A veteran developer from the Final Fantasy franchise has expressed his frustration towards today’s indie games that aim to replicate visual issues from the PS1 era. Programmer Koji Sugimoto, known for his work on titles like Chrono Trigger and Xenogears, took to Twitter to address a new tool introduced in Unity Japan that makes it easier for developers to emulate the texture warping seen in PS1 games.

Sugimoto’s Take on Modern Indie Trends

Sugimoto remarked, “Back in the day, we used to put in painstaking work and made many futile efforts to avoid texture warping, only for it to be called ‘charming’ nowadays.” He was disappointed to see that issues he once worked hard to fix are now being celebrated as a quirky aesthetic choice in modern gaming.

“当時は虚しい苦労を費やして歪みを回避していたのに、今では「味わい」とか言われてしまっている。”

“At the time, we put in pointless efforts to avoid distortion, and now it’s said to have ‘flavor’.”

His comments reflect a broader conversation about nostalgia in game design and how it influences new creators today. Sugimoto feels the charm of original imperfections should not overshadow the hard work put into improving the gaming experience in the past.