Square Enix announced today that the anticipated Final Fantasy VIII Remastered will release September 3, 2019, on digital storefronts for Steam, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch for $19.99. The game was originally revealed during Square Enix’s E3 conference earlier this year and sports all new visuals and character design tweaks. Fans of Square Enix’s previous Final Fantasy ports and remasters will recognize new button presses to speed up the game 3x, deactivate random encounters, and grant boosts in battle, all of which can be flipped on and off at will.
Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is being developed on collaboration with DotEmu, whose work you might recognize from the relatively recent Final Fantasy VII ports and 2014’s Nintendo DS remake of Final Fantasy IV.
Pre-orders are now available for those of us who looking to avoid any delay on release day. Though be cautious when pre-purchasing on Steam as the original Final Fantasy VIII PC port, released in 2000, is also still on the store. This port not only lacks the enhancements brought on by the remaster, but its also devoid of its original soundtrack, with a lower fidelity imitation in its place.
Final Fantasy VIII originally released in 1999 for the PlayStation. It was the last holdout in Square Enix’s early Final Fantasy catalog to not be ported to modern platforms. While no official reason was given for the game’s lack of attention until now, rumors abound regarding possible copyright disputes concerning the soundtrack and specifically the vocal track, Eyes on Me, performed by Faye Wong. That the previous PC port lacks this song is a strong indicator that this might be the case. While we might never know the real reason, we can all rest easy knowing it’s been overcome at last and won’t be haunting us any longer.