FINAL FANTASY VIII - REMASTERED

Final Fantasy VIII is a role-playing video game set in a fantasy world with science fiction elements. You can download Final Fantasy VIII Remastered for many platforms, including Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.

Graphics 4/5

Final Fantasy VIII is a game with graphics that combine fantasy and realism styles. It was good in the previous versions of the game. But this is a remastered version which suggests that some improvements have to be made. However, it has some downsides. For example, backgrounds became even more blurry than they were before. And sometimes you can have your high-resolution character talking to a low-resolution one. But in general, the graphics are okay.

Gameplay 5/5

Just like the previous Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy VIII has three main modes: the world map, the battle screen, and the field map. The first one is a 3D map, which players can easily navigate. Your character can travel across the world map by foot, car, train, airship or a special creature with the ability to fly. The field map has different 2D backgrounds like towns or forests and controllable 3D characters. And the battle screen contains a 3D model of some location, where the fights take place. In the remastered version of the game, a couple of new features were added. Now it is possible to turn off random battle encounters and triple the speed of all the scenes. Also, now you can enable battle assistance. Overall, the gameplay is quite enjoyable.

Controls 4/5

Final Fantasy VIII is a single-player game. The controls are not extremely complex. Actually, the game can be as difficult or as easy as you make it. One of the new features in this remastered version is that players now can junction the Guardian Forces that they have acquired, and that gives them more freedom in battles. However, there is a poor implementation of proper controller support, which is not a very good thing.

Replay Value 5/5

Usually, action role-playing games have a high level of replayability, and Final Fantasy VIII is not an exception. Thanks to their intricate plots, different characters and high-quality graphics, role-playing fantasy games became very popular. Final Fantasy VIII is set in contemporary society with fantasy elements, advanced technology, innovative architecture and ancient sorcerers. It even has a romantic storyline. You won’t get bored with this game even when replaying it.

The Bottom Line

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered offers its players a fascinating story with some visual improvements of character models and a few new features. This version is just as enjoyable as it was 20 years ago. It is an amusing role-playing game that will surely keep you entertained.

• Graphics 4
• Gameplay 5
• Controls 4
• Replay Value 5

Pros

Enjoyable gameplay;
Interesting plot and fantasy world;
Unique battle system.

Cons

Blurry backgrounds;
Occasional lowresolution elements.