Review: Final Fantasy VIII Remastered

One of my favorite instances of the graphical overall being lacking is early on during a meeting with a certain character. They upgraded him graphically during a cutscenes but not outside of it. So when it switches out of the cutscenes he looks like a raisin. It's still a damn fine game but when you notice the graphics it's kind of terrifying.

Hmm, I think I know which character you're referring to, though I'm not sure he was in a cutscene. I do remember him standing completely still in the background of the Balamb Garden hall like a lemon, and looking like a raisin indeed.

I guess you could say it suits his... fruity character.

It's too bad they couldn't... squeeze more out of the graphics.

Maybe the graphics on the switch are less artifact-filled, I don't know. Anyway, it's not nearly always so bad, thankfully. I'm kind of interested in a remake now. That said, I've played this game so many times that I probably couldn't stomach another go, even if it is probably my favorite installment or my second favorite after VI.

i personally didnt think the visuals needed much of an update. i would have much prefered if they smoothed out the animations, especially in battle since they run like 15fps.

Leo Epema said:
Hmm, I think I know which character you're referring to, though I'm not sure he was in a cutscene. I do remember him standing completely still in the background of the Balamb Garden hall like a lemon, and looking like a raisin indeed.

I guess you could say it suits his... fruity character.

It's too bad they couldn't... squeeze more out of the graphics.

 

Oooo I see what you did there.

Insanoflex said:
i personally didnt think the visuals needed much of an update. i would have much prefered if they smoothed out the animations, especially in battle since they run like 15fps.

Exactly. Especially since all they did was update a small selection of character models with one higher res character model. The fact that their facial expressions never change make them look like mannequins and it's very jarring.

and for the love of sega genesis, please restore the analogue movement.

Hm, I didn't see any issue with the fluidity of the animations in battle, even if they are 15 fps. To me, it doesn't feel juddery or anything. In that regard, I usually hate it when they artificially increase the amount of frames in games and movies, as it creates a strange 'soap opera effect' where it seems like the camera is somehow moving along with people's every motion, and it just feels too fluid... probably because fake frames were inserted that didn't exist in the original.

I remember seeing the movie The Hobbit in theaters, and even it (which was natively shot in 45 fps instead of the normal 30 for movies) felt completely... wrong. I remember there was one scene in which it seemed as though Radagast (I think) was moving in a sped-up way, like a tape was being sped up. Still, I wouldn't be against more frames per second if it looked natural enough. Normally that only really matters to me in shooter games revolving around quick response and twitch movements.

The analogue movement missing was definitely a flaw, though I didn't hate it as much as most others. After all, most of the movement in FF8 is kind of focused on tight corners anyway, sometimes even very sharp angles like when moving up the broadcasting station in Timber, or going down to the mayor's house in FH. That said, it was certainly an annoyance.