Announced a mere two months ago at E3 2019, the long-due Final Fantasy VIII remaster now has a firm release date, and it’s just around the corner.
Square Enix has announced the remaster will release on September 3 — just two weeks away. The game is currently up for pre-order, and it will be available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One for $19.99.
Square also unveiled a release date trailer for the game, which can be seen at the top of this article.
Although Final Fantasy VIII isn’t getting the full remake treatment a la Final Fantasy VII, the game’s graphics do appear much improved over its PS1-era potato pixels. Square recently shared a GIF on Twitter showing the improvements to the game’s character models, while also embracing a long-running joke about the game.
😍😍😍 pic.twitter.com/7e0cNgOeZg
— FINAL FANTASY (@FinalFantasy) August 13, 2019
Aside from updated graphics, the game will also see a handful of gameplay improvements, some of which are sure to make some FFVIII detractors a tad bit happier with the final product. According to the PlayStation Blog, the remastered version of the game will feature:
- Battle Assist: Activate this booster to max out HP and ATB bars – and trigger Limit Breaks at any time. You will lose all HP when you get hit by a critical attack that gives more damage than your HP, or by lethal damage.
- No encounters: Want to explore without fear of attack? Activate this option to turn off random encounters. Event battles must still be done in order to advance the story.
- 3x speed boost: Accelerates time by a factor of three – perfect if you want to speed through easy battles or get somewhere in a hurry. This feature will not apply to certain scenes including movies.
Those who pre-order the game on PS4 will get an exclusive FFVIII theme. Xbox One players can pre-order the game here, although no pre-order bonus or exclusive is currently available. As of this writing, the game is not yet available for pre-purchase on Steam.
Final Fantasy VIII first released in 1999 on the original PlayStation. Although players later ridiculed the game for its story and some of its gameplay mechanics, it sold incredibly well at the time, shifting more units faster than any other Final Fantasy title before it.
