Final Fantasy VIII is easily one of the finest games I've ever played. Best of the best, and worthy of attention.

User Rating: 10 | Final Fantasy VIII (Platinum) PS
By dorgfanger | Review Date:
Final Fantasy represents a large portion of my game collection, and to a lesser extent, my time on earth. Countless hours have been used in pursuit of beating these giants of RPGs. VIII represents some of the happiest moments in my gaming career. While VII has been receiving a lot of attention lately, you can't forget about VIII. It did what VII did, but better. It took RPG games to the next level, with proportionate 3D characters and environments, a great story (easily one of the best), and...well...drawing power. I got this game when I first got my PS1, and another game. The other game was played for....10 minutes. Final Fantasy, however, was and has been played every since. That was...8 years ago. VIII has the ability to draw you in, and not let go. Even when it got hard, and it did, I kept at it. I couldn't put it down. Seriously, this is THE game to get if you need a FF to play, and don't care about graphic power. It's pretty don't get me wrong, but if you want super powered graphics, get a different one.

So without further ado, let's review this game's aspects.

Graphics : Ok, these are good graphics. Not as good as they were when it came out, but they still stand up as good none the less. Backgrounds are beautiful, and the FMVs stand out as some of the best I've ever seen. And for once, Square made FF characters proportionate throughout the whole game! That's a revolution in itself, trust me.

Control : Easy to learn, and a few moves take time to master, IE Squall's Renzokuken Limit Break moves, and his general attacks. Other than that, standard controls, all good here.

System : Rather than MP like all FF's, you draw magic spells from enemies and drawpoints in the game, and the Junction system for GF's, which are your summons this time around. While this system has it's faults (you can only hold 100 of each spell, but you really don't need that much usually), it's a good system. It takes some time to master, but luckily it has an auto feature that junctions the best magic to your stats.

Story : As I mentioned in the lenghty paragraph at the beginning of this, the story is a great one. What's great about it? Well, it's just cool. I don't do spoilers, so you'll have to play it yourself to experience it. The story also has good character building. You get to know your characters, and thus make an important personal connection to them. With 6 characters, though, they can be categorized into the generic character types, but at the same time, you like it. You like Squall being silent and brooding, Zell being a spaz, and even Irvine being a womanizer with his cowboy hat and grin. The characters interact on a deep level, and you get a feeling of actual comradery when playing.

All in all, I give this game it's 10. It's earned it. Even 8 years later, still my favorite (Ok, tied with FFX, but still, top favorite). I give this my personal Perfect award, which comes with a lovely gift basket of assorted snack cakes, and a valour ribbon.

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