Highlights

  • Final Fantasy 8's director wants to change the game's Junction system, as it was criticized for being too complicated and difficult.
  • Despite the Junction system's flaws, Final Fantasy 8 is considered one of the easiest games in the series to beat due to its susceptibility to abuse.
  • While a Final Fantasy 8 remake is not currently in development, the director believes that a simpler and friendlier combat system could greatly enhance the potential of a remake.

Final Fantasy 8's director would like to change just one thing about the Sony PlayStation 1 classic should it ever receive the remake treatment. This revelation comes as the game nears its 25th anniversary on February 11.

Despite releasing to critical acclaim back in 1999, Final Fantasy 8 never really left as big a mark as the other games in the beloved RPG series. While the eighth installment’s story, characters, and then-impressive cinematic visuals often receive high praise, many also find the actual gameplay incredibly wanting. Final Fantasy 8's Junction combat system, in particular, was criticized for being too complicated and difficult - an opinion that even the game's developers share.

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In an interview with IGN, renowned Japanese video game producer Yoshinori Kitase, who was Final Fantasy 8's director, said that he believes the title's Junction system would need to be reworked for a hypothetical remake. Final Fantasy 8's unique Junction system offered a deep level of customization and strategy, but this intricacy proved to be a double-edged sword. "I think it was a very difficult system for some people to get into. Depending on player skills, sometimes they just didn't work out the best way of doing it," Kitase said.

I think it was a very difficult system for some people to get into. Depending on player skills, sometimes they just didn't work out the best way of doing it.

final fantasy 8 remake junction battle system rework yoshinori kitase 1

Despite having such an unpopular and complicated combat system, Final Fantasy 8 is actually considered to be one of the easiest Final Fantasy games to beat. Junction was apparently very susceptible to being abused, and many players were able to figure out how to turn their characters into overpowered monsters that could defeat enemies without breaking a sweat.

Will Final Fantasy 8 Get a Remake?

  • Final Fantasy 8 game director Yoshinori Kitase did not outright turn down the idea of a Final Fantasy 8 remake, but he said such a project would require a lot of time and effort.

To replace Final Fantasy 8's Junction, Kitase would like to implement a system where the level of difficulty would be a lot more balanced for fans, the developer told IGN. This overhauled combat system would be the thing that attracts most of Kitase's attention in a remake of Final Fantasy's eighth mainline entry. As Final Fantasy 8 already does a lot of things better than other games in the franchise, a simpler and friendlier combat system could elevate a potential remake to heights the original never reached.

However, development on a Final Fantasy 8 remake seems unlikely right now, as Kitase claimed recreating that amount of content in the modern day would require massive investments of time and effort. Kitase worked on a remaster of Final Fantasy 8, and he is currently involved in the remake trilogy of Final Fantasy 7, which was first announced in 2015. The first game in that project, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, was released in 2020, while its sequel, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, is scheduled to launch on February 29, giving each game an average development cycle of about four years. The upcoming Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is expected to be massive in terms of size and scale.