development. But the odds are at least better than zero that Square Enix is planning to do something with these games.
Although, if we continue to apply all this extremely optimistic, pie-in-the-sky logic, it would still suggest one awful conclusion. The fact that Square Enix did not demand the Live A Live ROM be taken down would suggest the company has no current re-release plans for it, which would be crushing news considering Square Enix trademarked the game in the United States last year (a story that first broke here at Nintendo Enthusiast). Between a Chrono Trigger remake and an official English release of Live A Live, I honestly would prefer the latter.
Meanwhile, reports continue to agree that a remake or remaster of Chrono Cross is in development, but there had been speculation it would be revealed at The Game Awards 2021 — which of course never happened. Suffice to say, right now is an extremely confusing time to be an old-school Square fan.
