Final Fantasy 8 has lived in Final Fantasy 7’s shadow in near every regard, even being announced after the huge Final Fantasy 7 Remake block during the Square Enix E3 2019 press conference. But hopefully a modern release for Final Fantasy 8 will help bring it out of the shadows somewhat. Squall may never be Cloud, but he’s certainly something unique to his own. Not that he cares much either way.
For those unfamiliar, Final Fantasy 8 tells the of Squall, a military cadet who aspires to become a powerful magical mercenary. As befits the franchise, Squall’s aspirations lead him on a journey of self-realization and ultimately a quest to save the world.
One worry that persists after the announcement of Final Fantasy 8 Remastered is that Square Enix is simply going to port the 19-year old PC version of the game with little in the means of updates. This is something that Square Enix has done for other Final Fantasy ports brought from PC to consoles, largely to the disappointment of fans. There’s little argument that Final Fantasy 8 Remastered’s visuals have been updated for modern resolution standards, however. But if that’s the limit of the game’s improvements it may lead to some controversy.
It’s unfortunate, but the announcement of Final Fantasy 8 Remastered was leaked well before the announcement came through. Luckily for Square Enix 20 years of excitedly waiting for an updated version of Final Fantasy 8 likely wasn’t hampered whatsoever by a little leak.
Final Fantasy 8 releases in 2019 for the Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
