Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Review (eShop Switch)

Imagine being in the unenviable position in which Square Enix was found after the release of Final Fantasy VII in 1997. The studio had just released a game that defines the genre and that many again declare that they have not been overwhelmed and catapulted into a position that raises unrealistic expectations. Players are a notoriously capricious group to satisfy, and anything less than a game as revolutionary as Final Fantasy VII would cause waves of disappointment and complaints. Given this huge pressure, it's no wonder that Final Fantasy VIII it turned out that … well, weird as he did.

The only possible answer to the impossible question of "the future?" Was to take things in such an absurd direction that fans would simply be confused by the final product, not knowing if they liked it or not. Indeed, now that Final Fantasy VIII remastered has finally arrived on modern consoles, it's rather fascinating to see how time has treated this one. Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is certainly not the best release of this precious series, but it is also one of the most memorable and innovative episodes.

You see, Final Fantasy VIII has the kind of story that is a real dumpster campfire if you try to take it seriously, but it becomes extremely enjoyable if you step back and enjoy it all ridiculous. As an example, a completely left revelation in the game reveals that many of the main characters – including one of their teachers – all grew up in the same orphanage when they were young. forget it because the Guardian Forces (invokable entities) who live in their brains have made them lose their memory. Or, in another memorable example, the main financier of Balamb Gardens turns out to be a Goblin creature named NORG, who lives in the basement of the school and ends up arguing with Squall and his gang. Once defeated, NORG simply withdraws into a cocoon and is again rarely referenced.

The strangeness of the story also extends to game systems, which abolish the convention of the series by eliminating the bar of the MP and introducing the mechanism of "Draw". With this, you can pass the turn of a character in combat to siphon the magic of enemies, either by launching it in the same tower, or by storing it in your inventory for later use. Magic is basically a consumable item here, and it is essential to the character's growth and development. See, Final Fantasy VIII does not offer accessories and equipment that can be equipped as a standard JRPG would; instead, you "carry" magic spells to improve statistics. This is certainly an interesting idea, but unfortunately, Draw mechanics is a tedious trap that punishes you for your use of magic and encourages you to do the same repetitive actions to infinity.

Although the job system is still not found, it finds a replacement for the new Guardian Forces system. As you advance through the story, you will collect a series of monsters and deities (Ifrit, Shiva, Cactuar, etc.) that can be equipped for characters and summoned to battle for super attacks. After each victory, the guardian forces gain experience and level up regardless of your characters and can unlock new liabilities and abilities that can be transferred to other characters with this guardian strength. It is a cool system that encourages experimentation while giving you the opportunity to exchange team compositions at will. He intelligently brings back the invocations to combat after their relative darkness in Final Fantasy VII.

This being an original Final Fantasy VIII remaster, some quality of life features that have been included in most other Final Fantasy remasters are all present and explained. Unlike the original version of PSX, you can choose to triple the speed of the game, improve the members of your group and give them a maximum of health, and completely disable random meetings, all by a simple click. Essentially, Final Fantasy VIII is quite resilient in terms of pace and difficulty, but being able to hide the most unpleasant aspects of the game proves to be an absolute boon that will greatly increase your overall enjoyment.

From the point of view of the presentation, Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is certainly the most aesthetic version of the classic, although its age as a PSX title is only too apparent. The new and redesigned character models and user interface are a welcome inclusion that brings much more clarity to the aged and block look of the original, but the pre-rendered backgrounds unfortunately have not been shown the same love. In addition to the improved models, the backgrounds are painfully flat and low resolution, which creates a gap between the old and the new. We understand why this is the case – of course, Square lost the original files in the backgrounds long ago – but that does nothing to lessen the hardness of these old relics. That said, you get more familiar with the background after spending enough hours and the battle animations are always excellent.