Final Fantasy VIII Remaster to Have Voice Acting?
The Final Fantasy series of video games has been popular for over three decades, since the release of its first instalment all the way back in 1987.
Initially designed for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), the games have since been remastered and released for a host of platforms and consoles. And now the latest remaster is due to be released later this year.
Final Fantasy VIII doesn’t have a definitive release date yet, but it will be released in 2019. The original version of this game was released in 1999, so this seems a fitting way to mark its 20th anniversary.
So, why are people getting excited about this remaster in particular? The latest teaser trailer from Square Enix, which is behind the remaster, suggests that voice overs will be used in the game for the first time.
No voice acting was used in the original game, but those in the gaming community have noticed that a description in the source code of the Final Fantasy VIII Remastered website mentions voice acting and localisation in multiple languages.
“With fully overhauled visuals, see your favourite characters come to life like never before! Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is an RPG, available in English and Japanese voiceover, and is also text localised into French, Italian, German and Spanish,” the website reads.
While many started getting excited about this, Niche Gamer pointed out that since the rumours started swirling, the Final Fantasy VIII Remastered website has been updated, and this text has been removed from the source code.
Everyone is now waiting on official confirmation from Square Enix about whether voice acting will indeed feature in this remaster, or whether the source code text was an error.
Epic Stream noted that Square Enix is “putting more effort than usual with this remaster, even adding more visual flair to the character models”. If they also introduce voice acting, this will truly distinguish the game from Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy IX, both of which have already been remastered and neither of which featured voice acting.
This is far from the only remaster or remake of an old classic that’s coming out this year. Time recently picked out its favourite video games of 2019 so far, with the experts at the publication choosing the remake of Resident Evil 2 among those on the list. The original Resident Evil 2, originally released in 1998, featured voice acting, the developers managing to keep much of the original cast for the remaster.
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