The pixelated background has been somewhat masked with a “depth of field” look that’s more or less just a blur. With that, though, the PlayStation 4 version for some reason seems to fill less screen real-estate, with larger bars around the image. The clarity of the picture quality is significant, with the Switch version being roughly at 80% the resolution. Of the three versions we played, the Steam release from a few years ago, Switch and PlayStation 4, the latter is by far the best. Because of this, this is still in the original 4:3 ratio, with no widescreen option (although like most games, that would have probably lead to simply zooming in and cutting off a portion of the picture). This isn’t just a simple slapped together remaster, but one where most character models have been completely overhauled, making it a little more modern, although maintaining the low resolution pre-rendered backgrounds and cinematics. Some claim it’s because Square lost the source code, but regardless, the Japanese publisher has enlisted companies such as Access Games, best known for Deadly Premonition, to help remaster the RPG in celebration of its twenty-year birthday.

If there’s one game over the last twenty years that has been notably absent from the the remastered or port treatment, it has been Final Fantasy VIII.

Final fantasy viii remastered ps4