Final Fantasy VIII Remastered will come with features for faster progression

By Aaron Mamiit Published June 23, 2019

The long-awaited Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, which Square Enix finally announced at E3 2019, will come with features that will enable faster progression.

Series producer Yoshinori Kitase said in an interview with Famitsu magazine that Final Fantasy VIII Remastered will integrate the features of triple speed, which will make the game run at a much faster pace; battle enhancements, which will keep all characters’ HP and ATB gauges at max and Limit Breaks always available; and no random encounters, for uninterrupted movement across maps and areas.

The features will allow players to replay the Final Fantasy VIII story without having to go through the same grind as during their first crack at the 1999 PlayStation classic RPG.

PC players will be able to enjoy additional features that will allow them to acquire all items, abilities, Limit Breaks, and triple triad cards, as well as boost GF levels, gil, and magic to maximum. The PC version will also offer highly customizable system settings, though it remains unclear what exactly this means.

Kitase did not reveal in the interview why the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch versions of Final Fantasy VIII Remastered will not come with the PC exclusive features.

Hiroshi Harada, Tomohiro Kayano, and Tetsuya Nomura, who all worked on the battle programming and character designs for the original Final Fantasy VIII, are involved in the remaster, according to Kitase. This means that the project is in good hands, which is good news for the game’s fans.

Digital Trends ranked Final Fantasy VIII among the best entries in the long-running Final Fantasy series, so gamers are hyped over the RPG’s upcoming remaster, which is set to launch within the year.

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered, however, has been overshadowed by the Final Fantasy VII Remake, which snagged the spotlight at E3 2019. Kitase, who is also producing the highly anticipated Remake, said at the annual video game event that Square Enix has no clue how many episodes the game will require, as its initial release on March 3, 2020 will only cover the story within Midgar.

While waiting for Cloud and the gang to return in the Final Fantasy VII Remake, fans of the series will at least soon have Final Fantasy VIII Remastered to keep them busy.

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