This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Fans looking to relive their couch co-op Final Fantasy experience when the remastered edition of Crystal Chronicles arrives next month are going to be disappointed.

Square Enix took to Twitter to announce that ‘due to development reasons’, the game will only feature online multiplayer, with no offline option.

It has been confirmed that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered does not offer offline/local multiplayer due to development reasons. https://t.co/YoSZ0UMvI2
— Robert Sephazon (@Sephazon) July 15, 2020

Given the game’s origins, this may come as somewhat of a blow. Back on the Gamecube original, players had to use GameBoy Advance link cables to partake in wholly offline multiplayer. The fact Square Enix have opted to eschew those roots in favour of online connectivity seems an odd one, even if most people do play online these days.

In a follow up tweet they did reiterate the game’s cross-play credentials. Fans who pick up a copy on Switch, PS4 or Android devices will be able to team up to take on the game’s quest. There’ll even be a 'Lite’ version of the game available for free, so only one person in your foursome needs to have bought the full release.

Are you disappointed by the lack of offline multiplayer? Let us know down in the comments.

Source: Twitter, via Nintendo Life