Final Fantasy VIII Remaster - 9/3/2019

[Gardner McKay]

PS4, X Box One, Steam, Switch.

Click to read more...

 

[K Fleur]

I’ve tried to play this game at two different points in my life and was never able to grasp the battle system.

Maybe the third time will be the charm, or maybe I’m just dumb.

 

[Gardner McKay]

I’ve tried to play this game at two different points in my life and was never able to grasp the battle system.

Maybe the third time will be the charm, or maybe I’m just dumb.

No, you're not dumb lol. The turn base battle system was standard for most RPG's. The junctioning system... that was wildly different from any other FF ever and it was kind of a love/hate thing.

 

[The Head Crusher]

YES! Finally they give us a release date. I just wish it was before the start of school.

 

[Fandlauer]

I remember making it almost all the way through the third disk when my memory card corrupted and I was too pissed to ever start over. I think enough time has passed I'll have to give this a go.

 

[Disclose]

i really love this game.
but unless the price is right. its not necessary or worth it to spend money on better graphics that still look weird..

(if you havent played go ahead. its really among my favorite games ever)

 

[Gardner McKay]

i really love this game.
but unless the price is right. its not necessary or worth it to spend money on better graphics that still look weird..

(if you havent played go ahead. its really among my favorite games ever)

$19.99

Compared to the original, the character models are stunning. I do wish they did a little more work on the backgrounds but not a deal breaker. The fact that it has a 3x speed boost and that I love this game means it is a guarantee I will be purchasing this.

 

[member 157595]

hey guys we have this game that looks and sounds pretty but is annoying as hell to play, what do we do with it? WE REMAKE IT DECADES LATER! GREAT SUCCESS!

 

[jbell886]

i really love this game.
but unless the price is right. its not necessary or worth it to spend money on better graphics that still look weird..

(if you havent played go ahead. its really among my favorite games ever)

definitely worth it to play this game again. this was the first ff game i played and loved every minute of it

 

[Gardner McKay]

hey guys we have this game that looks and sounds pretty but is annoying as hell to play, what do we do with it? WE REMAKE IT DECADES LATER! GREAT SUCCESS!

While Final Fantasy VIII was somewhat polarizing, the battle system isn't a drastic diversion from your standard RPG of the 90's and early 2000's.

They remastered it because it is a good game.

 

[member 157595]

While Final Fantasy VIII was somewhat polarizing, the battle system isn't a drastic diversion from your standard RPG of the 90's and early 2000's.

They remastered it because it is a good game.

To each their own. I f***ing hate that game but I have no problem if others like it.

 

[Srsly]

I was a massive JRPG growing up but never really got into VIII, it’s the only traditional Final Fantasy game prior to 13 that I never played to completion. I’m intrigued by the concept of giving it a go now that it’s been remastered though. Hopefully it holds up and I manage to get sucked in this time.

I’m going to wait awhile to make sure there’s no glaring bugs at launch though. I was burned by some of the more recent PC ports of legacy SE titles

 

[RandV]

To each their own. I ****ing hate that game but I have no problem if others like it.

I'd think the point is to do a minimal amount of work to have the entire Final Fantasy library available in one universal location for everybody. Whether or not you like FFVIII it is part of the collection.

...Which I never finished either because I think somewhere in the 2nd disk my save file got corrupted.

 

[Papa Francouz]

To each their own. I ****ing hate that game but I have no problem if others like it.

I'm in the same boat with regards to FFX. Never before have I played a game with negative aspects that resonated so loudly with me and the positive aspects were things I still disliked.

 

[Shareefruck]

I feel like even though they remastered the fidelity of the models to look a bit more detailed and crisp, they also kind of changed the art style/faces in a way that looks very weird and off-brand. Squall in particular has a random Anime/Kingdom Hearts/Fire Emblem face now instead of looking like the official art.

It's not by a HUGE margin, but even though it's a technical improvement, artistically, it actually looks a bit worse to me than even the PSX version. Final Fantasy VIII is not a very good game, in my opinion, but it did have a great and distinct look and feel to it.

This is a trend that I notice happening a lot with remasters looking worse than the original, art-wise (Street Fighter II HD is the most tragic offender-- Those HD sprites are butt-ugly whereas the originals are pretty beautiful), but people always seem to care more about the fidelity upgrade and smoothness.

 

[member 157595]

I'm in the same boat with regards to FFX. Never before have I played a game with negative aspects that resonated so loudly with me and the positive aspects were things I still disliked.

I agree. It's a good game but I despise FFX as well. Liked IX.

 

[Suxnet]

One step closer to a FFT remaster.

 

[Leonardo87]

Loved FF VIII, so happy it's getting a remaster.

 

[Shareefruck]

One step closer to a FFT remaster.

I'd like a re-release on a modern console, but beyond doing a ground-up 3D remake or actual game design/balance fine-tuning, I'm not sure there's much that can be improved visually from the PSP version, personally. The game still looks excellent and would probably end up looking worse with high resolution sprites. I wouldn't mind improved backgrounds, though.

It would be cool if they made the whole game look like those War of the Lion cut scenes. In my opinion, they look better than most modern attempts at 3D Anime in games.

 

[sabresfan129103]

I remember playing the demo for this back in the day and kind of being turned off because of how long some of the battle animations took. Do we know if they added an option to speed that up?

 

[The Head Crusher]

I remember playing the demo for this back in the day and kind of being turned off because of how long some of the battle animations took. Do we know if they added an option to speed that up?

Just like the FF7 and FF9 releases they have added a speed boost option that plays all scenes at 3x speed.

 

[TheDoldrums]

The draw system is just so bad. This is where the 3x speed increase might be a huge quality of life improvement, if you can manage the menu enough while sped up to zoom through the excruciating process of filling up your magic.

It's also ridiculous how little attention and development the characters in your party receive outside of Squall and Rinoa. They're just there. I know they were focusing on a love story, but you have no reason to care about them at all.

Having got that out of the way, I still love this game. Best setpieces in a Final Fantasy, from the initial SEED exam, the train mission, the assassination attempt, to the invasion of the rival Garden...man those moments were so hype for me back then. I also have the very unpopular opinion of loving the card game. It's a lot of fun if you know how to keep the weird rules from spreading. And can save you from having to draw your magic if you refine the cards into items.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Definitely will be playing this.

 

[The Head Crusher]

The draw system is just so bad. This is where the 3x speed increase might be a huge quality of life improvement, if you can manage the menu enough while sped up to zoom through the excruciating process of filling up your magic.

It's also ridiculous how little attention and development the characters in your party receive outside of Squall and Rinoa. They're just there. I know they were focusing on a love story, but you have no reason to care about them at all.

Having got that out of the way, I still love this game. Best setpieces in a Final Fantasy, from the initial SEED exam, the train mission, the assassination attempt, to the invasion of the rival Garden...man those moments were so hype for me back then. I also have the very unpopular opinion of loving the card game. It's a lot of fun if you know how to keep the weird rules from spreading. And can save you from having to draw your magic if you refine the cards into items.

Yup, I always made sure I got and exchanged the Laguna card (IIRC) for the Hero's drinks before the final battle with Ultimacia. Invincibility for the win.

 

[BigMac1212]

I pre-ordered on the PS4. I had the non-remastered on Steam on my rig. It was nice, but my controllers were not made for the game. I'll look to find a Microsoft-brand controller at Best Buy.