Whenever somebody asks me what my favourite Final Fantasy game is, the reply is all the time Final Fantasy VIII. It’s getting on a bit (20 years, actually) however its story of time-travelling witches, lovestruck teenagers, cannonball canine and bonkers floating navy faculties remains to be, for me, among the best issues to come back out of this endless collection.
It is, nevertheless, one of many extra attempting Final Fantasy games to get operating correctly on PC. The 2013 PC launch is, let’s face it, a little bit of a fudge. The music isn’t proper, the controls are fiddly; it’s aged horribly. Good factor, then, that in the present day marks the discharge of Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, a spruced-up, PC-friendly model that lastly does it justi– wait… What’s fallacious with these SeeD college students? And these backgrounds? And oh candy Guardian Forces WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO SQUALL’S FACE?
I perceive now why Square Enix largely centered on the game’s battle scenes and FMV sequences in that preliminary Remastered trailer, as a result of holy moly it’s a little bit of a shock whenever you really clap eyes on the remainder of it. Don’t get me fallacious. The character fashions are beautiful. You solely want to have a look at the transformation between Squall’s unique, puffy-cheeked look and his new, fairly anime physique above to see how a lot they’ve improved. Those pre-rendered backgrounds behind him, although? Those are a unique story.
In a nutshell, it looks like the builders have taken a large vat of Vaseline to Final Fantasy VIII and given it a very good previous smear. Edges have been softened, color gradients blended, and a few chunky, jagged background textures introduced into sharp, unforgiving focus. Just have a look at these two battle scenes to see what I imply.
The 2013 PC Final Fantasy VIII launch…
…versus FFVIII Remastered.
The 2013 PC model is certainly not any nice masterpiece, however I don’t know. As a lot as I really like the clear, detailed traces of each Squall and his insectoid foes within the Remastered model right here, I’m much less enamoured with regardless of the hell’s occurring with these weirdly sliced mountains within the background. The unique mountains could have pixels the dimensions of doorstops, however I’ll be damned in the event that they’re thought of ‘worse’ than the tough, virtually unfinished-looking outlines they’ve been given within the remaster.
If you suppose that’s dangerous, spare a thought for the poor SeeD college students trapped eternally of their unique mutated pixel type over within the foreground of this pre-rendered background.
Unlike class magnificence Sheila on the suitable, poor Judith had her confronted utterly erased when she failed the final discipline examination.
This is form of my greatest grievance in regards to the remaster. While every character is actually rather a lot simpler on the eyes than the 2013 launch, they simply don’t really feel as grounded of their particular person environments any extra in comparison with their blurry, misshapen classmates. Instead, they really feel like they’ve been air-lifted in from a very completely different game, robbing me from taking any satisfaction of their wonderful new ‘I can actually see your individual expressions now’ look by any means.
The worst perpetrator, although, is the overworld map. Sweet Shiva, what have they finished to the overworld map?
My eyes! They burn!
It’s instances like this once I want the Remastered model had the 2013’s ‘Original Graphic Mode’ choice, as a result of that’s in a position to flip this monstrosity above into this mildly higher monstrosity under.
This is the 2013 model in Original Graphic Mode.
Those smeary textures are changed by chunky jaggies once more, and in my eyes this provides it much more character, texture and persona. This is how I bear in mind the game trying, not buffed and blended to inside an inch of its life so it doesn’t even look actual any extra.
Having mentioned that, attempting to play mentioned 2013 model once more in 2019 is simply… properly, terrible. There are not any menu settings exterior these you possibly can choose within the preliminary launcher, so if you wish to change something or remap any of its obscure keyboard controls it’s a must to give up out and begin it up once more. The soundtrack is a synthesised abomination in comparison with the unique, and every little thing, from the character fashions to the pre-rendered backgrounds, to the horribly blown-up menu textual content, simply doesn’t seem like it’s been made for contemporary gaming monitor.
The Remastered model, then again, has higher default controls you possibly can remap on the fly, the music is the beautiful gosh-darned unique, and it has the blessed capability to hurry every little thing up by 3 times the game’s regular pace a la Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age‘s quick ahead button (to not point out the choice to show off random encounters) to assist do away with the grind.
There are sure methods you possibly can pull to make it much less smeary and get it again to the model of the game you’ve in all probability been carrying round in your head all these years like I’ve. Indeed, I’ve really loved the game much more by taking part in on a decrease decision than both 1080p or 4K. For instance, taking part in on 1280×720 (or, whisper it, 720×400). That may sound sacrilegious to some PC people, however for me it actually makes them really feel like they’re really a part of the setting once more as a substitute of floating weirdly in entrance of it.
Now THAT’s extra just like the Final Fantasy VIII that I bear in mind….
I’d additionally advocate turning the anti-aliasing off to assist get again to the unique’s barely rougher, grittier look. Although I ought to notice that even this treatment isn’t any match for that cursed overworld map. Unfortunately, that’s just about it so far as graphics choices go in Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, however not less than it’s higher than the 2013 model.
Despite having the ability to dial again the graphics to attempt to scrub it clear of all its new, clear-cut traces, I can’t assist however be a mite dissatisfied. Perhaps it’s logistically and financially unimaginable to redo the whole game with a prettier set of textures (it’s potential the Final Fantasy VII Remake is consuming up everybody’s time and assets in the intervening time), nevertheless it positive would have been good, proper? That’s the remaster I hoped for right here, not some wrinkled, stretched-out model of what it regarded like 20 years in the past.
Then once more, maybe it’s an apt search for a game whose primary villain in the end needs to destroy the world by compressing time so she will turn into one with the universe and begin afresh. Here, we see that in motion, the previous crashing headlong into the long run as a way to recreate what’s, in any case, one of the best Final Fantasy game ever made. I simply want they’d hurry it up a bit and end mentioned compression so we bought a very brand-spanking new model as a substitute.
Even in any case this, should you’re going to play Final Fantasy VIII in the present day on PC, the Remastered model is the best way to do it. It may not seem like the game you’ve held in your head all these years (or certainly the way you’d hope a remaster may look should you’re coming into it recent), nevertheless it’s a lot simpler to play than the 2013 launch, and never even Squall’s squished fringe-less overworld face can detract from the enjoyment of hitting that quick ahead button and zooming around the map like a hyperactive cactuar.
That mentioned – Final Fantasy VIII Remake when?
