‘Final Fantasy VIII Remastered’ Gets ESRB Rating: When Will It Be Released?

“Final Fantasy VIII Remastered” finally received its ESRB rating, which indicates a near release.

Fans have been waiting for a release date for “Final Fantasy VIII Remastered” since Square Enix announced the remaster of the 1999 hit RPG during E3. Now that the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has finally rated the game, fans and players alike might see the game’s release real soon.

The ESRB has rated “Final Fantasy VIII Remastered” as “T” for teens -- the same rating it gave to the original title released two decades ago. Of course, this should not come as a surprise as the upcoming title is simply a remastered version of the game, not a reimagining like “Final Fantasy VII Remake.”

The ESRB noted that the game shows some amount of blood, contains relatively mild language (with some offensive words included in the dialogues), suggestive themes, the use of alcohol and of course, video game violence. While everyone knows that the game has animated violence, the fact that the game is enhanced to have better graphics means the violence will look more real this time.

Here are some of the things the ESRB highlighted in its rating report:

• Violence and blood

Like the original, the remaster will feature cutscenes of a character getting slashed and bloodied in the face (Squall, hence the scar) and a character getting impaled with a crystal shard (Squall again). With better graphics comes more graphic violence.

• Suggestive content

The remastered version, with its enhanced graphics, will also show some suggestive themes in game. There are “scenes referencing a ‘naughty magazine’ though no images are shown,” and there’ll be a character who wears clothes that reveal a lot of cleavage (likely Ultimecia, Rinoa and Shiva).

• Alcohol use

The ratings board noted that there’ll be some scenes where characters will be obviously drunk. There will also be a scene where a player’s character will be allowed to “buy alcohol in order to obtain an item.” After that character consumes the alcoholic drink, the character will say “Whoa…(hic) I'm totally wasted…”

Aside from these, the ESRB also highlighted a few offensive words that are included in the game’s dialogue.

A release date

Now that “Final Fantasy VIII Remastered” has been rated for teens, when should the gaming public expect it to arrive? So far, Square Enix hasn’t given any release date. But with “Final Fantasy VII Remake” coming early next year, fans can expect to have a lot of “Final Fantasy” to play with. Stay tuned for updates as they come.