Final Fantasy VIII

I've noticed that FFVIII seems to be pretty popular on these boards, and I was wondering what specifically you guys like/dislike about this game. Now I've played every numerical Final Fantasy with the exception of XI, and I personally find FFVIII to be really hard to go back and play.

I read things like "FFVIII is the best Final Fantasy ever" without going into any detail. I'm just curious why you might think that. What parts of the game do you guys like? Could you possibly just have a case of retrogoggles for this one? For those of you that do like it, when was the last time you played through this one?

I'm not trying to bash this game, I'm just curious.

Cons:

I don't like the junction system, I feel like I can never cast my spells, because my stats will go down, and it takes forever to draw all those spells.

I don't like the setting, it just didn't draw me in like FFVI's or VII's settings did.

I don't like the weapon upgrade system. You have to go searching all over for the exact parts to build new weapons.

The EXP system. I don't like the fixed 100 points between each level. It was a pain if some of my characters were behind, they could never really catch up.

Pros:

I do like the characters, I think they have more personality and depth than many other FF characters.

The music and graphics are great, the graphics have aged much much better than VII's.

I like the Guardian Forces. It was really cool to be able to learn skills from them. Big improvement over VII's summons.

I liked the characters, the story was wacky in a good way and had enough twists and turns to satisfy, and I also enjoyed the love story between Squall and Rinoa. The music is fantastic, the graphics at the time were killer. The intro is amazing and sucked me into the game world, never to let me go.

I loved it when I first played it, but it truly became my favorite after playing all the other FF games at that point in time. Being different has a lot to do with why. Unlike yourself, I enjoyed the setting. The Junction system...I've simply never had a problem with it. I liked drawing spells from enemies or finding the draw points. The card game was awesome too. Nostalgia plays a role as well. It was my second Final Fantasy, IX was my first (I didn't get into RPG's until 2000).

I can understand why people hate it though.

My only complaint is that I wish there was a way to skip the GF summons. I admit it gets tedious after awhile.

I'm playing IX again right now and I can't wait to finish, because I'm moving on to VIII.

I liked the characters, the story was wacky in a good way and had enough twists and turns to satisfy, and I also enjoyed the love story between Squall and Rinoa. The music is fantastic, the graphics at the time were killer. The intro is amazing and sucked me into the game world, never to let me go.

I loved it when I first played it, but it truly became my favorite after playing all the other FF games at that point in time. Being different has a lot to do with why. Unlike yourself, I enjoyed the setting. The Junction system...I've simply never had a problem with it. I liked drawing spells from enemies or finding the draw points. The card game was awesome too. Nostalgia plays a role as well. It was my second Final Fantasy, IX was my first (I didn't get into RPG's until 2000).

I can understand why people hate it though.

My only complaint is that I wish there was a way to skip the GF summons. I admit it gets tedious after awhile.

I'm playing IX again right now and I can't wait to finish, because I'm moving on to VIII.

Saruman1719

I forgot about the card game, but that was a really cool little diversion from the main game. I liked being able to charge the GFs during summoning, but it was so annoying when you accidently got the charger down to 75.

Pros:

Gameplay

Music

junction

secrets/side quests

GF's

Limit breaks anytime when you have aura

Cons:

car rentals

the way you earn gil

you had to equip item into the command menu rather than it becoming standard

All the side quests/optional stuff was fun to do, and the gameplay was unique and deep with customization. The GFs were awesome (my favorite summons in any FF). there were some good music in the game.

The story and characters weren't anything spectular IMO, and drawing can become tedious IF you want to get alot of spells. Only bad things I can say about the game, really.

Nowhere near the best FF, yet nowhere near the worst FF.

Its my least favorite of the PS1 FF(FFT, 7, 9 I enjoyed more).

Squall was just too emo for my liking.

Still a good game though.

Final Fantasy VIII is my favorite numbered game in the series.

What I liked;

• junction system
• enemies keeping pace with you
• Triple Triad!!!
• Guardian Forces
• soundtrack
• cutscenes
• amazing graphics
• story
• characters
• great ending

What I didn't like

• game was really easy
• characters leveling up after 1000 exp
• always having Squall in party - party becomes really unbalanced eventually
• mostly boring side quests - some had terrible rewards
• the songs "Blue Fields" and "Force Your Way"
• Selphie's stupid train song

I liked the characters, the story was wacky in a good way and had enough twists and turns to satisfy, and I also enjoyed the love story between Squall and Rinoa. The music is fantastic, the graphics at the time were killer. The intro is amazing and sucked me into the game world, never to let me go.

I loved it when I first played it, but it truly became my favorite after playing all the other FF games at that point in time. Being different has a lot to do with why. Unlike yourself, I enjoyed the setting. The Junction system...I've simply never had a problem with it. I liked drawing spells from enemies or finding the draw points. The card game was awesome too.

Saruman1719

until FFXII, it was my favorite FF game

The Good:

The Story was amazing and the characters and their relationships made it even more interesting. The music had some of the best pieces in any FF game. Plenty of sidequests and the optional side game (triple triad) was a blast. The GF system was well used and their battle animations were always pleasing to watch.

The Bad:

The Junction system was meh at best as you didn't want to cast magic, what with it being tied to your stats. I also didn't like the junction system because you could use it to make anybody anything instead of having characters play a specific role in combat. I really didn't like the lack of equipment or having to pick up magazines and components to make new weapons.

I didn't mind the junction system. It was far more accessable to most gamers compared to the Materia system (which I much prefered). Raiko101

Yes, and I believe that this is also one of the reasons why a lot of gamers prefer 8 to 7.

Still, I always believed that the first FF that those gamers had played is 8.

I still recall one fan disregarding my suggestion to play FF7 when he asked: "Are there any games like FF8 (RPGs)" arguing that FFVIII was superior to 7 because of its graphics. (and then "Advent Children" came out.... He became a 7 fan because of the movie.)

I believe I suggested Suikoden and Legend of Legaia as well. Don't know if he played them though.

1. The story was great, it was more focused on the characters and their "growth" instead of the regular random mind-blowing FF-sty|e stuff that happened around them. I wish that FF12 had been more like that, but their characters didn't seem to change at all from start to finnish.

2. It also had a great ending (one of the best for the FF series).

3. And the side quests, in the beginning I didn't really like the card game but as a perfectionist I played it anyway (with the help of a guide >.>) it became pretty fun in the end... the summons and side quests were awesome and Ultima was actually HARD as hell in this game, which I liked.

4. The limit breaks were awesome too, not as weak and unsatisfying as those in FF9... and the junction system was interesting, I didn't really need to see the spells more than once, since I had my limit breaks that I could spam :P

The limit beak system was actually flawed. Once your character's health was low enough to enable it, if it didn't appear first time, keep switching between characters without making an attack and it would quickly appear. This meant, for me at least, it was always good practice to fight with low health.Raiko101

I enjoyed this aspect of the game. I left all 3 members at low health and used my limit breaksat every possible moment. I found it to be very amusing.

My favorite.

The junction system doesn't delibitate you that much if you use a spell or two. You can use 10 spells and its not that big of a deal (if you had 100 junctioned like me >_>). Its simply a more original way of placing limitations than MP.

It's also possible to make spells out of items with the right GFs.

1. The story was great, it was more focused on the characters and their "growth" instead of the regular random mind-blowing FF-sty|e stuff that happened around them. I wish that FF12 had been more like that, but their characters didn't seem to change at all from start to finnish.

2. It also had a great ending (one of the best for the FF series).

3. And the side quests, in the beginning I didn't really like the card game but as a perfectionist I played it anyway (with the help of a guide >.>) it became pretty fun in the end... the summons and side quests were awesome and Ultima was actually HARD as hell in this game, which I liked.

4. The limit breaks were awesome too, not as weak and unsatisfying as those in FF8... and the junction system was interesting, I didn't really need to see the spells more than once, since I had my limit breaks that I could spam :P

Hungry_bunny

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Video_Game_King

I hate 8. I hated the transition from 3d polygon characters to more realistic ones. I hated the monsters keeping pace with you. What really makes me hate the game is the fact that on the second disk you just get abandoned by the game and left to figure out what do next. Sure you could go look at a faq or wonder the entire freaking planet trying to trigger the next part but why bother. If they dont want to point me in the right direction I dont give a crap, there are infinitely better games out there to play._AbBaNdOn

I didn't think the game was all that great. It was pretty good visually, and the plot was decent. But the battle system was really odd. I felt that you became far to reliant on GF's later in the game, and the junction system never really made any sense. I stopped playing it near the end of disc 3. I've never been able to will myself into finishing it. Maybe one of these days.

BTW FFIX is much better than FFVIII (IMO of course).

I felt that you became far to reliant on GF's later in the game

johndoh4

[QUOTE="johndoh4"]

I felt that you became far to reliant on GF's later in the game

TheLegendKnight

Maybe it was just me, but I never completely understood the battle system, so I ended up relying on GF's alot. I was much better with FF VII, and IX.

my only 2 complaints about the game were the junctioning, i wouldn't have minded it so much if i hadn't had to spend an hour or so stocking up spells had i cast them all. i don't have a problem with assigning it to stats, i have a problem with it taking so long to get an amount worth assigning.

my other complaint was building the weapons. i think i played it all the way through to the end and only stopped to build the final weapons at the end. you could just as easily junction to get a better attack instead of making new weapons.

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Hungry_bunny

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

[QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Video_Game_King

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

Both endings were good. Though I liked VII's more.

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

DJ-Lafleur

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

Both endings were good. Though I liked VII's more.

Nah, I didn't like FF8's ending. Squall was wandering around an endless desert, and then he's suddenly with Rinoa at the prom. What the hell? No explanation? Gimme an explanation, damnit! And I like FF7 first, FF6 second, and then 8 is somewhere I'm not willing to count :P.

[QUOTE="johndoh4"]

I felt that you became far to reliant on GF's later in the game

TheLegendKnight

Personally, I was the opposite of johndoh4. I was very reliant on GF's during the first half of the game and then later on, I almost never used them.

[QUOTE="_AbBaNdOn"]I hate 8. I hated the *snip*.fiercedeity901

Hmm I dont remember that part. The part on the second disc that always tripped me up was after this part where you found out you all went to this orphanage or some of the characters went to the same orphanage or something like that. Then you had to go find Mother or something?? But you just exit that orphanage and are free to go anywhere you want and they dont give you any clues in game.

I adore FF8. The last boss battle was the most thrilling/exhausting boss battle I've ever had. It took me well over 2 hours. I did it first time though :)manicfoot

We're apparently not playing the same game, because I found it to be piss easy. All I did was cast Triple on everybody and lob my most powerful spells at her. Didn't even do all the sidequests. I didn't even get Lionheart.

i just didnt like the battles to much because i guess i spammed *only used gf's*

but hey i was like 10 soo...haha

and the weapon system i think everyone can agree on was really really lame...really lame!

i would rather go through hundreds of swords than 3...PSH!

[QUOTE="manicfoot"]I adore FF8. The last boss battle was the most thrilling/exhausting boss battle I've ever had. It took me well over 2 hours. I did it first time though :)Video_Game_King

We're apparently not playing the same game, because I found it to be piss easy. All I did was cast Triple on everybody and lob my most powerful spells at her. Didn't even do all the sidequests. I didn't even get Lionheart.

The last form of the last boss actually finished me off once because I wasn't prepared for it, otherwise, I've had no problem with VIII's last boss...

And besides, VI's last battle I believe to be the best or most thrilling. It was also easy, but very cool.

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

[QUOTE="manicfoot"]I adore FF8. The last boss battle was the most thrilling/exhausting boss battle I've ever had. It took me well over 2 hours. I did it first time though :)DJ-Lafleur

We're apparently not playing the same game, because I found it to be piss easy. All I did was cast Triple on everybody and lob my most powerful spells at her. Didn't even do all the sidequests. I didn't even get Lionheart.

The last form of the last boss actually finished me off once because I wasn't prepared for it, otherwise, I've had no problem with VIII's last boss...

And besides, VI's last battle I believe to be the best or most thrilling. It was also easy, but very cool.

I just converted all my cards, cast Cerberus in the first round (when everybody I wanted was there), and just let loose the Ultima, Aura, and all the other cheap crap. And VI did have a pretty damn awesome final boss battle. Dancing Mad over One Winged Angel any day, baby!

[QUOTE="DJ-Lafleur"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

[QUOTE="manicfoot"]I adore FF8. The last boss battle was the most thrilling/exhausting boss battle I've ever had. It took me well over 2 hours. I did it first time though :)Video_Game_King

We're apparently not playing the same game, because I found it to be piss easy. All I did was cast Triple on everybody and lob my most powerful spells at her. Didn't even do all the sidequests. I didn't even get Lionheart.

The last form of the last boss actually finished me off once because I wasn't prepared for it, otherwise, I've had no problem with VIII's last boss...

And besides, VI's last battle I believe to be the best or most thrilling. It was also easy, but very cool.

I just converted all my cards, cast Cerberus in the first round (when everybody I wanted was there), and just let loose the Ultima, Aura, and all the other cheap crap. And VI did have a pretty damn awesome final boss battle. Dancing Mad over One Winged Angel any day, baby!

Needless to say VI and VII have the best final battles...IMO anyways.

My personal beefs with the game were the Junction system and the way you earn gil. They were both tolerable to go through the entire game with, but I'm glad that they didn't use an idea like the junction system in any of the FF's after it.

I didn't like the fact that you had to draw magic instead of permanetly learning it and equip a GF just to add the Item command.

[QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Video_Game_King

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Hungry_bunny

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

Ugh, the spin offs. Great way to ruin a great ending, Square. And yea, its hard to rank the games, but I think I have a good list:

VI
IV
X
VII
III
VIII
I
V
II
XII

Don't bust my balls on IX, haven't played it yet.

[QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Video_Game_King

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

Ugh, the spin offs. Great way to ruin a great ending, Square. And yea, its hard to rank the games, but I think I have a good list:

VI
IV
X
VII
III
VIII
I
V
II
XII

Don't bust my balls on IX, haven't played it yet.

In order, Mine would be from best to worst...

VII

VI

X

IX

IV

V

XII

VIII

III

I

II

watching paint dry

getting clawed in the face by a bear

getting devoured whole by a group of pirahnas

X-2

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

DJ-Lafleur

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

Ugh, the spin offs. Great way to ruin a great ending, Square. And yea, its hard to rank the games, but I think I have a good list:

VI
IV
X
VII
III
VIII
I
V
II
XII

Don't bust my balls on IX, haven't played it yet.

In order, Mine would be from best to worst...

VII

VI

X

IX

IV

V

XII

VIII

III

I

II

watching paint dry

getting clawed in the face by a bear

getting devoured whole by a group of pirahnas

X-2

You should've ended the list with "the first five hours of FF7" :P.

[QUOTE="DJ-Lafleur"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="Hungry_bunny"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"]

I don't know, I think FF7 had the better ending. Left you wondering and encouraged you to find your own damn answers.

Video_Game_King

First off, who the hell's gonna be pissed, the game's 11 years old. Second, that's what made it so good. Sure, Yuffie and Vincent weren't there, and you really didn't see what became of Midgar (immediately), but that's what made it so good. Kind of made it interactive.

Ugh, the spin offs. Great way to ruin a great ending, Square. And yea, its hard to rank the games, but I think I have a good list:

VI
IV
X
VII
III
VIII
I
V
II
XII

Don't bust my balls on IX, haven't played it yet.

In order, Mine would be from best to worst...

VII

VI

X

IX

IV

V

XII

VIII

III

I

II

watching paint dry

getting clawed in the face by a bear

getting devoured whole by a group of pirahnas

X-2

You should've ended the list with "the first five hours of FF7" :P.

Naaaah, I'd put that between FFII and watching Paint dry. :P

[QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="DJ-Lafleur"]

In order, Mine would be from best to worst...

VII

VI

X

IX

IV

V

XII

VIII

III

I

II

watching paint dry

getting clawed in the face by a bear

getting devoured whole by a group of pirahnas

X-2

DJ-Lafleur

You should've ended the list with "the first five hours of FF7" :P.

Naaaah, I'd put that between FFII and watching Paint dry. :P

No, I'd put it on the end. Then between that and X-2, put "Shoryuken to the scrotum" :P.

[QUOTE="DJ-Lafleur"][QUOTE="Video_Game_King"][QUOTE="DJ-Lafleur"]

In order, Mine would be from best to worst...

VII

VI

X

IX

IV

V

XII

VIII

III

I

II

watching paint dry

getting clawed in the face by a bear

getting devoured whole by a group of pirahnas

X-2

Video_Game_King

You should've ended the list with "the first five hours of FF7" :P.

Naaaah, I'd put that between FFII and watching Paint dry. :P

No, I'd put it on the end. Then between that and X-2, put "Shoryuken to the scrotum" :P.

Hmmm, I suppose you're right. ;)

Hmmm, I suppose you're right. ;)

DJ-Lafleur

Damn straight. But for not admitting it earlier....SHORY-U-KEN :P!

[QUOTE="DJ-Lafleur"]

Hmmm, I suppose you're right. ;)

Video_Game_King

Damn straight. But for not admitting it earlier....SHORY-U-KEN :P!

awww! My scrotum! :cry:

in other news, I have a stronger urge to play X-2. :cry: