A Real Fantasy
Those familiar with the convolutions of FF7's plot will feel right at home within their FF8 counterpart's digital skin, Squall Leonhart. As the story opens in a breathtakingly gorgeous movie, Squall is training at one of three elite military academies, known as Gardens, and is striving to be part of the elite group of mercenaries called SeeD. His bitter rival within the academy, Seifer, is equally skilled, although with a far more fiery temper, and far less adherence to authority. Consequently, Squall beats him out for the position, and gets sent out on a mission to assist an underground resistance in kidnapping the nation's warring, dictatorial president in order to convince him to release his oppressive grip on the area. Through a series of plot twists, misfortune and tragedy, it is slowly revealed that it is not the president who is to be feared, but rather the power behind him: the sorceress Edea. Hell-bent on conquering the world, and armed with the ability and intent to ruthlessly crush all those who oppose her, Edea wastes little time in establishing herself as the ruling authority. She also seeks to crush not only the Gardens, but each and every living SeeD as well. To this end, who should mysteriously appear as her right-hand man and lead genocidal expert but Squall's former classmate and rival, Seifer. While this might seem like a mildly lackluster concept for a storyline, rest assured that the creative souls at Squaresoft have managed to weave in countless themes, including friendship, love, emotion and redemption, thereby rendering an ordinary storyline an extraordinary one.
Players who found themselves hopelessly enraptured by FF8's predecessor know that part of its enjoyment was found in its intricately crafted characters. Squaresoft was aware of this fact, and infused the title with deep, complex characters, each possessing their own unique qualities and faults, hopes and dreams, and insecurities and fears. There is the quiet, lone-wolf Squall, whose secretive past has rendered him an unemotional island, stoically refusing to allow anybody to get close to him, or even to display any sort of emotion. Occasionally, he collapses into a dreamlike state, in which he sees the world through the eyes of Laguna Loire, an enigmatic and passionate journalist who has given up the warrior's life in exchange for defending the weak and oppressed with his writing. There is also the aforementioned Seifer, an ambitious and incredibly tempestuous soul, whose actions are fuelled not only by his hidden dreams, but also by his boundless competitiveness with Squall, perhaps the only individual whose abilities match his own. Key to the whole situation is Rinoa Heartlilly, leader of the underground resistance known as the Forest Owls. Like the others, her past is veiled in secrecy, and often exposes more questions than answers. While these are but a few of the countless characters that populate the title, their complexity and intricacies are definitely worthy of their pedigree, and are integral to its enjoyment.
If a whole is only the sum of its parts, then the vibrant characters that flesh out the gameworld can only serve to render it an extremely vibrant one. The struggle to defeat Edea and her minions will sweep the characters across the globe, and through the mists of time, touching upon countless bustling cities, monster-infested tombs and rolling forest hills along the way. Most every nook and cranny of this world offers someone or something with which to interact, be it a monster for battle or a merchant for haggle. Although the plot-specific destinations are very clearly mapped out for the player, one can instead spend their time exploring caverns, or conversing with locals. A certain degree of non-linearity is at work here, being on one hand unencumbered enough to allow enjoyment of the fully fleshed-out gameworld, and restrictive enough to not cause one to lose track of their bearings in the somewhat open-ended exploration and combat. At the heart of every good RPG is a solid combat system, and FF8 is no exception. Although it does bear some similarities to its predecessor, there are sufficient alterations to its inner workings to warrant an in-depth explanation. Battles are generally a three-on-three affair, and take place in a twisted version of real-time, where each character possesses an energy bar, and can only perform actions once said bar has been replenished. While this is nothing new to fans of the series, what changes the combat dynamic is the introduction of a completely new element--the Guardian Force. In essence, a Guardian Force is a low-level deity that, once equipped, enables characters to perform non-attack actions, such as using items, casting magic and so on. A Guardian Force can also be summoned as a visually spectacular spell of sorts, which, despite requiring time to perform, can do an extraordinary amount of damage to opponents. They are also pets in a sense, in that they can gain additional abilities, hit points and damage capabilities, depending on your direction in their growth. As if this wasn't helpful enough, Guardian Forces can also be used to bolster a character's abilities, or create specific attacks, such as fire or electrical, for appropriately vulnerable enemies. All in all, Guardian Forces completely change the flavor of the well-known combat system, although their lengthy summoning can prove rather taxing over the course of endless random encounters.
Another element that the introduction of Guardian Forces somewhat revolutionizes is that of spellcasting. Materia has been completely done away with, and characters do not possess any innate magic abilities. Rather, they can use the Guardian Forces to draw magic from their enemies during combat, or from predetermined magical fonts. This restricts the player to only being able to use whatever magic is contained within their opponents, although such magic can also be stocked within one's own magical reserves for later use. This is sometimes preferable, in fact, as Guardian Forces, once properly developed, can combine stocked spells to create more potent versions. This system is simplistic at first, although as a Guardian Force develops, the potential for strategic planning increases, allowing the magical aspect to be as involved as you wish it to be.
In the spirit of overhauling familiar elements, Squaresoft also felt the need to deepen the complexity of limit breaks. For those unfamiliar with this element, limit breaks are devastating attacks characters can perform upon sustaining a sufficient level of damage. Instead of gaining new techniques through increased levels, characters now gain new limit breaks after discovering objects on the desiccated corpses of fallen opponents. For instance, Rinoa's limit breaks are executed by--strangely enough--her magically appearing pet dog, and as such, she can acquire new limit break techniques by discovering different editions of Pet Lover magazines. Like the increased involvement of magic, the limit break system is also as open to the player as they wish it to be, as its operation can be set to either automatic or manual. Once set to manual, a list of commands can be learned, if desired, to execute increasingly complex limit break attacks. For example, Zell, the martial arts expert, has a particularly nasty hand-to-hand attack set as his automatic limit break. Switch it to manual, however, and you can command him to perform one of several different moves, all executed by a combination of arrow and letter key presses. This lends a particularly attractive spice to the wearisome doldrums of repetitious combat, as well as giving your characters an adrenalized burst of opportunity in the face of overwhelming odds.
Those who took enjoyment in the plethora of arcade-style games offered in FF7 might find themselves somewhat disappointed by the changes brought about in the series' newest incarnation. Instead of offering a vast range of diversions at specific moments in time, FF8 instead tenders two miniature games that arc throughout the bulk of the title, allowing players to involve themselves as mildly or as deeply as they desire. One such source of amusement is ChocoboWorld, an executable separate from FF8, playable only once a Chocobo has been discovered within the main title. Once this has been accomplished, you send your Chocobo on a mini-quest across the land doing battle with various monsters whose spoils can be uploaded to your FF8 character.
The second principal diversion is the card game Triple Triad, which very closely parallels that of Magic: The Gathering in terms of execution. Without delving too deeply into its details, Triple Triad cards have numerical values that determine capturing and defense rules. Although these rules vary depending on the geographical region, it is generally understood that the winner of a match may select a card from the opponent's arsenal to keep for him or herself. As an interesting side note, Guardian Forces may eventually acquire the ability to convert weakened enemies into Triple Triad cards, and may even convert cards into statistical benefits. Most any character can be approached on the street to play, with people from different regions possessing different types of cards. Playing such games can often break the monotony of endless combat, although their visual quality leaves much to be desired. In fact, this can be said for several aspects of FF8, marring what is an otherwise engrossing experience. Graphics: Visually, FF8 is a mixed bag. The low-detail characters used in FF7 have been replaced with larger and somewhat textured beings, although the trade-off is that the polygons prove to be extremely jaggy, and thus occasionally quite hideous to behold. Additionally, the characters traipse about on blurred backgrounds, a PlayStation-to-PC port failing that was first committed in FF7, and once again here. This isn't to say the graphics are all bad. These backgrounds, while often being a major distraction, sometimes seamlessly combine with the textured characters to create impressive in-game cinematics.
It is said that Japan is the global leader in cartoon and computer animation, and if there was any doubt to this effect, one look at FF8's opening video would set all issues to rest. While the cinematics in FF7 were often washed out and pixelated, Squaresoft has pulled out all the stops to create the most visually sumptuous full motion video ever. The quality and splendor is such that I often played just for another fleeting glimpse at some brief, in-game movie. I could endlessly praise the FMV's virtues, but suffice to say that its sheer beauty and lavishness almost make up for FF8's other graphical shortcomings.
One positive visual element that has remained constant, however, is the optic excellence present during combat scenes. Magic and attack effects are executed with the same quality evident in FF7, and in the instances of summoning, even more so. Guardian Forces materialize and do your bidding with such vicious splendor and aggressive elegance that your jaw will most likely hit the floor the first few times you witness them. Despite the countless advances that have been made in graphical technology in the past couple years, FF8 only offers a mere 640x480 resolution option, bringing the aforementioned character jaggedness and background blurriness more forcefully to the gamer's attention.
Interface: Possessing a console feel, FF8 features extremely simplistic controls. While the option is present to remap these, their ease of use should ensure that such measures need not be necessary. Considering its PlayStation parentage, it seems natural that reliable gamepad support is also available. Information is also presented rather comprehensively, although the introduction of the Guardian Forces has brought a laundry list of contraptions and symbols that must be understood if one is to master the intricacies within. Fortunately, the manual clearly outlines this information, and if at any point such details are forgotten, in-game tutorials explain them in great detail.
What struck many as a distracting presence within FF7 is present once again in FF8: the save point system. While the world map permits players to save at any point, exploring buildings, cities or other indoor areas restricts saving to specified points. Some might enjoy the preservation of the console experience this allows, though most will probably find themselves more than a little frustrated after having spent a half-hour combating the forces of evil only to have such progress erased by the inability to save before suffering a random crash. While such a system might appeal to some folk, console-type saving arguably has no business within a live-and-die by the moment CRPG.
Gameplay: Whether you're a novice gamer or a battle-scarred veteran, you can jump right in and stain your virtual boots with the blood of your enemies in no time. The only inconsistent detail in that department is the characters' constant refusal to obey simple directional commands. Depending on the location, pressing a directional key can sending your character scurrying in any number of directions, often leaving you scratching your head. For instance, in a prison scene, pressing the down key sent Squall straight for half a screen, and then on a diagonal curve for the rest of it. This, combined with awkward camera angles on the world map, makes for a very squirrelly control experience.
That aside, FF8 is an extremely entertaining and involving role-playing jaunt, with countless side quests available to distract one's attention from the heavy task of saving the world. Unlike its ancestors, however, additional characters cannot be found via exploration. Rather, it is the Guardian Forces, which can be discovered, fought, and subsequently conquered, that lend a new life to the time-tested virtues of aimless adventuring. The boundless strategies introduced by the Guardian Force system and all its intricacies are a worthy replacement for the materia system in the previous outing. Also, since the principal player-character, Squall, is a soldier-mercenary, he is treated as such throughout the game: he takes part in strategic planning sessions when executing particularly difficult tasks; follows a soldier's code of conduct; and is even paid a salary at given intervals depending on his SeeD ranking. This ranking is another interesting thing to note, as it can be raised by successfully completing difficult tasks or a knowledge test within the options menu. Such minor details lend a very vibrant feel to the gameworld, and help to draw the player deeper within.
Sound FX: While the audio effects are occasionally used to decent purpose, such as to simulate a singular heartbeat while aiming a high-caliber sniper rifle at the Sorceress, these incidents are extremely few and far between. Hence, the sounds generally come across as nothing more than console noise. This is not to say console sound effects do not serve their purpose, but it stands to reason that much more could be expected given today's technological abilities.
Musical Score: The music employed during the FMV scenes are audibly quite beautiful to behold, although the same can't be said once in the game. The in-game soundtrack is based upon MIDI, and as such has not been vastly improved upon from its predecessor. Despite this problem, the music fits in quite appropriately with the rise and fall of dramatic tension, helping it along where necessary.
Intelligence & Difficulty: Surprisingly, there are more than a few instances where puzzle solving is possible, and some effort must be expended to be successful. Although these enigmas can often be aided by sacrificing large sums of money on mapping aids or various other tools, they still require patience and some luck to complete. In this sense, the puzzles range from pathetically easy to go-running-for-the-walkthrough hard, but are usually worth pursuing as their bounty often yields a much sought-after Guardian Force. Guardian Forces introduce a whole new level of strategic planning, allowing the player to develop them as little or as much as they wish. The advantage is that the puzzles, like the more complex aspects of the Guardian Forces, are completely optional, rendering FF8 as difficult or as simple as is desired.
As in previous titles, the monsters tend to be pushovers at first, but develop into powerhouses as the game progresses. The enemies never come across as unjustly superior, although at times they do seem rather simplistic. This is due to the omnipresent Guardian Forces, who within one or two summonings can usually obliterate most any foe. Sure, the aforementioned lengthy summoning process can often seem more like a chore than a boon, but if in a fix, characters can use these forces to extricate themselves from most battles. To some degree, this removes the strategic element of using them to bolster attacks, although doing so will occasionally prove to be a more useful and effective way of dispatching a particularly thorny opponent.
Overall: Although Final Fantasy VIII possesses its undeniable list of problems, it contains a very solid and engrossing experience for those willing to persist past its control difficulties and graphical aberrations. The game remains extremely faithful to the popular tenets of role-playing while introducing sufficient elements that spice things up for those who have become all too familiar with previous installments of the series. With its similarities both in plot and character to FF7, gamers might at first glance be inclined to pass this title up, but in so doing, would be sacrificing one of the better CRPGs we've had in a while.