Final Fantasy 8 is turning 25 this year and you’d best bet that Square Enix will talk about it.
As it finds itself knee-deep in the massive remake trilogy of Final Fantasy 7, its producer, who was the original director of FF8, recently shared his thoughts about a hypothetical remake.
Despite there being no official plans from Square Enix to remake the game, the discussion is providing insight into the challenges and considerations of modernizing classic titles.
Kitase, in an interview with IGN, expressed a desire to rework the game’s battle system if he’ll ever get a chance to do a remake. He noted that while it was innovative, the system proved a bit of a challenge for some players as it involved its enemies leveling up in parallel with party members. It requires adept management of the Junction system to succeed in combat. Kitase claims revisiting this aspect of the game would be a priority, aiming to balance difficulty and approachability more effectively.
The Junction system, central to FF8’s gameplay, allowed players to assign (“junction”) magic spells to characters to improve their stats or grant them new abilities. It’s a departure from the more straightforward mechanics of its predecessor, Final Fantasy 7, and its complexity was a point of contention among fans.
However, the prospect of remaking Final Fantasy 8 – or any classic Final Fantasy title from the PlayStation era – is daunting. Kitase highlighted the immense resources and effort required to recreate the depth and breadth of content found in these games. He referenced the Final Fantasy 7 Remake project as an example of the substantial investment needed, suggesting that undertaking another project of similar scale is not a decision to be made lightly.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake director Naoki Hamaguchi also commented on the matter, jokingly declining the opportunity to lead a remake of another numbered Final Fantasy game after completing the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy.
Despite the challenges, Kitase hasn’t ruled out the possibility of potential future remakes but he emphasized the need for careful consideration due to their size and complexity.
According to Kitase, remakes don’t need a photorealistic art style. This indicates an openness to different approaches that could suit the original game’s spirit and fans’ expectations.
Previously, Kitase explained that remaking Final Fantasy 6, which he also directed, would take decades and millions of dollars.
While the idea of revisiting Final Fantasy 8 with a modernized battle system is intriguing to a lot of fans, it’s a hypothetical scenario for now.
Square Enix is currently preparing for the release of FF7 Rebirth on February 29 on PS5 with the first demo already out and a second one coming soon. After this, Final Fantasy fans can look forward to the release of The Rising Tide for Final Fantasy 16. Finally, FF16’s PC port will arrive in late 2024. In between, Final Fantasy 14 will be made available on Xbox platforms.
