How do you rate VIII compared to the rest of the series?

April 25, 2007, 12:15 AM

This is my first new thread, so let me know if I'm just rehashing old threads. I looked and didn't really see one like it.

How would you rate FFVIII as compared to the storylines of the previous games? Does it stand as a great new world they created, or did it fall short of the rest?

Give me your opinion, and I'll post mine a little later on.

April 25, 2007, 12:26 AM

It was utter crap.

From its weak storyline and character development to its horrible junction and fighting system, final fantasy 8 should be considered one of the worst in the series! I mean, honestly, the big plot twist towards the end (as retarded and unlikely as it was) was EXPLAINED AWAY WITH A SINGLE LINE OF TEXT. Seriously!

This game is like playing a bad episode of Star Trek.

Okay, the storyline wasn't weak...but still. The game was crap.

April 26, 2007, 1:43 PM

the story line i think was tried to hard on to put things together.
most final fantasy's flow into their story lines and people flow together.
it was all really clonky to me.. not as good as 7 or 9 or X
for me about 4/10

April 26, 2007, 3:31 PM

FFVIII is one of the poorer games in the series. I enjoyed playing it; it played very nicely, but there were a lot of failings in it. The characters were awful. All but one had the same background (grew up in the orphanage - went off to Garden and lost memory). It seems as if Square just couldn't be bothered that day. The character interaction seemed a bit forced and cheesy at times, such as the scene when they're in Galbadia Garden talking about Seifer's execution and Squall storms off. As far as a main charcter goes, Squall really doesn't fit the bill. He acts like a spoilt pre-adolescent about 90% of the time.
The story wasn't awful, bu it certainly wasn't up to the standard set by FFVII. It started out nicely and kept you guessing, but after about the halfway point, it all seemed to fall apart and really let the game down.
The battle system was good in VIII however, with the exception of the draw and Limit Break system. I liked having to pull the trigger for Squall's gunblade. I also liked having to boost your summons to have more power, and how you had to wait for the bar to empty before you could use them. There are other gripes and likes I have for it, but those are the major ones. Overall, I wouldn't rate it highly in the FF series

April 26, 2007, 11:41 PM

Yeah, I agree with you three. VIII seemed to me to be the low point as far as storyline went. Here's my rating.
Gameplay: 8 of 10
The entire game was great as far as the controls and interface went. Junctioning gave the game a customizable attribute that few games outside the FF series have. It was a little obtuse unless you were the kind of person to either take notes or really have a good memory as to what gave the best boost to which ability. The idea of Junctioning Death magic to an attack to destroy most monsters decisively was quite good. But unless you really put time into it, it really didn't influence your survivability much. Having to Draw magic rather than just having it was novel, but it would have worked better if there had been an actual Mage class type that either had natural magic or could Draw much easier.
Graphics: 9 of 10
The graphics were absolutely stunning in my opinion. The PS was not built for 'over the top' graphics, but FFVIII really delivered. Most of the monsters and characters were really believable, but the vehicles could have used a little more attention. The camera angles were very well exploited.
Characters: 3 of 10
Almost cookie-cutter copies of each other. You would think that an organization using GFs would eventually discover the memory loss disadvantage fairly quickly. But, then again, it was a military organization, so maybe they either missed it through inattentiveness or just believed it to be a desirable trade-off. The interaction was quite forced, but that's the military for you. The main character was definitely sub-par. He was a troubled youth, and that has worked before, but he came off more as the spoiled brat that believes he is the only one that has suffered in the world.
Sound: 9 of 10
The only thing that keeps VIII from getting a perfect score was the lack of voiceovers in the translated games. I never played the original from Japan, so I don't know about voice actors on that release. As it was, the songs were great. The love song was superb, in my opinion. And the Battle Music was spot on. All in all, one of the best as far as music was concerned, for me.
Final Score: 7 of 10
The only thing that saved the game was the graphics, really. And the fact that it was a FF title. VIII brought a lot of new gamers into the series, and that may be the only thing that Square was after. Thankfully the series did not continue the downward spiral, redeeming itself with IX and then X of the PS2. It has earned a spot with the other FF titles, but only in name.
In my mind, if Square wanted to make a great FF title, they could not really go wrong by taking the Junction and Draw systems and lacing them into other successful systems from other games. Think of a FFX style interface that, as you junction to different Aeons, you open new paths in the sphere grid. Once the nodes are filled, they continue with you, so you junction all the characters to an Aeon in succession. The Draw system would then allow a heavy fighter type to gain the benefit of Magic without being able to cast it, and allow a Mage a plausible way to 'learn' new spells that are not in their Sphere path. If you really want to muddy it a little more, throw Materia into the mix, and you have the possibility of a party that could destroy the Weapons from VII in one hit. And that would allow the programmers to make something like the Sephiroth fight in VII possible once more. A completely invincible enemy that only by really investing time in the game do you have a chance to even scratch, let alone defeat.

April 27, 2007, 2:35 AM

I'd rate it somewhere near bottom even though it was the first to portray the characters in realistic proportions.

I agree that the storyline wasn't as good as I expected it to be. It wasn't bad *in my opinion* but it could've been better. As for the characters, the only real character that I thought developed throughout the whole thing was Squall honestly, and their backgrounds, please, they all had the same.
They could've gone with something more diverse.

My Character Profiles · April 27, 2007, 4:10 AM

For quality's sake, I'll rate it as Typhus did.

Gameplay: 4/10
I did enjoy the new draw system, even though it isn't quite popular among the fans; the draw/junction system was the only plus side IMO.
The limit breaks were horrible for the most part; the only limits that I found particularly reliable were Quistis' Shockwave Pulsar and Squall's gunblade limits.
The level up system sucked worse than any RPG I've ever played. It only takes 1000 exp to level up, regardless of the level that you're currently at. And on the other hand, it's utterly useless to level up, being as that the monsters only become harder in the process...pointless...

Graphics: 7/10
The graphics were hands down amazing in relation to the time of release. The thing that dissapointed me however, was that the graphic quality far outweighed the gameplay factor...I personally would have prefered round chibi characters as opposed to tall and realistic, yet choppy characters.

Characters 2/10
To begin with, there are only 6 commonly playable characters; which is less than expected for a typical FF game. There are no hidden or extra characters either, which ruined some of the fun for me...
The character backgrounds were horrible...each of the 6 playable characters shared the exact same "grew up in an orphanage" and "forgot my memories because of GFs" past stories...The only exception was Rinoa who also flaunted a terrible history; formed a rebel group just to piss off daddy...
Horrible...

Sound: 7/10
The best aspect of the game was undoubtably the music and sound quality. The overall score/soundtrack was incredibly corny and included only one or two good tracks. The rest of the songs were too repetitive and boring to listen to more than once, or...unless I was required to listen during the gameplay...
The in game sound quality however, was reasonable.

Final score: 5/10
TERRIBLE!

April 27, 2007, 1:56 PM

I think I must be the only one who likes it here ...
Yes the storyline was obivious, characters seemed flat and many people hating the draw system. Yet I can still enjoy this game, I still play it now and throughly enjoy doing so.

April 27, 2007, 2:29 PM

I think the story WAS original. The witches, the gf's were used in an original way, and the whole laguna flashbacks made you think about what could happen next.