PlayStation Magazine UK - 12.2019

087

REVIEW

INFO
FORMATPS4
ETAOUT NOW
PUBSQUARE ENIX
DEVDOTEMU,
ACCESS GAMES,
SQUARE ENIX

FINAL FANTASY VIII

REMASTERED

Don’t you wish your GF was hot like me?

T

he Neverending Story and Final Fantasy

ought to swap names, so terrifyingly

long is the list of mainline and spin-

off titles in Square Enix’s series. This

20-year-old, tidied-up chapter may be familiar

to you. Calling it a ‘remaster’ seems rather

generous, mind you; while character models

now look ten years old rather than 20, the

backgrounds are still partying like it’s 1999.

The messily pixellated environments can

occasionally obscure doorways and passageways,

not that this will be an issue for existing fans

diving in to drink in some sweet, sweet nostalgia.

In fact, let’s face it – existing fans of FFVIII

will know the experience inside and out already.

What if you missed it the first time around?

The story is primarily concerned with grumpy

teen Squall and his pals, including the familiar

cut-outs of an overenthusiastic young male (Zell)

and clumsy but supportive female (Selphie).

They’re training to become elite SeeD warriors

and, needless to say, the fate of the world soon

rests on their shoulders. While the plot takes

several unexpected turns, and the script is at

times genuinely funny, nobody in the cast ever

comes close to being well-developed. That’s a

shame, but not a huge problem.

In some respects, FFVIII was ahead of its time,

which means it’s aged surprisingly well. There’s

some mightily impressive

(though rare) action and

cutscene fusion to be found,

for example, and although it’s

identifiably an RPG, the game

will now and again throw up

a brief yet welcome deviation

from what the genre has taught

you to expect.

SELPHIE SHTICK

Combat (which is consistently

but not overly dramatic thanks

to some great direction) is

semi-turn-based, in that

enemies will continue to

attack if you dawdle in your

choices for too long. Your

most powerful attacks come

in the form of Limit Breaks,

available when a character’s

health is low, and Guardian

Forces (GF), essentially magical

creatures under your control.

What you’ll likely either love

or hate about the game is

Junctioning, whereby you draw

spells – mainly from enemies

or draw points – and then

keep them in stock to cast, or

link them to stats in order to

strengthen your characters. It’s

a complex system, but one that

is satisfying and flexible if you

put the time in to master it.

The remaster comes with

three cheats that you can

switch on and off at any

moment: 3X speed (excellent

for Benny Hill moments); no

random battles; and ‘Battle

Assist’, which gives you infinite

Limit Breaks and fully heals

your party after each turn. This

last cheat does not mean you

can ignore Junctioning and

grinding, as the final few areas

include bosses that can kill a

low-level character in a single

hit, with or without Battle

Assist. Bear that in mind, and

you’re good to go.

SQUALL OR NOTHING @Jim_Crikey

VERDICT

The graphics haven’t

had a huge upgrade,

but it still looks very

pretty on occasion.

The remastering has been

handled sloppily, and accessibility

additions are flawed, but the

game underneath still stands

proud. A good jumping-on point

for new players. Luke Kemp