Dotemu "Honored" To Team Up With Square Enix For Remastered Version Of Final Fantasy VIII

Been waiting years for this. Only made it half way through my first go around. Time to finish it!

Still hoping for a Android port later after all this like FF7 and FF9.

Dotemu also ported FFVII and FFIX, both of them suffer from bugs that weren't there in the original versions. I hope they have learned, as a patch was released for FFVII, but we'll see...

DotEmu is fantastic at these sorts of things. Their ports of Final Fantasy VII and IX were pretty good, although they both suffered from a minor music bug. Although it was fixed, so I think they learned from the mistake. Either way, their other games are awesome. The Windjammers port is amazing and I got to play Streets of Rage 4 at PAX East (Spoiler: It was awesome)

The only thing dividing Final Fantasy VIII from being a perfect game is a missing restriction for usage of GF.

This is one of least favorite FF entries but still decent enough to pick up again. Maybe this will mean dotemu can eventually remaster Brave Fencer Musashi :]

I can play this with the original release on ps1, or an old computer, or several systems through psn. I could even play it in Japanese, as I bought the import. But, that all seems like a bunch or work to me, and I haven’t replayed this in like 7 years. I’m super excited! It will feel back home on Nintendo! With the correct button layout you!

I know this game divided fans, but it sits at the top of my favorite games of all time! (There are probably a half dozen games up there, and they take turns being top dog .)

Plus, I believe the end boss to be one of, if not the best FF villain!

I hope the FFs don’t stop coming, most of the first 6 are all solid!

Okay, I’ll stop now

Lizard Cube are the developers of Wonder Boy's Dragon Trap remake and SoR4. DotEmu are the publishers.

@BlackenedHalo none of the other games restrict summons (well maybe XV) so why should VIII?, yeah they don't need MP but they have a summon time and a life bar, your summon can actually be KO'd before you even get to summon it if your not careful so it's not like they are insta wins or break the game

(Rubbing genie's lamp)
I wish.....
FF VIII Remastered and also FF IX will have physical release for ALL version (Switch, Xbox One and PS4) !

@BlackenedHalo
Btw, in FF VIII, if you use your GF during Griever battle, your GF will be banished just like Seymour Flux (FF X) did to your Aeons.

I love FFVIII but the one thing I am not a fan of is the Level scaling of the game where the enemies get stronger as you level.

If they somehow manage to make this not a thing in the remaster then I would be super happy but since it is one of the core things when the devs where making the game I don't see it happening.

I’m so pleased. Dotemu are very talented and I have confidence in them. This remaster is my favorite game happening this year as it’s my favorite jrpg of all time.

The game is good, but not that good...

I hope this doesn’t have the music bug FF7 had and that FF9 still has.

More relevant: they also ported FFVII & IX

I love FF8, it was my first real RPG.

Just wish it got more love, FF7 is overrated imo.

Fix the level up system please. It doesn't really matter if you level up or not. You still can be killed at some battles in 1 blow. Most useless level up in FF game. Such a pitty. That's why I can't play this game. I play RPG because I love to level up. I love the feeling that i'm progressing and getting stronger. For this one if you like the story go for it

@FrowningCoach exactly

My favourite ff game, hope they do it justice. I play it regularly on my psp and vita.

Hopefully they'll add options to change some settings for game mechanics. I found that the game gets much better if you get more magic with each draw, since the normal amount makes amassing magic a real chore.

Cya
Raziel-chan

@FullbringIchigo
"our summon can actually be KO'd before you even get to summon it" ...theoretically, but practically? it never happens

No other games restricts summons? In FF9 only Garnet is able to use them and they cost a lot of MP, in FF7 you can use them only when you have the right Materia and they cost a lot of MP...in 8 you have absolutely no restriction and you can use them freely from the very begining of the game

@Razzy While i would love it, you cannot have it in a remaster. Such things are possible to have in remakes

@Anti-Matter ..Griever battle? you mean the final battle of the game? and so? you beat Ultimecia, you finish the game, it does not matter if your GFs disappear

@Alucard83 you are getting stronger by improving your skills via magic if that is not an RPG then what is? It is just not focused on leveling, tho leveling up improve your characters a bit

@SilentHunter382 that is why you can use the LV Down ability

I don’t mean to be a contrarian, but I didn’t mind the leveling system. I actually like it when, despite your level, random enemies could still kill you—especially that underground place where you fight the Ultimate Weapon. You are forced to be on your toes.

Not really "feeling" all of this remastered nonsense, just make a new game, but originality died years ago, that's supported by the number found behind almost every title these days...New ideas r thin on d ground.

@Alucard83 The leveling problem and the problem with becoming too strong even at the beginning of the game can be fixed easily:

The max amount of drawn magic at a moment should be determined by your level. The leveling would have finally a sense and it would control the balance.

@Sim1 I disagree. This is a fantastic game which looks really bad on today's FHD, 4K monitors.

@Franz yeah, that is good

Japanese developers used to exist in this sort of walled garden that was wholly separated from the West. That looks to be changing with companies like Square and Nintendo actively cultivating relationships with western studios. This will be great for gaming.

I need this game YESTERDAY. Love it so much. My wife and I even played Eyes On Me at our wedding. Just so many great memories tied with this one.

@BlackenedHalo
The concept of Summon Beast on each Final Fantasy are different each other.
In FF 7 & 8, they were like pets. Whoever can summon them.
In FF 9, only Garnet and Eiko can summon since the Eidolon is the key of the story.
In FF 10, Aeons are really scary concept. To become an Aeon, you must sacrifice yourself to be sealed in temple to become fayth. When fayth is dreaming, the summoner can call them to summon the Aeon, but when the fayth stop dreaming, you cannot summon them anymore and the fayth will turned into stone. And to defeat the Sin, the summoner must give their life to summon the Final Aeon to defeat the Sin.... for temporary. The Yu Yevon inside the old Sin will join in the Final Aeon and creates a new Sin for eternity.

@Anti-Matter And your post is related to my opinion that GFs should be somehow restricted how?

@Razzy improve your Spirit statistic and then you can easily drawn magic by 9

@BlackenedHalo so could Yuna in FFX but that's because they were part of the narrative just like in FFVIII (yes i know they were in IX too but they were meant to only be accessible later in the game also fun fact if you have the patience to do it you can actually level up Dagger when she first joins the party and use summons then too, they were only locked out because she didn't have enough MP) where as in most other FF's they were just an ability

@Anti-Matter you know what's sadder, the one for Bahamut was just a kid

FFX had a lot of sad themes

@BlackenedHalo
Um...
I mean restricted rules for GF in FF VIII like this.
Whoever can summon GF.
BUT.... the GF only can be summoned by one people. Two peoples Cannot summon the same GF at the same time. For example, if you have gave Shiva to Quistis, Squall CANNOT summon Shiva since Shiva has been junctioned to Quistis.

Summon in FF 7 were pretty different case with FF 8. Whoever can summon the SAME Summon Beasts since in FF 7, the Summon materia can be reborn aka duplicated when its leveled up to Master. So, i can make Cloud summon Shiva then followed by Aerith to summon Shiva again with same speed.

In FF 8, you can give the GF to whoever but the speed summonning will be different depend on which character you gave. It called GF affection. In exchange, GF will cover you from any damage with their HP instead during summoning time so if your GF HP = 0, you cannot summon them until their HP is not Zero.

@FullbringIchigo
But i saw Bahamut's fayth was like muscular man sealed inside the emblem with feathered wing accesories.
The concept of Summoner's pilgrimace in FF X was kinda sad and ironic.
The summoner keep sacrificing their life to become the Final Aeon and Sin still reborn for eternity.

Oh, btw...
FF X itself already talked about Death and Reborn cycle, unsent souls turned into fiends, Restriction of using machina according to Yevon teaching, etc.

Hoping for XIII and then the modern series will be complete!

Have faith it will be a good port ,but just glad this entry can be getting remastered for this generation

@Anti-Matter yeah but that little kid in the purple top that keeps showing up is his fayth so who knows but the Bahamut we see is a kid so i think that's his true form besides aint the fayths people turned to stone part way through transforming into a Aeon because that's what the statues look like so i think he was a kid but as he transformed his body aged

@spyro202 DotEmu did the (excellent) phone and tablet ports of Ys I and Ys II, so I’d say there is a very good chance of FFVIII heading to mobile too. Also, when has Square Enix ever turned its nose up at releasing something on yet another platform?

I hate those characters models, too much childish for nothing.

Alright, who wants a remaster of Final Fantasy V next?

If ffvii remake is successful maybe they will remake this one for a 2037 release.

@Marshmallow you know they are all teenagers right?

@Anti-Matter
You are describing perfectly why I finished FFX back in the day, loved it, but understood virtually none of it!

@Anti-Matter yeah FFX is a gem, it tells a deep story with a message... they dont make games like this anymore

Still hoping for a physical release for final fantasy 7, 9 and now 8 as well. I want them all next to 12 and 10, and my gba copies of 1&2, 4, 5, 6 and the DS' 3 and 4.

@Tyranexx I am someone who loves the game (except the one thing I mentioned earlier) but I do agree with things people hate about the game and can agree why they hate it but that doesn't bother my enjoyment of the game.

20 years... feel old yet?

@FullbringIchigo Yes but check how cool they were BEFORE

@BlackenedHalo "The max amount of drawn magic at a moment should be determined by your level. The leveling would have finally a sense and it would control the balance"

I do agree with this point, particularly as Squall can very easily become overpowered very early on. As for the GF's I rather liked using them often and didn't mind this at all. This was probably my favourite of the series from the PS1, I loved VII and its story is definitely better but I enjoyed the gameplay more in this one, so I'm very much looking forward to playing this again

I wish they would fix the frame rate for once. If a game has super angular low polygon characters it should at least run nicely at 60fps. Getting a physical release would be great too!

@Tyranexx the level scaling has its sense...higher level versions of monsters drop better and more valuable items for weapons' creation

Can't wait to see how the pre-rendered backgrounds look. Hope they're able to upscale them properly.

@RazumikhinPG I am a bit worried as they did not show them in the trailer

For the love of onions, please don't screw up the world map music this time. I mean, it's arguably the worst of the world map themes but still, get it right this time and I might actually buy it. And FF7.

@BlackenedHalo and give you access to higher level Magic too

@RazumikhinPG well you can kind of see them in this pic

and there has been some work done but that is just one picture so you can't say if that's representative of the entire game but chances are they are

@Onion well they are using the original PSX music so it should be fine

@FullbringIchigo oh wow, thank you! That looks quite decent, I'm happy. This is my favourite FF and one of my favourite games of all time, can't wait to play it on the go <3

@FullbringIchigo you cannot say if the pre rendered backgrounds were improved as the resolution of the screens is too small

@BlackenedHalo true but you can see extra detail on the wall to the right AND there are more and better shadows so i think it's safe to say some work has been done of them but as for how much, who knows

and i admit the image posted here is a bit small but the original is bigger and you can see more detail in it

im so excited for this!

@FullbringIchigo

Wow those screens actually look really good.

@FullbringIchigo that is not any extra detail, you just can see more of the wall on the right picture, but yeah the shadows look better, it looks as if the backgrounds were darker now