Final Fantasy VIII updated on Steam to include official "cheats"

So you want to play Final Fantasy VIII on Steam , but you don't have the time to actually, you know, play Final Fantasy VIII on Steam. What to do? Two words: Game Booster. We used to call this kind of thing cheating, and in fact even Square Enix refers to it as such, but since it's now "official," why not take advantage?

The new boosters add a High Speed Mode that speeds up certain parts of the game, such as cut scenes, movies and battles, by as much as five times the regular speed; Battle Assistance, which grants an always-full ATB gauge, always-full hit points and always-available limit breaks; something called "9999," which ensures normal attacks, as well as some limit breaks and Guardian Force attacks, always do maximum damage; maximum ability points; and a Magic and Gil booster that provides 100 of each acquired spell as well as the maximum amount of Gil.

"Final Fantasy VIII is a great classic with or without gameboosters," Square Enix wrote. "If, however, you've been holding off pulling the gunblade trigger on this one because you're concerned about the investment of 100+ hours of gameplay, these game boosters will be sure to help you speed things up."

I can never entirely shake the feeling that cheating through a game is "doing it wrong," but I was typing "IDDQD" before some of you were even born, so who am I to criticize? Using the FF8 game booster is entirely optional, and to be fair about it, some people really do just want to enjoy the narrative experience without having to deal with all the boss-fight hassle. So if fast-forward Final Fantasy VIII is your idea of a good time, you can get all the details at the Square Enix blog .