@@ErekLadd I just think IX aged way better and I'm actually afraid of what they would do to the art style haha. VIII would fit the style they are bringing to VII RE and the combat could be reworked as well.
Ive been saying that since the OG FF7R. 8 has a special place in my heart, but i feel like the story and lore could be ironed out/enhanced with more time and development. Also, im rusty on the lore, but i bleieve the whole parallel timeline, secret sequel approach just reallt fits the story and themes of FF8. Imagaine the remake was actually a prequel. The cycle before whre there able to make the changes for the final victory, even though there not victorious themselves.@paulodorea
They definitely would need to give Quistis, Selphie, and Zell more relevance. I loved how they did Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse in the 7 remake. I’d love that to happen to them too along with maybe Niida.
Selphie, Quistis, and Zell are a Greek Chorus for Squall and Rinoa. They don't exist as characters except as archetypes for character development for the main pairing. Irvine is a exposition delivery service. None of them need expanded story.
Hoping that they'll stick with the original story and add a little more context about the story. Also hoping that if this game will ever be remade, they'll release it as a single game no part 2 or what shenanigans. Maybe a spin off about Laguna's adventures?
I loved FF8. That said, I think I'd rather they focus more on creating a new FF game that is reminicent of FF8 and FF9. I miss the fantasy aspect of the latest FF-games.
FF8 needs to do Laguna justice and give him the screen time he deserved. For one of the best characters in the entire franchise it’s sad that he doesn’t have a larger following. Also the lore of FF8 is already massive with things like Hyne and the Centran empire so I’d love to see what they do with those.
They could keep all the old elements that made FFVIII good, like the designs, the world, and the fact it was a more love-centric entry in the series. But also build on all the amazing lore opportunities they have with this game. The world was actually super interesting and could be fleshed out so much more. As well as the other characters.
Thanks for making a video of my first and favorite jrpg. If the battle system is this complicated, I’d be happy with just a movie with voices and graphics upgrade.
One thing they really should explore more is Seifer. It would be really nice for him to be playable or a story part where we control him, have all his limit breaks, seriously, such a underwhelmed character
Final Fantasy 8 Remake would literally break all sales records for gaming if done right. Its literally the best story out of all the Final Fantasy Games for sure. It would be epic.
I’d rather have that ‘Multi-Disc’ feel that I had from my childhood. If they cram it all into one disc, then they’re gonna mess up in multiple places. Idc if it’s a FFVII:R style format either. Just don’t mess it up Square, not with VIII.
I totally agree! FF8 has a special place in my heart, being my first FF in the series. I would've loved if Square Enix tackled the PS1 triology in chronological order with VIII being next remade after the VII triology is finished. The visual style would totally fit and as I was playing VII Rebirth I sometimes was wondering how VIII's world would look like in this graphics. Surely phenomenal! I didn't quite understand why they decided to do a IX remake, a HD remaster would be totally fine. VIII deserves a remake, it needs one. I hope to see it someday.
Speaking as someone who is a massive FF8 fan (Not only do I cosplay as Squall myself but I've also spent WAY too much money getting memorabilia from the original release. Limited run jewelry from Japan is not cheap) I honestly believe that the junction system is perfectly fine as is, the presentation of it just needs to be brushed up a lot. The original game does a really poor job explaining how to properly junction magic and to even farm magic to begin with. So often I see people complain about how long drawing magic takes and it's simply because they don't realize your magic stat directly influences how much magic you get from a single draw. If you junction correctly, even at the start of the game, you can easily gain 8-12ish magic from a single draw or even as high as 20 in later parts of the game when you have access to stronger magic. The game never tells you this. It never even really hints to it, telling players at literally any point "Hey! If you want a lot of magic from drawing have a high magic stat." would help alleviate the drawing problems. Not to mention how the game never mentions that the best way to get most magic is Triple Triad. You can easily load up on a ton of super strong magic at the start of the game and have an absolutely broken Squall that has damage numbers in the thousands before he even becomes a sEEd. Again, the game never tells you this. Better explanations for the player to better grasp the junction system would do so much for this game imo. Instead of being bombarded with a massive tutorial in the first 5 minutes of the game, simply pace it out more and do a better job explaining it. Give the player examples when it comes to magic IE "Certain magic types are better when junctioned to certain stats, Cura makes for a great defensive tool while offensive magic like Fira is great for boosting your Strength stat" and for the love of god, let people see all the changes that would happen to any stat when they select a certain magic they want to junction. It would drastically cut down on the grind if selecting a magic type gave you the complete rundown on what stats change and how much they change. I will admit however that it does suck that using magic is basically counterintuitive in this game as you don't want your stats to decrease which means if you want a magic user you are forced to directly cast magic from enemies, which while Square did a pretty good job at ensuring bosses always had good magic to cast, drastically limits playstyle...unless you are abusing how absolutely broken Angel Wing is. So I think it would be better to either let players exceed the 100 magic cap but stats only increase up to 100 of that particular magic or in a similar vein to what you suggested, do away with magic scaling overall and just make it to where as long as you have that magic and it is junctioned it affects your stats. When it comes to the story aspect, yeah I really want to see more done for the rest of the cast. The game does a phenomenal job at exploring Squall's and Rinoa's romance and dynamic but to the point where every other character feels really half baked at best or actively just completely unnecessary at worst. A remake could really expand on the side cast, give more insight into both Squall and Rinoa's feelings for one another with more scenes with just them, and also an upgrade to the graphical fidelity of the game would really help to improve on certain small details a lot of people miss in the original game. In the iconic ballroom scene where Squall meets Rinoa, if you pay attention to Squall's character model, he laughs after Rinoa tries to hypnotize him. It shows even at their first meeting that Rinoa is able to break through Squall's tough shell to appeal to the abandoned child he still is at his core. A remake would make that detail so much more apparent and redone dialogue would hopefully bring it more in line with the original Japanese transcript to make Squall out to just be an introverted traumatized teenager with massive abandonment issues instead of how many people see him as an overly "edgy" and "emo" character. I am admittedly really concerned about what Square would do with an 8 remake, 8 is one of my favorite games ever made and is an incredibly important both for me and my partner, her and I love this game incredibly much and hold it in such high regard and respect. I was never happy with the 7 remake and all the changes they made and I am completely TERRIFIED that an 8 remake would decide to make either the Squall is Dead theory or the Rinoa is Ultimecia theory canon. Both of them really hurt the game's central core and messaging in my opinion and I wouldn't want either of them to gain any weight or relevance. I do know that one of the original story writers has come out and stated that both of them are not canon or intentional but I still worry about it. As long as the remake keep what makes the game and its systems special and unique while adding some extra story to flesh out some of its more rocky moments, I think it'll be a great game.
no need to panic. they will never remake ff8. ff7 was already unnecessary and they only did it for the money. ff8 would not be as profitable. ff8 is what it is. nothing more, nothing less. with all its flaws it is just perfect. i understand, that you would like more, but there is nothing more. the story is ended and that is good! every story needs an end. look what happened to ff7 canon over the years... and one more thing about the junction system: i have one problem with it. you rarely cast spells. which is a shame, because there are so many beautiful animated spells in the game, which you never use. the only spell that was worth casting was aura for obvious reasons. ff8 had a lot of odd ideas that did not work out too great and it was quite broken due to them. did and does not reduce my enjoyment playing it, though. still, it is one of my favorite games of all time. i would not play a remake. the game i refer to when i talk about ff8 is the pixelated thing from 25 years ago. i do not need anybody confirming or denying any theories or adding anything from it. my mind filled the gaps 25 years ago and i treasure the experience. no need for alteration.
The "this character was actually dead all along in a story otherwise not about that kind of thing" is the rock bottom of fan canon tropes. Technically impossible to disprove, so the supporting evidence doesn't have have to be strong. Perfect for the laziest of theorizers to parrot on forever with minimum effort.
I think they would need to rewrite Ultimecia into the story better. She's the final villain and yet you barely see her throughout the game. I remember approaching the door before the final battle and had completely forgotten what she even looked like. It would be great if she was written in near the beginning, haunting you from the future to get closer to Ellone and you don't know who she is or why she is doing this until much later.
As a Final Fantasy fan since PlayStation one, I agree with you 100 percent that FFVIII needs a remake! And I even had great ideas that would make that game better than Final Fantasy 7 remake 2 rebirth. If we were to do a remake for Final Fantasy 8, we should redo all of the original main areas and make it look more sci-if slash realistic slash futuristic in a fashionable time period that matches the theme park of FF8. I would make the experience of FF8 like the first time we played it as kids and it stayed in our memories as nostalgia and it would be more of an action packed RPG and I would make the hardest bosses in the game better than Elden Ring just to prove that the Final Fantasy 8 series is the best one out of all of them. Honorable mention to Final Fantasy 9 and 10 by the way.
Yes! They took a game with excellent pacing and padded the bejesus out of it. I can only imagine what 8 will look like given the same approach. Maybe expand SeeD activities, but keep it to one game.
Firsthand I don’t agree with you. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it. But my second thing is 8 actually is perfect to split into fourths. Some huge drastic things happen at the end of every disc.
@TheAfterglowProject As much as I like the FFVII remake, I would argue that one big game with the excellent pacing of the original would be superior to what we're getting.
SPOILERS To be honest I think it makes more sense if they introduced the multiverse concept in an FF8 remake rather than FF7, being in line with the Time Compression theme. It could even cover and address the many fan theories on Ultimecia’s origins. There’s so much more to expand upon
100% agree - thematically it made so much more sense for FF8 instead of 7. Obviously 7 is the more recognisable - and demanded - FF to be remade, so they went with that instead - but it would still have been better to save that particular concept for a FF8 remake.
4:48 On the contrary. I think the problem with Drawing spells is that it felt like you *needed* to do it. It felt different from grinding levels, for some reason. But if you limit the number of spells you can draw in each battle, then grinding spells will feel like grinding levels again. In other words, rather than making spells less scarce (unlimited) make them more scarce so that players don't feel like they *have to* grind out 100 of every spell they come across. 9:24 I think the lack of clarity about Ultimecia's motivations are "part of the story". She lost her damn mind and Stanley wasn't around to help her find it. General thoughts about FF7R: "You know how much everybody loves Oreo cookies, right? What if we used the same amount of creme filling and spread it across a much bigger cookie?" It's like, yeah, it has all the same great story beats, but you have to endure a lot of filler to get them. PS I like the idea of reducing the number of GFs you can equip. In general, scarcity is sorely lacking in FF8. It feels like they got so far into development, and they couldn't get the game mechanics to balance, and they ran out of time, so they just said 'screw it' and shipped the game with totally broken mechanics. Like how you can Draw spells, turn all your enemies into Cards, and get soooooo ridiculously OP right from the jump..... PPS I have no doubt that there is a super great version of a modernized Final Fantasy 8 just waiting to be developed... but I don't know if THIS Square is capable of making it. I'm afraid they would water it down with pointless fetch quests and other garbage until it no longer resembled the source material. It wouldn't be that hard to rewrite the source code and update the assets to near-modern levels, but they're afraid to do that for some reason. I pray that Square finds its way.
Final Fantasy VIII was my first Final Fantasy game, I love it so much.... remake will be awesome.... I dream playing FF8 in FF7 ever crisis style or Bravely Dafault style
I've long thought a relatively simple way to balance the junction system would be to limit the effectiveness of stat and status junctions to the GFs level. So if you had a level 10 Ifrit functioned and 25 fire spells functioned to strength, you would only get the benefit of the first 10. That way you'd reduce the need to draw every new spell repeatedly and take away the disincentive to cast spells, at least until you were massively levelled up by which point the card mods would give a supply of most spells.
I'd keep the junction system similar to how it is: you need to fetch a certain number of "fire" to junction to a stat, and the more of them you have, the better the upgrade. However, I'd make it so using fire wouldn't decrease the number. So magic is not a consumable; it's a collectible. The amount could go up to 999 and the number you have could impact how much stat improvement you get, but also how many uses you get per battle. So having 1 fire would allow you to use it 1 time in battle. Gathering 50 would enable 5 uses, 200 would enable 10, and so on. Magics would of course have different stat multipliers and usage caps. So fire could go up to 50 uses per battle, but Ultima would only go up to 5. The amount could also affect the spell's strength. Going from 1 to 20 fires wouldn't give you more uses per battle, but would increase the spell damage. Lastly, enemies would have limited amounts of spells per battle, and drawing would require some sort of trigger first (like staggering, but not that because I hate that system, but you get the drill).
Square Enix treats FFVIII like a son-in-law that you don't like, you can tell how little love and attention Square Enix gives FFVIII. When FFVII, FFIX, FFX and FFXII were released for the PS4, you had to wait until 2019 until Square Enix finally released it once brought FFVIII Remastered and then the remastered was half-hearted. Now with the FFVII remake, Square Enix is skipping FFVIII again and there will be an FFIX remake, we can wait years until we get a remake, before that FFVI, FFX and another part will definitely get a remake. Nothing came from Square Enix for the 25th anniversary of FFVIII, except for an interview where they said that they don't want a FFVIII remake, which is strange since FFIX is supposed to get a remake too. FFVIII deserves more love and attention.
I really liked your suggestions for improving the gameplay, and particularly for giving more prominence to some of the other characters. I think the best way to add value, though, is to put in all the 'cut content' from the Laguna timeline and make the game they wanted to make way back when.
I wish for a FF8 remake. However, FF17 is more important and should be prioritized. I would love to explore Laguna and Sorcess Adel. I want the stupid magic draw over haul. I want a flesh out emphasis on how junction can have adverse effects. Etc etc. 😅
Ive got a solid suggestion that I will stand on for ANY future Remake... bring back fixed camera angles. not all the time but in certain areas, scenic shots, houses, shops... sprinkle them in.. it would add some screenplay back into the game. a huge part of these games were the awesome backgrounds. giving the player 100% control leaves a lot of the beauty under appreciated.. maneuvering your character while the camera is fixed or scrolls along to follow, gives off of a - you are in this story- kind of vibe. and not to mention would feel super nostalgic.
FF8 is by far the best final fantasy game in my opinion, I love the story, I love the battle system, they don’t make games like these anymore, if they remake this, I’m all for it. I’m willing to even get a ps5 just to play this one game
This should be a 2 part series. Theres so much lore. First part is the orphanage, laguna, laguna with raine, and the sorceress at that time. Second is where the main story referencing the previous part 1. And have different changes depending on your decisions on part 1. Just like in the original but expanded on it
With regards to Magic and the Draw/Junction System, I would overhaul it and make it tie in with the card game. The characters holding the cards allows them to learn the spells over time, essentially like how equipping equipment in FF9 allowed you to learn skills. This gives a real-world application to the card game.
I can still remember the first time I played this game. I’m so amazed with its graphics. I know it’s like Minecraft now but before, it was one of the greatest
What they did for the Temple of the ancients, graphically, but for: -Lunar Drop -Garden Battle -The missiles situation and Selphies garden destruction -Bahamut fight and Eden summoning -The space situation and that Ship -Ultimecias castle -Esthar in general -The beginning of Time Compression -The End -Fishermans Horizon -Alexander -Doomtrain -Diablo -Delling -That giant cristal thing I am forgetting rn -Edeas unaliving attempt -The Cetra ruins and Odin -The fuckin' OVNI -Omega/Ultima weapon
Great video, i agree on almost every point here. Really good twist on the junction magic issue, absolutely, also having that tie into the weapons would just add the final cherry on top :) Great work!
For the story, as you've noted, they'll definitely expand it with the cut Laguna content to pad out the game similar to what they're doing with FF7R. However, for me, I want them to add more story regarding the Sorceresses. We know that there are more than just the handful of sorceresses we interact with in the game, and I'd like to see them incorporated more in the story and to see a resolution to the Great Hyne. Perhaps at the end of the game when time is compressed, we finally get to see all of Hyne's powers return to him and we learn more about FFVIII's world and fight him as a superboss?
I dream of a world where we get a full scale, action-turn based hybrid AAA Final Fantasy 8 Remake similar to FF7R trilogy. Preferably as just one game, if possible. Redesign the story, scenes, pacing as needed. Make the RPG systems honour the junction system and drawing magic/GF ability design. FF8 is probably my most nostalgic game of all time, and revisiting that world in the same sort of fan servicey and fresh way that FF7R has been like would be just so so so amazing.
Wanna know what would be great? Why not taking the fact that they "lost their childhood memories" and put it into the game mechanics? Re-earning memories you have with another partymember and learnung skills by doing so? would fit greatly into a game like this.
The junction system would be awesome if you could just cast the spell at the power of the amount of that spell you have. Make it to where each stack of a spell is hard to obtain. Maybe even lock stacks of powerful spells behind bosses. I just want to junction and cast the best spells.
I would love a remake, and I think your suggestions are solid. The two things about the original I just really want to see gone, or altered dramatically, are the draw system and the GF tap-to-boost system
Also the weapon system needs improving They can keep the idea of remodel weapons, but instead of just remodelling the weapon completely, have the weapons have different parts and each part can have many different components to remodel the part of the weapon, and each type of component boost weapon differently and gives a different ability
Given how unique FF VIII was for a combat system, if it is to be intact, put in the means to alter your character's levels at an inn, or save point. This is the game that disincentivized leveling.
Please no. It’s my favorite entry in the series and modern Square Enix has no idea what it’s doing. They’ll say they took it in a “fresh new direction” and tried to “break boundaries,” and reveal yet another hack and slash.
Now of there was a ff game that needed story tweaks, it 8. 7 didn’t really need a remake. It was just to appease fans, which is fine. I love 8, but feel a retelling of it, and fleshing out the relationships a little more would really help
Loved your video, instantly subscribed for the FF8 love. My thoughts are that everything that needs a revamp is interconnected and that for the kind of remake (reimagining really) that I'd personally want to see for FFVIII, I think they ALL need to be rebuilt from the floor up: 1. I think that Draw/Magic/GF/Junction system needs to be integrated in a way that really has in-world ramifications regarding character development and how we experience the story considering how closely it was tied to memory and the loss of memory. Maybe instead of just Timber Maniacs and Selphie's blog which most players miss, the use of GF could affect how much of Laguna's side of the story we reveal or something along those lines. Since time has such deep focus on the story, maybe a system could be created that affects what your play is like late in the game (maybe after going to the future) based on your character's builds and/or decision to avoid GF use or overreliance on magic. 2. They really need to just build on and expand on the story since I think it's evident they didn't have time to do all they wanted. Besides just WAY more character development (moments to shine individually) from all cast members that aren't on the logo - I think it would be integral to have a more equal amount of content from Laguna's side of things which covers more of the Sorceress War/Hyne lore/Ultimecia etc. Hot take but I think they would really have something magical on their hands if they just embrace R=U theory and bake it into the game. They don't even need to make it so in your face but could take a cue from Bloodborne worldbuilding or the way Bloober integrated the loop theory in SH2 Remake recently. My fan dream though would be to just make it canon and honestly drop Adel to focus on R=U instead. I mean we have 3 female party members who use GFs and magic and they never address that! So what if they made it a guessing game of paranoia for them? It could add urgency when they learn of potential sorceresses being hunted, even if old players know the outcome. I would also just want to see more of Ellone, Kiros and Ward. AND I think there's lots of room to actually insert arcs that feel like change has happened with the supporting cast who are all so interesting and lovable but really simple/shallow in the amount of script time they receive. Also PLEASE fix the worst Cid ever and let there be way more emotions when Edea gets to speak and explain - like what even was some of the logic behind the way GARDEN and SeeD was run? They just come off as maniacs. 3. More Moombas please. 4. I don't want to keep on going forever but lastly I would say I think the Limit Break system could be redone and/or the character abilities should be integrated in a way that gives them more regularly accessible individuality: For example, Selphie is my absolute favorite but her menu based Slot limit is so boring and bland to look at. Everyone should receive the same level of care as Squall and Rinoa. I think being able to regularly use Blue Magic or Zell's combos etc. would up the joy in switching up party configuration too.
Analyzing the whole game I would eliminate the action bar, since the enemies attack you even when you have to decide the move.. and I would put only 4 fixed commands: Attack, Magic, Items and Skills/Techniques: these are like Awakening, Recovery, Vitamin or other..the battles will be turn-based or action The bar fills up for special moves or summoning GFs.. or with time or the hits inflicted and received With GF you gain an extra special move eg: in the Fire Cave against Ifrit, when Squall uses Renzokuken he can use an ice-type move as a final blow (I was thinking Ice Age or Frost Wave, taken from FF16) Quistis when she uses Blue Magic is surrounded by a luminous creature or summons it and uses magic, spitting lethal substances or shooting missiles or projectiles is exaggerated The weapons are modified at will and gain automatic abilities such as elemental powers or to inflict status or break down enemy defenses and can transform Squall the gunblade is used as a firearm Rinoa the boomerang for melee Zell can use Throw with that among the objects Quistis the whip is a composite sword Selphie join the nunckaku into a stick Irvine generates a bayonet on the rifle There are protections and the ability to change clothes I put Assimilate as a passive command (apart from this and the 9 I don't think it appears in other games), when a monster dies the players automatically assimilate the magic, based on how it is programmed (attack, defense, status, GF or rarity in this case the GF are rare if not conquered elsewhere) Put 2 more GF, whether to fight or assimilate from monsters 4 more characters and 3 become fixed, I renamed them the Black Knight or Dragoon or with a spear/halberd usable as a rifle The Ranger with a bow that is used for melee The Warrior with an axe that is used as a boomerang throwing weapon The samurai with a divisible katana Put secondary missions that unlock other plots Eliminate random encounters and the map In the final test, see the awakening of Herbia and in the battle against X ATMO92 I add stealing a vehicle and jump down the mountain and a shooter starts against the robot or in the normal escape on the bridge, shoot it down and make it fall A drum kit for the music band If I get any other ideas I'll let you know.
I always think rather than drawing the actual spells you would draw "nods" which the player must be turned nto spells or junctioned. Those Nods would be the grind and horde and not the spells.
I can't express how badly I want to see my favourite Final Fantasy have a remake. To me, it seems logical to remake VIII cuz it isn't a perfect game and it has quite a few faults. Therefore, it makes sense to come back to this game and have it reach its full potential. Thanks for making this video and for your ideas and commentary! It makes me so happy to see so many Final Fantasy content creators give VIII some love! Hopefully Square might catch the hint ;)
FF8 did leave a lot on the cutting board given how quickly they had to get it out the back of ff7 success. If they had truly had a mostly complete story with Laguna's part fleshed out, it mightve been seen as a masterpiece
Did you ever see the fan made demake seen of the Gilgamesh battle? It looked fantastic and the midi version of force your way was excellent too! I second a demake of this and a demake of suikedon 5
I would love to see a remake in which R=U is more strongly implied. I know many people disagree with me, but I think the R=U theory greatly improves the story.
It would be tragic & nice if that happens in the remake. It could even allow Rinoa & Squall’s romance to have a little more angst, then it already had.
Honestly I would rather have the R=U theory explored further in a sequel. Think of a sequel where, while Ultimecia has been defeated, she is still going to be "born" sometime in the future. Imagine some fledgling SeeDs being trained to stop some powerful sorceress in the future begin to question where her powers will come from, and they pin it on Rinoa. So they launch a war to try and assassinate Rinoa in a way where she can't pass her powers on. Then you could have lots of possibilities, from Squall dying and Rinoa going mad with grief, to Rinoa passing her powers on to another person (maybe a daughter she and Squall has), or other possibilities. (Personally I like the idea that Rinoa's powers get passed down from person to person until they reach Ultimecia, so it's her powers but not her). And under no circumstances should the Squall is dead theory be entertained. You'd have an entire Disc 1 build up of plot and story that would see zero actual payoff if it turned out that the game technically ended at the end of Disc 1.
Would rather have a Remaster than a Remake. (the last couple of Ports seemed to miss the point of a "Remaster"). The Prior "Remaster" seemed to improve the Character art, but then they blurred out the detail in the static backgrounds needlessly .
The character models are crucial to get right if there is gonna be a remake. I think somebody remade the remastered version of Squall because he was looking like Sasuke from Naruto.
Whatever remake they do next I really don’t want them to do it in the VIIR style. I appreciate VIII because it talked to me emotionally, so I don’t want it degraded down to a hack and slash.
FF8 is my least favorite FF game… that I’ve played. Many reasons why which you can guess but… I’ve said since playing through the Eden raids in 14 and seeing them that, 8 would’ve fit a Remake several times more than even 7. The music alone showed me this. And when considering FF7R… it is such a better fit…
Agreed, personally I prefer 9 to be remade, but 8 isn't a bad choice. You can fix what doesn't work and make them better come to thinking about it why not remake games that aren't Well-received?
There's so much potential here. Completly ditch Junctioning, lean in harder to GF and ability learning, make the story and lore more clear, ease up on the high school drama, make Seifer an even more bad guy, lean in harder to the sorceress aspects, the Lunar Cry, DITCH the flashbacks and let Laguna live as a current character, etc etc
My biggest complain about the Remastered version are Squall cute anime face (which completely breaks me from the original charismatic River Phœnix inspired character) and the 8 angles directional limitation that I didnt have when playing on PS1.
Completely agree with this. I think it's the classic-era game that would actually benefit most from a remake. VI is great, VII is great, IX is great, X is great, but other than graphical upgrades and VA they didn't really need much remaking anyway. VIII is a fantastic game but definitely has areas where it could be significantly improved. I don't see it happening, simply because SE only has so much time and resource, and they're too far into VII and IX remakes, and possibly even something else relating to X. A shame, I'd be all over a remake of VIII.
You got absolutely everything right with this one. It needs to be one instalment, Im feeling desperate and tired of all the tunnel vision on FF7, Im burnt out Give it the graphic quality, adapt junction system, give it rebirth's battle system and it will finally have the recognition this title deserves
I don't care about the content of this video but I will support anyone desiring a Final Fantasy VIII Remake. Please, just remake VIII and IX so I can regress fully into childhood! D:
If anything there should be another change to the gameplay formula provided it hasn't been added already. There should be a hack and slash, beat em up or something that plays similarly to the Devil May Cry series but that's just me
As someone who didn't like the original Final Fantasy VIII really much, I think a remake would pretty much solve all the problems I have with the original: underdeveloped characters and plot points that could really benefit from a rework of sorts and a more refined and accessible gameplay system. I loved the visuals in the game, the concept, the character designs and the world, so I would love to have all that translated to a FF7R style of game with a better crafted story and gameplay.
The same reason why Enix refused to add in the unused content from the original FF7 in the remake and so on. I'd like to see what they do with FF17 before they remake anything ever again.
Excellent video. We DO need it brother, I agree with you 100% and VIII is my favourite episode. By far. But I honestly believe we will never get it, sadly. My heart bleeds. Cause VIII with nowadays technique and the possibility to expand Laguna’s gameplay sequences and his own arc, that could be extraordinary.
I honestly don't think that FF8 needs a remake. I think we need developers to focus on new games. I get it - everyone loves FF7 rebirth and is itching for Final Fantasy games to get remade. But I just feel like that's going backward. The lack of spectacle in these games isn't an issue - just a limitation of hardware at the time and not something that really needs to be fixed. And in any case, it was. With a remaster. Give us the Laguna prequel. Give us the Braska prequel. Monolithsoft has figured out this formula marvelously with the Xenoblade series, and it would be great if Square Enix took a page out of their book.
Right i would be down for a 8 remake. Also 9 but 9 is so good the way it is. For me if they remade 9 it would be dope if it was in the style of yoshitaka amono artwork. Considreing its all about getting back to the roots.
More than a remake I would like to see a true remaster. improved graphics and characters design add more to the story as you said to make the story more cohesive. Balance the junction system Add more monsters since ps1 was limited in hardware the monsters were a bit repetitive. Make triple triad more balanced replace the chocobo mini game with something like chocobo racing or something. I don't mind action RPG, but turn based JRPG add much more depth and strategy to the combat as long as the game stats and junction get fixed to balance things out. Add a Hard mode and Hell mode.
Making triple triad a live service would make me completely ignore it. I'm actively removing live service from my life (down to 1 as of today). The other ideas you mention sound like a game I'd like, but it also sounds like the high budget behemoth that SE is having trouble justifying. To be clear, I'd buy it, but it seems like not enough people will buy it to cover hundreds of millions of development costs. Nice dream though...
Really love the discussion on what they can do regarding combat, especially like fixed drawing of magic almost like magicides. LOVE that you included the meme LOL There’s so much potential with a remake for FF8, especially with maybe enhancing plot details (I.e. Rinoa=Ultimecia theory)
Thank you for making this. It's my favorite one and I feel like it doesn't always get enough love. I was maybe 10 or 11 when I bought FFVIII from Walmart never having played a JRPG before. Booted it up in my parents basement on the old PS1. From the moment I heard the first few notes of Liberi Fatali, my life was changed forever. So I'd love them to revisit the world in any way.
I agree with you and had a similar experience! I remember playing this game over and over just to see the intro cutscenes. Really made an impression on me as a kid! Not my fave FF game but it definitely has a special place in my heart!
I will pray for it to come true, my friend. Somehow we are getting a new Onimusha game and a new Okami game! Miracles can happen. Final Fantasy 8 Remake, baby, here we come!!
To me, 8 is the one that deserve/need the most to be remade. But I can see a world where they go for 9 or even 6, if the previous remakes made money x) I think 10 & 12 doesn't really need to be remade (yet ?) and for the earlier FFs, I can't really imagine what the could look/be like :/
I finally beat ff9 today. I can now safely say I enjoyed ff8 much more than ff9. Other than Steiner,dagger, vivi, and zidane…the rest of the cast are just “there”. Ff9 is very overrated. The character design in 9 is also atrocious. It would look terrible as a modern remake game.
I feel like they just wont put the time into this. If it happens, they wont really fix the issues that put people off playing and will instead rush something together to spend as little as possible on it, then probably attempt another FF7 movie
FF8 is the best in my eyes but they really need to do something about some details in the game to make it better, like the story specially the convenient reveal at the orphanage also rework the gf system besides that add more context and dept to most characters.
Make it play like a toned down but complex Nier Automata with a versatile depth regarding the battle system and junction system. This would be a Day 1 pre-order for me.
Final Fantasy IX is my favorite, but I'm hoping for a VIII remake way more than a IX remake. VIII really needs one.
Agree totally! FFIX would be cool but would prefer VIII.
@@ErekLadd I just think IX aged way better and I'm actually afraid of what they would do to the art style haha. VIII would fit the style they are bringing to VII RE and the combat could be reworked as well.
As FFVIII has my favorite soundtrack I'd love to see Nobuo do even more with it even it's not possible
@paulodorea I would hope its more like the fan made moguri mod, just give us proper HD and add some content, all we need
Ive been saying that since the OG FF7R. 8 has a special place in my heart, but i feel like the story and lore could be ironed out/enhanced with more time and development. Also, im rusty on the lore, but i bleieve the whole parallel timeline, secret sequel approach just reallt fits the story and themes of FF8.
Imagaine the remake was actually a prequel. The cycle before whre there able to make the changes for the final victory, even though there not victorious themselves.@paulodorea
They definitely would need to give Quistis, Selphie, and Zell more relevance. I loved how they did Biggs, Wedge, and Jesse in the 7 remake. I’d love that to happen to them too along with maybe Niida.
agree with the caviat that they are party members so the objectice should be to make them relevant as characters until the end .
Selphie, Quistis, and Zell are a Greek Chorus for Squall and Rinoa. They don't exist as characters except as archetypes for character development for the main pairing. Irvine is a exposition delivery service. None of them need expanded story.
Hoping that they'll stick with the original story and add a little more context about the story. Also hoping that if this game will ever be remade, they'll release it as a single game no part 2 or what shenanigans. Maybe a spin off about Laguna's adventures?
I heard Final Fantasy VIII remake, I'm here! Let's go!
It will be ready for PS7 😂
I loved FF8. That said, I think I'd rather they focus more on creating a new FF game that is reminicent of FF8 and FF9. I miss the fantasy aspect of the latest FF-games.
Final Fantasy 8 sucked.
@@the-NightStar Your opinion sucked
@@the-NightStarwhy? Because junction system? Come on the Junction system is not that complicated
I’m currently playing my way through the game for the “who’s counting anymore” time, so it’s funny to see this pop up today.
Best game ever.
FF8 definitely needs a remake. I love the game, but they need to balance the game with the whole enemy scaling and junction system
FF8 needs to do Laguna justice and give him the screen time he deserved. For one of the best characters in the entire franchise it’s sad that he doesn’t have a larger following. Also the lore of FF8 is already massive with things like Hyne and the Centran empire so I’d love to see what they do with those.
I read your comment and was all: When did I write this. Laguna absolutely deserves and needs more screentime!
They could keep all the old elements that made FFVIII good, like the designs, the world, and the fact it was a more love-centric entry in the series. But also build on all the amazing lore opportunities they have with this game. The world was actually super interesting and could be fleshed out so much more. As well as the other characters.
Thanks for making a video of my first and favorite jrpg. If the battle system is this complicated, I’d be happy with just a movie with voices and graphics upgrade.
One thing they really should explore more is Seifer. It would be really nice for him to be playable or a story part where we control him, have all his limit breaks, seriously, such a underwhelmed character
TBH no. He needs to be the delusional fool he is.
Final Fantasy 8 Remake would literally break all sales records for gaming if done right. Its literally the best story out of all the Final Fantasy Games for sure. It would be epic.
I doubt it would. I would love for it to sell as much as Elden Ring, but Final Fantasy just isn’t that popular in modern day.
I’d rather have that ‘Multi-Disc’ feel that I had from my childhood. If they cram it all into one disc, then they’re gonna mess up in multiple places.
Idc if it’s a FFVII:R style format either. Just don’t mess it up Square, not with VIII.
I totally agree! FF8 has a special place in my heart, being my first FF in the series. I would've loved if Square Enix tackled the PS1 triology in chronological order with VIII being next remade after the VII triology is finished. The visual style would totally fit and as I was playing VII Rebirth I sometimes was wondering how VIII's world would look like in this graphics. Surely phenomenal!
I didn't quite understand why they decided to do a IX remake, a HD remaster would be totally fine. VIII deserves a remake, it needs one. I hope to see it someday.
Speaking as someone who is a massive FF8 fan (Not only do I cosplay as Squall myself but I've also spent WAY too much money getting memorabilia from the original release. Limited run jewelry from Japan is not cheap) I honestly believe that the junction system is perfectly fine as is, the presentation of it just needs to be brushed up a lot. The original game does a really poor job explaining how to properly junction magic and to even farm magic to begin with. So often I see people complain about how long drawing magic takes and it's simply because they don't realize your magic stat directly influences how much magic you get from a single draw. If you junction correctly, even at the start of the game, you can easily gain 8-12ish magic from a single draw or even as high as 20 in later parts of the game when you have access to stronger magic. The game never tells you this. It never even really hints to it, telling players at literally any point "Hey! If you want a lot of magic from drawing have a high magic stat." would help alleviate the drawing problems.
Not to mention how the game never mentions that the best way to get most magic is Triple Triad. You can easily load up on a ton of super strong magic at the start of the game and have an absolutely broken Squall that has damage numbers in the thousands before he even becomes a sEEd. Again, the game never tells you this. Better explanations for the player to better grasp the junction system would do so much for this game imo. Instead of being bombarded with a massive tutorial in the first 5 minutes of the game, simply pace it out more and do a better job explaining it. Give the player examples when it comes to magic IE "Certain magic types are better when junctioned to certain stats, Cura makes for a great defensive tool while offensive magic like Fira is great for boosting your Strength stat" and for the love of god, let people see all the changes that would happen to any stat when they select a certain magic they want to junction. It would drastically cut down on the grind if selecting a magic type gave you the complete rundown on what stats change and how much they change.
I will admit however that it does suck that using magic is basically counterintuitive in this game as you don't want your stats to decrease which means if you want a magic user you are forced to directly cast magic from enemies, which while Square did a pretty good job at ensuring bosses always had good magic to cast, drastically limits playstyle...unless you are abusing how absolutely broken Angel Wing is. So I think it would be better to either let players exceed the 100 magic cap but stats only increase up to 100 of that particular magic or in a similar vein to what you suggested, do away with magic scaling overall and just make it to where as long as you have that magic and it is junctioned it affects your stats.
When it comes to the story aspect, yeah I really want to see more done for the rest of the cast. The game does a phenomenal job at exploring Squall's and Rinoa's romance and dynamic but to the point where every other character feels really half baked at best or actively just completely unnecessary at worst. A remake could really expand on the side cast, give more insight into both Squall and Rinoa's feelings for one another with more scenes with just them, and also an upgrade to the graphical fidelity of the game would really help to improve on certain small details a lot of people miss in the original game. In the iconic ballroom scene where Squall meets Rinoa, if you pay attention to Squall's character model, he laughs after Rinoa tries to hypnotize him. It shows even at their first meeting that Rinoa is able to break through Squall's tough shell to appeal to the abandoned child he still is at his core. A remake would make that detail so much more apparent and redone dialogue would hopefully bring it more in line with the original Japanese transcript to make Squall out to just be an introverted traumatized teenager with massive abandonment issues instead of how many people see him as an overly "edgy" and "emo" character.
I am admittedly really concerned about what Square would do with an 8 remake, 8 is one of my favorite games ever made and is an incredibly important both for me and my partner, her and I love this game incredibly much and hold it in such high regard and respect. I was never happy with the 7 remake and all the changes they made and I am completely TERRIFIED that an 8 remake would decide to make either the Squall is Dead theory or the Rinoa is Ultimecia theory canon. Both of them really hurt the game's central core and messaging in my opinion and I wouldn't want either of them to gain any weight or relevance. I do know that one of the original story writers has come out and stated that both of them are not canon or intentional but I still worry about it. As long as the remake keep what makes the game and its systems special and unique while adding some extra story to flesh out some of its more rocky moments, I think it'll be a great game.
Very well said! 🙌
no need to panic. they will never remake ff8. ff7 was already unnecessary and they only did it for the money. ff8 would not be as profitable.
ff8 is what it is. nothing more, nothing less. with all its flaws it is just perfect. i understand, that you would like more, but there is nothing more. the story is ended and that is good! every story needs an end. look what happened to ff7 canon over the years...
and one more thing about the junction system: i have one problem with it. you rarely cast spells. which is a shame, because there are so many beautiful animated spells in the game, which you never use. the only spell that was worth casting was aura for obvious reasons. ff8 had a lot of odd ideas that did not work out too great and it was quite broken due to them. did and does not reduce my enjoyment playing it, though.
still, it is one of my favorite games of all time. i would not play a remake. the game i refer to when i talk about ff8 is the pixelated thing from 25 years ago. i do not need anybody confirming or denying any theories or adding anything from it. my mind filled the gaps 25 years ago and i treasure the experience. no need for alteration.
The "this character was actually dead all along in a story otherwise not about that kind of thing" is the rock bottom of fan canon tropes. Technically impossible to disprove, so the supporting evidence doesn't have have to be strong. Perfect for the laziest of theorizers to parrot on forever with minimum effort.
I think they would need to rewrite Ultimecia into the story better. She's the final villain and yet you barely see her throughout the game. I remember approaching the door before the final battle and had completely forgotten what she even looked like. It would be great if she was written in near the beginning, haunting you from the future to get closer to Ellone and you don't know who she is or why she is doing this until much later.
If they did do a proper remake, they would rewrite the core of the story significantly.
As a Final Fantasy fan since PlayStation one, I agree with you 100 percent that FFVIII needs a remake! And I even had great ideas that would make that game better than Final Fantasy 7 remake 2 rebirth. If we were to do a remake for Final Fantasy 8, we should redo all of the original main areas and make it look more sci-if slash realistic slash futuristic in a fashionable time period that matches the theme park of FF8. I would make the experience of FF8 like the first time we played it as kids and it stayed in our memories as nostalgia and it would be more of an action packed RPG and I would make the hardest bosses in the game better than Elden Ring just to prove that the Final Fantasy 8 series is the best one out of all of them. Honorable mention to Final Fantasy 9 and 10 by the way.
Please just make it one complete game, rather than a convoluted 3 part mess.
Yes! They took a game with excellent pacing and padded the bejesus out of it. I can only imagine what 8 will look like given the same approach. Maybe expand SeeD activities, but keep it to one game.
Firsthand I don’t agree with you. Don’t like it? Don’t buy it. But my second thing is 8 actually is perfect to split into fourths. Some huge drastic things happen at the end of every disc.
True even 2 games would be fine
@TheAfterglowProject As much as I like the FFVII remake, I would argue that one big game with the excellent pacing of the original would be superior to what we're getting.
@@alexh2790I thought FF7 Remake would ruin old FF7 game and mods but no, it actually makes the original game better.
SPOILERS
To be honest I think it makes more sense if they introduced the multiverse concept in an FF8 remake rather than FF7, being in line with the Time Compression theme. It could even cover and address the many fan theories on Ultimecia’s origins. There’s so much more to expand upon
100% agree - thematically it made so much more sense for FF8 instead of 7. Obviously 7 is the more recognisable - and demanded - FF to be remade, so they went with that instead - but it would still have been better to save that particular concept for a FF8 remake.
Please no more multiverse, time travel is enough for ff8.
FF7 Rebirth is a convoluted crap show
@@MrQuay03 100% agree. Time travel only.
4:48 On the contrary. I think the problem with Drawing spells is that it felt like you *needed* to do it. It felt different from grinding levels, for some reason. But if you limit the number of spells you can draw in each battle, then grinding spells will feel like grinding levels again. In other words, rather than making spells less scarce (unlimited) make them more scarce so that players don't feel like they *have to* grind out 100 of every spell they come across.
9:24 I think the lack of clarity about Ultimecia's motivations are "part of the story". She lost her damn mind and Stanley wasn't around to help her find it.
General thoughts about FF7R: "You know how much everybody loves Oreo cookies, right? What if we used the same amount of creme filling and spread it across a much bigger cookie?" It's like, yeah, it has all the same great story beats, but you have to endure a lot of filler to get them.
PS I like the idea of reducing the number of GFs you can equip. In general, scarcity is sorely lacking in FF8. It feels like they got so far into development, and they couldn't get the game mechanics to balance, and they ran out of time, so they just said 'screw it' and shipped the game with totally broken mechanics. Like how you can Draw spells, turn all your enemies into Cards, and get soooooo ridiculously OP right from the jump.....
PPS I have no doubt that there is a super great version of a modernized Final Fantasy 8 just waiting to be developed... but I don't know if THIS Square is capable of making it. I'm afraid they would water it down with pointless fetch quests and other garbage until it no longer resembled the source material. It wouldn't be that hard to rewrite the source code and update the assets to near-modern levels, but they're afraid to do that for some reason. I pray that Square finds its way.
Final Fantasy VIII was my first Final Fantasy game, I love it so much.... remake will be awesome.... I dream playing FF8 in FF7 ever crisis style or Bravely Dafault style
I've long thought a relatively simple way to balance the junction system would be to limit the effectiveness of stat and status junctions to the GFs level. So if you had a level 10 Ifrit functioned and 25 fire spells functioned to strength, you would only get the benefit of the first 10. That way you'd reduce the need to draw every new spell repeatedly and take away the disincentive to cast spells, at least until you were massively levelled up by which point the card mods would give a supply of most spells.
This is actually a great idea
I'd keep the junction system similar to how it is: you need to fetch a certain number of "fire" to junction to a stat, and the more of them you have, the better the upgrade. However, I'd make it so using fire wouldn't decrease the number. So magic is not a consumable; it's a collectible.
The amount could go up to 999 and the number you have could impact how much stat improvement you get, but also how many uses you get per battle. So having 1 fire would allow you to use it 1 time in battle. Gathering 50 would enable 5 uses, 200 would enable 10, and so on.
Magics would of course have different stat multipliers and usage caps. So fire could go up to 50 uses per battle, but Ultima would only go up to 5.
The amount could also affect the spell's strength. Going from 1 to 20 fires wouldn't give you more uses per battle, but would increase the spell damage.
Lastly, enemies would have limited amounts of spells per battle, and drawing would require some sort of trigger first (like staggering, but not that because I hate that system, but you get the drill).
Square Enix treats FFVIII like a son-in-law that you don't like, you can tell how little love and attention Square Enix gives FFVIII. When FFVII, FFIX, FFX and FFXII were released for the PS4, you had to wait until 2019 until Square Enix finally released it once brought FFVIII Remastered and then the remastered was half-hearted. Now with the FFVII remake, Square Enix is skipping FFVIII again and there will be an FFIX remake, we can wait years until we get a remake, before that FFVI, FFX and another part will definitely get a remake. Nothing came from Square Enix for the 25th anniversary of FFVIII, except for an interview where they said that they don't want a FFVIII remake, which is strange since FFIX is supposed to get a remake too. FFVIII deserves more love and attention.
I really liked your suggestions for improving the gameplay, and particularly for giving more prominence to some of the other characters. I think the best way to add value, though, is to put in all the 'cut content' from the Laguna timeline and make the game they wanted to make way back when.
I wish for a FF8 remake. However, FF17 is more important and should be prioritized. I would love to explore Laguna and Sorcess Adel. I want the stupid magic draw over haul. I want a flesh out emphasis on how junction can have adverse effects. Etc etc. 😅
Ive got a solid suggestion that I will stand on for ANY future Remake... bring back fixed camera angles. not all the time but in certain areas, scenic shots, houses, shops... sprinkle them in.. it would add some screenplay back into the game. a huge part of these games were the awesome backgrounds. giving the player 100% control leaves a lot of the beauty under appreciated.. maneuvering your character while the camera is fixed or scrolls along to follow, gives off of a - you are in this story- kind of vibe. and not to mention would feel super nostalgic.
I think it would work if magic was learned over the more you use it the more you master it
FF8 is by far the best final fantasy game in my opinion, I love the story, I love the battle system, they don’t make games like these anymore, if they remake this, I’m all for it. I’m willing to even get a ps5 just to play this one game
Let it happen! FF8 Remake, we must summon it like a GF before we lose our memories.
This should be a 2 part series. Theres so much lore. First part is the orphanage, laguna, laguna with raine, and the sorceress at that time. Second is where the main story referencing the previous part 1. And have different changes depending on your decisions on part 1. Just like in the original but expanded on it
With regards to Magic and the Draw/Junction System, I would overhaul it and make it tie in with the card game. The characters holding the cards allows them to learn the spells over time, essentially like how equipping equipment in FF9 allowed you to learn skills. This gives a real-world application to the card game.
I can still remember the first time I played this game. I’m so amazed with its graphics. I know it’s like Minecraft now but before, it was one of the greatest
What they did for the Temple of the ancients, graphically, but for:
-Lunar Drop
-Garden Battle
-The missiles situation and Selphies garden destruction
-Bahamut fight and Eden summoning
-The space situation and that Ship
-Ultimecias castle
-Esthar in general
-The beginning of Time Compression
-The End
-Fishermans Horizon
-Alexander
-Doomtrain
-Diablo
-Delling
-That giant cristal thing I am forgetting rn
-Edeas unaliving attempt
-The Cetra ruins and Odin
-The fuckin' OVNI
-Omega/Ultima weapon
Great video, i agree on almost every point here. Really good twist on the junction magic issue, absolutely, also having that tie into the weapons would just add the final cherry on top :)
Great work!
For the story, as you've noted, they'll definitely expand it with the cut Laguna content to pad out the game similar to what they're doing with FF7R. However, for me, I want them to add more story regarding the Sorceresses. We know that there are more than just the handful of sorceresses we interact with in the game, and I'd like to see them incorporated more in the story and to see a resolution to the Great Hyne. Perhaps at the end of the game when time is compressed, we finally get to see all of Hyne's powers return to him and we learn more about FFVIII's world and fight him as a superboss?
I dream of a world where we get a full scale, action-turn based hybrid AAA Final Fantasy 8 Remake similar to FF7R trilogy. Preferably as just one game, if possible. Redesign the story, scenes, pacing as needed. Make the RPG systems honour the junction system and drawing magic/GF ability design.
FF8 is probably my most nostalgic game of all time, and revisiting that world in the same sort of fan servicey and fresh way that FF7R has been like would be just so so so amazing.
Wanna know what would be great?
Why not taking the fact that they "lost their childhood memories" and put it into the game mechanics? Re-earning memories you have with another partymember and learnung skills by doing so? would fit greatly into a game like this.
8, 9, and 10 all deserve the remake treatment with the same level of love and care that was given to 7.
The junction system would be awesome if you could just cast the spell at the power of the amount of that spell you have. Make it to where each stack of a spell is hard to obtain. Maybe even lock stacks of powerful spells behind bosses. I just want to junction and cast the best spells.
Rather than hidden draw points use extra SeeD missions to obtain rare items, magic, and GFs. It would be similar to the hunts in XII.
After 25 years anniversary ohh c'mon man please just REMAKE IT! 😮💨😮💨
I would love a remake, and I think your suggestions are solid. The two things about the original I just really want to see gone, or altered dramatically, are the draw system and the GF tap-to-boost system
Also the weapon system needs improving
They can keep the idea of remodel weapons, but instead of just remodelling the weapon completely, have the weapons have different parts and each part can have many different components to remodel the part of the weapon, and each type of component boost weapon differently and gives a different ability
If they did drop a remake to FF8, they need to show more of Ultimecia & Adel. They should also do much more of a deep dive into other side characters.
Given how unique FF VIII was for a combat system, if it is to be intact, put in the means to alter your character's levels at an inn, or save point. This is the game that disincentivized leveling.
Please no. It’s my favorite entry in the series and modern Square Enix has no idea what it’s doing. They’ll say they took it in a “fresh new direction” and tried to “break boundaries,” and reveal yet another hack and slash.
Now of there was a ff game that needed story tweaks, it 8. 7 didn’t really need a remake. It was just to appease fans, which is fine. I love 8, but feel a retelling of it, and fleshing out the relationships a little more would really help
Loved your video, instantly subscribed for the FF8 love.
My thoughts are that everything that needs a revamp is interconnected and that for the kind of remake (reimagining really) that I'd personally want to see for FFVIII, I think they ALL need to be rebuilt from the floor up:
1. I think that Draw/Magic/GF/Junction system needs to be integrated in a way that really has in-world ramifications regarding character development and how we experience the story considering how closely it was tied to memory and the loss of memory. Maybe instead of just Timber Maniacs and Selphie's blog which most players miss, the use of GF could affect how much of Laguna's side of the story we reveal or something along those lines.
Since time has such deep focus on the story, maybe a system could be created that affects what your play is like late in the game (maybe after going to the future) based on your character's builds and/or decision to avoid GF use or overreliance on magic.
2. They really need to just build on and expand on the story since I think it's evident they didn't have time to do all they wanted. Besides just WAY more character development (moments to shine individually) from all cast members that aren't on the logo - I think it would be integral to have a more equal amount of content from Laguna's side of things which covers more of the Sorceress War/Hyne lore/Ultimecia etc.
Hot take but I think they would really have something magical on their hands if they just embrace R=U theory and bake it into the game. They don't even need to make it so in your face but could take a cue from Bloodborne worldbuilding or the way Bloober integrated the loop theory in SH2 Remake recently.
My fan dream though would be to just make it canon and honestly drop Adel to focus on R=U instead. I mean we have 3 female party members who use GFs and magic and they never address that! So what if they made it a guessing game of paranoia for them? It could add urgency when they learn of potential sorceresses being hunted, even if old players know the outcome.
I would also just want to see more of Ellone, Kiros and Ward. AND I think there's lots of room to actually insert arcs that feel like change has happened with the supporting cast who are all so interesting and lovable but really simple/shallow in the amount of script time they receive. Also PLEASE fix the worst Cid ever and let there be way more emotions when Edea gets to speak and explain - like what even was some of the logic behind the way GARDEN and SeeD was run? They just come off as maniacs.
3. More Moombas please.
4. I don't want to keep on going forever but lastly I would say I think the Limit Break system could be redone and/or the character abilities should be integrated in a way that gives them more regularly accessible individuality: For example, Selphie is my absolute favorite but her menu based Slot limit is so boring and bland to look at. Everyone should receive the same level of care as Squall and Rinoa. I think being able to regularly use Blue Magic or Zell's combos etc. would up the joy in switching up party configuration too.
8 and 10 are and will always be my favorites. I would buy a console AND a TV jus for those two.
por que no lo has hecho?
Analyzing the whole game
I would eliminate the action bar, since the enemies attack you even when you have to decide the move.. and I would put only 4 fixed commands: Attack, Magic, Items and Skills/Techniques: these are like Awakening, Recovery, Vitamin or other..the battles will be turn-based or action
The bar fills up for special moves or summoning GFs.. or with time or the hits inflicted and received
With GF you gain an extra special move eg: in the Fire Cave against Ifrit, when Squall uses Renzokuken he can use an ice-type move as a final blow (I was thinking Ice Age or Frost Wave, taken from FF16)
Quistis when she uses Blue Magic is surrounded by a luminous creature or summons it and uses magic, spitting lethal substances or shooting missiles or projectiles is exaggerated
The weapons are modified at will and gain automatic abilities such as elemental powers or to inflict status or break down enemy defenses and can transform
Squall the gunblade is used as a firearm
Rinoa the boomerang for melee
Zell can use Throw with that among the objects
Quistis the whip is a composite sword
Selphie join the nunckaku into a stick
Irvine generates a bayonet on the rifle
There are protections and the ability to change clothes
I put Assimilate as a passive command (apart from this and the 9 I don't think it appears in other games), when a monster dies the players automatically assimilate the magic, based on how it is programmed (attack, defense, status, GF or rarity in this case the GF are rare if not conquered elsewhere)
Put 2 more GF, whether to fight or assimilate from monsters
4 more characters and 3 become fixed, I renamed them the Black Knight or Dragoon or with a spear/halberd usable as a rifle
The Ranger with a bow that is used for melee
The Warrior with an axe that is used as a boomerang throwing weapon
The samurai with a divisible katana
Put secondary missions that unlock other plots
Eliminate random encounters and the map
In the final test, see the awakening of Herbia and in the battle against X ATMO92 I add stealing a vehicle and jump down the mountain and a shooter starts against the robot or in the normal escape on the bridge, shoot it down and make it fall
A drum kit for the music band
If I get any other ideas I'll let you know.
I always think rather than drawing the actual spells you would draw "nods" which the player must be turned nto spells or junctioned. Those Nods would be the grind and horde and not the spells.
I can't express how badly I want to see my favourite Final Fantasy have a remake. To me, it seems logical to remake VIII cuz it isn't a perfect game and it has quite a few faults. Therefore, it makes sense to come back to this game and have it reach its full potential.
Thanks for making this video and for your ideas and commentary! It makes me so happy to see so many Final Fantasy content creators give VIII some love! Hopefully Square might catch the hint ;)
FF8 did leave a lot on the cutting board given how quickly they had to get it out the back of ff7 success. If they had truly had a mostly complete story with Laguna's part fleshed out, it mightve been seen as a masterpiece
I would love to see the return of improved FMVs and fixed camera.
I’d like a demake like an hd2d but they could also expand on some stuff add more Laguna like what was initially planned
Did you ever see the fan made demake seen of the Gilgamesh battle? It looked fantastic and the midi version of force your way was excellent too! I second a demake of this and a demake of suikedon 5
I would love to see a remake in which R=U is more strongly implied. I know many people disagree with me, but I think the R=U theory greatly improves the story.
I'd love that. Also embracing the Squall is dead theory would be an interesting approach honestly and I'm here for it.
It would be tragic & nice if that happens in the remake. It could even allow Rinoa & Squall’s romance to have a little more angst, then it already had.
Honestly I would rather have the R=U theory explored further in a sequel. Think of a sequel where, while Ultimecia has been defeated, she is still going to be "born" sometime in the future. Imagine some fledgling SeeDs being trained to stop some powerful sorceress in the future begin to question where her powers will come from, and they pin it on Rinoa. So they launch a war to try and assassinate Rinoa in a way where she can't pass her powers on. Then you could have lots of possibilities, from Squall dying and Rinoa going mad with grief, to Rinoa passing her powers on to another person (maybe a daughter she and Squall has), or other possibilities. (Personally I like the idea that Rinoa's powers get passed down from person to person until they reach Ultimecia, so it's her powers but not her).
And under no circumstances should the Squall is dead theory be entertained. You'd have an entire Disc 1 build up of plot and story that would see zero actual payoff if it turned out that the game technically ended at the end of Disc 1.
Would rather have a Remaster than a Remake. (the last couple of Ports seemed to miss the point of a "Remaster"). The Prior "Remaster" seemed to improve the Character art, but then they blurred out the detail in the static backgrounds needlessly .
They need to add Junction but have debuff properties to avoid OP builds too early on.
The character models are crucial to get right if there is gonna be a remake. I think somebody remade the remastered version of Squall because he was looking like Sasuke from Naruto.
Whatever remake they do next I really don’t want them to do it in the VIIR style.
I appreciate VIII because it talked to me emotionally, so I don’t want it degraded down to a hack and slash.
FF8 is my least favorite FF game… that I’ve played. Many reasons why which you can guess but… I’ve said since playing through the Eden raids in 14 and seeing them that, 8 would’ve fit a Remake several times more than even 7. The music alone showed me this. And when considering FF7R… it is such a better fit…
Agreed, personally I prefer 9 to be remade, but 8 isn't a bad choice. You can fix what doesn't work and make them better come to thinking about it why not remake games that aren't Well-received?
There's so much potential here. Completly ditch Junctioning, lean in harder to GF and ability learning, make the story and lore more clear, ease up on the high school drama, make Seifer an even more bad guy, lean in harder to the sorceress aspects, the Lunar Cry, DITCH the flashbacks and let Laguna live as a current character, etc etc
If they ever do make a remake i hope they add more of laguna's side like they originally intended to.
My biggest complain about the Remastered version are Squall cute anime face (which completely breaks me from the original charismatic River Phœnix inspired character) and the 8 angles directional limitation that I didnt have when playing on PS1.
Completely agree with this. I think it's the classic-era game that would actually benefit most from a remake. VI is great, VII is great, IX is great, X is great, but other than graphical upgrades and VA they didn't really need much remaking anyway. VIII is a fantastic game but definitely has areas where it could be significantly improved.
I don't see it happening, simply because SE only has so much time and resource, and they're too far into VII and IX remakes, and possibly even something else relating to X. A shame, I'd be all over a remake of VIII.
I think the computers in Balamb said GF could steal memory, but that is a rumor. The whole thing of that could have been done way better.
Could they remake 8 in 2 games?
I believe they could! Maybe even one, but probably not if it’s a full scale game like FF7 Remake games have been.
You got absolutely everything right with this one.
It needs to be one instalment, Im feeling desperate and tired of all the tunnel vision on FF7, Im burnt out
Give it the graphic quality, adapt junction system, give it rebirth's battle system and it will finally have the recognition this title deserves
I don't care about the content of this video but I will support anyone desiring a Final Fantasy VIII Remake. Please, just remake VIII and IX so I can regress fully into childhood! D:
If anything there should be another change to the gameplay formula provided it hasn't been added already. There should be a hack and slash, beat em up or something that plays similarly to the Devil May Cry series but that's just me
As someone who didn't like the original Final Fantasy VIII really much, I think a remake would pretty much solve all the problems I have with the original: underdeveloped characters and plot points that could really benefit from a rework of sorts and a more refined and accessible gameplay system. I loved the visuals in the game, the concept, the character designs and the world, so I would love to have all that translated to a FF7R style of game with a better crafted story and gameplay.
We need it because we all know FF8 is the best FF game period.
It definitely has a certain magnetic appeal, a unique atmosphere world and magic to it! Best in terms of FF is the most subjective thing though.
Great discussion! I am SO down for a remake of this game. I think it would make me like it more lol
The same reason why Enix refused to add in the unused content from the original FF7 in the remake and so on. I'd like to see what they do with FF17 before they remake anything ever again.
Excellent video. We DO need it brother, I agree with you 100% and VIII is my favourite episode. By far. But I honestly believe we will never get it, sadly. My heart bleeds. Cause VIII with nowadays technique and the possibility to expand Laguna’s gameplay sequences and his own arc, that could be extraordinary.
I honestly don't think that FF8 needs a remake. I think we need developers to focus on new games. I get it - everyone loves FF7 rebirth and is itching for Final Fantasy games to get remade. But I just feel like that's going backward.
The lack of spectacle in these games isn't an issue - just a limitation of hardware at the time and not something that really needs to be fixed. And in any case, it was. With a remaster.
Give us the Laguna prequel. Give us the Braska prequel. Monolithsoft has figured out this formula marvelously with the Xenoblade series, and it would be great if Square Enix took a page out of their book.
Love your channel, can I ask though are you gonna do a solo fran play through at any point
@ 🤷
Ugh thanks for saying this - exactly how I feel, too. I'd love another golden age jrpgs like we had in the ps1 days.
Wholeheartedly argee
Right i would be down for a 8 remake. Also 9 but 9 is so good the way it is. For me if they remade 9 it would be dope if it was in the style of yoshitaka amono artwork. Considreing its all about getting back to the roots.
I think the remaster looks great tbh, I haven't played FF8 since the PS1 era, so the upgrades are very noticeable
More than a remake I would like to see a true remaster.
improved graphics and characters design
add more to the story as you said to make the story more cohesive.
Balance the junction system
Add more monsters since ps1 was limited in hardware the monsters were a bit repetitive.
Make triple triad more balanced
replace the chocobo mini game with something like chocobo racing or something.
I don't mind action RPG, but turn based JRPG add much more depth and strategy to the combat as long as the game stats and junction get fixed to balance things out.
Add a Hard mode and Hell mode.
I've been banging this drum for years. FF8 has SO much more to gain from a remake than any other of the PS1 era FFs.
I'd settle for them just adding fullt 360 analogue controls for running around.
Liked and now Subscribed. Let's go
We defo need a Final Fantasy VIII Remake great content 👌 and good breakdown
The only adjustment I would make to FF8 its magic maxing out are 255, so you can junction 100 and still use some…
Making triple triad a live service would make me completely ignore it. I'm actively removing live service from my life (down to 1 as of today).
The other ideas you mention sound like a game I'd like, but it also sounds like the high budget behemoth that SE is having trouble justifying. To be clear, I'd buy it, but it seems like not enough people will buy it to cover hundreds of millions of development costs.
Nice dream though...
there's something about 8 that looks so real already
1:43 that face 🤣 Great video, Erek!
Really love the discussion on what they can do regarding combat, especially like fixed drawing of magic almost like magicides. LOVE that you included the meme LOL
There’s so much potential with a remake for FF8, especially with maybe enhancing plot details (I.e. Rinoa=Ultimecia theory)
Thank you for making this. It's my favorite one and I feel like it doesn't always get enough love. I was maybe 10 or 11 when I bought FFVIII from Walmart never having played a JRPG before. Booted it up in my parents basement on the old PS1. From the moment I heard the first few notes of Liberi Fatali, my life was changed forever. So I'd love them to revisit the world in any way.
I agree with you and had a similar experience! I remember playing this game over and over just to see the intro cutscenes. Really made an impression on me as a kid! Not my fave FF game but it definitely has a special place in my heart!
Give us FFVIIIR!!
I will pray for it to come true, my friend. Somehow we are getting a new Onimusha game and a new Okami game! Miracles can happen. Final Fantasy 8 Remake, baby, here we come!!
Only thing I'll say is if FF8 shoehorned in time-based shenanigans, it'd make so much more sense for FF8 to do it than FF7.
The internal dialogue would be difficult lol, Squall barely talks for the first half of the game
To me, 8 is the one that deserve/need the most to be remade.
But I can see a world where they go for 9 or even 6, if the previous remakes made money x)
I think 10 & 12 doesn't really need to be remade (yet ?) and for the earlier FFs, I can't really imagine what the could look/be like :/
I finally beat ff9 today. I can now safely say I enjoyed ff8 much more than ff9. Other than Steiner,dagger, vivi, and zidane…the rest of the cast are just “there”. Ff9 is very overrated. The character design in 9 is also atrocious. It would look terrible as a modern remake game.
I haven’t played video games in over 10 years due to growing up etc but I would go out and buy a console just for this if it ever came out
Ooo! SeeD missions instead of the SeeD quizzes! That would be so good!
I feel like they just wont put the time into this. If it happens, they wont really fix the issues that put people off playing and will instead rush something together to spend as little as possible on it, then probably attempt another FF7 movie
Dude! How do we do the trigger command on normal attacks? It would be cumbersome to have to press R1 everytime we attack.
FF8 is the best in my eyes but they really need to do something about some details in the game to make it better, like the story specially the convenient reveal at the orphanage also rework the gf system besides that add more context and dept to most characters.
Which way to the fire cavern??
aahahhaha that good
@felipecastillo8997 I was hoping SOMEBODY got it !
@@not_jon_vendi I REALLY DO IT NOW my favorite of ps1
Make it play like a toned down but complex Nier Automata with a versatile depth regarding the battle system and junction system. This would be a Day 1 pre-order for me.
I hope so much for a VIII remake. I love the part.