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Final Fantasy 8 Director Would Change the Combat System in a Remake

Shut0wen

Member
Final fantasy is a shit series in general but 8 is one of the most decent ones, no wonder itd take 20 years if this tard wants to change the combat into hack n slash
 

Ar¢tos

Member
The story was very messy from what I remember, but the soundtrack was good.

The junction system and levelling system were crap. I still remember farming Ultima from draw points in some tiny island just to have 100 to junction.
 

Rat Rage

Member
Good. I thought the Junction system was the stupidest shit and such an unfun downgrade from Materia. An immediate turn off after coming off of every other thing Square related during that time. It was such a bummer for me because I loved the character and world design. Story seemed like it wouldve been ok too.

This is it right here. FF8 would be a lot better game with a complete overhaul of the battle system / without the junction system. FF7's battle system was just perfect, Squaresoft didn't have to change it in any way. Sadly, they did probably just for the sake of innovation, which turned out awfully.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Yep, tried telling people that NVIDIA leak was fake, it was even admitted to as being made up but people had their fingers in their ears.
It sounded like a wishlist from a minority of fans which disregard logic.
FFVIII sold a shit tone more then IX so for a business why would they skip it to remake one that sold less just because a few fans want it.
I'd love for them to remake them both but if I had to choose one and left my own personal preference at the door, logically VIII would be the next.
But I doubt we'll see either in our lifetime sadly.
 

Sojiro

Member
I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the Junction system for this game. On the one hand I really like the idea of boosting your stats with the spells you acquire, but on the other you never want to use the spells as they start to weaken those stats with every use. Drawing is tedious, but you are given other tools to acquire spells.

Sadly, in my opinion, the characters are mediocre, and the game spends more time with a incredibly bland romance, then establishing the upcoming doom, with ______ and ______ awakening.
This is something I agree with, and it's mostly because the story focuses so much of the relationship of Squall and Rinoa that the other characters just feel there for the sake of being there. The others have their one moment in the main story to justify why they are there and are just tag alongs the rest of the way, at least from what I recall, though I admit it has been a long while since I last played it. I do really like my boy Irving, even though after the assassination attempt he is just "there" for the rest of it.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I loved FF8, but maybe he changes the way magic and summons work. It's been a while but I think magic could be used by anyone (save Quistis' blue magic?) and it depended on how many casts you had available in your inventory instead it being based on mana. Also summons were assigned to anyone and could be used on every fight for the most part. I also seem to remember some part where your characters could become stronger than the summons or Eidolons...whatever they were called in that game. I think having a more restricted use of summons and have them be more powerful is a better way to go. Casting Eden on every fight was kinda ridiculous...especially because the in game cutscene was like over a minute long.
 

Doom85

Member
It sounded like a wishlist from a minority of fans which disregard logic.
FFVIII sold a shit tone more then IX so for a business why would they skip it to remake one that sold less just because a few fans want it.
I'd love for them to remake them both but if I had to choose one and left my own personal preference at the door, logically VIII would be the next.
But I doubt we'll see either in our lifetime sadly.

Most agree a good chunk of VIII’s sales was due to coming immediately off of VII and having a similar style (well, in terms of cutscenes and battles, not so much with how characters looked outside of combat), so people picked it up without thinking about it too much.

IX turned lots of people off initially due to the different design style and appearing more light-hearted, though people gradually picked it up over time once people understood it was designed to resemble the older games’ art style plus realizing the story is actually really dark.

In 2024, it would be hard to say which has a bigger audience by this point. How either game sold about 25 years ago when taking in all these factors means we can’t say for sure who would come out on top today.

But it is worth noting Square released the HD version of IX before they released the HD version of VIII. This makes me suspect Square is aware that IX is possibly more popular than VIII these days, and that sales from 25 years ago aren’t a reliable indicator anymore. I mean, Batman Forever made more money in theaters than Batman Returns, but it’s a safe bet Returns would do better now if both films were re-released in theaters. You can’t always rely on pretty old sales numbers/records to gauge where can reception is in modern day.
 
Most agree a good chunk of VIII’s sales was due to coming immediately off of VII and having a similar style (well, in terms of cutscenes and battles, not so much with how characters looked outside of combat), so people picked it up without thinking about it too much.

IX turned lots of people off initially due to the different design style and appearing more light-hearted, though people gradually picked it up over time once people understood it was designed to resemble the older games’ art style plus realizing the story is actually really dark.

In 2024, it would be hard to say which has a bigger audience by this point. How either game sold about 25 years ago when taking in all these factors means we can’t say for sure who would come out on top today.

But it is worth noting Square released the HD version of IX before they released the HD version of VIII. This makes me suspect Square is aware that IX is possibly more popular than VIII these days, and that sales from 25 years ago aren’t a reliable indicator anymore. I mean, Batman Forever made more money in theaters than Batman Returns, but it’s a safe bet Returns would do better now if both films were re-released in theaters. You can’t always rely on pretty old sales numbers/records to gauge where can reception is in modern day.
I think either one of these games would have a great audience in today's market. A lot of time is when companies talk about low sales are different figures from the 90s I just think about how much larger the market is today.

I think either one of these could be spun into a successful remake easily. They are both different but I think that would be okay and lend themselves to different sorts of remakes in terms of style.

I kind of agree with the poster a couple up that unfortunately we will be unlikely to see anything like this in our lifetime at the rate we are going. Lol. It also really depends on how much they are looking to do in these remakes. With ff7 not really being a remake and instead being a sort of original title set after or on top of or whatever the original game it becomes a lot more work to create custom scenarios.

There is absolutely no reason it should take 20 years or whatever to remake some of these early Final Fantasy games if that's all they are doing. All of the plot points are fleshed out for them, scenes are depicted they just need to be built with new assets which I understand takes quite some time but that should be for the most part the largest amount of effort put into these remakes if they were just remakes as I said. And sure you can flush out certain scenes and sequences but.. yeah.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
But it is worth noting Square released the HD version of IX before they released the HD version of VIII. This makes me suspect Square is aware that IX is possibly more popular than VIII these days, and that sales from 25 years ago aren’t a reliable indicator anymore.
They did release the mobile version of IX first.
But VIII was Remastered and released physically, a lot more work went into VIII release then IX mobile port.
Kitase even said that it started out as a simple port like VII & IX but members of the original team joined in and started tinkering and got carried away, this was during FFVII Remake development and highlighted their desire to return to the game but it wasn't something they could fully commit to so they outsourced the rest to be finished as they already took the project pass what it was originally and we got that Remastered Version instead.
Kitase has already said VIII would the next remake if one was made and this is the 3rd time he has talked about it.
 
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Go_Ly_Dow

Member
Yeah, the mood/atmosphere in this game was unique. The soundtrack helps a lot.

Mayor, your city is about to be ruined !
Oh no, we have to do something quickly !
You are right... but first, let's play some Triple Triad :messenger_sunglasses:
The Laguna dream sequences were all so good. Loved the mystery surrounding them.
 

Doom85

Member
They did release the mobile version of IX first.
But VIII was Remastered and released physically, a lot more work went into VIII release then IX mobile port.
Kitase even said that it started out as a simple port like VII & IX but members of the original team joined in and started tinkering and got carried away, this was during FFVII Remake development and highlighted their desire to return to the game but it wasn't something they could fully commit to so they outsourced the rest to be finished as they already took the project pass what it was originally and we got that Remastered Version instead.
Kitase has already said VIII would the next remake if one was made and this is the 3rd time he has talked about it.

Kitase directed VIII and not IX, kind of obvious he’d be saying VIII would be next as opposed to IX based on pure speculation.

Regardless, that’s a decision that would be made by multiple people, not just him. Just because he’s passionate about the game doesn’t mean all the executives would believe it makes the most sense from a business perspective. Besides, my point stands that in the rerelease of IX came first which would suggest the executives saw it as more of a priority, and the reason VIII got more work done was due to developers and not most of the people in charge. Plus it may depend on how much the HD versions of any of the games sold.

Plus, it depends on what sort of remake they’d be pitching. A smaller-scale remake that just gives the visuals and such a fresh coat of paint like the Spyro Reignited Trilogy or Star Ocean 2 but leave pretty much almost all the gameplay as it was would be more easy to approve due to being easier to develop as opposed to a full scale remake like Final Fantasy VII Remake or the modern Resident Evil remakes which could be seen as more of a risky venture for any FF game that isn’t VII.
 

The Fartist

Gold Member
Please remake FFVIII, Square, I'll wait for PS6 or even 7, just fucking make it.

giphy.gif
 

Raonak

Banned
FF8 with an action battle system that uses the gunblade trigger mechanism similar to the throttle in DMC.... Yum 🤤
 

IAmRei

Member
I was there back before. I once like it much. And my friend said that the story is awful, the gameplay as well. It bugs me much until several years later, i find it true. Although the music, the world visual, are the best about 8. I even ended remember the 8 were the best in that two even vs 9 or 12 or 15 and 16 which i loved more.

I think it is not the gameplay that bad. The world building also awful. Especially the hyne and magic origin explanation is kinda lame for me.

Martial law, ami, and fisherman horizon themes, i often listen to those song, played it thousand times or more in my whole life since their release date.

If they want to fix something, they will have a lot of list i think...
 

Doomtrain

Member
FFVIII does a lot of cool things, but the execution is a mess. I'd be interested in a remake just to see if they can clean it up and salvage it, because there's some great stuff in there that gets lost in the current version. I love, for example, that Guardian Forces are largely analogous to jobs, but that intent gets muddied when you factor in junctioning, the bloated and constant summon sequences, drawing, etc. I also love how malleable and breakable the game's systems are, but they're so freeform that they all bleed together.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
my point stands that in the rerelease of IX came first which would suggest the executives saw it as more of a priority, and the reason VIII got more work done was due to developers and not most of the people in charge. Plus it may depend on how much the HD versions of any of the games sold.
Does it though?
they ported a 2016 mobile of IX to consoles the year they announced the Remastered VIII.
it sounds like an afterthought to me more than a priority thing.

VII - Remake/Sequel
VIII - Remastered
IX - Mobile Port
I can't even think why anyone would think the handling of IX was of high priority over the others when this is the reality of it and the time between release (which you believe means they prioritise it) and the actual project means FFVIII Remastered went into production before they even started the very simple port of IX.
 
I’ve been saying for years… draw system should be automated, every action you perform should also draw magic. Every attack, every limit, every summon, etc should also draw.

Spells you equip should not decrease when used. Or there should to 2 sets of every spell, a “draw” set that doesn’t diminish, and a “use” set that goes down with use.

Sitting in battle for turns on end drawing magic was the most boring fucking thing ever, and even though I cherish FF8, I rarely replay because of this.
 
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HoodWinked

Member
Whoever thought of the summon guardian +damage system needs to never make games ever again.

Also the draw aspect of the junction system is incredibly tedious and ruins the game's balance. It's wild that some designer thought after implementation thinking yup that's good 👍.
 

Muffdraul

Member
Whatever :messenger_winking:

Is the story presented in less of a mess in Japanese?
I wouldn't say that. Same with FFVII, there are times where stuff is translated sloppily (like Edea's speech at the parade) but the important bits of the story are all there, nothing was screwed up or lost. The issues I noticed were more aesthetic. Like how they decided to get Laguna across in English. In Japanese, the idea is that is that he speaks to everyone in the "casual" politeness level, which normally you would only use with very close friends and family. Even if it's someone he just met, he talks to them as if they're an old friend. In real world Japan if you did that they'd think something was wrong with you, they'd wonder if you were sick with fever or just plain nuts. But in the context of the story it's supposed to make him unusually charming and disarming and charismatic. The translator had to think of a way to get the same thing across in English, but he ended up making Laguna sound like a dimwit. He never sounded stupid per se in Japanese. Just overly friendly.

I started importing JRPGs with FFVII, then a year later Xenogears was the next big one, and by the time FFVIII came out I was pretty fluent as far as reading at least. Those were fucking great times, it's been so long since I gave a damn about a JRPG. Rebirth is making me super nostalgic.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
FFVIII probably has my favourite overworld, and OST in any FF. And best intro cutscene too. Best minigame with Triple Triad?

The overworld was really fantastic with cars for rent, and staying on the road actually didn't trigger random encounters. There was so much side content to find by exploring. The game quality does dip after disc 1 (which is honestly a 10/10 to me), but I just love the game. I rinsed the Remaster too and it was incredibly nostalgic doing so.

Its probably my number one FF of the PSX trilogy as well. Its so fun replaying it, and utterly breaking the game. Its the only one of the 3 I could replay to the very end not too long ago.
 
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Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
“And the thing about that system was the enemies levelled up in line with what the player’s level was. And obviously you had to then use the Junction system and how you customise that to overcome the challenge there. And I think it was a very difficult system for some people to get into.

Difficulty isn't the problem. It's fucking dumb. Enemies leveling up with you is stupid and ruins the point of grinding. Only a few games do it correctly.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Difficulty isn't the problem. It's fucking dumb. Enemies leveling up with you is stupid and ruins the point of grinding. Only a few games do it correctly.

Grinding was still a thing if you wanted to min-max. The scaling was essentially a non-issue. If you were maxed out with maxed defenses you would be invincible anyway. That was the point of grinding. And the superboss used to be fixed level 100 so you wanted to get there regardless.
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
Grinding was still a thing if you wanted to min-max. The scaling was essentially a non-issue. If you were maxed out with maxed defenses you would be invincible anyway. That was the point of grinding. And the superboss used to be fixed level 100 so you wanted to get there regardless.

Grinding by drawing magic over and over again - dumb

Grinding by killing mobs - acceptable
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Anyone who worked on FF8 has no business telling anyone else what to do. I mean.... Gunsword :messenger_dizzy:
 

mortal

Gold Member
That's to be expected. The battle system is probabaly the most criticized aspect of FFVIII that I've encountred over the years.
 

Minsc

Gold Member
Isn't this the combat system that the more battles you fight the harder it gets? I feel like I've read that, and by avoiding battles you can keep the game easier? I'm not sure!
 

Doom85

Member
Does it though?
they ported a 2016 mobile of IX to consoles the year they announced the Remastered VIII.
it sounds like an afterthought to me more than a priority thing.

VII - Remake/Sequel
VIII - Remastered
IX - Mobile Port
I can't even think why anyone would think the handling of IX was of high priority over the others when this is the reality of it and the time between release (which you believe means they prioritise it) and the actual project means FFVIII Remastered went into production before they even started the very simple port of IX.

Because VIII only got the extra work done to it due to the developers themselves, it had nothing to do with executive decisions. You said that yourself. So why did IX get a mobile version and VIII didn’t for a good while? If VIII was such a priority, they sure didn’t get the ball rolling as quickly as they could have on working on it.
 

German Hops

GAF's Nicest Lunch Thief
FF8 is certainly divisive among fans, but I absolutely love it for its unique jank.

Never change, VIII.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Grinding by drawing magic over and over again - dumb

Grinding by killing mobs - acceptable

You don't really need to draw though. I don't think I ever used it much. You can refine a lot of things. You can make easy 100 Triples etc. Triple Triad plays into this too, which you can refine into high tier stuff if you want.

The stupid thing is that casting magic from junctions is completely useless since it brings your stats down. Battles come down to attack, or spam limits. But then again, FFX endgame eventually comes down to just quick hit over and over.
 
You don't really need to draw though. I don't think I ever used it much. You can refine a lot of things. You can make easy 100 Triples etc. Triple Triad plays into this too, which you can refine into high tier stuff if you want.

The stupid thing is that casting magic from junctions is completely useless since it brings your stats down. Battles come down to attack, or spam limits. But then again, FFX endgame eventually comes down to just quick hit over and over.
Yeah, early on you mostly need to draw but as you progress it becomes less important to do so in most cases. But I don't really see all that much of a problem, in most cases having 85 or whatever junctioned is pretty close to 100, so casting isn't as bad as some make it out IMO. I like the idea of the tug and pull in so much as needing to keep resources vs expending them, but it's not executed as well as it maybe could be.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
I found that with I think its Spirit, Draw becomes less of a chore, you get 10+ from one draw.

Isn't this the combat system that the more battles you fight the harder it gets? I feel like I've read that, and by avoiding battles you can keep the game easier? I'm not sure!

Yeah if you play normally it gets harder if you level up. But if you correctly use junction you will be far more powerful regardless. If the game didn't scale it would only be even easier. The junction system is there after all, and it does allow you to gain stat increases without any level grinding at all.

People tend to stay low level because they want to min max the end game. There are GF abilities that give you more stat increase on level up so if you end up very low, like in the 20's, you can grow 80 levels with increased bonus every time.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
Because VIII only got the extra work done to it due to the developers themselves, it had nothing to do with executive decisions. You said that yourself. So why did IX get a mobile version and VIII didn’t for a good while? If VIII was such a priority, they sure didn’t get the ball rolling as quickly as they could have on working on it.
Or you could say because the creator of FFVIII is the head of Square Enix's Creative Business Unit I, Final Fantasy series Brand Manager, and vice president
And a member of the board of directors and an executive officer at Square Enix Co, Ltd and Square Enix Holdings.
That's the reason..
And they actually lost the source code
 
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Doom85

Member
Or you could say because the creator of FFVIII is the head of Square Enix's Creative Business Unit I, Final Fantasy series Brand Manager, and vice president
And a member of the board of directors and an executive officer at Square Enix Co, Ltd and Square Enix Holdings.
That's the reason..
And they actually lost the source code

If you went back to post #63, I said “most of the people in charge”. I’m aware of his current position, but like I said, he isn’t able to just approve projects entirely on his own.

But regardless, this is all irrelevant. How each HD version sold is likely the more relevant factor in which gets a remake first (plus as I also said, what sort of remake they’re aiming for), and I don’t believe we have been provided with sales numbers in that regard.
 

Power Pro

Member
FF8 is a wildly underrated and unappreciated game.
I didn't like this game the first time I played it, but upon a replay, I felt like I understood it better. It's actually pretty well written, it's just some people don't understand the emotions of the characters because it's all text and limited animation. I felt like it finally clicked for it, and I really appreciated it.

But yeah, that battle system needs a revamp lol
 

Rentahamster

Rodent Whores
You don't really need to draw though. I don't think I ever used it much. You can refine a lot of things. You can make easy 100 Triples etc. Triple Triad plays into this too, which you can refine into high tier stuff if you want.

Either way, my main point is that the FF8 system breaks the important gameplay loop of kill mobs = get stronger.

Agreed on endgame for 8 and 10.
 

K2D

Banned
Do whatever you have to, just rail in the 'FF7 Remake padding' and make it all fit into one game.

Edit: Best part of combat is you can choose to go OP, nerf yourself (if you don't pay attention) or play a pretty challanging game by not grinding (read: drawing magic like there's no tomorrow and farming triple triad)..

Charge more if you have to even.
 
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i love ff8 so much man, i bought the japanese version from a Santa Monica game store to play it before it released. I would welcome a tweaking of the battle system but i did love the idea of junctioning spells to stats and also learning special abilities from summons. just tweak the draw system -

it's a beautiful game. remake 6 and 8 and i'm satisfied for life as an FF fan.
 

Brock2621

Member
FF8 was a mistake.
Hard disagree. Just played it for the first time all the way through last year and was slap-jawed at how good it was. I def wish it had a material system or traditional magic system than junction system, but the story was so good, the subtle details and breadcrumbs of character connections along the way was incredible and don't get me started on the music. If you haven't played it all the way through and beaten it, I'd highly encourage you to.
 
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