Final Fantasy VIII Remastered Is Coming To Nintendo Switch This Year

Buying, for sure~

I can't wait to spend an hour of gameplay looking for the white seed ship in HD!

Junction system its time to fall in love again

Yes, this news had completed my Final Fantasy life. This game is the missing link in my Nintendo Final Fantasy collection.

Can't wait for this game to come out. Still what a show from sqaure as they and Nintendo are forcing me to empty my wallet right now

Sounds good to me. I need more Final Fantasy in my backlog. lol

Best Final Fantasy ever. But I was waiting a remake. This remaster means that I'll have to wait more 20 years. Maybe.

@retro_player_22

Well this game and ff 12 plus ff15 for me

If this is what they announced I think I am ok that I missed the SE presentation 🙄

Now every competent mainline FF comes to Nintendo, ever since 7 was transferred to PS1. This is great news. SE is on top so far in E3.

The whole junction your GFs never made any sense at all, what a mess

One of my least favorite FF games. Never got the love.

I remember reading that Square's original files for this game were lost in time, and that's why the recent PC, etc ports were bad. Is this one of the bad ports or what?

Awesome. Now when will they remember FF1 through 6?

@Agramonte Don't be surprise if some of their other games got saved for the Nintendo presentation instead. Stuff like the Mana Collection, Octopath Traveler 2, and Dragon Quest XI S may likely get announced by Nintendo instead since Ninty may likely published those.

FF XIII coming to the Switch next?

Did they finally find the source code?

Meanwhile FF VI is still ignored and left to rot.

I hate you with a passion Squeenix.

I just 100% FFVIII on the Vita....

And I can’t wait to do it all over again on the Switch! 😍😍😍

Next: Switch ports of FFIV, FFV, and FFVI please. 🙏

@JR150 probably never and that is possibly for the best.

No, I still can't get over the absolutely horrible ports of IV and VI to Steam.

I don't think there is a single company out there that has less respect for it's own legacy than Squeenix.

Everyone got a nice facelift and had their jaggies smoothed out.

@Link41
I really really hope so. Probably in my top three Final Fantasy games.
Would love the whole trilogy, but only the original would be more than enough.

Please, original style if they ever do a FFVI port. Okay, fine, I'd be down for an Octopath-style remake (still reusing most of the original sprites), if they must.

They're gradually getting less awful at ports, I'll hold out some hope.

I think I put about 200 hours into it. I have discovered all the secrets and the history remains a mystery. Eyes on Me one of the best songs of the games and the magic farm should exist until today.

The Switch is swiftly becoming the de facto system for me to experience all Final Fantasy titles from VII to XII (ignoring XI). I have a couple of FF games backlogged but admittedly haven't played any games in the series yet. The closest I've come is with the Bravely series.

...Though I'm still determined to make III/VI on the SNES Classic my first FF game.

I never thought I would have all FF games from the 5th and 6th generations in one console, but it's shaping up to be true very soon. Now we just need XI and Tactics as a bonus.

@Snow-Dust You don't understand. This is a game that is hard to play currently, specifically because Square lost its source code. Most of us thought we wouldn't get something like this, ever. This is something to celebrate.

@retro_player_22 Wait but we already have Dragon Quest XI S announced... or You mean a date.

I just saw on Gematsu Oninaki got a date on Switch... so that is awesome 😃 checking now see what else.

@Tyranexx Go play FF X, the remastered version is an absolute blast, excellent sound quality and it's 1080p docked. That battle system is perfection.

Hard to get excited about my fav FF game coming to Switch when it's just a remaster.

@rushiosan Trust me, that one's on my "Must Buy" list. Ironically, I was just about to browse over to Play-Asia....

That's a relief!!!

So thats why 8 got skipped when they brought all those FF games.

Instant buy for me! Fits my Griever tattoo I absolutely love this game!!

Graphics look pretty poor to me.

Glad this is finally happening to so people shut up about it. One of my least favs for sure, but hey, everybody's got their thing. It was just the first one back in the day that didn't 'feel' like FF to me.

Was never really a fan of FF8, but so many people were asking for this to get a remaster and I’m happy for them lol. I did purchase 7 and 9 though!

VIII FINALLY GOT SOME LOVE!!! I freaking love this game and will be there day 1. Eyes On Me played at my wedding and it was epic. This game holds a lot of memories for me.

I'm glad this is finally filling in its missing slot amidst the other games, but I wish they'd stop being so lazy about their 'remasters'.

It might look better putting screenshots from this next to those recorded directly from the the PS1, but if you remove the hardware scaledown, this looks pretty much exactly the same as the original game. Just running the original disc through an emulator with the right settings will get you a game that looks pretty much the same as this trailer!

I'm guessing we might get higher res, smoothed ui and portraits, but the actual modes don't look to be 'remastered' in any really meaningful way.

@Agramonte Nintendo may likely announce a release date for DQ XI S and maybe some exclusive features if they hadn't already being announced yet. It might also be coincide with the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter announcement too since rumors are speculating that the next DLC fighter could likely be a Dragon Quest character.

@ChibiNinja The models are definitely a bit improved to my eye, although it looks fairly last-gen. I don't care much about graphics, but the style hasn't aged as well IMO unless it gets touched up more.

@-Juice- Played it twice on the original PlayStation, it was by far the worst FF game (mainly due to Junction). From what I can see, it’s been re-released on PSN, Steam, Xbox, on PC etc.

From what I can see on Steam right now, it is readily available for anyone to play since 2013.

The main issue is Square Enix always port/Remaster/Remix/remake their older games. Final Fantasy 1 and 2 has been ported and remade to death (what was the latest one? The mobile versions?), FF3 has a remake on the DS, FF4 has a remaster on GBA and remake on DS, 7 and 9 has been ported to everywhere, 10 has an international version and recently had the HD thing going on. KH1 and 2 have remix version, international version and also 1.5 and 2.5 or something. The world ends with Yoy have a mobile version and also extra content on switch (give me a goddam sequel to this game). Dark stalkers does not have a new game but Square was planning to make one and forced fans to buy the old games to “see if there is an audience for the game”. This conference has so many remasters. There is so many more examples but I think you get what I’m saying at this point.

another game to add to my switch collection tucks it in my cape.

This game has some issues but I'm still very glad to see it modern consoles as well. The soundtrack in this game is phenomenal, probably my favorite in the entire series.

Just need xiii and a 1-6 anthology and then I am good to go!

@Agramonte they showed more FF7 remake footage. Preorders are up now. It comes out March 3rd.

I'm excited since this was my favorite FF and I'm definitely buying it, Squall is a badass.

SUPER happy this game is coming to Switch! I can't wait to replay it!!!

Seems this fantasy is more perpetual than Final with all these remakes and phone releases.

Looking forward to this; I dropped out on disc 2 when it first launched — I’ll finally be able to complete it!

@electrolite77
Yeah, I'm honestly kinda shocked at how mediocre that Avengers game showing was. Laughably bad facial models aside, the art-style looks bland, the graphics don't look that great (especially for a non-Switch game developed by the company who made some fantastic-looking Tomb Raider games), the character roster looks to be limited in order to promote GAAS, and gameplay was MIA. I didn't think I'd say this, but I think I prefer MAU3.

Fortunately, FFVII Remake looked amazing. FFVIII Remasetered, the SaGa localizations, and the Last Remnant Remastered were also pretty nice announcements.

That mismatched font on the HP numbers though...

Any word on whether it's a physical edition or not? I feel like if it's a remastered game it may be easier to put out digitally? I dunno ....I have only bought X and X-2 so far. Love physical editions of games.

FF 8 has always been my favourite FF cannot wait to play through this again

Bring VI and Tactics and we’ll talk!

@Agramonte it was the best presentation so far just most of it wasn't for Switch

Even though I dislike the characters and its way too easy. There is something I like about this one.

Glad it's finally getting some kind of release this gen.

Pitty that level up is screwed in this one. There is absolutely no need to level that much. That's the only thing that annoyed me about this one. A game I passed right away. Don't take away the old school level up where it matters the more you level up the easier it gets. Let the player decides if they want to level up or not. To me that's why this is aint a RPG. just adventure game with rpg elements. you level up... so will monsters. So why bother? Just give new equipment finishing a chapter so that will give you a boost. One of the worse FF game ever!

btw you don't have to like what I see. This is my opinion

This is the one I have the softest spot for, I can't wait for this, or the Nintendo conference!

This game annoys the hell out of me, after beefing up Rinoa, whos limits are the best with her doggie. You can't even use her in the final battle it was just stupid. Also, you got paid every so often so you didnt need to fight to get gil.
Yes the card game was addictive though. But you shouldn't just play a game for a mini game (even though I kinda got addicted to Blitzball on FFX when you can first play it)

Also FFVIII reminds me of Charlie's Angels because when Drew Barrymore is running around naked (after "being shot" and falling out of the bad guys flat) there is two boys playing a computer game together, but unfortunately it is FFVIII which is a single player game.

Should I play FFXII on PS4 or Switch? Portability for such a massive RPG is quite tempting

I still can't believe we have 7,8,9,10 and 12 on Switch.

F-ing Finally VIII! Hope this will shut up everyone who insisted it's impossible to port/remaster FF8.
Can't wait for this, best news of all E3 <3

My feelings about this can be summed up with OMFGYESPLEASE.

I haven't bought 7 and 9 yet, but I'm going to buy this the second I get on the eShop after release. It's a weird game but it's very high on the nostalgia must have list.

Jackpot. After all the tales of possible asset loss, I leaned towards imagining FFVIII on 3DS if anywhere Nintendo - although I wasn't bothered much since the game did happen on Vita in the region I use, too. But this is great news. One of my top fave FF flagships to date... and one that hereby only leaves me to continue pining for XIII trilogy on Switch before this console officially brings Square Enix's past home up to date with almost all the FF flagships of single player variety. Or technically ALL of the flagships, even if I wasn't sold on Pocket Edition.😆 (no, seriously, if they simply converted ALL the content to chibi graphics, there are good odds I'd bite, but a digest of an open world JRPG is a bit beyond my interest threshold)

I’m playing FFVIII right nog on Vita. It’s magic system is a mess where you farm all kinds of magic. It’ll be attached to your stats (I know, it sounds nuts) so the minute you start using your magic (as you do in an RPG) your stat is going down and your character becomes permanently weaker. Random encounter rate is in my opinion way to high and you don't get gil after a random encounter. You get gil after taken about 24 000 steps and the amount of gil you get is determined after how many school exams (!) you've taken, and it is also calculated after how much you're using summons in fights (in the game called GF); the more you're using them, the less gil you're getting. It only adds up to you spamming "Attack" in every battle and not using GF or magic. The enemy levels scales to your party so the more you level up and become stronger, the same happens to every enemy around you. This causes you not to explore the areas so that you not trigger random encounters (and level up).

What an up-side-down-RPG.

However it IS a cool experiment by Square so it’s nice to see that it’s being remasterd.

I'll be all over this

Great news!! I wanted to give a chance to this great game!!

@Lameborghini handheld is my go to for RPGs these days, since the psp really, I find it more immersive that way and more convenient for chipping away at. I'd go Switch all day long if it was me, I held out on the PS4 version hoping for it to come to switch and I'm glad I did

Whatever...

(Honestly though, really excited. It was the first FF game I played and I have really great memories about it. The PC version came on like... four or five CDs? Those were the times.)

Woohoo! About time, yay!

I love having a hacked Switch. Some good free games coming up soon.

Wouldn’t be great to have Squall as a Smash DLC fighter, bringing more ff battle tracks to the game. Waaay better than minecraft guy for sure.

and it looks AMAZING!, i'll be getting this on PS4 AND XB1 plus once i get my Switch i will be getting it on there too

I LOVE FFVIII and if supporting this means the possibility of getting more classic FF Remasters then i will buy every version i can

@kuromantic because that would mean having to redo every CG movie and that would not only add to the time to make the game but also the cost

Great! One of the best announcements in this whole E3.
Now I can have nearly all the best FFs on Switch.

Played this game way back in 2001. For those who haven't do yourself a favor and buy it.

@Snow-Dust It's not a remaster, but a remake. The game is not just upgraded on a technical level, but it is changed in terms of design - just look at the combat mechanics - but also expanded upon in terms of content. Basically, it's the same world and the same characters recontexualised for a modern audience, while still maintaining (hopefully, but after their presser I'm really optimistic here) what made the game work in the first place.

So, no, definitely not a remaster, hell, re-invisioning might be the most appropriate way to call it. If you liked the classic FF games, like up to X or so I guess, you should check it out imho. I like how the game looks like an action game, and has this sense of dynamic to its combat, but its actually still playable in a strategic, "round-based" (ATB) fashion. Being able to switch between characters on the fly via button press should make it flow really nice, and in a way the original actually never did. To me this is about the most promising thing to come out of FF in a long, long time.

We'll see how it ultimately shakes out, but this, Elden Ring and Tokyo Ghostwire are so far my most anticipated games out of this E3. And the latter two just for the insane, stupendous talent behind them. I'm currently playing Sekiro, imho the finest game From Softwar ever made, topping out the amazing Bloodborne > Dark Souls > Demon Souls series, missing really only two things: better performance/ frame pacing and memorable characters. The former will hopefully be addressed with their next game (Sekiro is still their best looking and performing game to date despite some issues) and the latter will hopefully be addressed by the involvement of George RR Martin, who clearly as knack of writing characters one can loath as well as empathize with.
Ghostwire Tokyo is similar a no-brainer to me, seeing how good The Evil Within was (best atmosphere I experienced since Alan Wake) and how much of an improvement The Evil Within 2 was upon that ... if Ghostwire Tokyo even remotely continues this trend, it will be another absolute gem by the one great Shinji Mikami.

So yeah, not naming FFVII Remake lighlty in this prestigous company, but it sure looked like a showstopper to me. In general though, I do agree that there are to many remasters happening. Thats not a bad thing per se, but it depends on their quality and quantity, as far as remakes go ... Resident Evil 2 was really, really good and very much welcome. If FF VII turns out this good or even better ... bring on the remakes is all I can say then.

The first FF I have ever played. What bothers me is the fact of digital only. That is keeping me away from ffvii.

If they release this in physical form, then may have to check it out. Digital only would be a no-no for me.

Then why don't they do that to Final Fantasy VII too ? SMH!

Ehhh. I have others more important to me on the must purchase list.

@EchoNemesis a remaster is f this game is extremely unlikely as it is far from iconic in the series (any of the others from the I-X is more likely to go after VII)

@KimBread you can bet this is the pc port lol. Is it worse than the other pc ports? Or is still the music issue?

FINALLYYYYYYY!!! THE BEST FF!!! JEEEEEEEEEJ!!!

@Lameborghini FF XII looks and plays great on switch (it really depends if you care much about above 1080p res)

I heard stories that this games original code was lost to time and that's the reason it was never re-released or remastered. So glad to see SE put in the effort to restore this one.

This is the only FF game I disliked (even though I finished it). Apart from the card game everything is a mess.
However I will still get in and give it a go. It may be that after almost 20 years my opinion changes (but efff squall...)

FINALLY! Will pre-order ..... "IF" physical.
But it likely won't be, judging by 7 & 9.

A while back, I figured that these games would never launch on Nintendo, so I watched a playthrough of one of them on YouTube. That game was Final Fantasy XIII, the only main offline FF game not announced for Nintendo now

@FreeRPGer 7 and 9 were ports, this is at least a Remaster. There's hope

@Lameborghini FFXII on Switch has some improvements from the PS4 version. Most crucially, it allows you to change classes instead of permanently locking you in once you pick one. You also have multiple gambit profiles to customize in the Switch release.

hope it comes out before 2099

@Dragonilm Actually, there is an ability that one of the GFs, Diablo, could learn that halves the encounter rate or eliminate it altogether.

As for the magic-stat situation, yes, if that magic is junctioned and you use it, that particular stat where the magic is junctioned decreases. You just draw that particular magic again from specific enemies. So I would say, from that standpoint, the stat change is not permanent.

Late game, though, assuming that one has a solid understanding of the junction system and one has done the necessary weapon upgrades, one must learn not to rely on using magic and summoning GFs to cripple or defeat enemies. (Although Doomtrain is excellent for causing status effects like Meltdown which turns enemy vitality to 0.) Limit breaks are preferred.

It sounds like you didn’t get accustomed to the finer mechanics of the game. Which is cool. Your points could be important to players about to play the game for the first time.

However, my point is that FFVIII is not as much of a mess as some people claim for it to be. In fact, an argument can be made that the game mechanic is actually well thought out.

Never played FF VIII but I did look up the junction system because of the comments here and I think it's going to be a pass for me.

@Bunkerneath Sorry, what you posted is factually incorrect. Players can use Rinoa during the final battle.

3 characters will be chosen at random. But it doesn’t mean Rinoa cannot be used.

It’s all the more important then that each character is prepared.

Just what I wanted, a 20+ year of game on my brand new console 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

Our late, great K8 was obsessed with FF Viii!. She was 13 when it came out; just the right age for the romance of it. I think Squall was her first crush. I got her the necklace.

I'm happy for this one.

@Ralek85 first paragraph, are we talking about FF7 or FF8 here? Cause FF8 is definitely a remaster, it even says in the total of this article. In order for anything to be a remake, it needs to be built from the ground up like NES FF > GBA FF > PSP FF and so all music, graphics, environment, text etc are all different. No matter how you look at FF8, it is at most a glorified port, I hardly call it a remaster.

Now I just read your second paragraph and you are definitely taking about FF7, sorry but you’re in an FF8 article. So yes, FF7 is a remake but not FF8.

In terms of what’s getting me hyped, I feel ya on Ghostwire Tokyo, there is no gameplay footage yet sadly but the concept is nice so far. My other hyped game is Doom Eternal.

@Franz Sorry, I meant when you go forward in time and have to battle the dragons to release the action menus

@Snow-Dust Lol someone's bitter

@Alucard83 100% truth. Ruined the game. Level up too much? Game impossible to win now, start over.

This is exactly what I was hoping for

@mikegamer Bitter that there is no FF9-2

@Snow-Dust Sorry 'bout that, I somehow got my wires ... er tabs crossed I guess. No argument about this FF VIII "8" being a remaster obviously Maybe I just got too little sleep the last couple of days with E3 and being on CET time here ... dunno, sorry again for the mix up.

Anyways, FF VII "7" DOES look really amazing ^^, and great to hear that Ghostline Tokyo has you interested as well. I hear you on Doom, Bethesda really has a run with Doom and Wolfenstein as well. Some of the best shooters I played (period), plus they are doing a really good job of bringing these games to the Switch, even though I myself prefer them on a beeefier platform like the XBX for instance.

I'm normally quick to condemn cinematic E3 trailers without any gameplay to back them up, but in the case of Ghostline, I felt like the actual presentation was truly ... well, genuine and heartwarmingly entertaining in her own right, so I can let that slip this once Plus, like mentioned, we know for a fact, that Mikami and his team can back-up any hype their creating with the actual product. He proved himself over and over again since his Clover days - even without the aid of Inaba - this goes double for anything action-horror-survival related. That's just his field of expertise where he comfortably reigns supreme imho. Also, Ikumi Nakamura was just cute as button on that stage

Ugh why? Has to be the worst ff since 4

I certainly hoped it'd come, once they announced the others.... Now for the FFXIII trilogy!

Finally!!! Square Enix remembers Final Fantasy VIII !!!

Don't believe the haters – FFVIII is an awesome Final Fantasy. It's my favorite in the series, and I've played every numbered entry except 3 and 5.

As Squall would say: "..."

IV is good too, and also has a pseudo local co-op where multiple players can control different characters in battle.

I wonder if anyone else remembers FF7 Crisis Core?

@Snow-Dust We don't need one, FFX-2 is enough to prove that -2 sequels are trash

@KimBread It's a remaster, not a straight port. They don't need the original source code to make this.

@Snow-Dust but ff8 was one that has never gotten a rerelease

@Daidman on Steam since 2013.

I hope we are also getting the sound bug we all love so much 😂😂😂

final fantasy 7 and 9 where not remastered and this one is, and I think its remastered for current gen as well this is a day one for sure. I wait for the switch version I won't buy it on ps4 cause of you know the whole portable thing.