A great RPG game
User Rating: 8.8 | Final Fantasy VIII (Platinum) PS
First of all the core of any Final Fantasy game has always been its story, and Final Fantasy VIII's story is the best the series - and likely the genre - has ever seen. With Final Fantasy VII, Square showed that it had mastered the epic; with VIII, it shows that it has mastered the personal. The characters and their relationships are all extremely believable and complex; moreover, the core romance holds up even under the most pessimistic scrutiny. The decision to eschew a cast of dozens and focus on a central cast of six major characters appears to have been a wise one. The characters don't seem like base archetypes or generic "heroes," but like actual people. The RPG purist will immediately scoff, but further reflection reveals that these changes might actually be for the better. After all, in Final Fantasy games, armor and weapons are practically indistinguishable except for their numerical power. And what player won't immediately equip the more powerful item he just discovered or purchased? Weapons, armor, and money are all artificial statistical impediments to your progress through the game; by removing them, Square returns the focus to the story, characters, and battle strategies. It's a simplification, to be sure, but by no means a "dumbing down." You can still customize your attack and defense powers and characteristics (and almost any other statistic) through creative junctioning of assorted magics.
Final Fantasy VIII combines a fantastic story, amazing visuals, and excellent sound with solid RPG gameplay, an eminently tweakable junction system, and scads of secrets and extras. After a string of visually stunning but uninspired games from Square, many gamers feared that Final Fantasy VIII would be more of the same. Cast all fears aside: the latest Final Fantasy is the greatest game ever to bear the name. 
