FFVIII REMASTERED
Don’t you wish your GF was hot like me?
The Neverending Story and Final Fantasy ought to swap names, so terrifyingly long is the list of mainline and spinoff 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.