Final Fantasy VIII Remastered was confirmed at Square Enix’s E3 conference. It’s not nearly as substantial an undertaking as the Final Fantasy VII remake, but it is more than a simple re-release – we’re looking at new character models that make for a pretty substantial visual upgrade compared with the original.
The remaster will launch this year on consoles and PC via Steam. but we don’t have any more specific a window than that. You can already pick up an FF8 release on Steam for $11.99 / £9.99 / €12.99, though it’s just the original game with some extra cheats and quality of life features, many of which will come over to the new remaster.
The remaster will let you permanently max out your HP and ATB bars if you want to blaze through battles, and you can turn off random encounters entirely, as Gematsu notes. There’s also a triple speed option to let you speed through fights and non-movie story sequences.
Check out the trailer below.
Yes, it does look a lot better than the original. You’re just remembering it better than it actually was. Seriously.
Read more: Check out all the best old games on PC
You’re not getting a Final Fantasy 7 remake PC release date any time soon, so for now this lighter remaster is your best bet for PS1 FF nostalgia on modern PCs.