Final Fantasy 8 turned 25 over the weekend, prompting many fans to renew their pleas for a remake. However, it looks like they're out of luck, as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's director, Naoki Hamaguchi, gives a firm "No" to the offer of spearheading another remake project.
Even Final Fantasy 8's own director, Yoshinori Kitase, sounds unconvinced that the game would work with a modern audience. In an interview with IGN (as spotted by PC Gamer), neither director sounds particularly enthusiastic about making a Final Fantasy 8 Remake series, with Hamaguchi outright shooting down the idea altogether.
"If after we’ve finished the three games in the [Final Fantasy 7] remake trilogy, Mr. Kitase then comes to me and says, ‘Right, we're going to be remaking another numbered Final Fantasy game and you are on the project,’ I'll just turn around and go, ‘No!’”, says Naoki Hamaguchi.
Of course, someone else could lead the development of Final Fantasy 8's remakes. But even if that were the case, the original director believes that many changes would have to be made to its RPG mechanics.
"I think you may remember we had the Junction system in Final Fantasy 8," says Kitase. "I think it was a very difficult system for some people to get into. [...] So I think I'd want to return to that and really rework the battle system, and make it something where that level of difficulty and approachability for some fans was a lot better balanced."
While that might appeal to those who could never quite get into Final Fantasy 8, this will likely come as a disappointment to the diehard fans. Especially since Final Fantasy 8 has been back in the conversation recently, with the actor behind the protagonist in Final Fantasy 16 - Ben Starr - wearing his love of FF8 on his sleeve. Or well, more accurately, on his shirt at The Game Awards. In truth, the eighth instalment in the series is loved, even with the unique Junction system.
In any case, we can't expect any new projects like that at least until the
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