Square Enix officially unveiled the long-awaited Final Fantasy VIII Remastered during their E3 2019 Showcase. The remaster has been rumored for some time, as eagle-eyed Final Fantasy fans noted that Final Fantasy VIII never saw a mobile release and the Steam version was just a direct port of the PS1 original. Now, the wait is over, as Final Fantasy VIII Remastered will be coming to Steam, PS4, Switch and Xbox One. Surprisingly, we'll get our hands on Final Fantasy VIII Remastered when it releases later this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpx2Z2CCjPs
Unfortunately for Square, Final Fantasy VIII was fighting for attention with the gorgeous Final Fantasy VII. Of course, when placed up against the long-awaited Final Fantasy VII Remake, the Final Fantasy VIII Remaster seems as though it's a product from another era. Still, getting optimized to run on modern consoles and PCs without losing much of the charm is one of the challenges of the remaster, and that's without even seeing the menus, something Square has struggled mightily with when porting their classic RPGs.
Either way, the announcement of the Final Fantasy VIII Remaster means that you will now have the chance to own all of the PS1-era Final Fantasy games, running in modern resolutions, on non-Sony platforms. Even though the popularity of Final Fantasy VIII pales in comparison to its predecessor, the sheer absence of the RPG in Square Enix's catalog of remasters meant the demand grew over time. Whether Square Enix was waiting for the right time to make the announcement, or if there were some underlying technical issues is hard to say. No matter the case, we'll get our chance to finally play Final Fantasy VIII Remastered on modern consoles and PCs later this year.
If you want to know more about this and other announcements happening at E3 then be sure to check out our E3 2019 Coverage Hub.
