Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

 Switch
User Score
7.2

Mixed or average reviews- based on 90 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 56 out of 90
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 90
  3. Negative: 19 out of 90

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  1. VTL
    Nov 21, 2019
    3
    Me jode ponerle esto a un juego de 10... pero este "remaster" a 20 € en un juego de 20 años y que salga roto y con bugs (al menos a mi) que directamente te hacen parar el juego porque es impossible continuar.... deberia haberse corregido YA !!! Square arregla esta joya !!
  2. hero28306
    Nov 16, 2019
    0
    Tiene un bug que hace que el juego pete en español y sea injugable y en meses que lleva ya son incapaces de subir ningún parche vergonzoso
  3. vodkaffee
    Dec 13, 2019
    1
    oh. wow square deleted my 2/10 rating. why? idk. but now is a 1/10.
    this game is a FRAUD. it is NOT a remaster. it looks awful. thats why the trailers do not show gameplay except for zoom ins of the new models which look horrible against the background that are CLEARLY not remastered.
    Edit: You can still buy the original verison on steam by 5 usd less and it has the chocobo walker and    oh. wow square deleted my 2/10 rating. why? idk. but now is a 1/10.
    this game is a FRAUD. it is NOT a remaster. it looks awful. thats why the trailers do not show gameplay except for zoom ins of the new models which look horrible against the background that are CLEARLY not remastered.

    Edit: You can still buy the original verison on steam by 5 usd less and it has the chocobo walker and original models and scenarios, is literrally the same game but better, just map the controls..    … Expand
  4. BeeSting1
    Jan 1, 2021
    4
    A unique system, with poor explanation.

    The Good: - Story and characters good - amazing music - amazing graphics for its time -------------------- The Bad: - This game has a unique battle system. You can draw magic from enemies and use it. Magic is limited, and you can assign magic to your player. There's one tutorial at the very beginning that explains this. You can't    A unique system, with poor explanation.

    The Good:

    - Story and characters good

    - amazing music

    - amazing graphics for its time

    --------------------

    The Bad:

    - This game has a unique battle system. You can draw magic from enemies and use it. Magic is limited, and you can assign magic to your player. There's one tutorial at the very beginning that explains this. You can't revisit this tutorial. Naturally, I didn't remember exactly how it went, so there I was confused as ****. I eventually picked up on it, but the real problem was having to draw magic from monsters. If you need a certain spell, you need to farm it off monsters. This was tedious. There's also no indication of what magic can be drawn where.

    - I missed a lot of GFs because the game gave no indication that you're supposed to draw them from certain enemies. LACK of information.

    - ATB does not work well with the drawing function, because sometimes you want to see if there's anything worthwhile to draw. But that takes up time, meaning the opponent can attack you sooner. This discourages drawing, especially with bosses, whom you want to select your commands quickly to deal damage more quickly.

    - The menus can block the target selection for your attack and spells. This was a visual annoyance.

    - Finding the location of your next objective can be really ambiguous at times (e.g. Esthar ship). I found myself running across the world map just looking for where to go at times. No clues or anything after you missed the last dialogue box of the conversation with the person telling you where to go next.

    - Not being able to go over cliffs with Balamb garden was extremely annoying. I understand it's part of the progression design, but it was none the less annoying to just circle islands just to find that dinky shore line where I can hover over. Also you couldn't fast travel with it. Getting the Ragnarok was a blessing, but that is late into the game.

    - reorganizing the magic in the menu was extremely unintuitive. You have two separate windows to place the magic, when it would have been much simpler to use one window. It was unnecessarily difficult.

    - Having to switch Junctions every time was tedious. The game could have just transfered the junction over automatically every time your party changed.

    - GF cutscenes could not be skipped. They are lengthy and break the pace of the game. GFs are powerful and I used them often, making the battles very slow and annoying.

    - It can be difficult to tell where you can go in some of the pre-rendered backgrounds. I found myself walking into walls often just to see if it was another entrance.

    ---------------------

    Note:

    - To be fair, this game came out 20 years ago, so perhaps the negative points I've stated weren't glaring issues at all back then, since standards weren't nearly as high as they are today. This review is from the perspective of someone who is experiencing it in the present.    … Expand
  5. dalyw
    Sep 28, 2021
    4
    A poor game with an overly complex and grindy battle mechanic. I so desperately wanted to enjoy this as I love the FF series but the battle system combined with the GF's and annoying characters made it unbearable. I quit after 10 hours as I just wasn't enjoying it.
  6. Rhex98
    Jan 7, 2023
    4
    El gameplay es malísimo, muy mala idea que los enemigos suban de nivel contigo, deja de tener sentido el farmear nivel, además de subir estadísticas robando magia a los enemigos, quisieron experimentar y les salió mal en mi opinión. No pude seguir después del disco 2.

Awards & Rankings

75
#75 Best Switch Game of 2019
81
#81 Most Discussed Switch Game of 2019

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 12
  3. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. God is a Geek
    Oct 17, 2019
    70
    Final Fantasy VIII Remastered doesn't live up to its name and only really succeeds in making Final Fantasy VIII playable on current systems.
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  2. Cubed3
    Sep 27, 2019
    50
    Is Final Fantasy VIII Remastered the best way to play it? It really depends on a few things. Being able to bypass most of its questionable design choices certainly makes it more enjoyable than it was, then again that only highlights just how flawed it was in the first place. So, why bother at all? You may as well play it as it was intended, warts and all. This also applies to the revamped visuals; obviously improved in some areas, but the updated HD character models don't go well with the low-res pre-rendered backgrounds.
    Read full review
  3. Nintendo Enthusiast
    Sep 16, 2019
    80
    Final Fantasy VIII is a unique experience in the pantheon of Final Fantasy games. It manages to stand out among others in the series with its own voice and personality, in part, due to its strange narrative and specialized Junction system. It’s thrilling to see this game realized again with a quality remaster on the Nintendo Switch. Ultimately, the visual upgrades and additional options make this version the best way to play the game. FFVIII fans won’t be disappointed.
    Read full review
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