November 21, 2024
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The Best Final Fantasy 8 Mods

SugiG012 mins

Enhancing Final Fantasy 8 Experience with Modding

Time for another modding showcase, this time focusing on Final Fantasy VIII Remastered and also the older Steam version of Final Fantasy VIII (2013) just like previous titles we covered like FFX, FFIX, and FFXIII there are a fair amount of mods to choose from, but some of them are exclusive to the other version. Before exploring the best mods that this game has to offer, let’s quickly talk about the setup, since that can be a bit difficult.

Setting Up the DeMaster Mod tool

Before touching any mods you need to start the FF8 Remastered at least once before starting to set up any mods or Demaster. If you are running the 2013 version FF8 you will need Tonberry Enchanced – which we aren’t going to cover in this article since most of you are using the Remastered version.

  1. Like I said earlier you need to first boot the game at least once and then close the game
  2. After this, we are going to locate our installation folder which should look something like this C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered
  3. Now we need to download the latest version of Demaster from GitHub https://github.com/MaKiPL/FF8_demaster/releases

  1. We are going to unzip the file ff8_demastered_1033.7z and paste it into the Remaster folder that we located in Step 2
  2. Then we are going to run ffviii_demaster_manager.exe once (running it multiple times might cause issues) and a window should pop out and we are going to click “YES” to proceed
  3. After this the Demaster tool should launch and the necessary folders should be installed and you can proceed to close the tool.
  4. (EXTRA) Depending on when you reading this article there might be an extra step required – which includes downloading extra files that you just need to replace in the remastered folder https://github.com/MaKiPL/FF8_demaster/files/15107063/ff8_demaster.zip 
  5. We can now go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\FINAL FANTASY VIII Remastered\DEMASTER_EXP and proceed to drop texture mods here and everything should be working as you launch the game next time without any extra setup. If the folder asks you to replace existing textures and image files, just click yes.

Now everything should be working as intended, if the game doesn’t launch at all chances are you did something wrong during the process. Most of the mods featured in the websites below are just simple drag-and-drop installations and when it comes to the Remastered version, everything seems to be working under DeMaster for the most part.

BattlefieldPack Mod

This mod upscales existing Battlefield backgrounds using AI to 2048×2048 and 4096×4096 resolutions. Especially when you look at the forest, city, and dungeon textures they just simply look so much more detailed, and especially the ground flooring also just looks much more HQ. This mod will be requiring DeMaster to work!

ECHO-S 8 Voice Mod

I still remember the time when FFX came out and people weren’t used to having voices for the characters, but I frankly have to say that I’m quite disturbed these days to just play text-only RPGs (I mean not everything needs to be voiced however). This mod is giving voice-overs for all the main characters in the game and the same guys who worked on this mod also did versions for FF7 and FF9 in the past. Currently, this mod is only working on the Steam 2013 version and it seems in the future there will be support for remastering too…

HorizonPack Remastered

Remember when Worldmaps were still a thing? I do, but I also realize that graphically they haven’t aged the best way, luckily we got HorizonPack mod which basically upscales all the Worldmap textures to HD quality. All the cities, mountains, and ground textures are upscaled (Not so sure about the water, that seems to still look kinda of bad) and you can also see the main character model for Squall seems to look a bit sharper.

FFVIII Crystal Remastered Version (Gameplay Mod)

FFVIII Crystal is a gameplay mod for Final Fantasy VIII that introduces a fresh and unique experience by enhancing character distinction, redesigning enemies, and adding new content.

The mod de-emphasizes junctioning in favor of more meaningful stat gains from leveling up, and each character is paired with a Guardian Force (GF) that has abilities tailored specifically for them (further details are available in the included info document).

Enemies have been reworked with new abilities and mechanics, and entirely new enemies have been introduced. Sidequests have been revamped to be more impactful, often rewarding items that teach unique abilities not found elsewhere. The difficulty level has been carefully balanced to ensure that battles are challenging and engaging without being overly punishing.

OST Music Remaster

This one is quite a self-explanatory mod, so basically this one changes 25 tracks inside the game into remastered versions by composer Enrico Deiana, but pay in mind that the total amount of tracks inside Final Fantasy 8 is actually around ~75 meaning that some of the tracks are on their default version. Since this is a drag-and-drop style mod, you can choose the arrangements that you like and drop them into the music folder, and ones that you dislike you can just drop out.

Project Angelwing Ultimate

If you already picked out Horizon & Battlefield mods one of the more essential pieces to the upscale experience is Project Angelwing, which goes through upscaling all the field textures inside the game, this includes every area whether it a city, dungeon, interior of a vehicle – it’s all there. This is by far the most important texture mod you can pick out for Final Fantasy 8 because it simply makes the game look so much better. However, the current latest version is behind a paywall on Patreon that costs around ~2$ to download, which is not too shabby price for a mod if you ask me.

Dark Squall – Balamb Mercenary C

There is also plenty of character skin mods that you can pick out from NexusMods for many characters like Selphie, Quistis, and in this case Squall. I thought I would mention this one in case someone wants to have a bit more different experience on the second playthrough or something. (This Mod requires Demaster as well in order to work)

If we missed some good mods from the list please let us know in the comments below or dropping us an email.

 

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