I just beat FFVIII! Here is my review.

[Summoner Yuna]

Ok, so I completed FFVIII, which marks lucky number three in the FFs I've beaten so I want to review it.

First let me start by saying that I had somewhat of a hard time getting into this game. I started at least three times never got past the Fire Cavern, until now.

Graphically, the game was awesome for its time. It's obviously outdated now, but even so the FMVs still impressed me.

The gameplay of FFVIII is one of its most controversial aspects, but I must say I was quite satifisfied with it. Once I got the hang of it, the Junction system was a joy to use. Two downsides: magic was pretty much useless in the battlefield (except for support magic like Aura and Protect) because it was junctioned to your stats and second it made the game easy. I can safely say this is the easiest FF I've played. Even Omega didn't give me that much trouble. As for sidequests, the game didn't have many others aside from the card game, but it was awesome so no biggie.

Now the story is a mixed bag. I loved the relationship between Squall and Rinoa and how it developed, but the Ultimecia-time compression subplot left much to be desired, mainly because Ultimecia felt like tacked on villain just because the game needed a villain, but she had no motivation whatsoever.

The characters were great. I liked their personalities, especially Irvine's. Each of the characters brought something new to the table when they were introduced, so they complemented each other nicely.

Overall FFVIII gets a B-

I want to hear everyone's opinions

 

[Howl]

I know what you mean about the beginning of the game. You get those lame tutorials from Quistis as well. The first hour or so is just nonsense; I hated having to fart around in the garden.
I wasn't too impressed by the way the story progressed, and you're right...Ultimecia wasn't hyped up enough. They only mentioned her like one time in the story when you met Odine...like almost at the end of the game. I wish they would have really built up the suspense for meeting her character.

 

[Ultima36]

Yeah, I agree that Ultimecia wasn't developed enough, like you say she had no proper motive. One thing I HATED about this game was drawing magic from monsters - it took SO long to draw 100 copies of each magic - especially at the beginning of the gaem when your characters have low magic stats.

 

[Bambi]

God drawing was such a ball ache, but this is defo one of my fave games. I am addicted to the cards & I loved the whole love story, it was cute.

I didn't really get the whole time compression thing either. All I can think is that she just wanted time to stand still and never die so she could rule over eveything forever......
...but then I think, what's the point if only she can survive in that world??

Other than that, which has ALWAYS baffled me I really love this game!

 

[eisprinz]

Well, the time-compression idea actually makes sense in the scheme of what Final Fantasy VIII is about; the problem is that it wasn't developed enough to make a clear connection. All of the magic-users (that is, un-Drawn magic) act as foils as one another. One can see the obvious parallels between Ellone and Ultimecia and how these two are effectively constructed foils; but of course the most important foils are Rinoa and Ultimecia.

The problem with the ending feeling tacked on is the fact that despite the fact that Ultimecia actually is present throughout the entire game, the player doesn't get to see her until the ending - we should have at least gotten traces of her name in the first discs. However, she is a pretty logically constructed villain - but it would've worked better had the story shifted closer to Rinoa at the end as Ultimecia was really the embodiment of Rinoa's, rather than Squall's, internal struggle (which is manifested by Griever). Of course, in that vein the fact that the ultimate villain of Squall's story is Ultimecia makes his connection, therefore the love story, with Rinoa all the stronger.

 

[eisprinz]

Rinoa's internal struggle?

The best constructed villain is the physical embodiment of the protagonist's internal struggle. Ultimecia represents Rinoa's worst potential and what she fears the most: becoming an evil sorceress, shunned by the world. That is also why the scene at the orphanage after the Ragnarok is also so important, important enough to have its dialogue featured in the Liberi Fatali video. In that scene, Squall reassures Rinoa, helping her get over her fears in a psychological capacity. But psychologically defeating her fears isn't enough to make an effective full-fleshed story. In the final battle, Rinoa must face her worst fears and defeat them in a physically manifested capacity.

Basically, when Rinoa faces Ultimecia, she faces the worst parts of herself (the parts that would change her into an evil sorceress like Ulti). In defeating Ultimecia, she defeats the evil within herself as well.

 

[eisprinz]

Ah!!! that IS clever thanks for explaining that

Classic story structure: "shadow of the hero"... but Square probably should've made the final villain Squall's shadow. Although I appreciated what they were trying to do, I don't think they pulled it off as well as they wanted to.

 

[Ultima36]

Yeah.. Suqall's internal struggle was a fear of being alone. Of losing people close to him, right?

 

[eisprinz]

Yeah.. Suqall's internal struggle was a fear of being alone. Of losing people close to him, right?

Yep, which led to him pushing people away. In that way Ultimecia works out; Time Compression would be a way for her to exist in a dimension completely by herself, similar to Squall alienating everyone and trying to be alone. So when he gets over his fear and lets people come close, he is then able to defeat Ultimecia's goal of becoming completely alone.

Rinoa and Squall's fears are very intricately intertwined in Ultimecia. The game just didn't do a good job of making the connections.

 

[Ultima36]

How did you realise all this? You must have thought about it a lot... I don't usually read that much into my games...

 

[Scarlet]

Ultima36, I know you keep asking question but could you stop making one liner posts? If you keep this up I'll delete your posts.

All I'm asking if you put more effort into your posts, thank you.

 

[eisprinz]

How did you realise all this? You must have thought about it a lot... I don't usually read that much into my games...

I want to be a writer, so I think about story structure and things like that all the time. I didn't think about it the first time I played it (mainly because I was too young at the time), but once I learned about all these things, I was able to see where other writers were using such techniques.

 

[Ultima36]

Cool. I think that it must be cool to see all these things, to appreciate the more subtle sides of FF. Whereas people like me, who are blind to these subtleties, probably don't enjoy that game so much. I think next time I play VIII I'll appreciate it more for what you've just told me about the manifestation of the characters' inner struggles. Thanks

 

[eisprinz]

Cool. I think that it must be cool to see all these things, to appreciate the more subtle sides of FF. Whereas people like me, who are blind to these subtleties, probably don't enjoy that game so much. I think next time I play VIII I'll appreciate it more for what you've just told me about the manifestation of the characters' inner struggles. Thanks

The mark of a truly good story is when you don't really notice all these little details, but would notice them if they were gone. I don't think FFVIII really achieved that too well in terms of the villain, but it's still my fave of the series for some reason.

 

[SapphireStar]

Ultima36, I know you keep asking question but could you stop making one liner posts? If you keep this up I'll delete your posts.

All I'm asking if you put more effort into your posts, thank you.

Oops, I already did. Sorry Cerridwen.

 

[cloud strife 077]

this game rocks relli but there is a few points that could be improved if they make a remake of it like the tutorials at the begining which do take forever and also the drawing magic was a bit rubbish because of the fact it takes to long to get a decent amount of magic spells like 100 at the start of the game...

 

[Scarlet]

There were a few threads that were made recently beating a Final Fantasy game. I've created a thread where you can post about your review on the game.

If you have beaten Final Fantasy VIII for the first time...Please post your Final Fantasy I reviews here.

If you beat Final Fantasy VIII already and still want to write a review, then go ahead.

 

[Dazz]

Everything was brilliant except from having to draw magic

Edit: Put a little more effort into your posts. Thank you ^^

 

[eisprinz]

this game rocks relli but there is a few points that could be improved if they make a remake of it like the tutorials at the begining which do take forever and also the drawing magic was a bit rubbish because of the fact it takes to long to get a decent amount of magic spells like 100 at the start of the game...

I agree about the tutorials; I love Quistis, but I just wanna throttle her every time I see a tutorial open up. But the fact that drawing magic is hard is kinda the point. It's work to get 100 spells, but when you've got them, it makes the game easier. It's the same as leveling up; it takes time and work, and you're not expected to have 100 spells or be at a high level when you're at the beginning of the game.

 

[Gabe]

The GARDEN!! Yes, Yes...That was literally H-E double hockeystick! Going around 'WHERE IS QUISTIS?! OMG!? IM LOOOSST!" "I don't know how to battle quisties. Please give me the worst tutorial ever." F**K! EVIL EVIL EVILL! But once the end of disc one came I was like omgomgomgomgomgomg! SUSPENSE IS BURNING IN MY MIND!!! OOH!!! SO ya, I don't know how to play triple triad, at ALL! I watched the tutorial, crap. So I guess 7/10 so far...I'm still in prison with everybody from shooting Mrs. Edea evil butt crack. (thats what my six year old brother calls her lol.)