Imagine a 16-Bit Version of Final Fantasy XIII — Square Enix Did in This Clever Retrospective

I’m in deep trouble: I haven’t finished Final Fantasy XIII-2, and Lightning Returns is just around the corner. In the same boat? Has Square Enix got something for you.

I noticed this courtesy Kotaku’s Jason Schreier: a YouTube video upped by Square Enix summarizing Final Fantasy XIII and XIII-2 — call it “the story so far” — only done endearingly old-school 16-bit console style. And I don’t mean 60-seconds of sentimental promotion, but nearly eight minutes of retro recap that touches all the bases and yesteryear (yep, I used it) tropes.

Watch it for chiptunes Masashi Hamauzu, the white Mickey Mouse glove-cursor, the silly superdeformed protagonists and the (even more jarringly) non sequitur narrative bursts. I don’t want to play this version — I’m among those that liked Final Fantasy XIII as-is (and, so far, XIII-2) — but it’s amusing and deftly nostalgic and I salute whoever at Square Enix took the time to pull it together.

Lighting Returns — the third and final game in the mainline XIII sequence — arrives February 11 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.