Final Fantasy 8 Remastered
Developed by: Square Enix
Published by: Square Enix
Man, what’s there to say about this game? I just finished my first play-through since the 90s when I was a kid and it still holds up.
The remastered version contains enhanced character models and some QOL gameplay modifiers that can also be found in the FF7 remaster. The modifiers are 3x speed, no encounters, and max health in battles.
The gameplay is the biggest source of controversy when it comes to Final Fantasy 8. People seem to either love it or hate it. While you're able to level up your characters in Final Fantasy 8 like other Final Fantasy games or RPGs this game is designed to encourage the player to NOT level up. The game wants the player to strengthen their party members by mastering the junction and Guardian Forces (GF) ability system.
In Final Fantasy 8, GFs can learn abilities, such as no random enemy encounters, HP+20%, Speed+20% and so on. These abilities alongside junctioning magic make the players party stronger. Let me explain "junctioning." GFs give the player the ability to “junction” or “add” magic that is extracted from enemies (primarily) onto your party members to raise their stats, their HP, speed, etc. The lower level you are, and the better magic you have junctioned the stronger your party will be. Furthermore, to explain why this game encourages the player to not level up is the fact that enemies level up with your character and party member. They gain more health, more powerful attacks and can be extremely frustrating. Grinding is definitely not encouraged in the traditional sense in Final Fantasy 8. It can take multiple play throughs to fully understand the junction system if you’re playing the game blind and without a guide. It is NOT for everyone.
With that being said Final Fantasy 8 has a fantastic cast of characters, a sometimes crazy, and absurd plot that is filled with great moments of character development and sentimentality. The soundtrack is incredible and I’d say under-rated and under appreciated, and the cut scenes are still impressive to this day when you consider the fact that the original Final Fantasy 8 was a PS1 game.
My biggest frustration while playing Final Fantasy 8 was the controls. Multiple times I found myself traveling in a direction I wasn’t pressing, and in moments where I had to search an environment for an item the sensitivity to where I had to stand to find the item was incredibly annoying. It felt like I had to be pixel perfect and multiple times I just ended up spamming the x button over and over again until I located the item I was looking for.
Overall, this is a quality remaster. Completionist will have an easier time playing Final Fantasy 8 Remastered than they did playing the original back on the PS1. Hours normally spent grinding GF abilities or Triple triad cards will be greatly reduced if the player use the 3x speed feature. Players will also find the no random encounters and max health features useful if they're not playing the game for the challenge and just want to experience the story.
To wrap things up I beg people to give this game a chance. It is a severely under-rated game.
Pros:
The Triple triad card mini game still holds up
QOL improves such as 3x speed
Soundtrack and story
The characters
Cons:
The controls,
The junction system isn’t for everyone
Story (it’s divisive, people either love it or hate it)
Played on: Xbox Series X, purchased digitally via the Xbox store on sale.
Review score: 4/5
Developed by: Square Enix
Published by: Square Enix
Man, what’s there to say about this game? I just finished my first play-through since the 90s when I was a kid and it still holds up.
The remastered version contains enhanced character models and some QOL gameplay modifiers that can also be found in the FF7 remaster. The modifiers are 3x speed, no encounters, and max health in battles.
The gameplay is the biggest source of controversy when it comes to Final Fantasy 8. People seem to either love it or hate it. While you're able to level up your characters in Final Fantasy 8 like other Final Fantasy games or RPGs this game is designed to encourage the player to NOT level up. The game wants the player to strengthen their party members by mastering the junction and Guardian Forces (GF) ability system.
In Final Fantasy 8, GFs can learn abilities, such as no random enemy encounters, HP+20%, Speed+20% and so on. These abilities alongside junctioning magic make the players party stronger. Let me explain "junctioning." GFs give the player the ability to “junction” or “add” magic that is extracted from enemies (primarily) onto your party members to raise their stats, their HP, speed, etc. The lower level you are, and the better magic you have junctioned the stronger your party will be. Furthermore, to explain why this game encourages the player to not level up is the fact that enemies level up with your character and party member. They gain more health, more powerful attacks and can be extremely frustrating. Grinding is definitely not encouraged in the traditional sense in Final Fantasy 8. It can take multiple play throughs to fully understand the junction system if you’re playing the game blind and without a guide. It is NOT for everyone.
With that being said Final Fantasy 8 has a fantastic cast of characters, a sometimes crazy, and absurd plot that is filled with great moments of character development and sentimentality. The soundtrack is incredible and I’d say under-rated and under appreciated, and the cut scenes are still impressive to this day when you consider the fact that the original Final Fantasy 8 was a PS1 game.
My biggest frustration while playing Final Fantasy 8 was the controls. Multiple times I found myself traveling in a direction I wasn’t pressing, and in moments where I had to search an environment for an item the sensitivity to where I had to stand to find the item was incredibly annoying. It felt like I had to be pixel perfect and multiple times I just ended up spamming the x button over and over again until I located the item I was looking for.
Overall, this is a quality remaster. Completionist will have an easier time playing Final Fantasy 8 Remastered than they did playing the original back on the PS1. Hours normally spent grinding GF abilities or Triple triad cards will be greatly reduced if the player use the 3x speed feature. Players will also find the no random encounters and max health features useful if they're not playing the game for the challenge and just want to experience the story.
To wrap things up I beg people to give this game a chance. It is a severely under-rated game.
Pros:
The Triple triad card mini game still holds up
QOL improves such as 3x speed
Soundtrack and story
The characters
Cons:
The controls,
The junction system isn’t for everyone
Story (it’s divisive, people either love it or hate it)
Played on: Xbox Series X, purchased digitally via the Xbox store on sale.
Review score: 4/5