FINAL FANTASY VIII - REMASTERED

masterpiece

hotdogs

fun to play with friends on the other side of the country

It's pretty much the original as I remember with a few improvements. Pros: - it's FF8, with all its shortcomings - fast forward helps with battles and running around - the materia system and combat is simple but fun - love the GFs, but they become less and less useful in the late game - runs well - great for the Steamdeck Cons: - it's FF8, with all its greatness - the story is wild. - the writing is baaaad Verdict: probably the best version to play FF8 today. it's crazy but well made and the turnbased combat is simple but fun.

FF8 gets a lot of flak but it's a great addition to the franchise as long as you understand what makes it special... The BIGGEST thing to remember about FF8 is that enemies scale to your level so grinding levels early makes the game harder, not easier. The enemies will scale harder and you will not have the weapons, spells or GF skills to bridge the gap. Counter-intuitive to most JRPGs you want to keep your level as LOW AS POSSIBLE. The Junction System - Can feel overwhelming but is a core system that isn't intuitive and will take some patience to matter. The story is solid, the mechanics are unique and make every character feel special. I think FF8 gets pushed aside too easily compared to other superstars in the franchise but I think the game gets more hate than it deserves.

It's just a great game! Considering its age it's still really fun to play and the junction system gives you so much flexibility for how much you can customise each of your fighters. It's worth learning how to use it, or if you don't want to use it, just put everyone on auto - auto will totally get you through the game. The remastered models work well, I just wish Square had worked a bit on remastering the backgrounds and updating the mini games. The story is absolutely mad, embrace the madness. I love the world, the story, the characters, and the setting - not sure how Square managed to make a military academy that weaponises orphaned children into a cosy feel-good setting but here we are. This is also the only story I have ever been able to enjoy the romance in - I hate romances, but the romance is at the centre of this story, and I love it.