Final Fantasy 8 update adds High Speed Mode and Game Boosters

Owners of the classic Final Fantasy VIII on PC were surprised to see a new update, which includes some new features like a High Speed Mode that makes the game unfold just a little bit faster.

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Final Fantasy VIII is considered a classic by long-time followers of the series. However, one of the last things any of them may have expected was for the game to receive a bonafide update. But Square Enix has pulled the curtain back on some new additions for the PC version of the game, including a new High Speed Mode and Game Booster features.

High Speed Mode allows players to speed up all aspects of the game, including battles and select cutscenes, to help save players time on a fairly lengthy campaign. Users can set their FFWD speed to up to 5x using this setting, with speeds varying on certain cinematics. However, Square Enix warns that some PC setups may not be able to handle the increased speed and advises users to avoid High Speed Mode if their game begins to crash.

Other 'Game Boosters' tied to the F1-F5 keys will help make the game a little easier for anyone having trouble. These include Battle Assistance modifiers, 9999 attacks, AP Max, and Magic and Gil MAX boosters.

The 18MB patch is available now. For those that have yet to pick up Final Fantasy VIII, it's currently one of the many titles featured in the Steam Summer Sale, currently running for 40% off its normal price.

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Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?

From The Chatty
  • reply
    June 21, 2014 2:00 PM

    Ozzie Mejia posted a new article, Final Fantasy 8 update adds High Speed Mode and Game Boosters.

    Owners of the classic Final Fantasy VIII on PC were surprised to see a new update, which includes some new features like a High Speed Mode that makes the game unfold just a little bit faster.

    • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
      reply
      June 21, 2014 2:20 PM

      That's pretty cool actually. Though in my strictly legal experience a fast forward feature can sort of ruin a game, since the more you use it the more tempting it is to speed through every little thing.

      • reply
        June 21, 2014 3:30 PM

        I haven't tried the feature out or anything, but from the sound of it, I'm guessing it's similar to the speed-up mechanic that's used in Bravely Default. I could be wrong on that one, though.

        • reply
          June 21, 2014 4:58 PM

          I think every turn-based RPG would be better if they had those customizable options that Bravely Default had.

          • reply
            June 22, 2014 8:48 AM

            Yeah, I'm especially thinking of the ability to manage how frequent random encounters are.

    • reply
      June 22, 2014 1:46 PM

      I had no idea FF8 was considered a Classic. I figured FF7 was a Classic - as I think FF8 was rather divisive among Final Fantasy fans.

      • reply
        June 23, 2014 2:08 PM

        Well it's a classic to someone apparently. Honestly, it's in my bottom tier for FF games. Then again there's only 4 in the entire franchise that I consider to be great games.

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