Final Fantasy VIII: Remastered (PC/PS4/XB1/NSW) - September 3, 2019

[Anoat]

Almost 20 years to the day for the original NA release.

[IceSylph]

Was hoping for a physical release, even if it cost more. Will have to make due with digital for PS4 or PC. Probably PS4. Will get day 1. Been holding off my replay for the remaster. Havent touched it since ~2016.

[AoE]

This September?

[BWYuko]

Yes, Sony worked with Square to release FF8 in NA on 9.9.99, the same day that Sega launched the Dreamcast.
They were really at each other's throats. Remember the Sony Spy ad?

[Draylo]

So was the voice over thing just a rumor?

[BWYuko]

Never heard such a rumor, where'd you see it?
This has been toted as strictly a graphics facelift since announcement.

[Ratatapa]

Never heard such a rumor, where'd you see it?
This has been toted as strictly a graphics facelift since announcement.

https://www.thegamer.com/final-fanta...e-voice-overs/

[BWYuko]

Hmmm, I'm still suspect.

I think the DSO writer jumped to conclusions before publishing his story, which The Gamer then regurgitated in their story.

The actual citation is just the final sentence of an embedded marketing blurb in the official website's source code. It sounds like an official "game description" you'd find on the back of the product's digital store listing/retail packaging (this game is getting a physical release).

The specific way it's worded leads me to believe it was added for legal clarity regarding available languages instead of the purpose of touting the addition of voice acting.

From the original DSO article, I've emboldened the specific sentence he cited, and begun with his big assumption:

As the official website states, the game will have English and Japanese voiceover, and it will have English, French, Italian, German and Spanish subtitles.

Here is the full game description that can be found in the source code.

“FINAL FANTASY VIII casts unlikely heroes into a war to save the world. The military nation of Galbadia has declared war on the Dukedom of Dollet, who are left with no choice but to hire a mercenary force for their defense. Enter SeeD and its newest member: Squall Leonhart. Together with his friends, Squall joins Rinoa Heartilly, a member of a resistance group, on an adventure that holds the fate of their world in its balance. FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered marks the 20th Anniversary of its original release with a complete visual refresh and brings the game’s classic story to modern platforms: Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. With fully overhauled visuals, see your favorite characters come to life like never before! FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered is an RPG, available in English and Japanese voiceover, and is also text localized into French, Italian, German and Spanish.”

So let's look at that last sentence.

If the remaster is not receiving voice acting, the only time we hear "voice" work in FF8 is...
(a) Latin choral chanting in the several Liberi Fatali / Fithos Lusec OST songs; and...
(b) the two occasions Faye Wong sings Eyes On Me in the OST: the pop single, and the orchestral version in the ending scene.

So Latin is a dead/classical language, lingua franca of not-even-the-Vatican and definitely not a language the game story was translated to. No need to mention it in a legal blurb.

And the rest...

"... available in English and Japanese voiceover..." covers the English & Japanese versions of Eyes on Me.

"... and also text localized into French, Italian, German and Spanish," covers the written languages the game has already been localized to, excluding the obvious Japanese and English.

Then there's the failure to market in the sentence prior. The addition of full voice acting to FF8 would be an enormous selling point, possibly exceeding that of the graphics overhaul. But the sentence before the one cited reads:

"With fully overhauled visuals, see your favorite characters come to life like never before!"

It's hard to believe they wouldn't push new voice acting in the very same breath.

It also aligns with the list of official game features that SE has been displaying with all press material:

• Enhanced visuals: Several characters, enemies, GF, and objects have been refined to look better than ever before.
• Battle Assist: Activate this booster to max out HP and ATB bars – and trigger Limit Breaks at any time. You will lose all HP when you get hit by a critical attack that gives more damage than your HP, or by lethal damage.
• No encounters: Want to explore without fear of attack? Activate this option to turn off random encounters. Event battles must still be done in order to advance the story.
• 3x speed boost: Accelerates time by a factor of three – perfect if you want to speed through easy battles or get somewhere in a hurry. This feature will not apply to certain scenes including movies.

... and echoes the way the remaster is summarized on the official FF8 wiki/a pages.

But, hey, I hope I'm wrong. It'd be a great surprise if they snuck in voice acting, but I feel stronger that the DSO writer is just a lazy shit.

[Gokulo]

Of course they'd advertise the hell out of voice acting if it was being added.
I also don't see them bothering to do something that big for a remaster.

[6souls]

Steam version gets bonus features;

• The Steam version will also receive additional functions, including All Items (possess all items except for a few certain items), All Abilities, GF Max Level, Max Gil, Max Magic, All Limit Breaks, and All Cards (possess max number of Triple Triad Cards except for Rare Cards).

PS4 preorder gets a unique theme while Steam preorder gets wallpapers of Squall Leonhart and Rinoa Heartilly.

[6souls]

[The Stig]

Hmmm, I'm still suspect.

I think the DSO writer jumped to conclusions before publishing his story, which The Gamer then regurgitated in their story.

But, hey, I hope I'm wrong. It'd be a great surprise if they snuck in voice acting, but I feel stronger that the DSO writer is just a lazy shit.

Agree.

In fact the last line of the article already discredited the entire article in my opinion:

Though voice actors will certainly help to sell the game, the company will have to be careful with its selection so that it doesn't have another Tidus issue on its hands.

Tidus issue?

EDIT: Also, fun fact:

"... available in English and Japanese voiceover..." covers the English & Japanese versions of Eyes on Me.

There is no official JP Eyes on Me. At best, we have a cover from Angeli Aki (sung FFXII's song). And then some cover of it from Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba. This alone counters the article hard.

[Ratatapa]

Battle background still seems like paperboard

[Kaisha]

Still also plays at 15fps going by that Youtube vid. I'd have figure with the texture/model reworks they'd have reverse engineered enough of the game to just bump that up to 60fps without any timing systems breaking, at least on the camera movement if anything.

[Shenrien]

15? looks closer to 28-30 to me.

[BWYuko]

Tidus issue?

Always love having a reason to link this.

Spoiler: show

There is no official JP Eyes on Me. At best, we have a cover from Angeli Aki (sung FFXII's song). And then some cover of it from Final Fantasy Song Book: Mahoroba. This alone counters the article hard.

You know, I was actually thinking about this when I was pulling the research. I couldn't find a JP version anywhere. Kept trying to evoke a memory where I may have potentially read something like 15 years ago mentioning how it being English-only had added to the feat of the gold disc award - but I couldn't find dick. But it bothered me too. Did Square have Faye record both versions, and only use the English for all media? Why would they need to mention that in the legalese? Is that actually something new and unique about this Remastered release - Japan is getting a JPN Eyes On Me that Square had squirreled away for 20 years? Haven't Japanese lyrics existed all that while, which were used in the recordings you mentioned?

It was all very confusing and stupid, so I ignored it and just acted like I knew wtf I was talking about b/c I googled.

[Xno Kappa]

Meh. I guess this is awesome for Switch users.

Everything else is already done better with PC mods readily available right now.

[Salodin]

I loved that Tidus scene =( no one ever gets that hes doing it on purpose

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

[Scizor]

I loved that Tidus scene =( no one ever gets that hes doing it on purpose

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk

I remember watching the video from James explaining the laughing scene in detail, its true though a lot of people overlook the fact it was intentionally awkward and over the top.

[AoE]

It's not that the fans overlook it. It's that the outspoken fans are socially awkward narcissists.